USHGA Hang Gliding January 1999 by US Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

(USPS 01 7-970-20 -

16 Foreign Soarin' -

ISSN 0895-4:UX)

The Flying Finns

24 Open Distance article and illustrations by Mike Vorhis lnvcrrcd soaring ~1ction.

34 Invitation To The Speed Gliding Pre-Worlds by Dermis Pagen Plying fasc from Mou nr Olympus itselE

35 Better Launches And Landings: Step by Step t1 program by Pat Dmevan, rrrtirle 1md illustrations by Greg Shmu The Launch - Pam IV and V: Starcing rhe run and running to rakeoff

38 The 1998 Women's World Meet

by Kerie Swepston, photos by Artron Swepston Ladies from around che world barrle ii out in Hajduszoboszlo, Hungary.

47 The 1998 Region 9 Championship by Pete Lehrnt1nn Despite weaker conditions rhan che previous year, many significant X-C flights were made in 1998.

Columns

Departments

Exec's Corner, by Phil Bachman .......... 10

AirmaiJ ... .. ....................... .......................4

USHGA Reports, by Dennis Pagen ....20

Update............................. .......................8

Incident Reports, by Bill Bryden ........ .44

Calendar of Events ...................... .. ....... 15

Produce Lines, by Dan Johnson .........63

Racings .... ...................... ................. ...... 50 Classified Advertising .. .... ... .............. ... 53 Index to Advertisers ....................... ...... 62

Gil Dodgen, Managing Editrn;!Editor in Chief Dave Pounds, Art /Jimctor John Hei11ey, Gerry Charlebois, Leroy Grannis, Mark

ir Mad

Vaughn, Bob Lowe Photogmphers Harry Martin, /1/ustmtor Dennis Pagim, Mark Stucky, Geoff Mumford, G.W. Meadows, Jim Palmieri, Staff Writers Phil llachman, Executiv(e Director, phbacl1man@ushga.org Jeff Elgart, Advertising, jjdgart@ushga.org Joanne Peterson, Member Services, 1jp(Jl/,Jrson@ushga.rn1; Elain1J Elgart, Web Admlnistmlor, "'"'"'ln,,ri<rii, Natalie Hinsley, Merchandise Servk:Bs, nrt11ns1,,w!)uSfl:r,a.c,r~ John Halloran, Adminisll,itlv< 0

Gregg tawlcss, Pn•sidant Chris Dul'aul, Vico PnJsidcnt Russ Locke, Secretary Geoff Mumford, Trr\1surer REGION 1: Steve Roti. Russ Locke, Ray Leonard, Scott Gasparia11, REGION :J: Ken Baier, Tammy Burcnr, Gregg L11wle%. REGION 4: Mark Ferguson, Jim leisel. REGION 5: Frnnk Gillette. REGION 6: Jeff Sinason. REGION 7: Bill Bryden. REGION il: Randy Adarns. REGION 9: Pete Lehrnann 1 Geoff Mumford. REGION 10: G.W. Meadows, Matt Taber. REGION l'I: Dave Broyles. REGION 12: f'irul Voight. DIRECTORS AT LARGE: Paul l<lemond, Paul Rikert, Dan Johnson, Jan Johnson, Dennis HONORARY DIRECTOl!S: John Harris, Steve Sanderson (SSA), Ed Pitman, Chris Matthews, Lars Alan Chuculate, , Brown, Roh David Michael Robertson, Crcg

DeWolf,

EX-OFFICIO DIRECTORS:

Art Greenfield (NAA).

HANG GLIDING magazine is published for gliding sport enthusiasts to crente further inlorest the sport, and to provide an educational forum to advance harrg gliding methods ilnd safety. Contributions are wcJ .. conio. Anyone is invited lo ,:ontribule photos, and illustrations concerning hang g[iding activilies. If the rnaterbl is to be rel urned, a stomped, self·"ilddressed return envelope must be enclosed. NotificMion must be made of submission to olher hang gliding public,,rtions. HANG GUDING mag,"1zirw reserves tho right lo edit contributions where neUJssary. Tho Association and publication do not assume responsibility for th,J materi .. al or opinions of contributors. MANG GUDING edltorf.. al offices: 31441 Santa Suite A·-256, Rancho Santa (949) SBH7363, fax (949) Tho USHCA is a member-controlled sprnt organization dedicated to thcJ ('xploration and promolion of all facets or unpowered ultrallght flight, and 10 the educ,rtion, !mining and safoty of its membership. M<>mh,,rsh to anyol1l, in1erested in this maln1 of flight full rnenrbnrship are (of which $1 S lo the publication ($65 nonsubscription rates only are $.1S non .. t.JSA) . Changes of address should be sent six weeks in

Dear Editor, From conversations I have had wirh several Air Sport presidents, ir has come to my attention that NAA did not provide notification of a change in our pricing policy related to sporting licenses. This letter is to advise you of our current prices, our policy regarding notification of price changes, and to let you know of changes we plan for 1999. Prior to January 1998, sporting licenses were available for $15. That price was in effect since 1990. In January of 1998 we increased that fee to $25, and then in July we decided to charge both a member and non-member fee. 'fhe NAA member's fee remains at The non-member fee was set at $35. Please note that the NAA member's fee applies to those people holding a regular membership. Currently, we issue sporting licenses for a calendar year and they expire on December 31. This caused difficulty for some people participating in competition late in the year. Beginning in 1999, we will issue sponing licenses for 12 calendar months. This will eliminate the require .. ment: to purchase a sporting license in December, and then again in January, should the person be participning in a competition during those months. In the future we will send notification of price changes to all Air Spon groups at least 30 days prior ro the date of the change. We do not plan any changes in the sporting license fee in 1999. Donald Koranda NAA President

NAA rnay be cont11ctcd at: l-800-644www. m111.ycg. org. Ed.

;rdvance, including name,, USHGA number, previous

,ind ncJW address, and il mailing label from a recent

issue. HANG GLIDING (ISSN Ofl95-433x) is published monthly by the Un\ted Starns Hang Gliding Association, 559 E. Pikes Peak Avt,., Suite I01, Colorado Colorado H090:J."lf,57 (7/<J) 6:J2 .. fl300. FAX 7. PERIODICAL POSTAGE is

Colorndo Springs, CO and al additioml mailing POSTMASTER: SEND CHANGE: OF ADDRESS TO:' HANC GLIDING, P.O. BOX n:io, Colorado Springs, CO fl0901-1BO .

JANUARY 1999 VOLUMI 29 1 ISSUI No. 1

JNPO

Dear Editor, In the October issue J once again read that hang gliding is on its way out.. This time Ben Davidson blames it on cost. I have to disagree. l am a Novice pilot who owns a Dream 220, which I bought new, and T arn now in the market for my first

doubk-surfacc glider. I find that glider manufacturers, Hang Gliding magazine and the USHCA seem ro forget about entry-level pilots, in mag· azine articles and ads. l 've searched back issues (starring with 1993), trying to find information on gliders which would be suitable for my skill level, to no avail. Unless we can find the in formation we need, entry--level pilots will feel less than welcome in the sport we all love. I )on't get me wrong, I enjoy reading about the exploits of rhe "sky gods" too, but we can't start: there. I was very fortunate to have had excellent instruction during my training, but I can't expecr my instructor ro rel! me everything J need to know. I need a reference. I think that declining membership could be reversed by gearing the Association more to up-and .. coming pilots. I don't know if I speak for other new pilots. What do other readers have to say? Richard Cochran Felton, CA

Dear Editor, I'm tired of all this talk claiming chat singk:-smfacc gliders will be the salvation of hang gliding. This is like saying that returning to a tricycle will keep you from having bicycle accidents on your 12--speed. '!'here arc a slew of novice and intermediate wings out there that arc easier to land than a blade wing, but that will still blow a single-surface glider away in terms of glide. I demoed an entry-level glider when 1 was in I ilorida a few years ago. It towed great, had excellent handling, and in no tirne I was at the top of the lift ,H :3,000 feet. 'I 'hen I decided to go back upwind. Although I was only just past the edge of the field, J lost over half my altitude by the time l got back to the upwind side! The wind wasn't that strong. J soon found myself on the ground. A few days later I towed up in my advanced glider. The lift was very light. J spent a long time scratching up from a low release at 1,200' to 2,200' AGL A HANC CUDJNC

r just soar the local dunes with a couple of mates, there's a Moyes glider for every

Air Mail light wind had drifted me two miles away from the field, but even at 2,200 feet [ easily got back to the field with enough altirnde to get another thermal. Ifl had been flying the entry-level glider, or any other single-·surfacc wing, T would have had to abandon that thermal much earlier because of the mediocre glide. Don't get me wrong, the entry-level wings currently on the market arc excellent training/first-year gliders, but anyone who really enjoys flying will soon tire of the limitations. Visions, .Specrrums and t:he new .Saturn arc all easy to fly with better glide than any single-surface wing. Even high-performance gliders are easy to fly for advanced pilots. The prnhlcrn is landing rhcrn, or more accurately, their landing speed. One day I test--flcw a Saturn at a top-landablc site. 'T'his allowed me to switch back and fclrth between it and my Xtralite. I couldn't believe the low takeoff speed of the Saturn. Where l had to do a fast, aggressive run to l:rnnch my Xtralite, rhc .Saturn lifted off on my second step! Advanced glider landing speeds have increased to the point rhat, if you have to land in no-wind conditions, you have to execute a perfect flare, or you whack. Rigid wings (Swift, Exxtacy) are now using flaps ro lower landing speeds. It's high time for their introduction on flex wings. All topless designs have been reviewed, except the only one with flaps, the .Sensor Gl O CE I've heard that the flaps significantly lower landing speeds, and look forward to an objective review

oC it in this magazine. (Arc you listening, Dennis?) Angelo Mamas Skokie, 11"

Dear Editor, We arc disappointed to sec how some meets arc presented in Hang Gliding magazine. This may be the way the Americans want to get the news (hopeful-ly not), but the rest of the world is used to reading magazines that cover international events and report them impartially. We know that people all over the world receive your magazine and we arc sure that everyone, including American readers, would like to read about major competitions and not only about what happens in the U.S., or what happens to Americans in intermrrional competition. I have followed this year's developments and would like to make some points about your coverage of the following competitions. l) World Championships. The article was published quite late, three momhs after the competition. The amhor talks only about his point of view and about how things went for the Americans. fr did nor include much about the other pilots or teams, not even the Austrians (only one or two sentences) who flew

extremely well. It lacked in-depth reporting about the competition and its highlights. There was no memion of die different gliders or their performance. 2) U.S. Nationak Published very late, and written from a different point of view (a new competition pilot), which is all right, but it lacks remarks 011 general meet happenings. 'fhere was minimal reference to Manfred R.uhmer and his extra-ordinary performance (winning every task in a flex wing, and winning overall flex and rigid wings). As one reads the article, one even forgets who won the meet. 3) No article about the Pre--Worlds in Italy. 4) No article on the European Championships. Hang Gliding is the only magazine which reports so little about the intcrna-· tional compcLition scene, where a big chunk of the aci-ion takes place. lt is your rcsponsibili ry lo make sure the public is well informed of the facts. Hopefully you will be impartial enough to publish this letter in your next issue and we will not be censored because we are expressing our opinion and rrying to share it with your readers. Icaro Staff

Do our want more internatioruzl competition reporting? More competition reporting in general? I-et us know. Fd.

HANC GUDINC

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ICARO 2000 · www.icaro2000.com

E·mail: staff@icaro2000.corn

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Update When using chis device you need at least 500 fee t over your intended landing area so you can observe the drop and fly over it to get a reading of the wind direction and velociry on the ground . T he device is easy to use and can be reused at no cost. T he price is $35 fo r one and $65 for two. Contact: Bob Ortiz (5 10) 2236239.

WRIST-TOP COMPUTER

BETTINA GRAY, INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED HANG GLIDING PHOTOGRAPHER, DIES AT 83

ettina Gray, famo us worldwide for her hang gliding photographs, died peacefully on October 31, 1998 . She was 83. Bettina was born to automotive industrialist W illiam C. Gray in Boston, Massachusetts on March 3, 1915. She attended Beaver Country Day School in Brookline, Massachusetts. Bettina studied dramatics at Erskine Drama School in Boston, then in Austria. Upon returning to rhe Un ited Stares, she studied dramatics with Elia Kazan in New York C iry. She acted in numerous plays in the Boston area and starred in a wartime movie, T he Movie Q ueen, to raise money fo r wa.r bo nds. In the 1970's she became interested in painting, and shortly thereafter, photography. At that time, her son, W ill iam P. Liscomb, was involved in the rebi rth of hang gliding. Bettina became heavily involved in the evolving sport of hang gliding, and was well loved worldwide fo r her spunk and excellent photographs. Many people in th e hang gliding com muniry considered her to be their mother, and the mother of hang gliding. Her photographs have graced the pages of hang gliding magazines a.round the world. She helped create an international hang gliding competition, The Americas C up, and photographed hang gliding events in Europe, Canada, Great Britain and the United Scares during the 1970's. Her photographs of Monet's Garden and hang gliding were exhibited in Paris. Bettina prepared a portfolio of photographs of Sissingh urs r Gardens as authorized by the National Trust. Ar her home in Rancho Sa.nee Fe, Califo rnia, Bettina maintained a remarkable rose garden. She was also interested in auto racing, golf and tenni s. Her daughter, Bettina Bancroft, from her fi rst marriage to Hugh Bancroft Jr., preceded her in death fro m cancer in 1996. Bettina is survived by her son, W illiam P. Lisco mb of San Marcos, CA, two bro thers, Preston Gray of Humarock, MA and J. Neal Gray of North Scituate, MA; and three grandchildren, Elizabeth Go th of Rancho Sance Fe, CA, Megan E. Liscomb of La Costa, and Russell E. Liscomb of San Marcos.

GROUND WIND DIRECTION INDICATOR

he ground wind direction indi cator is a device that shows wind direction and velociry when deployed from a hang

glide r. Ir is a brightly colored su-ea.mer that is designed to lie on the ground in such a way that the red end indicates wind direction with rhe length of cl1e screamer indicating wind velocity.

kySports of Linden, Michigan an nounces the introduction of their new wrist-top computer, the Vector™ . T he Vector co mbines an altimeter, vertical speed indicator, barometer, compass and a precision timepiece in one compact wristwatch-sized case. This unique blend of curring-edge technology and user- friendly functions makes the Vector a valuable asset for pilots. The Vector allows altitude measurement in fee t or meters, up to a maximum of27, 000 fee t, accurate to +/- 10 fee t. Ir also provides instantaneous vertical ascent and descent rates in either feer per second or meters per secon d. T he large back-l ie display is easy to see in al l lighting conditions. T he barometer displays current barometric pressure and trends for up to fo ur days. T he barometric memory is auromati c and self-erasing. T he integral digital compass, accurate to 2°, provides a bubble level fo r superior accuracy and a deviation adjustment to correct for differences between true and magnetic north . The Vector provides rime, day and date, as well as three daily alarms, a stopwatch and co untdown rimer. Ir is waterproof to 100 fee t. The instrument is available exclusively from SkySporrs for $ 199 plus shipp ing. Contact: SkySporrs at H angar l , Linden Airport, Linden, M I 48451 , (810) 735H ANG GLI DING

Update

9433, fax (810) 735-1078, airscuff@aol.com, www.SkySpons.com.

IKAROS TO DISTRIBUTE AVIAN GLIDERS

karos Sport Aviation announces chat it is now che sole distributor for Avian hang gliders in North and Souch America. Gliders for pilots of all skill levels are available. The suggested U.S. imroductOLy price is $5,950 for the Java ropless glider and $4,400 for che Amour. Cornacc: Ikaros Spore Aviation, (718) 777-7000, fax (7 18) 777-3621, ikarosl l@aol.com, www.flyforfun.nec.

GREAT WORLD-CLASS MEETS ANNOUNCES COMPETITION SCHEDULE AND FORMAT CHANGES FOR 1999

ich three very exciting hang gliding competitions on the calendar for 1999, Grear WorldClass Meets is excited about some new developmems and changes in compecicion format for rhe upcoming year. Their first meec of che year will be che Atlantic Coast Championships/Hang Gliding Nationals. This meet, a continuation of che ACC series started by G .W Meadows in Florida lase year, will be run at world-famous Quest Air Flight Park just outside of Orlando, Florida. In addicion to being d1e ACC ir will also be rhe National Championships. The daces for rhe meet are April 25 chrough May 1. Daily prizes will be awarded and food will be available on site daily ro enhance che family atmosphere chat has become synonymous with che ACC. Look for an article abo ut the upcoming Nationals in next monch's Hang Gliding magazine. The ocher two cornescs will be me All Americas Pre-Continental Championships at Dinosaur, Colorado and che first Aspen Open. These contests will be run back-ro-back in me monm of August (specific daces to be announced soon) so mar pilots on road trips can attend bocl1 meets wim one effort. The meets will cake place during the hiscorically lightest-wind days of che summer. This will allow for format changes char will include more triangle and out-and-return casks. The Aspen Open will be a new scar-format competition in which pilots fly to turnJANUARY 1999

May you spend many enjoyable hours in the air in 1999! The USHGA staff JeffElgart, Natalie Hinsley, Joanne Peterson, Elaine Elgart, (kneeling) John Halloran, Phil Bachman. points approximately 20 to 30 miles away and chen back (0 me center of me star multiple rimes wim multiple curnpoims. This will allow for shorter retrieves and will put all pilots back in cown much earlier in the day than in normal desert-racing rype competitions. Special lodging pricing has been worked our with hotels in Aspen so chat che competition will still be affordable. As of chis writing Grear WorldC!ass Meers plans co use CPS for cask verification utilizing a new program (currendy be written). This will do away wim me need for cameras and reduce ernry fees. Pilors will need co fly with a Garmin GPS 12 or lacer model to record m eir emire flight on che rracklog. More information is available ac www.jusrfly.com. GPS 12's are currendy selling for only $150 nationwide. Grear WorldClass Meers is excited abo ut mis upcoming year and can be contacted at (252) 480-3552 or GWM@juscfly.com.

Just Fly homepage will have only four options, one of chem being links to any national hang gliding club's Web site. This will allow any club to list www.justfly.com as meir Web sire address, making it easy ro remember and access. No ugly ads will be in cl1e way and the path will be commercial free. For very small clubs wich no current Web sire, Just Fly will be happy to create a sire for mem and hose icon cheir server. In chis way, Just Fly and U.S. Aeros will support me people who support chem. Conca.cc: G.W. Meadows (252) 480-3552, gw@juscfly.com.

JUST FLY/U.S. AEROS ANNOUNCES HG CLUB WEB SITE SUPPORT

fter noticing mac many hang gliding and paragliding clubs have very difficult-to-remember Web sire addresses (usually because che sires are free), Just Fly and U.S. Aeros have decided ro offer Web sire suppon for hang gliding clubs. The new

NORTH WING SAFETY NOTICE

orm Wing is continuing its efforts ro provide PacAir pilots wim service, sail repair and spare pares. In addition, cl1e company would like to keep pilots updated

Continued on page 30. 9

utive

r's

infrirmation on the Web page, the speakers list with biographies, seminar topics, schedules and other interesting tidbits. Our Web site is at www.ushga.org.

by U51!GA Executive Director Phil Bachman NATIONAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING AND AIR EXPO he second annual USHGA Membership Meeting and Air Expo is shaping up to be quite a show. The dates are Thursday, February 25 1hrough Saturday, February l 999 in Knoxville, Tennessee. The show is being held in the Knoxville Convention I Exposition Center. Judging from the interest shown from equipment distributors and manufacturers, there will he a lot of gliders and equipment to inspect. We will be updating the USHCA Web page with additional information as we receive it. At this time we have enough speakers for seminars on interesting topics for Thursday afternoon and all day Friday. J say "enough speakers" because as the word has gotten out, more calls are coming in from people with interesting presentations who are volnnteering. By the tirne you read this we will have an extensive list of hotels and motels in the Knoxville area on our Web page. Becanse of the newness of our participation in a program of this magnitude, we arc not blocking out hotel rooms for attendees. As we gain more experience we will begin doing this at future shows along with pre-registration. ln ;iddition, we will h;ive campground

MEMBERSHIP MEETING The annual USHGA Membership Meeting will be held in Knoxville, 1999. Tennessee on Saturday, February It will be held in Salon A of the Exhibition Center. The exact time has not been set yet, but plan on late morning. 'There is going to be a joint Board of Directors meeting with the USHGA and Soaring Society of America earlier on Saturday morning. Once the time for that meeting has been confirmed, we will be able to confirm the membership meeting. The USHGA Web page will have the time posted as soon as we have it. In addition, we will publish it in the February magazine. There arc two voting items for this meeting. Both involve confirmation of an Ex-Officio Affiliate Director position. Since this is a change in the Association's bylaws regarding a voting position on the Board of Directors, it requires membership approval. Both of the matters are reasonably self-explanatory. For several years the National Aeronautic Association and the USHGA have sent representatives to each other's Board meetings. These representatives have fonctioned as Ex.,Offtcio members on the other's Board of Directors. However, the NAA representative to USHGA's Board has not been able to vote due to the fact that the position has never been ratified by the membership. We have included a ptoxy in this issue for you to use to cast your vote on these two matters. On the proxy you will see that it appoints me, Phil Bachman, to attend this meeting and c1st your vote on your behalf and as you have specified. This is a legal responsibility I have as Executive Director that l must cany out per your instructions. 1c) vote, copy or cut out the ballot, mark, sign and mail or fox it to the office. USHGA PARTICIPANT INSURANCE OVERVIEW or years, USHGA has provided $1,000,000 third-p;irty liability insurance coverage as parr of the membership benefits. This meant that: a current: USHGA member had liability

coverage in the event that member somehow caused injury or dam;ige to a third party (such as overshooting the LZ and depositing himself and equipment: on the hood or through the windshield of a parked car). This happened last year. This would be a third-party damage, and is covered. This insurance coverage has been used as proof of insurance for years by clubs in negotiating with landowners. A certificate of additional insured which specifically names the landowner(s) as additional insured is issued to them to verify coverage on that site. Only current USHGA member pilots who fly club-maintained sites are covered by the policy. The problem with this coverage has always been that the greatest potemial for recourse frorn accidents and injuries lies with the pilots themselves, the particip:rnts, not third p;irties. For instance, if a pilot blew a launch, whacked and was seriously injured, that pilot could very realistically (in today's litigious society) make a decision to sue the landowner for not clearing the boulders below the launch which subsequently led, in his mind at least, to the cause of his injury. Another scenario: A pilot overshoots the LZ, sets up for a landing in an unprepared area and hits a barbed wire fence causing severe injuries. Another very real possibility would be a lawsuit by that pilot against the landowner for allowing the barbed wire fence to rermin intact in the vicinity of the LZ. In both of these hypothetical cases the landowner would have had no insurance coverage under our prior third-party liability coverage. The landowner would have to pay an attorney to defend the lawsuit, and if a judgment were somehow rendered in favor of the pilot, the landowner would have to pay the judgment. He would have no insurance coverage at all. This left the landown·er wide open to ;i potential legal and financial disaster. For years, this situation has been a major concern with members of the USHGA Board of Directors because this exposure through pilot (participant) injuries opened the local club, its officers and the USHGA to probable counter suits by a landowner who had the unfortunate experience described above. This was the impetus for the search to develop a way to secure participant liability insurance in HANC CLIDINC

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(71

(OS/%)

In consideration of the benefits to be derived from membership in the USHGA, (Pilo~ and the parent or legal guardian of Pilotif Pilotis a minor, for themselves, their personal representatives, heirs, executors, next of kin, spouses, minor children and assigns, do agree as follows: A. DEFINITIONS ~ 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. INJURIES' means personal injury, and/or any other or fimmcial injury sustained by Pilotas a result of THE SPORTand/or as a result of the administration of any USHGA programs (for example: the Pilot Proficiency System). If Pilot is under 18 years of age, the term "SPORTS INJURIES"means nPirc::nn'!lll injury, bodily death, and/or sustained by Pilot as well as or tmanc:1a1 injury sustained by Pilots parents or legal guardians, as a result of THE SPORTand/or as a result of the administration of any USHGA programs. 3. means the following, including their owners, officers, directors, agents, spouses, employees, officials (elected or otherwise), members, independent contractors, sub-contractors, lessors and lessees: The United States Hang Gliding Association, a California Non-profit Corporation (USHGA); a) b) Each of the person(s) sponsoring and/or participating in the administration of Pilot's 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 Pi/otlaunches, flies and/or lands; Each of the property owners on or over whose property Pilotmay 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 Pil,,tJ"Ali'Tll"JPJffl:.l' D "All persons involved" 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 g) FOIRE'JrER n.a;;1.11;;K,n;; AND the PARTIESfrom any and all liabilities, claims, demands, or causes of action that I may hereafter have for .fPA'JR1rs IJVJU:RIE.:S: however caused, even if caused by the negligence (whether active or passive) of any of the n,;;.-,1.a.-;.,,1w1,.-;,y PAi~Tll~S. to the fullest extent allowed by law. I WILL OR MAKE A CLAIM against any of the loss or damage on account of 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 ,.,,,.,,.11.,,,.,,11,.,., PJ~RT"fES. I THAT this shall be and con1stir111e«:1 matters whatsoever arising under, in connection with or incident to this Agreement All CIISPUtes Califo1rni:ii. U.S.A. to the exclusion of the Courts of any other State or Country. Court located E. 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. F. I at least 18 years of age, or, that I am the parent or legal guardian of am making this agreement on behalf of myself and If I am the parent or legal guardian of Pilot, I TO INDEMNIFY REIMBURSE the n11.,11..11.,n,,,;;.-v PAilT/1:.~ defense and indemnity from any claim or liability in the event that fllot suffers SPORT, even if caused in whole or in part by the negligence (whether active or passive) of any of the 11c;.-,1.,.-;,1w11..u P.'IR11ES.

