Volume 34 Issue 9 September, 2004 $4.95
A P u b l icatio n of the U nite d States H a ng G l i d i ng A ssociatio n • w w w.ushga .o rg
SEPTEMBER,
Jayne DePanfilis, Publisher: jayne@ushga.org C. J. Sturtevant, Editor: editor@ushga.org Tim Meehan, Art Director: artdirector@ushga.org Staff writers: Joe Gregor, Dennis Pagen, Davis Straub
HANG GLIDING & PAR AGLIDING (ISSN 15435989) is published monthly by the United States Hang Gliding Association, Inc., 219 W. Colorado Ave., Suite 104, Colorado Springs, CO 80903 (719) 632-8300. FAX (719) 632-6417. PERIODICAL POSTAGE is paid at Colorado Springs, CO and at additional mailing offices.
Office Staff Jayne DePanfilis, Executive Director, jayne@ushga.org Jeff Elgart, Advertising, jeff@ushga.org Joanne Peterson, Member Services, joanne@ushga.org Michelle Johnson, Member Services, michelle@ushga.org Jane Borg, Member Services, jane@ushga.org
POSTMASTER: Send change of address to: Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine, P.O. BOX 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901-1330.
USHGA Officers and Executive Committee: Bill Bolosky, President, bolosky@ushga.org Mark Forbes, Vice President, mgforbes@mindspring.com Elizabeth Sharp, Secretary, Elizabeth.Sharp@heii.com Randy Leggett, Treasurer, ias@ot.com
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES IN PUBLICATIONS:
REGION 1: Bill Bolosky, Mark Forbes. REGION 2: Ray Leonard, Urs Kellenberger, Paul Gazis. REGION 3: David Jebb, John Greynald, Tad Hurst. REGION 4: Steve Mayer, Jim Zeiset. REGION 5: Lisa Tate. REGION 6: Len Smith. REGION 7: Bill Bryden. REGION 8: Gary Trudeau. REGION 9: Randy Leggett, Felipe Amunategui. REGION 10: Steve Kroop, Matt Taber. REGION 11: Dave Broyles. REGION 12: Paul Voight. DIRECTORS AT LARGE: Elizabeth Sharp, Bruce Weaver, Dennis Pagen, Russ Locke, Chris Santacroce. HONORARY DIRECTORS: Alan Chuculate, Tiki Mashy, Aaron Swepston, Steve Roti, Dick Heckman, Michael Robertson, Bob Hannah, John Harris, Ed Pitman, Jennifer Beach, James Gaar, Dave Broyles, Ken Brown, Rob Kells, Dan Johnson, Jan Johnson. EX-OFFICIO DIRECTORS: Art Greenfield (NAA). The United States Hang Gliding Association Inc. is an air sports organization affiliated with the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) which is the official representative of the Fédération Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), of the world governing body for sport aviation. The NAA, which represents the United States at FAI meetings, has delegated to the USHGA supervision of FAI-related hang gliding and paragliding activities such as record attempts and competition sanctions. HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING magazine is published for foot-launched air-sports enthusiasts to create further interest in the sports of hang gliding and paragliding and to provide an educational forum to advance hang gliding and paragliding methods and safety. Contributions are welcome. HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING magazine reserves the right to edit contributions where necessary. The Association and publication do not assume responsibility for the material or opinions of contributors. HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING editorial offices email: editor@ushga.org. ALL ADVERTISING AND ADVERTISING INQUIRIES MUST BE SENT TO USHGA HEADQUARTERS IN COLORADO SPRINGS. The USHGA is a member-controlled sport organization dedicated to the exploration and promotion of all facets of unpowered ultralight flight, and to the education, training and safety of its membership. Membership is open to anyone interested in this realm of flight. Dues for Rogallo membership are $59.00 per year (of which $15 goes to the publication of Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine), ($70 non-U.S.); subscription rates only are $42.00 ($53 non-U.S.). Changes of address should be sent six weeks in advance, including name, USHGA number, previous and new address, and a mailing label from a recent issue. You may also email your request with your member number to: ushga@ushga.org.
Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
2004
Canadian Post Publications Mail Agreement #40065056. Canadian Return Address : DP Global Mail, 4960-2 Walker Road, Windsor, ON N9A 6J3 The material presented here is published as part of an information dissemination service for USHGA members. The USHGA makes no warranties or representations and assumes no liability concerning the validity of any advice, opinion or recommendation expressed in the material. All individuals relying upon the material do so at their own risk. Copyright © 2004 Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine. Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine welcomes editorial submissions from our members and readers. We are always looking for well-written articles and quality artwork. Feature stories generally run anywhere from 1,500 to 3,000 words. If your topic demands more or less than this, you should discuss options with the editor. News releases are welcomed, but please do not send brochures, dealer newsletters or other extremely lengthy items. Please edit news releases with our readership in mind, and keep them reasonably short without excessive sales hype. You are welcome to submit photo attachments, preferably jpeg files smaller than a megabyte. Calendar of events items may be sent via email to editor@ushga.org, as may letters to the editor. Please be concise and try to address a single topic in your letter. Your contributions are greatly appreciated. If you have an idea for an article you may discuss your topic with the editor either by email or telephone. Contact: Editor, Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine, editor@ushga.org, (425) 888-3856. For change of address, call (719) 632-8300, or email joanne@ushga.org or michelle@ushga.org. Destin Peters and a visiting pilot kite their Dragons on “Independence” Day in Jackson Hole. Photo: Peter Volf
The United States Hang Gliding Association, a division of the National Aeronautic Association,
is a representative of the Fédération Aeronautique Internationale in the United States.
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RAT RACE 2004 A first-time competitor enjoys the opportunity to fly with and learn from the “big boys.”
DEPARTMENTS
Paul Murdoch .................................. 28
Editor’s Corner ..................................... 6 Pilot Briefings: News and Events ............ 7 Air Mail: Readers Write In ...................... 11 USHGA: Executive Director’s Note ...... 14 Faces of the Future: Galina Smith ......... 17
DROGUE CHUTES A drogue chute can help a bladewing hang glider land gracefully in a paraglider-size LZ. Dennis Pagen................................... 34
USHGA: News/Advisory ...................... 18 Master’s Tips: GPS ............................... 21 HG-202: Thermal Tips ......................... 23 Review: SeeYou Software .................... 25 Marketplace........................................ 57
TIGER TAG A grown-up version of a favorite childhood game has an educational benefit that adds to the fun. Kerry Ryan ...................................... 37
Comp Corner: PG Tow Meet in FL....... 59 New Ratings ....................................... 62 Gallery ................................................ 63 HG Accident Reports.......................... 67 Calendar ............................................. 70
FLYING THE ARGENTINA DESERT Luis Rosenkjer, the current national paragliding champion of Argentina, takes the author on an exhilarating, exhausting and educational adventure. David M. Salmon............................. 43
Classifieds ........................................... 72 Index to Advertisers ........................... 77 Product Lines: By Dan Johnson ............. 78 4
September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
SEPTEMBER,
2004
SAFETY EQUIPMENT: UPGRADE BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE Your emergency reserve parachute could be your last chance at survival, so it is very important that you are intimately familiar with your safety system.
Page 63
Betty Pfeiffer ....................................................................................... 49
PARAPENTE: PARAGLIDING À LA FRANÇAISE A non-pilot’s Alpine experience reminds us that there is magic and mystique in these wings we fly. Wendy Politt ................................... 53
A smiling Rob Kells makes a low pass at launch while test flying a customer’s Falcon 2 at Crestline, California. Photo:Gliding Gene Atkins Hang & Paragliding: September, 2004
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EDITOR’S
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W Editor’s Notes
here has the summer gone? By the time you read this column, it will be appleharvesting time, the C. J. Sturtevant big-air, big-miles days will be giving way to mellower conditions, and many of us will be hustling to break free from work to catch the last good days of the season. Did you accomplish your goals for this summer’s flying? If you’re like me, September finds you looking back on lots of good flights while realizing that there are still so many sites to fly and skills to improve in the days and years ahead. In your magazine this month we’ve collected several articles from pilots who are focused on improving their flying and helping you improve yours. Dale Covington’s Masters Tips details how useful a GPS can be even for “recreational” pilots who never plan on entering a formal competition—but he also points out that participation in a comp is perhaps the best skill-building opportunity of all. Kerry Ryan agrees with Dale, and has invented an informal comp that challenges pilots at his local site to play at tagging waypoints as they fly. Actually, his game seems more like hide-and-seek than tag, but whatever you call it, the pilots at Tiger Mountain near Seattle agree that they’re having a lot more fun flying with a goal in mind than just boating around. Kerry’s article outlines the “rules” and makes it easy for anyone to set up a GPS “tag” game at their home site. Staff writer Davis Straub’s article on SeeYou software takes this one step further, and explains how to use your computer and this amazing software to get the full benefit from the information stored in your GPS tracklog. Also in this issue you’ll find a couple of excellent articles from first-time competitors. Both Paul Murdoch and Tim Kuenster have avoided the dreaded “who flew where and how fast” daily results lists, and have instead pointed out how these competitions improved their skills and changed their approach to their recreational flying. Non-pilot Wendy Pollitt reminds us of the magical and mystical qualities of free-flight in her description of her first encounter with paragliding, in France. On the other end of the spectrum, David Salmon’s account of his adventure in Argentina is about big air and high-adrenaline airtime. He includes some excellent information on the special challenges of desert flying (such as killer heat and spiky vegetation) that apply just as well to closerto-home desert sites like the Owens Valley and eastern Oregon.
year. Joe also addresses the dangers associated with performing aerobatics in a hang glider in a separate column in the USHGA news section. Betty Pfeiffer of High Energy Sports reminds us that we need to fly with a state-of-the-art reserve parachute that is appropriate to our size and craft, and that is properly packed and installed in the harness. Staff writer Dennis Pagen details the advantages of using a drogue chute to help get that blade wing safely into a restricted or turbulent LZ. We all benefit from opportunities to talk with the “experts” of our flying communities, and in HG-202 Mark Timney has done exactly that, extracting tips for improving thermal skills from the guys who do it best. Brand-new hang pilot Galina Smith isn’t quite ready for thermals yet, but she shares the excitement of her first flights in the Faces of the Future column. I just received an email from her dad, Gayle, saying that the two of them were heading out for some mid-July flying at Morningside. It’s refreshing to witness the enthusiasm of new pilots as they take those first flights! I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to the Chamber of Commerce folks in Lakeview, Oregon. Each year my sister and I and our spouses meet in Lakeview for a family fly-in and camp-out. This year’s dates exactly overlapped with the week that Tim Meehan and I needed to be in close communication in order to get this magazine out to you on time. But Lakeview is renowned for its hospitality to foot-launch flyers; Caro Johnson at the Chamber of Commerce graciously provided me with a work space and wireless access, and I was able to spend the mornings back-andforth with Tim before joining the rest of the gang for the day’s flying. Working vacations don’t come any better than this! Whether you’re on the road or close to home, please fly safely, and within the boundaries of your own personal definition of “fun.”
C. J. Sturtevant, Editor Joe Gregor’s accident column deals with the difficult topic of the disturbingly large number of hang gliding fatalities so far this 6
September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
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Owens Valley in the Fall: Peak to Peak Paragliding Offers Three Courses With Guest Instructor Kari Castle September 17-20 (Friday through Monday): this course is designed for advanced paragliding pilots who want to learn to fly cross-country in the famous Owens Valley with the instructor/pilot who knows it best. The course will provide three days of paragliding instruction and hands-on training in cross-country flight. Students will discuss the principles behind crosscountry flying, learn the skills required for flying cross-country safely, and be provided guidance during their cross-country flights. Each student should arrive with gear and a positive attitude. Radio with a PTT system, vario and GPS are strongly recommended. Women with Wings courses: for strong intermediate and advanced women pilots on September 24-27, and for experienced P2 and newer P3 women pilots looking to learn how to fly thermals and begin XC flight on October 15-18 Women with Wings (WwW ) is a series of paragliding trips and courses especially designed for female pilots. Peak to Peak Paragliding LLC of Boulder, Colorado, developed WwW and sponsors these events. These courses are intended to provide the highest quality paragliding training to women across the nation in a manner specifically designed for their learning needs and styles. Each WwW Owens Valley course includes three days of paragliding instruction and handson training in cross-country flight in the famous Owens Valley. Students will discuss the principles behind crosscountry flying, learn the skills required for safely flying cross-country, and receive guidance during their cross-country flights. Each student should arrive with her gear and a positive attitude. Vario and GPS are recommended for both courses. Kari Castle, a USHGA advanced tandem instructor (of paragliding and hang gliding), tandem pilot, and competitor Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
extraordinaire, will be the special guest instructor for these courses. Kari lives and breathes the Owens Valley, and is THE expert on how to fly it. She has been hang gliding and paragliding in the Owens Valley since 1988. She started hang gliding in 1981, paragliding in 1988. She has been the female U.S. Women’s National Champion in paragliding four times, and the U.S. Women’s National Champion in hang gliding 14 times! She also placed 4th overall in the 2002 National Paragliding Championships held in the Owens Valley, and won the Canadian National Championship in hang gliding in 1995. She holds the current women’s hang gliding world record for both distance and declared goal. There is no doubt that Kari is the best female hang gliding and paragliding pilot in the U.S.! Kay Tauscher, a USHGA-certified instructor and tandem pilot, is the founder of Peak to Peak Paragliding LLC, one of the few womanowned paragliding schools in the nation. For more details and information, email info@peaktopeakparagliding.com or download information from www.peaktopeakparagliding.com.
Second Call for 2005 Competition Sanction Applications The USHGA competition committee will be reviewing sanction applications for the 2005 competition season at the next BOD meeting in Boise, Idaho, October 1-3. For this early submission, only the first page of the sanction application needs to be submitted via fax or mail to USHGA headquarters, or via email to elizabeth.sharp@heii.com. Fees and bonds are not required at this time, but will be due at USHGA headquarters by January 1, 2005, or six weeks prior to the first day of competition, whichever comes first.
BRIEFINGS
Liz Sharp, chair of the competition sanctioning subcommittee, indicates that sanction applications will also be reviewed at the spring 2005 BOD meeting, but you will have a better chance of getting your preferred dates if you submit your sanction application at the fall 2004 meeting. The sanction application package is available online at the USHGA Web site (www.ushga.org) at the bottom of the Competition Rulebook Web page. Hard copies of the application forms can be requested from the USHGA office by calling (719) 635-8300, or by mail (PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs, CO, 80901), and will be available at the BOD meeting in Boise.
Wills Wing Releases a BrandNew Edition of Its Popular Training Manual The newly-released edition of Paragliding—A Pilot’s Training Manual includes a bonus DVD with 80 minutes of narrated video footage covering topics ranging from canopy layout, inflation and launch techniques to soaring, advanced canopy control maneuvers and landing approach theory and practice. The original Training Manual, written by Mike Meier and first published in 1991, has sold more than ten thousand copies and has been a standard reference text for new paraglider pilots. Master pilot and paragliding instructor Rob McKenzie of High Adventure Hang Gliding and Paragliding has characterized it as “probably about the simplest layout of the concepts of gliding flight ever written. A terrific reference book and training supplement for the beginner through intermediate pilot.” While the Training Manual has been updated over the years to reflect changes in the sport, this new edition represents a major expansion in the scope and content of the manual. Wills Wing has brought onboard paraglider pilots Mark Stucky and Tim Meehan to create a complete revision with an entirely new look, additional subject 7
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matter and new illustrations. Stucky, who began his aviation career in hang gliding, is a professional military and NASA test pilot and member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, whose flight-test experience ranges from sub-20 mph speeds in paragliders to beyond Mach 3 in the SR 71 Blackbird. He is best known in the footlaunch soaring community for his informative technical articles and flight reviews in Hang Gliding magazine. Mark has updated the technical content of the manual and greatly expanded the scope of the subjects covered. Tim Meehan is the art director of Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine and an author of several books on computer graphics and desktop digital video. He is the creative force responsible for the new layout and professional illustrations. Newly-covered subjects include specialized soaring topics such as convergence, dynamic, and microlift soaring techniques; speed-to-fly theory and soarcasting. New chapters now cover towing, competition basics, and an introduction to paramotoring. The focus is on presenting technical subject matter in a manner that is easy for the average pilot to comprehend without the need for complex theory or equations. The authors emphasize safety throughout, with techniques for risk management and dealing with common emergency scenarios. The companion DVD allows the pilot to see actual demonstrations of the specific techniques described in the manual, and to review the demonstrations as often as desired to enhance the learning process. The introductory section of the DVD is also a great way to introduce friends and family to the great sport of paragliding.
Advance Announces the Omega 6 (DHV2-3): A Paraglider with Pure XC Spirit! The Advance development team wanted not only to win over cross-country paraglider pilots, but also to provide their young competition team with a wing on which they could depend completely, even when pushing the limits. The result is the Omega 6, certified DHV 2-3 with the speed system and available in three sizes (25, 27 and 29 m2). Advance claims aboveaverage passive security and easy take-off behavior for a wing of this class, along with optimal thermaling behavior, a very flat polar, excellent canopy feedback, and highly developed steering precision in combination with perfect brake pressure. Designed for the performance-oriented frequent flyer with a cross-country background, the Omega 6 was developed with input from such top pilots as Olivier Nef, Claude Thurnheer, Chrigel Maurer and Kari Eisenhut. For more details on the specs and features of this latest glider from Advance, or to arrange a test flight, contact your Advance dealer.
photo supplied by Aerodyne
The long-awaited DUNE from Aerodyne has passed DHV2 certification in the S, M and L sizes (XS to follow later this year). Designed by Michel le Blanc, the DUNE blends the perfect combination of handling and performance that is sure to satisfy both acro pilots and XC enthusiasts. Its qualities of maneuverability, performance and passive security give the DUNE an instinctive and natural flight style. It is available in four attractive color schemes. Aerodyne manufactures all their gliders in their own factory to ensure maximum quality control and uses the new PM E85A cloth for their canopies. This cloth is claimed by Porcher Marine to have 100 times better porosity than the previous generation of their fabric. For more information about the DUNE visit www.bluethermal.com or www.XAIRinc.com.
Aircotec Incentive Program Accompanies Introduction of New XC Trainer Software
Paragliding—A Pilot’s Training Manual is available from paragliding schools and dealers, or directly from Wills Wing (www.willswing.com), from Amazon.com or from the USHGA (www.ushga.org) for only $39.95. Kari Eisenhut on his Omega 6 photo: M.Scheel/azoom.ch 8
Aerodyne Introduces the Dune (DHV2)
Aircotec USA announces the launch of a new long-term incentive program for all paragliding and hang gliding pilots. Aircotec wants pilots to use their instruments and provide feedback on how to improve the software. Key elements of the program include an innovative mix September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
PILOT
of cash and free Aircotec instruments. The incentives are based on the extent to which the company’s XC Trainer software achieves top-quality performance among the companies that comprise the flight instrument market. Consistent with past practices, cash rewards and free instruments provide value to pilots on the basis of software improvements and better functionality. For more information contact Achim Hagemann, Aircotec USA at (808) 895-9772 or aircotec@yahoo.com.
APCO Introduces a Little Innovation to Make Your Life Easier
Over the course of the years APCO (and other manufacturers) has received many complaints regarding worn webbing on trim tabs. This innovation makes it easy to replace the worn webbing without replacing the entire riser: If your trim tabs are worn out, simply pick out the safety stitch, take out the trimmer webbing (yellow) and replace it with new webbing (easily obtainable). After reinstalling the trimmer webbing, make sure to sew a new safety stitch in the same place as the original in order to have the same trimmer range. From now on all APCO gliders with trim tabs will be delivered in this set-up with replaceable webbing.
Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
A Tribute to “Wonder Bill” Worthey By Amy Derin
BRIEFINGS
The Life and Death of Curt Graham By Robin Hastings
The hang gliding community specifically and the world in general has lost one of its brightest stars in a tragic cross-country hang gliding accident on March 27, 2004. William E. Worthey, a.k.a. “Wonder Bill,” touched the lives of everyone who had the good fortune to know him, intimately or casually. On a day that appeared to be ideal weather conditions for flying, Bill was elated to be in the sky on a cross-country course. He was in radio contact with his “soul mate,” Alicia, expounding on the exhilaration of soaring. Bill loved to fly. He was an accomplished H4 pilot and flew at every opportunity. Every sport has risks...as does life in general. Bill was fully aware of the possibility of capricious conditions that might be encountered, be they wind currents, obstacles on a landing site, or unexpected aspects of any nature. As a professional aeronautical engineer, Bill understood the physics involved with flight. He studied equipment and conditions carefully to assuage as many risks as possible. Life has no guarantees, as we are so painfully reminded with the loss of this outstanding young man. However, his death should not undermine the integrity of hang gliding. He, of all people, would champion the sport to the fullest. It is not my intention to do other than applaud”Wonder Bill” for all the goodness he brought into full view during the brief flare of his life. He was my first hang gliding instructor, my friend, and my hoped-for son-in-law. For me, Bill will always be in the present tense.
