USHGA Hang Gliding March 1998 by US Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

AL the encl or every year, as usual, it's the time or final balances, and or putting one's mind into nex1 year's work. Taking the lime to make plans, not in a hurry. We did a 101 or work to improve our pro· cl ucl s offer by adding new items; and also -wherever possible- our products quality. We have the following new entries to submit to your attention • A new INTERMEDJ ATE glider, very easy to fly and rlarc, clcslgnecl to fully enjoy rlight pleasure for recreational pilots • The SkyRmmer helmets introduced la Le last year, that should he a hes1 seller (according to first impressions) • ICARO's new for Paragliders expressly designed by Cygnus • The announce of a brand new line products, coming on nexl spring: our SPORTSWltAR coll eel ion, specialized for pi lots needs First, some words about Hang Gliders, our base product: 1998 will be the Laminar ST's year, since ou1 TopEnd model will benefit from this year skill. We keep using only first quality materials, we fly-lest each glider before clclivery, etc: in a word we arc actually trying to give to om Clients simply the hcst. And maybe we aren't so far from lhis target' Aside can be found the record of our pilots result during last year: it's interesting lo take a look at it, and consider whatever of our competitors con Id have been approached such a score! Moreover, we reached such results while opening the road in the field of a new technology: no one of our competitors lrns sold as many kingpostless gliders as we have! And what about certifications'/ We have worked hardly -together with German and Swiss Offical

Agencies· in order lo pass severe end demanding tests, even establishing some new methodologies on the fly ... We have succcdcd, and we have got every ccrtifka1ion. How many could say the same'? How many have got such a skill'? Laminar ST kingpos1lcss gliders arc definitely 1hc best choice, since they arc • The most tested: DHV and SI-IV for any wing span ( 14, n and soon 12) • Tlw most pa.fi1rming: sec our Winners !isl • The most sold, by far (morl: than 400 currently flying all world over), i.e. the most reliable, due lo the total hours mnn·· her they have been flown. There is one thing, indeed, where we arcn 't the first. The price, -still cheaper than the one or some competitors--, featuring the best value for money.

1 ST

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BOGONGCUP PRE WORLD

AUST/\AUA AUSTRALIA

MANFRED RUHMER NELSON HOWE JOSEF ZWECKMAYR NEW ZEALAND NAT. NEW ZEALAND ALLAN BARNES BRASIL NATIONALS BRASIL CARLOS NIMEYER BETO SCHIMIDT JAPAN NATIONALS JAPAN MASAHIRO MINEGHISHI INTERNA T BASSANO ITALY MANFRED RUHMER GEROLF HEINRICHS NATIONAL CHAMP. SLOVENIA FRANC PETERNEL EAST COAST CHAMP. U.S. NELSON HOWE WHGS XCOIJNTRY I SPEED GREECE MANFRED RUHMER ALPENOPEN AUSTRIA MANFRED RUHMER JOSEF ZWECKMAYR GERMAN OPEN GERMANY MANFRED RUHMER ROBERT REISINGER ITAL/AN Cl/AMP. ITALY CHRISTIAN CIECH AUSTRIA OPEN AUSTRIA MANFRED RUHMER ROBERT REISINGER WILLY VONBLON DUTCH 1/ANGGUDING Cl/AMP. /IOU.AND AART DE KOOMEN JOOP BERENDESEN FRANS !CKE PRE EUROPEAN CHAMP. SLOVAKIA MANFRED RUHMER ROBERT REISINGER FRANZ HARRMAN U.S. NATIONALS U.S. LARRY TUDOR SPANISH CHAMP. SPAIN MARC UTRILLO CARLOS FERNANDEZ BRIT/SI/ CHAMP. GREAT BRITAIN GORDON RIGG SCOTT/SI/ OPEN SCOTLAND DAVE HOLBROOK AIR WORLD GAMES TURKEY SERGE TASTET INTERNA T/ONAL RALLY BRAZIi. RUHMER

!CARO 2000 srl Via Verdi, 19 1-21038 Sangiano (Italy) Tel. ++39-3'.32-648.335 - Fax 648.079 - http: //www.icaro2000.com

E-Mail: stoff@icaro2000.com

(USPS Cl 17-970-20 - ISSN 0895-433X)

16 Aeroexpo '97 by Steve I<roop A biannual air show pur on rhe by Venezuelan Air fo rce.

24 article Pilot Report: Aeros Stealth KPL 151 (Ind © 998 by Reto SchaerLi photos I A topless import with an appealing price rag.

28 The 1997 MontanaX-C Challenge by Perry.fones A great year of Aying in rhe big sky stare.

35 Site Guide:by Marshall/ Crestline, California Mikt article and photos /V/r,rsmson A famous sire that produces up ro 300 Aying days per year.

38 HelicopterbyTowing

article 1tndphotos "RC Dave'' Freund Things nor to do in a hang glider.

40 Flying With The Condors

article and photos by Kari Castle A spectacu lar hang gl iding and paraglid ing adventure in Peru.

Columns

Departments

Exec's Corner, by Phil Bachman ............. 13

Airmail ........... ..................... ............ .......4

President's Corner, by G.W. Meadows ... 22

Updatc ................................................... .8

Product Lines, by Dan Johnson ............63

Calendar of Evenrs ........... .................... 14

Ratings ................................................ .50 Classified Advertising .... ........... .......... .53 Index to Advertisers ............... ... ........... 62 c:()\T.H: l{<ro \,ILH'l li "1.11i111.; ,II\ Avn" \ 1v.1lth 1,1 11 )~) ·" h,n I 1111,111\\ , \,111 I 1.11\ll\l(I. ( .. dilo, 111.1. \n· ..,lt1 I\ 1111 p,thl. 2·L l' h11lP hy · I l, Hrn\\ 11. CFNTFRSPR l·.AI>: \o.1 ri11h d1,: hig ,kl1·, .111d ,pn t.h 111.1 1 tc11.11 11 ol ilH· \;1l tnl \.-'.1lk,y i11 l\·1u. \t·'-· ,tut_\' ml p,l'"'I' ill. l'holt1 hi' J,.u , ( :.1.,1!.-. I >JS< :J :\l!'vl FH <>I· W1\RRI\NTIF.'i I N l'l iBI I<'i\ rl <)NS: I hv 11,.11 ,·11.d l"'·"·111nl 1,,.,, i, pt1 hl i,hn l .,, I"'' , ,l ,I ll i,d; 11 111.11io11 di,,v 111i11.u iu11 \;.' l \'ill' ,;,, l 1\f I<, ..\ llll..'lll,)L'I\. 1·11\. l :s 1I<; , \ 111.tk\.'\ 1111 ,,·.1r1;1111il'\ 11r ,q,n· S\.'lll.lllll l b

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MARCH 1998

Dear Editor, At this time I foe] it is necessary as well as important for me to advise my fdlow pilots about a BRS failure rl1at happened to me, in hopes that this information might save someone else's life. Jn August l 996, while flying in the Owens Valley, my glider tumbled. Both leading edges broke and evidence shows that I tried 10 deploy my parachute by engaging my chest-mounted BRS. l man-aged to pull the handle of'rny BRS unit at least eight inches. Unfortunately, the BRS unit failed and my chute never deployed. [ tried to hand-deploy bm was unable to disconnect the BRS unit from the apex of the chute. I spun in some 500 to 800 feet and crashed above Paiute launch. [ was wearing a fi.111-face helmet (rl1ank you JZ) and I consider myself very fortunate to be alive today. I have recovered from a skull fracture, rib fracture, jaw fracture and ruptured liver. Soon afrcr my accidem Wills Wing assisted me in trying to determine what wem wrong with the BRS unit. (Thank you Mike, Linda, Rob and Steve.) They pm my harness and BRS unit on ;i tcnsiomcter and tested the BRS unit. Ir took <)2 pounds of force 10 deploy the rocker. The information I have suggests that a BRS rocket should engage with :,5 pounds of force. Not even the biggest, machodude pilot out there could have deployed that chest-mounted BRS unit attached to my harness. Why did it take 92 pounds of force for my rocket 10 deploy? One of the reasons may be that the routing to the chest required a curve in the wiring which may have increased the friction within the cable housing. Or could it be that over the lifo of rhat flve- to six-year-old unit there was some corrosive action raking place in rbe cable housing that may have caused resistance? Ifso, what kind corrosive action was t11king place? It would seem to me that tests should be done to determine what went wrong and an update should have been submitted by BRS advising pilots of the dangers of chest--mounted BRS units. In November 19%, at the USHGA Board meeting in San Diego, J spoke with a BRS staff member about rny accident.

Pn~TAsAA•nFII• SEND CHANGE OF ADDRESS

GLIDING, P.O. BOX 1330, Colorado IJ0901·-1330.

MARCI 1 199B VOUJME 21:l, lssu,

No. 3

After a long discussion about die merits of a BRS [ requested 1hat he write an update to be published in this magazine to advise all pilots who fly wirli a chest-mounted BRS unit to be aware that pulling the handle of the unit may not deploy the rocket, and what the pilot could do to flx it if they chose to co111i1rnc to fly with a chestmounted BRS. I also filed an extensive accidcm report which was never published in the mag;r1,ine. On the cover of the January 1997 issue Hang Gliding, Steve Rathbun was shown with what I believe 1"0 be a chcstmom1ted BRS, and Tam afraid there may be other pilots out there flying with BRS units installed the same way. 'fo my knowledge fmS h,tS never updated the flying community about rhis BRS failure. [ continue to be disappointed that they did not follow through. ff you arc flying with a chest-mounted BRS unit have it inspected or make the decision to have it reinstalled as a hip--moumcd unit. My healing process took a year. Again, l am fortunate not to have sustained much worse injuries or death. Many thanks to all of you around the world who scm flowers, cards, letters and e-mail, or took the time to call me. /\lso, thank you ro my close friends and G1tnily who supported me through the healing process. J can't say enough about the staff of Wills Wing and what rhey have clone for me to get me back in the air again. Please, all of you who continue to fly with FIRS 1mirs, especially chest-mounted units, take the time and spend the money to have your unit checked out. It could save your life!

Sandy King San Diego, ( :/\

ST PA[H, MN -- bner(TencvJ;anu'hu'.tC BR5,; wishes to re-release an advisory statement its rocl<et-deployed sys-temsjound on some harnesses. This repeat advimry ajJjJlies to all BRS Jystems which are installed on the harness in such a way thttt the activating handle is mounted on or near the chest of'the pilot (previously refi:rred to as either the HANC CLIDJNC

certain inshdlatirm m1,y exist with systerns that were installed by shops other them HRS. J he relates to the actmi:.1ttr,1<:r handle

protect the actwt.!t1r.15( is pulled, the cable !',er. The cable is to prevent inadvertent activation (J;,r example, harness is bushes) and to the 1he c11ble ...... ,..... .

of'the nmt->u,:x,

with the unit. This comprehensive manual has a greru dml of'usefitl information. thi, wealth of'usefi.tl infrmnatirm, do not read 1he manual thor· and some claim they were not mcmual hy the shop that sold the rocf.:l't to them. Rep!acnnent numuaL, are available 8RS/or $10 postage paid. Send photos o/the to au,r:i m:v--1.'on1ro1 inspection. rm.rt.ff.!.U,untf.!. community, compli· reqzm'f:ml'nt hcts heen very low worded st,ttements in the wammty period if'the owner does not comp61. It is the responsibility o/the owner, not the instt./ller or stller, to take and provide these photos. The photos must arlem·mtf/J! show the instal!tttion so that an r nrr111, Pr re1,rffzm~1v the photos rnn rrw/ee rt complete Plet./se note: Inspection of'any photos suhmitted is not a f',Utlrttntee that the systrm is inst,t!led correctly, tis it rnt,y to see all details of'an installa· the photos rz pilot may supply. {he hoth hrmd1· when deploying and with czctionfr1r a distmzce oj'at 12 does not inches o/pull; this is recom· mended to 11ssure thrit an adequate pull has heen accomplished. !It the encl, pull must to or'cur. Friction in system ccm substr.m· tirtl!.y raise the pullfinn: requn·ea. 1 Hrwc the treat C0/77/),'J/1/?/1/ it is. I !.y or hrjim afli!',ht tossing it into 11 trucle without concern) is an invitation to 1

Dear Editor, I am very proud to report that the Crestline Soaring Society had great success with their first annual "Christmas 'foy 1)rive." Over $2,000 io toys were collected at a one-day fly-in on Dec. 20, 19()7. These toys were donated to needy child rcn in the local San Bernardino, CA area ,rnd distributed through the local fire dcp,1nmcn1. Quite frankly, rbc fire dcpanmcnt was BLOWN AWAY at the number and quality toys donated. In a time when we arc all looking to secure flying sites we somctirnes think too much abom "what's in it For us," and not consider the long,term effort. Such high profile cornmunity giving goes a long way for a long time. I challenge all USHCA Chapters ro join the effort and hold a toy drive in their areas next yc;1r as we plan to do! For addi. tional info on how it is done contact Roh Von Zabcrn al 1-fCPGCSSCtDaol.com or Rob McKenzie ar high:1dv<rhecc.org.

Rob Mcl<em.ic San Bernardino, CA PS. Our karma musr be strong now, because since the toy drive [,:] Nino has been a Northern C:alifrirnia problem, and our flying throughout January J ')()8 has been 1crri lie.

IY•/II IVI/T1//l11r

pararneten. Pilots or persons ofsmaller physical stttture or lesser muscu!t1turr: may not he able to ere· ate ti pullfrnr-e the rocket motor. !Jttt101w11 se1, erciL s:ucc·ess,/ut 1

Since BRS did not install all such and hecausc BRS did not have 1he O/>i'>ortu· to inspect till such this flliuw·1r11 heing puhlished to of'the potential.for BRS envi,ioncd.

REM HD IFS '/'he.following remedies are any pilots with thr: BRS spterns: I l?ead the manual that was supplied MARCI I 19913

Or. . Reinove the system and/or add a h1.md·d{1;loyed pcmichute in r,ddition to the rochet-deployed system. !3RS recommends a

,........ ,.,. cmy pilotsflying in more ctJilLlen.e-1:nJ!. envirrmrnents such tts aerohatic sites li!u the Owens Valle), or sitm1tions where bacleup system ret:1'unctct:ncv is advisahle. questions remain, HRSftictory cu (612) 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM

aavrn?r11 was.fi'rst relertsed in ma,r.11zme in I 993.

Dear Editor, I would like ro thank Kevin Christopherson and Phil Bachman for their work with the BLM and the Sun Stewardship Committee to resolve access issues at Whiskey Peak In the spring of 1992, pilots at Whiskey Peak were met by a b;1rricadc in rhc fi1rn1 a trench across the old access road. 'T'hc new established road was blocked with a locked gate. Five years larcr, in the foll of 19()7, the BLM issued a final decision document which pretty much gave us rhc: access we had previously enjoyed. I would like to thank Kevin for liis persistence, and for sitting through five years of commirtcc meetings and discussions on wild horse scatology. Kevin's ciforts kept

rhe site open during discussions, and he was often the sole spokcsrnan for our hang gliding interests. l would also like ro thank Phil Bachman and USI TCA lc)r representing the larger pilot population. Phil's two trips ro Wyoming and subsequent correspondence with the BUvl were invaluable.. Phil brought a professionalism and sense of' national interest to rhc issues that would nor have been possible wirho111 him. [ would like to thank the BLM and the Sun Stewardship Committee fc)r coming 10 favorable conclusions. If you go to Whiskey Peak pb1sc stay on the designated roads. Vehicle traffic in the bowl on top of the peak is restricted to that which has been designated by the BLM. Failure to comply could result in loss of vcl1iclc access to the lmmd1cs at the far end of the bowl. Craig Starks Riverton, WY

Dear Editor, J\s usual, the January issue was full of wcll-presemcd, interesting and absorbing

information abom the sport f love. f'd like 10 zero in on three lcrrers that piqued some long-standing intercsrs of mine. I agree wholeheartedly with Kim Calvin (except for the pan about "two mediocre magazines" there's nothing mediocre about either of them, in my opinion) and Peter l .indquist. It's time for a "cool change" in this sport and two that arc most important from a PR standpoint arc combining rlic magazines and a change in the name of both the emerging maga"" zinc and the sport in general. The word "hang" has too much negative baggage attached to it and f join John Heiney and many others in support of the term "free flighr" to describe what we do. T think the new combined rnagazine should he c1llcd Free Fli1;ht. The term itself sounds berntiful, limitless, unbound and adventuresome. It would have much more appeal to potential new memhcrs than one that smacks of Old West justice. We have even clianged rhe name of our annual fly-in here in I .akcvicw to rhc "Festival of hce Hight." Everybody likes the term much better. Rodger Hoyt's ;ilways thought-provoking comments defined a real and growing problem in frccdlight competition. J think it's ;1lso time we considered establishing

two classes of competition as rhc Soaring Society has. fn addition to an "11nlirni1ed" class, which is essentially what we have now, we need a "standard" class with design criteria airned dirccrly ar the points I foyt makes. The "standard" class freeflight machine would be of defined wing loading and performance, with emphasis on manufacturing rechniqucs rhat would keep the cost under, say, $4,000. Performance among emries fi·om different manufacturers would essentially be the same for a given wing loading, and rhc winner's glider would be inspected to make sure it had not been modified from I he standard crit cria. The winner of the standard class would more truly be the "best" free-flight pilot since advantages due to individual glider performance would be pretty much eliminated. furthermore, those of' us in a more modest economic situation could again afford 10 compete, reasonably sure that the winner didn't "buy" his tide because he could afford the latest, honest supership with enhanced performance that the rcsr of us can only dream about. Jules Gilpatrick Lakeview, OR

We are the exclusive importers for The Cosmos Samba and La Mouette's Topless hang 9\iclors. Also, corning soon is the Pegasus, the top of 1he line hanglicler 1hat will rnpmsent the sport of f1an91idin9 at its best! Feel free to call us for more information. Dealer inquiries welcome.

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Update

U.S. AEROS ANNOUNCES NEW HARNESS

D eferring to ic as "the most streamlined Rfabric harness in hang gliding," Aeros announces its "Racer." This design is the firsc-known fabric production harness to put the parachuce and camera pockec inside the body of the harness. The parachuce sics just somh of the pilot's rear end inside che harness in a "zippered to the inside of the back of che harness" container. The Racer comes with a full-length internal storage pocket for glider bags and che like, and is available in cuscom sizes and colors. All harnesses come complete; there are no options. Scandard features include: cow loops, pitch adjustment cleat, aircraft aluminum backfran1e, radio pocket, camera pocket, drag-chuce pocket, and adjuscable shoulder and leg scraps. The harness comes scock with a special deployment bag for the parachute. The manufacrurer feels that, at $699, it is one of the best deals in a high-performance harness. The Racer is available from U.S. Aeros and its dealers. Contact: U.S. Aeros (919) 480-3552, WW\v.juscfly.com. SPEED GLIDING, TEAR UP THE SKIES-CLOUDBASE 7

he new Adventure Productions hang gliding video, Speed Gliding, Tear Up The Skies, gives us a look ac the new sport of speed gliding. Feel the incredible speed and experience che chrill and excitement of screaming down a mountain ac a rockec's pace. The video begins with a glider zooming

through an alcirude comrol gate accompanied by the incredible sound of a new highperformance speed machine slicing through the air. A poem then sets che scage for the theme of the movie: "Tear Up The Skies." Basic technique and rules are discussed, and the course is analyzed and flown ac the Canadian National Speed Gliding Competition ac Sun Peaks Ski Resort in Kamloops, BC. Then its on co Telluride, Colorado for the official FAI World Hang Gliding Series Championships where speed gliding cechnique is covered in more derail. The course is analyzed and the ultimate speed gliding race is flown. The video is all digital with awesome sound. New Lighcwave 3D animation cransporcs you imo the furure and introduces you co the new sport of speed gliding, derailed in the now-famous Cloudbase style. This video was professionally filmed and produced. Speed Gliding is 100% hang gliding and runs for 24 minutes. The video sells for $24.95 plus $4.00 shipping/handling from: Paul Hamilcon, Advemure Productions, 4750 Townsice Road, Reno, NV 89511, phone/fax (702) 849-9672, hamilcon@advenrure.reno.nv.us, www.advenrurep.com. A free video cacalog is available.

Paul sent us a copy and in my opinion it's the most exciting and interesting ofthe Cloudbase series. It's a wonderful video for inspiring both pilots and the uninitiated about the sport of hang gliding. - Ed.

RED BULL "WINGS OVER ASPEN" - JUNE 30-JULY 3

D ed Bull, che energy drink which Tumproves achletic performance by up co 25% by giving athleces a three- co five-hour mental and physical lifi:, is proud to present the premier paragliding event of 1998. The evem will take place in che speccacular moumains of Aspen, Colorado and will fearure over $20,000 in prize money. The featured evenc is a paragliding cross-councry competition. In addition to this there will be a hang gliding aerobatics competition and paragliding aerobatics demonstrations. The main evem will draw the cop paraglider pilots in the world co compece for che $4,000 firsc-place prize. Daily activities will include live music, food , beverage and aerial fw1.

The hang gliding aerobatics competition is open only co experienced aerobatic pilots. This evem will draw the cop aerobatic pilots in the world and there will be a selection process, so emry forms must be received by May 1, 1998. Upon confi rmation pilots will pay an emry fee of $250. Prize money: 1st place, $2,500; 2nd Place, $1,500; 3rd Place, $750. For registration and more information comact: Aspen Paragliding, 426 S. Spring Street, Aspen, CO 816 11 , (970) 925-7625, (970) 925-7710 (fax), din1bfly@rof.net, www.aspen.com/ paragliding.

NEW GTRACE HARNESS

ace Taber of Lookout Mountain Flight Park announces the availability of Mark "Gibbo" Gibson's new high-performance harness, the GTRace. Matt and Mark's main goal was co offer pilots the ultimate in performance and comfort. Features include: cuscom fit, near zero shoulder pressure, machined aluminum back place., titaniwn slider for optimum CG, easy landing even for novice pilots, continuous webbing throughouc, adj ustable leg scraps, leather boot trim, side or front chute locations, radio and camera pockets, plenty of scorage compartmencs, aerotow loops, in-air adj ustable hang angle, deluxe harness carry bag. Contact: Lookouc Mountain Flight Park, 7201 Scenic Hwy. 189, Rising Fawn, GA 30738 (706) 398-3541, fax (706) 398-2906, airwave@voy.net, www.hangglide.com.

ALTAIR'S NEW SATURN

ltair an11ounces that their new glider, the Saturn, is now available through Altair dealers. The Sarurn is a double-surface recreational glider designed for Novice pilots learning co soar and fly X-C, and Advanced pilots who are looking for a fun glider with soaring performance rivaling the cop guns. H ANG GLIDING

Altair's design team, headed by John Heiney, the 1997I 1998 World Aerobatics Champion, enlisted David Beardslee as co-designer in the project. John's reputation in the hang gliding community is unsurpassed. His most recent design before the Saturn is the high-performance Predator, which continues its reputation as one of the fastest gliders available. Along with John, the Predator holds the current world record for consecutive loops (56) as well as the '97 /'98 World Aerobatics title. David Beardslee has more than 25 years of experience in all aspects of the hang gliding industry and has worked for several hang glider manufacturers. Dave is one of those pilots who has seen it all. The sail comes from tl1e famed sail loft of master sail maker Dick Cheney. These are hands-on guys who have made the Saturn a great glider. Behind John and Dave is the Altair team which has also contributed diligently to the Saturn project. The Saturn incorporates many features from the top-of-the-line Predator as well as the same sleek styling. The Saturn uses the san1e hardware as the Predator, and has rhe same auto-kingposr system wherein the crossbar and kingposr are positioned by rhe haulback without disconnecting any top rigging. It comes with faired kingpost, faired downtubes, nose cone and an extra-strengm speed bar. Altair feels that these features make the Saturn an exceptional value. "We believe that the Saturn is the ideal recreational-class glider. It has very pleasant and predictable handling characteristics, is easy to set up, is lightweight, has great static balance for grmmd handling, has an incredible sink rate (don't be surprised to find yourself above tl1e top-of-the-stack guru), and best of all it is made in the USA by American MARCH 1998

pilots. It will undoubtedly be the glider of choice for the foreseeable future," comments John Heiney. More information about the Saturn is available from your local Altair dealer or contact: Altair (80 1) 523-9544, alta.it@micron.net, http://netnow.micron.net/ ~altair/

FLIGHT DESIGN UPDATE

he Flight Design facility is expected to produce 50 Exxtacy rigid wings per month in 1998 in addition to their para.glider and airplane production. Research continues on other airplane designs, and perhaps a sleek new sailplane. Approximately 300 Exxtacies a.re flying worldwide (about 10% of which are in North America). New developments for 1998 include: Exxtacy 135 - New for 1998, Flight Design will release the Exxtacy 135. Witl1 the success of the Exxtacy 160, there has been great demand from lightweight pilots for a smaller version. The Exxracy 135 will be a fully scaled version of the 160, will weigh a bit less and have a shorter wing span, and will be essentially identical to the 160 in performance and handling. Delivery of tl1e 135 will begin in late April. Delivery time is expected to be similar to that of the Exxracy 160, approximately rwo to five months. Revolution 130 - Fligh r Design will also be producing a trike wing that will be compatible with any current trike/motor system. The Revolution 130 will be similar to the Exxracy 160 in design, but will incorporate a carbon fiber keel. Ir will be available in July. The speed range will be quire wide and stall speed will be about 50 km/hour at the maximum wing loading of 450 kg. More information will become available as certification

is completed and production begins. Tandem Exxtacy - Flight design is also putting finishing touches on the Exxracy Twin. The Exxtacy Twin, complete with carbon fiber keel and larger tandem control frame, will be available by June. Exxtacy Harness - Specifically designed for the Exxtacy, this harness should be available this spring. The new harness is aerodynamic and has many features for the serious X-C pilot. Designer to visit the US. - Felix Rui1le, Exxtacy designer, will be on a 10-day tour of the U.S. in late March and early April. Ruhle and Mike Eberle, the North American distributor, will be stopping at all dealer/service centers in order to field questions from cmrent and future Exxtacy pilots, demonstrate carbon fiber repair, offer a ca.re and maintenance seminar, and more. Please see the calendar of events in this magazine or call (509) 925-5565 for more information. Dave Sharp, top U.S. comp pilot (currently ranked seventh, fourcl1 in 1997), has signed on wiili Flight Design for 1998. Dave will be competing in all Points meets and several oiliers this season on ilie Exxracy. Dave will also be continuing his work as the main U.S. service tech, traveling iliroughout North America for clinics and presentations when he's nor competing. For information on Flight Design products visit www. fun2fly.com or contact any one of the following: Nortl1 American Flight Design (509) 925-5565, napi@eburg.com; Free Flight Sports (505) 286-3871 , dsha.rp@mci2000.com; The Wallaby Ranch (941) 424-0070, gloverdh@gate.net; Thin Air Designs (408) 353-5159, condordlub@aol.com; Sky Sails of Arizona (602) 582-5904, p26829@emaiLmot.com. 9

www.ushga.org www.us::;. (0

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Norm Lesnow's Flying Adventm·cs is now offcr.ingaerotowing behind a new Rotax 914, turbo-charged, four··Stroke Drngonf:ly tug. Also available are tandem lc,qsons on a new Fly 2 tandem glider with custom wheels for launching and landing and an over/under harness arrangement. Norm has been aerotowing and flying tandem since 1981 behind various ultralight9, the utmost in safety and experience. Also available are stationary winch towing, step towing and ridge soaring. Nonn is a Tbw Administrator in land towing and aerotowing for those interested in receiving sign··offs ..He is a Mastc'.r-ratcd pilot and Adv,mced 'fandem Instructor who is capab!.e of offering all ratings and special skills sign-offs. He is currently pursuing his Basic Flight Instructor Rating in ultralights in order to teach tug pilots and those interested in flying ultralights. Gliders and other equipment arc also avail" able. Contact: Norm Lesnow (248) :399-9433.