I have Adult Pilot's Signature

Jignat11re ofPilot's Parent or le/fal G11ardian ifPilot 1,nder 18years ofage.

Oate

MMR 12-97

r addition to third-party insuranct. Enter the USJICA Release, Waiver and Assurnption of Risk Agreement. No insurance company ever asked the US HCA for a waiver. A waiver is signed by the partici-pants. The insurance companies who wrote the US! [( ;A coverage in past years were not covering the USIIGA participants (pilots). When approached abom the possibility of negotiating liability coverage for our participants, the insurance companies stated that the only way they would even consider the possibility was for the USHCJ\ to first have irs members on a signed assumption of risk and waiver, a very common documem with any organized sports asso--ciation. The insurance companies' logic is simple LO understand. !fall of the participants who seek the liability coverage have a signed waiver on file it rneans that they have agreed that they will not /Jlc a lawsuit in the event they arc injured while participating in their sport. With this in place, the risk becomes acceptable frH the i11sur-ance company to offer the coverage. The most probable scenario is that a pilot injmcs himsell: files a lawsuit anyway, and the insurance company gets the suit thrown out in summary judgment before the trial preparation (and the majority of the costs) begins. \Xii th the mcmbersliip on a waiver program, the insurance company can then evaluate their exposure in

terms of how many times this will happen, not in terms of how many times we arc likely to have to pay out a judgmem or claim to an injured participant. With a waiver in place, particip;mt liability coverage became available. The USHGJ\ is now able to offer real and complete coverage to the landowner in exchange for the use of his land. From a BOD member's point of view, this is a major milestone in membership benefits. The issue for the Board was to get participanr liability coverage in place to better protect rhc landowners, clubs, and rhc LJSHCJ\ itself If this was not done, more and more sites would very likely be closed or never allowed to open in the Ii rst place. J\ sire which was closed in 1995 was Mount Equinox in Vermont. The specific reason sited in the letter from the .landowner's attorney was, "Due to liability concerns in connection with your group's activities ... " He is referring here to panici pants in the sport, not third parties. ·J'hc nuts and holts of the policy arc straightforward. The new policy language for parricipam coverage was negotiated with rhc insurance underwriters and USHCJ\ by our general counsel. Tt begins with the existing third--pany coverage ;md adds the participant coverage to the same policy. Ir is all in one policy. Because of our relatively good loss/claim numbers on the third-party coverage in recent years,

UNITED

coupled with the signed waiver in place, the premiums for this new policy did nor increase over whar we had been paying. The new coverage became effective August I, 1997. \Xii thin three weeks of the effective date, the policy was used by the Rocky Mountain Hang Gliding Club to successfully negotiate a use permit with the Winter Park Ski resort, the largest in Colorado, to fly paragliders from rheir slopes. Without the participant coverage, it wasn't even feasible. If a club is negotiating to open an insured site, USHCJ\ will send a copy of the policy to them to give to the landowner as proof of insurance~ both third--pany and participant. If they reach an agreement, a date is set, and the insurance company issues a certificate of additional insured through the USHGA office, naming the landowner and any other entities nccess;Hy for the permit, effective on the negotiated date. The insurance coverage is purchased through the US HCA duh. This coverage issued to the landowner is frlr current USHGJ\ member pilots only and rhe landowner needs to be aware of that. The coverage applies to both public and private landowners, or both if necessary. 'The USHCJ\ office has a new eightpage cxplanarion of the insurance coverages prepared by our general counsel that can be used by a club in discussions with landowners about sites. Call or c--mail me for a copy. 11111

HANG GLIDING ASSOCIATION, INC.

I, a voting member of the United States Hang Gliding Association, Inc., a California nonprofit mutual benefit corporation, revoke any previous proxies and appoint Phil Bachman as my proxy to attend the meeting of that corporation's members on February 1999, and any adjournment of that meeting, and vote or otherwise my membership as to tr1e following matters in the manner I have specified below: sentence of Article VII, which shall be comprised of to this rnatter, my proxy is directed to

1 (a) to read: "The authorized number of Directors shall Regional Directors, 5 Directors-At-Large and 1 Officio my vote as follows:

D Approval

Disapproval

2) Add an additional subsection (e) to Article VII, Section i to read: Officio Affiliate Director. The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) shall be represented on the board by an Officio Affiliate Director authorized by the NAA to represent it on the board." to this matter, my

my vote as follows:

[Signature of Member]

D Approval

Disapproval

I W

LL ...

s ... SPRIN

HEM

... F

N EM ... SUNSE

... FRIEN S

E B NFIRE

... SLEEP IN

HE L

ABINS

RE M... IN ... E PL

E F

www. hang Ii de.com

R SE RI

S FUN.

fly@ hang Ii de.com 800.688.LMFP III

r Calcnchir of events itcrns WIU. NOT be listed if only tentative. Please include exact informario11 (event, date, contact name and phone nmnher). Items should be received no later than six weeks prior to the event. We rcqucsr two months lead time Cor regional and n:1rional meets.

UNTIL MARCH: Valle de Brtwo, Mexico tours. HC and PC. Consistent weather for great flying. Daily rates, rental gear. Comact: 1-800-861 ·7 l 98, www.fly1ncxico.co1n, jeffr?ilflymexico.com.

lJNTIL APRIL: Winter Flying Meccfl in

Mexico. You've heard of Valle de Bravo.

JAN. 1999: Austmlian Hang Gliding National, in West Australia near Wyalkatchem. 'fow meet; over flat, open wheat country, similar to Forbes. Entry (/\us.), or $220 before Dec. I. Contact: Cordon Marshal at navir?iliinct.net.:rn, or the competition director ar zupy(,:i>ozemail.com.au.

FEB. l

Packages by the day. Come for a day, a week or a month. Contact: 1-800-861 7198, www.flymexico.com, jefff,)flyrncx1co.com

UNTIL M/\Y: Mosquito Clinics, present· eel by Bill Fi for throughom North /\mcrica. Call (616) 922-2844 for scheduling information in your area.

Ameriats Cup of'Hcmg Dliding;

FEB.: New Zealcmd 'four by Worldwide

Valle de l:\r;ivo, Mexico. 'friangles, outand-rcturn, open distance. The most consistent weather in the world, mountain range varies from 2,000-4 ,000 rncters, 4, 500-metcr cloud bases. Entry $175 bdi:ireJan. $200 after. Includes Tshin, maps, fllrn, party, retrieval. 75-pilots max. 'frophies for the top 10 places, 70,000 pesos prize money. Contact: Eric Salgado, tel. 011 fox: 011-52.726-232 79, cneva(,:1Jsofi:home.11e1.

Adventure 'fours. Three types o/' trips fron, to ritzy. ( ~ontact: 1-800www.fun2fly.corn.

fEB. l 999: WHGS S/Jer'd and XC contests, Covcmador Valadares, Brazil. Prize rnoney. Contact: Adventure Spons (702) 883 7070, aclvsp tsfilpyram id .net, www.pyramid.ner/advspts.

APRIL 18--24: Wfl/laby Open Cross-

FEB. I 3: Pamchute rlinic by Betty Pfoiffer and rhe Draachen Fliegcn Soaring Club in rhc DFSC lofr club house at Cloud 9 l;ielcl, 11088 Coon Lake Rd., W. Webberville, Michigan. Cost for deployment simulations, parachute inspections and repacking is $30. The club's winter party will follow the clinic in the evening. Contact: (517) 223· 8683, cloud9sa0ilaol.corn.

FEB. 19-22: Hang gliding TCP in 1--lawrtii. Multiple islands may be used. /\ssisrance with lodging and inter-island travel well be available through local pilots only during the JCP Contact: Jeffrey I !off (808) 775-9393.

Country 1-!rmg (iliding Competition. 450-point acrotow meet at Wallaby Ranch, 11lorida, site of the 1998 Atlamic Coast Championships. Meet Director: Jim /,cisct. $5,000 cash prize, welcome barbecue and grand awards ceremony. llotels within two rniles will be o/foring a discounted rate for pilots. Crcat friod on site all week! Come early and fly with World Team Academy's Mark"( ;ihbo" Cibson and Mike Barber. Contact: (941) 424-0070,

fly(,:1-iwallahy.com.

)ANLJAl<Y 1999

MARCH 19-22: !CP with Michael Robertson and Steve Makrirws at Ikaros Spon /\viation facilities. Please book in advance. per pilot. Tciwing available. Contact: lkaros Sport Aviation (718) 777-7000, fax (718) 1, ikaros I l C,Daol.com, www.flyforfirn.net.

FOREIGN SOARIN'

e Last November 17 I was climbing a hill on Helsinki's Baltic shore in the middle of the night. I had come to the park along with hundreds of other Finns to watch the Leonid meteor shower which promised to be the Light show ofa Lifetime. The temperature was a mere 10 ° F and the wind was chilly. But the main source of

his indomitable spirit seems to typify the Finnish character in general, and is a salient trait of the many avid pilots I met. In spite of unfavorable odds and dubious ends, the Finns persevere to pursue their pleasure whether it turns out to be fun o r nor. When it comes to flying they seem to feel that any airtime is better than no airtime. Here is my cake on flying in Finland. I was invited to Finland by my friends Riikka Vilkuna and Pia Von Esson, representatives of che Finnish National Aeroclub. My job was to put on some flying seminars, do a little book promotion and sample che Finnish skies. On all accounts, my trip was a success.

A towing instructor holds the line and controls tension for the initial tows.

After a few days in Helsinki I went north to visit a club in Tempere. There I learned che true nature of the Finn ish character: stoicism and a certain penchant for following the teachings of Masoch. Nearly every family of means in Finland maintains a cabin next to one of the myriad lakes. An integral part of chis cabin is a sauna, and the path our of the sauna leads directly to a hole in the ice. Ir seems chat the scorch-and-freeze sauna-ice hole ricual is mainly designed to rest the mettle of foreigners , much like pub crawling in Australia, devouring Live baby eels in Japan, and earing the gusano in Mexico or the haggis in Scotland. I survived che ritual, bur rather than proving my manhood, the icy waters diminished After Tempere I went ro Lahti, a moderate-sized town northeast of Helsinki. There is a healthy flying club in Lahti, perhaps because flying is the town's main claim to fame in the manner of ski jumping. Lahti has seven ski jumps of gradually increasing heights and therefore pucker factor. The highest jump is over 300 feet high, the lower two-thirds of

The first tows remain a few feet off the ground. Note the basetube skis and the instructor holding the tow rope to control tension and release.

which involves a ballistic traj ectory on the pan of the "pilot. " We toured the skiing museum located ar the jumping compl ex and found a ski jumping simulator. T his device lees you vicariously experience a serio us jump while resting yo ur skill. You begin by crouching o n a pad that you jump from as the film of your extremely steep slide plays on che big screen in front of you. The riming and power of yo ur jump is detected and after yo u land (on film) you receive a score which lees yo u know why you should stick to your day job. In my view, ski jumping is closer to true flying than what we do - the jumper travels six to ten feet above the ground for most of th e flight, so the H ANG GLIDI NG

A•TRIP•TO EUROPE'S NORTHERN REACHES my discomfort was the bright glow ofHelsinki's night life offthe cloud deck. Not a star could be seen, and it didn't take long to realize that the show had been canceled I walked back to my room while the festive Finns lingered on to prove that hope springs eternal. © 1999 by Dennis Pagen

Gliders and pilots are conveniently retumed to the starting point on the skis.

JANUARY 1999

Aerotowing at the Vesivehmaa Airport near Lahti. The local instructor tows his paraglider in Lahti's airfie/,d

A shore landing in Lapland Note the pilot ~!~~~~~~· shifting weight to the right to compensate for the lifting right wing due to the slope ground effect. A trike's-eye view ofLahti with the ski jumps on the right and a favorite soaring ridge at left foreground.

Flying over the Torno (Tana in Swedish) River in Lapland along the Swedish border.

Rikka Vilkuna flying a paraglider in Lapland 18

ground rush is tremendous - but it doesn't last nearly long enough. In Lahti I got co fly. The local site is a 3,000-fooc airfield which used to be a military air base during the cold war. (Finland's eastern neighbor is chat land of peace and brotherhood, Russia.) Now it's given over co sport flying which mainly means paragliding and hang gliding. Almost all flyi ng in Finland begins at the end of a line. When l was there, snow and unusually cold temperarnres meant that we were cowing with a snowmobile. The Finns moscly employ static-line cowing (no payout winches and little aerotowing) with the standard setup including a tension gauge, turnaround pulley at the far end of the field and a rwo-point bridle for hang glider pilots. For paragliders the system is the same and often they mix the rwo forms of flying at the airfield with paragliders hooking into only one arm of the bridle. They put me through their training program in an abbreviated fashion so I could see how they do things. First I was towed with about a 100-foot line which was held by the "instructor" on the back of the vehicle. The instructor employs thick, heavy mittens co let the rope slip through his hands co relieve tension, or let go entirely for instant release. The system seemed co work very well as they changed the tension during my cow co demonstrate the capab ilities . The first cows keep the student a few feet off the ground until positioning is controlled. Then more and more altitude is achieved. Just as we have found in the U.S., learning is very fast and more or less painless with chis method. Students can gee many flights in a day and typically accumulate 40 ro 50 flights before hill-launching is attempted. All tow launches are foot launches in Finland. In the summer they use wheels, but for the most part their training takes place in the winter, so they use skis on the hang gliding base bars. Towing requires the cooperation of several people ro be efficient and effective, and curiously, Finland alone of all countries I know does not allow commercial teaching of hang gliding or paragliding. Therefore, the clubs train HANG GLIDING

students in the winter fi)r free, then accept payback in the spring and sum·· mer from the students in the form of tows and retrieves. Students learn to operate the towing equipment at the same time they learn to tow, so there is no dearth of tow operators. Finland can get bitterly cold in the winter. This fact indicates the heartiness and fortitude of the Finnish soul. They do not let a few feet of snow or a few millimeters or mercury diminish their ourdoor fun. They arc a fh, active race and do not exhibit the American curse: obesity. Finland is flat. The last glacier scoured the country and left only moraines, scoria, cskcrs and lakes. The latter, along with forests, arc rhe main f,:atures or the Finnish countryside. Only up north arc there significant hills and these tend to be 1,500 feet at the highest. The north is reindeer country and we know it as Lapland. Most Finn pilots occasionally make flying trips there, but they arc carcfolly timed trips to avoid the worst or the biting flies and rnosquitocs aff<.:ctionatcly known as the Lapp air force. Teaching in earnest begins in late December or early January. · rhar's when the lakes have frozen thick enough to hold the weight of a car. Suddenly the number of tow sites in Finland incrcas-· cs by 186,000 since that's the number of significantly-sized lakes in rhc country. Cross-country flying for both hang gliding and paragliding is popular and eminently possible. Although the coun-· try is heavily forested, there are plenty of strategically-placed open fields. The current record is 224 km (140 miles) but longer distances arc possible. Near the coasts, sea breeze convergence occurs which has been used for some good X-C: flying. One of the problems with such flying, however, is the looming presence of the Russian border. I .ast season two pilots landed inadvertently in Russia. The first one was treated with good humor. ·!'he second one was held fcir several clays and returned humorless. Yes, the cold war is over but the Russians have not yet got the joke. Finland has about 650 active pi lots 4 00 of the hang ;md 2 50 of the para variety. (There is a lot of cross--fertilization since both sports share the same JANUARY 1999

sires and tow rigs.) Some think that hang gliding is growing foster than paragliding due to the better organization of hang gliding instruction. Be that as it may, Finland docs have a much higher pcrcenrage of female pilots than the U.S. The positive atti-tude toward sport flying and greater participarion in outdoor activities in Europe in general, as well as the case of learning to fly in Vinland (just bundle up), contribute to this demographic. It

•-1 '

Ill

Airspeed Indicator ... $23.50 Long Bracket ............. $7.00 Short Bracket ............ $6.50

also helps that their aeroclub promotes women in aviation. Finland is awash in natural beauty. · l'hcrc arc still many pristine areas to explore either on the ground or by air. The long, long summer days reward a patient pilot with extended X-C flights. But the best pan of flying in Finland is the enthusiasm and camaraderie of the rnany flying hnns. Ill

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J\1).1)() t)S-0010

IV by Dennis Pagen

his report covers the CIVL Bureau meeting which took place November 12-15, 1998 in St. Brieuc, France. PARAGLIDING SAFETY Reviews of the World Meet (Spain), the World Air Games (1Lirkey) and the European Championships (Spain) indicate that injuries and fatalities are occurring among upper-skill-level pilots at an unacceptable rate. The problems appear to be the unreliability of competition gliders. While this may seem to be only a competition problem, in fact, it trickles down to recreational pilots as they buy high-performance wings to emulate the top pilots. A CIVL safety committee is currently studying the problem. 'The first step that will certainly be taken is to institute a class in competitions limiting certain matters of design (such as aspect ratio) which will promote better glider stability. The vast majority of competition pilots and manufacturers applaud this move. One major manufacturer, Firebird, bas indicated that they will not support the Paragliding World Cup (PWC) unless such a step is taken. Presumably an open class will continue to exist. lPP[ CARD Clarification was made of the IPPl card. This foreign rating equivalence card applies to both hang gliding and paragliding. A box on the back indicates which one it is as well as rhe pilot's skill level. The Safe-Pro program and the Para-Pro program are the supporting documents for hang gliding and paragliding respectively. All European countries except Switzerland are using the IPPT card (the Swiss are studying it). The Italians have purchased cards for their entire membership (5,000). A discount schedule has been set fc)r the card (over I 00 cards less I 0%J, over 500 cards less 20%, over 1,000 less 25<)'(), over 5,000 less 30%).

ENVIRONMENTAL CODE OF CONDUCT The European Union equivalent of' our FAA, the Joint Aviation Authority, is imposing environmental restrictions on all aviation under their purlieu. The FAI has adopted a general code (most of it related to noise of powered craft) with material to be added for each individual sport. Anyone interested in working on such a document is advised to contact me for information. The impact of bang gliding and paragliding is erosion and cutting of vegetation. However, if we choose to incorporate powered paragliding in any way, noise needs to be attended to.

CIVI. DIPLOMAS (AWARDS) The Ilang Gliding Diploma was not awarded in 1998. Last year, Chris Arai was proposed for the Pepe Lopez award, but that proposal was inappropriate since the award is frir safety-related matters. l sug-gested rhar Chris be nominated fix the l-Jang Gliding Diplorna, but the awards committee did not do so. We can still do this at the next meeting, but it must be accompanied by supporting text. For a deGnition of the CIVI, awards, visit the CIVL Web site (see below) or see Section 7 (CIVL rules) which the USJ--IGA office should have on file. Incidentally, Bill Moyes received this award in 1979 and Prancis Rogallo in 1982. Anyone think Bill Bennett is overdue?

WORLD PII OT RANKING SYSTEM (WPRS) The world ranking program is up and nmning with a number of U.S. pilots in the upper levels out of l, l 00 total pilots (including both hang gliding and paragliding). Some problems currently exist, namely, the program lists results on the total number of meets attended. 1'he pro-gram will be re-scored and republished on the basis of four best meets, two from the current year. The results are posted on the CIVI, Web site. The USHGA has been

sanctioning all our former 450-point meets. As a result, our pilots have suitable representation in the ranking which was not the case with the former PIRS system. Incidentally, we are the only country with Class JJ (rigid wing) results.

INSURANCE COVERAGE There is an effort underway to obtain worldwide insurance coverage. My action item is to contact the office and John Harris to see if any of our insurance policies can be extended internationally. More payees may equal lower prices.

WOIUDGAMES 'fhis is not the World Air Garnes, but an adjunct of the Olympics. In fact, it is an Olympiad for sports that are not yet in the Olympics. Parachuting and Speed Gliding (hang gliding) have been invited to the next one in Japan in 2001. Paragliding was not included because of weather; it will be in the August doldrums. In light of this high-profile meet and the following Lwo subjects, the U.S. competition committee should proceed with major haste to determine a team selection system as well as to promote Speed Gliding competitions. My personal belief is that Speed Gliding will help attract media attention to hang gliding and thereby long-term growth.

WORLD AIR GAMES (WAG) The next WAG will be in Andalusia, Spain (the southwest) in 2001. Hang gliding, paragliding and Speed Gliding will take place near Granada. Eurosports (the equivalent of ESPN) has already signed contracts for coverage. This event appears to be much better publicized and covered than the last one in Tbrkey. Again, the U.S. should be thinking about teams for the three disciplines.

WORLD SPEED GI ,IDING MEET In August, 1999 the Speed Gliding Pre-World meet will take place at Mt. Olympus in Greece. Prize money and funflying X-C events will enhance the main event. Part of the idea is to showcase Speed Gliding to the Greek media and public officials to continue the push to feature it as a demonstration sport in the summer Olympics in Greece in 2004. HANC GLIDING

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Again, it behooves the U.S. to form a team to attend the Pre-Worlds, then the Worlds.

JURY AND STEWARD TRAINING The ClVL is now holding sessions ro train Jury and Steward personnel. This training takes place before the CfVL meeting. Anyone wishing to become a Jury member or Steward should contact me. The job entails attending Category I meets (Continental and World Championships) and ruling on protests, rule disputes, etc. Sometimes the job is not pleasant when an unpopular ruling is made, but all expenses arc paid. Interested individuals should have some competition experience in the manner of meet director, organizer or pilot. Kari Castle has expressed interest. The next CIVL meeting is in Denmark or Paris, which are expensive, but perhaps we should entertain having one in Washington, DC in the future.