Curt Graham was born on Jan. 3, 1956 in Roswell, New Mexico, and he died on May 28, 2004 in Alamogordo. Curt was the driving force behind hang gliding in southern New Mexico and west Texas, and in a lot of the rest of the nation as well. His vision for Crossroads Windsports in Hobbs set a new standard for flight parks, and resulted in the 1990 flight by Larry Tudor and Tony Barton that broke the 300-mile barrier, setting a new world distance record. Curt flew airplanes, ultralights, hang gliders, anything. He was an expert skier, as well as a builder and a craftsman. His “Boom Bar Simulator” is the finest teaching tool I’ve ever seen. Curt was a visionary, a genuinely nice guy, and really fun to be with. Anything he did, he did well. He was our Meet Head for the Dry Canyon Fly-In (see below) and was taking an evening flight in glass-off conditions the Friday just before the flyin started. Curt approached the LZ and began to do some aerobatics. On one of the maneuvers (perhaps a loop) his glider’s left wing broke, near the tip. The glider tumbled, and Curt threw his parachute. For unknown reasons, the chute did not open. (The RGSA is trying to determine why, but has no definitive answers yet.) The glider spiraled in and impacted on the front walk of a house about a half-mile north of the LZ, just off Scenic Drive. He was killed instantly. Paramedics arrived on the scene within minutes, and Dr. Bob Brockmann of Denver, down for the fly-in, observed, but there was no resuscitation. 9
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Curt’s funeral was on Wednesday, June 2 in Roswell, at South Park Cemetery. A lot of pilots and other friends gathered to mourn, to relate all that Curt had meant to them, and to comfort all who grieved. In the flying world, he meant a lot. Shippie Davis (Riker’s sister, and Curt’s fiancée) stood strong, and welcomed all guests to the Graham home at their pecan farm on the west edge of Roswell—a very peaceful and pleasant place. She has asked us to dedicate one of Curt’s pecan wood sculptures as a perpetual Memorial Trophy, to the most giving and spirited pilot at the fly-in each year. This is something I think that the entire club can get behind! Keep Curt in your prayers, all who knew him, and keep Shippie in your letters and phone calls—it’s during the coming months, after the shock has worn off, when she’ll need them most. There was nobody I can think of who did more for hang gliding—or for the people he knew— than our friend Curt Graham. Don’t forget him, and soar with his spirit when you fly.
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I hope that he and Bill Cox and all of our other missing friends are having some good times together, right now.
The 9th Annual Masters of Freestyle Hang Gliding Contest September 17th-20th, 2004 Aero Events is very pleased to announce that the world-famous Masters of Freestyle Hang Gliding Contest will once again be held in the skies above Mission Bay Park in San Diego, California! As was the case for the last four years, aerobatic hang gliding will trade center stage with the 200mph Unlimited Hydroplanes during the 39th Annual Thunderboats Regatta. The contest will once again be the largest publicly-attended hang gliding happening when as many as 200,000 people bear witness
to the outrageous aerial spectacle during the entire three days of the event. Four contest rounds are planned with a maximum field of 15 competitors. Aerotowing will be used to transport the gliders to the top of the performance space located 2500 feet above the center of beautiful Mission Bay between East Vacation and Fiesta Islands. All pilots who have flown in any of the past Masters contests are pre-qualified for the 2004 competition. All other interested pilots must submit a resumé and entry form. The entry fee is $300US and includes event passes, aerotows, two catered dinners, a fireworks show, portable toilets, T-shirts and an invisible mountain of fabulous prizes! Check the “What’s New” page at www.aeroevents.org for the latest news and information, or contact dinoddd@juno.com.
September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
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Brakes Plus Speedbar: Another Perspective (snail mail, 5/14) I enjoyed James Bradley’s article (“Beginning Soaring” in May issue) but I’d like to rebut the last paragraph concerning the use of brakes in conjunction with the speed bar. It is not counterproductive to use the speed bar in conjunction with the brakes, and not like stepping on your gas pedal and brake pedal at the same time, because when you put your speed bar on you get an increase in forward thrust, an equal increase in rearward drag, and an increase in airspeed. So even though the polar curve may change a bit with the speed bar on, higher speed is what is needed to avoid stalling. With the speed bar on you’re well ahead of stall speed, and this allows for normal use of the brakes. You can also use your speed bar in conjunction with big ears to remain clear of stall speed. When a wing is in a steady state, forward thrust and rearward drag are equal. The forces are always countering each other but they are not counterproductive. The use of the speed bar, in most cases, does change the shape of the wing depending on the style of the speed bar configuration. Most of the configurations are designed with a concern for collapse resistance. That gives a slight decrease in performance but still, the speed bar’s function is to give you airspeed and hence energy that is needed to keep you from stalling. So you can use your speed bar and brakes at the same time. Eric LaRue, USHGA #68446 Zach Hoisington, P4, T3, aeronautical engineer/professor/comp pilot who uses his speed bar “frequently but with caution,” offers this input: When flying faster than trim speed, performance is maximized when the brakes Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
are not used at all. Small amounts of brake pressure while using the speed bar can be useful for feeling the glider and avoiding collapses. Speed bar pressure can be used to provide the same feedback. Brake deflection creates significant amounts of drag at high speeds because parasitic drag increases with the square of the airspeed. Polar curves are generally made with no brake input above trim speed. If you find yourself using a significant amount of brake while on speed bar, it may be better to use less brake and less speed bar. Certain gliders have stability issues if too much brake pressure is used while on the speed bar. Stall speed and brake position at stall speed do not change much whether you are on the speed bar or not. When using the speed bar it is unlikely that stalling is your primary concern. The angle of attack increases when a paraglider is in big ears. This is mainly due to the change in glide slope. Using the speed bar while pulling ears can be useful for keeping the airspeed up and dampening pitch oscillations.
Accident Reports Help New Pilot Make Safe Choices (email, 6/20) I am a healthy 44-year-old paraglider wannabe. My brother and I did a two-day Intro to Paragliding course out at Airplay in Cashmere, Washington, last year... and I am totally hooked!! I was inspired to take up paragliding over a year ago after I had seen videos and read articles by Dixon White, an accident-free kind of guy who made good choices. I find Jim Little’s accident summary reports for each year to be one of my most-scrutinized articles. I, too, am trying to justify to myself, friends, family, and mostly my wife, that I am not some radical daredevil nutcase for wanting to take up paragliding. The nine fatalities reported last year was a disheartening figure until I listed them and the reasons behind them.
M A I L
I find that if I: 1) don’t fly while drinking, 2) only fly when I am healthy and fit (no asthma attack), 3) get proper instruction before trying to fly a paraglider, 4) don’t fly advanced sites in unsettled weather (thunderstorms nearby), 5) don’t do aerobatics, 6) don’t push the envelope too far in competition, and 7) don’t fly alone at a site, my chances of staying alive and of flying again go up dramatically—zero deaths out of 1000! I know that I have simplified this, and that there is an inherent risk in the sport, but a significant amount of the risk involved seems to come down to the CHOICES WE MAKE. Joe Wilkin, USHGA #80603
Hang Glider Sail Evolution: What Are the Observable Changes? (USHGA Web site, June 23) I’ve often wondered how the planform (top view) of hang gliders has varied from one manufacturer to another and also how planforms have changed over the years. Has anyone ever created a small “to scale” drawing comparing various glider designs? If so, it would be neat to show it in the magazine. One of my favorite gliders was my old Comet. I’ve often wondered how the planview of the Comet compares with the gliders of today. It would also be pretty impressive to see a single drawing showing the evolution of designs over the years. Glenn Rohrbach, USHGA #17479 Mike Meier of Wills Wing sends this response: Regarding comparing hang glider planforms as a means of getting some insight into design and design evolution, yes, it’s been done, on a limited scale, a number of times over the years. With respect to modern glider planforms, they are more similar than most people would believe—if you overlaid the planforms of all of the current 11
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crop of competition-class gliders, it would be hard in most cases to see the differences on a small drawing—you’d have to blow it up to see the variations. Convergent evolution (natural selection of what works best) plus some amount of copying has resulted in a high degree of similarity. Planform is only one factor in glider design, as evidenced by the fact that while planforms haven’t changed all that much in 20 years, glider performance has made very significant strides. As one example, Wills Wing designer Steve Pearson included a drawing overlaying the planforms of the HP AT (1989) and the Talon (2002) as part of a sidebar to Dennis Pagen’s review of the Talon (Hang Gliding Magazine, January 2003). Apart from the difference between the HP AT’s squared tip and the Talon’s curved tip, and a minor difference in the root chord length, the planforms are virtually identical. The gliders themselves, of course, are vastly different with respect to performance. If you compared the planform of the Comet (1980) to those of today’s gliders, you’d find it very similar to that of an Eagle (2000), and somewhat “milder” in terms of aspect ratio than the planforms of today’s competition wings, though not by as much as you might expect. While it’s interesting to look at different planforms in comparison to one another, it’s probably not all that instructive about design, except in the most general sense, as there is a lot more that goes into a design than just the shape of the outline of the wing.
Accident Reports in Magazine: Not Great for PR? (email, 6/26) Just an idea: I received the latest issue of Hang Gliding & Paragliding today. Has there been any thought of placing the accident reports in a separate mailing and not in the main magazine? They could be sent out every few months or so to active members when they are ready. They would not be a sad part of our best PR tool, the magazine. They would not 12
be in the magazine, which might be on a newsstand somewhere.
I would encourage anyone interested in flying to learn from Rob at Eagle.
A number of old reports should probably be recapped to serve as a learning tool for those new to the sport.
James McNiel, USHGA #82270
The new reports could be in a brief newsletter format, and be mailed for probably 37 cents or less. Keep up the good work. Curtis Johnson, USHGA #45117 While accident reports can be sad to read, especially when the accident has occurred to someone we know, reader response indicates that these reports are often significant in helping pilots develop or improve their safetyrelated habits. In fact, many members say that the accident report column is the first thing they turn to when they receive their magazine. Mailing the reports separately would be a considerable expense; in addition to postage, there are costs associated with printing, paper and envelopes, and staff time. Your suggestion for recapping the old reports is an excellent one—there was a summary of the 2003 hang gliding accidents in the May magazine, and the annual summary of paragliding accidents was in the June issue.
Kudos for Paragliding Instructor of the Year Rob Sporrer (snail mail, 5/24) I just finished seven days of training with Rob Sporrer of Eagle Paragliding in Santa Barbara. I am writing to tell you that he should not be Instructor of the Year. He should be Instructor of the Decade! Rob’s skills, attitude, style and demeanor put him in a class all his own. He is tireless, honest, committed and a dedicated ambassador to the sport. He and his friends have built a flying community in Santa Barbara that is inspiring to a beginning pilot.
Former Navy Leap Frog Warns of Dangers of Paraglider Stacking Maneuvers (email, 7/14) I have become aware in the past few issues that there seems to be a desire to fly paragliders in contact with each other. My experience with this phenomenon extends well back to the emergence of the square parachute, and I’d like to voice a concern which I perceive hasn’t been significantly addressed in paragliding. Square parachute stacks and combined formations were the exciting offer of my Leap Frogs (U.S. Navy parachute team) around the USA, but (because of the inherent fast characteristics of the square chute) many civilian persons met their fate when attempting the identical things without consideration that we Leap Frogs all were of similar build (SEALs) and had the country’s tax money to purchase identical gear. Chute stack attempts had the parachute world’s second highest fatality rate, first being opening altitude midair collisions. What I’d like to pass on is not anything but a warning that sufficient preventative considerations should be considered to keep paragliding from the same possible demise. An ominous event that could possibly occur is for a comparatively slower paraglider to get wrapped by the following faster paraglider in contact...which then closes all L/D ratios and makes both participants an increasingly descending ball of nylon spaghetti until the violent sudden stop at ground level! …in sincere safety considerations of life preservation, David R. Hankins, USHGA #52100 September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
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Advancing Paraglider Pilot Asks for Assistance in Preparing for Tests (email, 7/3)
that there is a need to communicate with advancing pilots about the resources available to them to develop their skills on their own.
Why don’t you publish the paragliding tests or samples so we can learn something when not with an instructor to get to the next level? Why hide this information, rather than promote it so we can learn?
Here are my thoughts on publishing tests, coming from a background of 27 years of teaching middle schoolers: If we publish the test, then there will be some pilots who “need” their rating for one reason or another (or who are simply not motivated to study) who will simply look up the answers to the those 25 questions and have, perhaps, only 25 isolated bits of knowledge rather than the broad background of knowledge that the test is supposedly testing for. Sample tests aren’t quite such a limiting factor to acquiring knowledge, but they’re not ideal. There are several wonderfully comprehensive, and very readable, instruction guides for paraglider pilots these days. You already own two of them. Your best bet to becoming a truly welleducated pilot is to read, and re-read, and consult and discuss and look up everything that catches your interest or that puzzles you or causes you concern for your own or someone else’s safety or sensibility.
I have Pagen’s Art of Paragliding and Wills Wing’s Paragliding—A Pilot’s Training Manual. But this is not sufficient. My thought when taking the P3 test was, I had no knowledge of what I was to be tested on, I am busy and don’t need to take a test just to fail and to learn what is on it. Plus the information on the test is so difficult to find especially in the examples given and is not clear in the books, at least from what I recall. USGHA seems to make up tests without any thought to helping one succeed, and [the training manuals] are good for reading but the tests are not actually derived [from them]. I want to have practice examples, practice tests, and actual information that I know will be relevant to me being tested and that I can learn something from. What is the purpose of keeping this information away from people? The tests should be changed annually to prevent pilots from cheating, but honestly they are going to fly anyway so at least help those that are serious. I have avoided wasting time on the P4 test and stayed a P3 since there was no value, but after flying in a P4 event I wanted to get it over with. I would rather go into it knowing I will learn something and achieve something. Noel Wade, USHGA #73840 Thanks for writing to express you concern and frustration, Noel. You can be sure you’re not the only one with this question, and your asking has brought it to our attention Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
Sometimes pilots fail a test because they have misread a question or misinterpreted what was being asked. But in other cases, the pilot simply does not know how to think about the situation and cannot arrive at the correct answer because the knowledge base isn’t there. These pilots should not be holding a P3 or a P4 rating if there are large and significant gaps in their knowledge! If you’re good enough to thermal to cloudbase, you need to know the cloud clearance requirements, and how to avoid getting sucked into the cloud; if you’re able to head off XC, you need to know about sectionals and how to determine the airspace restrictions of where you might fly, and how to land in a restricted LZ. If you get out in active air, you need to know how air moves over obstructions and how your canopy might respond to changes in the airflow and what to do about this. It’s not just to pass the test that you need this knowledge, but simply to stay alive and in one piece. This test isn’t just to get you a rating like you
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earned a grade in school, it’s to let you know where you are in your skill and knowledge level so you can wisely choose the sites and conditions appropriate for you to fly. It’s not likely to kill you if you get a B+ when you really only have C- knowledge of American history, but it could very well kill you if you think you have P4 skills but can’t just pick up the P4 test and answer the majority of the questions right off the top of your head, just from your acquired knowledge and experience. BTW, as a teacher, I have never been a fan of teaching to a test, except maybe in spelling. I wanted my students to understand a cell, or decimal numbers, or continental drift, well enough so that I could ask them just about anything and they could come up with a reasonable answer based on that understanding. That may help you understand where I am coming from in answering your questions and concerns. I think your decision to remain a P3 for a long time is a very wise one—and owning those reference books is also a sign of wisdom, assuming you are reading and digesting the material. If you “need” your P4 in order to compete in the Nats, for instance, and you don’t have at your fingertips the knowledge about, for example, canopy behavior and wind conditions, then you’re really not ready for the things you might encounter flying a mountain site in strong conditions. Please fly safely and thoughtfully—this is an exhilarating and challenging sport that we enjoy, and no matter what our rating, flying a paraglider—or hang glider— deserves our full attention and respect.
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Executive Director’s Column: Sport Pilot Rule
towing. It also stablishes training and certification requirements for repairmen (light-sport aircraft) to maintain and inspect lightsport aircraft.
y the time you read this column, many of you will already be aware of FAA’s announcement on July Jayne DePanfilis 20th of the final Sport Pilot rule. The official name of the rule is “Certification of Aircraft and Airmen for the operation of Light Sport Aircraft.” The rule is effective September 1, 2004. For tug pilots, flight park owners and operators, and the owners of aircraft used to tow hang gliders, there is a three-year grace period to comply with the new rule. FAA must first address the infrastructure required to maintain and enforce the new rule. This will be an enormous task. The 14 FAA officials dedicated specifically to sport pilot activities will be based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
FAA also wanted to eliminate rulemaking by exemption, and the Sport Pilot rule provided this opportunity. FAA renewed USHGA’s towing exemption in May, which allowed us to continue towing hang gliders at least until the rule was released. However, the vast majority of ultralights used to tow hang gliders are outside the scope of Part 103 because they are too heavy—”fat ultralights.” These aircraft will require a pilot certificate. The new rule applies a regulatory structure similar to general aviation but tailored more to recreational aviation.
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Mike Meier, Bill Bryden and I attended meetings for the past year and a half to ensure the (design airworthiness) consensus standards for aircraft used to tow hang gliders are feasible and practical for our industry to implement. We all worked closely with FAA to try to make sure pilots covered under USHGA’s current towing exemption (USHGA ATP rated pilots) will be able to meet the flight/training requirements to use experimental light sport aircraft (ELSA) and/or light sport aircraft (LSA) to tow hang gliders.
One of the most significant benefits of the new rule is that it allows “the carriage of a passenger for purposes other than flight training, which has never been allowed under Part 103 or the Part 103 training exemptions.” Under Part 103, an ultralight vehicle can carry only one occupant and can be used only for sport and recreational purposes. The new rule allows a special light sport aircraft owner to accept compensation for the use of the aircraft for The Sport Pilot rule flight training, or for towing a glider or unpowered ultralight vehicle.
does not change existing Part 103 requirements.