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s A Looi< 211 tr1c Sport of H,mc_J Gi<;ing nic W1n<J ;.1nc"J Wr1y Jr Works rliqr11 Skills to tJw 13ccJinncr level r-:-1ir1111 Skills 10 Uic Novice level r ly1nc1 Condit,ons Cil1cJ1ng I quiprncnt More 21/xiuc I lie F)nnup/ec; nr for I li(_Jl1 AllitucJc Starle<J in "'""'n,n T,mcJm1 dricJ low Trr11ninq 1ii101 ':ir1oulcJ Kriow Glossdry lerms

BON U\IP' ~QJl:1:iiiJ1 c 1'11111iro-FI ics" 1111111 \

Colorado Springs, CO 8090 I 1-800-616-6888 fax /719) 632-6417 www.ushg;.~.org HANC CLIDINC

SEX

**~************************************************************************************************************* Division) or 6 issues of PARAGLIDING

Please check one: D U.S. ($96.00 NonmU,S.*) Divisions $27.00 (Family MemberM must sign separate release from Full Member) ..•. Please check one: D Cl Par·a,zltditig Divisions •. (Family Member(s) must sign separate release from Full Member)

U.S. l•P''tV,VV n-.,u·u.,.,. U.S. \•~Jl.t,,,~IV l'<Ull''lJ,1.;I, ****'*'*********************************************************************************************************** 1ST MAIL SERVICE - HANG GLIDING MAGAZINE: ($24.0o-u.s., Canada, & Mexico only) ........... . AIR MAIL SERVICE - HANG GLIDING MAGAZINE: ($30.00-Western Hemisphere, $40.00-Eurnpe, $50.00-All Others) 1ST MAIL SERVICE - PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE: ($12.00-lJ.S., Canada, & Mexico only) . AIR MAIL SERVICE - PARAGLIDING MAGAZINJ!:: ($15.00-Wcstcm Hemisphere, $20.00-Eurnpe, $25.00-AII Others) ................-···-·--·-·-·· NAA MEMBERSHIP: ($10.00 annual dues)................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .................. ·-·-···-·····-······FAI SPORTING LICENCE: ($18.00 annual fee) Date ofBirth· ....... I __ I ·-·.. Citizenship: ____ ...- - . - -.............. .

**************************************************************************************************************** CHARGE MY: Credit __..... _................ - .............- ........_ ....................~...._ ......_ ..,..._ . .- ..__ .._................._ ...................................._ ............ ..,

**************************************************************************************************************** TOTAL

(03/97)

In consideration of being granted membership in the LISHGA, I, __,,_,",,___,__.., , __,,_,__---,,-,_,__, __, ,_, __,_,______",,__,, for myself, my personal representatives, heirs, executors, next of kin, spouse and assigns, do agree as follows: ~ The following definitions apply to terms used in this Agreement: I. means launching (and/or assisting another in launching), flying (whether as pilot in command or otherwise) and/or landing (including, but not limited to, crashing) a hang glider or paraglider. 2. ni:>irc:nn,~1 or sustained by me as a result of my as a result of the administration of any LISHGA programs (for example: the Pilot Proficiency System). means the following, including their owners, officers, directors, agents, spouses, employees, officials 3. (elected or otherwise), members, contractors, sub,,contractors, lessors and lessees: a) The United States Hang Gliding Association, a California Non-profit Corporation (USHGA); b) of the person(s) sponsoring and/or participating in the administration of my proficiency rating(s); c) Each of the hang gliding and/or paragliding organizations which are chapters of the USHGA; d) The United States Of America and each of the city(ies), town(s), county(ies), State(s) and/or other political subdivisions or governmental agencies within whose jurisdictions I launch, fly and/or land; Each of the property owners on or over whose property I may launch, fly and/or land; e) All persons involved, in any manner, in the sports of hang gliding and/or paragliding at the site(s) where I D 11 AII persons involved 11 include, but are not limited to, spectators, hang glider and/or paraglider pilots, assistants, drivers, instructors, observers, and owners of hang gliding and/or paragliding equipment; and All other persons lawfully present at the site( s) during my g) rn'.'!i,LH.iuu,;1- the from any and all claims and liability for INJVI/JfES, however caused, even if caused by the negligence (whether active or passive) of any of the R£lE)ISElJ to the fullest extent allowed by law. A against any of the loss or damage on account of I INJVI/JrES. If I violate this agreement by filing such a suit or making such a claim, I will pay all attorneys' fees and costs of the and con1str1uea in accordance with the matte1rs whatsoever arising under, in connection with or incident to this Agreement U.S.A. to the exclusion of the Courts of any other State or Country. If any part, article, paragraph, sentence or clause of this Agreement is not enforceable, the affected provision shall be curtailed and limited only to the extent necessary to bring it within the requirements of the law, and the remainder of the Agreement shall continue in full force and effect

I have

l'a,tidpant's fi!{natun•

Date MR,8/91

their Complaint, and the injunction requested is denied. Each side will bear its own attorneys and Defendant will recover it's costs of suit." 'foke note that this order covers only the 11ling, motion, process service, and witness foes, not our atrorncy foes.

RlJUNG fN TH LAWSUIT he judge's ruling in the lawsuit filed against the US] JC/\ (Defrndant) hy Dan Brown, Vic Powell, Michael 'J 'homas [! and Cenc Hilborn (Plaintiffs) was handed down 011 December J 1997. We have posted the cnrire ruling 011 our Web site at hup://www.usl1ga.org. I hope rhat most of'you who arc inter· cstcd in the outcome can take the time to access the Web page and read rhe entire ruling. It will explain a great deal, especial· ly in light of the dearth of facts available and the oversupply of disseminated misinformation. Por those wid10111 access to the Web who would like a copy of the ruling, call or E1x the office and a copy will be scmroyou: 1--800-558· fax(7)9) l 'I 'he last two paragraphs of ti 1c decision summarize die ruling: "In sum :md in short, courts have reg· ularly held that requiring waivers in the sporting comcxt is permissible. J\nd not against public policy. This is especially so in the context of a dangerous activity such as hang gliding. " For each, and all, of the reasons set forth rbc Court concludes 1l1ar Plaintiffs will not receive any relief' under MMiCII 1997

BACKGROUND hw many years now the USllCJ\ has pro· vidcd, as part of the benefits of membership, third party liability insurance. This insurance coverage covers the costs associated with damage or injmy to a third par· ty by a USHCA member participating in hang gliding or paragliding. When you consider the insurance coverage from a landowner's perspective, ir didn't arno11nt to much. lf a glider was blown over onto a car, the insurance cov· cred the damage to the car. Ira pilot overshot rhe I Zand hit a spectator, the insurance covered the spectator's injuries. llowcvcr, the majority or potential claims activity on the landowner's propcr-ty is generated by the pilots, nor third part ics. With our previous insurance cover· age, if a pilot injured himselfflying into trees, ;1ficr blowing a launch, he might consider suing the landowner because '\be trees were too close w the lmmcb." The landowner would not have had insurance pro1cction and would have been faced wirh legal defense costs and be liable frH any j11dgcmcnt :igainst him. Although it has never happened in our sport, you can bet rhat landowners sec this scenario as a real possibility. What do you think would happen to everyone's flying privileges at a site if rhis transpired? In addition, the landowner, if sued, would in most cases automatically file a cross-complaint which could name your club, its officers and the USHCJ\. Each of these entities would then have to pay the costs of a defense. The basic lesson here is that sports associations or all types arc at the greatest risk of having to defend against legal acrions from their own members. The volume oflegal actions is such that boob arc published summarizing sports waiver cases such as the above scenario. With h:rng gliding and paragliding the risk to the landowner who has graciously given permission to use his land is equally as

great and our previous third-parry liability coverage offered him no protection! 'I 'he writing was 011 the wall, backed up by the loss of some longtime flying sires because of the threat of liability expo· sure. For instance, we lost the Mount Equinox site in Vermont in early l 995. Herc is rhc exact reason as stated in the landowner's attorney letter, " .. J wish ro assure you that this decision was not made as a result of any actions of any members of your organization, but rather because of a general liability concern." The rnorc aware landowners became of this potential exposure, the more they would rescind or rcfi.1sc permission for continued use of their land. Something had to be done. The decision to position the USHCJ\ to he able to protect landowners in exchange for the USC o/" their lands was made by the Board of Directors in 1993. Specifically, that decision was to /dlow the example of many other sports associa· rions and create a waiver/release docu· rnent that would serve to protect the landowners and others including clubs, rheir offkcrs, and the USHCJ\ from possible exposure to a lawsuit filed by a rnemhcr. We had already learned from discus· sions with various insurance rcprcscnta· tivcs that when we were able to demonstrate that rhc membership as a whole was on a signed liability waiver, we should be able to successfolly apply for participant liability insurance ff we were successful in ohtaining coverage, we would be able ro provide the flying site landowners with liability insurance coverage (as a named insured) against participant injuries/actions in addition ro third-party events. With the decision unanimously made by the Board in 1993, the legal background work and research was started. This arduous rnsk was nor completed until 1995. In March of thar year the Release, Waiver, and Assumption of Risk Agreement was presented to the Bo,ird of· Directors. J\11 of the legal work on this project was done without charge to the associadon. The Board unanimously approved the document with an implementation start date ofJanuary 1, 199G. J\s a result of member frcdback ro a couple of USHGA

r directors, a request was made to extend the irnplcrncmation date to March 31, 1996, in order to allow for another Board of Directors meeting for further discussion. The executive committee, acting on behalf of the Board, approved rhe Mardi 31, 1996 date extension. The October, 1995 Board meeting saw much discussion in the Membership and Development Committee meeting regarding rhe waiver. The result of the corn mi I· tee's work was several revisions, primarily the addition of definitions, which were presented to the Board for approval. With a total of25 voting members on the Board, 24 voted to approve the revised document with one abstention. Jn a follow-·on meeting of the Membership and Devdoprnem Cornmince at the March, I <)96 BOD meeting, no additional discussion was brought up except a report from one director of a totally infrrnnal survey he had conducted among members during his many travels with his conclusion that "9()()/o of the members arc not interested and are ready to get on with flying." There being no fi1rrhcr input, no additional action regarding the waiver was recommended at this meeting. The implementation of' the Release, Waiver, and Assumption Risk Agreement began on March 31 , 1996. Prior to the November, 1996 Board meeting, five interested and concerned members lead by !;rank Peel, requested time on the agenda at the Membership and Development Committee meeting to discuss their lingering concerns about p:1rrs of the waiver. As a result of their input and discussions with the Board, a revised document w;:is prepared and pre-sented at the March, 1997 Board meeting. The primary change was the deletion Paragraph D, the indemnity clause. By this time, over 9(><1'> of the current renewing membership had already signed the Release, Waiver, and Assumption or Risk Agreement and negotiations were ongoing to secure participant liability insurance coverage. Finally, with the work of USHGA leg,d counsel and First Flight Insurance of Kiny Hawk, a part1c1pant liability insurance binder was issued, cfft:ctive August I, 1997. For the first time

in its history, the Association could now offer landowners complete protection as an additional insured in exchange for the use of their lands. Only 18 days later, at the invitation of Kevin McClure of the Rocky Mountain Hang Cliding Association, I attended a pivotal meeting with the management of the Winter Park Ski Resort in Colorado concerning paragliding from the slopes at Winter Parle Their CEO concluded that they liked the idea and that if they could get comfortable with the liability issue they might be ahlc to do something. Through Kevin, we delivered a copy of the brand--new policy a few days later. Kevin called me on October 20 to let me know that paragliding was approved at Winter Park for the requested one-year trial period. The new participant insurance coverage passed its first test. Without ir I don't think we would have had a cliancc. IN THE MEANTIME In December, 1996, Brown filed a '3wsuit on bchalfofhimself'and the other four Plaintiffs. Prior to filing, Brown had demanded in severnl cornnrnnications that the waiver be rescinded. The bwsui1 sought a preliminary and permanent injuncrion and attorneys fees. The specific injuncrivc relief sought was to enjoin USI--ICA from "requiring endorsement of a waiver as a condition of membership." The Board was and is very sure of the correct position taken by the Association in adopting the Release, Waiver, and Assumption of Risk Agreement:. We were also very sure of the ultimate outcome if the decision were challenged in court. However, when you are involved in a lawsuit, it becomes prudent to keep your mouth shut until you are in front of the judge. Therefore, upon advice of counsel, we kept a very low proflle in terms of discussion about the suit in the magazine or on the Net. I did discuss tbe fact thar the actions of these five individuals were cost-· ing the Association considerable legal fees to comply with the legal response require-ments and prepare a defense. I also stated that it could cost a great deal of money before it was over. Unfortunately, this no-comment, no--response position was

read by some as not communicating with the mernbership. Some of the plaintiff~ used this to acrnse the Board aud office of hiding information and conspiring against the members. This could not be further from the truth. In retrospect, this conclusion is understandable. Tfwe find cmrselvcs in a similar simation in the foture, the reason(s) fr)r not responding will be more clearly communicated. After the initial filing, Brown began filing numerous discovery motions which generated more legal work. Of the 11 motions he filed, only three were found by the court to be related to the action filed. Nevertheless, we still had to pay for the time to prepare and file proper res po 11ses.

NOWI.ET'S TALK ABOUT FINANCES When I rook over as Executive Director in the second qu;irter of 1991, the finances of the USHGA were in satisfactory shape. By that I mean that the US!--!GA was pro· viding member services and able to pay its operating costs out of revenues and still be able to generate some reserves. The ability to create a reserve account happened par-tially by accident. In J 993 it was obvious that, based on prior years and the insurance claims record for that year, that we could expect a large increase (as in $:W,000 or $40,000) in the member third-party liability insurance premium. Thcrcfr)l'c, the Board made the decision to implemcm a dues increase. However, we did not get hit with the premium increase that year; it came the following year. We were able to put the increased revenues into a bank account. Shortly ;iftcr J started, r transferred the fonds w a laddered investment ponfrilio which generated over $10,000 in revenue per year in 1995 and 1996. Dming this time we continued to operate on a basic break-even basis and still show an excess of revenue over expenses. [u 1993, the turnaround year, we went from a beginning-of-year balance of minus ($20,914) rn an end-of-year of $8,46.'J. In 1<)94, we went to an end--ofyear of (includes I 993's excess). ln 1995, we showed an end-of~year of I. In 1996, we showed an end-of.

HJ\NC CLll)INC;

r year of This revenue drop came from a $:30,000 drop in merchandise sales plus the costs of conducting a legal audit of both the Fo1mdatio11 and the Association. /\!though we won't have audited financials for 1997 umil l ')98, l am projecting an end-ofycar loss of over $50,000. At the end of the third quancr we were showing ($38,709). Without the costs the lawsuit WC would have a positive end-of-year. I will be a complete fl nan-· cial report to you as soon as we have the audited financi:1ls.

SO WHERE ARE WE NOW? Because of rhe lawsuit, we arc looking at a more rhan $50,000 increase in legal hills for 1997. ( ;oing imo 1<)98 I am faced with, as rhe lmsiness manager of the USHCA, the of covering rhis dcflci t and f<ir another large payable. Our li:1bility insmancc policy renews on March I of each year. Th is means that each J,'cbruary we must make the prcrnium down paymcm, usually around one···third of the premium or approximately $30,000. In the past, prior ro this year, we have been able to b11ild up our money market account through the year with enough ro make our down pay men1 Fchruary. The money market account has hcrn drained by legal bills. By the time you read this, we will have had to use almost t w<Hhirds of our reserves ro cover the ha lance of the legal hills and the insurnncc down payment.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE? The issue of a dues increase was talked

abom at the last BOD meeting and regularly since that It will be an agenda item at the spring BOD meeting. My Oil a dues increase is twofcJ]d. lll1tll WC had the current J'OUlld or legal hills, we didn't need to consider a dues increase at this time. Second, ifa dues increase is voted on in March it rnay not become dTccrivc unt ii Ja1111ary, l ')99, which docs 1101 help the I CJ98 cash-./low situ at ion. I)on't misunderstand me, the 1998 budget shows a slight year-end positive numhcr even with a $60,000 line ircm for legal costs. It docs not rake imo accoum,

Mi\RCI I 19Y7

the loss of most of our reserves. l have a very strong desire to see us build our financial reserves back up quickly. A momh-to-month existence wirh little or no reserves for an unexpected expense is neither comfrJrtablc nor, in my opinion, very prudcn t. In order to resolve this situation, one of die suggestions is the initiation of a one-rime smchargc on membership renewals of eight dollars. In order to allow fime for yo11 to react and log in your opinions on this and the possible dues increase, it would probably have a J11nc 1 or July I start date. l sec one of these options as a necessary business decision to preserve the financial integrity of your Associ:ition. '] 'his will allow us to recoup most of the depleted reserves. ·J'hc rhird option, of course, will be to maintain the st:H11s quo with a much smaller financial reserve. We have already had many members contribute toward the legal costs firnd. As rhis writing (end or January, 1998) these contribmions stand at$ 4,989.95 or about 10%> of the costs of the Dan Brown, Vic Powell, ct. al. lawsuit. This h:1s simply nor hecn enough of an oHsct. Evcn withom the kind of legal expenses we saw in 1997, we will eventually need ro consider a member dues increase to keep up with rising costs. l still sec that as down the road a ways. There arc derer-· mi ncrs rhat could speed this up such as a signiflcalll insurance premium increase or a severe increase in magazine production or priming costs. I don't sec either of rhesc as likely. In the meantime, we need to put a flx in place to rebuild our reserves deficit. Without it, the US[ !CA will not be in a position to respond to unforeseen, shortnoticc, or emergency financial requirc-mems. We print your directors' communication information in each issue of the mag· azinc. l f you have some thoughts or an opinion, comact them. You can also e-mail me at phhacl1manvoushga.org or fox al (719) G37.-G417 or mail to PO. Box 1:3:30, Colorado Springs, CO 80901. l would really like rn have your inpur. Ill

1.)C'

AERO EXPO

enezue a

Force Base. Note loose harness mains. Photo by Frank Foti.

Aeroexpo is a biannual air show put on by the Venezuelan Air Force in Maracay, Venezuela. Although sponsored by the Air Force, it is by no means limited to military aircraft. In addition to a foll complement of military aircraft and armament, there was an equally strong presence ofcivil sport, acrobatic, model ultralight and hang gliding forms ofaviation. The Venezuelan affinity for flight is equal to ifnot stronger than our own, as evidenced by the large attendance, resounding cheers for all the flying routines, and the seemingly equal status ofall the aviators, including us hang glider guys. oming from a country where, more often than nor, hang glider and ulrralighr pilots are viewed with skepticism if nor contempt, it was way cool to visit a place where the spectators as well as the air show officials took us as seriously as the Cobra helicopter or Super Tuccano pilors. They even gave us rhe F-16 hangar to ser up and store our gliders and gear. You could hold your breath until some Tuesday and nor receive that kind of treatmenr ar a U.S. military base or civil airport.

WHO WENT? The hang gliding ream included Frank Fori as rhe aerobatics pilor, Jody Lazaro and myself as crew and for technical services, and Alfredo Suarez, a native Venezuelan and U.S. residenr, as translator. Frank of Miami Hang Gliding pur this ream together when Omar Contreras of Sistema Aereo De Promocion in Margarita Venezuela contacted Frank to perform an aerobatics hang gliding routine for Aeroexpo '97. Initially, Omar contacted John Heiney, but he had prior commit16

ments and could not do the show. John rhen recommended Frank who has several air shows to his credit. Omar, who is highly animated and possesses an infectious enthusiasm, easily convinced Frank ro do the show.

FRANK FOTI Frank (a.k.a. "Junior") is one of those guys who is as comfortable in the air as he is on the ground. Flying is second nature ro him, and he makes things look just a little bir easier than he should. At age 31, Frank has been flying more than half his life, which is probably why he is so at ease in the air. He started flying at age 14 with his older brother James Tindle as h_is instrucror. In 1989 Frank became interested in aerobatics and attended a clinic wirh Mirch McAleer, and after receiving additional insrruction from John Heiney he started looping in 1990. Frank admits that his first loops were more like "flop-overs, " bur with practice he gor them down to a science. I remember many rimes rowing him up to 4,000 ' so he could throw loop after loop. I also remember a crowd of

pilots in the setup area with their necks craned upward to see him do his stuff while they listened fo r rhe unmistakable sound of a hang glider in a vertical dive. The older pilors would grumble, "H e shouldn't be doing that," and the yo unger pilors would yell, "500 feer Junior, one more! " Now Frank rums vertical 360's better tl1an most pilots rum horizontal ones. When he is not upside-down in his glider, Frank owns and operates Miami Hang Gliding, Inc., offering tandem instruction for everyone from new pi lots up ro tandem instructors. Frank is a natural at teaching hang gliding. He possesses the same at-ease quality when working with his students thar he does wh en free flying. The ability to fly jusr seem s to "rub off" on his students; they appear to learn on a subconscious as well as a conscious level.

WHO IS OMAR? Omar Comreras is a defin ite character as well as sky enthusiast. He flies trikes, hang gliders, paragliders and skydives. O mar is H ANG GLID ING

LEFT: Which way is up? Photo by Frank Foti.

ABOVE: Frank upside-down over the Air Force base. Photo by Frank Foti.