OTHER COMPETITION MATTERS The glider class definitions were reviewed and they arc not expected to change in the near foture. Flex wings arc still flex wings, fixed wings are still fixed wings, and paraglidcrs are still paragliders. A proposal has been made to hold the World Championships every year (and do away with continental championships). The idea is European paraglidcr driven

since they have too many meets with the PWC and Pre-Worlds. This will be dealt with in the plcn,iry session in March. I doubt it will pass. As per G.W Meadows' request, any Class lJ event (his meets) can use any scoring system desired. The Race program is provided for anyone ro use and will accommodate any scoring system. · l'lie GAP scoring system must be used in Category I (World meets and Continental Championships) only. As the result of an altercation at the 1998 World Meet in Australia the CIV]. Bureau has written a code of conduct and punishment guidelines for such behavior. It is proposed to introduce paragliding aerobatics into the PWC. If this event is successful, we may sec it in other championships. At the request of Ball, Inc., the CIVT. is raking steps to possibly adopt the IGC (Tmcrnational Gliding Commission sailplaning) GPS srnndards. This would allow us to use GPS's in our meets to verify turnpoinrs. Chelan has indicated the desire to hold rhc Women's World Meet in 2002. They must get the approval of the USHGA, NAA and CTVI ,, of course. 'rhe first step is a letter of intent for l 999. The team size at the 1999 hang gliding World Meet in Italy is six. The organizers arc still dcbat-

ing about: a Class IT event. More information will follow.

PARASCENDING CHAMPIONSHIPS Parasccnding accuracy consists of towing up a paraglidcr or parachute and releasing it to fly down and hit a target. The sport is connected to the BHPA in England. They propose to hold the first World Championship in 2000. Obviously, we have no potential competitors, but US HCA may consider developing parasccnding since it has thousands of adherents. They use the same equipmcnr (winches) and LOW fields as the bang glider and paraglider pilots, and the practicing countries find that it is a hot breeding ground for new hang glider and paraglidcr pilots.

CIVL/fAI CO MMlJNTCATION The CIVL and the FAT have Web sites that include rules and regulations, CTVL info, meeting minutes, jury reports of various competitions, competition results, pilot rankings, etc. Anyone wishing to visit these sites will find them at: FA! Web site: http://www.fai.org CTVL Web site: http:/ /www.fai.org/hang__ gliding/

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article and illustrations by Mike Vorhis

H ANG GLIDING

I (

was jarred co che present by a rough hand on my shoulder. "Heya dooode. Launch window's openin' soon, and I'm gonna kick yer... "

"Beat it, Lunf, yo u're lousing up my can. " Brian Lunfer was the closest thing to a nemesis an amaceur soaring pilot could have. He was rude, obnoxious, and had cost me more uophies chan every other rival combined. I respecced Lunf in a way that made bearing him more important than finishing on the first page. Of course, he was good enough thac to accomplish one I'd have to do both. I had just come from the pilot's meering on deck by the bridge, where che Meet Head had announced char for this final day there would be no specific goal. "The direction is up to you," she'd said. "Furchesc fro m che launch tug wins the day. No our-and-returns, no doglegs, no cross-current stuff. Read the co ndi cions and get whac you can. For this final cask we call: Open Discance!" And a cheer erupted from the throng. "Eleven o'clock! Line fo rms here! " rhe cow winch operacor yelled from aft. Pilocs were donning wee suics and jumping over che side to swim co the flotill a of watergliders and sort om their own . Good-natured splashing marked team boundaries, and I sparred my own mates abom to gang up on the Canadians while their backs were turned. I smacked Lunfer on the chest with an elbow, and with a rebel yell I vaulted the rail to save my boys from drowning at the hands of the ex-hockey players. None of my ream had intended co fly chis comp. Ir was big, it was expensive, and the water was always cold. True, that m ade for strong co nveccion, bur many of us were fam ily men now, and the prospect of braving hypothermia, serious rips, and the odd carnivorous denizen of deep sires took a back seat to coming home co our little ones. Still, a hotter group of pilocs there never was, and I convinced them we'd do it rogerher just one more rime. Of course, I knew Lunfer and his dawgs would be here, and I wanted not only to beat him, but ro have every member of my ream wax every one of them. Only then could I retire co pleasure-soaring at vacacion resorts. My warerglider, with its battered nose cone and bottom rigging, was obsolete by coday's scandards. o matter, I wo uld bridge che technology gap with personal magic. I knew my glider and I knew this kind of water, and after six days of soaring I was within twenty points of stealing the cup from - yo u guessed ic Brian Lunfer, who'd won che meet last year. Of course he'd been stripped of the ride when he was arrested for disorderly conduct in port after the awards banquet, but everyone acknowledged him as the rightful champ. Lunfer had done considerable jail rime before

)ANUARY 1999

anyway, and the nacional and world organizacions cook a dim view of him as a spokesperson for the spore. H e was cechnically not allowed beyond nacional waters coday. None of char marcered co me so much as his conscanc focus on winning, on bearing other pilocs for the sake of bragging about it. And he'd done a few good people wrong, if scories could be believed. H e was a solicary guy, wich no ream spiric char I could see, and no manners, and nothing redeeming ac all in fact, and I just didn't Like him. Ir was all I could think of. And so as a couple of Canadians grabbed my head and shoved me two mecers under, I could casce the salt and the borcom and the currem and the viccory. I could casce ic all up my nose. The crick since the week's firsc task had been co row down co depth early and hug the deepesc holes, where little mixing cook place. Due to buoyancy and SID differences between gliders, rise rates vary. A pilot is always seeking our sink, keeping low, fighcing nor only the minimum required buoyancy of the glider mandaced by ics class, bur any addicional float-load added by oversized pods necessitaced by beer bellies and big heads. As depch is lost, more sink muse be fo und. Turning buoyancy into forward glide is what these craft are born to do, and the pilot's job is co use that travel co find more down-welling, or more cool , dense water. And depth alters dimension; ac sufficient pressure even flex-composites are compressible. So to stay deep is to have less buoyancy, improving SID. In the end, although che Landing Barge awaits on the surface with cold brew and Beach Boys runes, it's always very embarrassing to lee yo ur friends see you float out. A French pilot was grabbing the big iron hook and attaching it to his release. I wacched as he adjusted the oxygen mixture to his regulacor, wedged thick neoprene legs inco the chigh scraps, sealed his pressure pod, and gave che thumbs down. The payouc winch was set co spool, the rug's voice roared, and Jean Pierre disappeared, leading edge first, inro che depths. Other pilocs followed; a row line formed. I wacched while a few cried to delay, perhaps chinking bercer conditions would occur later in the day, until one compecicor called "dunk," and everyone had to cow or else swim co the end of the line. I was glad for char rule coday; I wanced us all to gee down there. All week the from-runners had been getting deep and staying deep, until the brighc orange inBarable start raft and its long suing of weighced buoys were visible co be phocographed from below. Then began the racing co che first curnpoinr. There are always a few collisions in the impossible visibilicy - paint is always traded - and those with sturdier craft win our until che field spreads our a bic. If you're deep you can sometimes avoid these frenzies, shooting our ahead before

the school forms in the thermal below che raft. Bue coday was different, and not just because of the Open Distance task. The high clouds had begun co evaporate; the sun was bright. I knew this would shut things down. I would divert boldly from the cried-and-true when che time was righc. I untethered my waterglider and took my place in che tow line, talking strategy among my buddies in low tones. Mose of them favored the direction of the previous day's task, which had proven to be good for distance. I wished them luck. "Where do you intend to head?" Alan asked. I told him I would flirt with che jaws of hell. here is a trench about twelve miles offshore, so deep ic has never been explored with anything more than sonar. It's seven miles to the bottom, some say. The wacer is cold in there, and probably little mixing occurs. But along its near rim I believed rhere was a current, flowing parallel to the depths. The convergence of marine mammals on chat side every summer proved it had to be there, bringing krill and other edibles. The speed of chis currenc would likely not be as fast as a wacerglider can fly, so one might chink a comp pilot would be wise to ignore such a theory in favor of working thermal sink and gliding against the flotation of the flex-composite hull. But I knew that the strong sunlight would bring ouc a serious plankton bloom, clouding tl1e surface water, drastically cutting the light chat penetrates to deeper levels. The thermal screngtl1 today would be weak. Despite the forecast, I reckoned bottom of sink to be no deeper than a thousand meters. Those whose strategies included working this sink would be scratching for depth all day. It would turn into a duration contest, where the best scratchers and the least float-loaded and che best glide angles would prevail. And then, when they were all safely back on the LB, downing cold ones and trading tales of the high saves they'd almost made, I would surface beyond the far horizon and radio in my coordinates, to smear unofficial defending chan1p Lunfer's glory on my own face and claim that cup. I would fly the ragged edge of Abismo Del Diablo - The Devil's Trench. One by one we were towed down, and suddenly it was my turn. I adjusted my radio headset, hooked the cable to my release, sealed the pod, and the world went from bright co filtered blue beneath a pile of fromy foam. And ic got quiet, and serious. I pinned off at me prescribed 200-meter depth, and hooked one right away. Vario chirping, I cored it co 640 meters before it shattered against a weak inversion. I had expected chat. Alternating between my sustainable 50-up and an occasional burst oflift alarm, I snooped out another stronger down-welling and drifted it west. The others would all be going west, I knew; I could see their ghoscings on my screen. Several rimes mermaling pilots came so close char I could make out

their hull colors with my naked eyes. When I reached 800 meters I peeled back under me school and lefr the sink. No one would notice; they'd simply think I'd bobbed out of it. I configured me nose angle for speed and headed soumeast, into the cloudier zone that surrounds blue-water thermals. Once masked from view, I worked co depth again and made for the hypothetical currenc on the edge of rhe trench. There was a danger here, I knew. This route was unknown. If a current did exist on the Abismo Del Diablo's edge, mere was nothing that prevented it from swinging out over tl1e deep black wi mout warning. Once there, and if the trench rim were deep enough, a pilot could drop below rhe current and enter me still, frigid water through which little convection ever moved. Compressed below neutral buoyancy, a era.fr could descend into the void and disappear forever. But I intended co stay back from the lip somewhat, councing on bottom turbulence ro keep me off the dirt. Like inverse ridge sink, bottom rotor could be used as a kind of cushion from the terrain. Peeling a solid core inco me colder water below me, I found the lateral, laminar flow that had to be there. It was sure and strong, and I knifed silently over ancient rocks and dust, a grain of flotsam in a mighty ocean's palm. I had been right! It was here. I was going to do a hundred-mile day. soon developed a simple system: Drifting near stall, I porpoised wim a predictable, easy rhythm, letting up-rotor raise the nose and down-rotor maintain my proximity to the ocean floor. Two hours into the flight, me technique seemed almost trivial . I checked the depth meter: steady, ramped pressure gain for the last 40 minutes. I was approaching 2,300 meters! I knew how much work the others were going mrough right now. Many had already floated out, kicking themselves, or consoling each oilier on me LB wim hot dogs and cold brews in hand. I mought of Lunfer struggling out in front of the rest, straining for a glimpse of me on his screen, working like a dog to keep ahead. I laughed. Many thought he was the best pilot that had ever been, and today I would bear him so badly his name would barely appear in the magazine next month. I was still laughing when I was thrown heavily against the instrument panel. What the ... ?! I was stopped, sitting at an odd angle against something. Cripes, I'd flown myself into me bottom! I hadn't been paying attention to the heading and water speed. Maybe I'd stalled, drifting along down-current as I had been. Maybe the bottom roil had failed co support me, or had rocored me somehow below the current's laminar flow. Whatever, I was dead in the water, and on the other side of the hull it was very dark and very deep. I cried me kick place - nothing. I appeared to be hung on something. Cursing, I cried it again, but only

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succeeded in raising the craft a little off the bottom, from where it settled back. At least I was flatter now. My radio crackled, "Right behind you bud." lt was Lunfcr's voice. "What the hell are you doing here?" "Ya wanna win, ya gotta stay with the best. Besides, I have to hand it to you on this strategy. I thought f was the only one who would have figgered it out." l heard him spit, probably tobacco. "Yeah," I said, "well I'm gonna 1nake it work, too, and I'm gonna kick your burt." "We need to git you out: of the jam yer in first." "Who's this 'we'? Tcan fly my own foil. Co fly yours. Give me some room. Where are you, anyway? You don'r show up." I slapped the side of my screen.

'Tm outa here," f heard. 'fhcn nothing. tried the kick plate again, hut ald1ough I could jostle the glider, she wouldn't rise. I needed to relax and think. What was I caught on? There seemed to be enough motion. J'd have thought my buoyancy would have jerked me free by now. Could [ have punctured the skin, or gotten a rock caught on the undersurface? I'd never heard of such a thing before. What f needed was to get om of here! Okay, small breaths calm down. I checked my 02 again. I had ahont 30 minmes lcfr. I thought about the troubled look my wife had let me glimpse when I'd lcfr the house last week. T thought about that:. "Jeannie. Kari-na." J spoke my tiny daughters' names aloud, remind-ing myself of why l must not panic. I'd thought I .unfcr had gone, but he hadn't. He was conserving oxygen, like I needed to do. Eventually he spoke, and his voice had the quality of someone who's made a watershed decision. "Well damn you, I'm still going ro get you out."

"About 40 yards behind you." "Well, rnake it 400," I said, and kicked with renewed vigor at the kick plate. "Dude, forget the comp. Let's git you out of here." "Lunfcr, J don't need you telling me what to do. Y<rn wanted to beat me so bad you followed me. So go. Do it. Win. I don't need you to get out of here." "What's your problem? Aside from the obvious."

"I can't stand you, that's what! Never could. Neither can anyone else." "That story about Theresa Cordwright didn't happen the way you think."

"Not just that. What about 'Ii.:rry Burgen and the money you still owe? Plus you're obnoxious. Win at any cost. No wonder you have no family and no real friends that J know of" T was thinking of my own family and that's what came out. Even I knew it was out of line. There was a long silence. I checked my oxygen gauge. "What do you wam from me, Mick?" he asked in a ti red tone. "Distance," Tsaid without a moment's pause. Then, "Yeah. That's what I want. Open distance. 'I 'hat's what the day called for."

"Why the hell are you still here? And how is it you're not floating out, anyway?" "Oh ... got a wing tip hooked under an old coral stump."

"On purpose?" "How would you have done it?" he asked.

He was good, better than I. I'd never beard of any-one with that kind of control. How would I have done it, if at all? I .unfcr took charge then. "We need to act now, Miele J'll tell you the truth. I think we're already too low to have any useful buoyancy lcfr. And the sun has been dipping low up top. We need to get out before convection drops to nothing." So there was no hooked wing tip; be was just sitting on the bottom, waiting. That's why r couldn't float free either. We were so compressed that our displacement could no longer overcome our weight. A nearly irrecoverable position, and Lunfer had known it, and still he'd come in, still he'd watched and waited. Why didn't he try to kick off? I wanted to see another sun dipping low. "Co up and get help, you ass," I hollered in my best commanding voice. "What help? Nobody up there could even ftnd you again. lt will be dark on the surface in another hom, and they won't even launch. And I couldn't get there anyway before you were sucking your tank dry. That's ifT could get up there myself. Remember l'm in the same situation you arc." He gave a heavy sigh. "There's no cavalry, Mick. We'll have to surface on our HANC Gt IDING

• own." "1 can't move, and neither can you. Don't give me that crap about a hooked wing tip, I ,unf. You're flat in rhe mud." 'Tm still up-current of you. Maybe l can dislodge with my kick plarc, and drift toward you. 'fry to give you a bump. With luck it will jar you loose." "And then what?! We'll both sinl< into rhc trench." "Not if we try now, before the up-welling deteriorates completely. We can use that to get hack up."

"You mean ... work LIFT?!" "Why not?" "I've never done thar before!" "Sure ya have, dooode," he said, slipping back into the tone that always made me cringe. "Remember the San Juan Classic?" I could just see the grin on his gloating face. J caught myself smiling as well. "But what if we don't find any up-welling?" Tasked.

"Where arc you Lunf? What's happening?"

"J didn't get the jolt you got, buddy. Wasn't much range to work with."

"Yer a pilot:, ain't you? A pilot gets the job done." "What? Where arc you? Arc you stuck now?" thought about that as I coiled to jam the kick plate. I could hear his VOX keying as he jostled and grunted to escape the mud suck. Every team up top would be listening in. They would have dtscovcrcd us missing, and lowered the subsonic mic. "Drifting a hit now," Lunf said. Then, "Okay, here l conic." He piled into me from the side, stalled, out of control, and T kicked for all I was worth, and together the two jolts broke me free. l popped about thirty foct off the bottom, which meant I had that much to work with, to fo1d some lifr. I knew my glide ratio was opti· mized to work against buoyancy, nor gravity, and l tried to hold an angle of ;Jttack that would give me greatest range for the thirty feet l had to spend. That gave me, at best, a flve-hundred-friot nm in any one direction, and I chose the direction my nose cone was pointed. At four hundred twenty feet out, I found the thread oflift that would save my life. "Sure would rather be up there wish in' l was down here," I muttered, and worked a flat circle into a hair rnorc clearance. Ir took eleven fidl turns, bur the core hung together, and I gained enough to stand the glid-· er on a wing tip. "Yee Haw! I hooked one! If my temperature gauge is right I'll be at ncmral buoyancy in another 200 feet!" "Alright!" Lunfor said. "Work it man, work it. He didn't sound right. ]ANlJARY "1999

''No ... T... still tryin' to find lift .... " He was speaking like someone who is afraid to take a good deep breath. He was speaking like somebody who has dived off the lip of the abyss in a last prayer to find an impossible boomer from the depths. "Lunfcr, don't do it, there's nothing but cold and more depth down there! You're compressing more with each foot you lose! Cct out of there!"

"'foo late," he said."' ['he walls arc steep. No place to land even. I'll find something." "There's NOTHTNC!" "How do you know? Ever been down here?" "How deep arc you now?" "I've lost another 600 foct l think." "Lunf, plaster that thing into the wall now! Brian, I'm coming back down after you." "No! You will not do that, Miele Not a damn thing you can do but get in the way and get ycrsclflost at sea. 1'11 find something. I always do. There must be a lower transverse current somewhere, and maybe I can use it like inverse ridge sink, if the walls take an angle

further out."

If the walls take an angle? "How much oxygen you got left?" "Less from all this talking. Gonna sign off now for a while. I'll surface somewhere, I promise." He was silent for a moment, then added, "You can drink a cold one out of my trophy until I get up there." That was all. I was back into positive buoyancy, and began to work sink to stay as low as I could, listening, calling for Lunf now and then, asking for his status. At considerable risk of going right back onto the mud, I regained the current and flew it for at least four more miles along the trench rim, my eyes glued to the screen for murky images of Lunfer's craft. I called repeatedly, ignoring my sagging 0 2 needle and the difficulty I was having drawing each succeeding breath, begging him to respond and report his position, or encouraging him to stay conscious and keep looking at his vario. But l never heard him transmit again. When my oxygen tank was down to tbe gas in the hose itself; I switched to the emergency reserve (when had I last recharged it?), ran that past its rated limit, then in reluctant defeat let myself rise, choking, until at last the surface broke over me, and I popped the hatch and drank the cool marine night air as though it were life itself. It tasted like shame. I must have blacked out, because the LB found me by my HP beacon. They hauled me out, glider and all, with the crane, and got me some hot liquid to drink. No one but the radio operator spoke Lunfer's name, although every pilot listened all night. It was like a funeral ship. The Coast Guard was turned out before dawn, and through it all I never said a word. And they never found him. Some of the guys say he had no ties, and that he'd once spoken in jest of disappearing to South America sorne day to escape his legal worries. I'd like to think he found that current and that inverse ridge sink, and made it, but I just don't know. I do know that I refused the trophy and that I have quit flying comps, and L do know that I hugged my family for a week when I got home, and told them they had an uncle they ought to meet but I wasn't sure they ever would. Karina, my youngest, and just now entering that phase, asked me, "Why?" I told her it was because of the distance. Ill

Continued on from page 9 on any safety issues and potential problems. They have found that some kingpost hang strap tangs may he wearing to the point of potential failure (see photo). North Wing will provide new tangs made of stainless steel. Please check your hang strap and contact the company if there is evidence of excessive wear. It is recommended that the tang be replaced in any event if it has been in use for three years or more. Contact: North Wing, P.O. Box 128, Marina, CA 93933 (83 l) 384-4807, northwing@redshifr.com.

ANNOUNCES ADDITION OF _,_,.,,....,... ,.a n,,,,,,,.,. NOL 1999 TEAM

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.S. Aeros is pleased to announce rhe addition of Greg Jersey Rossignol to their competition team. Jersey, a San Diego pilot, has been on the competition circuit for many years, and has started to progres-· sively place higher and higher in the last few seasons. When asked about his move to the new Stealth 2 topless glider, Jersey replied,

ineteen ninety-eight proved to be an unbelievable sales year for U.S. Aeros, and the company would like to stay in touch with its hundreds of customers in the Americas. With this in mind, they have initiated an information list in order to keep their customers up to date on the very latest in Aeros technology. 'fo join the list go to www.onelist.com and search for the aeroscustomers list. You can then easily become pan of the list and stay informed. B

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Invitation To The Speed Gliding Pre-Worlcls

Drop what you're doing and look at this: How would you like the flying vacation ofa lifetime, plus a chance to be on a World Team, plus a foreign adventure, plus participation in a historic event, plus a chance to really promote hang gliding? You can be with a little preparation and an airline ticket.

he event is rhe first Pre-Worlds of Speed Gliding to rake place from Mc. Olympus in Greece in the second half of August 1999. This advance notice is being provided so pilots can practice and national teams can be formed. Greece bid for rhe first Speed Gliding World Meet at the 1998 sp ring CIVL meeting. This bid was awarded for the planned World Meet in the year 2000. The site of Mc. O lympus was chosen for its historical significance, its great flying and suitability for Speed G liding. In addition, tremendous support from the region guarantees to make this an enjoyable, low-cost, high-flying event. This past summer a group of 28 pilots, mostly foreign, went to Olympus

to check out the flying. We had some magnificent soaring and drooled over the X-C potential. In addition , we set up a very nice Speed Gliding course with many options. The cross-country launch is an open slope facing two or three directions, while the higher Speed Gliding launch allows launches nearly around the compass. Our in front of Olympus the plain extends out for about 15 km and is rimmed by a mountain chain which offers gifts of abundant thermals. Various combinations of triangles and our-andback casks have been flown at the site. Right now the intended format for the Pre-World event is to have Speed Gliding competition in the morning (in smooth air) and fun-flying cross-country

in the afternoon. ff the number of participants is high, Speed Gliding will be split into two groups so char all pilots are flying in nearly the same air. One group may have the day off to concentrate on X-C. If this is rhe case we may include a more serious cross-country event. Of course, Speed Gliding will be our main focus . Another alternative is to run one group early, fast and low (with control gates) and another one later and not so close ro the ground. Naturally, the groups would be switched the next day. After several preliminary rounds in rhis manner the total field will be cut to a finals to determine the winner. In the area of Olympus there are many villages as well as the city of Larissa. All these entities support the idea of the World Meer and we are working with chem to provide amenities for the pilots. One of the most interesting concepts is to have a village sponsor a day whereby the first pilots to land there after completing a course wi ll get a free meal or something similar. If you haven't participated in scrumptious marathon Greek dining you can't appreciate how coveted such a prize would be, but trust us you'll want to win. In addition to fun prizes such as the above, we are working on cash prizes for the Speed Gliding winners. The Greek organization is arranging transportation from the Athens airport and very affordable housing for chis meer. Since this is a team meet, each country should put on Speed Gliding events co select a team. This is a golden opportunity for all interested pilots, since Speed Gliding is still in its infancy and almost any dedicated pilot can make his country's team with a little practice. Speed Gliding is a hoot. Ir is also exciting for spectators and helps garner interest and publicity for our sport. If any form of spore aviation gets inco the Olympics, Speed Gliding will. The whole idea is to establish Speed Gliding in Greece so it is in readiness for the 2004 Olympics. Mark the daces on your calendar, wax your wings and practice darting down the slopes. You will regret it forever if you miss this chance to be part of a milestone even c. •