We owe a debt to those pilots who provided FAA with nearly 1,300 responses on the importance of towing for the survival of our sports. Your comments secured USHGA a position at the negotiating table with FAA, and FAA was sincere about addressing our concerns. We did our best to manage the impact of the rule on every facet of aerotow operations. The Sport Pilot rule does not change existing Part 103 requirements. If you are a hang glider pilot or a paraglider pilot or a powered hang- or paraglider pilot, the new rule does not affect you or your equipment. Even during aerotow operations, it does not affect the hang glider pilot at the other end of the tow rope. If you are operating legally under Part 103 now, you and your ultralight vehicle are not affected by the rule. FAA intends this rule to increase safety in the light sport aircraft community by closing the gaps in existing regulations and accommodating new advances in technology. Sport Pilot provides for the manufacture of light-sport aircraft that are safe for their intended operations, and allows the operation of light sport aircraft exceeding the limits of ultralight vehicles operated under 14 CFR Part 103, with a passenger and for flight training, rental, and 14
However, and this is very important to note, there is no provision in the Sport Pilot rule for a sport pilot to “tow objects.” According to the final rule, an ELSA or an LSA may be used to tow (hang gliders) only if the (tow) pilot has a private pilot certificate. Thanks to the nearly 1,300 comments FAA received about the importance of towing hang gliders, FAA officials realized they had to make some sort of provision for aerotowing of hang gliders. While the requirement to hold a private pilot license to tow hang gliders may seem excessive or even punitive, it was not intended to be a penalty. Remember, towing any object was outside the scope of the proposed rule. From a more useful point of view, this rule represents a compromise. Precedent is important when creating a standard, and there is a precedent for this requirement from the FAA’s perspective. A private pilot certificate is required to tow sailplanes or gliders in a club. A commercial pilot certificate is required to tow sailplanes or gliders in a commercial venue. FAA decided a private pilot license is the appropriate level of certification to tow hang gliders. The additional scrutiny provided by the process of obtaining a pilot certificate, an airman certificate, and passing an FAA practical test enhances safety. The FAA’s primary concern is the enhancement of the public’s safety. Tug pilots, flight park owners and operators, and the owners of weight-shift and fixed-wing aircraft used to tow are now primarily concerned with how they are going to log the hours required September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
Photo: Shane Nestle
to obtain a private pilot license, certificate their aircraft under the new categories and adhere to the required maintenance, repair and inspection schedules for these aircraft. It could cost as much as $6,000.00 to obtain a private pilot license if a pilot has to start from ground zero. It is fortunate that the final rule dictates that the airtime logged in a weight-shift aircraft (trike) can be credited to the new category of “weight-shiftcontrol” private pilot certification. This aeronautical experience will be grandfathered in under the new rule. Some of the other requirements include passing the FAA’s written and practical exams. Pilots will also be able to conduct the checkout flights using their own weight-shift aircraft with a Designated Examiner Pilot (DPE) before they are authorized to tow. Private pilots will need to pass a third class medical every two years. It is significant that the rule does not provide the same grandfathering benefit to the pilots of a Dragonfly tug. This aircraft is a fixed-wing single-engine aircraft, not a weight-shift-control aircraft. FAA comments on page 221 of the rule, “The FAA has considered allowing the same sort of credit for fixed-wing ultralight pilots to meet the requirements of a private pilot certificate with aircraft category ratings. However, this crediting was viewed as a significant change to the aeronautical experience requirements for this certificate. The FAA considered such a change outside the scope of the original proposal and significant enough to justify full public notice and comment.” This was a real blow for the pilots of Dragonflies. This restriction means that ultralight pilots who have only logged time in a Dragonfly or another fixed-wing aircraft will be unable to apply their logged airtime towards the eligibility requirements for a private pilot certificate in this category. This is exactly the situation we do not want our tug pilots to be in, because it won’t be feasible for many of them to start from ground zero to earn a private pilot certificate. This restriction would certainly cause flight parks to close and qualified tug pilots to stop towing. FAA acknowledges the additional hardship this restriction places on pilots who tow with Dragonflies. Therefore, they plan to reissue or revise USHGA’s towing exemption to allow an ultralight pilot of a fixed-wing aircraft to credit hours towards a private pilot certificate in this category. This is a temporary solution. This grandfathering will be addressed in a new (NPRM) rulemaking process before it can become a permanent part of the Sport Pilot rule. Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
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FAA plans to make the revised towing exemption available for public comment by September 1, 2004, the effective date of the new rule. A briefer-than-usual comment period is expected to help expedite implementation of the revised exemption. It could be as brief as 10-15 days, after which time the revised exemption is expected to become official. There was a time at the beginning of this process when USHGA representatives weren’t certain if we could continue to use the existing fleet of tow planes under the new rule. It was a tremendous relief when we realized FAA understood the importance of this issue. It was even more of a relief when we learned that the existing fleet of tow planes will be grandfathered into the new rule as experimental light sport aircraft. They can be used as tow planes as long as they are deemed airworthy. They do not have to be retired. It would have been nearly impossible for the hang gliding industry to survive without our tow planes and tow pilots. When we hear the word “aerotow” today, we usually think of flight parks. These operations make it possible to introduce hang gliding to the flatlands. They are critical to the future of our sport if we hope to strategically locate schools and instructors around the country for maximum exposure and increased accessibility. Flight parks are extremely important because they are a source of new pilots, and we can’t afford to lose sources for new pilots. Aerotowing cannot take the place of mountain flying, but for many pilots it is the perfect complement. To view a synopsis of the sport pilot rule, visit http://www.sportpilot.org/rule/final_rule_synopsis.html. The rule, in its entirety, is available in PDF format (452 pages, 950K). It is also available in Microsoft Word format at the following FAA site: http://www.faa.gov/avr/arm/rulemaking/SportPilotRule7_19.doc. To view FAA’s implementation plan for the new rule, visit http://afs600.faa.gov/. Light Sport Aviation Branch AFS-610 PO Box 25082 Oklahoma City, OK 73125 (405) 954-6400 afs610-comments@faa.gov
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FACES OF THE FUTURE
Faces of the Future: Galina Smith
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By Gayle and Galina Smith Photos by Gayle Smith
ne great-great-uncle flew a Fairchild. Her grandfather flew a Piper Cub on floats and her father, Gayle, owned a Cessna. Nine-year-old Galina Smith is a descendant of pilots of small aircraft. During a smooth late-afternoon flight over Morningside Flight Park, Galina, too, discovered the joy of flight. The tandem hang glider carried pilot Steve Prepost and passenger Galina along the valley and above the 450’ launch before their gentle landing on the grass runway. That was October 13, 2003. On March 28, 2004, Galina flew (on a commercial airliner) with her dad, from New London, Connecticut to Miami, Florida. She was told, “This is a school trip. You’ll have to go to school for a week in Florida.” School, to Galina’s surprise, was James Tindle’s Miami Hang Gliding, operated from Monty’s Marina on Bayshore Drive in Coconut Grove. James runs a platform launch operation on Cay Biscayne. Hang gliders equipped with floats are towed up behind a boat and release from tow between 1500’ and 2000’ above sea level. Retrieval is via a hydraulic lift, which raises the tandem glider, pilot and student out of the water and onto the launch platform built over the stern of the boat. April is still winter in Florida: Water temperature 78 degrees. Hardly a sailboat or runabout out on the bay. No rain in the forecast...for a week. Winds steady around 10 mph. Sunshine. Blue skies with scattered cumulus clouds. This perfect flying weather was made even better because it was raining cold gray sheets of ice water back in Connecticut, the entire week we were in Florida. Galina reports: “My dad and I went to Florida to go hang gliding. He told me he was working on his Hang 2. And he told me I might learn something. And learn I did. “James Tindle, the owner of Miami Hang Gliding, took us out on the boat each day we were there. It was fun and we went fast—at least 30 mph. It was also bumpy because of the waves. Each day we were there, there were different numbers of different people on the boat. We also saw a marine iguana in the water. It looked like my old pet iguana, Sunny. I wanted to fly like my dad. The water was warm and I saw my dad do it so many times, I wanted to fly too.
On four of those six flights I was the pilot. In one of those flights, I caught a thermal that didn’t put off. It just kept on blowing up and up and up. I named it Nermal the Thermal. Flying (especially the launching and tow) was exhilarating and refreshing. Before I knew it the week was over. I had learned to fly. I had earned my Hang 1. Life was good and I was back in Connecticut.” In preparation for earning a Hang 1 rating, Galina spent part of one sunny day in her hotel room at the Casa Blanca studying for the written test. She read the relevant parts of Hang Gliding Training Manual, Dennis Pagen’s book for beginner and intermediate pilots. She answered flying questions for her dad, in between looking longingly out the window at Miami Beach, eight floors below. Galina also set up and broke down a glider in the foyer of Monty’s Marina, under the guidance of an instructor. After such safe and positive flying experiences at Miami Hang Gliding in Florida and Morningside Flight Park in Charlestown, New Hampshire, Galina is ready to continue hang gliding. Father and daughter look forward to traveling and visiting flight parks throughout the United States.
“Three days later I had taken my Hang 1 written test and passed it. I also went up in the air with an instructor, six times during four days. Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
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Jon Goldberg-Hiller Takes Over Paragliding Accident Reports Starting with October Magazine
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on Goldberg-Hiller was a sailplane pilot in his youth and has been flying paragliders since 1990. He learned paragliding in Oregon back in the days when there were few dedicated pilots, no reverse launches, and no reserve parachutes. Jon founded the Cascade Paragliding Club for companionship and safety. He served as editor of the Cascade Lines newsletter at its founding, and was editor-in-chief of ALOFT magazine, which he began with Oregon pilot Steve Roti in 1994. Jon moved to beautiful Honolulu in 1993 and helped to pioneer several of the paragliding sites that have proven O‘ahu to be a paragliding paradise. He has flown extensively in the Alps (Slovenia, France, Germany, Switzerland) and has made several first attempts of prominent landmarks in Hawai‘i. He holds P4 and Tandem Instructor ratings from USHGA and still remembers his APA number from the old days. In his non-flying life, Jon is an associate professor and chair of the political science department at the University of Hawai‘i.
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Jon has taken on the task of analyzing and reporting paragliding accidents because, he says, “I have always considered myself a conservative pilot concerned with safety and committed to the idea that safety is a collective task. Disseminating information, developing technologies for critical reflection on our actions, respecting nature and its contributions to our epistemological limits, all are part of what I think of as safety. My goals are to further this discourse of safety, which involves more than words and affects more than attitudes, but must infuse our communities of pilots.” Jon is replacing Peter Reagan, who has been USHGA’s paragliding accident reporter for six years and has recently retired (from reporting, but not from flying!) to spend more time with his grandchildren and to pursue other interests.
September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
A D V I S O R Y
USHGA Issues Advisory Concerning Hang Glider Aerobatics By Joe Gregor
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uring the month of May we experienced two major hang gliding accidents involving in-flight structural failure, followed by failure of the pilot’s reserve system. Both incidents occurred while the pilot was engaging in aerobatic maneuvers outside of the normal placarded operating limits of the hang glider. [See Accident Reports, p. 67 this issue.] The glider make and model was different in both cases. At the time of this writing we have no information concerning the reserve systems used, save that they were both manually deployed and one failed to inflate properly once thrown. The other failure was a reserve improperly secured to the pilot’s harness, which detached as the parachute inflated. It is generally acknowledged that modern hang gliders are strong enough for aerobatic fl ight—provided that the maneuver is properly executed. However, most if not all manufactur-
Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
ers make clear via warnings in their manuals that these wings are NOT recommended for aerobatic fl ight. Aerobatic flight is generally defined as any maneuver that causes the glider to exceed + or -30 degrees in pitch, or + or -60 degrees in roll. High-performance hang gliders are designed and optimized for soaring. The reserve strength built into present-day hang gliders—which enables them to survive the loads experienced during aerobatic fl ight—is a by-product, not a design feature. Advances in technology making gliders stronger and lighter may render future wings unacceptable for aerobatic fl ight, even though they are perfectly safe for soaring. Age, accident history, and normal wear and tear all will reduce the safety margin on older wings. Subtle changes in tuning, aging, dimensional changes of the sailcloth, and porosity, among many other variables, can greatly alter the strength and fl ight characteristics of the wing. Do not assume that fl ight outside the placarded limits can be accomplished successfully with any wing, just because it has been done in the past.
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D E P A R T M E N T
Preliminary indications are that these two gliders failed infl ight due to aerobatic g-loads, and not as a result of a failed maneuver as is common with past aerobatic accidents. Hang glider manufacturers are now busy analyzing the data from these accidents, and re-evaluating their testing programs in light of this new information. Hang gliders are complex devices. It is unlikely that any testing program, no matter how comprehensive, will be able to capture every failure mode that a modern design might experience if operated outside of its placarded limits. It is strongly suggested that you leave the test flying to the professionals. Reserve failures can and do happen. Your reserve parachute is not a guaranteed get-out-of-jail-free card. It merely provides a second chance at life. This chance will be much smaller if your reserve isn’t properly connected to you, packed correctly, and deployed properly and with sufficient altitude. You MUST periodically ensure that your reserve system is serviceable, and that you will be capable of deploying it properly if it’s ever needed. A chute clinic can save your life. First-time participants can take tens of seconds to get a chute out; experienced chute clinic participants have been clocked at under two seconds. Some deployments at clinics reveal that the packing method or equipment was defective, and the parachute would never open. This is particularly true for older “meat saver” parachutes that you might get along with a used harness. For more information on reserve systems, see the article on parachute construction and features on p. 49 in this issue.
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September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
M A S T E R ’ S
T I P S
GPS: A Useful Tool for All Pilots
Remember the old days of competition? I sure do: poorly framed and missed turnpoint photos, out of order and forgotten start pictures, and even throwing my reserve as a result of camera fiddling in rough air. I managed to do just about everything wrong when it came to photographic verification.
By Dale Covington
I have a tremendous amount of respect for the early competition pilots—the previous formats make today’s competition task verification with GPSs seem easy in comparison. But GPS tasks still require familiarity with your equipment, and the GPS is one more thing to deal with in the air. So why would anyone but a competition pilot want to fly with a GPS? Once you begin thermaling and flying cross-country, some of the information a GPS provides can be extremely helpful, making for safer, more enjoyable flights. Speed: One of the most important pieces of information I get from my GPS is groundspeed. By subtracting the into-the-wind speed from the downwind speed, I can estimate my airspeed, but more importantly I can deduce wind speed and direction. This becomes more important as I climb away from terrain and visual reference with the ground becomes less useful for estimating speed. A GPS will average out the variations in speed resulting from the inherent pendular movement of a paraglider more than an airspeed indicator can. A hang glider pilot can use the concept of estimating airspeed from the GPS as well, but for competition, an airspeed indicator will give the hang pilot more useful speed-to-fly information than for a paraglider. Most serious hang gliding competitors use an airspeed indicator, while few of the top paragliding competitors do. The reason for this is the above-mentioned pendular movement combined with the narrower speed range of a paraglider, making precise speed-to-fly calculations more difficult. For both hangs and paras, the idea of figuring wind speed and direction from the GPS-indicated groundspeed is equally valid and important. Tracking: When I set up the GPS to display my track log on the map page, and my track log is recording fairly frequently (say every five seconds), I can use the map to help track thermals. Watching my track log on the map page can help guide me back to where I was circling before I lost the lift. I usually set up the map display to 200’to 300’ zoom, but I sometimes change it in the air. You’ll want to play with that yourself in flight to learn your preferences. Safety and retrieval: I can radio or phone coordinates to a chase crew, given that we’re both using the same format. A typical format is hddd’mm.mmm (WGS 84). See Peter Grey’s article in the June 2003 issue of Hang Gliding & Paragliding. Just as a reminder: An easy way to tell someone your location without trying to relay long sequences of digits by radio is by using distance and bearing from a known point. Just make sure your retrieve has the same waypoint information you do. A good tip from Zach Hoisington is to text-message your coordinates to your retrieve driver when you land. If you have an intermittent signal, some 21
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phones will keep trying to send the message until it goes out, and there’s no question about the digits. Distance of flight: By marking my launch point and running a “go to” when I land, I can easily get the distance of my flight. This is the same concept as the previous point—by entering a “go to” from my landing point to my launch, I can get distance and bearing information quickly and easily. Continuing education: By downloading the track logs of various flights over the same area onto a computer using mapping software, a better picture of the route can be gained by noting areas that work and those to avoid. It’s fun and educational to relive your flight and review your decisions and strategy after landing. If you are thermaling and learning to fly cross-country, you can benefit from flying with a GPS. If you’re flying with a GPS, there really is no better way to hone your flying skills and get comfortable with your GPS than to fly in competitions. Comps are a unique combination of cooperation and competition in a supportive atmosphere of camaraderie.
Oregon that I participated in this spring. Mike and Gail Hailey, Bill Gordon and a host of great volunteers overcame the last-minute shock of Dixon White’s death (he was to be meet director) and created a fitting tribute to a man whose contributions to the sport of paragliding were inestimable. Seventy-six competitors spent four days immersed in an intensive school of thermalling and crosscountry flying. No matter what level your skill at the outset, you couldn’t help but learn from all the pilots around you, both in the air mapping out the sky, and on the ground, sharing experiences. The Rat Race provided pilots of all abilities with a forum to learn and have fun doing it. That is a goal for us all to keep in mind, and one that Dixon’s legacy reminds us of. In conclusion: You don’t need to be a competition pilot to fly with a GPS, but entering a competition is certainly worth considering. The changes that GPSs have brought to competitions have made comps more fun and accessible to more pilots, so there are more reasons than ever to enter one. Who knows, you might learn something, and you’ll probably have a great time in the process!
A good example is the Rat Race at Woodrat Mountain in southern
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September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
H G - 2 0 2
Thermal Tips: For those about to thermal… we salute you with ten tips from the experts
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By Mark Timney
ou’re a new H2. You’ve made dozens of sled rides; now you want to fly more “lively” air. You’re ready for what the sport is all about: You’re ready to thermal!
THERMAL TIPS FROM THE EXPERTS
Sure, you’ve read the books your instructor recommended, as well as articles on thermaling in this magazine. You know the basic science and how pilots are supposed to use thermals. But maybe the actual practice of thermaling still seems too theoretical? That’s normal. It’s a confusing, and often frustrating, time for most novice pilots. I know. I’ve been there. What helped me get away from “there” was advice from some veteran pilots and instructors. This article recounts some of their advice and offers ten practical tips to help you find and use thermals. These tips made a big difference in my flying. They probably will for you, too. Turn when you get off tow If you typically use a tug to get into the sky, then this tip from veteran tug pilot Rhett Radford is especially important. Radford, who’s been behind the stick of a tow plane at just about every major flight park and competition in the U.S., offers a very simple bit of advice: Turn when you get off tow. “If the tow pilot is doing his job, he’s going to let you off in lift,” states Radford. “Given that, the worst thing you can do after getting off tow is to continue to fly straight, as that means you’re going to fly out of the thermal. But, by turning right after you get off tow you’re more likely to stay in lift. Don’t worry about putting your bridle away right off. You can do that later. It’s more important that you start gaining altitude immediately,” he said. Rhett admits that even the best tug pilots can’t leave you in the middle of a thermal every time. Because of this, he contends it’s also important to pay attention to thermal activity and your flight path while you’re being towed. “That way you’ll have an idea of where lift might be if you don’t find it right after you cut loose from the tug,” he said.
For example, if you remember that you hit some thermal bumps about ten seconds before getting off tow, then you know there’s some lift back behind you that you can try to find. Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
Keep a light grip on the bar One of the things that makes Steve Prepost a superior hang glider pilot is his ability to “feel” the air. Prepost will tell you he flies nearly as well without a vario as he does with one. He’s learned to physically sense what the air is doing and how it’s affecting his glider. Prepost, who works as a hang gliding instructor at Florida’s Wallaby Ranch and at Morningside Flight Park in New Hampshire, tries to get his students to develop their flying senses as he has. He says it all starts with keeping a light grip on the base bar.
“If you’re hanging onto the bar with a tight grip, you’re limiting what you can feel, and that hurts your thermaling ability as well as glider control,” Prepost contends. “A light grip allows you to feel small changes in lift. And a light grip makes it easier to find marginal thermals and find the core of larger thermals.” React quickly to thermals Mike Barber has made a name for himself as one of this country’s best cross-country pilots. When he gives seminars on XC or competitive flying, one of the things he emphasizes is reacting quickly when encountering a thermal. “You have to react as soon as you fly into a thermal,” he contends. “If you don’t react quickly and turn in the right direction when you hit a small thermal, you’ll miss it altogether or waste time and altitude finding it again.” Barber says it’s not always easy to judge whether a tiny bump in the air signifies a thermal that is worth reacting to. Accurate judgment comes with experience. Of course, more powerful thermals announce themselves more forcefully, but they still demand quick action from a pilot. “You don’t want to waste time finding the thermal’s core. And once you’re in a thermal, big or small, you want to adjust your course quickly to stay in the core and work the strongest lift.” Smaller circles are better than large ones Once you’re in a thermal, or are just starting to circle a thermal, Barber adds it’s generally better to fly a smaller circle than a larger one. “If you fly a large circle, you’re more likely to fly off the edge of the lift and into sink,” he says. “The larger the circle, the longer you’ll end up spending in sink before you can get back in the core.” 23
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The overall size of your circle should correspond, however, to the overall size of the thermal’s core. Push out while circling in lift And while you’re circling in a thermal, Steve Prepost adds, it’s important to push the bar out enough for perfectly coordinated turns. “You really want to eliminate side slip to get the most out of a thermal,” he says. “Don’t be afraid to push out. You’d be surprised how far out you can push the bar out in lift before the glider will stall. Pushing out the right amount can mean a big difference in your rate of climb.” Fly the sky, not the ground Malcolm Jones, owner and operator of the famous Wallaby Ranch, has taught hundreds of people to hang glide. He’s seen just about every conceivable mistake a new pilot can make, and when it comes to learning to thermal, Jones says one very common mistake is “not looking up.” “Fly the sky, not the ground,” Jones says. “Looking up at the clouds can help you see where there is lift. New pilots always want to look down to watch the scenery, but then they miss the clues that are there above that can help you find thermals.” Turn in lift, go straight in sink While you’re flying to find new lift, Mike Barber suggests that you avoid turns. “The basic rule is to go straight in sink and only turn in lift,” he recounts. “Turning or circling in sink will cost you a lot more altitude than flying a relatively straight course.” Never leave lift to find lift And, Barber adds, once you’ve found lift you should use it all up. “Leaving lift to find lift is almost always a mistake, unless you’re in certain situations for cross-country or competition flying,” he contends. “Ride the thermal until it dies. Then look for another thermal.” Of course, it doesn’t make sense to ride a thermal to the top if it’s going to take you too far away from your flight plan. But once the thermal has topped out, the best thing to do is go on “best glide” toward the next likely area of thermal activity.
when it comes to thermaling. Not true! Most experts will tell you the reason you’re having trouble finding or getting the most out of a thermal probably has nothing to do with your glider. In fact, they’ll tell you that things would probably be worse for you with a higher performance glider. Single-surface gliders, like the Wills Wing Falcon, are slower than double-surface wings—which can make it more difficult to get to a distant thermal—but they’re much easier to fly and circle once you’re in a thermal. Some experts argue that most pilots are more likely to thermal a Falcon better than they can an intermediate or advanced wing. Of course, double-surface wings have advantages when you’re talking about making flights away from your original landing zone. Don’t get too close to the clouds! Because safety is the most important aspect of our sport, it makes sense to end this article with a safety tip from Steve Prepost. “It’s not unusual for a beginner to fly a thermal right into a cloud,” recounts Prepost. “Do yourself a big favor. Don’t get too close to clouds! You don’t want to get yourself into ‘cloud suck.’” Prepost suggests that every pilot review and practice the emergency procedures for escaping cloud suck. They include moving toward the upwind side of the cloud long before you’re likely to be pulled inside (except in the case of a storm cloud, where there may very well be lightning upwind of the cloud); flying to the nearest edge of larger clouds and storm clouds; and entering a diving/slipping turn if lift is less than 500 fpm, among other methods. You may want to read pages 33 through 36 in Dennis Pagen’s book, Performance Flying, for more detailed information on escaping from clouds.