RIGHT: Jody, Steve, Frank and Alfredo with the Po/.ar Bear Models.

also a consummate promoter which accounts for the surgical attachment of a digital video camera to his right hand. He runs around like a man whose time is up and has but a few moments to get a mountain of work completed, and he does all this with a smile on his face and a look that says, "What's next?" In fact, for four non-stop days I don't think I ever saw him slow down or nor wear a smile. In his official capacity, Omar was the liaison between the U.S. crews and the Venezuelan Air Force. He also pulled banners with his trike and the Venezuelan flag under canopy. HOW DID WE GET THERE? Ready for this? The four of us, five fulllength hang gliders, and our trailermounted winch system were picked up at Miami International Airport and flown to Venezuela by rhe Venezuelan Air Force in a Hercules Cl30 cargo plane. Traveling with us were various aircraft parts, a large pile of what were apparently Christmas gifts, and John Mooney with his large, rickety trailer. The trailer comained two MARCH 1998

ultralights, an Eagle, and something that any reader with a four-digit USHGA number or less will remember - an Easy Riser. Aside from the lack of rest rooms, airline food, flight attendants, reclining sears, or any sears for that matter, this is the way to rravel. We loaded our gliders and equipmem ourselves, eliminating the typical fears associated with traveling with a hang glider. Will the narrow-minded customer service agent at the check-in counter let your glider on the plane? If he does check in your glider, will some ape of a baggage handler do a Sampson.ire commercial with your 7075 tubing? Once C urly, Moe and Larry have loaded the deformed remains of your otherwise pristine glider onto the plane, the final question ... will your glider even end up on the same cominent as you? It is very reassuring to load and be in eye contact with your glider through the whole event. After a four-hour flight we landed in Venezuela, wiloaded our gear and were already thinking about getting back in the air - back in the air in our hang gliders,

of course. OFF TO THE AVILA After we wiloaded the Hercules, we cleared immigration in the flight briefing room and were issued clearance badges that basically gave us access to any air show section of the air base, including the F-16 hangar where we set up and stored our gear. After we moved into the F-16 hangar and met a group of F-16 pilots, we put Alfredo to work on his cell phone locating transportation to the Avila. The Avila is a coastal mountain near Caracas of uncertain height. When I first heard about the Avila I was told by a Venezuelan pilot that it was 10,000 feet high and that you must launch early in the morning before the down-slope winds start and rhe crowds arrive at the only LZ's, the beach and the golf course. When Frank and I went to Venezuela in 1995 we were unable to fly the Avila because it was Easter and we were told by our host and friend, Juan Arriaz, that the beach and golf course would be too crowded. We did nor fly this sire on rhar trip so the Avila, to the best of my knowledge, was

stil! 10,000'. On this trip we were not going to be denied the Avila, so we pressed Alfredo until he talked two of his friends into driving us up to launch in the middle of the night. During the journey up the mountain we thanked Alfredo's friends for caking us up to 10,000', and they replied that we were welcome but the Avila is only 8,000'. Instantly the mythical mountain had lose 2,000 of its mythical feet. No worries, 8,000 vertical feet is still a great sled run. At 2:00 am we arrived ac Gary's house/farm/bunkhouse/hang gliding launch. The next morning we sec up and prepared to launch. This was going to be great - a flight from 8,000' to sea level. Setting up included switching on my vario, which to my disappointment indicated 6,000'. The mythical mountain had just gotten another 2,000' shorter. I felt compelled to launch quickly before the tailwind picked up any more and the mythical mountain got any less mythical. Generally speaking, in order to fly from the Avila you must launch before 8:00 am. 18

Since we didn't get much sleep the night before, we were all poking along, screeching the launch window to the limit. Although the wind was blowing straight in when we woke up, by the time we sec up tl1e wind had died, and when we were ready to launch it was starting to go cacabatic. I was the first one to head down the goat path to launch but somehow ended up lase in the launch order. As the calm cycles got shorter and I waited for the other guys co launch, I had plenty of tin1e co reflect on the face that we should have started earlier. Alfredo and Jody were first and had calm cycles for their launches. By the time Frank stepped up to the ramp me wind steadied to a light tail with short and infrequent calm cycles. As I watched Frank launch and disappear below me ramp I was reminded that me trees and brush were not very far below. As I stepped up to the ramp I felt the breeze on the back of my neck, and considered me near 100% humid.icy and the fact that Frank had a strong launch run and still barely cleared the brush. I once again reflected on the fact that we should have started earlier,

and for a brief moment considered bagging it. However, the prospect of driving down me mountain, on that miserably long and bumpy road, and not flying down increased my resolve and patience to wait for a cycle. When the streamer finally went limp I did not hesitate; I knew this was the lase cycle of the day. I started my launch run and accelerated all tl1e way down. When I came to me end of the ramp I remember wishing that whoever built it had been a little more generous with the its length. My launch was good and I cleared the brush with feet to spare. I zipped up my pod and savored the adrenaline high. As I flew away from launch toward the spine we had to cross, I was awestruck by the view. I was surrounded by mountains with their peaks concealed by clouds. Beneath me was the Avila's steep tree-covered slope d1at descended and disappeared into d1e ocean. In front was d1e Caribbean Sea wim its distinctive deep blue color. This was one of those rare moments. You can stand on the edge of a mountain and look out at me view as a spectator, or you

_HA:G ~l;DING -

can fly off the moumain and lie a part of the view as a participant. Fven rhough l was a mile above the I.Z I had w focus some of my anent ion 011 where J was going. Ir was several miles to the rnwn where the I was and there was a spine 10 cross. After I cleared the spine and could sec the town where the golf course and beach were loc11ccl, my atrcn· tion went back to enjoying the view, but not for long. As we approached rown it became evident that there was a stTong headwind at lower altitudes and we were not making any forw:ml progress. We had lo bail ou rhe golf' course and land on the wliicl1 was my first choice anyway. The prospect orlanding on a Caribbean beach with ladies in liikinis was a lot more appealing than landing in a pl:icc that tends to have exrrcrncly hard, dimpled objects flying about.

ANOTHER GREAT PLACE TO FIY Afrcr om overnight trip to the Avila we returned 10 1hc ;1ir force base. On the way we passed La Vie101i1, a very popular fly. site. The conditions were great and we were tempted ro srop and f1y. La Victoria has ;111 launch, and the shape of the mountain the wind blows straight in most of the time. During their season (January through April) the si1e is very soaralilc, and boasts duration and cross coumry flights. ln foct, rhe Somh American distance record of 180 miles is held hy Sandi Dykmar from this sire. · rhc Lmncl1 is about 2,200' above the two LZ's. The 1irimary LZ is a linlc tighr with high trees surrounding rhc agriculfield. The secondary LZ is a tural field better suited 10 novice pilots. The only drawback is that, like the Avila, you cannot sec 1he I .Z from launch. You must first dear a spine to sec the field, for less which cm be enced pi lots. A not her great rhing about La Victoria is a guy named Juan Arria,.. Juan is a local pilot who lives near the top of I ,a Victoria and who has ;1 cabin he rents ro pilots. His property is on rhc near the summit which overlooks launch and is less than a mile away. Juan is a personable guy who knows everyone on the 111m1mai11 so lie can arrange retrieval and introduce you to the owners of the 011ly restaurant on the moumain. The owners arc also very personable, and arc luppy l"O show yon around rhcir property which includes a MARCI I 199B

form. 1r you arc so inclined, they will intro .. duce you ro yom dinner before they prepare it. J ,a Vicwria is a wonderful site and the day looked great, but, unfortunately, we could not stop ro fly; we had an air show briefing to attend. When wc arrived back al the base we scr up our gliders and row rig in rhc former F-1 (J hangar, now hang glider/ultraligln hangar which wc shared with Omar and John Mooney.

WHO IS

MOONUY?

John is a ultraliglir pilor and cntlmsi;ist who has carved out an air show niche to help supplement his ulrraligln school. John has a routine he docs wirli his Riser thar sounds like circus stufT I must admit lha1 when he described it to me I was a bit skcprical. However, whrn T saw him do it l was thoroughly entertained. He starts his routine by taking off in the Riser which is powered a small engine that resembles a Scars whacker. 'I 'here was, however, nothing small about irs ability to make noise. If I he little engine devoted as much power ro creating thrnst as decibels it would be more appropriately placed on the Hercules than the Easy Riser. Alier narrowly gerring airborne John makes a pass over the crowd, and an angry mall, dearly irritated by the noise, raises a shotgun and fires ar the ulrr;ilight, shooting off one of" the landing gear wheels. John, undaunted by the sbootcr, makes another pass over the crowd. The shooter, equally pcrs1!,tc11t, squeezes off· another round, climinaring another piece of the landing gear. John, demonstrating the true deter ..

minarion of an ultralight pilot, makes ;mother pass over the crowd, resulting in another shot from Fl mer hid which blasts off the airplane's tail section. The aircraft, now separated from its tail and landing gear, seems to fly out of' control widi no apparent way ro land safdy, and as if the situation weren't bad enough, rhe little engine spmrcrs and stalls. John ,1n•10,,,,., with the controls and manages to tum the plane in on final approach to a certain crash landing. Just befrm: what seems like an unavoidable John flares and safely no lands his Easy Riser on his feet whack. A hir corny, bm the crowd seemed to really enjoy it. for those unfamiliar with rhc fasy Riser, it is an ultralight biplane hang glider and was never equipped with landing gear, a motor, or a tail section.

THE AIR SHOW The air show was open ro the public for three days: Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The president of Venezuela attended on Friday, but tlic crowds were on Saturday and Sunday. Each of' the rhc was nllcd with one form of flying or another. Some of" the more sive rourincs, besides our own of course, were John J ,illburg and his 300 rhc ( :obr:1 helicopter and the Super' li.1ccano. On Satmday the Venezuelan Air Force put on an hom and a half show and demon· stration. They launched hundreds of'airplanes, virtually evcry1 hing they had at this base, from Cessna l to C 130 cargo planes ro Blackhawk helicopters ro F.. J Ci fighters. It took about Ito minutes to launch all the aircraft using two runways. After all ofthc ,iircra{t were ail-borne they demonstrated a simulated cngagcrncnt. One of the C: 130's did a short.. ficld landing to deploy troops, and another landed just behind the /;rst ro deploy addi .. tional troops and hardware. At the sJmc time, even more troops repelled from Blackliawks while supplies were dropped by parachute from cargo planes. During the maneuver, Blackhawks and bombers provided air cover and the bombers even fired inert missiles ar some targets. Afrer the mock encounter there was a real deployment, of their flrc dcpartmcm. Apparently one of' the missiles was not quite as inert as planned and inadvertently ignited some dry brush surrounding the targets. For our pan, we had two windows each 19

day for Frank to do his routine, which consisted of spins, wingovers and loops. Frank was flying a Prccfator 142, which is his glider of choice. We outfitted the glider wi1h brackets to bold smoke bornbs ro add to the dfccr. Un/c)rrunatcly, the smokes we were provided were about as reliable as a seven at the craps rable. Sometimes the smoke bombs would ignite and sometimes they wouldn't, and sometimes they would just spit out gobs of flaming colored goo. l give Frank a lot of credit. Ir takes a special kind of pilot to tow up in rowdy midday air, ignite two smoke bombs, throw some loops, snap off pictures wbile upside-down (attempting to get the horizon level in the picture) while a1tached to mal·· functioning smoke hombs spattering flaming Sterno and all this before a large air show crowd.

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In addition to Frnnk's routine om windows were generally long enough to launch at least one additional glider and sometimes two. The rnxiway we were using was abom 7,500' wl1ich was long enough to tow the gliders to 2,500'. At previous air shows we usually had at least two winches so we would launch two or three gliders simultane.. ously. This, however, was not practical for this show. The winch we were using was donated to the cause by Flytcc USA. 'fowing to roughly 2,000', we were running abom a five-minute turnaround time, which still allowed us to gel three gliders in the air, soar around for a while, and have time for J<'rank to do his rominc. The crowd seemed to really enjoy our efforts, but wk1t really surprised me was how much our fellow aviators enjoyed it. F. I G and Blackhawk pilots alike gave us thumbs up and told us how rnuch they got a kick our of what we were doing. 'The other rhing that strnck me about the milirary aviators was bow common the perception was that we were nuts and really out there living on the edge, It amuses me that these pilots, who al any moment could have the business end of an automatic weapon pointed at then,, had this opinion. After d1c last routine on the last day of the show, the Vcnen1C·· Jan Air Force sponsored a parry and awards ceremony for all the pilots. We were all given Aerocxpo '97 T·shins, ceniflcates of appreciation from the Air Force, and an invitation to come back in 1999. After the party and enough beer ro make loading om gear imo the 1-krculcs a little easier, we wcnr to om ulwilight hangar (former F-l G hangar), cleared out our gliders and gear and gave the hangar back to the fighters.

BACK TO THE U.S. Just as we did when we went to Venezuela, we loaded our gliders and gear into the Cl 30 /c)r the rerurn trip. Since no one at the Air Force base was sending aircraft pans or Christmas gifts to the States, there was a large empty spot in rbc hold of the 130. This void did not stay empty /;,)r long. John Lilllrnr!:';s disassembled :300 Extra was to occupy the frirrncr posit ion of rhc parts and gifts. While the 300 is extremely robust in its assembled state, it is quite vulnerable when dismantled, which explained the highly agitated state rhar John was in as we helped load his $300,000 airplane inro the Hercules. Once John's plane was loaded there was not a whole lot of room left for us, which made it ::ibundantly clear that this was nor a commercial airline flight. 'T'hc fact that we were at a cruise altitude of about 30,000' on the return flight made rhe view through the window seem like that on commerci:d flight, but that's where the similarity ended. The reality of the cold in that cargo hold at 30,000' was a constant, tceth·cl1attering reminder thar we were not on a commercial :iirlincr.

BACK TO VENEZUELA T'his trip was put together and sponsored by Miarni Hang Clid ing and I thank them for giving me another opportunity ro visit Venezuela. This was my second trip there and l look forward to returning in two years for Aeroexpo '99. Actually, [ look forward ro rernming sooner, and not just because it's a way to get away from the wife and kids. Venezuela is a fun place with good flying and friendly people. Parr of becoming a better pilot is expanding one's perspective by flying ar different sites and with different pilots. If you arc interested in taking a hang gliding trip to Venezuela contaCI Miami Hang Cliding for information abour local contacts and places to visit, or you could join them on one of' their yearly trips. II

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s f write this article for publication in Hang Gliding I'm very excited about some things that arc happening. l sincerely think our organization is starring to rnovc fc)tward following the unfortunate lawsuit that co11sumcd so much of our money and energy. With new and improved programs in rhe works, I sec hang gliding's future as bright. I personally think we've seen the bottom and are on our way lxick up. I'd like to tell you about some of those things that arc in the works. NEW ACCIDENT REPORTING PROCESS The first action [ took as USHGA's new president was to revamp the accident reporting process. Now, instead of accident compilation being the job of one person, it is a three-person committee process that will spread out the (volunteer) workload and create more UfHo-datc, accurate and in-depth accident reporting than we've had in some time. It is now the Regional Director's job to ensure th:1t an accident report is flied for every known accident in his or her Region. Once these reports arc completed they will be compiled by the Accide11t Committee Chairman in the appropr1ace category (hang gliding or paragliding) and sent to the person who writes the article for the magazine. After the article is written it will be reviewed by a two-person committee for clarification so as not to mislead or over

(or under) concern the readership. l think this process will keep the people involved more "fresh" than the single-person approach which has a tendency to over·· whelm the person doing the majority of the work Keep in mind that we can't inform 1zll pilots of accident trends or perfr)rrn a thorough analysis if we don't get accident reports. Unfortunately, many people rely on others to file those reports. Th is usually leads to the job never getting done. lf you hear of an accident, at least call the USHCA or your Director and give them any information you have. This is critical in making the system work. Names of instructors and pilots involved in accidents are kept strictly conHdential. A name is only included in ;i published accident report in the case of a fatality. Let's all do our part to get the system back on track. PROMOTION OF OUR SPORTS 'I 'his will be the major theme during my tenure as your president. We must let the public know that the sports of hang glid-· ing and paragliding are available. l'm hearing more and more about flight parks opening all over the country, and co11ld11't lie more excited about this. One of rhe jobs the USl{GA will rake on in the near friture is helping these flight parks and schools work as a unifled group to get the word out through major publications, etc., that our sports arc available ;ind becoming

more accessible all the time. If you have any special skills as a publicist or in marketing, and think you can help us, please call me or Phil Bachman at the US[ [GA office ro talk about how we c:111 work together for the good of our sports. Another short-term goal of mine, to be completed within the yca1~ is a blueprint booklet that will outline the steps and investments required to open a flight park. Without a doubt, aerotowing is the fastest-growing segmem in hang gliding, and it offers the public a relaxed means of getting airborne. With a portable "mountain" it is being demonstrated tfott large hang gliding communities can exist in the flattest of areas. Surveys show that the average person can relate to being towed aloft by a powered aircraft, since they've been vaguely familiar with this technique in the sailplane world for many years. With this in rnind, it is my belief that many more flight parks arc waiting just below the surface, ready w sprout up with minimal coaxing. J will be interviewing and soliciting information from rhe smallest to the brgest flight parks in the U.S. to come up with a "recipe" that will flt potential aero-· rowing operations of all sizes. Once com·· pleted, this free publication will be available from the USHGA as another resource for promoting the sport. This doesn't mean th;:it we plan to move away from our fr>oC· launch roots. We will continue to look for ways to promote the most "pure" form of hang gliding and paragliding footlaunch mountain flying. 'Talented members with a desire to work on this project should get in touch with me. COMMUNICATION Depending on whom you talk to, this may be the most neglected area in the USHGA. Some foctions within the organization feel thar their concerns h,1ve been overlooked in the recent past. While l don't agree that they've been ignored, I'll be the first to admit that communication indicating otherwise may have been slow in coming or non-existent. Enough dwelling on tbe sins of the past; we must look forward. [ have created

Continued on page 44. HANC CLIDINC

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- -~

~ , - - - - - - ---,,--------:-:--:-----.

PILOT REPORT

E R 0

teat

The author soaring a Stealth at Fort runston, San Francisco, California. Photo by D. Brown.

Thinking that the topless craze was all hype, I went into the 1991 flying season a bit skeptical My skepticism was put to rest soon after taking possession of the "topless" model from the new kids on the block, US. Aeros. Having flown the Stealth KPL 151 at the Sandia Classic, the King Mountain Open and the Nationals in Lakeview, you could say I racked up a few hours (much of it in really big air and some in very light stuff). The Stealth was a very pleasant surprise. SETUP Much like any other high-performance glider, the Stealth KPL has basically the san1e setup without the fuss over top rigging. Because of the tightness of the sail it is best to push the two nose ribs into place before spreading the wings. Once the wings are spread, install the ribs, leaving the four outboard ribs unril after tensioning. The wing is tensioned by pulling back the crossbar as you are probably used to. You then install the washout cubes and remaining ribs. The tip strut is angled and has been designed to be installed "bend up" to straddle the washout tube. The only noticeable difference from my previous glider (a Klassic) was the increased rib tension (which is noticeable, bur there for a reason). The only thing lefr is to zip up the self-installing dive sticks (or sprogs, as they've come to be known) imo the double surface from the bottom of the sail and velcro on the cure little Horton-style fiberglass wing tips.

LAUNCHING The KPrs static balance is nearly neutral and which makes it easy

H ANG GLIDING

MARCH 1998

are

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strzi'lltttcti1.ittv smaller price

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Stealth

in rhe po:sm,on, and drarnatically pulled tight. 'Ihfa allows nw:ne.r,,ttlt airfoi.1 with the VG off 1i,:,,,c;,.r.nn thennaling), and a higheMpeed with VG on (great for gliding). With VG off Flytec 3026 ipdian airspeed of around 2 lfoph at trim speed. Hauling the easy·to·{mll through two Iii!! basm1be lengths to the foll-on position, the control bar relocates inches rearward (toward pilot), and airspeed indicated around 30 mph at trirn! With this in mind you can see that just a small amount of pull,in on the control bar will put you at; around 40 mph indicatt:d airspeed with minim;il The change in of the airfoil and the di.rnin.ishwa1,l101,1t both cause the center Qflifr m rearwn1rd, '''"''''"""' effoct:i:vely moving your hang point and, voila, you ate trinm1cd at 30 mph with the VG on. ·rhis is useful when bt1cki11g a long of time. pe1to1.·m,mc:e on this bird is flying in last year's top,p1n1J~ out in llfr high over

u,1,.,,,,uc,.1,,.,rn,.,,,1\.<,>

slightly differently

uu1;;;rw11,J.~:r~. If you like to muscle

in roll, you are in for some

SUMMARY This glider the same fine sail work and craftsllwnship that you would expect from any fine hang gliding manulac1.uri:r. T'be that it comes from Ukraine shoul.d not be to a potential buyer, The use of a bi.dlt-up, riveted alum.imun box spar, which has been used and prov,~11 in for is an of innovation If you are in adapted to the market for a miw topless pc1:forma11ce with a significantly smaller than the others ($4,800) yourself to look into the KPL The KPL is avaHable in sizes: 1,30, 142 and 151.

c01mJanso.r1s I had an opportunity .to expcwith gliders such a,<; Moyes CSX's, karo Laminars and Wills Wing Fusions. Not Flight C9n1p:uttr teclmi1cal disadv~intage since I estun.mr1g 1ny lJest [~lide spted by so my to follow closely behind a. pilot with a spced~to-fly comput~ c:r. In most glide I folt that Stealth matched rest of th,: topless doscly. Who knows how I might flown with a .it w resr)ect;abl.e gli<,lc

U.S. DIS1'RIBUT'ION Not all imported gliders in the history hang gBd.ing have had a great """"'"·'" about parts availability is a valid one for any customer, but this won't be a distributor of the Stealth problem with U.S. Aeros, a company founded in 1996, is headed Lip by G.W. Meadows, G,W., the company is no smmg,~r to rnost people in sport of hang gliding. }le and U.S. Aeros vke president SunnyVenesky it their goaJ to no than they can prop.. edy the gliders they have in the 1;l eld. With over $12,000 of parts in and to ship, they're taking this com· mitrnent to the customer very ser1m1>Sly, dc>l1vc,1·v times arc around

speed very well, as gliders, care should be ma.k:ingyoti.r approach.

Contact at (919) information about yom· nearest dealer or to dealer inforn1ation. lnfom1ation about the is also available on their Web at www.Justfly.com. Ill

the start a handful of pms, pulling on the VG offered the glide

MARCH 1

thing else is pretty s.imilar to other blade wings. Side-sUpping, as always, should be done with caution, however, it is obviously desiJ'abJe to pm thegli,kr down where you want. Landing tbe KPL was very straightforward and it a predictabk~, wide flarewln.dow.

All men draan, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses oftheir minds wake in the to/ind it was vtmity. But the dreamers ofthe rire dcmgcrous men, .fr,r they may act their with open eyes, to make it possihle. The Seven Pilltm of Wisdom by TE [,awrence hirty·four pilots entered the Montana

x.c challenge in 1997. 'Jwcnty·threc pilots registered in the hang gliding class, nine entrants flew paragliders and rwo pilots f1ew both. Membership in the MCCC season-long evcm has continued to slowly increase for rbe past several seasons. About one-third of all Momana USHGA members entered rhc challenge in 1997. This event is designed to encourage pilots to challenge themselves to fly far, since fly-ins and large gaggles remain a rarity in the "Big state. Peter Swanson dreamed with open eyes during the summer of'97. I le won both competition classes on the strengrl1 of several good rlights and two record flights. Peter's Yi-mile paragliding flight in an Edel Secror from Western Montana's Morrell Peak eclipsed the previous Montana srntc distance record set in l 996 by Todd Onken. The Morrell flight came a fow days after an

August 88-milcr (and new site record) from Mt. Scn1incl in a Wills Wing Fusion. This flight originaled in Missoula, crossed the Continental Divide at McDonald Pass and ended at the outskirts of Helena. In addition to winning the lion's share ofMCC:C: prizes, Peter's longest flights were engraved on the highly coveted MCCC hang gliding and paragliding perpetual plaques o' fame. The Montana summer of '97 was tmusually wet both cast and west of the Divide, limiting the number of' really good cross· country days. Despite the lcss.. tJ1;m .. ideal conditions, the following MCCC narratives hint at some of the reasons we spend so much time, effort and money chasing the

clouds: Peter Swanson August IO found us on Sentinel in windy but promising condidons. It wok an hour to work up the courage to go over the back at 8,000' MSL I immcdi-

atcly regretted it when 1 hir strong tmbu .. lcncc at six grand near Clinton, but it rnrncd into a ratty thermal that took me to 11,000', the start of an easy 30-milc cruise to Bear· mouth. ·rhis gave me some open space to work fr)r the jump lO Drummond. At Drummond it became clear thar this day had potcmial so I patiently (for me) worked the clouds to 13,200'. I dolphin /!cw from Drummond ro Elliston losing only 2,000'. l felt rushed when 1 reached McDonald Pass on the west side of the Continental Divide. Big storms were brewing in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Arca; I needed to get going even though my altitude was only 9,500'. Crossing the Divide, I noticed the smell of storms. Soon I was hit with a north wind and was drilled to the ground for 88 Great Circle miles. john Davis We rnTivcd at the top of Ellis Peak on August 3 al about 930 i\M. Winds were cycling out of the east, much to our dismay. By 2:00 PM the conditions were getting stronger with dust devils trying to cat our gliders while we were setting up. By now cycles were corning up both sides of the mountain and we decided to launch to the west. Don Lcpinsky launched at 3:00 PM and I launched at 3: 15 into a light cycle. l encountered strong lifr soon afrcr launch. It was very turbulent up through 12,000' MS!. and then became smoother as J topped our m 14,650' drifring toward the northeast and still a good thousand feet below cloud base. I crossed t:hc 'frndoys and headed for the Clark Canyon Reservoir. No lift. [ was at 10,500' when I crossed l-1 5 sou th of the reservoir. With no lifr but plenty ofl1opc I continued to fly in a northerly direction above the foothills on the cast side ofl .. 15. By this time the conditions were beginning to OD and raindrops began tapping the sail. The clouds were shutting down any further thermal development and I cominued to lose altitude. l encountered a north head· wind at abom 1,00()' /\G L. 1 landed on the west side of the Beaverhead River in ;i recrc· ation area north of rhe Henneberry Bridge at 4 :07 l'M for 2'.1 miles. I was hoping /c)r the "big one," but no such luck. Mayhc next time! Dan On the afrernoon of 9/ 14/97 the wind was very strong bur the clouds looked good. Unfortunately, it rook most of the day to get to a launch site. Adversity was running amuck. We really wanted to try a new sire, hut found a 30 .. mph breeze coming 90 degrees cross. Returning to the Hogback, nobody was HANC GLJUINC