H ANG GLIDING

(.Jore we forge ahead with this momh's topics, a linle review may be useful. In order to understand, and teach, the complex skill of launching a hang glider, Pat Denevan has reduced it to eight key steps or elcmenLs, all essential for proper transition i mo the air:

LAUNCJ-IES AND l,ANDINGS: STEP BY a program by Pat Denevrm, article and illustrations by Greg Shrtw LAUNCJ-f

PARTS

I) Balance the wing 2) Set angle of attack 3) Hook-in check 4) PUSH Tf IE CUD FR WITH THE

SJ-IOULDERS

5) MAINTAIN ANCLE OP ATTACK WITH TI-IE HANDS 6) USE Al ,ICHT TOUCH 7) RUN WJTH J .ONC STRIDES. 8) ADJUST YOUR AN CLE OF ATTACK H)R LlFT'OFF WHFN

READY. Earlier articles covered steps one through three. You have moved your glider to launch, hooked your harness to the glider, taken a deep breath or two to focus on the task at hand, and picked that perfect cycle. In one smooth motion, you lili the glider it110 a position of balance and proper angle of attack for the launch situation. The glider musr be oriented for a bal-ance of' force across the wing. If you arc fighting the glider to hold its position, the glider will be out of control when you begin the launch run. Angle of attack must be chosen ro match the steepness of' the hill and wind conditions to allow proper acccl-erarion 10 flying speed as cl-ficienrly as possible. All rhat is lcfr to do before your feet can move is the hook-in check. Pretend that the positive tug on your harness straps is unlocking yom foct so you can start your run. Never allow a delay between check and run. If you delay your launch, repeat the hang check. Now we arc ready for the next topic: the run! And rhc first thing we want ro emphasize is, DON'T RUN HARD. What heresy is this? Again, don't run hard, nm SMART! The jack-rabbit start many pilots favor docs little to speed the acceleration of the glider, and invites other problems. Physic, is physics. Using gravity, taking long, useful strides, maintaining control, and accelerating at the glider's pace will achieve a much faster launch. It is critical to maintain a steady angle or attack during launch. The jack-rabbit start makes it even harder to avoid letting rhc nose pop up as you run. And, as we have JANUARY 1999

learned, the danger of' changing the angle of attack is its effect on roll: PITCH ACCELERATES ROl J,, If there is any roll at all during the launch nm, popping the nose will make it much worse, even uncon-trollablc at such a low airspeed. Changing angle of attack can also momentarily increase the pull of the glider on the harness, falsely indicating that the glider is ready to fly. The pilot jumps into the harness, hut without airspeed, and there is nowhere to go but down. A set angle of attack allows you to sense the steady increase of'lift on the harness and that "connected" foding of' control as proper airspeed is reach cd. Running smart, with steady acceleration, also allows us w tow the glider with the harness as soon as possible. Tt)wing from the glider's center of mass helps avoid uuw::intcd pitch changes. Tight harness straps also give you more control leverage at a time when co11trol is critical. With the glider resting on your shoulders, your hands have only about 24" of' leverage on the downtubes. With snaps tight, leverage jumps to 48", or even if you allow your hands to slide clown to a normal piloting position from the inirial glider lifting position. Considering the improvement in handling achieved by a three-inch change to a kingpost hang poim, the difference in control should be astounding when support shifts to the har-ncss straps. In Australia, pilots commonly launch with their hands 011 the basctubc for more leverage in high-wind situations. With enough wind on launch (eight or nine-plus mph), starting with tight straps is easy. Just floal the glider until the straps go tight, and set the angle of at.tack to balance pitch. The nose should be low enough ro keep most of your weight on the ground. ff you arc light on your feet, the nose is too

high. Starr your nm, pulling with the harness. Use your hands only to control pitch, to fly the glider. Maintain a light touch 10 avoid undesired control input. Keep the nose low cnongh to case acceleration and keep your feet on the ground until proper airspeed is reached and you choose to leave the ground. l ,ight-wind launches are complicated by the need to support the glider at rhc beginning of the run. You don't have the luxury of floating the glider in the wind before running. During the run you must transition from loose to tight straps while maintaining a c:onst;rnt angle of attack. T<-l get moving in light-wind conditions, accelerate carcfolly, pushing the glider wirh your shoulders and pressing back on the downtubcs with your hands to maintain angle of attack. A right grip docs nor increase the leverage off your shoulders. It only makes it more diff1cult 10 float the glider up umil the straps arc tight without changing the angle of' attack. We can't overemphasize the value of' a light touch. A tight grip reduces sensitivity to glider focdback. It is easy to unconscious-ly pull the glider into a dive. The glider seems to be sinking (or, "the wind died"), but pilot input is to blame. The real cause of most nose-ins during low-wind, flarslopc launches is a tight grip. \Xfhcn pulled imo a dive the glider gets ahead of the pilot and noses imo the ground. Loose straps at the beginning of the run make mat tcrs worse. J langing on the dowmubcs cm move the effective hang poim a foot or more frlrward! Once the glider is lifring and harness straps arc tight, all the rules of' the "windy" situation, discussed earlier, apply. You accelerate to an airspeed thar feels solid, wirh right straps and that "connected" feeling of control that says, "ready to aviate," which is

harness straps

for better leverage and more control

24" lever arm between shoulder and hand

the focus of the next section. e'vc already covered steps one through six, and there is little left to do but run until you fly, right? Unfortunately, it's not that easy. Good running skills arc not second nature. It takes some practice to perform a run that gets you up to flying speed quickly and allows you to choose that perfect moment to fly away. Which brings us to our next topic: the nm.

A BETTER WAY TO RUN Like many hang gliding skills, the run generates a lot of controversy. 'rhe best run is a long-striding, relaxed run driven by gravity rather than by sheer force of muscle. Why is this the best way? An example drawn from an earlier era of hang gliding makes it very clear. If we imagine an extreme example of the relaxed run, we are describing a popular early method oflaunching: the ski

I E

launch. Put on a pair of snow skis, go to the top of a snowy ski slope, hook in, then just slide on your way. Without moving a muscle, you can leave the hill just as fast as if you were running with every last ounce of strength off a grassy summer launch. The lesson here is that gravity, with the exception of rbe shallowest launches, is the force behind airspeed. You run to keep up with your glider until it is capable of carrying you. The purpose of the run is not tractor-pulling strength, rather it is speed and control. A long--striding run is the best choice for this purpose. 'J'hc low body position, long stance, and relatively slow movemcnr provides stability and balance. Glider control requires a steady base. Jerky running movements translate into unwanted control input l:O the glider. A smooth run equals a steady pull on the glider and a constant angle of attack, both important to an efficient launch. Long strides also optimize speed.

E •••

f l

RAN

Remember, our objective is speed, not acceleration. We are trying to be a gazelle, not a sprinter. Long, steady strides cover ground. That means more speed for less work. You run more relaxed, without the sprinter's tension, and relaxing allows the big muscles to stretch for a longer stride and more speed. Relaxing the body also helps fi:Jcus the mind on controlling the wing. Relaxed arms allow a light touch on the control bar, and we all know that a light touch provides a better sense of glider feedback and more effective control movements. You will be able to keep the glider on course and to sense the moment when the glider is ready to fly. Short strides, on the other hand, have the opposite impact on the launch run. The tight, tense run may start quickly, but ultimately limits speed. The pilot starts to fall as the glider overshoots him. He is forced to dive into a premature takeoff, which is at best scary, and at worst a stuffed launch. A

EN 22

NAL

ERMA

THE FREEDOM MACHINE: • Compatible with most gliders • Short I 00 foot take off and landing • Lightweight and easy • Many happy owners • FAR part I 03 legal • Soar with engine off

HANC GLIDINC

tions beyond pilot control. The dangers of too little speed have been well discussed earlier. Pick a speed that accounts for the gradient, altitude, turbulence, and buoyancy of the air. And remember, if a situation demands maximum speed, trouble is brewing if your stride limits your speed range.

tense run also reduces the sense of glider feedback and comrol. The launch is actually om of con1rol umil the pilo1 is in the air.

DOING THE RUN We have dealt with the why. Now let's talk more abouL the how. The proper stance keeps the hips low, knees hem. The hips and upper body move steadily forward without vertical jerking, tracing a smooth line parallel to the slope of the launch./\ steady head allows you to focus on your course and maintain balance. You arc able to detect the beginnings of an unwamed turn, and can respond early when input is most dfocrivc. The low stance allows maximum stretch of the legs from and back for that long s1ridc. The upper body and head arc upright, not hunched or tilted. Think of leading with the chest. I .caning too for backward just slows down the run and is unbalanced.

]ANUAkY '1999

Leaning forward contributes nothing to acceleration or control; it only serves to unbalance the nm. You pull the glider through the harness straps attached to your hips, not rhe shoulders. I .caning forward also compromises control. Staying upright places you in the best position on the down-tubes fr)r glider comroL

OPF TI IE GROUND Afrcr a remarkable number of words, we arc finally reaching that magic moment: transition into the air. /\s the chosen airspeed is reached, the bar is eased our, increasing the angle of anack, and lifting us gently away from the hill. The correct airspeed must be matched to the conditions. There is a precise speed for each situation. 'foo much speed brings its own dangers. Tciw launches arc a good example, for they exaggerate the problems of excess speed: high forces, over-sensitive glider responses, and glider dcvia-

PRACTICE Unfortunately, talking about these skills is not the same as doing them. So how do you go about leaning these techniques? Instructors certified by the USHCA work from the new USHCA lnstrucrnr 'fraining Manual. The manual outlines specific exercises designed to teach you these ideal launch and landing techniques. Instructors have been nained to put on launch and landing clinics, designed specifically to focus on these skills in a way best suited to intermediate and advanced pilots. ff your local instructor doesn't offer these seminars regularly, request one! We have finally left the ground for a fabulous day of winging about the sky with a view forever and the company of hawks and friends. But the sun must set eventually, and it will soon be time to return to earth. We will finally turn to the second half of this instructional series, the one I'm sure you have all been waiting for, Better Landings. You will be surprised to learn that you arc already more than halfway there, since the skills you have acquired for the perfect launch will play a prominent role in the perfect landing. Stay tuned. 1111

The 1998 Wr1mens World Championships were held in Hajduszoboszlo, ffungary in August. The city, which is a local Hungarian tourist hot spot is approximately three hours by car to the east-northeast of Budapest~ or more than two hours by train. The main attraction in the city is the thermal baths. There is a park approximately three by ten blocks wide that contains pools ~l different temperatures, ponds, restaurants, a wave pool and water slides, allj~d by natural(y warm or hot water.

by Kerie Swepston, photos by Aaron Swepston park is flanked by a few high-· hotels and several restaurants stay open late into the night. There is even a "disco" just down the street from the house in which the U.S. team stayed. We rented a two-story, five-bedroom "house." Some people in this town own houses but live in the basement so they can rent out the upstairs rooms t:o tourists. Each floor had its own mini-kitchen and bathroom, and either two or three bedrooms. Although we couldn't speak to our hosts directly, they were very gracious. We had fresh eggs from their chickens and pears from their trees in the yard. They even lent us a clothes-washing machine as there are no laundromats. Kari learned that you don't leave these machines unattended if you want to have threads left in

your undies when you get back. 'The house had a nice deck on each level that faced the street so we could prominently display our American flags along with our drying laundry. The area surrounding Hajduszoboszlo is for all purposes flat agricultural land. Corn, watermelon, sugar beers, sunflowers and geese were common sights in the fields. The field we would be towing out of was an airfield at the edge of town. It was large enough to accommodate our meet operations while sailplane pilots were being trained and other aircraft were operating, including some Russian biplanes used for skydiving. It was a huge grass field with no runway. 'The following is a day-by-day account of my experiences during the meet. This was my first international competition. As

HANC GLlnlNC

The US. Womens World Team at the opening ceremonies (left to right): CJ Sturtevant, Kerie Swepston, Patti Cameron, Lisa Verzel/,a, Kari Castle, Nancy Smith.

Corinna Schwiegershausen - 1998 Womens World Champion. Looking back at the town over the huge tow field.

a newcomer ro the team and ro big competition, I'm sure yo u will find my perspective to be somewhat different rhan what you are used ro reading. We would be rowing behind trikes, which are faster rhan rhe DragonR.ies I had train ed behind, and I was wondering just how different it would be.

AUGUST 9 - THE FIRST OFFICIAL PRACTICE DAY Everyone on che team was in rown except Mike. C.J., Nancy and I set up around noon ro practice. T he day wasn't soarable. Nancy rook a marathon tow ro 3,000 feet at about 2: 00 PM. We watched several people footlaunching (without dollies) and saw several interesting rows and row systems. We observed the only Japanese pilot, Mitsuko, struggling to stay down behind the trike JANUARY 1999

and breaking weak links while having problems wirh her release system. She was using a two-sering release which held roo much pressure on rhe pin ro gee it our under row. All day we watched a particular Laminar ST repeatedly oscillate our of control and release within 300 feet or so. On che last flight rhe pilot turned downwind from her release, crying ro fly back ro her start point, finally catching a wing tip and plowing into the ground. A Hungarian girl prematurely released within 60 to 70 feet of rhe ground three or fo ur times in a row. Ir turned out rhat she was using a release system chat required her to maintain pressure on a clip in her mourh. As soon as she loosened her teeth she was off row. Can yo u imagine a fiveminure row wichout licking your lips, shifting your jaw, or talking ro yourself! C.J. and I finally rowed at about

sideways, facing downwind, taking out a downtube. Susie, the Brit on the Laminar who crashed two days previously, was back trying it again. She was still oscillating wildly, locked out and broke a weak link. Time was running out to get this towing thing down. We found a restaurant that had English on the menu and waiters who actually smiled and spoke a little English. The service was excellent; they brought us pitchers of tap water, with ice! Nancy's spaghetti sauce was pretty much straight ketchup, however. Oh well, we were in Hungary, not Italy.

AUGUST 12 The organizers tried to organize. We took our gliders out to the middle of the tow field, .4 miles to the north, because the wind was from the south. We would be towing back toward the airport. By noon Kerie and Aaron Swepston inspecting for damage and assembling before the competition. Photo the cloud cover cleared and high pressure by C.j Sturtevant. was settling in. The task was called as an out-and-return to the north. Wind dumstart gates, radios and chargers, to laminate 6:00 PM. It was my first tow behind a mies launched again, only to land within maps, etc. Somehow we managed to be trike. We had moved my V-bridle system 10 minutes. We ended up just taking short the only team to miss tl1e first pilot briefforward three inches on the keel to allevipractice tows since the organizers had ing since we didn't know about it. Pretty ate some of the bar pressure I experienced offered these for "free ." Susie finally had embarrassing. We ran errands the rest of while on tow. The tug pilot, Pali, took me two half-decent tows on a different glider, the morning to find suitable padding for in several circles, tightening them up and but still managed to break a weak link. the rack and new bikinis. changing direction to get me used to the Everyone was watching, anxiously curious. We returned to the airfield and got feel of it. It went well and made me feel ready to tow. C.J. and Nancy hung out for We ran Aaron around much better about towing here. It was a a while over the airfield, getting to about [ii quite a bit, loading good way to end the day. each of us on the dol4,000 feet and eventually coming rn,elon fie · At dinner, my husband Aaron acciden·n the 1,Vater back to land at the airlies twice, launching tally ordered fried chicken liver when he port. Kari and [anding i us and retrieving pointed to the dish above the one he really I launched J(erie just after each dolly. wanted. The menus typically had Hungarat about Aaron and I ian, Polish and German, but no English 4:00 pm. had dinner with on them. It was pretty funny since I had Kari's vario Lisa at the horse just warned everyone not to order anywent out ranch where she thing with "leber" in the name. almost immedilanded the day ately so she actubefore. Actually, I believe ally wanted my The wind was fairly strong out of the they a1·e in help. At 4,600 feet northeast all day. Lisa unpacked her glider we tried to head in the business and repaired some minor damage on the the direction that end of one leading edge. She, two German of growing Lisa had taken to the girls and two Brits were the only ones to sugar beets and west. She had hit the fly this day. No one soared. Hopefully the making sugar, but they have a deck, however, and the wind would blow away some of the highguest ranch with Lipizaner horses, peabest lift we hit was 600 pressure smog that had been hanging cocks, a donkey named Olga, and olda.round and give us some soarable air. fpm, so we came back ro fashioned traditional farm tools decorating From everything we had heard, 2,000 feet the airport. Even without a vario Kari got the guest buildings. The family was is high here and lift is weak. It should 15 or 20 more minutes than I did. expecting us so they summoned an Engprove to be an interesting meet considerMore scary stuff On this day, Monique lish-speaking friend ro interpret and give ing this and the towing. (a German pilot) took the dolly with her us a rour. AUGUST 11 and couldn't free it from her glider, so she We rode in an antique-style buggy The team met in the morning to discuss released. It finally came off and she landed pulled by the Lipizaners out to where Lisa

H ANG GLIDING

Later this day, while trying co wait in "line" for a phone card at the post office, we had co create a barricading half-circle around the counter in front of us co keep an older woman from repeatedly barging in front of us. Unbelievable. In the evening we went back to the ranch with a larger group of people for more whipcracking, sword tricks and watermelon.

Two ofour favorite Hungarian trike pilots, Zsaner and Adrien, in fi"ont ofthe "disco" trike. had landed, and back ro the kitchen for a delicious beef goulash dirmer. We talked quite a bit about traditional horsemanship, and they showed us the traditional handmade black leather tack chat the horses wear. Julius (the father) pulled out a long whip and a sword and challenged us co attempt some of their traditional chicos (cowboy) tricks . Gerard Thevenot and Aaron were both able ro crack the whip (after Aaron wound it around his neck the first time). Lisa and I both tried it and were able ro gee it to crack after a little help from Zsolti, the ranch's chicos. AUGUST 13 - THE OPENING CEREMONY T hose who cowed and made it out of the cow field on this fairly windy day had pretty interesting-looking cows - several broken weak links, early releases, etc. There seemed co be a pretty good rotor at the tree line by the airport buildings. Still not a good practice day, the day before the competition. We broke down and got ready for the opening ceremonies. The opening ceremonies began with a two-mile-long parade through town. The route took us down the main street, then down a side street that borders the park with the baths, then to the airfield. As requested, we brought two gliders on dollies to walk through the route. Five trikes were also pushed through the parade withour their motors running. Two marching JANUARY 1999

bands at either end of the parade drew quite a crowd along the sides of the street. It was quite impressive. The parade ended at the airfield where two tethered hoc-air balloons were waiting. We watched skydivers bring each country's flag to the ground, watched some Hungarian dancers, and saw a trike cow up a sailplane, all before the red sun set in the haze above the fla t horizon. Since the marching band had consumed all the food at the pilots' dinner, the U.S. team went back to the English-speaking restaurant and was creared to some fine hospitaliry, including several rounds of complimentary Hungarian wine, bread with burrer, and pitchers of water with ice.

AUGUST 15 - GREAT DAY! Cu's over the cow field at 10:30 AM . The task was called at 12:00 to a point off our flying maps co the south, then west through rurnpoints and a goal not on our lists. T he clock location was not determined until abo ut five minutes before the launch window opened. What a mess. A note about the tow grid. We were launching from a large grid pattern that the trikes could drive through in any direction. The trikes pulled off the outside edges of the grid, eroding it back to the back edge, while pilots stayed put in their original position. If the wind switched, they were able co start pulling from whichever side of the grid faced the wind within a few minutes. This system worked well. T he only catch was chat you didn't have a choice as co where you were in the grid, and you had ro be ready co go when the trike pulled up ro yo u. When the launch window opened, you went - period. The U.S. team had two dollies co share between the six pilots, and two dolly boys (George Sturtevant and Aaron Swepston) co hustle those babies around, hook us all up, chase the dollies out into the field and bring them back for the next competitor in "line" in the grid. So we lined up the dollies for one wind di recrat!e. . cererri,oriY pa

AUGUST 14 - COMPETITION DAY 1 ,. periirig I0r we 0 Dry run. ThunderLiried. up J' storms caught up with us just as we finjshed breaking down after the day was called due co high west winds and approaching thw1der clouds. West was not a good direction, considering how close we were co the western border of Romania and the fact that we absolutely could not cross it in the air.

cion and then it switched 90 degrees. It actually went smoothly. The whole field of competitors got off within about 30 minutes. I met up with Patti and C.J. over the baths. Patti and I worked together and left for the clock where we hooked up with Lisa and a Russian kamikaze pilot to climb co 4,900 feet. Patti left to join a gaggle co the east, off the course line, while Lisa and I headed directly on course. The life was weak and I was caking anything I could gee. Six hundred up was a boomer. Stopping for any little chirp, I was just crying co stay in the air. Five miles out from the curnpoint Lisa radioed chat she could see the turnpoint town. (Remember, it wasn't pictured on our maps.) I was five miles from the town and couldn't see anything through the smog at 5,000 feet. However, with a closer look I could make out where the town was (a good-sized town), bur ic certainly wasn't clear. At 1,500 feet direcdy over the turnpoint I found more lift. Lisa was now on the ground, and everyone else was behind me on tl1e course. Earlier on the course I could stay at about 5,000 feet, bur now the ceiling was 2,600' to 2,900'. I flew a bit farther down the road co end up 14 miles short of goal, second for the team for the day, behind Patti who flew a couple of miles further. Ir felt good co finally get somewhere after having no successful practice days to test retrieval, radios, or ocher ream stuff.

AUGUST 16 - TASK 2 The cask was a triangle: 11 miles northeast to Debrecen, 10 miles west to Baima, eight miles south co the airfield. We launched later, at about I: 15 PM, due co the wind dummies not being able to stay up. We all got up, but only to about 3,700 feet, and no one was going on course. I was right there with Neva Bull when our ground crew discovered char the coordinates for the turn point were wrong. I wasted quire a bit of rime and some altitude fixing the GPS. I did manage co continue chermaling, got back up to 3,500' and went on course, basically to glide to the ground. CJ arrived and landed with me later. The rest of the ream made it past the first turn point, with Lisa at the second turnpoint and Kari just past it. Being a newcomer, there was plenty co learn, sometimes the hard way. That evening I spent several hours talking co Kari about rhe mistakes I thought I'd 42

past Debrecen co me east. We all launched, with five of us ending up back on me ground in the restart area. The cask was called off due co approaching thunder clouds. That evening the organizers hosted an outdoor goulash parry over an open fire. We played a bunch of volleyball, got eaten by the mosquitoes, watched a great video of the event up co chis point, and then were forced co endure lounge-style singers before the power went out. The Russian girls sang and played guitar around the fire. Lacer, several people, including our own Nancy, tested their skills at jumping over the fully flaming fire.

made. The first big one was worrying about the GPS. I semi-panicked and the gaggle left. The second was knowing when to trust your gut and go on course when you realize the conditions aren't getting any better. So much to chink about.

AUGUST 17- TASK3 Same task in the reverse direction. On chis day the organizers cried a "nursery" for the people complaining about fast cows and not being able co stay down behind the trikes. This nursery was an area 200 meters away from the grid with one slow trike co cow everyone. This created a problem with the dollies since one of our teammates chose to go to the nursery. Our dolly boys had to argue with the field marshals to keep us from being sent to the restart area for not being ready co go when the trike came. Ir got kind of heated. Kari, Patti, Lisa and I all started out on course togemer. Ac one point Kari and Lisa left for the next thermal while Patti and I hung back in light lift. Kari hit me next thermal at a good altitude, while Lisa was coo low to catch it. By the time Patti and I got there it was gone. Lisa and I landed at me curnpoint within minutes of each other, with Patti and C.J. half a mile past us and Nancy five miles past chem. Kari made goal.