It’s not the glider Many low-airtime pilots mistakenly assume that because they’re flying a single-surface glider they’re at a significant disadvantage
Dr. Mark Timney, a veteran journalist and professor of mass communication, has been hang gliding for two years. When he’s not flying his Falcon 2 or playing lead guitar for his rock band “Objective Ego,” you’ll find him teaching at Keene State College in his adopted home state of New Hampshire.
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SEEYOU SOFTWARE
SeeYou: Software for Flight Planning, Visualization, and Analysis
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located to create triangles of a given overall length (see Figure 3). At least you know if you are going do a proper triangle or not.
By Davis Straub, staff writer
t is enthralling to be able to replay your flight, and the flights of others, side by side and at the same time if you like, in full 3D on your computer soon after your actual flight. You are presented with a very good likeness of yourself piloting your hang glider or paraglider (or sailplane) across the countryside below and through the air. Each thermal, each turn, each glide, each final glide to goal if you are flying in a competition, is right there in front of you for your tired brain to relearn from. I’ve been using SeeYou (www.seeyou.ws) for a couple of years now and it is one of the best designed and executed pieces of software on my computer. It adheres to almost the highest level of Windows user interface standards. Almost because there are some small issues of scroll wheel usage, and a few dialog boxes that don’t quite work the way I think they should (but do the way the authors envision). But relative to its competition it is far and away the strongest piece of software in its class. SeeYou is multi-functional software. Before a cross-country or competition day you can use SeeYou to plan your flight or your task for the day. It comes with vector maps of all the areas throughout the world where you would expect to be able to fly. In addition, satellite images for the major flying areas are available to overlay in 3D over your 3D vector maps. You can also easily capture and calibrate bit map images of maps to overlay on your vector maps. With the click of a button you can choose to display vector maps, satellite images, bit map maps, or no maps at all.
Figure 1
Figure 2
SeeYou also comes with all the airspaces defined in 3D. You can choose to display them or not overlaid on your maps. You can position your cursor over an airspace area and get a description of the airspace (see Figure 1). When coming up with a task for a competition day, you can see where you need to put waypoints to avoid airspace infringements. You know you’ve got the latest update for the airspace data (much better than the sectionals). You can manage all your waypoints and routes with SeeYou. They are in a text-based CUP (SeeYou Points) file that can easily be converted to other formats used by other waypoint storing software by G7toWin (http://g7towin.home.attbi.com). You can store and sort your waypoints by name, location, elevation, description, code name, symbol (or type) and distance from home waypoint. You can display them on your maps or in lists (see Figure 2). SeeYou helps you create FAI-triangle tasks by displaying the region on your maps where your second turnpoint would need to be Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
Figure 3
Once you create a set of waypoints (for example, by pointing at the map and clicking) and a few routes, you can download the whole collection to your GPS or data logger. Later, pick a route that you want to fly and you’re all set for a cross country flight, a competition task, or a world record. 25
Once you’ve flown the task you can upload your 3D track log (assuming that you have instruments capable of storing 3D track points) to SeeYou. SeeYou will display the flight in numerous ways, including 2D route (see Figure 1), 3D, climb rate over time, ground speed over time (see Figure 4), and height over time (see Figure 5). SeeYou can display in 3D flights recorded by Garmin and MLR 3D GPSs, the Flytec 5030, Brauniger Compeo, and any 3D IGC file created by other software (like MaxPunkte) from combining your barograph and GPS data streams.
Figure 4
Figure 5
Looking at these graphs and track logs helps provide an overall view of the flight, and then you can zero in on some details to see what you were doing when you made some good decisions and what went wrong when you didn’t. The graphs and track logs are color coded by altitude or speed or whatever variable you like. You can display multiple views of the flight at any time and all of them are linked together (see Figure 6).
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SEEYOU SOFTWARE
SeeYou can also be used to score competitions. In fact, it is used to score almost all the sailplane competitions. SeeYou was originally developed by and for sailplane pilots. In the future it is likely to be used to score hang gliding and paragliding competitions. It is currently being tested in Europe using the GAP and Race parameters.
Figure 6
SeeYou provides a wide range of statistical measures of your flight, your task, the phases of your flight (climbing and gliding) and any portion of the flight that you select. You can see your average climb rate, how long and what percentage you were thermaling, your L/D on glide, how much time you spent at each climb rate, your time at each altitude, and your ground speed, among other variables (see Figure 7). It might surprise you how different your average climb rates are between left- and right-turning circles. Of course, you can display your flight in 3D as well as animate it at a wide range of speeds (1x to 500x your actual rate). You have complete control over your viewpoint and can move it around using your mouse while the flight is being dynamically displayed on your screen (see Figure 8). Now that you’ve viewed and analyzed your flight, it’s time to send it over to the Hang Gliding and Paragliding On-line Contest, which you can do from completely inside of SeeYou. Just click Flight Claim, and your flight is automatically Figure 7 optimized for scoring. With one more click of the button, it’s on its way to the HOLC.
Figure 8 Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
SeeYou is not the only product from Team CU. They have also developed an “in-cockpit” mobile version of SeeYou that displays your flight on your PDA. At least one hang glider pilot is using this version as an in-flight computer. You’ll find the story starting here: http://ozreport.com/toc.php?8.048#2. I have had a chance to meet one of the authors of SeeYou, Andrej Kolar, and have had a great time communicating with TeamCU over the years on updates, new features, and little bug fixes. You can read much more about SeeYou in the back issues of the Oz Report at http://ozreport.com. Just use the search engine inside of the Oz Report to search for “SeeYou.” If you have any questions about SeeYou, you can contact me at davis@davisstraub.com or the authors of SeeYou at info@seeyou.es.
Fall Sale For a limited time Flyer USD $ 219 Runner USD $ 319 More features and cost less then the rest. 27
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aitfish. Thousands of fish moving in concert as a single organism. Individual tiny fish form one entity, dashing away from predators, darting or drifting to take advantage of currents. It is a beautiful, complex dance. So I’m watching the starting gaggle swarm over Woodrat Mountain in southern Oregon. I’m thinking…baitfish. Ultimately, the gaggle lures me in. Inside, it is sheer madness. To the uninitiated, it is unbridled chaos. Every thermal is dotted with cores. The larger mass rises, but smaller express elevators rocket through faster. Though we are all turning right, some core these rockets, others plod around the outside. Sub-cores come together, and three circles of wings must become one. I am a WWII bomber dodging fighters. Pilots in a sub-core blast upwards through a circle of wings above. It is frenzied maniacal kinesthetic gibberish. Inexplicably, I can’t stop thinking of paintball guns and how they would add another layer of madness. I like the thought.
A First-Time Comp Pilot’s
Mike and Gail Haley of MPH Sports started the Rat Race in 2003. The concept was simple and unique: They wanted to create a friendly race environment for novice XC pilots. Their vision and execution targeted a growing need. The number of paraglider pilots has swelled dramatically over the last few years. Many of these pilots are looking for the next challenge, but might not be ready for the big boys. A relaxed comp is the right idea to introduce these pilots to XC competition. A farm league, to develop the next generation of competitors. The first race in 2003 went just as planned. Relaxed and fun, it attracted the intermediate pilots the organizers were targeting. Rat Race 2004 was shaping up to be similar. This year, though, there are fewer USHGA sanctioned events. Mike and Gail Haley applied for sanctioning, and received it. Suddenly, the race appealed to the Big Boys. One day Gail told Mike she had a new entrant, someone named Bill Belcourt. Mike recognized that the Rat Race had just changed.
Viewpoint
By Paul Murdoch All photos: MPH Sports
As the registration list grew to include pilots like Josh Cohn and Len Szafaryn, the event was developing a competitive edginess. How would these pilots alter the flavor of the race? Not willing to alter their vision, Mike and Gail worked an elegant solution. On Jeff Farrell’s suggestion, they matched the 20 top pilots with 20 novices in mentor/mentee pairs. Each morning, mentors discussed strategies, tactics and weather with their mentees. The spirit of the race was intact—and enhanced. The top pilots gave information and advice freely. Their cooperation made the Rat Race that much more valuable to up-and-coming competitors.
his sleep the prior night. The plan was for him to continue his thermalling and racing clinic series that he had begun at Rat Race 2003. Dixon’s sudden departure was, and remains, a stunning blow. It is an incredible loss to the community. Every last one of us felt his touch in some way. What else can be said? We are all at a loss for words.
As you all now know, we lost Dixon White the day before the Rat Race started. Dixon was scheduled to arrive Tuesday, but died in
I learned to paraglide with Dixon on the grass slopes of Airplay Cashmere, and am now a P3 with almost 300 flights. I have 200
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On the Fourth of July in 2002, we visited southern Oregon, and I enjoyed a beautiful glass-off flight at Woodrat. There was clearly more to life than grinding through the day doing things I didn’t like.
hours, and perhaps 30 XC flights. A 34-mile out-and-back remains my best. Competition intimidates me. That is common, I’m guessing. The Rat Race’s relaxed competitive atmosphere was intriguing. I put off registration until the last minute. Gail graciously allowed me in as the final entrant. The Rogue Valley is my home—again, after a 20-year absence. My wife and I both grew up here. We left for an MBA and a life in high tech. The recession made life at the last company unbearHang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
ably stressful. On the Fourth of July in 2002, we visited southern Oregon, and I enjoyed a beautiful glass-off flight at Woodrat. There was clearly more to life than grinding through the day doing things I didn’t like. By May of 2003, we bought a Jacksonville company specializing in smoked meats. We have a staff of 55. Life is very different. We live in Jacksonville, Oregon, on a farm with three horses, one dwarf cow and a surly pig. Summers are beautiful, dry, and great 29
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for flying. There is a small but outstanding flying community, including my old childhood friend, Hayden Glatte. Hayden was always better than I was at sports. In the 20 year absence, we had both taken up paragliding. Not surprisingly, he is still much better than I am. Fortunately, he is a good teacher. I’ve learned a great deal following him. Hayden and I do as much XC as our spouses allow. Woodrat is 8.4 miles away. On Easter of this year, I flew from launch to my pasture. Twice. In four hours. With time for lunch. It is that good. The Rat Race Diary Day one. Item one: I first must go to work and tell my staff that I won’t be around much for the next few days. I fake a cough. I am vague about my plans. Arrive at the pilot’s meeting by 9. Mike, Gail and Bill Gordon explain the rules. They mention the mentor program. It is starting to sound like fun. As a late entrant, I was not officially assigned a mentor. Fortunately, Zach Hoisington and Mike Steed are in our car pool. We work them mercilessly for information. The helpful attitude is everywhere. At launch, Gabriel Jebb asks me what my strategy is. I think….to make the LZ and not look stupid. He suggests launch early, get above the gaggle, and proceed at my own pace.
Pilots of All Wings
There’s much more to learn!
At 11, we get the task—six waypoints and 20.1 miles. All 50 of us newbies are sweating over our GPSs. We still don’t have them dialed in. Most of us find a method of managing the GPS that is functional, if not elegant. Perhaps this comp thing is doable. At 12:30, launch opens and the baitfish swarm starts. I cower on the ground. I decide to let all pilots get on course before I go. I look up in admiration and a bit of fear as 74 wings circle in ebbs and flows. At 1:30 the race is on, as 74 pilots abruptly turn west for the first waypoint at Rabies Ridge. I wait 15 more minutes before I launch. I don’t think 15 minutes will make much difference in my results. I am flying a new wing, a loaner from Yaro at Skycosports. It is a Gradient Aspen, and it is a pleasure to fly. I climb to 1500 over and head for Rabies. I’m dead last but that is okay. I’ll just race myself on my own schedule. I’m good at setting the bar low. Then a funny thing happens… As I navigate the valley, three miles across, I see a number of wings on the ground. One has a wingtip in some power lines. That is not a turn point! They could all relaunch, but if they don’t, that means technically I’m not last.
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nize. They are good pilots. Suddenly I have a new perspective on this race thing. A little success goes straight to my head. I start to think more clearly about how to navigate this course. Burnt Ridge is three miles to the North. It is not burnt. It is bald, and blasting thermals off the summit. It is packed with poison oak. Several pilots scratch low over Burnt. One benefit of a comp is that you can take risks that might set you on the ground in remote spots. The chase crews provide assurance of a ride back home. Three tree-kicking pilots learn a lot about poison oak that day. From Burnt those of us remaining head towards Jacksonville, and some cemetery I have never heard of or seen before. I find a little lift, and immediately a cluster of wings is circling below me. In the comp, there is no pride—if you are in lift and others aren’t, you will soon have company. There are no additional points awarded for finding your own lift. Lesson: Plagiarize with abandon.
With heightened urgency, I turn from Rabies Ridge back to Squire Peak. Squire Peak is the location of a 2003 fire. George Bush stomped around up there and announced his plan to let the loggers have at it. All I know is that the burn zone rarely generates thermals so I don’t go directly. I head for the Woodrat house thermal to gas up.
Suddenly, I have made the last waypoint. Distracted with my success, I am aimlessly cruising through very light lift, not really being effective. I am a bit giddy at having come this far. I am not concentrating. A few wings find slight lift and I head for them. It dissipates before I arrive. I am now cruising low over unfamiliar farms. I pick my way to a pasture with no horses. I land at 15.2 miles, short of goal by five miles.
When I do arrive at Squire, another strange thing happens. I notice that I am arriving in advance of several pilots I recog-
Zach Hoisington was just behind me. As I turned back to land, he continued towards goal. He landed just on the other side of a
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small hill. He got .3 miles farther, worth 15 additional points. Only five people make goal. They get0 lots of points. Lesson: distance gets points. Be patient. Find lift. Zach and I hook up for a ride back to HQ. We stop for a beer with Jose from Aspen. It is fun to compare notes. At the end of task one, I finished 15th out of 75. It is far beyond my expectations. Brad Gunnuscio completed the course in an hour and 39 minutes, with Josh Cohn 5 seconds behind. Day Two. Same morning drill. I’m not as nervous. The wind is forecast to pick up, so organizers move everything up 30 minutes. Today we’ll have six turnpoints and 20.6 miles to goal. The course begins with a star pattern over the Applegate Valley. Rabies Ridge appears on the list twice. Rabies is upwind in a growing westerly. The last one coming before a long final downwind run. That last upwind run will be the crux of it, opines Steve Forslund. He is right. The start gaggle is less intimidating, but I still don’t join. A group goes early, but most of us hang back. I join a later gaggle. We make the first Rabies run and scatter. Once wings are disbursed throughout the star pattern, it is easy to spot lift. Chris Santacroce once said, “If we could see the air, we wouldn’t fly.” It is doing so much more than we imagine. Some pilots are working in areas we locals avoid as either dangerous or unproductive. Some are doing quite well. Josh Cohn referred to this as local legends. General consensus becomes lore, and no one bothers to re-evaluate. Lesson: Try new things. An hour and 37 minutes after his start, Josh crosses the finish line. Two seconds behind him is Jeff Huey. Bill Belcourt is right behind them. My own race remains far from over. Eventually, I start on my last upwind leg. I go on glide with what I think is enough altitude, only to find prolific sink. Merely a tenth of a mile from the turn point, I am coming in dangerously low on the lee of the ridge. My wing starts to wobble at the edge of the rotor zone, and I turn back to find more lift. That turnback costs me 90 minutes. I find myself scratching on Burnt. Clawing is a better word. I celebrate each foot gained between 2300’ and 3000’ msl. Forty-five exhausting minutes later I try again for Rabies. I make it, and start my downwind leg, but I’m now at 2150’. Once again I claw up Burnt Ridge. Thinking one’s way through the course takes its toll. It is more exhausting than regular flying. I am working every pocket, but the lift is no longer strong, and the wind scatters the thermals that are popping off. I am tired, and thirsty. I fumble my water bottle and drop it into the ponderosa forest below. Dumb. I am absolutely determined to make goal. Three hours and 15 minutes into my flight, I am the last on the course. I radio for Mike at goal to let him know I am still out there. I finally find the last boomer of the day, and get up over Burnt. I don’t stop until I have plenty of altitude. I turn and glide for goal at 40 MPH. From 5,000 feet, I see the large white banner of the finish. They are rolling it up as I cross: 3:38 to goal, with only 20 minutes to spare before goal closed. I finish 23rd for the day. I’m ecstatic. 100
95 Day three is windy, with very sketchy lift. The task team sets an upwind start and a staggered start. This means we will launch when we wish. Time won’t start until we travel 75 through the start cylinder on Rabies Ridge. From there, it is a downwind run to goal. We let the lead group go first before the bulk of the pilots take off. General thinking is that we need to get going before the wind is too strong to make the start.
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Today I enter the thick of the gaggle. Multiple cores make for chaos, as pilots turn circles within the gaggle. We are all turning right, though some are hard right. They come uncomfortably close. I admire the baitfish all the more, and I think of the possibilities with paintball guns. I feel like a ball turret gunner. My neck starts to hurt. Hayden Glatte, Nico Dewette and I break for Rabies. The rest of the gaggle is close behind. We find some powerful thermals off the end of Burnt Ridge—before the race I didn’t know they were there. We are blasted to 6,000 feet. The three of us make the start cylinder and disburse. Almost none of the second gaggle makes it across. They head back for Woodrat, or end their race. For a brief moment, I forget that this race could easily be won with a relaunch effort, since individual times start when the pilot enters the start cylinder. Ultimately, many of the relaunch pilots turn in the better times, aided by strong tail winds.
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was second with 2279, and Dale Covington was third with 2,139. Hayden placed eighth. My first comp ended with a 19th overall; far better than I had hoped for. I think that calls for a beer. The organizers deserve tremendous kudos. Mike and Gail of MPH sports, along with Jose and Katia Rosas of Perufly, worked tirelessly to make this comp go well. Jose and Katia flew in from Peru just for the meet. Bill Gordon slaved over his computer until 3:00 each morning to complete the scoring, then flew the course himself. He finished in the top 20 in spite of this sleep deprivation. I’d like to see him compete with full batteries. After a great awards ceremony and party, we departed, promising to return next year. If you have never flown a comp, please come to the 2005 Rat Race. We’ll all share what we know, and introduce you to a new outlook on competition flying. Dixon, your spirit of joy in flight has another home in the Rat Race.
Fifty-eight short minutes later, I am debating whether to risk the lee of the last ridge before goal. I elect to stick with the growing tailwind. Luckily there is buoyant air over the ridge. I am coming in fast and low, but with enough clearance. I have enough room to fly over the white finish banner, hook upwind and land, 19th out of 30 to make goal that day. That night I dream I am a baitfish. Josh Cohn finished day three in 41 minutes. The amazing thing about these comp pilots is not what they can do on a good day. Sure, they will beat the lesser pilots on such a day, but those of us smart enough to turn when the vario chimes can, with luck, keep them in sight. Having them out front as thermal spotters clearly provides a huge advantage for the laggers. No, what is truly breathtaking is what they can do on a marginal day. They go when the start bell says to go, and work whatever there is. They don’t soar calmly like hawks. It’s not an elegant comparison, but they fly like my yellow lab hunts birds. They are constantly looking for better lift, even within a thermal. They don’t make smooth circles, but instead dart from one core to another. On a marginal day they are really spectacular. The comp pilots are truly magnanimous during the event. We novice comp pilots provided an additional obstacle. We turned left on a right day, we bumped them out of thermals. We stomped on race etiquette with muddy boots. We were trying to behave, but we don’t all know better. We thank you for your forbearance as well. On Saturday the winds were too high, and the task committee called off the day’s task. The meet results were tallied for the three days we flew. Josh Cohn’s fast and consistent performance took the race. He finished first, with 2,661 points. Tom McCune Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
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ads and vogues have come and gone over the decades as hang gliders have progressed from ornery sonorous ragwings to sleek, slippery bladewings. I remember Sail Feathers, deflexors, suprone harnesses, cocoons, Thermal Snoopers, winglets and drogue chutes. Most of these items made sense for the state of the flying of the day. Most have been outmoded by the improvement in design or the quest for a lower drag debt. The last—drogue chutes—are still with us today and have their own little history.