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PO Box 101, Mingoville, PA 16856 Web

interested in battling the setup area in this wind. Someone mentioned that the old Nelson/Bridges site had renewed access so we set off across the Paradise Valley again. The wind was srill very strong but the clouds were still promising. The caretaker was found and waivers were signed. Gate number two found us with the wrong key so we had ro squeeze the trnck through 1he walk-through gate. Then the trnck quit. Then it overheated. More time wasted cooling it with creek water. The clouds continued to beckon and we finally made it to launch. It had grown in a linlc since the last visit. I launched and climbed om like the space shuttle. The wind was strong, hut by now (6:00 PM) the clouds were gone. A steady climb to I 0,000' was smooth and easy; penetration was no problem. I purred around even with the peaks until I s~1w the truck leave the mountain. Heavy sigh time to get going. All the trouhlcs we had gening up the hill were really impressive for the flrst-.rimc driver. I pointed the RamAir toward Livingston. It took all of five minutes to get to Suce Creek, ahom rhc halfway point. 'forning hack into the wind above the cliff I gained hack 1,000', then let 'er rip downwind when I saw the chase truck go under me. Five more minutes a11d l was over the landing area at the J ,ivingston golf course. I was a lit de nervous abom landing in strong winds in town, bm as I got lower I could sec little moverncnr in any of the flags, and I ended up landing in a three-mph breeze. 'fhc final tally for the day was l Omiles, which took abour IO minutes, although total flight time was 011e hour. Wouldn't it be fim ro do a mile a minurc all day long? This was my only entry in this year's X-C

Lefi to right: M CCC members .Jones, Gordon "(;ordo" 'Jt10mpson and Ste{}c 'litbbs on nuch Creeh P11ss in the Big Belt Rtmge. 3()

Challenge, 11. HANG GLIDING RESUI.:I'S Next year I'II have Documented Place Pilot Mileage my priorities twisted Tc)nil Plights back ro where they l) Peter Swanson 30.0 149.9 should he. As ir 2) 5] 20.2 .Don Lepinsky 71.9 turned out, my best 3) Karl l·Iallman 38.0, 31.9 69.9 flight of the 23.0, 20.2, l7.0 60.2 4) John Davis came after Chai5) 49.0 49.0 John Woiwode lcngc ended, mrnral6) l9,0 19.0 Jim Gaither ly. I had a three-hour 7) Dan Gra:vage JO.O l 0.0 flight which covered 8) Gordon 'fhornpson 5.3 39 miles over the turn points. Ir was PARAGLIDING RESUI:I'S during an active day l) Peter Sw,mson , 23.0, 12.0 69.1 of eagle migration, 2) 'fodd Onken 7.0, 6.0 19.3 so we flew with 3) 9.6 Andrea Onken 2.3 30-40 golden 4) ;3.0 'Taylor Arnot 3.0 during the course of the flight. Magical. !lndrea Onl,en The afternoon of May Beaverhead Rock State Park, 51.7 miles from 26 had lots of cloud action (building and launch. dissipating) and looked classic for thermals. Would the sky OD before I could hike my The MCCC '98 kickoff will be here soon. paraglidcr to launch? During the 35-minute The combination of bang glider a11d grind up the hill I watched 'faylor Arnot paraglider pilots in this season-long event has work his paraglidcr into a thermal and then worked om beautifully. Many new friend.speck under a good-sized cloud. Cycles at ships and site contacts have been established. launch were in the 8-10 mph range, bur Much information has been exchanged. fr is infrequent. I followed my husband 'fodd in gratifying to sec pilots pursuing their dreams, a good cycle. The 1,000 foot lifr and sink with open eyes and a common cause, in all was tiring. A low save quickly turned into types of flying machines. We breathe and 3,000' over launch. 'fodd was already head share the same rarefied air. ing c,ist. so I followed him. J hooked a need· ed thermal at rhc radio t-owcrs and gained PRIZE SPONSORS another 1,000'. 'fodd was now scratching Members of 1997 Montana Cross-Country over Bonner so I followed and finally flew Challenge would like to thank the following over him, frir a total of 7.3 miles. sponsors for their MCCC prize contribuDon J,epinslq .,,,, [ arrived m the lower tions. Pilots should support these businesses Ellis launch at noon on July 2.2.. Cumics because their products arc excellent and their were popping and thermals were ripping up support oflow-profllc (but high fun coeffithe southwest focc. By the time [ was set up cicm) events such as the MCCC is comthe conditions were starting ro on, with mendable. THANK YOU! virga appearing around Ellis. Launching into a brief parch of sunshine, f plummeted to USHGA Roger Buder hang gliding 500' AGL. A small, rurbulcm thermal took posters, PG 'T'hennal T-shirt, metal PG and me to 11,000' MSL. l flew north along the HG license plate frames, Daredevil Hyers Tendoys as rbc entire mountain range and video, Downwind papcrhacl<, USI IGA sew the Medicine Lodge Valley were in cloud on parches. slwdow and occasional virga. Another turbulent save at the north end of the Ti,:ndoys Adventure Productions Two Prmy at and I climbed back through 11,000'. The C!oudbase hang gliding videos. sky finally started to turn sunny and I flew a few miles west of the Clark Canyon ReserHall Brothers 1Tall wind meter with case. voir. l reached the south end of the Dillon Valley at 12,000' and began a turbulc111 and Glider rack pads. High rclemless gradual descent. Another thermal would get me to the 'fobacco Root Range National Aeronautic Association One(and points beyond?) bur it was nor to be. I year membership. II landed in a southeast wind one mile north of HANC Cill)INC

parking lot.

Masterson (right) sits with visiting Swedish pilot Martin Josephson (center) and tandem instructor Tim Nelson.

Tim Nelson observes student Martin Josephson off Crestline.

and photos hy Mike Masterson

common sense.

middle of the

this

can provide a white-knuckle

pilots but a smooth glass-r(/jfrJr Novices in the evening: The local weather provides up to

frJr f{ying days

talkingflyable, we're talleing soarable! he 4,000-ftlot MSL la11nch at Mar· shall Peak is reached on a 2WD din road off Highway 18 in San Bernardino, California. The launch area lias plenty of room for setup and top landings, as well as parking for about 10 vehicles. Straight hack from Marshall Peak is Crestline with its '5,7.00 foot MS!. launch which can he reached on paved roads. Visiting pilots usually cncl up wideat the strong lift here, and many have landed in at the st rcngth of the d1crmals compared to wherever normally fly. The site works with wind directions from southeast to west, but you rnust be careful not to get low in the when the wind is crc1ss1111~. in from the sides. The LZ is Gl llc:d the Alldy Jackson Air Park and is a first-rate place Lo land a11d relax in the shade with the locals. Run· the whole program is the 200-mem · her Crestline which maintains the lease and protects flying The CSS is headed by Prcsi· Rob von Zabern who is a P4/H2 and Paragliding' Erndcm r nsrruc:ror. The

club has hosted many great fly-ins and t1,11·he,r·,11,, one of which drew 200 pilots. The most recent event was a Christmas fly-in at which pilots donated $2,000 worth oC toys to local children. Tlie CSS Ken I lowclls offors a Web sire created which contains a detailed site description and can be found at: www.kiwi.11cr/ ,·ld1owclls/. There'. have been a few injuries at Marshall during the past year suflcrcd by visiring pilots who unforrunatcly didn't undcrsrnnd the local liazards. Visitors arc MAl,CI I I 99/l

a site bricfi ng from an local before flying. The l is very thermally during midday in the s1m11ncr, and dust devils break off at regular intervals frorn the Ice side near the parking \or. It is best not to loiter around or do m:mcnvers ac low alt iwcle near the I.Z when iris hot and/or thermally! 111 the afternoons and evenings rhe wind will sometimes cross a little from die west, and this can create sink and rotors if you get low in the valleys. You do not wam to have an out--landing in rhc middle oft he rhick chaparral as it will take hours to your wing out of' it and hike out. If you find yomsclf missing the aim icJr a dirt road our front whenever possible. There is a launch point 7'50 feet above rhc LZ and i r is possible to launch dierc and thermal up IO Marshall Peak. weather ftirccasts and a map to the Jackson Airpark (Marshall I

can be found on Rob McKenzie's l!igh Adventure Hang Gliding and Paragliding Web site al: www.cee.org/bus/high .. advcnu1rc/, Rob and Diane offer a full-service operation with lessons, shuttle and friendly advice to visiting pilots. Many a long drive has been saved by first checking Rob's forecast and keen obscrvarions that he makes right from the site every morning. A windralker, located in the city of Crestline, can he reached at: (9()f)) 338-:3%7.. The idcaL prevailing winds arc from the southeast to west. If it's blowing from the north after I 0:00 1\M it may not be flyable due ro the seasonal Santa Alla winds. These sporadic north· west winds in Seplcmber and taper ofT in April. 11su;1lly last only a cou· pie of d:1ys and only show 11p about every three weeks. Some of the best lif't can he

Continued on page 16.

r Calendar of cvcnrs items Wll ,L NOT be listed if only rcnrativc. Please include exact in format ion (evcnr, date, contact name and phone 11urnhcr). ltcms should be received no later than six weeks prior to the event. We request two monrhs lead rime for regional and national meets.

COMPETITION MARCH Nationfl!r at Raizan, l'ukuob prefecture, Kymlrn. APRIL l ().] f<Yiiht at llajiki, lharaki prd,·crurc'. Cont:act: 111iwamavr>im:1sy.or.jp, or MA POO I 03Qhnifryscrvc.or.jp. APRIL 1-DEC 31: Second l·cdcon X-C Contest. Wills Wing hilcons 011ly. Four sections: West Coast, West, Central, Fast. Prizes in all sections and classes. I lang 2 and up. Three classes: Pro (Hang 4), Amateur (lL111g 3), Recreational (I lang 2), Towing allowed with maximum release altitude of2,000'. No enrry fr:e, send SASE. Contact: Tek Flight Products, Colebrook Winsted, CT OG098 (860) 379-16G8, fox (8GO) 738-3630, tck(,lenct.nct. APRH, 18-19: 13th !lnnurJl 01·et1n.,ide Open, Oceanside, OR. Sponsored by rbc Oregon Cliding Assn. based in Porrland. Contact: Rob Stephens (503) G8 l-4%4. APRIL 26-MAY 2: Jlilcmtic (,'r1r1s1 Chmnpion.rhips, 450-poinr hang gliding meet, Wallahy Ranch, R. JlJNE 20-27: U.S. Nt1tionaL,, Dinosaur CO. JULY 11-18: l'rt;r11JJ,lidiny Nationals, Lakeview, OR. AUG. 1T23: North Jlmerimn Summer l'r11•t15:,i1a1·nr Chr111:1j>i,1nshif>s, King Mrn., ID. Comact: ht tp://www.jt1stfly.com. MAY 1--3: 121h/lnnu,i!S11w//rt Smith '!rJUmmnent, Moore Mtn., Lowe Orchards, 10 miles north of Taylorsville, NC off I 6. $4 5 cnrry inclndes T-shirt, barbecue, dart wurnamem. Tasks: spot landing, bomb drop, dmation and X-C Trophies for I st through 3rd in each event. Pun $25. Contact: Travis Bryam (704) 758·9331, or Ben Burri! (704) 3')2-3765, MAY 15·-1'7: 1998 Mic/west Open .,fJ:rm,rnwn·f7 (J;•,m1p1,•mJht/1s. All pilots arc welcome ro join us for the peak X.-C: season in the Midwest at Twin Oaks Airport, Whitewater, Wisconsin. Rigid and 11e,:-w1n1, carcg(mc:s, declared goal and open rnsks sire record 150 miles, max :1lri111de 9,700'. $50 cnrry fr:c includes temporary dub membership, acrotows Qi>$7.50 each (limit three per pri·1.c money,

party. /\T required (available 011 sire). Contact: ( Dinaucr (608) 221 3(,81, Cclin:1:rncr(llaol.com or I ,arry Bunner (81 5) 2345388. MAY 22--25: Cosmos Omsic, Cosmos, Minnesota. J,cismc :md competition classes. Miles cl tow roads and brnmifol, widc-·opcn terrain make this one of the greatest sires in the counrry. Leisure class: total ainirne. Competition class: X-C:, triangles, r:1ec·to-goaL Last X--C record was 160 miles. Comact: Dave Alan (612) 929-71

AUG. 2-'J: 1998 Ro!d11nillo, C'rJ!ombia, !nternlllion11/ C:onract: Cram Smith, rel. 57,.1-224-5974, fox 'iT-1-G29-M74, gram(tl!,111111J:1scla1r.corn.oo.

/\UG, 9-23: Womm'., World Mee!, Hungary. Aug. 9· l :) I li--22 contes1 (foys, closing ceremonies on the 2:lrd. SEPT.

JUNE 6-· I]: Srmdia Clrlssit, i\lbuqucrq11c, Ne'.w Mexico. l'ighth :mmwl 450 WTSS-point meet at Sandi:1 Peak. The premier meet of the season! Price includes: entry fee, top·qttaliry X-C tasks, glider and pilot tramport:arion to lattnch, rnrnpoint film and computerized foll-time paid sraH; free oxygen refills, gift certifi · cares from local businesses, convenient meet headquarters with reduced room rates, awards barbecue, T-shirt and more! Trophies for Class 1 roplcss/kingposrcd, and Class 2. Sixty-pilot maximum lidd, li'i spots reserved for pilots ranked in the rop 80 USJ-l< ;A or mp I 00 Pl RS. Remaining c11rrics will be based 011 ranking, com pct it ion and /light ex11ertet11cc. i:irsHimc entrants must have: US! !CA Advanced all Skills, 100+ hours mounrain thermal Databack cameras rc,1\lircd. and CPS highly recommended. Early $325 if postmarked before May I, $375 rl1crcafrcr. RcFundahlc umil April 30. lntcrcsred in in Class C:111 us ASAP so we can plan! Comacr: Mike Crcgg, 121 17 Sr. Dr., Albuqucrqm:, NM 8711 I (505) 27',-5978 or Mark Mocho (505) 298 2922. E--mail to mmod1o<Z1'nCi(,.com,

31, $125 :1/tcr, Contact: Advcmure Sports (702) 883-7070, adv·sp1:1<t0 1,vram1(1.m:r, reg1s1:.r:1tH,n frmn al htrp://www.pyramid.net/advspts.

FUN FLYING APRIL l'fl:m_e11t1,,n_e h'11sta Washington State by rhc town of /\sotin. L:umch is 1,700 feet ACf, on the breaks of 1hc No en try fre, free camp· Ftm with a Satunlay night potluck :md b:irbccuc 011 l:11111ch. Contact: Scott Johnson (50')) 24}4988, usa1rbornc(t'''vallcy··llltcrncu1ct, or Torn l lcathm:m (50')) 256-:\:304,

MARCH 20 23: back! C:omc fly, bike, hike, fish in the Owen's Valley to celebrate: rhe lirst day or spring1 FJy .. in begins hiday rhe 20rh ar 9:00 A\i in the LZ. Fun compc· tition, spor party, raffle and more. ( :omc the weather will do what ir wants and we'll m:1kc rhc best of it1 Bring lots of play roys. Comact: Kari Castle (7GO) 872-2087,

JUNE 12-14: Wlild, Wild West

$100 until May 22, $ I afrcr. Contact: Adventure Sports (702) 88;3-7070, advsprs0ilpyramid.ne1, rcg:1sn·anon Form :lt Im p://www. pyramid .net /advspts.

JULY 25-AUG . .I: Wild \Kiest l·ldrm I' ;/,,Jiv,n }?rtmf!wnslu,/1s (lt'iO $2TJ umil June 12, $:'52'5 aficr. Contact: Adventure Spons (702) 8837070, adv:,pts 1<t11p1rran11d.nct, rcg1srranou l,mn at http://www.pyramid.net/advsprs,

MAY 2A-26: 18th 11nmu11111t11wn't1t Jllmnogordo, NM. by Rio (;rande Soaring Assn. Alamogordo is cclcb1,·an11g 100th birthday. Comest or lim shirts, dinner, ere. The best 1 at 9:00 AM on the 2litl1. Mail ,tdvancc entries to 221 Ci /\lamogor·do, NM 88::l I 0. Contact: Tom ,"x. West (505) 4:37-5213 or Robin (505) 541-5'744.

AUG 1-:l: \Klcstm1 C'tmadit1n Ch11m;'nm1sh1p, Colden, BC X-C: Canada's best world -class site, Mount Seven. $.10 Canadian entry fee, includes traditional free night beer h:1sh. lmlividnal :md team J land-cra/ied trophies and many Contact: Meet Director Jeff Runcima11 (40:3) 2'))'!027 (h), (403) 250-'JOT7 (w), or Mcel

JUNE 1-SFPT. 30: 1998 season. $100 each month for rhe longest

ret•1s1cred from an official] ,akcview flying site. $ l ,000 to rhc pilot with the greatest fourmo11th cumulative rnral for the season (p:uaglidcr miles doubled), $50 per momh random draw· just for up and lk:111tifol HANC CLIDINC

and plentiful sites, friendly landowners, good rcrriev:il roads, and great enough lO set all the currcllt State dist:rncc records for I JC and fl(;. Com act: Lake C:o. Chamber of Commerce (5/i 1) 'J/i7.(i()/iO.

JUNF I

Smnmtr So/rtirc by the B11zzard Roost Some of the best sites in Northern California. I .akc tow at Iron Canyon Reservoir, fly off Chalk Mr. (3,100' ACL), catch a at I lat Creek Rim. Lake activities, mmmtain biking and hiking for the whole falllily. bccllcm nv,,·rn,ioi11 accommodations including hot Contact: Pa1 Bl:ickburn ('S:\O) (,04-27(,'5 or Sonny Compton (5:30) 21t:l-25Yi, 11ltim:1tchigh(iilhonnail.co1n.

27-28: I 0th /Jliml~~ht Ickes airport. C:onracr: Don R. Ickes, RD 1, Box 300A, Ostcrlmrg, PA 1GGG7 (814) ?76 3'>53, lrcetlvr<rOnb.nct. JULY 1-5: !99R {r1keview, One Cram\ X-C comest pays $1,000 cash to the X C flight from Black clming the Fesrival. l'araglidcr miles doubled. I !ill-Lakeview Trophy Dash, 1st place prize $ I 00. PC and H (; con$50 each. I.ors test Regis I ration and pilot awards July 'i. Registration site is $ J CJ. Registration alone $5. ( :on tact: Like ( :o. Chamber of'( '.ommcrcc (5/i I) 91i7-60/i0 or UOLjj,,t,,tL" (5/i l) 9/i73330. JULY 5th JlnnUt!l 1th of)u!y I'irrty at Iron Canyon Reservoir in Big Bend, ( :A, spc,nsorc'll by the Bnzzard Roost (;ang. A long list of' Jim activi1ics. Coincides with rhc Buzzard Roost Jnly duh Com,ict: Pat Blackburn (530) (,0/i 2765 or So1my Compton ('5.10) 213-253/i, 11h ima1cl1ighCiilhot mail.com. Fun 1Vfet'I, near JULY 10-12: R1"r,ion Moore, fdaho. X-C: mccL $Ito crnry fee, T-shirts, daily awards. Contact: I .isa · I'ate (2.08) 576-'f') I Ii, ZoolisaCit\tol.com. AUC. 7-9: ?ml !lnnuril Jim Creel, Nim ant! frsti/)(rl. hy the Buzzard Roost and rhc NC:fl.l'A. This sm?-1111pro,,cTnc11t firnd--raising cvc111 ro surpass cve11 last SUCCTSS. (;uaranrccd great time frir a]J. Inclucles live musical pc1·Jo1nnan,::cs, ,,n1-er1-,1111Hn,n conrcsts with and a chance to fly at one oC the mosr scenic sites in Northern California. Conracr: Pat llbcklrnrn (530) 60!i-276'5 or Compton (530) 2/i:l2'53/i, ulti1narch igh(alhot mail .con 1.

MARCI I 199/l

AUC.

of'the 'J'elluridl' (,'lirling frsti11rd. i\11 previous Festival participants arc invited ro a rc11nion to celebrate in Telluride, Colorado. years C:omacr: Luigi ( :hiarani (970) 72.8-9525 or the Telluride i\ir Force, l'.0. l1ox !\5(,, Tdluriclc, co 81/il'l.

Castle. Two- ro nine--day advcntmcs. Private onc-otHmc !lying, service and insrrucrion also available. Com act: Kari C'.astle ('/(,0) 872 2087, kar:1cas1 lcV1''tcl1s.01g. APRlL :,--5: Comact: Adventure Sports (702.) 883-7070, hrq1://www.pyramid.net/advspts.

ClJNICS/MEETINGS/TOURS APRIL 3--6: 8t1Sic !CP. MAY

MARCI I 6-8: 8asir rmd !ldvrmad l lrm,R Instructor (:linir, I .ookout Mrn., TN. C:onract: (70G) l98-022J. MARCH 21-22: clinic in thl' l'r1ri(ir Northwl'sl. ( :onract North American Flight (509) 925-5565 10 Check olll Wl'IW.lllll!L.IJY,L<JIIJI for a grea\ slide show ihc l(xxtacy. APRIJ. 1998: dinics throughout , .r1u11,,m.//1 rtnd Ncvmhr. Contact Mike Fberle ("iO')) ')7."i-S5(,'), napi(rilcburg.corn for exact rlinic tit dates and locations. MAY 8- l 0: Nrfl)rn Slcy .~;1or1s in \)(lhitcwrtler, WI. Contact Mike Eberle (':iO'l) 92.5-55(,'S, napi(rhcburg.com, or Brad K11shncr (Ii 14) lt73-8800 for details.

MARCH '!he Northwests !lnnual Resr:r11e Chutr /)1,ployment Rob Kells of Wills by :3/ I It, $40 afrer. 1)cployrnenr practice begins arollnd 5:00 PM and conrinues umil everyone has deployed and all chures arc repacked. Simulators for hoth hang and para pilots. New pilots: the clinic is free if you don'r yet have a pa1·aclul!c ro repack. J .ocation: Sr. School, 5117 Llth Ave. S., Scaulc, WA. Call CJ and Ccorgc Srurrcvarn to pr(:-n:(c1;;rer or for more info: (li25) 888-:385(,,

MARCH 27-APRJL 6: Q6A with acro11:unical and Flight Design lead designer h,lix Ruhle. Ruhle will be traveling to several locations thrcmghout the U.S. wirh North American distributor Mike Eberle, conducring v:irious formal and informal sessions on l:.xxtacy carbon graphite and general repair, care, maintenance, etc. For currcllt and fi.tturc and all interested ( '.omac\: (509) 925-5565, napi(iildmrg.com,

MARCH 28 29: '/,mdtm I, II cf Ill Clinic. Team Hang Cliding, Puerto Rico. Cost, $200. C:onracr: (787) }85 09%. APRIL-MAY: to thr Owens Vrtl!ry, with Kari Castle. C:all to sdicdulc a clinic or tour. SFPT.-NOV.: "Owens tfl its 8cst," -, ,11m·rmm ,,u1,,u to the Owr:ns Vrdlry, with Kari

?5th l/11;VJ1v1'rs11rv Cdchrrttion. C:omacr: Mission Soaring Center, 111 G Wrigley Milpitas, CA 95035 (11car Sanjose), (li08) JG2-1055, fox (lt08) 262 1388, MS( :J {(;(rilaol.corn. APRIL It: /'(lmchutt dinic with I 0:00 1\M, Bradshaw Mountain Middle School gym (near Arizona I Gliding Ccmcr). deflations Videos, practice deployments, and repacking. Bridle and swivel installation available, special discoums on new parachmcs. $1 prior to March I, $7.0 after, $2.'5 ;ll rhc door. Add $20 fiir a repack. Bring your harness and parachute; we'll be doing lots o/' pracricc dcploymems. Towing and al Mountain the following I 13 rcqu ired for Conract: Roh Richardson, J\ri,,011:1 I Jang c;licling C:cntcr (520) 632/i I Iii.

APRIL 17--19:

!Cl'. Contact: Advcnt ure Sports (/02.) 8il3-7070, advspts(i,lpyrarnid.nct, form at hnp:/ /www.pyramid.net/advspts.

JlJNE G: Hth Armutrl JI Ol'JI

(Ind Open House, /\ 0 PA 11 cadquancrs, Frederick Municipal Airport, Maryland. OCT. 2.5-25: Convention JIO!'!l l:Xl'O '9R, Palm Center, Palm C:A. Comact: Warren 1v1,m1,1rn,s1:.ir (301) 695-2162, warrcn.morningsrar(ii\iopa.org.