Nix on the nursery. Everyone had co launch from the original grid and take me trike that came to you . A task was called

AUGUST 19 - TASK 4 This day was breezy. They did away with the original task and the clock and went for open-distance downwind. Taking off at 2:30 PM, some pilots were able to work it and go 20 km or so. The rest released from cow and blew downwind as far as they could squeak it. I landed in a watermelon field with the eventual winner of me meet. This day included ilie fourili task which made the meet officially valid. AUGUST 20 -ANOTHER BREEZ¥ DAY I was the first one in ilie grid co launch this day. Wim goal co ilie souiliwest and ilie clock in the southwest corner of ilie airfield, I was not feeling coo bad about being dropped off row quire a ways co ilie norilieast of the tow field. I was climbing well, bur had 12 minutes before I could take a start photo. Three mousand feet was as much as I could get, and then I drifred slightly past the start clock, not wanting co risk losing the lift. Working back co get ilie photo, I eventually ended up restarting, along with C.J., Kari and Patti. On my second cow I was dropped at me east end of town, about parallel to the clock bur a couple of miles east of it, wim a north breeze. I had taken a start photo on my first flight and wasn't required to rake another, thank goodness. I glided to the south end of town to meet up with the only circling gliders. Ar 1,300 feet I was on course wiili no chance co make it back for a restart. I mer up wiili Kari and Patti in chis "gaggle." At one point we hie 1,500 feet. My altimeter read 1,200 feet for a very long rime as we were drifting out of town, along the course line. I watched Patti fall out and land at a goose farm. Soon Kari and I would be falling out and gliding HANG GLIDING

roward the cornfields. At 700 feet I crossed over a glider in a field thinking I could sec good fields ahead, only to realize that they were all tall cornfields. 'forning back to land with the other glider, I realized it was my team mare Lisa in the field. Kari had a couple of hundred more feet of altitude, and glided in to a burnt field in the middle of the corn with no altilUde lcfr to turn into the wind. Nancy landed seven miles off the course line, and C.J. landed near Patti.

l 1) Germany 2) Great Britain

4) Hungaty 5)USA

8) Japan

3) R.ussia

6) France

9) Denrnatk

7) Australia

AUGUST21 THE LOST CLOCK This day I was almost first to launch in the grid again, which could have been a good thing. The sky was looking gray to the southwest. The task was the same triangle we had had before with the first leg almost straight north. 'They gave us no coordinates for where the clock would be. We insisted that someone at least draw a sketch of the field after we were instructed to "follow this row oftrccs ... " After being dropped off tow, the lift was the best f'd experienced in the meet. We were getting 800 up, although we were whiting out at about 2,600 fcer. Not a problem, as there was a nice cloud street setting up in the direction of the "clock" that we could just bounce along under. We were fine as far as the stnrt gate time went. Things were looking good, l was following the tree line, and there was the field pictured in the sketch. But where was the clock? There were half a dozen pilots circling with me over this field with no clock! By now it was about 10 minutes past the start time. Just as l finished canvassing the field with photos of the absent clock in my databack camera, I saw a car pull up and people running out to set up the clock. The gray was catching up to us, and I should have just gone on course. Instead, 1 saw Neva Bull (the second--placc pilot) go hack for the photo, and I followed. ] also followed her ro the deck a couple of' miles later after taking the now worthless photo. 'fhc majority of the remaining competitors were on hold in the grid due to rain and were only ahlc to launch much lat·er. As it turned out, only two or three really made it farther than the bornb--out zone, so most everyone received the same points for rhe day. Had it been a good day, there would have been a serious problem with the clock situation.

thunderstorms. The teams spent the day dismantling gliders inside the hangar, preparing them for travel. On the way home, three gliders on the same flight from Budapcsr to JFK didn't: come our on the JFK end. C:.J.'s, Kari's, and my gliders were missing for two weeks after our return. Be aware that when you check your glider as baggage it is subject to the same limits ofliability from the airline as any other piece of baggage, which in this case would have been $680 each. As it turned out, after much grief; the baggage supervisor in Seattle (who had helped ensure that our gliders would be checked as baggage on the way over) was able to light more fires than we could, and successfi.illy tracked down the gliders in New York. IL is much easier to cover damage to a glider with $680 than it is to replace it. As it turned out, mine was the only glider that was seriously damaged.

THUNDERSTORMS

SOME FINAL COMMENTS 1 think we had a good team representing the U.S. this year. Some of us arc darn

The last day of the meet was called due 10

good pilots but still young competitors.

AUGUST22 JANUARY 1999

llad the weather been better, and had 1hc scoring system fit the conditions, we would definitely have produced better results. lt was fun ro fly with other really great women from around the world, and the rowing proved to be really fun for me. I mentioned that my perspective would be different from what you arc used to, because I'm not a very seasoned competition pilot yet. There is plenty of room in the competition arena for many more great pilors in our country, and every competition affords opportunities for new experiences. What a great way to sec places, meet people, and fly conditions and sites that you might never have even dreamt of. Contributing to the ream was a great experience for me, and I came back with far more than l expected. Thanks to the whole team: Kari, Lisa, Patti, C.J., Nancy, Mike, Aaron and George. And thanks to those who participated in the raffle and contributed individual ly. It's a tough thing to manage on our own, and I think you should be proud of us.•

In by

Accident Review Chairman Bill Bryden

1cre arc a couple of aerotowing accidents to report and discuss this month. The first tragically involves two fatalities on a tandem flight. An instructor, Jamie Alexander and student pilot Frank Spears, Jr., died in the accident. We extend our thoughts and prayers to them and their families. The accident occurred October near Groveland, Florida. It was an evening flight, approximately 5:45 PM, and was the last of numerous tandem and solo aerotow flights occurring that day. Conditions were mellow with a light twoto five-mph wind. Conditions had been stronger earlier in the day, 15 to 18 mph with gusts to 20. The glider was equipped with tricycle landing gear consisting of castering wheels mounted to the control bar, and aft, a tailassembly supporting the keel. This widely used system allows the glider ro launch and land rolling on the gear, eliminating the need for a launch cart. The harness was the over/under style tandem harness that is used in a number of tandem operations around the country. The J 75-pound instructor was in the top harness and the 198-pound student was in the lower harness. This was the student's J 0th instructional flight and his training was progressing normally. On this flight the student fly~ng the _glider, hands on ~he ba~embe with rhc 111structor at the ready position on the downt:ubes. After launching and becoming airborne the glider popped up a bit bigh behind the tug, but this position was soon corrected. This suggests that the student was controlling the glider with the instructor initiating the correction either verbally or physically. Shortly thereafter, the glider began oscillating in roll and yaw, again suggest· ing the student was piloting and over-controlling the glider. At a point just before things went bad, the tug climbed and the glider got low behind the tug. At about 75 feet AGL, one of the oscillations pro· gressed into a left turn that quickly accelerated inro a bank of approximately 80 or 90 degrees, at which time the rope was released from the glider. "fhe glider then slipped/dove into the ground impacting on the left leading edge, then nose, finally rolling over on the right leading edge and kingpost. The occupants impacted the

rts ground with major injury to the head, neck, back and int:ernal organs of both. Frank died at the site and Jamie the next morning at the hospital.

INVESTIGATOR COMMENTS While there may have been a wind gradi cnt at about 75 feet, it is not believed thar the conditions were a main contributing factor. In the investigator's opinion, the student was probably allowed to fly the glider too much at the critical time near the ground. With the student having more body mass and possibly being stronger, and being in the lower harness position which affords more control and leverage, it is possible that the student's control efforts overpowered the instructor's. Earlier in die day the student had flown with an instructor who outweighed him and likely would have remembered the amount of control effort required then, which would be excessive with the much lighter instructor.

OTHER INCIDENTS Given the vast number of aerotows that take place each year and the tremendous growth of this towing method, the small number of accidents does bode quite favorably for the safety of acrotowing. l:·lowever, we have seen a few other aerotowing incidents this year as follows. •

A student who had completed numerous tandem flights and extensive training hill instruction was performing a second solo aerotow with an experienced instructor in radio contact. Soon after clearing the launch dolly, the glider began a gentle lcfr turn and the instructor commanded more right inpnt via the radio. This corrected the problem, hut as soon as rhc pilot ceased correction the glider again began turning left. Instructions for corrective action were radioed but the turn progressed and the instructor cornmanded "release." The weak link broke. The glider continued turning lefr and impacted on the left wing. The pilot suffered a mid--back vcrte-· bra! fracture requiring surgery.

•

A student pilot was making his 13th solo aerotow and expressed a high degree of concern abom it being m11n-ber 13. The pilot launched, cleared the launch dolly and began a lefr turn. Observers commented that there was absolutely no input from the pilot to

correct. "The turn progressed and the mg pilot released the towline. The glider continued turning, making almost a full 180-dcgrcc turn with no discernible pilot correction, impacting on rhe lefr wing and injuring the pilot. It is not known why the pilot failed to initiate proper correction but there is suspicion that a previous medical condition may have been a factor. DISCUSSION As we have seen with previous aetotowing incidents, the launch and initial climbout arc intensely critical. Over the years, numerous lockouts and similar events have occurred while aerotowing at alti-tude, but these were basically non-events since the glider :md tug separated and both continued flying with no adverse consequences. However, problems encountered during the first 100 feet of the tow can produce extreme consequences. We cannot stress enough the need for both glider and tug pilots to exercise rhc utmost caution and respect for the first 200 feet of a tow any kind of tow for that matter. Situational awareness is critical. Tn the opinion of the fatal accident investigator (and I concur), we need to teach more about situational awareness. When aero towing this means that, especially during the first several hundred feet of the tow (the most critical), the pilot should have a plan in mind for exactly what he would do for any category of problem. He m usr know exactly where he is and what plan he would immediate· ly implement should a problem occur. Por example, a common type of problem is to suddenly lose tow force. This could be due to a release malfunction, pilot error, a weak link break, or whatever. The pilot should know exactly which way to go and how be will land in those situations be/ore the event potentially transpires. Altitude is minimal and you simply do not have time for much evaluation and decision-making after the problem occurs. What if the tug suddenly loses power? What is the plan to land from 100 feet? Which way will the tug pilot turn and the glider pilot turn so they do not collide while scrambling to effect safe landings? Until what altitude does the pilot just continue forward and land versus trying to turn and land? Situational awareness is the process of mentally going through "what if" scenarios and knowing exactly what you would do for any given HANG GLIDINC

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In problem, at any given altiwdc, during every single flight. As we saw with this tandem accident and others, at low altitudes instructors 11111st take over control of the glider at the first sign of improper flying by the stu.. elem. Allowing students too much oppor.. mnity to "fix" problems at low altitude risks getting into a situation in which the low altitude docs not permit recovery. When near the ground your methods must be as dose to 100(Y<i as possible, and giving too much control and correction responsibility to students can seriously compromise that. While more data is needed to draw firm conclusions, it appears that there may be a correlation between a glider get.. ting low behind a tug and bad things hap· pening. There have been similarities in several incidents in which the glider got low and similar problems and conse.. quences have occurred. When low behind a tug, a glider risks emering die prop wash and wing tip vor.. rices Crom the tug. This turbulence can be difficult to counter. In addition, the pilot is typically flying slower, maybe even pushing out, and control may be signifr. candy diminished because of the low airspeed. Being yawed or rolled arc potential events which compound the control issues already facing the pilot. 'T'his heightens rhe importance for a pilot, and when fly .. ing tandem for the instructor, robe especially intolerant of positional errors behind the rug. I-Iowcvcr, if the glider docs get low, what should the pilot do? Pulling in aggressively and releasing is one option rhar deserves more consideration and d at is probably under-utilized. Conventional wisdom in some parts of the country recommends that if you are low behind rhc: tug you should push out push out as much as desired because the glider can't stall. Aerotowing operations in other parts of the country eschew this advice, which involves hazards at low altitude as we'll discuss. It is not known if' the pilots in rhe tandem accident mentioned above were aggressively pushing out, trying ro climb back up to the tug. l lowever, it is reasonably certain that this is what happened in a fatal aerotowing accident a couple of years ago. There arc a couple of fundamental issues when a pilot pushes out aggressively in an attempt to climb up to a tug. From physics we know that to increase a glider's climb rate, the force taking it upward (lift) must be increased. Basic aerodynamics

states that if lift is increased, drag will increase. More drag means the towline tension will increase. If you remember last month's discussion about weak links, we discussed briefly how aero towing employs a reasonably constant speed, the tug's airspeed, and consequently line tension varies dramatically in response t:o pilot input, wind, thermals, etc. So, when aero-towing, if a pilot pushes out he will increase line tension. This increases the potential for breaking a weak link. Remember that this docs not occur with most surface-based towing employing tension-control systems. With these sys-terns the speed of the tow system (vehicle speed, winch speed, etc.) will change dramatically in response to pilot input, wind, etc., and weak links will generally not break. When towing any form of towing if a weak link breaks or reb1se occurs at high tension, the glider may stall if the pilot does not insrantly pull the bar in, changing the nose--high attitude (position relative to rhe horizon) of the glider to an attitude and consequently an angle of attack normal for free flight. Failure to promptly perform this can result in a stall similar to a "whip stall." So, pushing out increases aerotow line tension and increases the probability ofa weak link break. In addition, the pilot must remember to immediately and aggressively pull the nose of the glider down to avoid a potential stall after a sud.. den loss of'high tow tension. At altitude these arc minor issues. However, at 50 feet above the ground the risks should be obvious. A second hazard with the "push out" advice is that the glider actually can stall in some unique situations. Recall that near the ground there can be significant wind gradients. 'T'hese may be as much as 10 mph or more above just 50 to 75 feet. Tow operations generally commence into the wind, so a tug that is substantially higher than a glider may be in significant.. ly stronger winds. If the tug pilot flies slowly, the lower glider could stall if rhe pilot pushes out aggressively. Gliders with higher stall speeds, such as a heavily loaded tandem glider, might stall if the pilot pushes out. Remember, stalls are associated with angle of attack. lt is true that in a glider angle of attack relates to airspeed, hence, stalls in a glider relate to airspeed. However, when a glider is under row the rules change, since ir has power pulling it through the air and stalls can

occur at higher airspeeds with extreme angles of attack. Because of the abovc .. mentioned many aerotow operations instruct stu .. dents to notpush out. Iflow, pilots should ease the bar out to trim position but nor push out past trim. The vast majority of the time, easing the bar out all a pilot ever needs to do. 'fhe tug are similarly instructed to always come down to a low glider. I have found through empirical tests (done at high rude) and a highly experienced instructor with over 3,000 tandem tows confirms that there are in which no amount of push .. out will bring the glider back up to the tug. only remedy is releasing or having the pilot speed up and come down to the glider. Interestingly, some aerotow also instruct students to fly a high behind the tug if they want the rug to slow down a bit and climb more sively. 'The glider follows the tug, sense, the tug also follows the glider. places more responsibility and the need for glider awareness on the tug pilot, generally results in easier, lower .. anxicty tows for the glider pilot. Some pilots will criticize this ishrnent about the push-out advice and point to their record of success with it. Indeed, they probably have been fol. In addition, debate is healthy for sport and I welcome it, since l always learn from a good disagreement and cussion. However, operations that against pushing out if low can point to remarkable success. And there are two pilots (not the ones above), J know in heart might very well be alive if they shunned the push .. out advice. lncident data dearly indicate th::it first 200 feet of a tow are most critical. Pilots and tug pilots must have mined emergency plans and know exactly what their best opriou is the most likely incidents during the and flight. Tmdem instructors must be exceptionally vigilant and intolerant of even minor student control errors the first 200 feet, aggressive! y these. Tug pilots must be trained and instTucted to promptly come down to gliders whose pilots should not ly push out. These arc words familiar to many ears around the Unfortunately, there are some cars that haven't heard this advice. Please share it with them. Ill HANC GLIIJINC

THE 1998 REGION 9 CHAMPIONSHIP:

Demanding Sprin 'by Pete Le/mza,nn

This springs Region 9 contest was a pale imitation of the magnificent flying in last year's Regionals. Nonetheless, despite the weaker and wetter flying conditions, the contest attracted a large number ofparticipants, many of whom registered significant flights. Of the 53 contestants, 32 entered flights with fully 19 entering the maximum three flights.

he fact that so many pilots could achieve at least three flights indicates that the season was reasonably good, if not quite up to last year's record conditi ons. As is customary in this contest, the longest allowable flight is one of 60 miles. That is, all flights are capped at a maximum of 60 miles. T he object of this rule is to compel the winner to have demonstrated consistent excellence in three flights. The GO-mile limit is intended to prevent a pilot from winning or doing well solely on

JANUARY 1999

the basis of one lucky, if excellem, very long flight. This year there were a total of five flights which reached the GO-mile limit, with the longest absolute flight being Eric Shiever's 73.6-miler from Templeton, Pennsylvania on one of this spring's few truly fine days, April 5. The Open Class winner was yours truly with a total of 167 miles flying a W ills Wing Fusion. My results benefited greatly from some early season good fortune . While it is normally true that the berrer flying is found late in April and early in May, all three of my comest flights were

accomplished by April 5. Indeed, my three flights were made within the contest's first four weekends. At that point I felt certain I could equal Mitch Shipley's record of three GO-mile flights set last year. But it was not to be. T he first, and shortest of my flights was made on March 15 from Templeton, Pennsylvania in late-winter co nditions, and unusually late in the day. I left the hill at arow1d 4:00 PM and landed 47 miles away at Ebensburg airport at six o'clock, only 20 minutes before local sunset. While breaking down in the snowy twilight I stupidly misplaced my white nosecone, something that would come back to haunt me the next fl ying day two weeks hence. On that day we were flying from Avonmore, the Pirrsburgh area's 430-foor, west-southwest sire. Ir was a promising, beautiful early spring day, but afrer almost completing my setup I realized my nose cone was missing. Desperate to fly on such a finelooking day, I resorted to the expedient of sealing the nose opening with clear packing tape. I was grateful for the tape as I men enjoyed my longest comest flight of 47

Third place in the Open Class was taken by Larry Huffman on his new Moyes CSX 3. Larry's second flight on the glider, and longest comest flight of 54.4 miles, was made on chat great April 5 flying day from Templeton. He beamed out of launch at 500-800 fpm accompanied by Mike Neuman and me. Heading out in what were becoming increasingly windy conditions, Larry finally safely landed in howling winds on the exposed western slopes of Allegheny Mountain. He followed this flight with two identical 29.5mile flights from Templeton co the metropolis of Commodore, Pennsylvania co bring his total to 113.4 miles. Marc Fink won first place in the Sixty Mile Class with a total of 100.4 miles, which is also good enough for him co take fourth place in the Open Class. Marc flies an learn Laminar ST 14, and his longest flight was made on the Woodstock ridge employing a remote start at the north end. Marc's second-longest flight was made from Flattop, Virginia on a day which began as very marginal, but then turned on so well that Marc got to 9,100' MSL (a Larry Huffman at the start ofan Ohio aero tow. six-grand gain) which is the highest he's been in the East. He was so high, and rhe the spring, going 72.3 miles to rhe east. which to hang our before chermaling up co scenery so spectacular along the Blue Conditions were fairly weak and rather continue on. Nelson's second-longest Ridge, that he spent about an hour just erratic, but just good enough at the times I flight had been made on March 22 from sightseeing before heading southward most needed chem to get me over barriers Woodstock, using a remote start point at along the mountains where he landed after such as Allegheny and Lock Mountains. the north end to extend the flight. Like 25.5 miles as the day shut down. His final The third flight was from Templeton on the 70-miler, this one also required some flight of28.6 miles was made with me the day of Eric Shiever's great flight. While patience to get high enough to cross gaps, from Templeton when we launched at six he stayed high enough to get over the including an hour-long wait to cross Edino'clock after the earlier honkAllegheny Mountain woods, I couldn't and burgh Gap on the way to a coral of 50.8 ing winds had abated. Marc was forced co land halfway across the miles under overcast skies and requiring and I then flew together mountain near the Blue Knob ski area for five hours. His last flight was --...--• under the lace-day cumies 61.5 miles. one of 28 miles . fiying until we landed at 7:30 In second place with a total of 138.8 on April 11. r.Je~on LeiV; · miles was the eternally successful Nelson The flight his ]V1oyes tr Second place in Lewis on his Moyes Xtralite. Flying in cook him from the Sixty Mile Class West Virginia, Nelson had the contest's one hang glidwas taken by Wayne second longest overall flight of 73 miles on ing sire, Ravens Sayer flying a topless May 17, flying from Peters Mountain. I Roost, to anothAeros Stealth 142. am cold that this flight was made despite er at Tobacco After being comtwo severe, related handicaps. Ir would Row. O n chis pletely shut out last seem that Nelson had enjoyed an overly flight he was enthusiastic preceding evening which left year, Wayne produced three accompanied and him both badly hung over and very late co decent flights totaling 70.7 miles from Big strafed by a young Walker in southwestern Virginia. His the hill. He launched at 3:30 PM and landbald eagle. The bird longest flight was one of 40 miles and ed at 7:50 after a demanding flight along first helped Nelson core a thermal bur involved a turnpoint. In third place was the Peters ridge complex. To make the then climbed through him before raking a John Dullahan on a Wills Wing HP AT. one-mile upwind jump at Jessy Knob he couple of passes at his glider with extendHe put together three solid flights, two had to make four or five attempts before ed talons. Nelson finally landed after four accomplishing the crossing. Ar another from Woodstock, Virginia and one from hours at the main Tobacco Row LZ as it point he had to backtrack considerably co the Pulpit for a total of 62.4 miles. John's was getting late and the going had been just bought a Stealth, and will doubcless be reach a usefully shaped piece of ridge at slow.