USING DROGUE CHUTES Copyright © 2004 by Dennis Pagen
A drogue chute is intended to add a whopping helping of drag (drogue comes from drag) to an aircraft and thereby decrease its glide path. About the only place you’ll see them in the sky is on the space shuttle (after touchdown), on older sailplanes and on hang gliders. As performance of our gliders increased, a way to degrade their glide in order to use the virtually shrinking landing fields was sought. A drogue chute seemed to be the answer. The original drogue chutes were packaged in a short tube container, which was attached to a rear cable near the control bar corner. To deploy, you simply pulled out the drogue and let it slide back to the rear of the cable to the keel as it opened. The problem with this arrangement is that the significant tug of the chute on the rear of the keel greatly altered the yaw behavior of the glider. If the chute was deployed on straight final, it was OK, but if the pilot attempted to maneuver steeply, it could induce a slip. Indeed, several accidents were attributed to this effect. So, it was back to the drawing board. Several permutations arose, such as chutes on the keel that opened like umbrellas or could be pulled inverted to vary the drag. But the eureka moment came at about the same time we learned to tow by pulling mostly on the pilot: If the drag force is directed through the pilot’s body, control should remain nearly normal, shouldn’t it? WHAT CAN RUN AFOUL Today, the only hang glider drogue chutes you’ll see are those mounted in a pilot’s harness. When they are deployed, they drift back between the rear glider cables and pull on a bridle attached to the back of the pilot’s harness. In theory they work pretty well. That’s the good news. In practice, there are still occasional problems, and that’s what we need to explore to prevent the bad news. 34
Here is a short list of accidents that have happened with modern drogue chutes: A few years ago, two pilots—one in Italy and one in Greece—were ready to deploy their drogue chutes and held them in hand while maneuvering. They inadvertently threw or dropped their chutes in front (!) of the base tube. You can imagine how quickly a glider inverts with a drogue chute pulling on the base tube. The first pilot was low and ended up breaking her arm. The second tumbled too low for a parachute save and barely survived. On at least two other occasions, pilots have thrown their chutes outside the rear wires so there was a severe turn in the glider once the chute opened. In other cases, drogue chutes not attached to the center point of the harness induced a turn. I have experienced an inexplicable turn with my drogue chute deployed. It was routed correctly and I never could determine why the anomalous effect occurred. I have read a report of an accident that occurred after a drogue chute came out inadvertently when the pilot was soaring a ridge. There is no doubt that there are other accidents which haven’t been publicized. One of the first times I used my drogue, I set up for a short final, threw the chute and proceeded to eat up landing field faster than a boardinghouse bachelor devouring dessert. The drogue had failed to open and I was in danger of running out of prime real estate. I did a few low turn maneuvers and ended up cornered in the corner of a cornfield with my nose nudging the stalks. DROGUE DEPLOYMENT AND EMPLOYMENT With all these negative possibilities in mind, I’d like to offer my advice. To begin, anyone contemplating using a drogue chute September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
Jim Reynolds lands his Falcon with a drogue—just because he can! Photo: Marty Michelson
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should first try it in a wide field with ample runout. It needs to be wide in case you have an induced turn that diverts you from the true path. It needs to be long enough to allow you to land safely if the deployment fails. Before using your drogue for the first time, I recommend practicing the deployment in a simulator until you can pull it out and throw it between the rear wires without looking. Finding the drogue can be very distracting, which hoists the red flag of danger if you are on final approach. Imagine intending to land in a limited space with the use of a drogue chute and missing the grab the first couple of times you go for it on short final. Practice throwing the chute down and back to avoid entanglement in the rear wires or keel. A hard throw is best to help it clear the glider and open quickly. Some pilots, including myself, will hold the apex of the drogue in a finger of one hand while setting up the landing. Then you can throw it easily and quickly at the appropriate time. Note that this is the situation where you can drop it over the base bar, if something unusual happens or you really wig out. The way to avoid the unthinkable is to think about it while you have the drogue in hand and deliberately throw it back and down once you are on final.
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Modern drogues are mounted in the harness. Photo: Dennis Pagen
An alternative to the above is to pull out the drogue and throw it immediately at some point in your final approach. The problem with this method is that you are often quite busy and focused on where you are going in the final landing leg. Furthermore, if you are going into a short field where a drogue chute is actually necessary, you won’t have time to deal with a malfunction. Holding the chute by the apex and throwing at the most opportune time is the technique I have found to be the most reliable. I adopted it after my corn field episode. I have seen some pilots throw their drogue high and maneuver with it out as they set up for landing. This method only works if you have a glider nimble enough to handle well at fairly slow speeds. If you intend to use this method, I highly recommend you approach it cautiously Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
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and first attempt it over a large field. No one can tell you for sure how your glider will behave with the brakes applied. You may get surprised at how quickly it comes down and not be in the proper position for final. Also, you may find diving turns are different with the chute out. Once the chute deploys, be ready for a steepening of the glide path accompanied by a slight dropping of the nose. The faster you go the steeper the path, but pull on speed gradually to check for a turn. With a drogue, you transform your performance glider into a single surface wing or a paraglider. Be aware, however, that your flare window is shortened because you don’t have as much energy to pay off in a float along the ground. If you have a drogue-induced turn, you should slow down (don’t stall). The faster you go, the greater the pull of the chute. A drogue chute release may be helpful in such a situation, but remember, you are using your drogue chute to help you land in smaller fields, perhaps, so you may not have time to release the chute and removing the chute may result in overshooting. For maximum reliability, it is imperative to practice your throw and get it right every time.
ON FINAL With all these alerts and caveats, it may be seen that I have mixed feelings about drogue chutes. I used mine for a while, but then figured my situation was safer perfecting my small-field setups and landings. It is built into my harness, so I still throw it on occasion as a diversion. On the other hand, if I ever happen to be coming down with only a hanky to hit, I won’t hesitate to use it (and hope for the best). Furthermore, I should point out that I have seen Manfred Ruhmer—arguably the world’s best pilot—use his often and fly with it deployed as he maneuvers. Clearly, he has used it often enough that he has total confidence in it. And it can be said that a totally reliable drogue chute can make setups safer because you can come in over trees, power lines, buildings or other obstructions with more clearance. The problem is reliability, and only practice with your rig will determine for you whether drogue chute use is a fad or a permanent feature of your flying.
Read about fascinating flying machines like the Pod Racer and Escape Pod 36 2004:goes Hang Gliding on ByDanJohnson.com • Sign up today to be notified whenSeptember, the site live.& Paragliding
D E TP I AG RE TR M TE A N G T
Tiger Tag: Summer XC Competition Series for Pilots With a Life
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By Kerry Ryan
hings were getting dicey. I was in sink, fighting against a headwind, and nearing the point where I would have to bail to make it safely back across the ridge to the LZ—and, according to my GPS, I was just .01 miles from the waypoint cylinder. Just then my sink alarm stopped, my wing surged forward, and I used the bottom of the resulting pendulum to step on the speed bar and blast ahead that last .01 mile. I counted three seconds to make sure I had a track point in the cylinder, then zipped back to make it across the ridge with several hundred feet to spare. I was really glad that I had stopped for those last scraps of lift before I made my run to the waypoint.
A great day for tagging! Photo: Geoff Dahl
Heading toward the Mt. Si waypoint, about 12 miles from Tiger Mt. Photo: Abe Laguna
Launching at cloudbase at Tiger Mt. Photo: Matt Amend
This anecdote was not from an epic flight in a major competition. This was from a mid-week flight just a couple miles away from launch at my home site. I’m talking about Tiger Tag, a competition we are playing around our local flying site of Tiger Mountain, near Seattle, Washington: all the excitement, challenge, and skill tests of a major competition but right in our backyard, after work, and home in time to pick up the kids from soccer practice. The objective of the competition is to tag as many waypoints as possible, go as far as possible, and land back at the LZ. A tag is considered successful when you log a GPS track point within a quarter-mile radius of the waypoint. We wanted every pilot to be able to participate in this competition, regardless of their schedule, retrieve options, and wing performance. That meant we had to arrange the scoring so that there were many different ways to accumulate points. If you miss the big epic day, you won’t be too far behind to catch up. Or if you have to leave early to pick up the kids from soccer, you can still get in a high-scoring flight before heading home.
Tiger launch waypoint Photo: Abe Laguna Almost over Issaquah Photo: Matt Amend
Photo: Kerry Ryan Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
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The best, most diverse scoring method we found was to combine distance, unique waypoints tagged, farthest waypoint tagged, and a bonus for landing back at the LZ. This combination of scoring factors accommodates days of different conditions, differing pilot schedules, and different flying styles to rack up points. Some days the conditions only allow racing laps around Tiger. Other days, moderate out-and-backs are possible. On the really good days, long XC routes are the ticket. We have found that getting many high-scoring flights in one month is hard—not everybody is going to get out on every big XC day. To win the competition, every day counts and each pilot has to get out there and make the best of what they find.
Kerry Ryan’s track log from a fishbowl flight on June 29, with tagged waypoints listed Provided by Kerry Ryan
Looking north towards Issaquah and the high school waypoint, directly left of Kingsley’s boot Photo: Kingsley Wood
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Scoring: Flight score = base score + unique waypoints x 3 + farthest waypoint tagged + LZ bonus • Base score: The base score is equal to the distance in miles from tagged waypoint to tagged waypoint to landing point. • Unique waypoints x 3: For each unique waypoint tagged you receive three points. You can do laps between waypoints to build up your base score, but you must tag two other waypoints before returning to a waypoint previously tagged. • Farthest waypoint tagged: This score encourages pilots to go as far as possible away from Tiger to tag points, and is measured in miles from the launch to the farthest point tagged. • LZ bonus: The official LZ is a .1-mile radius cylinder around the normal Tiger LZ. To separate laps from farther out-and-back flights, the LZ bonus is equal to the farthest
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September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
tagged waypoint and is only awarded if the pilot lands within the official LZ. The competition is divided into five month-long series throughout the summer. For each series we take the pilot’s five highest-scoring flights to calculate the standings. Skyco Sports (http://www.skycosports.com) has put up an AvaSport Race harness for the highest cumulative score over the five series. We are working on other prizes to make the competition even more heated. The real heart of the competition is tagging points; it is fun, challenging, very technical, and something you can set up at your own home site. Just scatter some waypoints around your area; put some in areas of known lift, some outside areas of known lift, and some in areas you want to explore. Doublecheck to be sure your points are not in restricted airspace, in areas with no LZs, or in areas that might cause trouble with landowners. Then grab your flying buddies and your GPS, and go tag. Tag for fun, tag by yourself, tag for bragging rights, or formalize a competition. Some of the benefits of playing are: • It greatly improves your XC skills. You have to plan your set-up, get established, and many times leave an area of good lift, make the tag, and get back before you dirt out. • It encourages you to explore. Some of the points we have are a blast to tag, but no one before now paid much attention to these areas because they are off the beaten XC routes. • It teaches you to use your GPS for something other than a groundspeed indicator. • Anybody can play. • It is just plain addicting! If you ever find yourself in the Seattle area, drop me an email at TigerTag04@comcast.net and come play some Tiger Tag with us. Also, be sure to check out our Web site at http://home.comcast. net/~TigerTag04 for the latest scores and flights.
Editor’s comment: Tiger Mountain, my home site, is very close to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. We have a ceiling of 6000’ in most of the area normally flown by non-XC pilots, but that ceiling varies (both up and down) as you venture farther afield. Kerry’s waypoints are ingeniously named to include the ceiling height at the waypoint location, a great help to those testing their XC skills over new territory.
Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
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Dan Schroeder on launch for a rare, late-afternoon flight from Mingus Mountain, Arizona Photo Gill Couto. www.gillcouto.com
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Why Tag? Participants Comment on the Fun Factor and Other Bennies From Dave Byrne: The advantages of this game are that I get to choose the route I want to fly, as well as the day and time. In addition, there is no pressure to complete the route in the shortest possible time, so I can linger in lift when the cycles are light, and then fly fast to the next waypoint when the lift picks up again. I can also change my route in flight as the winds shift and conditions dictate. This game is great for learning how to use a GPS, and it encourages participants to analyze conditions while flying, evaluate climb and glide strategies, and make good decisions in the air. Tiger Tag rewards the bold pilots who choose to fly long distances to remote LZs, as well as those who are more comfortable landing near their own car for a quick drive home. Playing Tiger Tag builds skills crucial to those who want to fly long and far…but maybe not so fast. We have some excellent XC pilots at Tiger right now, and they will keep getting better thanks to efforts like Kerry’s (the game’s originator)! From husband-and-wife team, James Bender and Pam Nichols: After our introduction to competition as volunteers at the Rat Race in Oregon, we realized that Tiger Tag is just a simplified version of a comp. Simple, but not necessarily easy! It is a great way to fly at our home site and improve our flying skills. It adds to the mental challenge of a normal flight at Tiger Mountain and encourages us to go XC. The waypoints are approximately 1.5 miles apart, so after tagging a few waypoints you may find yourself in North Bend [about 12 miles from launch] and realize that it was not so difficult to get there after all. It would be a great way to increase the challenge if this type of informal comp was used at more fly-ins. At the end of our flying day, with the GPS tracks saved, we graph them and take time to discuss our flight paths: where we made a right or wrong decision; what new house thermals we discovered in territory we had never ventured over before; acceptable LZs that could be used on our next flight; where we found lift or sink that day and why. We expect that this informal evaluation and analysis will over time make us better pilots, and it makes each flight more enjoyable and rewarding than the last. From Steve Wilson: Tiger Tag has changed the way I fly Tiger Mountain. I love to fly XC, so on high-pressure days when I could not run I would get high and boat around until I got bored and landed. Now, I always have an objective and I am constantly moving around in the sky in such a way that my high-pressure flying days are every bit as interesting and challenging as a big XC flight. And I never get bored, because I am constantly planning my next tag and trying to figure out how to maximize my points for the day. Tiger Tag has taught me how to use my GPS more effectively and has encouraged me to do more up-wind flying—skills I expect will make me a stronger competition pilot. I would encourage anyone with aspirations to fly competitions to set up and play a version of Tiger Tag at your home site. From Kingsley Wood: For me, it was really exciting having a “goal” when flying around Tiger—and setting up the GPS to tag the waypoints was great fun (and challenging). I think the waypoints are well chosen in that they are not “no-brainers” to tag. I tried several times experimenting with going for the Squak towers from different directions and altitudes before I finally “tagged” that waypoint. Tagging forces you to plan a little ahead and then make the goal a focus while flying. So many people just boat around in the classic “fishbowl” from the west face to the dome. I think this competition will really encourage folks to stretch their comfort zones a little farther.
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The Continuing Education of a Cross-Country Pilot
David landing — so far so good Photo: Luis Rosenkjer
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By David M. Salmon June 7, 2004 Introduction Near cloudbase, 1600 meters above takeoff, I saw a bird in the distance. A handsome eagle approached and fell into perfect formation 10 meters behind the right wing of my paraglider. I had often followed birds while seeking lift, but now a bird was following me. I was grateful for its company and flattered by its presence. But, just the day before I had completed a 28-hour journey from the central coast of California to Cordoba, Argentina, and now I had been flying in the turbulent air at Cuchi Corral for nearly three hours. Suddenly, I realized I was very tired. I found some sink and circled in it. My soaring companion lost confidence in my leadership and departed. Soon, I was on the ground at the sailplane airfield 7km from takeoff, where Swiss pilot and Paragliding World Cup winner Andy Hediger is based. I purchased a cold drink and relaxed in the warm dry air. Luis Rosenkjer, the current national paragliding champion of Argentina, had invited me to accompany him as he explored the desert near Chamical, east of Cordoba, to assess its potential for long flights. I met Luis when I attended the Pampa Cross event he hosted at the end of 2000 in the desert near Catriel, Argentina, 1000km south of Cordoba. I described that experience in “Flying the Pampa Cross,” published in Paraglider magazine (2002 issues August, September and October). Luis recruited two young Argentinean pilots, Regino and Lucas, to help with towing and retrieval. They were eager to fly themselves whenever possible. First Day in the Desert We started early and drove into the desert. At 1 p.m. we found a suitable road running in the direction of the wind and set up to tow. Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
Luis had brought a friction-controlled winch, developed and manufactured in Argentina, which attached to the rear of the van. The winch provides an audible signal to the driver, like that of a variometer, indicating how fast the line is paying out. A button in reach of the driver can be pressed to cut the line in an emergency. When the pilot releases, a small parachute, attached 10m from the end of the towline, opens and holds the line in the air long enough for the driver to stop the vehicle, go back to the winch, and activate a reel-in mechanism. There was enough line to tow a paraglider to an altitude of about 700m in suitable wind conditions. Luis took off first to verify the system. Everything checked out and I was up next. It turned out to be my most exciting tow yet. Immediately after a routine takeoff, thermic winds blew me to the side of the road and subjected me to substantial turbulence. I was fully occupied controlling violent pitches and rolls and unable to take a hand off the brakes to activate the push-to-talk button on my helmet and give instruction to the driver, Regino. He could not see me in his rear view mirror, was uncertain about what to do, and was not providing enough power. I was perilously close to being dropped into the nasty desert foliage. Lucas, on the ground, assessed the situation, radioed instructions to Regino, and the tow smoothed out. I released in lift at 400m AGL, circled, and found the thermal. After traveling 21km I lost altitude to 100m AGL. Reluctant to land, I tried to catch some low lift. I turned once, twice, as I drifted downwind of the road towards a reasonably clear patch of the desert. I was not unhappy about landing off the road, as I was uneasy about the occasional large truck or bus rushing by. Failing to make a low save, I landed about 30 meters from the road. I had violated 43
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Luis’s cardinal rule for desert flying: “Land beside or on the road.” The wisdom of this rule soon became clear. I was not close enough to the road to be seen from it. On landing, I controlled my wing quite well, dropping it in a heap, but still it fell on a thorn bush. Lucas and Regino in the chase van located me by driving down the road, periodically sounding the horn, while I communicated with them via radio. My folding saw came in handy to cut the bush back and Regino helped me separate my glider from the thorns. Luis flew for three hours, reached 1700m AGL, and went 90km. He landed as the wind picked up strength and he was covering the ground at 80kph. At 5 p.m., after retrieving Luis, we paused to admire a magnificent thermal, delineated by birds at every level, as high as the eye could see. Regino set up to launch but the wind was too strong. A Long Flight Following my failure to land on the road the first day and my subsequent admonishment by Luis, I had two goals for my next flight: 1) land on the road; and 2) exceed 100km distance (more than triple my previous best of 30km). As we drove northeast from Chamical against the wind, I reflected upon an experience I had in Blenheim, New Zealand. One morning, I went hiking around the Wither Hills Farm Park, a lovely grass-covered, hilly area. The park had suffered a devastating fire two months earlier, followed by a severe drought that turned it into a lifeless wasteland. Prior to the fire, I had often seen hawks circling in thermals, lazily surveying the landscape. Now the park was black, seemingly devoid of life, and eerily quiet. I spied a single hawk traveling purposely across the park. I watched the bird circle higher and higher in a nearby thermal, sometimes turning to the left, sometimes to the right, seeking the best lift. Reaching the top of the thermal, the bird suddenly took off, gliding straight as an arrow and very fast. I watched it fly far into the distance to another ridge where it found another thermal and resumed circling. I had witnessed a technique honed to perfection over a million years. I also reflected on my previous best flight at the Pampa Cross. After going 30km I had spent most of the day in the chase car following Ondrej Dupal and Milan Kaminicek as they each flew for five hours and covered 90km. I was impressed with their patience as they worked each thermal, circling endlessly as the wind carried them onward. They wanted all of the altitude possible before setting out to cross the massive sink surrounding the desert thermals. By 10 a.m., cumulus clouds dotted the sky. I took off shortly after noon and proceeded to apply all of my accumulated skill and experience to going far. 44
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I had learned the basics of cross-country flying in the desert through my prior flights and by observing and talking with the experts. Since you must always be able to reach the road, you always want to be as high and as far upwind of the road as possible. As the road twists and turns, there may be periods when the wind is taking you directly along it. Then, you have the luxury of circling in low lift or zero sink while the wind carries you along. Usually, the wind is at an angle to the road and you need to follow a zigzag course. Therefore, when you are climbing in a thermal you drift downwind, across the road. You need to judge when the lift becomes too weak to justify the accumulating distance downwind. When you break away from the thermal, you need to head upwind, diagonally across the road. Usually, you encounter substantial sink and need to apply half speed bar to get through it quickly before it deposits you on the ground. As you travel fast through the smooth sinking air, you are sensitive to turbulence that might precede a thermal. As the sink subsides and the turbulence increases, you relax the speed bar and hope to find the next elevator into the sky.