31: Rocky Mou.main '"/rJtrdly Out" X-<: C'linic, Colden, BC:, Canada. l .cam to fly X--C and place higher in comps. Cet ro know rhc site and practice for the Western Canadian Championship, which follows the clinic. hiendly com pet i1io11 format. Erner any tirnc during the week discussions on X-C:, best for X--C in rhc Colden, Invcrrnerc Valley. Pri-£cs in many catev.<im:s. Entry kc $7}} Canadian. Camping available: (;olden Municipal Campground (250) Yili 5/i 17. (right in town, book \X/l1i'1wri,no Pines (250) 344 6680, White Tail (2.50) 34/i-5979. C:onracr: c;cofSchncidcr (40:l) 28(,-3770 (h), (403) 2.M 7422 ext. l lt07 (w), fox (ltO:l) 28(,-176.), or

•

AN article and photos

As a rule, hang gliders and helicopters don't mix. U.S. pioneer Boh Wills paid for this lesson widi his life rnore than 20 years ago. Sometimes, however, a helicopter is the best way to get the job done. '] 'his was the case: near the end of' 1997 when freest:yle champion, glider designer and photographer John Heiney teamed up with a film crew led by award-winning film maker/producer Mike Hoover in I ,ake F.lsi· nore, California. Mike filmed and produced the hang gliding short called "UP" which won an Academy Award. Mike fdt that the best way to get some video for his TV program about extreme sports ("' ICl The Edge" on the Outdoor Lifr Channel) was to tow John behind one liclicopter while a second lcillowed. Both heli-copters had cameras onboard. John had two "lipstick cams" mounted on his Altair Predator. The towline was tied to a weight which hung below the helicopter to keep ir clear of rhe tail roror. 'I 'he pilot of the tow 'copter also had to fly sideways and maintain a speed below 1he minimum at which his airspeed indicator would register. The crews for both aircrafr types were nervous, and pcrfrn cornnmnication was an absolute requiremem. 'le) launch, John had to nm roward rhe "vortex ring" of the turbulence created as the tow ship hovered at about 75 fret. I Ic then had to turn aw:1y from or cli rnb above the deadly dust cloud. On die flrsr few tows he released before reaching the danger zone, not satisfled with die attempt. Finally John gor the tow he was looking for and climbed over the turbs. The two mismatched aircraft climbed slowly but s:ifrly up to about 7,000 feet as the sun was setting into rhc Pacific Ocean. Mike must have been thrilled with the beautiful colors ancl dramatic cloudscapes. Once up 10 altitude John cast off the towline and proceeded to loop, spin and wang his Predator. l le did his usual precise and bcaurifiil freestyle maneuvers despite rhe extra weight 1hc onboard cameras. I le then had ro wait for the camera craft to

Drive" Freund

John under tow whilr: beingfllmr:d.from the other helicopter. catch 11p (down) to him. He surprised them with his high rare of descent. They learned Lo stay below him at the start of each set. A fow times John thought that ;1 wake might have been laid in his path, so he would abon the set, turn, and clear the suspected turbulence. Even 1hesc experietJCcd profossionals had d ifflrn lty coo rd inati ng their flight paths. This was not ;m eJsy film-· ing joh.

As evening settled around us, John and the helicopters landed on the dry lake bed. The only complaint was very cold hands. John had frirgotten his gloves. What a show!

AII/7JOR'.<:; DJSCTA!MFR: The flying described here is not ea.91, or smctrt. T/you are o/such he stt(dy asleep in ·1 hese pilots are r:.xtremdy enced professioncds who suffeml ti hrie/lczpse of' srmity. Don't cl!en think this would hefim. Don't !'Ven thinl: you would like to do this. There tire much wr1yr to die. II H/\NC CLIDINC

Prepare To Face The Millennium - ~ ) Thin Air Designs

8 8 8 • 4 ALT I TU DE (toll free)

Several years ago, Franz Schilter, a Swiss native and an avid paraglider pilot, planned to travel the world. After getting to Peru, however, he was struck by the myriad landscapes and flying possibilities the country offered In an area twice the size of Texas he found the sandy dunes ofHuacachina, the blue waters ofParacus, the lush peaks ofthe Andes, the ancient Macchu Piccu ruins and the mysterious Nazca Lines all begging to be soared above. oday, Schilter owns a paragliding school in Lima, and he regularly joins Peru's national bird, the condor, in the air above the country that was home to the great lncan empire. American Adventure Productions along with instigator/head cameraman John Armstrong put together a winning proposal for the firstever hang gliding/paraglid'./ 6

DJ •

rt11znoT/_

ingflying lVl/+h adventure in ~J Peru. The film was aired on the Outdoor Life cable channel as part of the Adventure Quest Series. Joining Franz Shilcer for a whirlwind Peruvian flying adventure are three pilots from the United States: your author Kari Castle, Mitch McAleer and Dave Sharp. Together we sought the most beautiful, and often che most difficult, places to soar in Peru.

W t

1 r1

THE TEAM BATTLES PARACUS Paracus is a barren, rocky peninsula formed from massive slabs of khaki rock on the southern coast of Peru. Ics blue waters have one of the highest concentrations of marine birds and sea life in che world, a startling contrast to the seemingly lifeless p_eninsula. The thermals and coastal winds here are powerful, as is che area's beauty. It's Schilrer's favorite place to fly near Lima. The word Paracus means "strong winds." For three days we played, enjoying the wonderful strong winds. Dave, having che most strong-wind experience (resulting from living and flying at the Point of the Mountain in Utah), scarred to play. He and Franz were hamming ic up good for the cameras. I soon became comfortable in the "strong winds" and found myself joining them at the bottom of the hill performing "beach-ups." On one flight Mitch jumped out of his harness while coming in for a landing just for the fun of it! We all rallied down the coast co witness one of the most spectacular coastlines I've ever seen: cl1e ocean, with hundreds of do!-

Kari with some ofher fans.

Dave Sharp and Mitch McAleer performingfor the locals.

Left to right: Kari, Franz, Dave, Mitch. The movie stars hard at work at Machu Picchu.

Looking into Misti Volcano at 19,101 feet MSL.

LEFT Kari over the Sacred Valley with Dave Sharp 41

phins frolicking, sea cliffs, spectacular rock outcroppings, birds everywhere, a desolate sand landscape as far as che eye can see in all directions. Unreal! After it got too strong for the paragliders we pulled out our hang gliders. Dave and I enjoyed a synchronized sunset flight together for che camera. What a playground! Next srop: Huacachina.

DOING THE DUNES Huacachina is literally an oasis amid the enormous sand dunes of Peru's south coast. The plan was co fly and land in the tiny little town, bur thermals lifting off from the sweltering dunes and strong coastal winds offered some chaUenges. Schilrer rigged his powered paraglider and became airborne. Dave was next, and they flew to che Oasis. Meanwhile, Mitch and I trudged up the high dune and waited for the conditions to mellow. After circling above che tiny resort cown's lagoon, rumored by the locals to have healing powers, Schilcer reported high winds aloft and opted for a safe landing ouc in the flats. Dave joined him. Thar lefc Mitch and me on cop. Mitch was determined not to walk back down so he launched in pretty strong winds, experienced a half wing collapse just after talceoff and luckily piled into sofc sand. So we walked down anyway! There's a simple motto in paragliding and hang gliding: The wind is the boss. Pilots quickly adopt a deep and abiding respect for its personality, whether it be friend or foe. Those who disagree with chis aren't around co explain why. Next stop: the Nazca Lines.

ALIEN AIRSTRIPS The Nazca Lines are an assortmem of lines, forms, symbols and pictures spread over cl1e flat, rocky, dry land near the small town of Nazca. The scale is so immense chat the drawings are only visible from the air. Etched into che ground on a scale similar co what a bug must see while traversing a hopscotch grid, the Nazca Lines are shapes and figures of things such as a monkey, a condor and a lizard, most of which can only be seen from che air. Wing rip to wing tip, the condor's wingspan is about twice thac of Boeing's largest commercial plane. If the monkey stood upright, it could see inco a building's 30th-floor window. No one reaUy knows what purpose the Nazca Lines served. Theories range from landing zones for extra-terrestrials, to messages for gods, to an astronomical calculator. We do, however, know how they were made: The darker, cop-layer scones were removed, exposing the whiter sco nes and dirt below. Some estimate the designs were made around 600 BC. Getting any of us into the air in the perfectly-flat Nazca desert required some ingenuity. Ir came via Schilcer's friend, Claudio, who had a row winch moumed in the back of his pickup truck, which had never been used to tow hang gliders before. Oh great! With luck, we would launch inco the air co view the messages reserved for gods or flying saucers, depending on what you believe. It was a little weak bur it served its purpose. Who were we to complain anyway? "When we met Claudio and saw his system, we were a little concerned. It looked like a reject from a Mad Max movie," commenced Dave Sharp. Peru's tricky winds continued in their variable ways. I was che first to test me system, and made a shore flight after a short row.

Continued on page 48. HANG GLIDING

REGION Frank Gillette (R Rt 1 Watercyn 8 Declo ID 83323 (208) 654·2615 Watercyn@cyberhigt1way.mc1t Fifer-Weld1 (H ·· 99) Box 8225 Jackson WY B3001 (307) 733-682.3 di-wyo@compuserve.com REGION 6 ,Jeff Sinason (f~ 12954 Ballantine Saint Louis MO 6314G (314) 542 2473 jsinason@itdcomm.corn REGION Bill Bolosky (f~ 24622 SE Mirrormont Dr WA 98027 5577981 Steve f~oti :3024 NE 1 Ave Portland OR 9721

REGION Ken Baier 253 Rodney Ave Encinitas CA 92024 75:32664 Tammy t3urcar 99) PO Box 3274 Santa Bclt'bara CA 93130 (805) 692-9908 tburcar@juno.com

Bob Hannah (H · 9920 51 51 Ave S W/\ 98118 3281104 Paul Klemond (11 Accident Chair) NE 43rc1 Seattle WA 05 525-5765

REGION Bill Bryden (f~ 98) (HG Accident Chair) 6608 North 100 East Rd Seymour IN 47274 (812) 497·2327 hm bbryden@hsonline.net Dan ,Johnson (L 98) 8 Dorset St St Paul MN 55118 (612) 450,0930 CumulusMan@aol.com REGION 8 F<andy Adams (r~ 98) PO Box 369 Claremont NH 03743 (603) 5431760 ra ndyadarns@cyberporta I. flE)!

Mike Meier

REGION 9 Pete Lehmann (R 99) 5811 E.lgin St Pittsburgh PA 15206 (412) 661-3474 LPetel.el1rnann@cornpuserve.corn

Gene Matthews (H 15308 1 ·11 111 Ave NE Bothell WA 98011 488-1443

99)

REGION 1 Dave Broyles 211 Ellis Dr Allen TX 7:5002 727-3588

99)

REGION 1 Paul Voight (I~ 98) 5163 Searsville l~d Bush NY 125GG (91 744.3317 ryanv1 OO@aol .com Jobnson (I.. 98) Frank Applegate Jackson NJ 08527 (908) 928-8370 fec@frontiernet.net Paul Rikert (L 101 N Broadway White Plains NY 10603 (914) 946-93B6 hrn

Geoffrey Mumford (R 98) APA/PPO 750 First St NE Washington DC 20002 (202) 336-6067 gkrn.apa@email.apa.org

Lars Linde (H 9B) W Front St Bank NJ 07701 747-7845

Dennis Pagen (L 98) 368 Dunkle Rd Bellefonte PA 16823 (814) :1H:1-2~Jtj~J

REGION 1 (lnt'I) Jan Johnson (L 98) Seu 12

Chris DuPaul (H 98) PO Box 801 Gloucester Pt VA 23062 (804) 693-f:3742 skigolfnut@aol .com

IV1icbm,I Robertson (H RR 5 865 7 Claremont Canada L1 Y 1A2 (905) 294-2536 flyhir:Jh@intoramp.net

98)

USHGA Executive Director Philip PO Box Colo <::nrin,,c: (719) O-JL:··00\.JU (719)

Ken (H rJ\::l) 1795 Ave San Francisco CA 941 5) 75:H)534

REGION 10 G W Meadows (F{ 9B) 1125 Harbor View Dr Kill Devil Hills NC 27D48 (919) 4/30-3552 Justfly@interpath.com 98) 210·1 St Tucson AZ 85719 (520) 3279741 wk

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Presidenl·G.V\/. Meadc)ws Vice PrnsidentElill

Treasurer .. Geoff Mumford

Continued from page 22.

to questions. 'This is another way we will

a new "Communications Offlcer" position

try to improve comrnunication in the future.

within the lJSHGA. His job will be ro address concerns about USHG/\'s ongoing procedures and policy making on the hang gliding Internet list. Frank Peel will be the first pilot to hold this position. Prank does not "toe the USHGA line," in facr, he has been quire critical of the way the Board has handled certain things. That's perfectly fine. Frank will have complete access to the Executive Director, USHC/\'s attorney and me. lfyou have a concern thar you want addressed immediately; ask Frank online and he'll investigate the rnatter without bias. This is most important with today's instam communication. No longer is a monthly magazine up to dare; even weekly news magazines contain "old" news. lt is in the best interest of'the USHGA and its members to have an objective between" who knows where to get answers

DISSENTING OPINIONS IN THE MAGAZINE Y<rn may have noticed an absence of' dissenting letters to the editor in the nwgaz.inc during the last couple of years. This was not the result of malice; while in a lawsuit, there are cenain things yon jm1 don'r air. It's unforrunate, but that's just the way it is. Now that the waiver lawsuit is behind us we arc looking forward. f recently received a lengthy letter from a concerned former member who thor-· oughly disagrees with the way the Board irnplemented the mandatory waiver sys tern. While l completely respect this pilot's opinion and his right to it, l have conduct·· cd some pilot surveys to get a feel for whether the waiver issue is still current or smncthing that should be pm behind us. The vast majority say it's a thing of the

past and we should get on with new business. Because of this I have decided not to publish the letter in Gliding, at this time. [ don't ever want pilots to foe! that their opinions don't count guite the contrary. l do, however, want to deal with current issues. Letters of d tssent about current issues will be published in our magazine while I am prcsidcnr. The only exception will be (Cod forbid) if we find omsclves in litigation on that issue. [ know that heing USHG/\ president will put 1ne in many siruations in which I simply cannot make everyone happy. l will, however, try my best to make sure that the minorit-y is heard. l ,er's work together to make our sports the best they can be. Contact me at (919) 48()..:3552, or send a letter to G.W. Meadows, 1125 Harborview Drive, Kill Devil Hills, NC You can e-mail me at jus1/ly(li)inrcrpath.com. II

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Continuedfi'om j!flge 35.

Thf' Mrmhall !X.

Crf'stline lmmch abovf' and behind Marshall.

had on the day after the Santa /\na winds subside. This site can be flown in stronger conditions than other Southern C:alif'or-· nia sites due to the rounded prof·tles of the local spines and ridges. 'The lack of' sharp rock formations or jagged terrain foaturcs makes 1he turbulence less severe when the wind gets a little strong. Earpopping thermals arc rhc norm whcnev· er the sun is shining and multi-hour flights arc not um1sual. To fly Marshall/Crestline one must be a USI-JCA member :md a Crestline Soaring Society member for $65/year or pay a $5/day use !cc. The site is Jiang 3/Para 3, but pilots with lower ratings may fly ii' they are under the direct supervision of an instructor or have a sign-off from a local instructor. During the summer months pilots with less than l O hours of airtime arc nm permitted to fly between the hours of'] ] :00 AM and 5:00 PM due ro the sometimes violent thermal conditions. Flying Marshall Gill provide great challenges and rewards fc)r nearly all pilots as long as they respect strong con -

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Kari checking out the Machu Picchu "LZ" - never before Landed in. Continued from page 42. Dave, however, made it high enough to enjoy a long flight over the lines. He made several laps around the area, taking in an exquisite view of an ancient civilization's bizarre form of commumcacion. Mitch, meanwhile, was desperate to get up with Dave. But his luck was blown away, literally. First a dust devil ripped thro ugh the area, pinning him to the ground and almost trashing his hang glider. Then a serious accident was narrowly avoided: The engine seized on Claudio's cow system, causing Mitch co lock out and creating some tense moments until he masterfully made an impromptu landing. Frustrated, he fired up the powered paraglider and cook his first flight over the lines. Next stop: 19,101 feet! FLYING OFF THE VOLCANO! Peru's El Misti volcano rises more than 19,000 feet over Arequipa, the country's second largest city. It was Schilcer's idea co attempt a flight from its peak, requiring a 7, 000-fooc hike after driving co 12,000 feet. It promised a flight of a lifetime, if we could make it up. Arriving in Arequipa only days after being at sea level and not acclimatizing co the high altitude proved co be our worst enemy. "Technically, the Misti climb is not very difficult, but you need to be in very good physical condition and in good spirits. It's never easy to climb," Schilcer said. It was quite an understatement. El Misti may be an easy climb for its height, but the mountain has nevertheless taken the lives of some unlucky and ill-prepared hikers. It wasn't long before we were face-co-face with altitude sickness and extreme fatigue as we fought for each step through the cold, thin air. "It was hard to breathe and I couldn't walk for more than 15 to 20 seconds at a really slow pace," Mitch McAleer commented. After setting up camp the first night I was hutting so bad. My head pounded like I've never felt before. I set up my tent in hopes of escaping the pain with sleep. That night all I could chink of was how I was going co get through chis. It hurt so bad. I thought about quitting and the consequences of going down the mountain, which meant not flying off and not achieving one of my goals for the trip. The hike was supposed co have been one of my

favorite parts of the trip; I love trekking up high. "Why me?" I kept asking. I woke the next morning to bright lights shining into my tent, with a camera rolling as I was asked such questions as: How does your head feel? Do you want co continue on or hike down with a ~orte:? All I could think of was how co kill them for shining a light mto my eyes when my head hurt so bad! Enough of this filming scuff, this was serious. The next day we all partially recovered for the last day of creeping up the mountain. Scarring not so bright and early (3:30 AM!), nothing happened fast or it didn't happen at all. Where were the porters with the water when all three of us completely ran out? Mitch, Dave and I went on strike at one point. We lay down and swore to each other that we wouldn't move unless they bro ught us warer or carried us co the cop. We muse have been hypoxic, and eventually realized that no one but ourselves would carry us to the top, so Dave and Mitch turned on the o 2 and walked on. I could see my 02 up ahead with the porters 500 feet ahead but there was no catching up, so I went without, very slowly. "My head. I feel like after I fight with Mike Tyson," Schilter said in his stilted English. Dave Sharp fared well, but nevertheless exhibited the tel1tale signs of less oxygen getting to his brain: "It just makes the scenery nicery... nice. Scenery, nicer. I start co see my brain starting co go. " Dave and Mitch decided to bail early because of the dark clouds moving in from the west. The plan was for all of us to fly off together in the morning, but they decided it was coo uncertain whether we would get off or not, and they did not want co spend another night on the mountain. They eventually got off after a few attempts in the thin air, and we could sense their relief as we watched ~em fly away. Franz and I decided co stick with the plan smce that 1s what was expected of us in the first place. In addition, the lighting was so bad that filming was pointless, and cl1e only chance of getting any footage of this mission was co wait until morning in hopes of being able co launch. Five inches of snow fell on our tents during the night, and che weather at the summit was far from optimal. Thick fog was rolling in the sky, bur neither Franz nor I entertained the idea of walking back down. We had the advantage of Mitch and Dave down below reporting on what they saw, which was that the cloud was sitting only on the cop and it was clear below. We waited until we saw light through the clouds and decided co launch. Franz was first, and he disappeared into the cloud. He radioed back that he flew out of it real fast, so it was no problem. I did a reverse launch, and as the glider spread over my head I turned quickly and took a few steps, then off I went into the cloud- what a rush! My head was still spinning after I popped out of the cloud, but what a relief it was co know that everything would improve as soon as I got down. No more headaches, hiking or freezing! I thought of everyone else left on the mountain to hike down bummer! They ran out of water coo. Double bummer. Mitch acquired a newfound respect for El Misti. He commenced, "I have co admit I was prercy overconfident. The hike kicked my butt pretty bad." The last stop: Machu Picchu THE LOST CITY IN THE CLOUDS For our grand finale we traveled co the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu. Hidden deep in the jungle-covered Arides, it was not discovered until 1911 and is the most popular but least understood of the lncan ruins. The unusually high-caliber stonework and its H ANG GLIDING

emphasis on ornamental rather than practical features support the theory that the site had a significant ceremonial function. Before it was discovered, Machu Picchu was isolated by thick jungle and impassable mountain terrain. Today it is much easier to get to. The next obstacle would be trying to fulfill the producer's dreams. The plan was for us to be the first high-performance hang glider pilots to fly there. After checking out the landing area, which was precariously short, it starred to look like we would only be able to fly the paragliders, so we tested the sire first with the canopies. Afterwards, Dave and I both agreed that the risk involved in landing a high-performance hang glider in the LZ would be too high for our liking. Mitch, on the other hand, enjoyed rhe idea of crying to pull it off, so the next day we hiked up the hill with two paragliders and one hang glider. Dave and I flew off first so that we would be in the LZ reporting wind conditions. M itch launched in pure McAleer style, complete with a scream. After soaring above the intricate Incan stronghold he performed some effortlesslooking wingovers and loops as he prepared to land. But there was a problem. He relates: "I started to look very earnestly for the wind indicators in the The Paracas coast. landing zone. Kari and Dave were holding up toiler paper. As soon as I got a visual on them, I noticed that the wind was blowing in the exact opposite direction from the previous day." While he was aloft the winds in the landing area had ominously switched. He knew he couldn't land in the direction he planned the day before, and the short landing area meant he had one chance to do it right. Dave, Franz and I could do nothing but watch, and hope. Corning in low and fast, he clipped a tree and came dangerously close to a single-strand power line to make rhe field. He landed flawlessly, making it look easy. "While it was fun to be on the ground in one piece after the flight, it was really a lot more risk than I wanted to take in a third-world coumry, five or six hours or more from any kind of decent first aid," he said. On chis last day, in this awesome place, we flew silently over the mystical city. While I launched first to attempt the first-ever landing in the ruins, the ochers waited for soaring conditions. I landed amongst the ruins complete with curious lamas and tourists, then watched as everyone else soared above in rhe perfect conditions. It was pretty awesome to think abom what we all had accomplished during our visit to chis powerful place. This was the climax of our Peruvian advemure. "Flying over all tl1e ruins of Machu Picchu is an experience that is very special," Schilrer said. Flying above the Lose City in the Clouds, as Peru's great condors have for cemuries, was a spectacular ending.

Special thanks to Cherie Silvera, Debbie Kalis and American Adventure Productions for making it all possible! • M ARCH 1998

success since its pub lic deb ut in April 1995, the new SuperFloater offers: + Excellent 15: l performance in sit-down soaring comfort (and no harness to buy! ) + Superb joystick handling + Very simple aero or winch launching (foot launch is possible) ... ... all for an amazingly low price. >- Fully built and test flown, the SuperFloater is shipping now. Fly under Part 103 and the1mal in close with your hang gliding friends.

Ultralight Soaring Aircraft

CUMULUS

or truly independent soaring, the Cumu lus ultralight motorglider is F a highly refi ned choice: + Soar beyond 20: l , sink as slow as hang gliders + Handle with ease and authority + Zoom beyond 80 mph, or chug along at 60 fo r better than 200 mi les on less than 5 gallons of fuel. Even better . . . sh ut her down and soar for mi les. Then, tap the electric starter and motor home easily. >- The Cumulu s is a three-year, top-tobottom design offering superb soaring compatible with hang gliders. Call/fax to get info on these 2 great choices.

US A~ialion • 26S Ec~o ln , Soul~ SI. Paul, MN SSOlS ' USA' Tel/~x: 612/4S0-0930

AWARDS JOHN YOlJNGBT OOD

DENNIS: Mastic Beach, NY; J. Tindle/Miami I IC SflAHRAVAN, MARK: Roslyn I NY; D.S. Jcwcll/Voighr/Fly I ligh WAIJACE,JACOB: Westpoint, J. Woodward/Natural Plying

JOHN YOUNGBLOOD

Region I BARRETT, RYAN: Portland, OR; D. Cordon/ Advcmurc Sporrs Toms V/\N!ANDINGHAM, RUSSELL: l .clxmo11, OR;J. Marylouck/Rainy Day II(; Region 2 GULICK, DAVID: Berkeley, Cl\; S. ,,,,,1,."'"'H,,,,.1,,,1,,,, J-10\X!I\RD, MARK: San Jose, CA; (:.Filer/Mission SMITH, LELAND: Los ( ;,Hos, CA; C. Fikr/Missio11

ROSS, TYLER: Crovcland, Fl.;]. l'rahl/(Jucsr Air WARD, MATTHEW: llakcrsvillc, NC; C Tlrnrcson/Lookom Mm. PP WOODWARD, DOTTIE: NC:; C. Thorcwn/Lookom M111. Fl' ZOELLNER, LARRY: CA; C:. Thorcson/Lookou1 Mrn. fl'

Center Center

Region 3 BRYKCZYNSKI, RUTH: I lumingron Bch, CA; K Harrison/Adventures Unlimi1ed GRACIANO, DENNIS: San Diego, CA; K. Harrison/Advcnwrcs Unlimited 'fHOMAS, TAWN: Laguna Hills, CA; K. llarrisonl/\dvrnturcs Unlimited WOLFORD, TONI: Mission Viejo, CA; K. 1 larrison/Advcmurcs lJnlimircd Region 4 GANESAN, CHANDER: Tempe, A'/.; B. Holmes/Sky M:1s1crs HARRISON, SCOTT': Nederland, CO: A. Bloodworthll.ookout Mtn. 1:p MC CALLISTER, STEVE: /\lhuqucrqlJ(:, NM; M. 1:ra11c.is/Mountain West I!(; 0 BRIEN, TIMOTHY: Albuquerque, NM; M. Desert I IC OSBORNE, MICHAEL: Salt Lake UT; It Cizauskas1'W:1s:11,ch WILi.BURN, DAVID: Taos, NM; K. Wrighr ZOELLNER, THOMAS: C'.rcsronc, ( :o: (:. Thorcson/l ,<JOkom Min. 1:p Region 5

LOCKWOOD, RON: Sheridan, WY: J. Jio,mnan/J-,atrlc /\ir Region 7 FORIST, HARZEY: Spana, Ml; C:. Thoreson/Lookout Mm. fl' HATTEY, SH/\WN: Fc1mville, Ml; M. Johnson/Like Elfoc1 HC POWELL, AD/\M: Minneapolis, MN; B. l<nslmcr/Raven Sky Sports Region 8 CARTER, JONATHAN: Manchcs1cr, Cl'; D. Ranch DERENSIS, PETER: Everett, MA; K. Salko/Morningsidc Fl' MISIASZEK, BOGDAN: ( :hicopce, MA; R Corbo/Morningside fl' WINSOR, JOHN: Willisron, VT; D. Clover/Wallaby Ranch

Region 13 AUER, RON:; I(. DAVF.NPORT, Al.TON: Canada; D. KFNDRICK,JOHN: England; D.