H ANG GLIDING

1998 REGION 9 CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS PLACE PILOT Pete Lehmann 1 Nelson Lewis 2 Larry Huffman 3

CLASS Open Open Open

GLIDER Wills Wing Fusion Moyes Xcralice

FLT # 1 60 60 54.4

FLT#2

46.3

25.5 25 40.1

60 50.8 29.5

Mace Fink

Sixty

Moyes CSX3 Icaco Laminar ST

5 6

Will Jenkins Ron Dively Greg Mick Randy Newbeny Eric Shiever

Open

Wills Fusion + Blade

Open Open Open Sixty Sixty

PacAir Klassic 144 Icaco Laminar

59 50.6 42.7

Aeros Stealth PacAir K5 Aeros Stealth KPL 142

39.7 60 40

Sixty Open

HP AT 145 Aeros Stealth KPL

22.7

Sixty

Moyes Xcraheavy 164 Predator

23 60 28 28.3 25.1

29.5 16.1

7 8 9 10

Wayne Sayer

11 12

John Dullahan Claire Pagen Tom McGowan

13 14

Larry Wright

15 16

Jeff Seruset Kevin Madden

17 18

John McAllister

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

Larry Ball George Price Mike Chevalier Marvin Presley Bacil Dickert Mark Gardner Mike Balk Christy Huddle Pat Brooks Dave Salmen Ric Niehaus Joe Gregor Dave Procror Stephen Hull LE Herrick Ben Herrick

Open Sixty Rookie Sixty Open Sixty Sixty Rookie Rookie Sixty Sixty Sixty Open Open Sixty Rookie Sixty Rookie Para Para

heard from next year. In the Rookie Class, Kevin Madden won easily on a PacAir K5 , in good pact due to his excellent 32.2-mile flight from High Rock, the site bordering President Clinton's Camp David hideaway. On the strength ·of chat flight Kevin has promoted himself out of the Rookie Class fo r next year's contest. With his ocher two flights, Kevin's total is 5 5 .1 miles. In second place was Marvin Presley with a total of 42 miles in three flights on his Wills Wing Sport. His longest flight was one of 21 miles from High Point to near Paw Paw, West Virginia. Bacil Dickert took third place, havJANUARY 1 999

Moyes XS 155 PacAir K5 PacAir Klassic Moyes SX4 Wills Wing XC 15 5 PacAir K5 148 Wills Wing Sport 167 PacAir Vision Mk. 4 PacAir Klassic 144

23.7 29.7 12 19.2 0 17

TOTALS

29 .5 28.6 12

113.4 100.4

0 21.3 11 6.2

90.7 87.7 80.4 78.2

11.5 16.7

70.7 62.4

0 14

32.2

19.8

0 15.4 3. 1

27.5 28.6

13.5 12

12 9.1

23.1

10.2 14.8 12

9.7 11.6

16.5 21

13.8

PacAir Formula

14.7 28 21.6

Wills Wing XC 132 Wills Wing XC 15 5

28 12.6

5.7 12

TR3 Wills Wing Fusion PacAir Pulse Moyes Xcraheavy PacAir Pulse FreeX Spear M

24 .1

16.8 13.9 8 12

0 0

ProDesign ProFeel

FLT#3 47 28

6.75 6.75

ing flown his PacAir Vision Mack 4 to a commendable total of 41.8 miles. Bacil's accomplishment is notable for the fac t chat he flies without a vacio. The winners in the Paragliding Class ace truly joint winners. Husband and wife pilots LE and Ben Herrick were flying together at Woodstock, Vi rginia when they went 6. 75 miles along the ridge to the nonh. The most remarkable aspect of their flight was actually the LZ they discovered. LE's story is worth reproducing here: "We landed hip high in a lovely barley field and were met by the owner in a fancy Range Rover, who invited us in,

8.5

5 0 0 0

9 13.3 0 5.8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

167 138.8

59 57.8 56.6 55.1 53 49.7 43 42.9 42 41.8 38 35.9 33.7 24.6 24.1 16.8 13.9 13 12 6.75 6.75

showed off his spectacular arc collection, shared fine libations and then drove us back. " And to think that some pilots avo id cross-country flying because of the hardships associated with landing out. The final significant flight of the contest was Claire Pagen's 68.9-miler from Big Walker, Virginia. She landed after spiraling down from three grand to land at an exit on I-77 because her radio was dead and she wanted to ease the retrieve. Unfortunately, in doing so, Claire missed setti ng a new site record by half a mile. Still, it was an extremely good flight, and one of the Region's longest chis year. • 49

n BEGINNER-TANDEM RATINGS Region 2 GRATTAN, STEVEN: Garclncrville, NV; R. Leonard/Adventure Sports Region 6 MIDDLETON, JANET: Dardanelle, AR; M. Labado/Lookout Mtn FP Region 7 HANSTAD, DAI .E: Fergus Falls, MN; D. Johnson/Superior Dragonflycrs STEPHENSON, JAIN: Caledonia, Ml; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch STEPHENSON, JAMES: Caledonia, Ml; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch Region 8 MILLER, WAYNE: fleverly, MA; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch Region 9 BUCHANAN, ROBERT: Rcistcrstown, MD; M. Jones/Wallaby Rmch WILMIRE, THOMAS: Dover, DE; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch Region 10 ALVAREZ, BERNARDO: Winter Park, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch BASKETT, RICK: Fr Lauderdale, FT.; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch BEUZEKOM, LARRY: Riverview, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch BOLLINGER, STEPHEN: Lake Park, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch CLIFFORD, WILLIAM: Orlando, PL; M. _Jones/Wallaby Ranch COPELLA, JOHN: Orlando, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch FOX, RONALD: Altamonte Spgs, FL; M. _Jones/Wallaby Ranch GLENNOR, SEAN: Miami, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch GOETZ, DAVID: Cocoa Beach, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch HOLLINGSWORTH, LORRIN: Oakland Pk, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch KINGSTON, ROI LAND: Tampa, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch MORAN, DOUGLAS: Cocoa, FT.; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch SCHWANBERGER, ERIC: Palm t !arbor, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch SWEZEY, MICHAEL: Oldsmar, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch Region 11 BRENNER, DAVID: Dallas, TX; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch CLARK, KELLEY: Anstin, TX; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch PALMA, RANDY: The Woodlands, TX; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch Rcgion 13 BASTE, ARNE: Norway 5062; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch BASTE, HA KON: No1way 5062; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch ESPINOSA, GUSTAVO: Columbia; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch BEGINNER RATINGS Region 2 ASPINWALL, JAMES: Fremont, CA; J. Woodward/Natural Flying BLACK-DOWNES, JIM: San Francisco, CA; P. Dcnevan/Mission Soaring GRA'T'TAN, STEVEN: Gardncrville, NV; R. Leonard/Adventure Sports HEATLIE, WALTER: Santa Clara, CA; P. lfarlow/Mission Soaring STOTTS, PHIi.: Capitola, CA; M. Taber/Lookout Mrn Fl' VENEMAN, DAN: Modesto, C:A; CD. Prather/Dream Weaver HG

Region 3 ANGELO, RICK: Laguna Beach, CA; R. McKenzie/High Adventure BLUM, JAMES: Crestline, CA; R. McKenzie/High Adventure CANNEY, CHARLES: Palmdale, CA; R. McKenzie/High Adventure HERNANDEZ, ROBERTO: Corcoran, CA; R. McKenzie/High Adventure KROPP, MATTHEW: Hermosa Beach, CA; A. Becm/Windsports Int'! Region 4 HEINRICHS, LANDON: Sandy, UT; Z. Majors/Wasatch Wings MARTIN, WILLIAM: Glendale, AZ; B. Holmes/Sky Masters HG Region 6 BARGALLO, JUAN: Lawrence, KS; T. Hager/I .ookom Mm FP MATHUR, 'TANYA: Sr Louis, MO; M. Labado/Lookout Mm FP MIDDLETON, JANET: Dardanelle, AR; M. Labado/T .ookom Mm FP Region 7 SPRINGER, SUSAN: Whitewater, WI; B. Kuslmer/Ravcn Sky Sports STEPHENSON, IAIN: Caledonia, Ml; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch STEPHENSON, JAMES: Caledonia, Ml; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch Region 8 BECKER, JAMES: Boston, MA; D. Baxter/Morningside FP DA COSTA, AH.TON: Marlboro, MA; K. Salko/Morningside FP DA COSTA, ENIO: Marlboro, MA; I<. Salko/Morningside FP MILLER, WAYNE: Beverly, MA; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch PETRUSKI, AARON: Montague, MA; K. Salko/Morningsidc FP SCHMID, BRIAN: Norwalk, CT; D. Haber/Kitty Hawk Kites Region 9 BRIGGS III, FRED: Great Falls, VA; S. Wendt/Blue Sky BRIGGS IV, FRED: Great Falls, VA; S. Wendt/Blue BUCHANAN, ROBERT: Rcisterstown, MD; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch GROSSO, PATRICK: Arlington, VA; J. Middleton/Silver Wings LA BARBERA, DEANA: Alexandria, VA; J. Middleton/Silver Wings LANSER, STEVEN: Riverdale, MD; B. Wcaver/Kiny Hawk Kites PARKS, JOHN: Bethlehem, PA; P. Dcnevan/Mission Soaring Center RIDENOUR, SAMUEL: Alverron, PA; D. Haber/Kirry Hawk Kites SHIRLEY, ALAN: Cuyahoga Falls, OH; T. Hager/Lookout Mtn FP SOARES, FABRIC!O: Charlottesville, VA; C. Elchin WIT.MIRE, THOMAS: Dover, DE; M. _Jones/Wallaby Ranch Region 10 ALVAREZ, BERNARDO: Winter Park, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch BASKETT, RICK: Ft Lauderdale, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch BEUZEKOM, LARRY: Riverview, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch BOLLINGER, STEPHEN: Lake Park, Fl.; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch CLIFFORD, WILLIAM: Orlando, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch COPELLA, JOHN: Orlando, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch CULP, WILLIAM: Atlanta, CA; M. Taber/Lookout Mtn FP FEENEY, PERRY: Faycrtcville, NC; A. Torrington/Kitty Hawk Kites FOX, RONALD: Altamonte Spgs, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch GLENNOR, SEAN: Miami, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch GOETZ, DAVID: Cocoa Beach, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch GREELEY, LAL: Rising Fawn, GA; S. Jlciplc/Lookour Mtn fl' GRIFFIN, MARK: Lawrenceville, GA; M. Labado/Lookout Mm FP HANC GLIDINC

I-IOLLINGSWORTH, LORRIN: Oakland Pk, Fl,; M. Jo11es/Wallaby Ranch HORTON, KATE: Arlanta, CA; C Thoreson/Lookout Mm Fl' KINGSTON, ROI LAND: 'J 'arnpa, Fl,; M _Jones/Wallaby ltanch LAUSSl<'.R.MAIR, THOMAS: Delray Bead 1, FL; l Tindle/Miami HC MACLEOD, JOHN: Rainbow AL; C Thoreson/Lookout Mm Fl' MORAN, DOUGLAS: ( :ocoa, 1:1,; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch PERCEVECZ, JR, W DFNNlS: Atlama, c;A; C. 'l'horeson/lnokour Mtn FP SCJ-JWANBERGER, ERIC: Palm I !arbor, FL; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch SWEZEY, MICHAEL: Oldsmar, Fl,; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch THOMPSON, JR, BOBBY: Covington, CA; C Thoreson/Lookout Mm FP TOTH, ZOLTAN: Miami, R;J- Tindle/Miami HC Region I I BRENNER, DAVID: Dallas, TX; M. Joncs/Wallahy Ranch CLARK, KELLEY: Ausrin, TX; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch ITOXTE, ROBERT: Lm1d, TX; T. I lagcr/Lookom Mrn Fl' PALMA, RANDY: The Woodlands, TX; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch WOOD JR, ROY: Weatherford, TX; T. Middleton/Soaring Wings Region l DI ANTONIO, AL: Colts Neck, NJ; T. Quinlan/Miami He; JACKSON, DARRELL: Rumson, NJ; A. Torrington/Kitty I lawk Kites B BASTE, ARNE: 5062; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch BASTE, HAKON: Norw:iy 5062; lvL Jones/Wallaby Ranch ESPINOSA, GUSTAVO: C:olumbia; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch ROSS, RICHARD: Canada; T I lager/I ,0okom Mtn FP

Region l

Region 7 FEN El-TT, PETER: Madison, WI; R Kushner/Raven Sky Sports SPRINGER, SUSAN: Whitewater, Wl; l\. Kushner/Raven Sports Region 9 DIGGS, CARTER: Kensington, MD; l Thompson/Kitty Hawk Kites PERKINS, JAMES: Waynesboro, VA; S. Wendt/Blue SHIRLEY, ALAN: Cuyahoga Falls, Oll; C Thorcson/1.ookrnn :vtrn 1:p Region 10 CULP, WILLIAM: Arlanta, CA; M. Taber/Lookout Mm Fl' GREELEY, LAL Rising Fawn, CA; S, J-lciplc/1.ookour Mrn Fl' GRIFFIN, MARK: Lawrenceville, ( ;J\; M. Labado/Lookour Mm 1:p KOPCZYNSKI, DALE: Wilmington, NC:; R. l\achman/l<irry Hawk Ki res LAUSSERMAIR, Tl IOMAS: Delray Beach, FL; J- Tindle/Miami I IC THOMPSON, JR, BOBBY: C:ovingt:on, CA; C Thorcson/1.ookout Mm Fl' TOTH, ZOLTAN: Miami, FL; J. Tindle/Miami HC Region 11 BRENNER, DAVID: Dallas, TX; M, Jones/Wallaby Ranch HOXIE, ROBERT: Sugar Land, TX; T I lager/Lookout Mrn FP Region 12 DI ANTONIO, AL Colts Neck, NJ; T. Quinlan/Miami J!(; PUJNGTS, RJC:HARD: Marlboro, NJ; I'. Voight/Fly High J JC STORY, ANTHONY: Morristown, NJ; c;. Black/Mountain TERSHAKOVEC, TAMARA: New York, NY; C. Black/:vlounrain Wings Region 13 BASTE, ARNE: Norway 5062; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch ESPINOSA, GUSTAVO: Columbia; lvL Jones/Wallaby Jones ROSS, RICHARD: Canada; T. Hager/Lookout Mtn FP SCI-JOCK, NTCOl ,E; Ccrrnany 73614; S. Kroop/Quesr Air

H)Y, MICHAEL: Trout Lake, WA; P. Dcnevan/Mission Soaring KEENEY, ROBERT: Federal Way, WA; T. Craham/Far Up HC

LANDSTROM, RAY: Oakland, CA; D. Ycmnr/Mission MC KEE, PHILIP: San Rafael, CA; C. Thoreson/Lookour Mm FP Region 3

ANGELO, RICK: Beach, CA; R McKenzie/High Advemmc BLUM, .JAMFS: Crestline, CA; R. Advent me CANNEY, CHARLES: Palmdale, CA; R McKcnzic/1-ligh Adventure LA PLANTE, AARON: Coleta, C:A; T. Away TRUDELL, MICHAEL: Westlake CA: A. lkcm/Windsports lm'l

4 ITFINRlCHS, LANDON: UT:'/,, Majors/Wasarch MARTIN, WILLIAM: c;lcndalc, AZ; B. l lolmcs/Sky Masters HC; SHAFFER, ANTHONY: 1knver, C:0; M. Windsheimer/Airtime Above I-IC Region 6 BOATNER, JR, WALTER: Conway, AR; T Middleton/Soaring Wings MATllUR, TANYA: Sr Louis, MO; M, Labado/Lool(()11t Mm Fl'

]i\NU/\RY 1 999

Region l OBFGT, GABBY: C:amas, WA; c;, Andronaco/Bcrkclcy I IC

Region 2 BELAIR, PIERRE: Livermore, CA; l Forbus/Cloud Base Rcgion 3 CUTTER, DAVID: Pasadena, CA; F. Ballard/Windsports Jnr'I FLANDERS, PlffE: Santa Barbara, C:/\; T. Bmcar/Fly Away l lC Rcgion 4 KOESTER, CHAD: Chandler, AZ; R. Richardson/Arizona l IC TOOKER, DAVE: Ft Collins, C:O; M. Windsheimer/Airtime Above HC YATES, KARL: Salt l ,akc City, UT; Z. Majors/Wasatch Wings Region 5 WEAVER, CORBIN: Boise, TD; M. Bell/Discover 1:ligln

r5 I

Region 7 HlJGlIES, SHAWN: Ann Arhor, Ml; 'I. Tillman/Cloud 9 Region 8 HILL, WILBERT: Piermont, NH; R. Corbo Jr./Earth & Sky /\dvcmurc HOOPES, TIMOTHY: Corinth, VT; R. Corbo/Earth & Sky Advcnrnrc NIXON, BOB: Castleton, VT; R. Corbo/Earth & Sky Adventure Region 9 ELCHIN, ADAM: Portage, PA; C. Elchin/1 lighland /\crosports PYLE, CHUCK: Mclean, V /\; J. McCarty Region JO BROSKI\, JAMES: Tampa, FL; R. Brown/Quest /\ir DIAZ-PALES, ALBERTO: Yauco, PR: R. Hastings/Team Spirit HG ELLISTON, BRIAN: Asheville, NC; B. Coodman/Bluc Ridgel lG GREEN, DAVID: Cfarksvillc, TN; C:. Thoreson/Lookout Mm FP Region 12 GREEN, RICHARD: Ballston Spa, NY; P. Voight/Fly 1-ligh HG Region 13 ESPINOSA, GUSTAVO: Columbia; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch GOSLING, TED: Bermuda; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mm FP

Rcgion 3 MARCOTT, MICHAEL: Santee, CA;]. Ryan/H c; C: Region If FAR.BISH, PETER: I.one Tree, CO; S. Srackahle/Torrey Pines Clidcrport Region 10 CROFT, ADRIAN: Miami, Pl.; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch MC BRIDE, DUNCAN: Ft Myers, FL; C. Bowen/Quest Air PARKER, JR, CHRISTOPHER: Sr Petcrslmrg, FL; M. Zidziunas/Wallaby Ranch REIDY, JAMES: Oxfrml, MS; C. Thoreson/Lookout Mm FP Region 12 SILVA, WILLIAM: Manhattan, NY; G. Black/Mounrain Wings ZAUNER, MARTIN: Brooklyn, NY; M. Lassachcr//\cromax Region 13 ESPINOSA, GUSTAVO: Columbia; M. Jones/Wallaby Ranch SCHOCK, MARTIN: C:crmany 73614; S. Kroop/Qucst Air SOLOWEYKO, VICTOR: Canada; M. Rohcrrson/1-ligh Perspective HG

TANDEM COLIN FAY, JR: Claremont, NH: R. /\dams JIM MAC NUTT: Perkinsville, VT: R. Adams

.52

RANK SCHOOL ............................... BEGJNNER l

2 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 7

7 7

Wallaby ·"·"u...,.,, ................................................~ Lookout Mountain Hight Park ................... 14 Kitty Hawk l(ites Morningside Flight Park ..................... .. High Adventure Miami Hang Gliding Mission Soaring Center .................................... ., Blue Silver Adventure Sports .......................................... 1 Dream Weaver Ffang Gliding ....................... l Natural 1 Raven Sky Sports .......................................... 1 Sky Masters l'Iang Gliding ............................ ] Soaring Wings .............................................. 1 Wasatch Wings ................................. ., .......... 1 Windsports International .............................. 1

RANK SCHOOL .................................... NOVICE ]

2 2 2

3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Lookout Mountain Flight Park ..................... .; High Adventure ....... .,......................... .,............ Miami Ifang Gliding ........ ,................,.. ....... ,... J Wallaby Ply Away Hang Gl.iding ................................. "" Kitty H,awk Kites Mission Soaring Center ............. .. Mountain Raven Sky Sports ....................................... .. Airtime Above Hang Gliding ........................ 1 Bl~ 1 Far Up Flang Gliding .................................... ] (~uest Air ...................................................... 1 Sky Masters Hang Gliding ............................ 1 Soaring Wings .............................................. l Wasatch Wings ............................................. 1 Windsports International .............................. 1 J

Rankings were compiledfrom ratings published in the January 1999 issue ofHang Gliding magazine.

HANC Ct IDINC

s llANC; CUDINC ADVJSORY Used hang gliders should always be disassembled before flying f,ir the /Jrst time and inspected card,dly for bent or dent·· eel downtubcs, ruined bushings, bent bolts (especially the heart bolt), rc·11sed Nyloc nms, loose thimbles, frayed or rusted cables, mngs with 1101H:irc11lar holes, and on flex wings, sails badly torn or torn loose from rheir anchor points front and back on the keel and leading edges. ff in doubt, many hang gliding business· cs will be happy ro give au object ivc opinion on rhe condition of equipment you bring them to inspect. Buyers should select equipment that is apprnpriate for their skill level or rating, New pilots should seek pro· fcssional instruction from a lJSIIGA CERTll'IED INSTRUCI'OR.

])lff,AM lli5 LT - - New, last one made $850. 00.'l) :lli/,8995.

!WAT 158 .. good condition, blue/red $700. (619) ltTJ9661.

FXXTAC:Y - I ')98, yellow wired flaps, as seen on Nov'98 1l(, ccntcrspread $7,500. Bob (970) 6/iJ .. 'JS:lO oflice, (9/0) 6li 1·920/ ho1m·.

HPAT 158 ... I'!'lit, mint condition, hlue/flourcscent green, /.3 harness <,'.(i',i" $1,250. (607) 26.'l,5263.

EXXTACY NEW & USED IN STOCK, DEMO 1)Al LY. WAI .LABY RANCH (9/i I) li2/i.()0/0. l'ALC:ONS 140, 170, 195, 225 new ,llld nsed. WALLABY RANCH (9/i I) lt2/i,0070. <lO hours, cocoon harness, para· FALCON 170 chme, fidl face helmet, radio $.'l,000. (:$05) 710· 1131.

FLEX WINGS AFROS I<PL IIt New, :1 short !lights, or:rnge/hlne $3,')00. (911) :12/i.()/071:fa.

Two harnesses, medium.

!'ALCON 195 Brand new ( I flight), clip,on wheels $2,/iOO. Pins foll equipment package availahlc. (818) '7'7/i.931/i, l'ricdrn:rnrG!llnamc.com l'ALC:ONS CLEARANCE SALE School use, one season. All sizes $I, 500.$2, 500. (Ii 14) ltTl,8800,

068'!. AJRBORNE SHARK, BLADE RACF, STING, BUZZ. New and nearly new. Demo daily. Tl IE WAL, I ABY RANCI I (9/i 1) li2/i,00/0.

$2, I 00

Very good con di BENNETT MYSTIC: 1<,G VC tioni low hours, flies grc;it) batten p~Htern, owncn manual $800 OHO. (909) 8(,1--7.013.

(l 16) 6')/,7.17.5.

DOUBIF SUR!'AC:F TANDEM Moyes X2, good shape $2,500 or trade. hrad~llhanggliding.com (Ii Iii) lt/3-8800, DOUBLE VISIONS & PI.Y2 ---- New and nscd. WAI .I .ABY RAN CJ I (9/i I) 42/i,0070.

Tandem gliders, three 10 choose from, and np. (Ii H) fiTJ.8800, hrad~llhanggliding.con1

flJSION 150

50 hours, magema &. teal $:l, 500,

FUSION -- Demo daily. WALLABY RANCH (91tl) 1t21t.oo;o. GLIDERS Yi+ for sale, rigid to smfocc. C:all/email for cnrrcllt list. Wallahy Ranch (941) 121· 0070 l'lorida, glidcrs~ilwallaby.com I !PAT iii 5, 158 ·-· One each in good condirion. Both have new leading cloth and recent supcrpreflight, $1,liOO eaclt.(IJ 11) IJTJ .. 8800, hraMilhanggliding.com

USHGA CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ORDER FORM 50 cents per word, $5.00 minimum Boldface or caps: $1.00 per word. (Does not include first few words which are automatically caps.) Special layouts or tabs: $25 per column inch. (phone numbers: 2 words, P.O. Box: 1 word, E.. mail or Web address: 3 words) photos: $25.00, line art logos: $15.00 (1.75" maximum) DEADLINE: 20th of the month, six weeks before the cover date of the issue in which you want your ad to appear (Le., June 20 for the August issue). Prepayment required unless account established. No cancellations or refunds allowed on any advortising after deadline. Ad insertions FAXed or made by telephon<0 must be charged to a credit card. Please enter my classified ad as follows:

KLASSIC !lilt Good condition, green LE, blne undersurface $7., I00. (80 I) 288·6946. I<LASSIC: ili4 Yellow/white, ahsolme mint concJi .. tion, 5 hours use and then stored indoors for 2 years $2,800. !<lassie 155, 80 hours, clean $2,100. (Ii 14) fiTJ.8800, hrac!Qilhanggliding.com LAMINAR Iii -·-- Great condition, hlnc undersnrfacc, yellow LL, excellent pe1forrnance $2,ltOO OBO. (815) 234 5388 LAM I NA R lit Excellent shape, green & white $2,750. Kevin (970) 259 .. 3:35/i, '

,,,,,_,,,,,

__ - - - - - - - · - · - - · -

l,AMINARST iii l'11ll race. This is the sweetest all around ship! Priced to sell, first $2,500 takes ir. Jerzy (619) 793-:lli32. LAMINAR ST 11 Black/red, low homs, still crisp. Extra blue/gold sail, 200 hours. l'ramc perlcct, folding hasctuhe, heavy & xc bags $:l,500. Almost new Pro Design M2 harness, (retail $1,200) 5'6" ,5' 10 pilot reserve, kevlar bridle $200. Ball MI 9 $850. $2'75. (619) li/3 9661. LAMINAR ST, Iii, I} in srnck. WALLABY RANCH (91t I) 421,00/0. MlLLFNNllJM -- WALLABY RANCH (941) ii24, 0070. MOYES CSX It ·- 1998, dO hours, floral green & blue $/i,000 OBO. (208) 715·1572..