The sky was often well covered with large, flat cumulus clouds, but it was seldom possible to reach them. Two hundred meters below the clouds, the lift was too weak to lift a paraglider. Even when a lot of the sky was cloud-covered, I did not find widespread lift. The best lift was always concentrated in cores that acted like thermals. Whenever I saw a blue hole in the sky ahead or a wet patch of terrain likely to generate weaker and fewer thermals, I counseled myself to be patient and utilize every vestige of lift or low sink I could find before turning my glider to make the crossing.
My technique was working and it was a great joy to see the road ahead disappearing into the distance, and to be able time after time to follow it, passing over small towns and the subtle changes in the desert floor.
Luis had lost concentration on his flight while taking photographs. He found himself downwind of the road where it turned across the wind for several kilometers and was forced to land after going 35km.
Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
At the 90km mark, I was only 200m above the ground and I was under intense pressure to find lift. Luck was with me! I found the precious lift and landed on the road just short of Chamical, having traveled 107km in three hours and thirty-six minutes. I had reached an altitude of 2000m above takeoff and had traveled almost the maximum distance possible. In another 2km, the road turned right and left at 90 degrees to the wind.
Big thorny landing field, abundant lift 45 Photo: David Salmon
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I was elated that I had achieved my goals and had, for the fi rst time, gone farther than anyone else. How to Cross the Mountains? The Sierra de los Quinteros mountain range runs in a north-south direction near Chamical, creating an obstacle to long flights using the prevailing northeast wind. The ground at the base is about 700 to 800m MSL. The mountains are about 800m high. They are forbidding with sharp ridges and canyons and covered with dense, thorned vegetation. Landing or hiking in these mountains is not an option. One morning, Luis and I drove around the range looking for a safe way to cross it. We asked the locals for information about dirt roads. We passed through small settlements, some desperately poor with falling-down buildings and no evident means of survival. Other habitations had small plots of corn and a few animals, and displayed efforts at beautification such as white stones demarking the dirt road. We marked various waypoints on Luis’s GPS. We found a pass around the north end of the mountains. Luis calculated that the minimum requirement for a safe passage from the Chamical side was to be at 2500m MSL while no farther than 15km from Tama, a small town on the far side. With a tail wind, a paraglider should be able to reach the road on the other side of the range even if heavy sink was encountered. We drove about 70km northeast of Chamical and set up. I launched first. At 200m AGL, I found good lift but I wanted to rise to 400m before releasing. I found no more lift before the towline was fully extended and I had to land shortly after. This particular desert location supported clouds of small flies. They swarmed about us, attracted by the moisture continually dripping from us in the heat. They got into our hair, ears and nose but fortunately they don’t bite. Nothing less than a 30-kph wind will discourage them. They have a sickening, peppermint-like smell when squashed. Plagued by the flies, Luis launched next, even though we realized the launch site was less than ideal because the road descended somewhat from the launch point. He soon landed. We moved to a better site farther down the road where Luis launched, released at 200m, caught a thermal and was away. After several aborted attempts at forward and reverse launches, I raised my wing into a smooth wind and took off. Lucas followed. I worked the thermals assiduously and followed the road back to Chamical. Following instructions radioed by Regino, I made a jog to the right and followed a dirt road towards the Sierra de los Quinteros. Luis had preceded me to this point. He was surprised to see no cumulus clouds over the range. He noticed the clouds at upper levels were moving against forward progress and was concerned that that wind flow might drop down and face him. Also, he discovered a strong venturi wind squeezed between the mountains and the upper layers of air. He was at 2500m MSL and 15km from Tama, but he made a prudent decision to land. He needed to use full speed bar to overcome the wind and just made it to the only small, clear spot available for a landing. When I arrived, I faced the same situation. Luis radioed his assessment to me and invited me to make my own decision about proceeding over the range. I was at the 2500m altitude, I was not tired, and I would have dearly liked to cruise up and down the ridge seeking more height but I decided I should follow Luis’s example. I also had to use the speed bar to reach the landing spot. I wanted to make a good impression with a competent landing but it was not to be. The approach was well judged but at the last moment, 10m from the ground, an unwanted burst of lift hurled me into 46
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the air and over a cluster of nasty, thorny trees. Disaster loomed, but then with the last gasp of lift I eased over to a clear patch of ground and was dumped unceremoniously on the ground. I should have used a parachute-landing fall, but I lifted my legs and relied on my harness to cushion the fall—a stupid decision. I suffered a shock to my rear but escaped injury.
A Long Flight for Luis We left Chamical at 9:30 a.m. and traveled 100km southeast against the wind. I failed to get away on my first tow. The second tow had to be aborted due to a big truck traveling down the road threatening to snag the towline. It was my fault for raising the wing with a truck visible in the distance. I searched frantically for the tow release handle, but with no tension on the line it had fallen into my harness and I could not locate it. Almost in the trees, I gave up on releasing and swerved over the road to land. It was simply good fortune that the trailing line did not snag anything. My strength was fading with successive days in the extreme desert heat. I had lost my appetite, was eating almost nothing, and was losing weight rapidly. I was drinking water constantly, but I was still dehydrated. I was too weak to attempt another launch.
Follow the yellow brick road Photo: Luis Rosenkjer
My glider floated over a thorn bush about 5m high. It took 40 minutes of the combined efforts of Luis, Regino and myself to free the glider. I had covered 68km, in a nice three-hour flight notable for prudent decisions, but marred by multiple launch failures and an awful landing. Luis later pointed out that I could have increased my landing options by approaching the clear spot along the road, giving some options for a short or long landing. I had rejected that approach while in the air because it seemed that the vegetation crowding into the road from each side did not leave enough clearance for my glider. I remembered a time in West Virginia when I attempted to land on a tree-lined road and was snagged out of the sky by a tree branch. Where was Lucas? Radio contact had been lost. Regino dropped Luis and me off at the hotel before retracing our path along the road. He went all the way to the takeoff point without finding Lucas and called Luis with this disquieting news. Then Lucas called—from Tama on the other side of the mountains! He had reached Chamical following Luis and me, had been trapped by the venturi wind and was forced to go forward over the range. He reported reaching speeds of 100kph in 5 m/s sink. With the confidence of youth, he was only a little fearful. He barely reached the road on the other side of the range and landed 8km from Tama, 87km from launch. The Tama police had kindly given him a ride into town where he had found a phone. He was elated by his flight, his longest by a big margin. He had lost radio contact due to a flat battery, and Luis criticized him for continuing to fly. His actions caused Regino to travel hundreds of unnecessary kilometers in attempting to retrieve him. Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
Luis launched at 1 p.m. We traveled down the road to stay close to him and then launched Lucas at 3 p.m. Lucas went about 20km before landing in a windstorm. He was blown off the road but managed to land in a relatively clear patch while flying backwards. We chased after Luis and arrived in time to see him land. He covered 171 km in a 5-1/4 hour flight. His maximum altitude was 2400m AGL and he made two low saves, one from 100m AGL. It was a timely success as an Argentine friend had emailed him the day before with news of a 165km flight. Conclusion I had a wonderful experience in the harsh desert and will return when the opportunity presents, but it was nice to drive out to the pleasant climate of La Falda. There you can see green grass, flowers, trees and bushes without thorns, you can wear clothes comfortably, and you can enjoy a warm shower.
David, Lucas, Regino and Luis Photo: Luis Rosenkjer
Thank you, Luis, for a great adventure. Thank you, Lucas and Regino, for your help and friendship.
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A R G E N T I N A
RULES FOR DESERT FLYING
DESERT TOWING
Based on a lot of experience, Luis has formulated the following rules for flying safely in the desert:
When you observe an expert pilot and an expert tow driver in action, the process looks easy enough. They can effect a tow with just two people, the driver and the pilot. A less-thanexpert pilot is faced with many potential problems, and I discovered most of them. There are many nasty, small, incredibly strong, thorny, desert bushes perfectly designed to snare the lines of your glider in a vice-like grip. To avoid these you may have to set up your glider in the roadway. If so, you need to be ready to pick up your glider and get off the road if a vehicle comes by.
• You must have both a GPS and a radio. • Before taking off, mark the takeoff location as a waypoint and set the GPS to go to that waypoint, so the instrument continually indicates your distance from takeoff. • You must report your distance to the ground crew every 10km or so. • As the road twists and turns and as the wind strength and direction changes, you must always limit your flight path to a location from which you can reach the road. • You must land on the road. • If you lose your radio because the battery is low or the instrument fails, you must land near your last reported position. Failure to follow these rules leads to the possibility of a pilot being lost or injured somewhere in the desert without any practical way of being located. At the very least it leads to unacceptable stress and inconvenience for the retrieval crew.
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The base wind may be as much as 45° across the direction of tow. Added to that difficulty is the turbulence and swirl induced by nearby thermals. When the wind is cross, you need to raise the wing against the wind and then control it so you can run sideways towards the tow vehicle. When the driver sees that all is well he applies power. As you rise above the roadside vegetation, you allow the glider to drift downwind until the pull of the towrope and the force of the crosswind are balanced against the drag of the paraglider. There should be a straight line from the tow vehicle through the line parachute to you. If the wind is strong enough for a reverse inflation, you must set up with the towrope on the correct side of your body, according to your direction of turn, and you must keep it free of your instruments and harness. It helps to have a third person who can bring the end of the tow rope to you, attach it to your tow harness, and then move about 10m away, slightly to the side, while applying some tension so the rope cannot snag anything. For a couple of days I was plagued with premature releases of the towline caused by one of my speed bar lines snagging
the release handle. Once I recognized what was causing the problem I was able to guard against it. If the wind is light you can do a forward launch. You need the driver to apply power quickly after you raise the glider because you cannot run fast enough on the flat road to keep it up. If the rope is pre-tensioned and you are being pulled forward as the wing rises, do not apply any brakes to prevent the glider overshooting as you might normally do in a hilltop launch—there is no risk of the glider surging in front when you are being pulled forward. It is more likely you will not have enough forward speed and any brake will cause the wing to fall behind. A third person can assist your forward run by pulling on the rope while calling for the driver to apply power. Once you are in the air you may need to abort the tow if the line is drifting across the road and may be snagged by a passing vehicle. Also you must be quick to abort if some vegetation at ground level catches the line. If the tow is aborted it is essential for the pilot to activate the release. Failure to do so creates a possibility that the trailing line will snag and slam you into the ground twisted and flying backwards. Once the towline is slack it may be hard to find the release handle but nevertheless it is the pilot’s responsibility to find it and effect the release. Once you are climbing and the towline is free from potential snags, you just need to stabilize the glider to face the towrope, keeping a straight line from the tow vehicle through the parachute to you. When you have adequate height, say 200 to 400m AGL, release when you are in substantial lift.
September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
SAFETY
UPGRADE
Safety Equipment: Upgrade Before It is Too Late
I
Article and photos by Betty Pfeiffer
cannot remove the names, addresses and phone numbers of hang gliding friends from my Rolodex, even many years after their deaths. It is important to me to keep their memory alive and, when possible, to learn from their ultimate sacrifice. It is important to teach new pilots why we do what we do. When it comes to safety I do not believe we should wait until someone dies to learn lessons about how safety needs to be improved. Unfortunately, even when a death happens, we are sometimes too slow to learn. condition. For the first five days they did not know if he would survive. Ten days after the accident I received a phone call. I heard a soft, raspy whisper say, “Hi, Betty, this is Doug.” My heart filled with joy as we spoke about what had happened.
If you had asked me three years ago about the safety of your old parachute, I would have gone through the parachute construction and then referred to my rate-of-descent chart to determine the probable performance on a standard day at sea level.
Drop-testing the Quantum Series parachute
I would have given you a ballpark estimate of your altitude loss to full inflation after your parachute has reached full bridle line stretch. I would have talked to you about the platform height equivalent drop if you had no extra drag from your wreckage.
The bottom line of Doug’s accident is that, had he been using his Quantum Series 330 parachute, he would have probably experienced an impact, in the worse case, equivalent to dropping from a five-foot-high structure. Instead, his impact, in a prone position, was probably closer to a drop from a 17-foot-high structure. Had he been using his QS 330, he likely would have walked away with lots of adrenaline and an incredible story to tell.
I would have compared this information with the performance of our Quantum Series parachutes, and would have left the decision of whether or not to upgrade to you. I will not do that anymore! There have been just too many injuries and fatalities with old safety equipment. I can’t stand by and watch silently. Two years ago Doug Prather, after having sold his Quantum Series parachute to a student the previous day, installed his old “meat saver” parachute in his harness. Wouldn’t you know, that was the day he needed a chute. Doug was hospitalized in critical
Your emergency reserve parachute could be your last chance at survival. As much as you might not want to admit your vulnerability, it is very important that you are intimately familiar with your safety system. This includes your parachute, bridle, swivel, hang strap or suspension device as well as your harness. Regular inspection of your system includes looking for wear or rubbing points, discoloration, corrosion on hardware hidden by webbing, and wear on webbing hidden by buckles or other
L-R: Pilot struggles after “launching” unhooked in the simulator Mark Windscheimer demonstrates potential for danger from tangled lines Learning parachute deflation at a parachute clinic in Wisconsin Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
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S A F E T Y
U P G R A D E
hardware. Practice throwing your parachute while suspended in your harness in a simulator (never in flight) before every repack. Inflate your parachute outside in a clean, dry area so you can see and feel exactly what you have. Before you fly with a new harness or new deployment bag, practice extracting your parachute from your harness using each hand separately. Memorize the steps for a parachute deployment, and practice in your mind’s eye regularly.
deployment procedure: Look for the handle. Reach and grab—if possible use your thumb to guide the rest of your hand to the handle. Remember, in a real-life deployment your handle may not be where it is when you are in normal flight. Pull the handle to extract your parachute. Look for clear air. Throw into the clear air (if possible upward towards the sky). Remember if you drop the parachute below you, you need to fall below the falling parachute to load it up so it will open. Considerable altitude will be lost if your parachute falls below you. Yank on your bridle. If you can find your bridle and it is slack there is a problem. Your best course of action is to yank on the bridle to help the parachute inflate. Prepare for impact.
over land: Unzip your harness and get into an upright position with your knees slightly bent and legs together. Your arms should be held snug protecting your face or body. Use your legs as shock absorbers and then allow your body to roll in the direction you are traveling.
over water: Hyperventilate, then take a deep breath before you hit the water. Make note of the wind direction and if possible face into the wind. Prepare to get out of your harness once you reach the water by unfastening before impact any clips or zippers you deem fit. 50
SAFETY
Once you hit the water, it is your job to get out of your harness and dive down and swim upwind. If you remain attached to the glider it is possible your parachute will be flying down wind pulling the wreckage under the water and you with it. Remember, almost all of us can hold our breath for at least one minute. That is plenty of time to get out of your harness and swim away from the wreckage if you focus on the task at hand and do not panic. Did you know? • Most of the time the control bar is ripped out of the pilot’s hands during a tumble. If you hold on too hard you can tear the tendons in your forearm.
UPGRADE
• If your parachute bridle is routed in such a way that it cannot easily free itself from your harness main, you become part of the parachute bridle. • If your parachute is not inflating, a good strong yank will assist the opening. • A controlled deployment sequence is critical. It consists of full bridle stretch, full line stretch, then canopy stretch. This sequence minimizes the risk of entanglement issues or other malfunctions. • Most parachute deployments using current parachute technology work quite well.
• Given enough altitude, a pilot can orient himself/herself any direction by pedaling feet and arms or twisting the torso. You can practice this at home by hanging high in your harness from a rope. • Several pilots have phoned friends or loved ones while descending under parachute. • In an emergency, often your adrenaline kicks in, so real time is passing quickly but in your mind you seem to have several minutes to think through your situation and make good decisions based on training or other experiences. • Pilots can be very creative in using the control they do have left in their broken hang gliders to better their situation. One pilot stuck in a spiral dive was able to slow the wing down and elongate the spiral into an oval. By slowing down and speeding up he was able to guide his wing away from a granite mountain to a better place to deploy his chute. Another pilot who was under parachute was able to grab hold of his keel near the nose plate, pull it downward to gain some fl ight speed, then guide the glider into a better glide direction for impact. • When your parachute opens you will feel a yank towards the direction of the parachute. The faster you are falling the stronger the yank. • If your parachute bridle is attached to your harness instead of the carabiner, the opening forces will travel down the bridle to your harness, up the harness mains to the carabiner where it then reaches the wreckage. In essence you are part of the parachute bridle.1 Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
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D E P A R T M E N T
In closing The early hang gliding parachutes were built to “save the meat.” They were usually adequate for slow-speed deployments at high altitudes. They lacked the testing, development and sometimes structure that we know is so important today. Old-style parachutes have greater altitude loss for full inflation and a faster rate of descent. Some of the pulled-down-apex parachutes would oscillate all the way to the ground. Every time the parachute oscillates it dumps air and accelerates the descent. The new generation of parachutes, like the Quantum Series, has solved many of the old problems. Altitude loss for full inflation is cut to 1/3 of the old style, the rate-ofdescent per square foot of material is about 62% of that of the old style, the stability is remarkable and opening reliability is unquestionably improved.2 The old-style pulled-down-apex parachutes oscillated beyond 45 degrees, while the Quantum Series parachutes oscillate only 3 to 5 degrees. Remember that as a parachute oscillates it dumps air and accelerates the descent. For pilots with old equipment: It is true that any parachute is better than none, but in this day and age, given what many of our hang gliding buddies have taught us with their lives, it is time to improve your chance of survival and upgrade your safety system. For pilots with new technology parachutes: Not many hang glider pilots will ever use their parachute in an emergency, but it is best to be prepared. You have a good parachute system so be certain you know how to use it. Practice regularly. The life you save will be your own. Above all else, fly safely.
Betty Pfeiffer is the president of High Energy Sports Inc. She has manufactured hang gliding harnesses and parachutes since 1982 and powered parachute wings since 1995. She can be reached at (714) 632-3323 or Betty@highenergysports.com. Her Web site, www.highenergysports, includes many safety-related articles.
1
The hang gliding parachute was designed to have the load travel from the bridle to the carabiner, where the force decelerates the wreckage and the pilot both at the same time. 2
I do not mean to sound like an advertisement, but the Quantum Series parachutes have revolutionized round parachute design. This design was developed into the FS-14 used by Smokejumpers as well as the SF-10 A in use by the U.S. Army Special Forces.
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September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
S T .
O
ur friend and host,
Jacques, knew exactly where he wanted to take us, and we, not having another preference, gladly climbed into his Peugeot and set out up Route A48 in the direction of Grenoble. Summer had fled, but winter was not yet arrived. Ahead, as the road stretched out, everything was vague and misty; the Alps, which often loom behind the Chartreuse Mountains, were invisible. But the hills to the left and right of us were well-defined, three-dimensional slabs of gray-andwhite stone. Lying between their massiveness and the ribbon of highway were stillgreen swaths of fields in which pairs and trios of trees cast pale shadows on the turf and provided shade for the browsing cattle.
Parapente: Paragliding à la française
H I L A I R E
“It looks dark inside,” I said. “I think maybe it’s closed? It is late.” “Hein! “ said he, with a traditional Gallic shrug, “C’est impossible!” But as he approached the sign affixed to the front of the building, he mumbled with less exuberance, “Or peutêtre possible.” His eyebrows lifted. And then “Merde!” he ejaculated, and slapped his thigh. “Today is a day it is not open.” And then after a moment, full confidence returned, “But I think there must be a road to the top.”