Ranch

rn;

JARED: ( :orvallis, OR; J. Marylond<IRainy SANFORD, BEN: Carlshorg, WA; J. Rcynolds/r:ar HG STOLZ, MILO: Miltonfrccwatcr, OR; R. Rohcns/Air Mtn.

SCIIILI.FR, MARK: hcmont, Cl\; D. Younr/Mission WEST, TIMOTHY: Pacifica, C:A; C. Filer/Mission Soaring

Ctr

'""'"""'· GREGC: N l lollywood, C:A; A. Becm/Windsports HUGI-IFS, Cl TRIS: C'.ardiff By Sea, CA: R. Mircl1ell/The Eagles IIC LANCLOIS, GILLES: C:laremom, <:A: ll. Thrills Airspons ZAWARSKI, ROBERT: N I !ollywood, CA; A. Bcem/Windsports

'l STEVF.N: Denver, CO; B. Cmlcri:rn/Ainime Above 1-IC HARRISON, SCOTT: Nederland, C:0; A. Bloodwonh/Lookom Mtn. 1:p KANl(:J(, ROBERT: Boulder, C:C); M. Windsheimer/ Airtime Above I lG 0 BRIEN, TT MOTi IY: Albuquerque, NM; M. Cl:1111;./l ligh Desert II(; OJ .SON, JOHN l'hconix, fl'/"; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch THOMPSON, SCOTT: CO; M. Windshcimcr/1\irrime Above I JG WIU.HURN, DAVID: Taos, K. ZOELLNER, THOMAS: Crestone, CO; C:. Thoreson/I .ookom Mm. Fl' Region 7 LAWLF.R, RANDY: Indianapolis, IN; F Burns/Aus1in Air POWELL, ADAM: Minne:1po\is, MN; B. Kusl111er/R:1ve11 8

CARTER, JONATHAN: Manchester, CT; I). Region') BARTLETT, CRATG: Springfield, PA; B. High GREEN, BRIAN: Bethesda, MD; A. Torringron/J<iny llawk Kites MULLER, NATF: Hcrndcn, VA; D. ( :lover/Wallaby Ranch RENO, EDWARD: MD: J. Middleton/Silver WACL/\WIK DDS, RONALD: Wellsboro, Pl\; C l'horcson/1.ookom Mm. FP Region 10

GOMEZ, CARLOS: PR; P. Rodrigucz/Bori11guc11 Air J'imc GRUBER, MARTIN: Sarasota, Fl.; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch LEAGUE, CHRlSTOPI TER: Huntsville, AL; J. Cook/Rocker MOORE JR, GARY: Annis1on, AL; C. Thorcsonll.oolwm Mrn. MOREIRA, CESAR: Miami, Pl.; J. Tindle/Miami HC RENFROE, TRAV[S: Gadsden, AL; A. Blooclworth/Lookour Mm. FP

Rcgion 9

BARTLETT, CRAIG: Springfield, Pl\; B. } ligh KNAPIK, MICHEI.I.E: Crntervillc, OH; F. h>1i/Miami I re; 10

.ISTON, BRIAN: Asheville, NC; B. GOMEZ, CARLOS: Nar:mjito, PR; P. IZodrir.,m:,./l)orirwucr GRUBER, MARTIN: Sarasota, FL: D. LEAGUE, Cl IRISTOPI IER: I l11111willc, AL; J. Cook/Rocket City Airspom MOON III, JE~'SE: Humsvillc, AL; R. l'a11crson/Rockc1 City MOOREJR, GARY: Anniston, AL; C:. Tlroreson/l.ookom Mm i;Jl MORALES, HECTOR: Toa Baja, PR: K. Sallrn/Tcam HG MOREIRA, CESAR: Miami, l;L; J. Ti11dlc/Mi:imi I IC HANC. Ci IDINC

PHILLIPS, DANIEi .: Brownsboro, AL; J, C:ook/Rockct City ;\irsports RENFROE, TRAVIS: Cadsdc11, AL; A. Bloodwonh/Looko111 Mm. Fl' RIOS, Bayamon, PR; K. Salko/Tcam Spirit I IC ROSS, TYLER: Crovcla11d, 1:r.; J. Prahl/Quest Air WAUACE, DAf .E: Vicksburr;, MS; A. llloodworrh/1.ookom Mtt1. Fl' WILSON, JASON: Redington Shore, FL; J. l'rahl/Qucsr Air I11c ZOELLNER, LARRY: Carrcrsvillc, CA; C:. Thorcso11/Lookout Mtn. Fl'

Region 3 BLEECHER, ANDREW: Sol:ma Beach, CA: J. Ryan/llGC: HAIGI IT, DAVID: Sama Barbara, CA: T. Truax/Sky Spons Region Ii OLSON, JOIJN QlJJNN: Pheonix, AZ; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch ROTH, KEVIN: Phoenix, A'/.; B. Holmes/Sky Masters Region 5 ORTH, DALE: Boise, ID; R. Altig/Observer

DEGEN, RT CHARD: San Antonio, TX; J. I lunr/Go ... HC'

Region 7 DINAlJER, GREG: Madison, WI; B. Kushner/Raven WAHL, STEVE: Lanesville, IN; B. Bryden/Williams Flight

Region I

AGOSTINHO, HLIPE: Elizabeth, J. Tindlc/Mim11i I JC; LUCENT!, DENNIS: Mastic l1cach, NY; J. Tindle/Miami J IC

Region 10 CRAMBLIT, ERIC: Brownsboro, AL; R. Patterson/Rocket Airsports GRUBER, MARTIN: Sarasota, FL; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch MC KAY, JOI,'.: 1larvcsr, Al.; R. Patterson/Rocket

Region 13

HERR, BRAD: Canada; P. Dcnevon/Mission KENDRICK, JOI TN: l\11gLmd; D. Clover/Wallaby Ranch

Region 11

BRITTINGHAM, MAURICIO: I .aredo, TX; J. I hmt/Go ... I

Gliding!!!

Region I

GRAHAM, THOMAS: fort 1.cwis, WA; J. Reynolds/Far Up HC MICHELSEN, MARTY: Ridgefield, WA;J. Rcy11olds/Far Up HC

Region 12 MORSE, BARRY: Ridgewood, NJ; P. Voighr/1:Jy l ligh l JC;

Region ANDRESEN, NORD: Berkeley, CA: C. Amlronaco/Bcrkclcy HC CARLSON, DAROID: Berkeley, CA; L of Rogallo I JC HILT.EARY, CJ IRIS: Sacramcmo, C:A; c;, I lamilron/Sacrame11to I !C HUYNH, WENDY: Berkeley, CA; c;, Andronaco/Bcrkcley J Jc; LYBARCER, KEVIN: Lincoln, CA; c;, l lamilton/Sacramc1110 I IC MUELLER, JAMES: San Rafael, C:A; A Whitehill/( :handclle

Region 13 KENDRICK, JOHN: England; D. (;Jover/Wallaby Ranch

Region 8

TEN AN, RICHARD: Avon, CT; JOHNSON, MARK: Encinitas, CA; R. Mirclidl/The

4 OLSON,

Pheonix, AZ; M. Joncs/Wallahy Ranch

Region 7

LOEPPERT, PlffER: HofTinan Estates, ll.; B. Kushner/Raven 8 BACON, STEPHEN: Greenland, NJ I; M. Joncs/Wallahy Ranch

9 BFYERI .E, JEFFREY:

Spring, P/\; J. l larpcr/Vallcy

I IC

RlCHARD ROBFRTS ARLAN BIRKFTT JONATHAN CARTER JOHN WINSOR NATE MULLER MARTIN GRUBER ROBERTO PEREZ JON PLEMONS ALTON DAVENPORT JOHN KENDRICK

Region 10 BISHOP, MIC! TAFL: Madison, Al.; R. l\mcrson/Rockct GRUBER, MARTIN: Sarasota, FL; D. Glover/Wallaby Ranch JON PLEMONS Region 13

KENDRICK,

Fngbmd; D. Clover/Wallaby Ranch

DON RElNIIARD

Cupertino, C:A; P. Gazis/NASA KAI.TFNBACH,JEREMY: Petaluma, C:A; S.Mish!B:llldi101\ctio11 Spons

MARCI I 199il

.ril

RANK SG!OOL ........................................................... BFrl!NNER l Lookout Mountain Flight Park ........................................... 25 2 Mission 10 3 Wallaby Ranch ..................................................................... 6 Ii Morningside Flight Park ....................................................... 5 4 Wasatch 6 6 Miami Hang Boringucn Air Time ............................................................. 3 8 Kitty Hawk Kit·es .................................................................. 3 8 Berkeley Hang Gliding ......................................................... 2 10 Evolucion ............................................................................. 2 10 Fly High Hang Gliding ........................................................ 2 0 10 NWIC .................................................................................. 2 10 Raven Sky Sports .................................................................. 2 10 Rocker Ciry Airsports ........................................................... 2 Silver Wings ......................................................................... 2 10 10 Western Hang c:liding ......................................................... 2 Adventure Sports 'fours ........................................................ 1 18 18 Arizona Hang Gliding Center ............................................... 1 Cloudbasc I 18 Crossroads ......................................................... ! 18 18 Dream Weaver Hang I Eagle Air Sports .................................................................... 1 18 ]8 Par Up Hang Gliding ........................................................... 1 Flying Adventures ................................................................. I 18 HG/PG School of Oregon ......................... , .......................... 1 18 High Desert Hang Gliding ................................................... I 18 [karos Sporr Aviation ............................................................ 1 18 18 I.a kc Effoct Hang Gliding ..................................................... I Lake Elsinore Sports ................................. , ................... , ....... 1 18 18 Mountain West Hang I Natural Flying ...................................................................... 1 18 Ozark Mountain Hang Cliding ............................................ 1 18 Quest Air .............................................................................. I 18 Rainy Day Hang J 18 l8 Sky Bigh .............................................................................. I Sky Jvfasters .......................................................................... 1 18 J8 ?~lari1:g ~ings ....................................................................... I 18 1 he haglc s Wmgs ............................................. ,.................. 1 Windsports International ...................................................... I J8

l?ANK SCHOOL ................................................................ NOV!CE 1 Lookom Mountain Flight Park. .......................................... 17 2 .Mission .............................. ,..................................... 9 3 Miami Ii Wallaby Ranch ..................................................................... 4 Ii Windspons lntcrnational ...................................................... 4 6 Airtime Above l lang (i Air ·1'irnc ............................................................. 3 6 Gliding .............................................................. 3 6 Airsports ........................................................... 3 6 11

Ausdn Air Sporrs .................................................................. 2

Kitty Hawk Kircs .................................................................. 2

JI 1l

11 II

Maryland School of Hang Morningside Flight Park ....................................................... 2 Quest Air .............................................................................. 2 Rainy Day Ilang

Raven Sky Sports ........................................................ ,......... 2

11 11 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2.0 20 20

20 20 20 20

Team Spirit Hang The Eagle's Wings ................................................................ 2 Adventure Sports .................................................................. 1 Air Jv!ountain ........................................................................ 1 Arizona Jfong Cliding Cenrcr ............................................... 1 Berkeley llang Cliding ... ,................................................... ,.1 Blue Ridge Soaring .......... ,.................................................... 1 Ccmral Valley Hang Gliding ................................................ 1 Cheap Thrills Cloudbase Enterprises ........................................................... 1 Crossroads Windsports ......................................................... 1 Eagle I Evolucion ............................................................................. 1 Far Up Hang Gliding ......................... ,................................. 1 Flying Adventures ................................................................. J Foothills Flight Park ............................................................. 1 HG/PG School of Oregon .................................................... I High Desert Hang Gliding ................................................... 1 Ilrnros Spon Aviation ......................................... ,.................. J Lake Elsinore Spons ......................... ,................................... 1 Sacramento Hang Gliding .................................................... 1 Sky High .............................................................................. 1 Susciuchanna Flight Park ...................................................... 1 Tek Flight Producrs ................... ,.. ,....................................... 1 The Hang Gliding Center ............. , ...................................... 1 Traverse Ciry HG/PG .......................................................... 1 Ultralight Flying Equipment ................................................. I

Rankings were

rtttings published in 1998 issues ~{Hang Gliding maw12;ine

"The Freedom Machine Tril,e offers pilots unlimited soaring and the freedom to fly almost anywhere regardless of the wind direction. The total soaring pacl<age!" Matt Taber, Lookout Mountain Fli9ht Park 600 foot /rnin clirnh ratP 100 foot take off and landing Fi\f1 part 103 leqal and quick s1+up

$'5500 (without wing)

lookout Mountain Flight Parl, Phone: 706.398.3541 7201 Scenic Hwy, Hi,,ing Fawn, Ga. 30738 www.hangglicle.com

airwave@voy.net

HANC CL!DINC

l!ANG CL!DlNC ADVISORY Used h,mg l,rst should alw;iys he disasscmhlcd before time and inspected carcll1lly for or dented downrul,cs, mined bushings, bent holes (cspccdly rhe heart bolt), IT·l!Sed Nyloc nuts, loose 1himhlcs, or rnsfcd cab!cs with non-circular holes, 1

on flex wing~, sails

torn or torn loose from

their anchor points front and hack on tl,c keel and 1f in douhi, many hang gliding husincssio give ;lJl objective opinion on the condition

DOUBI.F VISIONS & l'l.Y2 New and used. WALLABY RANCH (911) 121 0070.

L/\MINI\R iii S'I Fxccllrnt shape, 30 hours $Ii, 500, Kevin (')70) 2S'J-)l",/i,

!) REAM I ,15 C rcat shape, redlgrccn/lit c green $1,050. Raven Sky St)(Hi,s (Ii 1 Ii) li?:l-8800,

1.1\M IN/\R Iii ST hill race, gr,•ar condition M,000 OBO. ((, 1'J) 79\.lli:l?.

l>rnd(thh:mggliding.corn

!)lJC:l( 1(,() I ')82, hilly upgraded, 20 hours, best offrt. (707) l7fi.2(,'i8,

cquiptn('nt you bring thc:m to inspect.

Buyers should select equipment that is appropriate for their skill level or rating. New pilots should seek professional instruction from a USflC/\ CERTIFIED JNS'l'RUCTO!t

FXXT/\CY NEW & lJSED IN STOCK, DEMO DAILY, WALLABY R/\NCI I (9/i l) 12fi ... ()()70. FALCON HO (5U) %1-2817.

New, cxiras, will ship $2,000 01\0.

LAMINAR ST, iii, Ll in stock, Wi\Ll.ABY R/\NC!f (9/i I) 42/i.()070

LITE DREAM Jli'i 7789566,

New, r:Jinhow $(,00, (JO))

MOYFS CSX SX, XTL, XS:\, XT, etc New and nc,trly uew, Available immediately, Nation's largest Moyes dealer. WALi ABY RAN(]! (9/i !) !i21-0070.

FLFXWINGS

A llUNCII OF GLIDERS

Fur ,sale, new, used and demo, ready ro ship, from $600 up, FXTR/\ CLEAN/CALL /\ND COMPARE, TOPLESS: Moyes, lcaro, Wills, TIU, KINGl'OSTFD: Laminar, Concept, SX, X1ralirc, Shark, XC, l<lassic, XS, UltraSport, S11pcrSport, Spectrum, XT, Sting, Mf< IV, Pulse, Falcon, l\trn, VZ, Fly2 and more. WALLABY RANCII, l'l.OJUDA. Ol'FN DAILY (941) 4210070

FALCONS l lJO, 170, 195, 225 new and used. W/\UABY RANCH (911) li2/i.0070, l'i\l.CUNS CLFARANCF S/\1.E School use, one season. All si,cs $ l, 'jO(l $2,500. (Ii I Ii) li7} 8800, brad<r11hangglidi11g.rn1n HJSION 424-0070

Demo daily. W ALL/\BY R/\NC!l (9/i l)

glidcrs61lwallaby.co111

J\C:Ml', Tl(:) l\Ltck on hlack, <20 homs $\,800, (.'101) 46J-:l509 Maryland,

AIRBORNE Ill.ADE 132 hcellcnt condition $1,000 firm. (}.08) 7l'i-/i'il), evening.,.

AIRBORNE

SHARK, Bl.ADE RACF, STING,

I ll'/\T 158 Ugly bm airworthy, $5'i0 or trade, (Ii l Ii) /i'lj-8800, hrad<r11hanp,gliding,com

F.d (7Ci0) 87) 1771.

MOYES Slll'FR XI RALrn: 1'il tion $2,700. Bill (619) 465-826.J,

1<1./\SSIC: Ul $1,900 wirh winglm, grca1 condition. l.isa \l, (801) ·1 1i'i-Oili:l,

MOYFS XT PRO I(;'i Novicc/in1cnncdia1e double snrfocr•, 2'\ hours, greal shape $',l,700, (Ii I Ii) !i?:o 8800, hradlf11 ha11ggli(li11g.cum

I<LI\SSIC: \/iii White & red, nice shape, under 100 hmrrs $1,900. (Ii l!i) tin 8800, brad<r1>hangf',l1di11µ,,ec,m

NFW & USED CUDl',RS At alfordalile prices. Call the Soaring (:enter 1011-fiu· I -i188.')/i,1-51i.'3.l.

J<LASSJC Viii

l'/\CAIR M;\Rl< IV17 Tracer harness, (111a1111nn :J:l() par,1cil1tlC, wheels, he/met $),9()(), (5]0) 2')/j

<10 hours, w/winglrn $:J,150. (608)

88l-)8'i2.

DOUlll.l' SURFi\C:E Ti\NDFM Moyes X2, good $2,"iOO or tr;idc. (Ii Iii) /iT,.[;800,

MOYFS SlJ!'FR XTR1\UTIS: SX4 I') lion rs, excel lent condition, foll sltop inspection, $:l:\00 firm. Fquiprncnt, new or used a fc,v limes: Wingovcr hdmct/l'TT, $100; High Energy Quantnm , ............ (QSIJIJO), $o00; vario Vl.110 Wing) w/airspccd, $?.50; l'lcx harness, $.150; Mountain I electronic metered $/iOO; Yaesu 2,M

/i()J'). LAMINAR !/j ST Creal glider, low hours, landing rnocb done $,1 jOO. Al (208)

USHGA CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ORDER FORM

Number of months:

50 cents per word, $5.00 minimum Boldface or $1,00 word. not include first few words which layouts or tabs: $25 1 word, Email or Web line art (1.75" maximum) ,,.;;,.,...,,.... .,". 20th of the month, six weeks before the cover date of the issue in which you want your ad !o appear (i.e., June 20 for the August unless account ostablisbeJd. No cancellations or refunds adverti:,ino aftor deadline, Ad insertions FAXod or made by to a credit card. ad as follows:

SECTION

J Flex Wings IJ Emergency Parachutes J Parts & Accessories ,J Business & Employment IJ Miscellaneous Paragliders iJ Videos Begin with consocutive

& Dealers IJ Ultralights U Wings !J & Organizations u Wanted /J Harnesses

issue and run for ___________........ My 1J check,

money order is enclosed in the amount

of$ NAME: ADDRESS: CITY:

Colorado , fax (719)

MARCI I 199B

:i)

PULSE 'JM Mint condition, :lO bours. fatras: spccdbar, new helmet, waterproofliag, extra set 0Cdownr11hes, training harness. $2,:)00 OBO. Bob (8 lli) 885-6125.

TRX 1 58 19')4, superclcan, nice colors, cxrras, whire diamond trilam l .F, full race $2,195. Andy ('520) 525 2657.

PULSE 9M

UP XTR lli5 VC t ion $900. (505) 881 8ii7').

Excellcm condition,

hours $2,500

OBO. Lisa (21:l) 436-7/JS:l.

PULSES & VISIONS

Bo11gh1--Sold Traded. Ravrn Sky Spons (It I Ii) ii7.l-8800, bradQilhanggliding.com

Like new $ I ,:'lOO ()BO. Call VISION MK!V l'J David (512) 3%--71 U, dbvt\:enturyinter.nct

w/fins, 12 homs. CC-2000 w/1 ll'. RAMAIR iltG chmc, 5'6"-6'. Flyrcc Da1,1Flighr :-l005si w/ASI. Uvcx full face helmet. $3,300 A LL ITEMS ARF ABSOLUTELY NEW! Package deal only. ('iliO) {3128)5.

V!SlONS & PUI.SF.S llougln-Sold-Tradcd. Raven Sky Sports (Ii I Ii) 17:)-8800, bradG'1'hanggliding.com

I-IIC:11 FNERCY POD HARNFSSFS -- Sizes & styles change monthly, $300-400. CC I OOO's $250. Cocoons $200 each. J<.n,ceit,111,:crs ahlc. (Ii 11) lii:i-8800, brndl"'ha11ggl1d1nv,.com

available f,,r those 100 small ro fly, hrn just right for a rope swing. McNett Training Harness (:\Vi) 192--1020. PARAGUDERS

hours $7,000.

and rcqucsr au order form and/or a comprehensive

Three l(,5

price list. We arc the original sailmakcrs f,,r these mod .. els with over 20,000 sails made hy ns. Phone 0l fox OI U, 1 7-132-33869.

EMERGF.N( :y Pi\RACHlJTES

RIGID WINGS

CORF PD/\ w/swivd $1i20. 7.0 gore $ l 99. Many more avaiLthk, R,ivcn Sky Sports (41 Ii) li/38800, bradGilhanggliding.com

SWIFI' - NEW, focrory test flown only. Fledge 3-bcst offer. (80'i) li89-2220.

RA/V1Al1{ 15/i Fxccllent, extras, will ship $1,500 OBO. (51:l) 961--2817. RAMAIR 15/i I.ow horns, excellent shape, winglers available $1,800. (30}) 419-0513. SENSOR Gl OF Creat condition $2,000. (?Oli) G9}4689 leave message. SPECTRUM I li1 Grear begin11cr/inrenncclia1c double smfoce glider, immarnlatc co11di1io11 $7.,000. (.360) 8')76/i63.

SPECTRUM CLEARANCE SALE

l .ook 11ndcr New York

Pi\RACJ.IDERS FOR SAi.i : NEW /\ND USFD Athena 29 .................. <! Olus ......... Adv...... .. .. $800 .. .... 2 Place ..... $1,(,95 Bi-Ritmo 57 .. ........... <Sim. Boogie 30, :n. .. .. <15hrs ......... Beg ......... $1,050 .. New. .. .... Beg .......... $1,895 Civic J.L .. ..... <6hrs ... .. .... Jnr ............ $1,550 Espirit JG... .... < I Olm ......... Beg .......... $1 ,2.50 Craffoy 31 Kendo 29 ... .. .......... < I Olus ......... Int.. .. ..... $1,2'50 Miura 31,3:l.. .. .... <liOhrs .... Jnr..... ...$700 Mondial 33. .. .. <lOhrs .... Comp ... $1,400 Odyssey 28, :l2..... ..d 'ibrs .......... Comp ...... $1,800 Prelude 27, :JO, 33 ..... New. .. .... Beg ......... $1,99'i .. ..... New.. ...lkg.. .$1,895 Prcvia 7.7 ..... Ritmo 27, 31.... .. ..... dOhrs .......... Beg ....... $600 Sensor 31 .... .. ..... New ............ Int .. $ ! ,900 Sonic 2/i, 31 ....... <IOhrs .......... Int ............ $2,000 ... 2 Place ...... $1,250 Twingo 47. .. .......... <25hrs Yision 28.. .. .... <!Ohrs ........ Int ............ $1,250 Y-·Max 31 ... .. ..... < I Olm .......... Comp ...... $1,800 NAS Pl)/\ 22 Reserves. . .. ... $.'375 Limircd Quantities Fnll l'acc Helmers .... $S'S ca. Training l-klm~ts. .. .......... $55 ca. COLORADO PARACl.]l)IN(;.stNCF 1986 Tele (:303) 278-956(, Email: paragliding~ilwwdg.com

RAMAIR llt6 flies wonderfully, log book $2.00. Scott Smith (760) 3)8-1737 scotlicksvilmsn.com

SPECTRUM 165 -- Like new, (760) :\)9-1099.

sail, like new w/winglcrs, at $3,liOO. (:)60) 8')7

[KAROS S.A.

XC 155 Low l10urs, Northwest glider. i\ grcar 61G3.

XC 155 Very good condirion, winglcrs $2,500. Ball 6'i2, excellent $2.75. I )ream 220, only 12 flights, floats, excellent $1,3'50. ('l70) 728-3905. XTR/\l.!TF U7 Creal condition, tube, harness, all for $2,500. (108) (, 17 oei:n rarnyyanet,.~''aol.com

REPLACEMENT GLIDER SAILS Recapture that likc--ncw performance and handling, made ro your color choice.

Mars. .. .... Front $800. Ausrralian Xtral'tte lT! .. ...... From .$1,161. SX4 ... ...... hom $J,1Tl. .. .... horn $1,2.li',. C:SX!i Mylar. XT 165 ............ .. .. .... hom 829. and many more. Di,tl Airfoil Sails phone or fax nnmbn

Spcctrums in near new condilion) w/all options $2,100-$3,200. Raven Sky Sports (11 Ii) ii73-8800,

brad(tll1angglidi11g.con1

SW!Fi HARNESSES SPORT 167 AT Mint condition, custom Cull race spectrum sail $1,500. (SlO) 6()6 .. ()869.