Number of months: SECTION U Flex Wings IJ Emergency Parachutes IJ fJarts & Accessories IJ Business & Employment

iJ Miscellaneous IJ F'aragliders

iJ Videos

Begin with

IJ Towing IJ Schools & Dealers IJ Ultraligllts IJ Rigid Wings

rJ Publications & Organizations iJ Wanted IJ Harnesses

issue and run for

consecutive issue(s). My iJ check, lj money order is enclosed in the amount of$ NAME: _ ......._.......- ........-..........-..... ADDRESS: "'""'""""--····-··-·-····-·--·-"··---·

CI TY: ... ·- ...........-·-··-·-...................-... --

Number of words:

JANUAI\Y 1 g99

.--.. ·--·-..·-···-····-·@$1.00

USHGA, P.O Box 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901 (719) 632-8300 , fax (719) 632-6417

ifi

SX, XTL, XS3, Xr, etc. New and MOYES CSX nearly new. /\vaibblc immediately. Nation's largest Moyes dealer. WALLABY R/\NCI I (9/i I) li24-0070. MOYES SX4

EMERGENCY P/\R/\CHUTES

RIGID WINGS

DEPLOYMENT B/\CS New, and new 20ft bri dies, $25ca. (303) 3li78'J'J5.

EXXT/\CY/MII.LENlUM -- Two prc--owned, very special prices. David (706) 657-8/i85. - - - - - - - - - · - - - - --· ----------·--

Crear condition, clean, 50 ho11rs

$:',, I 00. (Ii I Ii) liTi-8g()(), hraM11hanggliding.com

MOYES XS l (;rcat row glider, pink LE, orange under., new wires, fins & spare dt $')00 OllO. (609) ii9'J-3045. MOYES XS 155 Excellent condition, dean, wheels $1,600. DI O) 301-9')26, Kussi(ii\10Lcom MOYES XT PRO 165 Novice/intermediate double surface, 2'i hours, great shape $2,700. (41 Ii) lt73-8800,

PULSES & VISIONS Bought--Sold-Traded. Raven Sky Sports (Ii I Ii) iiTl--8800, braM1>hanggliding.com R/\M/\IR I 55 Crear condition, flies great, flown seasons and stored indoors last 2 years. Motivated seller $ J ,000 OHO. ((, J 9) 792-29.%. davetd'arddlgroup.corn

ROCKET RESERVFS $/i7'5ea. (303) 31'789'Vi.

Two, used LARI\ :md BRS

EXXTACY 1998, yellow wired as seen on Sept '98 I I(; cover $7 500. Bob (970) 611-9530 ofEce, (970) 6/i I -95:lO home.

USFD 20&22' -- I OO'X, inspected, new bag and bridle $250ca. (:)O:l) :3ii7-8995. 2ND CIIANTZ POCKET ROCKET Never deployed, 20 gore I.ARI\ apex $900 Canadian, Roger · l'hompson (306) 662--3181J Saskatchewan. 20 CORE -~-- 20ft PD/\, brand new $390, (303) .'ilil-8995.

W/\Nl'FD PlJl~')ES

M !<Ii needed. l-800--G88--5637.

TRX 110 WANTED In any condition. Call New Mexico (505) 323- l 5'J8 evenings.

only. SCHOOLS & DI•'./\LERS

22 CORF PDA w/swivcl $1i20. 20 gore $199. Many more available. Raven Sky Sports (Ii lli) liTl8800,

ALABAMA LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FI.ICIIT P/\RK

Sec

:td under ( ;eorgia. HARNESSES ROCKET CITY /\IRSPORTS -

The fitn, safe place

to learn ro fly. We help you learn quickly and saldy

SENSOR 1'2

with USH(;A certified professional instructors. (;reat place for first cross coumry flights. Three sites and a Moyes-Bailey aerotug for those "other" Learn lo acrotow and earn your AT rating. Mention this ad, bring a friend and receive one lesson ' price. Call (2'5(,) 880-8'512 or (256) 7'76-9995.

Flies great $1,900. (706) 398-351J 1.

SPECTRUM CLEARANCE SALE Three 165 Spectrurns in near new condition, w/all options $2,400-$3,200. Raven Sky Sports (ii l!i) liTl 8800,

SUPERSPORT 153 -- Superneat custom sail, very low hours, WW lin included $2,100. (Ii iii) 173--8800, brad<rill1anggliding.co1n TRJ ~ 5 flights $2,000. llob (970) (,Ii J -9'530 office, (970) 6/i J .. 92()7 home. TRADE lN Up or 0111. I 00 gliders in stock. Lookout Mountain, (706) .3')8-35/i 1,

TRX HO W/\NTEll lu any condition. Call New Mexico (505) 37.J- l 5')8 evenings. ULTRASPORT lli7, JC,(, -- Rental gliders at park, low hours, clean, priced to sell. (Ii Iii) 1738800,

ARIZONA /\DVFNTURE SPORTS TOURS -- l.essons nearby Phoenix/Tucson areas. Man-made trainer bill faces all wind directions. c;naranreed ten flights per day! Tempe, /\Z (602) 897-7121.

NEW, USED And REI'lJRBISHED harnesses. Buy, sell, trade, consignment. ( ;mrnison ( ;liders, 154') Coumy Road 17, Gunnison CO 812.'.\0. (970) 6/i 1')3 l 5.

HIGH F.NERGY POD IIARNESSFS Sizes & styles change momhly, $:lOO-!iOO. c:c; 1000's $250. Cocoons $200 each. 1.MFP pod, 5'9" $/iOO. & stirrnps also available. (Ii I Ii) li73-8800,

hrnd(r1)Jianggliding.com

VISIONS & PULSES Bongln-SoldTradcd. Raven Sky Sports (Ii 1Ii) li73-8800, brnd<r1lhanggliding.com WWXC lli2 ·- Red, white & hlue asymmetrical, new 3/97, very good condition, never crashed, $3,100 OBO. (.'l01) 729-0771. \XIWXC: J li2, I 55 I .ow hours, dean and nice condi-tion $3,100 each OllO. (Ii Iii) /iTl-8800, hrad(fllhangglidi11g.co111

XC 155 Fxccllent condition, 25 hours, white upper, red/orange lower $2,700 OBO. (ii08) 795-2201.

TIRED OF TOWING? Tired of driving ro sites? Create your own, power up the sensible way SWEDISH AEROSPORTS MOSQUITO IIAR NESS. Lightweight, powerful, affordable and most imponantly-l'un! Call BILL of 'LC. HANG Gl .IDERS, your U.S. SlJPPUER at 6!6--922-281J1. PS: SEEING IS BELIEVING, new video made hy East Coast Video, now available $ I :l includes shipping.

HJLL SFRVICF. SHOP Sales, rentals, towing, repairs, guide service. Free brochure. ('520) 6:32-lil Iii, lut p://www.nortblink.com/ --ahgc (256) 7'76-9995. ARKANSAS OZARK MOUN'J'AI N I !ANG GLIDERS ~ Sales, service and instruction. I 60 Johnston Rd, Searcy /\R ??lli:l. (501) 2'792li80.

·lANC GLIDING

CALIFORNIA DRFAM WFAVFR I IAN(; CLil)JNC - S,1lcs, service , insrrnction. Area's nwsr INEXPENSIVE !deal iraining; hill, new and used cqniprnem. Wills \'1/ing, Altair, I ligh Fncrgy Sports and more. Tandem insrruction. lJSI IC;\ Advanced instrncto1 Dong Prather. (209) 556-M69 Modesto CA. FLY AWAY IlANC; C:UI)JNC/l'ARM;LJDINC Sanra Barbara. Tammy llmrnr (805) 692-9908.

THE HANG Gl.IDING CFNTER Located in bcautifol San Diego. I lang gliding and parnglidinr, instruction, sales and service, conducted at TORREY PINES and local mmrntains. Spend your wimer van1tion flyir1g with us. Demo m1r line of gliders and equip-

2800 ·rorrey Pines San Diego CA Since 1928 I I AN c; c; UDJ NC AND PARACI.JD INC USJ !(;;\ ccr1if1ccl instr11ction, tandem Jlight instruction, sak·s, service, repairs,

tours. San Diego's world

re-packs, and site

soaring center. Visa and

Mastercard accepted. Call (619) 152-9g53 or check 11s out at hnp://www.llyrorrey.com

ment at the alw:1ys convenient and world famous

TORRFY !'!NI'S. We proudly olfrr !CARO (IAMINAR ST), MOYES (SX), WILLS WING (XC) '""I all kinds of srnfC. Makers of the DROGUE CH UTF. 2 I 81 Charles Way, Fl Cajon CA 92020, (61 '!) ·16 llli!il. I !IC! I ADVF.NTURF Hang gliding, paragliding school. Equipment sales, service, rentals at Southern California's mile Crestline. LISI/(;;\ lnstrnctot Roh M,:K,C"rncic. (')()')) 883-81i88, wwrw.,:cc.or}0:/b1is/l'1igt1 __ac:lvcnt11rc

The /\crotow l'ligl11 Park .Satisfaction c;u,1ranteed

smce I 97/i. i'iftccn to Sylmar, Crestline, Elsinore and training sires. Vac11ion tr;1i11ing,

and glider sales including lodging and The most and equipment, new ,md used in Trade in your old eq11ip111cn1. J25 sunny days each year. Come fly with ns! 16 lli5 Vicrory Blvd., Van Nnys ( :A 'JI li06. (B 18) 988-0 l I l, l'ax (818) 9881862.

COLORADO

JlJST 8 MILFS /JR.OM DISNEY WORLD • YEAR ROUND SOARING OPEN DAYS A WEEK FIVE TUGS, NOWAITINC l'VERY DIRECTION 50+ .bHUi demos to fly: Topless ro Trainer Clidcrs: L:uninar, Moyes, Wills, Airborne, Airwavc, Exxrncy, Millcnni1111i La Mouettc, Sensor;

also harnesses, varios, etc.

Ages I .'l ·l'o 73 have learned to fly here. No one comes dose to our level

LAKE ELSINORE SPORTS -- HJLI. SERVICE SHOP with a li,cus on student pilot needs. We ARE the arcci's only walk-in shop. Open (, I Oam-6prn, closed 011 Mondays. (')09) MAGIC AIR l.ocated in Northern California. Lessons, sales, service. (7(l'/) '!63-}li'i5.

Allff[ME ABOVE l 1/\NC CJ.[])]NC

and

sncccss with tandcn1 aerotow instruction.

lessons, sales, service. Colorado's most experienced'.

Wills Wing, Moyes Altair, I ligh Energy, Ball, lcaro and more. C\O.'o) C,'//i.2/iS1, Evergreen, Colorado AirtimcH(;Q1\10/.corn CONNFCl'IClrl'

A GREAT SCENE FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS .. , l O morels & rcsta11ran1s witl1in rnins., camping, liot showers, shade lrccs) sales, storage, ratings, XC rcrricvals, great weather, climbing wall, trampoline,

DSS TV, ping po11g, pirnic tables, swimming pool, etc. MOUNTAIN W!NC/i

[ .ook nndcr C'lew York.

FLORIDA

Flights of' over 167 miles and more than Articles i11 I lr111g (,'/idi11g, Kitplanr's,

( ,'ross

({Ji!nt~')! and 01 hers. Featured on numerous

shows,

including F.SPN2. Our comprchcn.sivc instruction program, located at the

Visit ns on the Web: http://www.wallaby.com

San l'rancisco Bay Area's sit,', fraturc.s sloped "bunny " supcrlitc and com· training harnesses'. "F!RST Fl.I( ;HT," a video

Please call us for references and video. 1805 Dean Still Road, Disney Arca, FL 3:l8Y7 (91 J) /i2/i .. ()070 phone & fax

prcscutai-ion of our hcginucr ks.son program, is avail-

abk for $20 including shipping (mr()! he app!i1rd to (i1111rr purchml's). Om dclmc re1ail shop showcases 1hc la1cs1 in Jiang gliding innovations. \Xie stock new a11el used WiUs, Airwave and Moyes gliders, PLUS all tl,c hottest new harnesses. 'J'rncJe .. ins arc wcl · on our ama"Ling new VIRTUAL REALITY /light simrdator 1 1116 Wrigley Way, Milpitas San Josr) Ci\ <J'50}5. (408) 2621055, fax (li08) 262 1388, MSC] J(;q11 aol.corn

Conservative

F.11.C. INC:./FJ.YJNG fl OIUDA SINCE 197/i

US! !C:A Cl·RTIIIF[) TAN DE,\.1 !NSTRUCTION l\y McNamce. Acrorow training & rntings. and aerotow [qulpmc111) 1.5 l)i;:nei•worlc\. Cdl (352) 2/i5 826}. graybirdqilpraxis.net ht t p://www.gypzi.com/graybird l.OOKDUT MOUNTAIN !'LICHT PARK Sec ad under ( ;corgi<!. Nearest mounc1in training center to Orlando (only g hours).

JANU/1RY 1999

Reliable• Sratc of the Art

Malcolm Jones, Ryan ( ;Jover, ( :arlos Bcssa Mike/, Lamie Croli, Jeremie 1!ill Tom Ramseur, Roger Sherrod, Rhett Radford

·NEW c~!:cAPPAREL

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still orllY

s NO MORE BUNNY...

MICHIGAN CLOUD 9 SPORT AVIATION Acrotow specialists. Gliders, equipment and launch cart kits available. Call for fall/winrcr tandem lessons and flying appoinr-mcnts with the DraachcnFlicgcn Soaring Club at Cloud 9 field. 11088 Coon Lake Road West, Webberville Ml li8892. (517) 223-868:3. Cl011d'Jsac:1'aol.com http://mcmbcrs.aol.com/cl011d')sa

THE HILL WITH IT!

WF I-!/\ VF The most advanced training program known to hang gliding, teaching yon in half the rime it rakes 011 the training-BUNNY HILL, and with more in-flight air time. YES, WE CAN TEACH YOU FASTER /\ND SAFER Por year--ronnd training fun in the snn, call or write Mi,m1i Hang Gliding (305) 285-8978. 2550 S Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, Florida 3.'l 1.13.

BUNKHOlJSE WARM & COMFORT/\BLE 32 bunks, hot showers, open all year, 21 hour self registration. l--800--803-77881 HAW/\11

BIRDS JN P/\R/\DlSE -- l fang gliding & ultralight on Km1ai. Certified randem insrructinn. (808) 822-5309 or (808) 63')-l 0(,7, birdipQi>aioha.ner www.birdsinparadise.com ILLINOIS 111\NG GUDINC SERVICES Acrorowing thru Prairie Soaring at Leland Airport, I ham west of T,rndcm instruction. Airport (815) 195-282], home (815) 741-2250.

QUEST /\IR SO/\RINC CENTER Your vacation hang gliding location. 052) li2')-02 l3, fax (352) 4294846. Visit our website at: or email us: q11csrairG.i'lsundial.net

RA VFN SKY SPORTS ~- (:312) 360-0700 or (111) 47:3-8800. 2 hours from Chicago, 90 minutes from Ugin, Palatine or Libertyville. The best instructors, the best equipment, rhe best results in the midwest. program for cornbincd/intcgratcd foot launch and aero row cerrification. Apply l OO'Y<, of your intro lesson costs to ccnificarion program upgrade! Please sec our ad under WISCONSIN.

GEORGIA

NORM l.ESNOW'S J:LYJNC ADVENTURES Since 1978. Experience &. arc Ill. Presenting the turbo dragonfly. lntrod11cto1-y flights and full range of lesson programs for ro advanced. Acrotow clinics & USHG/\ approptiatc ratings available. USIIGA ccnified school. Please contact Norm f.csnow--Mastcr Pilot, Examiner, Advanced Tandem Instructor, Tow Adminisrraror. (248) 399-9433, FlJT,L-TIME school. www.SeriousSpons.com nlfa(vjuno.com TRAVERSE CITY HANG CLIDERS/P/\RAGLID F.RS FUI.L--TIME shop. Ceni!Jcd instruction, foot launch and tow. Sales, service, accessories for ALL major brands. VISA/MASTERCARD. Come soar our 450' dunes! l 509 F 8th, Traverse City Ml 49681. Offering powered paragliding lessons & dealer for the Explorer &. used units. Call Bill at (616) 922-281J4, rchangglidcrviljuno.com. Visit om paragliding school in Jackson, Wyoming. Call Tracie at 007) 739-8620.

INDJ/\N/\ MINNESOTA RAVEN SKY SPORT'S (114) 473-8800. Please sec our ad under Wisconsin. brad<!0 hanggliding.corn

RAVEN SKY SPORTS - (612) 340-1800 or (414) 473-8800. Please sec our ad under \XIISCONSIN.

KANSAS NEVAD/\ l'RArRlE I !ANC GLJDFRS Full service school & dealer. (;rear tandem instruction, rowing & XC packages. (316) 375--2995, kcnncy(ilpld.com MEXICO

l-800-803-7788 FULi. HOOl<-lJPS Laundry, propane, recreation room. l-800--80:3-7788. LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN Fl.lGHT PARK Sec our display ad. Discover why FOUR TIMES as many pilots earn their wings at Lookout than at any other school! We wrote USHCA's Of/kial Manual. satisfaction and fi,n with the inventory, ming, volleyball, more! For a rrip, intro or Lookout Mountain, just outside lesson Chattanooga, your COMPLETE naiuing/scrvice ccn-tcr. Info? (800) 688-LMFP.

•••

Ill

HANG GLIDING

,fff..

PAf~AGLIDING

ADVENTURE SPORTS Sierra soaring tours and tandem our specialty. Jiang gliding/paragliding USHc;A certified instruction. Sales and full service shop for Altair, Airwave, Moyes, US Acros, Wills Wing. 3650--22 Research Way, Carson City, NV 89706 (702) 88}-7070 phone/fax, email: advspts(alpyrarnid.ncr web site: http://www.pyramid.net/advspts

!AS VFC/\S ATRBORN WATERSPORTS - Hang gliding & paragliding tours, lessons, sales, service. (702) 566-3')/i 5 www. virtual hosts. net/ skysail/ main .htm NEW JERSEY

rent or bring Basic $69/ day pg. 1-800-861-7198, www.f1ymcxico.com

MOUNT/\IN WlNGS-1.ook under New York. NEW MEXICO MOUNT/\IN WEST HANG GLIDING -Farmington's only foll service school and Wills Wing dealer. Offering tow and tandem flights. (505) 632-81ili3.

HANC GLIDING

UP OVER NEW MEXICO lnmuuion, sales, service. Sandi:1 Mo11nt:1in guidc.s. Will.s, Airwavc. Allmq11erqt1c. NM (505) 821-85/i/i.

NORTI l C/\ROLJN/\

NEW YORK

TENNFSSF.F

Flight Park

AAA FLICJ IT SCHOOi. -- MOUNTAIN WIN CS, INC. 22 yc:Hs cxperic11cc, C11II timc/ycar round. Full service shop, Ii trai11ing areas and a /i,500' tow !tcld. Winch and ;1cro towing, tandems ,rnd

lrnin-

ing. We sell: Millcn11i11m, Fxxtacy, Airwave, Altair, Moyes, Acros, trikes. Woody Valley harnesses in stock. Save

us ahout at a discount. We do i1 all and we

lli\WK AIRSPORTS INC: -- P.O. Box 90',6, K11oxvillc, TN :l7'J/i0-0056, (/i2l) 212 ii9')/i. I Jang C:liding and world fotnons Windsoks.

the mountain

be 11ndcrsold. ('JIit) 61i7:ll77 WWW.J,J.IGHTSCIIOOLNET, em:1il MTNWINCS&1)AOL.COM or visi1 us at 150 Canal Street, Fllcuvillc NY I 2ii28. EI.LFNVILI.E FLICJIT PARK Saks, service, US! !Ci\ certified instruction. Dealer i,w /\IRBORNE, I.A MOUETTF TO!'l.ESS, APO), IJK D!SCOVFRY. instruments, :1cccssorics. 80 ! Jang c;Jidcr Road. Ellenville NY I 2/i)8. Call Tony Covelli or Jane, phone/fox ('JI ii) 6!i7 l 008. l'I.Y I IJCI I I IANC CI.IDINC, INC. - Serving S. New York, Connectirnt, Jersey areas (Ellenville Mtn.) Area's FXCI.USIVE Wills Wi11g dealer/specialist. i\lso all other major hrands, accessories. <:crtificd school/i11stntc1ion. Teaching since l'J7'). i\rca's most INEXPENSIVE prices. 1:.xcellcnt secondary instruction ... if you've llnishcd a progrnm and wish to conrin 11c·. Fly the 11101mtai11 1 /\TOI. Tandrnt flights' Rd, l'itH' Bush, Comact Paul Voight, 5 I 6:1 NY 12':i(,6, ('>Jli) 7,H-3117. SUS(JlJEI JANNA Fl.IC! IT PARK C:oopcrstown, NY. C:cnii,cd Instruction, Saks and Service for all major man11facturcrs. /i() acre park, 'i 1raiuin1>, hills, jeep rides, lrnnk house, hot showers, (,00' N\)(! ridge·. We have 1he hcst in N. New York state to teach yon how to lly. c/o Dan Cuido, Box 29.\ Shoemaker Rd, Moliawk NY I :l/i07, (JI S) B(,(,--(, 15:l.

I.OOJ<OlJT MOUNTAIN Fl.IC! IT !';\RI< -

TEX/\S

AUSTIN AIR SPORTS INC. TANDEM INSTRUCTION • AEROTOWINC BOAT TOWINC PARAGLII llNC; MOUNTAIN CLINICS FOOT l.i\UNC:fl OPEN YEi\R ROUND • BFAC!l RESORT • liQlJIPMI NT SAi.i'S AND SERVICE

(800) 334-4777 NAGS HEAD, NC l.UMllFR RIVER I JANC Cl.l])INC - US HCA certif,nl in.struction, winch rowing, authorized \Xlills Wing dealer. I.umhcrton, NC: (91O)<i18-9700. PFNNSYI.V/\NIA AFl(()TOWINC !'I lll.ADELl'I !IA llRACONFl.lFRS1 Tandem, Coot launch & paragliding i11s1ruction 1 (6 I OJ 527-16B7. MO\JNTAlN TOP RFCRl'./\TION Certified instruction, Pittsburgh. (Ii 12) 7(,7 IJ882.. C'MON our /\ND PLAY!

Sec

ad under ( ;corgia.

C:crt iCied 1'001

launch, low & tandem training. S;ilcs/scrvicc, Steve & Fred limns WINDEMERE (8:\0) 6'J\ 580'i. IIOlJS TON (281) ii71- lli88. i\ustinAir&"aol.corn

CO ... l lANC Cl.lll!NC:ttt Jeff lfonr, li81 I Red River St., A11s1in Texas 18751. Pl,/1:tx (512) liG7 252') jcfJit1lflytcxas.con1 I Ill.I. COlJN !'RY PAFAC:LIDINC INC I.earn complete pilot skills. Personalized lJSI !(;1\ ccr1il1cd tr;iining, ridw' :-.oaring, foot & tow launching in central Tcxa.1. MO'JORIZFD PARAGLIDIN(; INSTRUCTION & EQUIPMENT AVA!l.ABI.E. (915) l7'J I I Wi. R1 I, llox 16F, ·1 ·ow 'I 'X 78(,7 2.