At that moment, three sweat-stained hikers came off a trail that debouched from the woods at the side of the building. Jacques engaged them in what to me was an unintelligible conversation in colloquial French, after which he inBy Wendy Pollitt formed us that there was, indeed, a road we could take. Where it was exactly none of the trio seemed to One minute we were barreling up the auto route, and then sudden- know, but each was certain it existed. We piled back into the ly we were in the centrifuge of a cloverleaf, leaving the major high- car and set off to fi nd it. way for a rural, two-lane road that turned and twisted us through the town of Crolles to the funiculaire in St. Hilaire du Touvet. In Past yellow honeysuckle hedges growing against remnants of old a spurt of gravel we came to a stop in the small parking lot at the stones that walled in stubbled fields we drove, leaving behind base of the mountain, right in front of the station house. sad-looking houses, their wooden shutters askew, and small orchards glowing with ruby and topaz apples waiting to fall or be “Voilà!” exclaimed Jacques, as he flung his burly six-and-a-half - picked. We were traveling seemingly in another time, when an foot frame from behind the wheel. ‘”I ‘ave promise you a spectacu- anachronistic red light made us halt to let cars coming down pass laire....Regardez là,” and his arm swung in an expansive arc toward before we could continue the ascent. the wooden structure. I exited more slowly from the back seat and regarded dubiously the building he was pointing at. The funicular would have carried us more than 900 meters (979 precisely) up an 80% grade. In actuality, the road didn’t seem Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
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S T .
H I L A I R E
any less steep, but it did offer the added fi llip of twists and turns and an occasional run through the blackest of cavelike tunnels. We rounded one bend and immediately before us, hugging the road, stood an old stone house with a steep slate roof that was missing more than a few of its tiles, a church, a cemetery and then half a dozen almost-modern houses and a restaurant. There was just time to read the name of the village as we drove through, Saint Pancrasse, before we were swallowed up again in the forest. At this altitude there were incipient signs of what New Englanders call Indian Summer. Leaves were beginning to yellow and bronze, nothing flamboyant yet, but still, they were a gentle indication of what was to come. The trees ended abruptly, and the village of St. Hilaire sprawled before us. To say it was much like any other mountain resort suffices to explain why we did not linger but drove right on through the town and parked on its farther side. In the car park we noted license plates from almost every province in France, as well as from Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Jacques had brought us to an international rendezvous; indeed, many claim that this is the best paragliding site in all of Europe, something attributed to the configuration of the mountains, the width of the valley below, and the prevailing winds. We climbed a slight rise and looked down over the nearly-vertical field where the paragliders were taking off. Behind us bare cliffs thrust up their bulk like medieval castle walls. Far away below, the valley spread out, a green and gray and brown patchwork, the silver thread of the Isere River stitched across it. Beyond the most distant of the Chartreuse Mountains, the Alps poked their snowy peaks into the pilingup clouds. And above us, a panoply overhead of paragliders soaring like so many tropical birds, their curved wings arcs of a rainbow against the cloudless cerulean sky.
An easy launch, a few regulations, and spectacular scenery at the “best paragliding site in all of Europe”
We stood for a moment, entranced, and then walked across the field toward its outer edge. Cautiously, we arranged ourselves along the lip, at a distance from the point where the parapentiers were taking off. We looked back to watch as, one by one, each flier spread his chute open on the grass, checked and rechecked the network of lines, and when all was ready, faced into the wind and ran forward. Behind the flier, the chute slowly filled and began to rise, tugging against the lines that moored it to the harness. As sunflowers follow the sun across the sky, our eyes and bodies turned slowly to watch the progress across the field. With each step taken, the chute filled more, and lifted higher, as the flier ran forward until his last step was into nothingness and—he flew! 54
September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
Tiny alpine villages (top) and wide-open valleys to land in (center) add to the allure of this flying site.
Oh, it was a glorious sight. We stood on the edge of space and watched a dozen or more swoop and glide and rise over the valley and then swoop again and rise again. Over and over. Most of the paragliders were simply soaring, but there were daredevils among them, the envelopepushers. They essayed spins, pirouetting like ballerinas and then jete-ing on an updraft. A few came so frightfully close to others that collision seemed inevitable. (Only later did we learn that a parachute is an essential part of the gear, perhaps because collisions are not uncommon.) One fellow did a somersault just before coming in to land, tumbling his body without tangling his web of lines or spilling any of the air out of his chute. My heart almost stopped, but his girlfriend on the ground applauded roundly. Bold and numerous were the human fliers, but they didn’t have the air to themselves. Two crows were aloft, swooping and soaring. Were they there for the pure joy of gliding on the rising currents, for the exhilaration flight brings, or were they taunting the clumsier efforts of the unfeathered fliers? We thought it a game, the way the birds flew vertical circles around the chutes or caught updrafts and came without warning from right under the fliers, or slid across a flier’s path and caused him to pull on the cords and change course. We thought it a game the birds played, and this day it may have been, but during nesting season, we were told, the
The cliffs behind launch are spectacularly soarable. Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
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S DT E. P HA IR LT AMI ER NE T
birds will actually attack the chutes, diving like Mirages, pecking at the canopy, and sometimes even landing on it! At the end of the day, birds retreat to the trees. And so on this day, as it lost its brilliance and began to reflect more of a golden glow, the paragliders came in to land. One by one, with varying styles and degrees of grace, they touched down, then “taxied,” running across the open ground, their chutes collapsing, trailing behind. Swiftly each flier gathered in the gossamer cloth and moved aside to make room for the next to alight. With one last look at the iris of chutes lining up to descend, we turned and climbed back up the hill to the car park.
From September 16-19, 2004, thousands of paraglider and hang glider pilots will converge at St.Hilaire du Touvet to compete for the Icarus Cup (Coupe Icare). For more information: www.coupe-icare.org email: info@coupe-icare.org fax: 00-33-(0)-4-76-97-20-56 (or go to GOOGLE and type in Icarus Cup)
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My First Competition: East Coast Paragliding Championships Article and photos by Tim Kuenster
F
lorida is the land of swamps, mosquitoes, dog-eating ‘gators, beaches, spring breaks, shuttle launches, retirees, and kid-toting parents heading for Disney’s wallet-vacuum theme parks. And most recently, it hosted the second East Coast Championships of Paragliding competition. Is this for real? No 45-minute bumpy, squished-in drives to launch utilizing groaning old 4x4s? I bought my plane ticket and was on my way to find out! This was my first real flying competition, so I was nervous about everything. I went through the checklists and found that I really wouldn’t need to bring that much: a GPS to capture my flights for the scoring, a radio for communications, a vario to help my thermaling, tow bridles for the towing, flying gear, and minimal clothing as Florida has excellent weather. Most know that Florida is flat, and if you didn’t know that, let me tell you again: Florida is FLAT. I don’t know if all of Florida is flat, but around Orlando it’s flat. When I flew in I was struck by a couple of things: first, I could discern the earth’s curvature as the plane came in for a landing because it’s so flat, and second, there were a lot of nice, happy, puffy cumulus clouds.
towing, with which I was slightly familiar in theory only. The winches were set up on the up-wind side of the big airfield and the pilots set up half a mile down-wind with the line stretched out across the field to where the pilots laid out and hooked in. Once cleared for take-off, the winch operators would bring up the slack and then launch us once our wings came up overhead. We were getting between 700 to 1500 feet up on the tows. Additional heights were being gained on “step tows” where the pilot would turn and glide downwind, still attached to the line instead of pinning off, and then turn back into the wind somewhere over the launch area. Coinciding with the turns, the winch operator would drop pressure as the pilot was running out the line, and then re-apply the pressure and continue the tow when the pilot turned and flew back toward the tow rig. The Competitors This meet had a mix of competition veterans and first-timers like me. For a newcomer, it was great to be able to mix in with the big dogs and pick their brains on strategy, weather, and equipment. These guys have a tremendous amount of experience, wisdom, and knowledge that they love sharing with the rest of us with less competition experience.
Josh Cohn scanning the sky
Rasa Lila, the meet organizer, met me at the airport and brought me back to the QuestAir clubhouse where there was a bunch of folks hanging out. QuestAir seems to be part commune, part hostel, and part flight club, and the combination was a fun, comfortable atmosphere where I felt welcomed and at home right away. Thankfully the first day was a practice day, as I really had no idea how to be prepared for an actual competition day. I had the normal first-competition jitters about working my GPS effectively when flying, getting familiar with the area, knowing when I was at a turn point, where to land, how to get home, and what happens if I have to pee, just to start the list. Luckily I never had to test out my knowledge of the last point, and the rest of the skills come pretty naturally so I didn’t have much to worry about that first day. The briefing for the practice day was simple: Get familiar with the towing regimen, learn the GPS, and if you catch something, fly your ass off. I am familiar with pay-out towing where the pilot is towed up behind a boat or vehicle paying out line as altitude is gained, but for this meet the launching was done with pay-in Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
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C OC MA PL E CN OD RA NR E R
The 13 competitors were Greg Babush from Colorado, Josh Cohn, Tin Ilakovic, Gavin Swain, Mario Ornelas and myself from California, Brad Gunnuscio from Utah, Doug Hoffman from Hawaii, Jeff Huey from Oregon, Jim Macklow from Nevada, David Prentice from New Mexico, and Luis Rosenkjer from Argentina. Paul Pearce from North Carolina was the 13th competitor but sacrificed his spot early on to provide towing services. Greg Babush on tow
One thing I noticed about several of the competitors was their watchfulness prior to each day’s task. It was if every fiber of their being was tuned into the weather nuances. Here in Florida there was an extra benefit of the little cumies forming early; we could see how they were setting up and reacting with the various upper level winds. Ultimately, the decisions that the pilots made were largely based on their experiences flying in various conditions; a competitive advantage is gained by the pilot who understands and makes better decisions based on his observations. After each morning’s pilot meeting and our updating of our GPSs with the day’s task, there wasn’t a lot of talk. Instead, quiet contemplation and determination emanated from each of the competitors. Especially for me with so little XC experience and absolutely no competition experience, a lot of time was spent preparing myself mentally for the day’s task, studying the maps, and continuously re-evaluating the weather. Another point to make about the competition is that it’s surprisingly non-competitive. There is quite a cooperative atmosphere among the pilots in terms of sharing strategy and daily observations. It helps tremendously when other pilots are flying with you because it allows you to experiment more and use each other to find the lift. There was a lot of talk like, “I didn’t want to leave until you were up there with me” going on. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen too often in this competition as the high winds precluded most of those kinds of decisions. Personally, I spent a fair amount of time evaluating my mental toughness after each day’s task and judging how well I stayed with my original game plan and strategy. For each day I can clearly say that my Achilles heel is my impatience regarding when to leave and head out. Watching the other pilots, I noticed that they didn’t always leave immediately when they got high, but instead decided on the right time to go based on the winds, how the clouds were forming, and the “feel” of the air. There was clearly a lot of “understanding the sky” going on. The Flying Flat-land flying, for those of us used to flying mountain sites, is challenging. The first day I spent my time flying focused on everything: searching for my next landing field, looking for other competitors, watching the clouds, figuring out which ones were forming and which were dying, watching my GPS for course 60
direction, listening intently to my vario, scanning the horizon and above and below for any planes that might require evasive action. It was too much! On the second day I decided to stop focusing on all of those things and let it all happen naturally. So I spent the next couple of days letting my reflexes do the right thing. I found that I could detach parts of my mind to start actively analyzing the clouds and meteorology around me to help decide where to go next as the automatic parts worked the lift. The competition went from Sunday to Saturday, five flying days with valid tasks and two which were called off due to high winds. Each morning the task committee would evaluate the weather and winds aloft to come up with the primary and secondary tasks for the day. For the week, the tasks ranged from 30 to 50 miles. The tasks could have been longer but wind direction and the proximity of the coast were the deciding factors. I’m not going to go into much detail about the daily flying but I’ll summarize the tasks and standings: Day 1, Sunday: 35 mile task—Possibly the best flying day of all, but Luis dropped a drogue chute into an orange grove so a lot of us sat around for a while until Paul broke out his tow rig and started us going again. Jeff made goal. I flew 14 miles with a highlight of coring up with Jim Lee and a student in a big glider 50 feet below me. Day 2, Monday: 50 mile task—Another good day although it was starting to get windier and harder to time the tows with the thermals, so we all had a lot of tows before we got away on course. David and Jeff made goal with Luis and Josh not too far behind. My flight of 14 miles put me within walking distance of my landing spot from the previous day but more importantly, right next to a store with cold beer. September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
C O MC PA LC EONR DN AE R
Day 3, Tuesday: Called off due to wind. Day 4, Wednesday: 47 mile task—Can you say wind-eee? It was hard to stay within the three-mile start window after leaving tow if you didn’t get a good tow and hook into a thermal right away. I think I could have gone to Vegas and had better odds. However, Luis did make it to goal with Brad, Jeff, and Josh not too far behind. A lot of pilots made it out and far onto course today. My three-mile slingshot ride took less than 10 minutes! Day 5, Thursday: Called due to wind. Tin, Luis, and I went to Disney World and Epcot Center while most of the others relaxed and lounged at the lake. The lake water is about 80°F with a dock, a paddle boat, a kayak, and a big rope swing and stand to jump from. It was always a popular spot after the day’s flying was finished. Day 6, Friday: 38 mile task—Less wind and better looking clouds seemed to set up this day. Due to the wind direction and the proximity to the coast, the task was a bit short. David, Josh, and Gavin made it to goal, but too quickly for the meet parameters so the day wasn’t worth many points; Brad landed a few miles short. I rode a great thermal to cloudbase, snapped some pictures, and promptly landed out on a nine-mile glide. I was starting to feel like maybe my skills weren’t so good until I learned that I’d come in 5th for the day, in front of Jeff, Luis, and Doug. Day 7, Saturday: 43-mile zig-zag task—This day was much like the previous one, but the task committee had to create a longer task and we were still inhibited by the wind direction blowing to the ocean 40 miles away. The task today was tougher, as some of the crosswind legs required considerable skill to navigate. David, Josh, and Luis made it to goal while the rest of us stayed under 14 miles. My flight, which was the last of the day, was 10 miles and I was stopped by a squall that came through and blocked my path to the next waypoint.
The whole gang, cast and crew
Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
Final Results NAME
1 Luis Rosenkjer 2 David Prentice 3 Josh Cohn 4 Jeff Huey 5 Brad Gunnuscio 6 Tin Ilakovic 7 Tim Kuenster 8 Jim Macklow 9 Gavin Swain 10 Mario Ornelas 11 Doug Hoffman 12 Greg Babush
GLIDER
NATION
TOTAL
Pro Design Titan II Gin Boomerang 3 Windtech Nitro Gin Boomerang 3 Edel Ace Gin Nomad Pro Design Titan Pro Design Pro-ject Apco Presta Nova Aeron Windtech Syncro Ozone Octane
ARG USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA
2229 2195 1999 1918 1575 905 816 815 768 748 512 471
The Venue QuestAir seems to be the perfect venue for a competition of this sort. It has accessibility, accommodations, and is close to a lot of fun things to do on the off days or for the rest of the family. It’s within 45 minutes of Orlando International Airport, Disney World, Epcot Center, Kennedy Space Center, and several other attractions. It has a long runway oriented north/south and a smaller runway stretching east/west, so we could position the winches and lay out the tow lines to be able to launch in just about any wind direction. Many thanks to David Prentice for the ideas and the perseverance, to Rasa Lila for her dedication and support, and to Dean Funk, our meet director—he’s a hang glider pilot but he learned pretty quickly how to work with us! In Conclusion The combination of towing and flatland flying seems to require a greater degree of preparation than is necessary for standard mountain competitions. Since this was only the second sanctioned paraglider tow competition in the U.S., it was a huge learning experience for the meet organizers. Now that it’s over, it is obvious that there is still a lot of work to be done to allow tow competitions to be viable for larger meets. Although the meet received USHGA sanctioning late and was a bit loosely prepared, it came off great and I’m looking forward to a trip to Florida next year! Tim Kuenster has been flying paragliders for 10 accident-free years. He lives and spends most of his time at the San Francisco bay area sites, and over the past couple of years he has focused on learning aerobatics to compete in the Red Bull Wings Over Cleveland and the Seattle Aerobattle. This year his focus is on XC competitions starting with this Florida tow meet, then the Rat Race, and, in late August, the nationals in Utah.