Includes box, trailer, /\SJ $4,500 OHO. C,11 Stewart (ii03)

Cl.OUDBASF HARNESSES --- And Ulrramit!s, since 1972.. Chris Smirh (li?.3) 8)1 ')9/i5.

SUPERSPORT lC,:l Exccllettt condition, llown one season, best offrr. (619) 265--187/i.

lJI.TRALICl ITS

53 lbs., Solo 21 0. (501) H)l.DABI.F Fl.Y TRIKFS 8'i I -li09/i sailwingsspgG0hormail.com

S\JPl\RSP( lRT 16:-l Fxcellrnt condition, low hours. Orange 1.L, bright grcc11. magcnt;i, white $1,liOO. (50')) 525-'7?.81.

l.ook 1mdcr New Ymk.

ll<AROS S.i\.

SCHOOI.S & DEALERS TR3 Topless, carbon fiber frame, new gliders in stock: bbck, white 01· red $:3,li95 FOB St. Pctersbmg, Florida. ACMF Glider Company (813) 526-3629 or TRGI.IDERS~llaol.com

ALABAMA LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLICJ !T PARK -

See

ad under Ccorgia.

TR3

< l 5 hours $:l,000. (7()7) 83(,-0 I 02.

TRX \tj() Cood conditiou, cool colors, extras: rnck, camo XC: and waterproof' transport bag, hp for alum i 1111m and dacron $1,100. (508) 83')--'l'J. l () nkl rk<ct\wl.com

NEW, USED And REFlJRBJSl-lED harnesses. Buy, sell, trnde, consigrnucut. Cunuison Cliders, 151J9 County Ro,1d 17, Cunnison CO 8\2:10. ('JlO) 64 ')JI S.

TRX J!iO GOOD CONDITJON $1,100 OBO. JOHN (lt23) li30349/i.

ROC:l<F:J' CITY A!RSPORTS -- Tire ftt11, safe: place 10 learn to fly. We hdp yon learn quickly and salely wirh USHCA ccrril1ed profcs.sional instructors. Crc:tl sires and place for first cross cotrntl'y flights. Three I.earn to a Moyes-Bailey acrorng fr,r those "orhcr" acrotmv and earn your /\T rating. Mention this acL a friend and receive one lesson 1/2 price. Call 'i.l:l--1025 or (20'i) T76 9995.

HANC CUDINC

s ARIZONA

CONNECTJC:ur

31401 Riverside Dr. ADYENTlJRI' SPORTS TOURS l.essolls nearby PhocLJix/Tucson areas. Matt-made m1iner hill faces all wind directiot1s. C:u:tralltced tell flights per day 1 Tempe, A'/. (602) 8'JT7l?L

Lake Elsinore, CA

92530

MOlJNTJ\IN WINC:S

I ,e)()k under New York.

FLORIDA

909-6 74-2458

FULi SERVIU, Sl !OP base

Located Oil I lwy lii at the

or the Santa l\na mountain range. Proudly rqwc-

scntillg ALL major brands. Rc11tals available to quali/1cd pilots. ( lpcn (, clays a week 9am-5pm, closed on tvlot1days. Visa//vbsrcrcard/Americ:an i'xpress. MJ\CIC J\11, l.ocatcd in Northern California. Lessons, sales, service. (70'1) %3-'.lli55.

lJSI f( ;A CERTJFJF]) TANDFM INSTRUCT TON By Crcgg McNa1ncc. Acroto\V trnining & rating;,. De,ilcr for ,,II major /light and acrotow eq11ip111c11t, J.'j

FULL SFRVICE SHOP Sales, rentaL, repairs, guide service. Free hrocl11Jrc. (S20) (,:32-!i I http://www.nonhlink.com/, ·,,hgc ARKANSAS

hours from Disncyworld. Call (:l52) 7.li':i-826:l. graybird(1lpraxis.11et http:/ /www.gypzi.com/graybird ()ur comprehensive instruction program, located at the San Francisco It1y J\rca's premier training site, f(·auircs

0/.i\Rl< MOUNTAIN I li\NC Cl.lDERS Sales, service alld instruction. I GO Johllsion Rd, Searcy 1\R 7211:l. ('501) 2/921J80.

CALIFORNIA

prcrnicr sdrnol. dcm specialist. dealer. wsvw.artllc·1.111ct/ ,·siky,Jo1,;/ u1ck·x .1111111 8000.

FLY J\WJ\Y Jli\NC: CLIDJNC - - THIS Sl'RINC FLY SANTA BARBARA! C:ousistent rnllditiom make our mou1uain, and I raining hill the hes\. US\ !Ci\ cert ilied ins1rnc1ioll. Tammy Bmcir (805) 9(,1-2766 ht 1p://www.hody1rcnds.com/flyaway.111 Ill

sloped "bun11y hills," s,q,erlitc gliders a11d com training harnesses! ''FIRST Fl.l(;I JT," a video presentation of our

lesson program, is ;wail

ahk /,,r only $20 shippinF, (may be applier/ lo your /i1t11/'t il'sso11 purchflScs). Om deluxe retail shop .showc:1scs rite latest i11 hang gliding i1tnovations. We stock new and used Wills, Airwave a11d Moyes gliders, 1'1.l)S all lite hottest new liarnesscs. Tr:1elc-ins ,ire welon om ama,.ing new VIIZTLJJ\I. come. Take a /light simulator' 111 (, RFJ\I.ITY ha1tg Way, Milpitas (nmr St1n Jose) CJ\ 950Y5. (!i08) 1055, fax (108) )(,2,1:\88, MSC:JJ(;ti1\10l corn

I.OOl<OUT MOUNTAIN FLICI IT PARK Sec :id 1111dcr ( ;,,orgia. NL:arcst mountain training ccn1c1 to Orla11do (only 8 hours).

NO THE HILL WITH IT!

ww\v.l1ang-gliding.com

WI' I lJ\ VF known to hang

The most advanced 11:1ining program tc;iching you in hall' tlw time il

1;1kes on the I l!LL, and with more in-flight air time. WE CJ\N TEJ\Cll YOU FASTER AND SAl'FR. !'or ye,1r-rouncl traininp; it111 in the sun, call or write Miami I lang Cliding {:105) 28':i· 89?8. 2'550 S Baysl,ore I )rive, ( :ocon111 ( ;rove, Florida Tll:B.

in the west! hill service hang gliding/parngliding established 19'/li. J'() Box <113:l'), S,rnta Barbara CJ\ 9:l 110 1339, enuil: wcfly11niv<r1\1ol.,·om (80S) %5-

l'/33. THE I!ANG GLIDJNC CENTER Located in bca\llil'ul San Diego. I lang gliding ancl 11:1ragliding instruction, sales and service. conducted at TORREY PINE~ and local mountains. Spc11d rion flyi11g with us. Demo om li11e a11d cquipmcnr at the always rnllvcnie11t and world L11110l1s TOR REY PINES. We proudly olfrr !CARO (LAMINAR ST), MOYES (SX), WILLS WING (XC) allcl all ki11ds of'stuff. Makers of tlte DRO(;UE Cl IUTF. (6\'J) !\Gil !iii I, 2181 ( :harks Way, Fl ( :ajon, ( j\ 'J2020. J IIC:I J ADVENTURF

I Jang gliding, paragliding

.school. Equipmcllt .sales, .service, rcrnals at Soudicrn

Calil'ornia's mile high site, 'rcstlinc. US! IC/\ !11structor Rob Mcl(enzic. (91l'J) 88.1-isli88, W\\<w.,,ec.oq,,/l)[tsll'111d·1 ac.lvcnturc·

tv\J\RCI I I 99B

11/\NC CLIDlNC AND l'ARACLJDJNC LJSH( ;j\ ccrJ ilicd instrncrion, tandem /light instr11ciion, sales, service, repairs, parachute· repacks, 1notor izcd in.strue1io11 and site tours. Snn Diego's cxclu sivc for J\IREJ\, /\l'CO ancl SOL. Visa and /vlastcrcml accqlled. Check us out at ht tp://www.ilytorrey.com or call (G 19) Ii ':i7.-9858.

WINI lSl'ORTS I A's largest since 197/i. Filiccn 111i11ntcs Crom I.J\X. Central to Syl1nar, Crestline, Elsinore :111d tr;iining siies. V:1cnion training, and glidn sales includi11g lodging a11d The most popular and equipment, new and 11s<:d i11 stock. Trade i11 yottr old equipmc·nt. :ns snnny clays each year. Corne lly with us! \(illiS Victory Blvd., Y,rn Nnys CJ\ 'JlliOG. (818) 988-0111, hx (81B) 98818(,2.

C2UEST /\JR SOJ\RINC C:FNTJ,J, Yo11r vacuion hang gliding location. (:$52) li29·02 I'.\, hx (}S2) /i2CJ/j8/i(L Visit our wchsi1c at: www.qucstairCorcc.com 01 email u~: qut'.stair(r{!snndial.1w1

5'>

' Wo

Raffle prizes have been donated by: Quest Air - l aero-tow release, 5 assorted T-shirts, IOpack of tows, free beer for 2 for a weekend, 10,000-foot tow, areo tow training course Hang II or above (u p to 10 flights) Wallaby Ranch - dollies, releases and aerotow technical support Two-Can Fly - one introductory paragliding lesson Altair - a $200 gift certificate toward the purchase of an Altair glider Jeff Farrell - two copies of the video Fly Hard Mountain High - two oxygen systems SOL - one open-face helmet, one windsok, two $100 gift certificates for SOL helmets, harness or paraglicler Just Fly - one Icaro Integral helmet US Aeros - one set of hand fairings, one X-C glider bag Moyes America - three $100 certificates toward the purchase of a Moyes Xtreme or Flex harness Kitty Hawk Kites - six hang gliding Tshirts Hang Glider and Paraglicler Emporium - three introductory paragliding lessons Fl~' Mexico - five free flying clays in Mexico Fl~tec USA - a Flytec 4005 vario Fly Products - shirts and sportswear .John Heine~ - six aerobatic posters Paul Hamilton - three videos from Adventure Productions Pendulum Aerosports - a two-watt radio and 12-pack of smoke bombs

l TSHGA - books and calendars Gerry Grossnegger - nifty little string games Da,icl Beardslee - one tandem hang gliding flight Aerolight CSA - one Kiwi Evolution helmet lcaro - five Icaro helmets Cameron Outerwear - three neckgaiters

Raffie drawing to be held in May, 1998. The Women's World Team appreciates the donations of $100 or more from: Chelan Lanes/Mr. J's Lane Eleven, Mary Clor/Sky Wear Inc. (t-shirts), Cloudbase Country Club, Paul Klemond. Lake Chelan Flyers, Inc., Carl Lawrence, :\:larin County Hang Gliding Association, G.\V. :\leaclows1.JustFly (T-shirt printing), Pendulum Aerosports, Don Reinhard/Personal Flight, Davis Straub. Quest Air, An anonymous paraglider pilot Valerie Carroll- $25, Ken Huclonjorgensen- $25 $40 (5 tickets): Sam Martin, Da,enport, FL, Nancy Cssen, Modesto, CA $25 (3 tickets): Karl Cameron, Santa Barbara, CA, Tim Delaney, Montrose, CO, Christopher Delannoy, Glem·iew, TL. Carol Sperry, Den,er, CO $20 (2 tickets): Erica Corral, Burbank, CA, Greg Kendall, Simi \"alley, CA $10 (1 ticket), Phil (the Pill) Bloom, Woodland Hills, CA, Kurt Dille~, Carson City. \I\', Grant Hoag, Irvine, CA, Slade Kennett, Santa :\:lonica, CA, "Chum" McCranels, Singer Island, FL, And~· Pryciak, Topnaga, CA, Philip \'angel, !Vlarlborough, MA

OFFICI AL RULES - NO PURCHASE iECESSAR Y I. Raffle open to U.S. Residents 18 years or older. 2. For every $ 10 donated you w ill receive a ticket for a chance to win the listed prize(s) . Ticke\S may also be obtained by writing "Go Women's Team" on a 3" x 5" card and mailing il with a self-addressed. stamped envelope to Tammy Burcar. P.O. Box 327-L Santa Barbara. CA 93130. One enuy per envelope. All ti cket reques1s must be postmarked by May I. 1998 . The Team or its affi liates are not responsible for any U.S. Mail or human errors. 3. See above list fo r p,izes to be awarded. Odds o f winning depend upon the number of panicipants. 4. Each entrant accepts and agrees to be bound by these mies and the decision of the judges whi ch shalI be final and binding an d not appealab le. 5. All Federal and State laws apply. 6. Vo id where prohibited or restricted by law.

r---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------, Please send me Women's World Team raffle ticket(s). Prices: $10 each, three for $25, five for $40. Make checks payable to the United States Hang Gliding Foundation (USHGF) and mail to: Tammy Burcar, P.O. Box 3274, Santa Barbara, CA 93130.

NAME _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ __ _ ADDRESS - - -- ~ - - - - - -~ - - - -~ - - - -- - - - - ~ - ~ - - - - ~ - CITY _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ STATE _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ __ ZIP _ _ __ __ _ __ PHONE( _ __ ) _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ Your canceled check is yow- receipt. Ticket numbers will be written on the check.

~---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~

BECAUSE WE CARE ABOUT SAFETY

CRISPI BOOTS MADE IN ITALY FOR PILOTS WORLDWIDE

Removable rear insert and velcra strip for keeping the laces in place. CRISP! PARATEC BOOTS

CRISP! AIRBORNE BOOTS

Removable side slrenghtheners suede

Waterproof Nobuk. Vibrom sole. Shock proof Kevlar Tip. No Hooks. Grey with Block color. USS 240

&leather with corduro edge Sympolex

lining and Vibram sole. Multicolor. USS 210 &Crispi Tinas Purple color. No Inserts. USS 150

KIWI EVOLUTION HELMET

KIWI PLAIN HELMET

Carbon fiber. Only 20 ounces. Well Podded. Allow maximum visibility ond installation of earphones . In color White or Block. USS 220

Composite fibers. Only 22 ounces plain colors White or Block and protected clear cooling. US$ 190

KIWI HYPE HELMET

Composite fibers. Only 22 ounces pointed in color White, Block or lead with thin waler decals and protected clear cooling. USS 210

AEROLIGHT USA, Inc., 1355 N.W. 93 Ct. Unit A-105, Miami, FL 33172 U.S.A., Tel: (305) 639-3330, Fax: (305) 639-3055 Email: paragliding@aerolight.com, Home Page: http://www.aerolight.com

s GFORGlA

KANSAS

PRAIRIE ]-!!\NG c;1mrns Full service school & dealer. ( ;rcat tandem ins1rucrion, towing iv. X<: packages. 0 l G) .175-2995. MEXICO

WolLAbY RcNCH •F

•

PAf<AGLIDING

P A•

The i\crotow Flight Park

1-800-80.3-7788

Sari0;1ctiqn .(;t1.;nw11ecd Jnst 8 miles from Disney World • Cennal to Attractions

FULL fJ()OJqJl'S Laundry, propane, recreation l'OOlll. 1-800-8():\-'7;'88. LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN PLICllT l'i\RK

• YFAR ROUND SOARING • OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK • FOUR TUGS, NO WAITING • EVERY DIRECTION 50+ NJGn demos to fly: to Trnincr ( ;Jidcrs: I,aminar, Moyes, Wills, l\irhornc, Airwavc, Exxtacy, Milk,mium Su,1,er!lo,1te1 and more; varios, etc

showcrs sh.:1dc trees, sales, storage} ratings, X(: 1

retrievals, weather, climbing wall, rrampolinc, nss ping pong, bungee swing, picnic tables, swimming pool) etc.

HUNKIIOlJSE

TRAVERSE ClTY HANG GLIDERS/PARAGUDWARM & COMFORT!\BLF :32 bunks, hot show-· crs, open all year, 24 hom sell' registration. l -800--80.17788! llAWAll

lllRDS IN PARADlSF. gliding & ultralight flying on Kauai. Certified instruction. (808) 822- 5}09 or (808) (,:1') l 067, hirdip(itlaloha.nct www. l1irdsi nparadisc.com

JLLINOIS ( :onscrvative • Rcli·,thlc • State of the J\n

F.Tl.C:. INC./H.YINC FLORID!\ SJNCF 1974 Malcolm Jones, David Clover, Rhc1t Radford, Ryan Clover, Tom Ramscm, Carlos l\cssa, Chris Cmr, Roger Sherrod

IN NORM LESNOW'S i:LYfN(; ADVENTURES arc II I. Presenting the and full range of Aerorow clinavailablc. USHCJ\ contact l ,csnow--N1aster Pilot, Examiner, Advanced Tandem fnsrructor, Tow Adminisrraror. (21J8) :399-9433. FULL-TIME school. www.Scrim1sSporrs.co1n nlfaviljuno.conr

10 motels & restaurants within 5 mins., camping, bot

Visit us on the Web: http://www.wallaby.com !'lease call us for rclcrcnccs and video. 1805 De:rn Still Road, Wallaby lbnch, Florida :U8.37'J.358 (')41) li2fi,.0070 phone & fax

MICIIIGAN

at Lookour th,m at any other pilots earn their school! We wrote OHicial Trnining Manual. Our specialty-cus1omcr snisfaction and fun wi1h 1hc BEST FACILITIES, largest inventory, campinp,, swimmore! For a flying trip, intro flight or ming, lesson Lookout Mo1mtain, just outsi,k Chattanooga, your COMPLETE training/service center. lnl,,? (800) 688,-LMFI'.

!\ GREAT SCENE FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS ...

Flights of over 1ftO miles and more than 6 homs. Anides in I fang Gliding, Kitpftmf's, Skywings, CroJ'.r Country and mhcrs. Fcatmed on numerous TV shows, · including F.SPN2.

BEAUTIFUL VALLE DE BRAVO Experienced, Professional Pahulous house, ab carte service. Opc.n to all rent or bring hg/pg. Basic packa1,cs: $ I00/day hg, $G'l/day pg, equipment trade considered. 1-800-86 I \ 'J8, flymexico!iilaol.com http://rnemhers.aol.com//lymcxico!Lndcx.

Sec

our display ad. Discover why H)lJR TIMES as many

Ages U To 7:l have learned to fly here, No one comes close to our level of experience and success with 1-a11dcm acroiow ins1n1nion.

RJ\ VFN SKY SPORTS (.1 l 2) .160-0700 or (Ii 14) /i7}-8800. Please our a,\ under WISCONSIN, brad~1ll1anm1lidi11g.con1 INDIANA

RA VEN SKY SPORTS onr ad under Wisconsin. brn1dG,1lh:r111i,f(ii,.linR.COm

ERS FlJLL-TIME shop. Certif,cd instruction, foot launch and tow. Sales, service, accessories for ALL major brnnds. VISA/MASTERCARD. Corne soar our ft50' dunes! I 'SO') E 81h, Traverse City Ml /i%84. par·aglliding lessons & dealer for new and the Fly. Call :;L,.,. 0.0'1'1. Visit our paragliding school in .Jackson, Wyoming. Call Tracie :11 (307) 7:l'J-8620. MINNESOTA

SPORT SO!\RINC CEN'IVR/M!NNEAPOLIS lnstrnction, cqnipmcm ckalcrs 1,,r Wills Wing, Airwavc & Edel. (Gl2) 688-0181.

NEVADA ADVENTURE SPORTS Sierra soaring rours and l lang gliding/paragliding USI ](;;\ instrnction. Saks and foll service shop for Altair. i\irwavc, Moyes, US Acros, Wills Wing. 3(,50-22 Research Way, Carson City, NV 89706 (702) 88:J-7()'7() DlHJ11C/l:lX email: ad'vspts~,oP}'J"alnt<Ln,ct web si1c: ht1p,//www.pyra111id.net/advspts

HANC CIIDINC

s LAS VEGAS I IANC G!.IDING - - lJS! ICA cer1if1ed cquipmcrn sales, .ser-

instruction, umdems & vice and rentals.

lesson p;ickagcs and (702) 'i8'i-.l I(,\, ,vww.an 11,·t.nct/, skydog/vcgas.html

incrcdibl,·

desert

flying.

NEW JERSFY MOUNTAIN WINCS

l.ook under New York.

SUSQ\JFI 11\NNA FLl<:I IT !'ARI< Cooperstown, NY. C:n1il1cd lns1ruction, Sales and Service fen all major manufocturcrs. /i() acre park, 'i trai11ing hills, jeep rides, lmnk hottsc, ho1 showers, (,00' NW ridge. We have the hest i11 N. New York state to teach you how to lly. c/o D:rn Cnido, Box 293 Shm·makcr Rd, Mohawk NY I:,!iO/, (:31 'i) 86(,-61 S:l.

NEW MEXICO

J,J Y l ll(;J f l lANC C:l.lDINC:, INC. Serving S. New York, C:01111ectirnt, Jersey areas (Fllcnville Mtn.) Area's EXCI .USIVF Wills Wing dealer/specialist. Also all other major brands, accessories. Certified

Foot lannch, pl:itl,nm hunch and aerotow instruction too. !'raining, sales,

rentals and repair. J\irwave /ix Wills Dallas, hm Worth and north Texas area. 21 I Allcn TX 75002. (972) .J'J(l ')090 nights, weekends.

RF!l RIVFR J\ll(C:RAFJ'/CO ... I IANC C:LID\Nc;t!! Jeff\ lunt, fig 11 Red River St., Austin Texas 711751. Ph/fox ('j 12) /iC,7-252') rrajd](i':tol.corn Area's OLDEST Wills TOTAL AIR Sl'ORTS Wing dealer. Certified instruction available. "I only DF.Al. with Wll.I.S". <,'.\5/i l.iincstone, I louston TX 770'!7. (7 U) '!56-<, J li7. TANDFM INSTRUCTION • AEROTOWINC • PARACl.lDlNC /JOA/ TOWINc; MOUNTAIN C:I.JNIC:S FOOT l.AlJNCJI • BFACI l lZ!'.S()JZJ • Ol'I N YFAR J(()UND • EQlJil'MENT SAi.ES AND SFRVIC:E

Internet Address: hnp://www.kirtyltawk.corn ],>Mail J\ddn:ss: hang-glidc(ilmtter-b:tnks.com PF.NNSYLVANIA MOllNTAIN TOP RFCRf,:AT!ON - Certified instruction, l'ittshurgh.(,112) G<J7-lili77. C'MON OUT AND Pl.A Y! MOlJNTJ\IN WINCS

Look under New York.

PUERTO RICO FJ.Y PUERTO RICO! Team Spiri1 1 lang Cliding. 11(; classes daily. Tandem instructiot1 avail:iblc. Wills Wing dealer. Clidcr rcmals f,,r qualified pilots. l'.O. Box ')78, i'Ltnta S:mtiago, Puerto Rico 007/i I (787) 285-09%. TENNESSEE

fl<AROS SPORT i\VlATION

Microlight M:mnfacturing. NYC's nrst :md lied school f,ir gliding, jl:H:tgliding :ind trikes. all major brands. M:mufacturct Distrihuturs/dcalcrs for the BEST microlights in the world, SPARTAN. New and used cqLtipment :ll best prices. The 1nos1 friendly service in NY. h,r c:tt;ilog srnd $5 to: JSA, :\81 l Di111t:irs Blvd 11110, Astoria NY 11105. Store: 29.l I Newtown J\vc., Astoria NY. Phone/fax (71 ii) 7000, email: Jkaros I JV11:,ol.com lnterttcl: http:/ /membcrs.aol.rnm/ik:iros I l /!ly.htm

UTAH

(800)

schoot/instruction. Teaching since 19/fJ. Area's most

[\!EXPENSIVE prices. Excellent secondary imtrnc tion ... if finished a program and wish to co111i11 uc. Fly rnonntain! ATO[, Tandem flights' Rd, !'inc Busl,, Contact Paul Voight, 51(,:l NY 12.566, (91/i) 7/ili l l l l

hed llnrns WINDEMERE (830) (,'Jl-5805. !IOlJS. TON (281)-i71 /.188.

KITF ENTF.RPRISFS

NEW YORK

Sales, service, ELl.ENVJI.J.F l'UCIIT PARK l.SIICA certified in.muction. Dc:tlcr !t,r AIRBORNF, LA MOUFTTF TOPLESS, Al'C<), instrnmrnts, accessories. 80 I !:mg (;Jider Road, Fllcnvillc NY U/i2.8. Call Toll)' Covelli or Jane, phonc/f:,x (')lii) (,li7-1008.

CertiCied foot

bunch, t"ow &_ tandc1n rraining. ,Sales/service, Steve &

Fl~e:ht Parle

Ul' OVER NFW MEXICO - Instruction, sales, service. Sandia Moun1;1i11 guides. Will.<-.) i\invavc. Albuq11erquc, NM (50'5) 821 -8'\14.

AAA FLl(;I !T SCI 1001. MOUNTAIN WfNCS and EAST COAST PARAGLIDING in Ellrnvillc NY. the l:irgcst, MOST PROFESSIONAL training in the NF with 15 years expcriencc. "/ lit!I tim,· iustn1ctors, Ii exclusive training hills. We stock everything available for pilots and sell & service A IRW AVE, AV8, AI.TA!R, WILLS WING and now MOYES, also SWfFT, SUl'ERFLOATFR, KASPERWING and ALL PARAGUDER BRANDS. Unhc:1tahlc prices on gliders. Full rime t:mdcms, IC:!', cli11ics. We do it all. (911i) I 50 Canal Street, F.llcnville NY 12/i28. EXPERIENCE SPEAKS FOR lTSELL

AUSTIN AIR SPORTS INC.