KITE ENTERPRISES Foot L11111ch, pl,11i'orm l:llmch and ;1crotow instruction too. Training, sales, rentals ,md repair. ;\irwavc & Wills Dallas, l'ort Worth and north Texas area. 21 I Allen TX 75002. (972) :390 ')0')0 nights, weekends, www.kitc--c111crpriscs.co1n

TOT/II. /\IR SPOl<.TS Area's OLDEST Wills Wing ,k,dcr. C:errii,cd instruction available-. "I only DF/\1. with WILLS". 6.,5/i Limestone, I lons1011 TX

77092. (71:l) 95Ci-Glli7. MOlJNTAIN WINc;s

1.ook under New York. UTAH

PUERTO RICO FLY PUERTO RICO Team Spirit I lang C;Jiding, I IC classes tandem instruction available. Wills rrntals for qualified pilots. PO Box Wing dealer. 978, l'unla Santiago, Puerto Rico 007/i I. (787) 8500508.

(71

Utah's only fiill service hang WASATCH WINGS gliding schooL Point of' the Mountain, regional moun rain .sites, towing. Dealer for Acros, Altair, \v'ills Wings, Moyes, Airw·,w,· and much more. Call /,;1c (801) 5/6-0IIJ2, wings(;-tlwasatch.com w,vw.wasai-ch.com/ ,,\vi11gs

We saw

]/\NUARY 1999

Tl IF SOARINC C:ENTFR -888 9/i/i 5/ill. email I ll\(::J(f1l,10l.corn, fox (801) 57(,M8), 12(Si S Mitrntcm,111 Dr., Draper UT 8/i020.

111

VfRGINIA

High quality instruction, cquipmenr supplies, Clider Savers. Call Steve

KITTY HA WI< KITES

Sec Norrh Carolina.

WISCONSIN RAVEN SKY SPORTS IIANC Gl.l])JNG AND PARA(;LJDING The miclwcsr's Premier acrotow flight park, founded in 1992. Fcamring INTEGRAT· ED INSTRUCTION of foot-launch and aerorow 1an·· dem skills, at package prices to beat any in the USA. Seven bcautifol, grassy 1raining hills facing all wind directions. Four Dragonfly tow planes, no waiting! Three tandem gliders on wheeled undercarriages. WW Falcons for training from the very first lessons. lJSUA ultralight and rng instructiou. Paragliding tows. Free campiug. Sales/service/accessories for all brnnds. Open days a week. Comact Brad Kushner, PO llox 101, Whitcwarer WI 5) l 'JO (41 Ii) f/73-8800 phone, (Ii lli) 473-8801 fax, www.hanggliding.com, brad@hangglid-· ing.com

BRAND NFW A!RM!C $65. By NAS (rhe one that works.) Not for Kenwood. Talk aod hear 1hrn car, PTT switch. (303) 3fi7.8'J'J5.

PARTS & ACCESSORIES AEROTOWING ACCESSORIES Sec. J'OWlN( ;, THE WALLABY RANCH (941) 424-0070.

only, manual pull .'\ :md Ii minulc d11ra1ions, ring or (electric igni1ion $6 tall, 3--3/8 diarne rcr canisrers $21 each ($/i.3 if purchased rcrnil.) This is 1he smoke Dan Buchanan uses in his 85 yearly exbibirion flights. lt can he seen jn use :H http:/ /users.ap.ner/ ~danb. Conract Dan (707) 887· 9411 danM1\1p.nct

HICH PFRSPF.Cl'JVF WI IEFLS Real life savers! 12", ligh1, tough. hrs all gliders. Send $41.95 + $4.50 shipping per pair ro Sporl Aviarion, PO Box l OJ, Mingoville PA 168%. i\sk abom our dealer prices. MASTADON DESIGNS HANG GLIDING i\CCESSORIES BAR MITTS: EXPLORER No map pocket $40.00 NAVJCATOR: Upper map pocket $50.00 < :OMPETITOR: Circular map cuff $60.00 CUD ER BAGS-1 IF.AVY DUTY 600 denier polycstcr.wa1cr, & UV prorcc1ion, 1110 zip·· per. Reinforced ends. Tapered design. Continuous loop handles. Red or blue. $ I00.00 CROSS COUNTRY 210 denier nylon, strong yet lightweight. 115 zipper. Tapered. Red or blue. $90.00 R.'\l l!O l'OUCl!ES window. Safety srrap. Adjusrs to fir most radios. omo shoulder s1rap. Red or blue. $15.00 HARNESS BAG Roomy--Strong-Comforrablc. Adjusrablc waist belt&. shoulder straps . Red or bluc.$45.00 $12.00 Sail Tics $1 .00 per 1()" Wing Tip Bags $5 ca. or $8/pr. MAS'J'A])ON DESIGNS Box 6655 S. Lake Tahoe CA 96157 (530) 5li7·385:l KMJD7(i1>thegrid.nct

Unique) unusual t:x crcallve

hang gliding rclarcd Soaring Dreams, 1 (208) :m,-7911i.

and rrophics. Free caralog! Pairvicw, Boise Idaho 83713.

BEST 12" WHEELS AVAIT .ABl.E Super tough, lightweight, a must for training, randcm flying. Built-in bushings. Only USA-built 12" wheel. $42.9'>, quantiry discounts. I mmcdiatc delivery. Lookout Mounrain, (800) 688-LMFI'.

March classifieds deadline:

HEAVYDlJTY, WATERPROOF PVC hill 1110 z,ippcr, $107 ppd. XC.C:amo or whi1e. #5 zipper $65 ppd. Cunnison c;Jiders, 15/i') Counry Road 17, Cutrnison CO 81230. (970) 6/i 1-9315.

MINI VARIO World's smallest, simplest vario! Clips ro hclmer or chinsrrap. 200 hours on batteries, (). 18,000 fr., fast response and 2 year warranty. Great for paragliding roo. ON LY $ 169. Mallet1cc, PO Box 15756, Santa Ana CA, 92Tl5. (llli) 966-1240, MC/Visa accepted, www.malle11cc.com

Web 60

HANC CLIDINC

s BlJSlNESS & EMPLOYMENT FOR SAU'. i\ri'wna hang gliding business. Year round !cs.sons/sales servinp, Phoenix/Tucson. /\II wind

FIRST FUGHT

directions man-"madc trainer hill on i-cn acres, plus

your friends and fomily how you auually karn 10 fly. VHS ! 5 minutes. $20 includes shipping (may ht applied to lesson purrhmt!). MISSION SOJ\RlNC: CENTER, I I 16 Wrigley Way, Milpirns Cl\ 95035. (108) 262 I 05'5.

access 10 mountain sites, gialll shop & stock. 1:irs1 ?,'ii( or hes! offrr. (607.) 8'); 71), I. IX.T Tl lF COVl'.RNMENT 1:JNANCE Your small business. ( ;r,rnrs/loans to $800,000. 1:ree record· cd message (707) liiJ8.()270. (l'Y'7)

The world ·class XCR 180 up ro :J hours (irl]8,000 ft. and only Comple1c kit with harness, cann1da and rcmolc on/off ttc)',Vlr1c1c:r, only $.,l'i.00.

VIDEOS & Fil.MS Follows the action of' a new pilot's

ftrst lessons. This video is an entertaining way to show

W !\ NTFD Ccri ii'ied hang gliding instructor. I.umber River I Jang Cliding, l.umbrnon, NC (910) 6 I g.<)700. WANTED Hang c;Jiding/Paragliding ins1mctors. Jmrnediate full time openings available. Live the California drcarn ... ins1ruct students at the San

SMAIi. I I FI.METS - Dealer ovcrs1ock on small/xs kevlar Cull focc helmets. 7,'i'Y<, ofl1 Raven Sky Sports (Ii Iii) /i7:,.8!WO. hr:idCi1lJ,anggliding.con1

J!r;1ncisco Bay ;Hca's prc1nicr training site. Service shop

cmploymem is also available. Ask for Par Denevan (li08) 2<,2105'5. MS<:tl<;v,l:101.corn www. hang-gliding.coin

TFK !'UGI IT PRODUCTS

PUBUCJ\TIONS & ORGANlZATIONS

nwunts

CALL lJSJ J(;!\ !'or a form. horn dw e:nly flfln,R Gliding (719) (,'12 8300.

ro rhc prcscn t

c;REEN POINT HYFl,S NEW FROM FAST ( :O/\ST VIDEO! Wayne's hes! video 10 dale. Shot along the .'300 mile Like Michigan coast , from eight diffrrenl sites. )I) animations and some great morphing you have i-o sec. 51 mimncs of' hang gliding, paragliding, rno1orizcd rng & sunic

Camera mo1m1 $/i8.50. Camera IT1110lc {ask about rcb:uc) $15. Vario mount $1 'i. 6" wheels $2').l'i, S&I I included. TEI( FI.IGHT l'rodocls, Colebrook Stage, Winsted Cl' 06098. Or cdl (860) 379-1668. Email: 1ekCit1sne1.net or 011r page:

and

*'NFW' AERONAUTS

JIANG GLIDING MAS·

TFRS, hy Photographic Expeditions. A documemary

BA<; IT! If yon don '1 have yom copy of' I knnis Pf!Rl'ORMANCE 1:LYING available through \JS! I(;/\ I $2').95 s&h USIIC!\, PO Box for lll'S/Priority Mail l'.l:\0, Colorado Springs CO 80')0 l. 1·800-6 \ (i.6888

SOARlNC Monthly magazine of The Soaring Society of' America, Jnc. Covers all aspects of' soaring fligh1. 1'11!1 membership $'55. Info. kit with sample copy$}. SSA, P.O. Box E, l lol,bs, NM 882/i I. (505) :J'J2 1177.

TOWING

DON'T CET C!\UCI IT IANDfNG DOWN WJN!)l ·-- 1.5 oz. ripstop nylon, UV treated, 5'/i" long w/11" 1hroar. J\vail:iblc colors fl11orcscc111 pink/yellow or f!uorcsccnl pink/white. $39.')5 (, $li.7'> SIii). Send rn USI JC/\ Windsok, P.O. Box 1:no, Colorado Springs, C:0 8090 I I:l:lO, (/I')) C,:J2 8:300, fox (/I')) 6:12··6/i I 11shgafhushg:1.org V!Si\/MC

towing, tnotorizcd mosquito)

Buckeye's powered Humorous training sliots, great air to air vidcography and much more, Video $.'l2.00 high quality, digital :md stereo. Anybody in1ercs1ed in lite aircraft, this video is a J11us1' Send check or money order, ·I $5 shipping 10: East ( :oast Video, 80 l'. 1.incoln, Muskegon J !eights, Ml ,i')lj/i/i. (6 l 6) '/:J'). 5.'l/i:J. (Wayne's other video, Point of the Moun1ain, is also avaiL,ble for $29.)

AEROTOWING ACCESSORIES ~- Headquarters releases, Spectra "V" fin: The /,nest releases, launch carr kits, clc. bridles, weak links, tandem 'l'!IE WALi ./\BY RANCH (9/i l) 424.0070.

of' hanp, gliding today. Superb footage, & irncrvicws. This is rhe video you show yom Ctrnily and fi-iends! Ii'.) min $29.95. CRFEN POINT 1,I.YERS by East Coas1 Video. They II fly anything in Michigan. En1cnaining, great graphics, 50111in, $:32.00 PARTY /\T CI.OlJDBASE I\ hang gliding music video hy Advcn1ure Productions $19.95. HANG Gl.lD!NG EXTREME & BORN TO FI.Y by J\dve111urc Prnductions, great hg action $.'lli.95 each. HAWAIIAN Fl.YIN by Space 9, soaring in paradise, amazin~ l:iun, hes $:l.l.00 Cali lJSJ IC!\ (7 I')) 632-8:JOO, fax (719) 6.'l2·6li 17, email: usl1ga(d>ushg:1.org, or order olT our web www.11shga.org. Please add +$Ii domestic s/h two or more videos). Crcat to impress your friends or

for those sockcd·in days. Perfect 1,ih l,ir the lannch po1a10 turned couch potato. Also, ask us about om

paragliding videos!

Sell

accepted. ( :heck ot1r web site www.ushg:1.org

)J\NUJ\RY 1999

ifi VIDEOS BOOKS & POSTERS Call USl !GA for your Merchandise order form ('71 ')) 6.32-8300, email: ushgaVfushga.org,

check

onr

web

page

www.nshga.org DON'T LEAVE YOUR GROUND-BOUND EQUIPMENT SITTING IN THE GARAGE. SELL IT IN THE HANG GLIDING CJ.ASSIHEDS.

SPEED GLIDING: TEAR UP THE SKIES By Adventure Prod11c1ions $24.95 Covers the speed gliding comest in Kamloops, British Columbia and then onto Telluride, Colorado. Superior grnphic animation, greal camera angles. 2A 111J111HCS

TELLURIDE SPEED GLIDING: By Tatum l'rod11c1ions $19.95. Complete coverage of' this cvcm. The sound of the gliders passing through 1hc control gates is totally awesome. 33 minutes Call USHCA (719) 6328300, fox (71<J) 632,6li1'7, order from our web si1c www.ushga.org. Please add +$4 s/h in 1he USA.

CLASSlflED ADVERTISING RATES The raic for classified advcrrising is $.50 per word (ot group of char· actcts) and $1.00 per word l,,r hold or all MINIMUM AD CHARGE $5.00. A fee of I 5.00 is charged for each line art logo and $25.00 for each photo. LINEART & PHOTO SIZE NO LARGER THAN l.'75" X 2.25". Please underline words to he in bold print. Special of t:ihs $25.00 per column inch. Phone words. Email or web addrcss~3words. AD DEADLINES: All ad copy, inS1rncrio11s, changes, additions and canccllarions must be received in writing 1' monrhs preceding the cover date, i.e. December 20th for the February issue. !'lease m,rkc checks 1>ay:rblc rn US] !CA, P.O. Hox 1:1.10, Colorndo Springs, CO 80901-1330, (71'J) 632-8300. Fax (7 I 9) 632-64 I 7 or email: ushga@ushga.org your dassillcd widr your Visa or Mastercard. ASK VS ABOUT ADVERTISING ON OUR WEB PAGE. WWW.lJSJ IGA.ORG

INDEX TO Adventure Productions ...................... 3Ci Angle of Attack ................................. 62 From the first Telluride Festival in I'J8 I, to 1he mod, crn day cornpetition. Follow the history of this $24.95 Call US!lGA (719) 632· dynamic 8:lOO, fox 17, order from om web site www.ushga.org. Please add +$4 domestic s/h. MISCEIJ.ANEOlJS

Arai Design ....................................... 15

Ball Varios ......................................... 23 Br:1uniger ............................................ 5 Flytec ................................................ 23

T-1 all Bros ........................................... 19 High Fner1:,,y ,Jpon s ........................... L/

Icaro .................................................... '7 Just Fly .............................................. 14 Lookout Mtn. Flight Park ....... 14,27,36 Moyes ................................................. 5 Neilsen-Kellerman ....................... 43,21 Personal Flight .................................. 31 "AEROBATICS" Full color 2J"x 31" poster foanH· ing John l lcincy doing what he docs best-LOOPING! Available through USI !CA HQ for just $6.95 (+$4.00 s/h). Fill that void on your wall! Send to USHCA Acrobatics l'oslcr, 1'0 Box 1300, Colorado Springs CO 809.,.3. (USA & Canada only. Sorry, posters arc NOT AVAIi.AHLF on international orders.) SPE& Eric Raymond postcrCIAL·Acrobatics BOTI I !'OR $10 s/h).

Sky Dog Publications ........................ 37 Sport Aviation Puhlications ............... 27 U.S. Aeros ........................................... 2

USHCA ................ 11,21,27,30,31,45,56,5'7

Wallaby Ranch ........................................... 23 Wills Wing ....................... 6,Back Cover

H/\NC CUDING

© 1999 by Dan Johnson S'J'. PAUJ,, MINN. At LJ1e recent Bom:-d of Directors meeting in Colorado Springs (USHGA' home), our capable' Exc,cutive Director Phil Bachman presm1t.ed a tl1orough n,port. In his presentat:i on, Phil n"ferenced recent statistics which mi,Jht interest. you. Membership si.ts at. a bit over 9,500 memben; of whicb 7196 are IlG pilots and are PG. '.I'he numbers don 't add to :L 00 as l:he_y i.ncl ucle clua_2 W<CJmberships. We're almo:,L c"xactJy a two---l:hirds/onethird c3pl i. t these days. Nc"arl y 20% of all members are new, a fig1J re t:haL surpr:i many old-timers. In tact, though, we about: 20% evel'.y year as well, we' re :,taying dbout <even. we could trim some of those lo:c:ses m1c3 kec,p adding a fc,w new members, we.:, could grow a comforl:able pace. AU:ril:ion comes l:rom HG; growth .in PG makes up tbe difference numerical Ly. Thirty percent of HG rat.inqs are Is and IIs, a !teal.thy total of lc,arninq piJots, I feel. Among PC pLLo l:r',, the maj ori t:y consid("r thernselve.'3 ac; advancing novices, an J-ionest---sounchng response t:hat makes sense wi.th tho rn?wne:5s of PC compared to HG. "Ln newer near_ly don<:~ survey results on the~ maqazine--combining issue, close l:o two-thirds reported u bigh level o[ satisfaction with Lhc, tec,t issue and 68% said to go ahead and ccmibine wbilc 3)% kcc:p thc,m S(?parate Al tl-i:i :is lrorn 1,)36 l'.0,5ponscs, a ~;i qni fi.cant· eiqhth of the totaJ membership. We' hav i nq a bummc,r yc,dr wi l~.h fatalities up sharply, to for the year. A report will be available elsewberrc:;, but in t:he rneant:irne, help youn3e.Lf and your buddy to fly safely please! l'hanks l:o Phil and bis cupable t:hi s and MUCH mon~ info. Annc,d with knowledge your Dixectors can make bel:l:er d~?cisions. DTW, USHGA has sevcrnJ new staffers. LongLirner Elgart' wife Kl aine joined him a:; d.i.d NatcJJie llinc,Jey, ,Joanne and ,John Tio] Loran. l.be is one less uqo, but lJSHCA i ~; nmning well c:no1Jgh today l:h.at Dach.man be] icNes he can manaqc-, l:hc operat :i.on wil.h this present. qroup. K(c'!ep up the good work, 1! 7\merican rep' for La Mouette dnd Cosmos trikes, Don Reinhard, Ls mdld.nq a move t:o create more presence, Eor tr1c f"rench giant.s in USA. Aft:er of uneven reprcsE-,nl:at:icm, .it wi. lJ be :i.ntEc,res\:inq to the of non' ef:fort. rcJther new 1:0 HG but has been dealing powered and u11powcr0,d paraqlidinq equipment. ·ro rfrmre up hi hang nq opera l:.i on, he' hired Mark "Gibbo" Gibson and Mike Barber. Bol:h are known fiqurc,; in compcti l:ion cJnd cross-country f1yim1 , in fact, Ll1cy t:he World 'l'eam Academy to pass a} onq l.he:ir cxpori encc such advanced t1yi.nq (more on l:h:i future ecl.i ti.on of "PL") . neinhan1 ,fr1ow:i ng himself to be d quick ,:;Ludy of whdl: works in HG markel~i.nq els couple of I eadin9 pi 1-ots to help hi rn side of qrowinc1 c!nlerpri,-,e. Gibbo and Barber w:i l be reprosenUng T.a Moueu-_c, hang qliding equipment, but al so the lightweight trike, the, Samba. As one of: thc,c;e contrapt-iorn:; my:::;c1 r:, l 'm know tba L- expert: hely, is avai Lable. 'J'o remind you, tho Sa:mba i,, ;;:imi1ar to l:he Freedom Machine and othen; just: cnl:ering the market from Polaris and Northwing. All ,JTe different from mrn:;L powen,d l:r.ike uJ trill iqhl.,,. I pref e'er to my Samba "hanq qlider ul tral i.qht," but: my entire for owninq dq 11

]ANLJI\F-'.Y J 9<)()

is to 90 hang qlider soaring, that is, engine merely accept carryin9 my "ride, to launch" with me and don't mind the seat:c,d fly:i ng posit.ion wi.th wheels to case the landinq under a La Mouette 'l'opless hm1g q1ider. Gibbo seer; increasinq demand for these machines, too, calling them "an airpark in your backyard." • Bcc,yond the powered hang gliders, Gibbo and Darber wiLI also promote powered Bikes for pdragliding c0nl:husiast:s who also want l:heir cmqine alonq w:i th thcc'!m in LL:i.ght. @IN While we' re discussinq power Yipes! ...in our HG wag! ? ! Gerry Charlebois reports sel linq "lots of Mosquitoes, " !:hanks l:o several articles the well ·-known phol:oqrapber has publi.,3hed. "Charlie--Boy" sdys he l1as over 100 hours on his. Gerry is involved with powered ultraJ:ight trikes dS we] 1. He run:ci a very aet:ive businer,s in Hawaii, givin9 tourist lessons 011 Aust.raJ ian A:i rBorne trikes It has qottcn busy enouqh that. he's enlisted John 0len Olson and is loo}<-ing at ot~bc_;r candiddtes to help out:. Now, you may sneer and say, "We 11, big dc ,a] . I-le' s qiving ul t:ra liql1\: rides. " Wronq! First of all, they aren' "rides." 'Phey're 1-egitimate lessons by people with the right approval~;. And perhaps more irnportant:.ly L:o USHGA members, he and Olson (and the others to come) are pushing han9 gliding. It just so happens thdt tbey're cfoinq so with powered trike ulL.ralights. Some will still refu.sc0 to aecept as a way to 9et more people~ into hang qliding, but Gerry and crew try to direct their satisfied 1,tudent:s to schools once thec,y leilve Hawaii. For mon,, from GH:rry' s Birds of Paradise entc,rprise, call 808---fl22-5309. ••• Charlf,boi s and Mosqui t:os, R,)inhard and SkyBikcs, Gibbo and Sambas, 'I'abc:r dnd Freedom Machines... M:iat • s happen.ing? 'I'hese an-m 't }iardly iso] ated t.rends anymore plm; more machines corninq t:o Li tliis c:merq:inq nicl1c. Inl:c~rest:inqly, outgoing U.SHGA pre7, GW Meadows introduced this topic t:he Board of Directors mc-,etinq. He ( and numerous otbers) think (JSHGA should embrace powered JJ[ L:hey are qenuinely intended for soaring flight. Of course, this is only in discussion phasc0 now, m1d some USHGI\ Directors vigorously oppose addinq any powered craft to our member ranks. We' 1J see bow it plays out: polit:i ca] ly, but the markc,t has dlready decided l:bat l:J1er,e superlight ultraliqbts are appropriate for han,J qliders and pdraqliders. 11111111€11 One the most interesting thinqs hoard from Gibbo (while t.alkinq about bis new role with La JVfouel:l:e) was th:i "Ge.rard [ThevcSno , director of La Mouel:tc], and Don [Rc"inhard, l.he U.S. distributor for La Mouette and Coromof!] arc~ in tbe procet:s of finding and buying a flight park in Florida where, we Cdn ,;howcacic our product line and q:i ve year 'round instruction of the l:.rikc):c, and sky---bikcs [sie] . " Gee! I wonder if Wallaby founder Malcolm clones envisioned so milny followers l:o his tow-park concept. Aft.er Wallaby kicked inLo qear, along came Quest and Graybird, two other t:ow parks in central Florida. Now perhaps La Mouette/Reinhard, and I'm also aware John Harris of Kitty Hawk Kit:c)s is lookinq around centro] Florida. Whal: a hot--bcd of soarin9 potentia} a sl:al:e 's flat as a board. @IN Hey! Oull:a room with news \:o copare. So, qot news or opinions? Send 'em t.o fl Dorset-., SL:. Paul MN 55118. Vmai.l and fax l.o 6.51-4500930 or e--mai 1 to CumulusMan(,Jaol. com. THANKS!_ 11

WHY ARE YOU WAITING TO MOVE UP TO THE HIGHER PERFORMANCE OF "TOPLESS" TECHNOLOGY?

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