Hll.l. C:OlJNTRY l'ARAC!.l])]Nc; INC I.cam complete pilot skills. Personalized USI !CA certified training, ridge soaring, foot &_ tow launching in central Tern. MOTORIZED PARACI.IDING INSTRUCTION & EQUIPMFNT AVAll.ABI.E. ('Jl'i) l7'J l 185. R1 l, Box J (,I', Tow TX 78677,.

NORTH CAROLINA

1V!Ol/NTAIN W/>:ST IIAN(; Cl.lD!NC: hrmi11gton's 011ly liill service school and Wills Wing dealer. Offering tow and t:rndem !lights. ('iO'i) 632 8/i/i,

TEXAS

l.FSSONS, SAT.I'S, SERVICE, TANDFMS 1···888-<J/ili-5/i)l. FUT.!. T\MF lJSl ICA ccni WASATCH W!NGS fied ! IC instruction ,tt Point oC the Moun1ain and mou11tain sites. Dealer f,,r Acros, Wills Wings, J\irwavc and llll)ch more. C::111 /.ac (80 I) 570Oi!i2. VF.RM ONT FART! I AND SKY ADVENTURE SPORTS Starting, M:nch 1st, Bob Corbo & Jon Atwood will offer spring inspections and CLtll annuals. Advanced

training, f'rom approaches to

:icrob:irics, rherrn:il XC: 1cchniques. All Wills Wing products :ivailahlc! Stay tuned f,,r progress. (802) 26:l 92/i'\, email: e:1rthskyv1>vcrmo11tcl.corn

l!AWK /\IRSl'ORTS INC P.O. Box 9056, I<noxvillc, TN 379/iO 0056, (li2:l) 212-/i'J9/i. I !:mg { ;Jiding and world fo111ot1s \Vindsoks. I.OOl<DUT MOUNTAIN Fl.IC! IT !'ARK -- Sec ad under ( ;corgi<1.

··-------···------~---·---··---------------------··---------------------·-·------------·--------··------- --··------------MARCI! 199B

5<)

VIRGINIA

GTFJ'S & TROPHIES Unique, umtsual & creative hang gliding related and trophies. l'ree catalog! Soaring Dreams, 1 Fairview, Boise Idaho 8:3713. (208) 37(1./'Jlli.

BLUE SKY I ligh quality instmcrion, equipment sales, sewing, rowing supplies, Clidcr Savers. Call Steve Wendt in Harrisonburg VA, (51JO) li.32-655;.

KITTY l IA WK KITFS

Sec North Carolina.

WISCONSIN RAVEN SKY SPORTS JIANG GI IDINC AND PARAGLID!NC The midwest's Premier acrotow Oight park, f,,unded in 1'!92. Featuring INTEGRAT ED lNSTRUCTJON of foor-launch and acrotow tan· in rbe USA. dem skills, at package prices to beat Seven heatuifol, grassy training hills all wind directions. hmr Dragonlly tow planes, no waiting! Two tandem gliders on wheeled undercarriages. WW hilcons for rraining fi-orn the very ltrst lessons. LJSUA ultralight and tug instruction. Paragliding tows. Free camping. Salcs/scrvicc/acccssories for ,111 brands. Open 7 days a week. ( :omact Brad Kushner, l'O Box IO I, Whitewater WI 5:J 190 (Ii] 4) li73 8800 phone, (Ii IIi) 173-8801 fax, www.hanggliding.com, brad (i1lhangglidi ng.com

BEST 12" W!IEl'LS /\VAIi.ABLE Super tough, lightweight, a rnusr for t:rndcnr Built-in bushings. Only \JSA .. built I wheel. quantity discounts. Immediate delivery. Lookout Mountain, (800) 688-1.MFP.

"llREl\lll?l\N" MAKNR NEW flM/\LL COMBO tlNTl" Fot, JIANG Gl,TDING /\ND PARAGU:DlNG.

My well-loved P/\RTS & ACCESSORIES AEROTOWING ACCESSORIES Sec TOWINC. THE WALLABY RANCH (911) 4210070.

excellent altimctc1

quick vat·io 1nanied to an to new generation lnser-

trirnmcd transducers. Squeezed imo tough lirrlc RF proof· box only 5x3x I .Ii" srill has reserve harrcry! broad Velcro strnps or hasc rnbc mounting $295 Shipping inc. (805) (,821088. Brcadpan units still $295. Laser trimmed retrofit available $85. ROBERTS CL!DFR INSTRUMENTS 33/iO C:1.11'1' DlUVF SANTA BARBARA C:A 'J:i109

ARMADILLO (;UDER I\A(;S Protect your glider from UV and all of nmurcs clements. ( '.nstorn made heavy-dnty polypropylene w/fitll length zipper $] 05 (plus $IO s/h.) FXCI.USIVEI.Y through Kcnt11ckian,1 Soaring, 1125 N Ave., Clarksville IN lil 12'!. (812) 288-7111, fox 28/i-/iJ 15. MC/Visa. BAU. M-50

HEAVYDUTY, WATERPROOF PVC Full 1110 zipper, $107 ppd. XC-Carno or white. 115 zipper $65 ppd. Cunnison Cliders, I 51i9 Connty Road 17, (;unnison CO 81230. (970) 6/il-9315.

Jll(;JJ PERSl'ECIWE WlJEEl.S

Real life savers!

12", light, rough. Firs all gliders. Send $41.95 + $![.50 shipping per pair to Aviation, PO Box 101, Mingovillc PA !(1856.

KIT VARIO $70 Fly high with your hanrl .. rnadc vario. Sensor, !Cs, l'C:B, CRs, manual, etc. Hiryn Mfg., fax OI l -8 I .IJJ-2l'J./i627 Japan, KC ( ;033'j '.,Qt>rr il"t yscrve.or.jp

and TE, like new, just rccali · very little $li50. (805) 77Hl70/i

evenings.

by more

us 60

l'lNCERSWITCll R/\DIO HEADSET By Flight C:onnecrions. l!EAVY-DlJTY wlringer mounted switch) co111mt1nica1c with hands on control bar or

brakes. Safer flying ,md more reliable communications. 90 day mfj; w/repair service available beyond Yacstt, !com, Alinco, Kenwood warranty. Available & other radios. Full focc or open helmets. MC/Visa, dealer inquires invired. $89 t $:l. 50 Kc11n1ckiana Soaring, ii25 N Taggart Ave., Clarksville IN li7129. (812) 288-7111, fox (812) 28/i-lil I 5. SPE.. CIAT.IZING IN COMMUNICATIONS.

HANC GUDJNC

BUSINESS & EMPLOYMENT

KENTUCJ<JANA SOARINC ( :ommunications S1,cci:tlist! !\est l'ri,Ts & Best Service! ( ~uswrncr S:11isfoc1ion Cuan111tccd!

J IC INSTRUCTOR NEEllED

h,r spring & sum-

mer '98. Tandctn rating 11ccdccl, 1cach at the famous

Point oi' the Mormt:tin. C1cat hrncf11s. Cont:rct 11:rrtlcy VARIOS: MIGi TT DECKS NEW BALI. CRJ\PJ /J( :s J>LlJS.. BALLMJ'J ....

FLYTF.C:

& Lind:, C:nmfort. TJ,c Soaring Center (80 I) '57(, (,li(iO, fox (80 I) 576 61i8~, or semi resume: 12.(,65 S. Minutem;in Dt ., //I, llrapcr lJT 8107.0, email

..$CAI.L .......... $l7'i.00 .. $CALI

l ll\CJ/;1l;rol.com

HELMETS PELL!' l'ull l':1cc, a fiw left ... retail $160 ... Ckar:111cc $'J'i

!.Ml'!' NFEDS EXPERlLNCF.ll l!FLP shop. ( :all /\Ian or M,m (706) 398··3'5/i I.

IUDJOS-AI.J. M()] lELS AV All.AJ\I.F YAESlJ l'Tl IR. ..'5 watt. ........ $305.00 Kl'NWOOD Tl l?,l ... .'i watt.. .. ... $C/\I.L F/C Fingcrswi1d1/llcadsc1. ... ) lcavy-Duty... ... $89.00 'i/8 Tl\! .ES( '.(WI(: i\N l'FNNA .. ..$20.'J'i 'i/8 CAIN J)lJCI< ANTENNA ... ... $1/.'J5 Eartalk Kenwood... ..Clearance ..... . .... $(,0.00 Yaes11 Mobile... ... 50 wart. ... $\05.00 TUNF UP w/Warranty Intact. ..... ... $\5-50 ()()

MCW.F l'I.YIN(; .. MORE TlMF MORF MONEY Mark Y:rrnall, business mcnror & SUCCESS MA(;;\ .. Zl NF Contribming Fditor, lwlicves pilots would fly more, ii. they had the time & money. I.cam how ro have more time to fly and tit<' money to takv care of" your /,n:>llces. Please cont,tct (702) 88/i-liO.lO.

PAR!\CI llJTES WILLS WINC I.ARA ... w/Paraswivcl. I l!Cl I FNl'.RCYQlJANTUM.

Tl,e world class XCR- J 80 operates up 10 hours c,,JJ g,ooo Ct. :ind only !Jib. Complete kit with c:in1111la :ind remote on/off

Dealer overstock on small/xs SMAI.L l lFLMFl"S kc-vl:1r f"ull f,,cc helmets. 2'i% om Raven Sky Sports (Iii !i) 1Tl-8SOO. hraM11l,anggliding.com

In the sew

QUIT YOUR DAY JOB!

ll11y one of the llation's L,rgcst schools ,md get paid tn fly! turnkey operation, call for details. l•.st.ablrsllC(I years in the booming Northwest. Farn/1.carn. '[ 'cnus.

.... $(!\[] .. $<:AU

TEK FL!Cl IT PRODUCTS

MJSCEU.i\NEOlJS i\RMJ\J)ll.1.() c:lidnbag ..... Rcgul:ir & XC .... $105.00 WJN!) AIWJS( mY AIRSPFF.l l W/C:Limp .... $2l.OO l ]A] ,I. l'(; 1\IRSPFF! )... ..( :Jear:u,cc. ..$2'5.00 1100!< I<NIH. . .... $1 li.'J5

tnounts

('iOJ) 'i?·li-770'), cm1>loyccs w,tmcd .

Wi\NTF.D l l:111g Cliding/F'ar:ti,lirlinr; lmmediall· 1"1111 1irn,· Calif'orni,1 dream .. instruct at the San h·ancisco Bay area's prcmic1

silc. S<'rvic(' shop

employmctl\ is also av:iilahle. fo, l'at Dcncv,111 (li08) 2/,2 . J OS'i. MSC :1 I( ;v1':rol.com www.ha11g-gliding.com

l<ENTlJCJ<li\NA SOARINC PUBI.ICAT!ONS & ORCANJZAT!ONS

CAI.I. US! !Ci\ /;,rm. l'rom the early I !,mg (,iidi11g. (719) <,:o2·B:l00.

prcscJJt

Camera mount $1i8.'JO. C:uncra remote (ask about /," wheels $7.'J.7'i, rebate) $/i5. Vario mount $ I S&J I incl,tdcd. TU( Fl.lCHT l'roducls, Colebrook Stage, Winsted CT O(,O')is. Or call (860) T79- I 668. Email: 1ckv1lsnc1.n,·1 or our page: I, 11 p:// mcm I >crs. tripod .rnr rii-· tck fligh 1/ indcx .I, rml

fl Troo H<mg Olld11,g Storv

bv LAgRY I"U~Mll'!O

MIN! VARIO World's smallest, ( :lips to helmet or OJ 8,000 Ii .. fosr response year warr:m ty. (; reat l,11 pangliding too. ONLY $169. Mallcttcc, I'() Box 157'5(,, Santa Ana ( '.A, 92.735. (71 Ii) 'J66.· 12/i0, mnwllc11/iilaol.com Jv!( :/Visa

DON'T CIT CA\JC:l!T LANDIN(; DOWN WIND! 1.'5 oz. ripstop UV trc:ircd, 5'/i" colors fluorescent long w/ 11" 1hroa1. pink/yellow m fluorescent pink/white. $39.95 ( ,.$/i.75 Sil I). Send to US! fC1\ Windsok, P.O. Box 1.130, Color:rdo Springs, CO 80')0 J .. ] Tl 0, (719) 632 8300, fax (/l'JJ 612 (,/i17, VISA/MC

DOWNWIND From !lie early days of the /O's, to rlie hig time ;rir of" Owcn's Valley, DOWNWIND is packed with thrill ;ind exhil;rr:rtioll o/" cro.ss country adventure. The pcrfc-ct gif't l,,r hotlr pilots and 11onl'ilots. SI IARF TI II·'. FXPFJUFNC T. !\ tnrc story, well told. Available fi-orn l /SH(;;\ I /cadquanns for· only $10.95 ( $Ii s/h). I'() Box U30, Colorado Springs CO ilO'JO J .. J .JJO. 1

accepted.

MARCI I 1C)<)[I

s PARTY AT CLOUDHASE A hang gliding music video by Adve111urc Productions $1'!.95. POINT 01' THE MOUNTAIN /\ward winning by Fast C:oas1 Video, hg/pg ac1io11 :II rhi.1 U1ah mecca $79. JIANG GLIDING EXTREME & BORN TO FLY Adventure Productions, g,rcat hg action $3ii.'J5 HAWAIIAN Fl.YIN by S11acc <J, soaring in paradise, :rnm.ing launches $Tl. Call \JS! !CA (719) 632-8300, fox (71 'J) 632-6/; l /, email: 11shga(r1\1shga.org. Please add ., $Ii domestic s/h (+$5 for rwo or more videos). frirnds or for those socked-in the l:rnncl, poraw 11trned cot1ch us about our paragliding videos! BAC IT! JC you don't have your copy of Dennis l'agcn's PERH)RMANCE FLYING yet, available $29.')5 (1$5.50 s&b rhrough LJSH(;A for UPS/Priority Mail \JS! !GA, l'OBox 13:Hl, Colorado Springs CO B090 I. f .. g()() .. (, 16-6888 ushgal?Dushg:1.org SOARING - Monthly magazine of The Soaring Society of America, Inc. Covers all aspects of soaring flight. h1ll 111embcrship $'i5. ]nit,. ki, with sample copy $J. SSA, l'.O. Bo-x E. !lohhs, NM 88?.li l. (505) 3'J2 1177.

TELLURIDE AEROBATICS From the fost Tcllmidc Festival in 1981, 10 1he modern day Follow the history of this dyn:unie C:dl USI ICA (71 ')) 6:l?.8300, fox ushgaQ11t1shga.org. Please acid +$1 domestic s/h.

MISCEL.I.J\NEOUS

VIDEOS BOOKS & POSTERS Call US 11 GA for yollr Mcrcharnlise order form (719) G.32-8:000, email: t l sl 1ga (!1)11s Ji ga. 0 rr;, DON'T I.EAVE YOUR CROUND--lH)lJND F.QlllPMENT SITTING IN THE GARAGE. SELi. IT IN THE l !ANG GUDING CLASSIFIEDS. CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RATES The rme for classilied aclvcrrising is$. 50 per word (or group of char acrcrn) ancl $1.00 per word for bole! or all MINIMUM AD CTIAHGE $5.00. A fee of 15.00 is charged for each line art logo and $25.00 for each photo. l.lNEART & PHOTO SIZE NO LARGER THAN l .75" X 2..2.5". Please l!ndcrline words to be in bold print. Special of 1abs $25.00 per column inch. Phone words. Fmail or web address•:lworcls. AD DEADLINES: All ad copy, insrructlons changes, additions and cancellations must he received in I I /2 momlrs preceding the cov1

er date, i.e. 20th for the February issue. Please make checks payable ro LSI !CA, P.O. Box 1330, Colorado CO 80901-1}30, (719) <,:l2 8:lOO. Fax (719) 17 or email: ushga~i)ushga.or;; your classified wi1h yom Visa or Mastercard.

TOWING AEROTOWING ACCESSORIES l lcadc1uartcrs for: The finest releases, releases, Spectra 'V" bridles, weak links, 1andem launch can ki1s, c1c. THE WALLABY RAN(] I (9/i I) 42/i-0070.

/\dvcnture Productions ... ,.,.,,, ... ,.... ,... 20 /\crolighr USA .. ,................................ 57 /\irtime., ..... ,,., .. ,..... ,.. ,... ,, ......... ,., .. ,, ..44 "AEROBATICS" Full color 2.l"x .1 I" poster fca1urinr, John I lciney doing what he docs bcsr-LOOPJN( ;1 Available through l/Sl JCA l JQ for just $6.95 (, $3.'50 s/h). Vil! d,at void on your wall! Srnd 10 USHCA Acrobarics Poster, PO Box ]:JOO, Colorado Springs CO 80933. (USA & Canada only. Sorry, posters arc NOT AVJ\11.Alll.E on intcrn:uional orders.) SPE& Frie Raymond poster· s/h).

Airwavc ............................................. 23 Altair ................................................. 31 /\mi Design ............. , ...... , .. ,............... 15

Brannigcr ... ,....... ,, ..... ,........... ,........... 21

Flyrcc ................ ,............................... 57 Hall Bros ........ ,................................. ,20

High Energy Sports ........................... 21 I caro .. ,...... , ... ,. ,.. ,..... ,,.. ,, ,........ ,, ... , ...... ,2. paragliders. Low operating cost, precise lm1'·l<:ns1on

J\!St

opcrmion. Ideal for clubs, schools and resorts. from a sma II field, allows and foo1 cs. Training available by 1rainers. For irrfor. rna1ion: l )istann· l ksign, 725 Wiscrrnm, Owrcntont, Quebec, Canada [12V }Kl, (Stli) VLl-%1 l. Dealer inq,iires welcome. d11mbowi11cl1(a\1ol.corn SCOOTER TOW SYSTEMS prices. ('!72.) 3'!0-9090.

Lookout M tn. Flight Park .............. 7, 52.

Neilsen-Kellerman ,............ ,............. ,29 Sport Aviation Publications ............... 29

Available al various

Thin Air Design ................................ 39 CAL GLOVF.

VIDEOS & Fri.MS FIRST M.JGIIT

eq11cstrl:ln cirgliding,

Follows the ae1ion oL, new pilot's

in men, shcs 1 (_) di{l(,rc111 colors and priced

first lessons. This video is an cnlcrtaining way to show

women &

friends and Cnnily how you aellwlly learn 10 !ly. I 'j minutes. $20 includes shipping (mrty ht ,1pp/ied to lesson purchr1sel). MISSION SOARING CENTER, 1116 Wrigley Way, Milpitas CJ\ 'J'i0.15. (li08) 2621055.

from $27.95-$39.95. !'or more info on these superior lc,nhcr gloves conract: Cal-Glove, 2920 Auburn Blvd, Sacramento CA 95821. (916) liill--8701, fox (916) li8 l-1168, email: ctl-gl,m:Qi>juno.rnm

I· r )' ....................................... ........... ,,I

U.S. Acros ........................................ /17 US Aviation ..................................... .50

UST lGA ................... JO, 1 I ,2.1 Wills Wing ............... ,.......... ,........ 38,39 Women's World Tcam ................... , .. 56

HANC CUDINC

Dan Johnson PAUT,, MN (witt1 Nino), new~"">. boss 110Jth

T'R3 "Wo

,•;o cold I o RI 1mhappy Company ownec·n, and

h,,ve

vEcn

on longc"r " l1E" of bu:ild:ing hi

OUJ'.

We havo Aftcn

'l'c•

i I.' s al four-sl:roke, and fuc::·1 economy ,;hould be than l:uq. 'f'hE?Se U1i.ng::; ren't: cheap, $17,fl/J9, the Dumbo w.i.nch is L:i I I than some ro t·uqc:, and it maintenance (or at ') ] 4 · 3 I] 3 · 9 6 I 1 . I I I () .s another WdY d.i o L, other t:han a I owinq, winehinq, or mountain Launchinq. l!i new 1''reedom Machine i::; powered trike, bu:i Ll: for 1 hanq piJoU", Leed [airly at ),r:ilJO. Hook to your hanq q ider, the tril< c ri ip th cal t only 90 9'J poun 'I'he 7.enocJh 7 Cl n a i tarUJ.ble, and even hing comes fully assembled and recJdy for up. 'J1ab0r ha eanicd a for corrE)Ctly r e a cl hi g I 11 8 h nq ma r k and devc·loping rn·oducU; \·.he commun t.y. 'I'hc· Frc0c,dom Machine :is F, A. R Part 1.0 legal, meanincr your c11rrenL aJ:iil i enough to fly Ui:i powered ircn:dt wiLhout n FAA Licens0° (1:bouqh of. som0 Lrdininq i.::; nc~eded [or [·hose wi l.h no power experience). Info: '/OG 398 ')41. 111 Two new harnesses havrc· t:ly come to my \.enl:i.on. One is from 'I' ab cc r a n d c a 1 .I r, cl t h G 'T' Ra c e , [o $8 9 9 . Loaded wi l:h Long I ic, t of fc ,aturc:s, Lookout Mount:a ,c:ays U1e j '" those who "demand top performance ... without compcom:LE,r~." 111 'I'l:w other from inq U, who now bcJcks their Ukra:i nian new harnc~,3s of l:.heir own. CW MC?adows "couJd not: be any more :;tream] :ined un] it didn't have a main hancr U. Ac'ros :;ell,; ii ror on] y $699, i Meadows t·.o "We'"' re dc,terminc,d to .lower tJ1e price of banq gliding." H By GW added near L.he end of c'January, :i.ders I a ki kin some r·oyal in 07. (Wold Champs) . " ThE, detai] rnay be known by the you read L:his. Jnfo: 919-,'.JH() '/7/J.. ,Ju down the, bluf edg Toppers' maqnif Henson an old [r nd Dunlap, mak.incJ liang o :imc a an, Charl Yowell has c ome L. c, re t i n g r 1 i g ht CJ b j cl ' Art o v c? r the years. Hi,, new Cloud Clocks 00% wood, ted to bring 011 the, contours of he c] ouds which make up tJ1e hi wa] hang:incJ t·imepi.ecc!. Th hou minute, and ::;econd hand::; re L i.ppc,d w·i l.:h col l hanq which c l'.'Otrnd and rou.nd :in an thermal . A ·7 .. j ewe I movemen I: a lime. 'J'he C] oucl Clock,; which '.;!l') plus $ S&:TI 6 19" wi cfo crnd about 12" l:al I so you I hem ly from across l.he room. FurU1or info: f~L. 2 Box 80, Dunlap 'I'N ]'/ '/. 111 'ro c.LosE,, ari upda on th Superior Dragonf l\ over i ght c eel omj :ion o 1: mcmben; helping Minne,oolan, Douq ,Jobnson He reporl:E,, "T have '/ part·,ne l:o acknowledqe t.heL:r valU<,d ro: 2J8 ]fl. 111 Outta room agdjn! ~;o, cJol news opinions? Send 'c,m to 8 Dor:,;c,L, E;t. Paul MN '::i5llfl, Vmai1 or t.o 612 /J'i0-0930. Send eMaiJ t·.o Curnu]usMan~laol.corn. THANKS! 0

Gon'I'och Gorpor,a lion Acme Gl Company and trio 'I'I~ J :;; Cl and o l:hor ti on . " b(: [ I: ' s

taking ca Rcynold:c; l so dmounts of tho t· wa;=;

live Francci·i

product r:elf-conl:aj nc"d winch on b1:ocbure hows a l:c··m a qood a"; T' European Aero Club (which ·1 o I )icy' vi.Ly :invc,sted in crncli throughout Europe·) . Compa with ing tuq aircrafl·, ,ind high pilol:s, L:alionary wincb and With good become thou bn;1mi new Dumbo w,inch many ye;a r laur1chc:r:. r.T\J_ndem ce; c,·as i Ly hand! c·d Uic 1. ll I i four indc·r ~;:incc· MARCI I I 99/l

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DECISIO . S. dec1s1on DECISIONS DECI decision

The latest composite.semi-cantilevered technology yields adramatic performance increase for those pilots who require the very top of the line. measured stability levels comparable to conventional designs with unsurpassed sink rate. l/0and high speed performance. Winner of siH out of seven major UJ meets in 1997. One sirn -Hffi6A certifiet Smaller fusion under development.

With two U.S. and one Canadian national Championship titles. and aWoman'sWorld Championship.the "HC" offers proven. competition class performance inamore economical. conventionalconfiguration. Three sizes -H6mA certified.

The move-up glider with all the features and performance you need. Set VG loose. and equipped with the optional keel mounted stabilizer, it is the perfect move-up glider from the falcon. With the V6 engaged. it becomes acapable advanced soaring and cross country machine.The most versatile glider we·ve ever made. Two sizes -H6ffiA certified. Ultra Sport 13S coming soon.

THf industry standard for entrylevel hang gliding and pure. simple. recreational soaring. fHtraordinary

soaring performance in alight weight. hassle free design that is incredibly easy to fly. ijuite simply,the most enjoyable hang glider you can fly. four sizes -H6ffiA certified.

500 west blueridge ave. orange, ca 92865 usa tel 714.998.6359 fax 714.998.0647 web: www.willswing.com e-mail: comments@willswing.com

Quality aircraft for e x ceptional people.