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N E W
RATING/REGION
H-1 3 H-1 3 H-1 3 H-1 4 H-1 4 H-1 7 H-1 7 H-1 8 H-1 8 H-1 9 H-1 9 H-1 10 H-1 10 H-1 12 H-1 13 H-1 13 H-2 2 H-2 3 H-2 4 H-2 7 H-2 7 H-2 9 H-2 9 H-2 10 H-2 10 H-2 12 H-2 13 H-3 1 H-3 3 H-3 4 H-3 6 H-3 8 H-3 8 H-3 8 H-3 8 H-3 10 H-3 10 H-4 3 H-4 3 H-4 7 T-1 3 T-1 10
62
1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5
CITY
STATE
OFFICIAL
SHIRLEY CHAN ALHAMBRA CA PAUL THORNBURY CARRIE TODD LONG BEACH CA PAUL THORNBURY J. BENDETSON MARINA DEL REY CA PAUL THORNBURY JORGE VALLES NOGALES AZ JEFFREY HUNT ERIK SEMRAU CARBONDALE CO RUSTY WHITLEY M. MCDANEL BEMIDJI MN ERIK GRAPER SID HAMMOND SCANDINAVIA WI MALCOLM JONES P-YVES GERVEZ PROVIDENCE RI STEVEN PREPOST GALINA SMITH NEW LONDON CT JAMES TINDLE M.THOGMARTIN MILLERSPORT OH JOHN ALDEN EMILY POTTER PINE GROVE MILLS PA STEVE BERNIER J.MILLIGAN CAMP LAJEUNE NC ANDREA ZEGER HOWARD WHITE VERO BEACH FL MALCOLM JONES V. BOYARSHINOV TROY NY C. THORESON T. SWINSCOE WARNINGLID SUSSEX MALCOLM JONES P. SWINSCOE WARNINGLID SUSSEX MALCOLM JONES M. EPPERSON ANTIOCH CA W. ANDERSON P. SULLIVAN THOUSAND OAKS CA ANDREW BEEM JORGE VALLES NOGALES AZ JEFFREY HUNT M. MCDANEL BEMIDJI MN ERIK GRAPER SID HAMMOND SCANDINAVIA WI MALCOLM JONES M. THOGMARTIN MILLERSPORT OH JOHN ALDEN E. GUNZELMAN MANASSAS VA JOHN MIDDLETON DAVE LEACH DOTHAN AL DANIEL GUIDO HOWARD WHITE VERO BEACH FL MALCOLM JONES SCOTT GREGORY HORSEHEADS NY JACK SLOCUM T. SWINSCOE WARNINGLID SUSSEX MALCOLM JONES R. VANLANDINGHAM, SCIO OR DANIEL TYLER JR A. ROUTLEY STUDIO CITY CA FRED BALLARD RUSS DRYER SKULL VALLEY AZ GREG BERGER JASON GRAY GREENWOOD AR WARREN FLATTE M. STROTHER NORWALK CT BEN DAVIDSON S. STUTZMAN DOVER FOXCROFT ME GARY TRUDEAU T. STUTZMAN DOVER-FOXCROFT ME GARY TRUDEAU C. HAGER WARWICK RI STEVEN PREPOST BRIAN FLAITZ FT MYERS FL JAMES TINDLE K MICHELLE EDWARDS, N MIAMI BEACH, FL JAMES TINDLE R. SEYMOUR GLENDALE CA JOSEPH SZALAI MIKE HARPER DANA POINT CA ROB MCKENZIE SHANE LESNOW CLINTON TWP MI NORM LESNOW J. AXAOPOULOS SAN DIEGO CA STEVE STACKABLE A. MARTINS MIAMI FL JAMES TINDLE
RATING/REGION
P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1
R A T I N G S
CITY
STATE
OFFICIAL
REX SIMENSEN VANCOUVER WA BRAD HILL ERIC BRADFIELD KENT WA DENISE REED GINNY MILLER SHORELINE WA JAROMIR LAHULEK KIRSTEN BROWN GRANTS PASS OR KEVIN LEE P. HAMMARLUND HILLSBORO OR LARRY PINDAR DENNIS GILBERT PORTLAND OR MAREN LUDWIG PETER MURPHY PASO ROBLES CA DAVID BINDER GAL BAR-OR PT REYES STATION CA DOUGLAS STROOP SAMUEL LINTON SUNNYVALE CA J. GREENBAUM PATRICK KRAUSE MILL VALLEY CA W. ANDERSON TERRY PFEIFER SANTA BARBARA CA CHAD BASTIAN BRUCE ELDER LA JOLLA CA KYOUNG KI HONG ETIENNE DRION SAN DIEGO CA KYOUNG KI HONG A. HAJDUCZEK RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA M. DE BARROS S. PENDLETON SALT LAKE CITY UT BRIAN SCHENCK TODD WEBER SANDY UT C. SANTACROCE MATT WIMMER OGDEN UT C. SANTACROCE ROMAN OZANA DILLON CO GREGORY KELLEY J. FULLENKAMP BRECKENRIDGE CO GREGORY KELLEY S. ANDERSON GREELEY CO KAY TAUSCHER P. ALVES DA SILVA TEMPE AZ M. DE BARROS CHANDLER PAPAS PHOENIX AZ STEPHEN MAYER DAVID STETTLER KAYSVILLE UT STEPHEN MAYER C. HOLLOWAY JACKSON WY SCOTT HARRIS
RATING/REGION
P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-5 T-1 T-1 T-1
8 8 9 9 10 10 13 13 13 13 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 10 10 11 13 13 13 1 1 1 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 8 8 10 12 12 12 1 1 1 3 12 12 13 1 8 13 13
CITY
STATE
OFFICIAL
T. SILVER-PELL TURNERS FALLS MA A. CHUCULATE JILL GARLAND SACO ME JEFFREY NICOLAY HAROLD MILLER LAUREL MD D. MCCOURT KENNETH WONG HARRISBURG PA W. UMSTATTD MARINA RUNK MONTGOMERY AL GREG GILLIAM MARK EVANS DOTHAN AL STEPHEN MAYER MARK WILSON N VANCOUVER BC DION VUK STEIN MYHRSTAD N VANCOUVER BC DION VUK RORY GILPIN KAOHSIUNG COUNTY 824 LESLIE SHARP CARL CARUK FORT NELSON BC STUART CARUK ERIC BRADFIELD KENT WA DENISE REED KIRSTEN BROWN GRANTS PASS OR KEVIN LEE DENNIS GILBERT PORTLAND OR MAREN LUDWIG JONATHAN CLARK SAN FRANCISCO CA JEFF WISHNIE SAMUEL LINTON SUNNYVALE CA J.GREENBAUM C. MEYER SARATOGA CA J.GREENBAUM JEFF FOREMAN OAKLAND CA J.GREENBAUM ED SCHWARTZ LAS VEGAS NV KEVIN BIERNACKI PATRICK KRAUSE MILL VALLEY CA W. ANDERSON TERRY PFEIFER SANTA BARBARA CA CHAD BASTIAN H. PIWENITZKY II SAN DIEGO CA DAVID JEBB BRUCE ELDER LA JOLLA CA KYOUNG KI HONG A. HAJDUCZEK, RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA, M. DE BARROS S. PENDLETON SALT LAKE CITY UT BRIAN SCHENCK TODD WEBER SANDY UT C. SANTACROCE MATT WIMMER OGDEN UT C. SANTACROCE ALAN LOFTON SILVERTHORNE CO GREGORY KELLEY ROMAN OZANA DILLON CO GREGORY KELLEY P. ALVES DA SILVA TEMPE AZ M. DE BARROS CHANDLER PAPAS PHOENIX AZ STEPHEN MAYER DAVID STETTLER KAYSVILLE UT STEPHEN MAYER C. HOLLOWAY JACKSON WY SCOTT HARRIS MARINA RUNK MONTGOMERY AL GREG GILLIAM MARK EVANS DOTHAN AL STEPHEN MAYER GARY LEACH AUSTIN TX DAVID PRENTICE MARK WILSON N VANCOUVER BC DION VUK STEIN MYHRSTAD N VANCOUVER BC DION VUK RORY GILPIN KAOHSIUNG COUNTY 824 LESLIE SHARP M. DENHAAN SEATTLE WA C. SANTACROCE SCOTT ERVIN KLAMATH FALLS OR KEVIN LEE B. COMSTOCK ASHLAND OR KEVIN LEE DAVID DAVIDSON VENTURA CA CHAD BASTIAN JAMES PLESETZ TUSTIN CA M. DE BARROS TOMEK PEGIEL ASPEN CO A. PALMAZ CASEY BAXTER BOULDER CO C. SANTACROCE JACK HARPER SALT LAKE CITY UT C. SANTACROCE TYLER PERKINS BOULDER CO GREGORY KELLEY ROMAN OZANA DILLON CO GREGORY KELLEY P. TELLEZ GARCIA TEMPE AZ M. DE BARROS DAN GERDES CENTERVILLE UT STEPHEN MAYER R. BREDEHOFT BILLINGS MT J. MATT COMBS B J HANSEN TETON VILLAGE WY J. MATT COMBS C. HOLLOWAY JACKSON WY SCOTT HARRIS SAMUEL AZEVEDOMELROSE MA PAUL VOIGHT JOSEF SCESNAK MALDEN MA PAUL VOIGHT COREY WIDMER RIVIERA BEACH FL J. CASAUDOUMECQ A. PLEBANCZYK SOMERVILLE NJ F. RODRIGUES I. KASPRZYCKI WOODSIDE NY F. RODRIGUES APARECIDO SILVA NEWARK NJ F. RODRIGUES KERRY RYAN KENT WA J P SALDANA JIM BALDO CAMAS WA MICHAEL SMITH S. MESSMAN ELMA WA MICHAEL SMITH PAUL GAIGALAS GOLETA CA ROB SPORRER LUIS TAVARES NEWARK NJ F. RODRIGUES APARECIDO SILVA NEWARK NJ F. RODRIGUES R. WESTGATE WEST MIDLANDS C. SANTACROCE MARTY DEVIETTI SEATTLE WA STEPHEN MAYER DINILSON LOPES MARLBOROUGH MA MARCUS SANTOS R. WESTGATE WEST MIDLANDS C. SANTACROCE PETER GREIS CH-STAEFA 8712 JOERG EWALD
September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
Above: Eron Schultz watches Dave Cantrell while waiting to launch at Chehalem, Oregon. Right: John Olson launching at Twin Bowls, Toutle River, Washington Photos: Ancil Nance
Locals do it better. Photo: Mike Kellogg
A smiling Rob Kells makes a low pass at launch while test flying a customer’s Falcon 2 at Crestline, California. Photo: Gene Atkins
Mike Meier launching the Sport 2 155 prototype at Lake Elsinore, California Photo: Gene Atkins
A C C I D E N T S
Hang Gliding Accident Report
B
By Joe Gregor
efore we get down to business, I’d like to introduce myself as your new USHGA hang gliding accident review committee chairman. I am currently the chair for a committee of one. I come equipped, standard, with a background in fixed-wing aviation. I spent eight years or so as a pilot in the Air Force flying a variety of aircraft from the T-38 Talon to the E-3A AWACS (a Boeing 707 with a big black-and-white flying-saucer on top). Upon separation from active duty, I went back to school full-time to collect a PhD. There was not much demand for plasma physicists back then, so I soon found myself back in the aviation business. Now I’m working on the safety side, in the Research & Engineering division of the National Transportation Safety Board. It’s a fascinating job. I get to play detective when an accident has occurred, and engineer when things are quiet. I took up hang gliding in 1992, soon after they stopped paying me to fly, and have never looked back. There is simply no better bang for the buck in aviation. My Talon 150 goes out flying every reasonable weekend in the spring, summer and fall (I don’t do freezing anymore). I know how an accident investigation is conducted in the world of civil aviation. How we can or should do this thing in the world of hang gliding is an open question. Our resources are strictly limited. Our organization and methods of operation are different. But many of the principles are the same, even simplified, and the basic philosophy of civil accident investigation still applies: to increase safety by determining the probable cause of past accidents and making recommendations on how to avoid their recurrence in the future. Deciding how best to achieve this goal will require time and consideration. We will explore this question together in the year to come. If we are to accomplish anything toward furthering safety in the hang gliding community, your assistance will be absolutely key. Even as we plan for the future, though, we must keep up with the present—and the present has been anything but kind to us, as of late. Where do I begin? The U.S. hang gliding community has suffered six fatal (and one near-fatal) accidents between late March and late June—an annualized rate of 18; this is for an active hangpilot population of roughly 5,000. It has been many years, thankfully, since our safety record stood in such poor stead. Where went all of our hard-won progress? One purpose of the USHGA accident review program is to answer questions such as this. Another purpose—the primary purpose for this column—is to ensure that pilots learn as much as posHang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
sible from the experiences of others. In the case of an accident, someone has paid a price. For six pilots so far this year, that price has been the ultimate one. Those of us remaining have a duty to learn as much as we can from these accidents, to justify the frightening costs, to do our best to avoid paying for these particular lessons ever again. Accidents happen in a flash. Understanding comes much We have seven major more slowly. The lessons to accidents to investigate be learned must be untangled from the wreckage; teased from as of this writing. We have the tangled web of information, some valid, some invalid; at our disposal a voluntary reconstructed from the myriad crew of untrained accident bits and pieces left to those of us remaining. Only then can investigators, zero budget, we have any hope of understanding (as best as anyone and no mechanism for can) what likely happened, and compelling outside agencies what conclusions, if any, we may draw from the experience. to provide objective support. The process will take time—a great deal of time. The National Transportation Safety Board, with all of the legal and financial resources at its disposal, requires a year or more to complete a major accident investigation. We have seven major accidents to investigate as of this writing. We have at our disposal a voluntary crew of untrained accident investigators, zero budget, and no mechanism for compelling outside agencies to provide objective support. Yes, it will take time, and patience, and your active support. The following summaries represent an initial notification of the major accidents having taken place so far this calendar year. They are intended to be brief and factual in nature. The reader is cautioned that an initial notification is based on preliminary information—information that is often contradictory and incomplete. No analysis is attempted and none is justified at this early stage. Analysis will come later, once all of the available information has been collected, verified, and collated to the best of our abilities.
Date/Time: March 30, 2004 / Approximately 3:00 p.m. Location: Marion County, Georgia Pilot Rating: 42-year-old male, H4 Glider: Airborne Climax Wx (wind/weather conditions): Unknown A pilot flying cross-country from Lookout Mountain Flight Park crashed while attempting to land in a restricted landing field. The pilot impacted a parked motor home on the ground, sustaining 67
A C C I D E N T S
fatal injuries due to blunt trauma. The pilot was reportedly in contact with a pilot on the ground for most of the flight, but there were no eyewitnesses to the accident.
Date/Time: April 22, 2004 / 2:20 p.m. Location: Campbell Hills/Sugarloaf Peak, California Pilot: 60-year-old male, H4 Glider: Wills Wing Sport 150 Wx: Fairly steady 30-35 mph; 10-15 degree left cross. A pilot launching from a 200’ AGL ridge contacted the ground with his base tube immediately after launch and was turned back into the hill before he could re-establish aircraft control. The pilot sustained fatal neck injuries as a result of ground impact. The wing being flown was new to the pilot, being of a smaller size than his accustomed wing. Also, the launch position used by the pilot this day was more gradually sloped than that of the position the pilot was accustomed to launching from. The pilot had a known pattern of launching from this site and pulling in to buzz the area immediately in front of launch.
Date/Time: May 17, 2004 Location: Currituck County Airport, North Carolina Pilot: Male, H5 Glider: Aeros Combat L Wx: Unknown A pilot flying a borrowed glider and harness experienced a structural failure while engaged in aerobatic maneuvers. Witnesses report that the glider exhibited a slightly deformed left wing but was otherwise intact. Witness statements and wreckage examination indicate pre-impact damage to the left leading edge, crossbar, and left lower flying wire, and that the failure occurred while the glider was under positive G-loading. Manufacturer analysis is ongoing in an attempt to determine the exact failure sequence. Manufacturer reports indicate that this was not a production glider, but rather a special lightweight version developed specifically for competition. The pilot had been advised not to perform aerobatics using this glider. The pilot threw his reserve while still above approximately 2000’ AGL, but the parachute was observed to immediately separate from both glider and pilot without opening. Subsequent examination indicated that the parachute bridle was likely not connected to the harness and pulled free when thrown. This parachute was configured to connect to the harness internally to reduce drag, rather than at the carabiner as is usual among non-competition pilots. The glider entered an uncontrollable spin/graveyard spiral and impacted in a soft swampy area. The pilot suffered severe injuries but is now recovering at home.
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Date/Time: May 28, 2004 / Approximately 7:00 p.m. Location: Dry Canyon, New Mexico Pilot: 47-year-old male, H5 Glider: UP TRX / Predator Conversion Wx: SW 10-12 mph, possibly slightly turbulent A pilot on his first flight since October of 2003 began performing mild aerobatic maneuvers (90-degree wingovers) at approximately 1500’ AGL. After a few maneuvers the glider suffered a structural failure. Witness statements indicate that the glider was likely positively loaded at the time of the failure. The glider wreckage is currently being examined to determine the exact failure sequence. A preliminary examination, reinforced by witness statements, indicates that the left leading edge failed first. The pilot was observed to throw his reserve while still above approximately 500’ AGL, but the parachute failed to inflate before impact 20 seconds later. The reserve is currently being examined by a certified parachute packer. The glider impacted a house and the pilot sustained fatal injuries due to blunt trauma.
Date/Time: June 19, 2004 Location: Hull Mountain, California Pilot: 33-year-old male, H2 Glider: Airwave Pulse 10m Wx: SW 10-15 mph A new pilot trained at a coastal site arranged for sponsorship at an inland site that is used by other H2 pilots under supervision of an instructor. The pilot launched after some conversation with the local pilots, but was not in radio contact with anyone during the flight. The pilot was not noticed missing until the position of an unknown glider was reported to locals in the LZ later in the day. The glider was found downwind of a ridge approximately one mile (estimated) from the designated LZ. The control frame of the glider was damaged but the glider was otherwise intact. The pilot suffered fatal injuries due to blunt trauma. The field in which the glider came to rest was reportedly far too restricted for a safe landing, and was likely subject to rotor given the winds present that day. There were conflicting reports of other pilots safely landing short due to the strong winds, but no other incidents were reported. The main LZ is estimated to be approximately an 8:1 glide from launch.
As you read this column, teams of dedicated volunteers across the country are working hard to help us get at the facts. September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
D E P A R T M E N T
Date/Time: June 24, 2004 Location: King Mountain, Idaho Pilot: Male, H5 Glider: Laminar Wx: Thunderstorms in the area An experienced pilot was flying in proximity to serious thunderstorm activity. Pilot reports for the area that day include sink rates in excess of 2500 fpm, virga, lightning, and a 120-degree wind direction change over a 15-minute period at launch. The accident pilot radioed his intention to fly around the storm. The storm began producing pouring rain and high winds. Radio contact was lost soon thereafter. Pilot and glider were found the next morning. The glider was found badly damaged but intact next to an impact depression in the ground. The pilot had suffered fatal injuries due to severe blunt trauma. The coroner estimated an impact speed well in excess of normal hang glider Vne. The pilot was found still zipped into the harness, with VG partially on. There was no evidence of an attempted reserve deployment.
Date/Time: June 26, 2004 / Approximately 2:00 p.m. Location: Hang Glide Chicago, Cushing Field, Illinois Pilot: 53-year-old male, H4 Glider: LiteSport 147 Wx: W 5 mph, thermally A highly experienced mountain pilot aerotowing a newly-purchased glider experienced a lockout at low altitude. Witness reports indicate that the glider began oscillating immediately after leaving the launch dolly. The weak link broke after the glider entered a lockout attitude. Once free, the glider was reportedly too low (50-65’ AGL, estimated) to recover from the unusual attitude and impacted the ground in a steep dive. The pilot suffered fatal injuries due to blunt trauma. There is no evidence that the pilot made an attempt to release from tow prior to the weak link break; the gate was found closed on the Wallaby-style tow release. Reports indicate that this was possibly only the second time the incident pilot had flown this new glider (a replacement for a smaller Xtralite 137), and that the previous flight had taken place at a foot-launch site. The pilot’s last reported aerotow flight at this site took place in October of 2003. These initial notifications represent the beginning, not the end, of the accident investigation process. It is tempting to draw a conclusion from the first rush of information. I counsel patience. Future columns will elaborate on these incidents as new information is developed and our understanding improves. It may be quite some time before we can say with any degree of confidence what actually occurred in these seven incidents. In some cases, given our resources and the way hang gliders are operated, we may never be in a position to “know” what happened with any certainty. All we can promise is to do the best we can. As you read this column, teams of dedicated volunteers across the country are working hard to help us get at the facts. If you are in a position to help in any way—be it with information, expertise, or simply your time—please contact your regional directors. They should know who is coordinating any investigations in your local area. If that fails, you may contact me at air_medal@mac.com.
Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
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Calendar of events items WILL NOT be listed if only tentative. Please include exact information (event, date, contact name and phone number). Items should be received no later than six weeks prior to the event. We request two months lead time for regional and national meets. For more complete information on the events listed, please see our Calendar of Events at www.ushga.org.
Competition September 10-12: Intermountain League Meet, King Mountain, Idaho. The final round of this low cost, no stress, no rules introduction to competition paragliding. $25 entry fee. All the money goes toward prizes, retrieval drivers and beer. Contact Matt Beechinor, (208) 720-7482 or mattbeechinor@yahoo.com. September 17-20: 9th Annual Masters of Freestyle Hang Gliding Contest. Mission Bay Park, San Diego, California. Four contest rounds, maximum field of 15 competitors. Aerotowing will be used to transport the gliders to 2500 feet above Mission Bay between East Vacation and Fiesta Islands. Pilots who have flown in any of the past Masters contests are pre-qualified for the 2004 competition. All other interested pilots must submit a resumé and entry form. Entry fee is $300US and includes event passes, aerotows, two catered dinners, a fireworks show, portable toilets, T-shirts and an invisible mountain of fabulous prizes! Check the “What’s New” page at www.aeroevents.org for the latest news and information, or contact dinoddd@juno.com. September 19-25: KZN Open Paragliding Championships (Category 2). KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. If you have ever been interested in flying competitions, you will surely enjoy this event. Flying an organised task with a specific objective is challenging yet fun, as well as educational. Some “round the houses” tasks will be set to cater to new up-&-coming Pilots. We will set open-distance tasks on the big “100km+” days. There will be time for some recreational flying as well. We invite all South African and nternational pilots to attend this great event, to be held at Dumbe Mountain, Paulpietersburg, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Check out the Web site at http://www.kznparagliding.co.za/.
Fly‐Ins August 30-Sept. 6: Flaming Fall Foliage Festival and East Coast National Fly-In. At Long Acre Farms, Macedon, N.Y. Fun fly-in to include team competition, team songs, Saturday party, Sunday dinner, bonfires, the infamous burning glider finale, glider and equipment demos by Wills Wing, Moyes, Flytec, Rotor and much more. Seminars and in-flight training by Mike Barber and Dennis Pagen. Aerotow ratings will be available until Sept. 1 ONLY. This event is limited to 100 pilots, and pre-registration is preferred. While Finger Lakes Flight Park offers aerotow launching for hang glider pilots only, there are a number of foot-launch sites in close proximity to the flight park, facing several directions, and pilots of ALL launch disciplines are invited and encouraged to attend the fly-in! The flight park will be the “base of operations,” will host the extracurricular activities, and of course will offer aerotowng daily. Fees are $65 per pilot, $30 per adult spectator and $10 per child. Pilot fee includes 1-week membership to the RAF local mountain sites. Camping and showers available (camping fees are separate). Contact Marty at (315) 986-2931 or Joan at (315) 986-4202 or visit our Web site at www.fingerlakesaerosportpark.com. September 11-12: 14th annual Pine Mountain Fly-In, Pine Mountain, near Bend, Ore. Contact Phil Pohl at (541) 388-3869, philpohl@coinet.com. 70
September 11-12: Annual Canadian-American challenge fly-in at scenic Black Mountain near Maple Falls, Washington. Silver Lake Park group camp area is reserved for Friday and Saturday nights. Competition Saturday and Sunday includes duration, turnpoint and spot landing, with optional raceto-LZ Sunday morning. Prizes. Pot-Luck BBQ Saturday night. Live music. Entry fee $25 includes camping both nights. Pilot meeting and registration Saturday 10:00 am. For more info contact Lori Lawson at (425) 898-8163 or email tom.lori@verizon.net. September 17-19: Annual Sandia Soaring Association Fall Fly-In, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Come and enjoy a weekend of great fall flying at this annual event. Fun competition and a barbecue Saturday night. Requirements for flying hang gliders at Sandia are minimum of H3 with recent mountain experience. This year we will be hosting paragliding at Sandia Peak on a limited basis for P4s with cliff/ turbulence signoffs. Solid foot-launch skills for both hang and para recommended. Call ahead if you are a paraglider pilot and you wish to fly the awesome Sandias! If you are not already a member of the club, you will be required to join. Entry fee for non-members (includes club dues) is $25, members $10. Guides will be provided, as will oxygen refills. Contact Bill Lemon at blemonbryconaz@aol.com or (505) 280-3552. September 17-19: Silent Air Show Returns! Ed Levin Park, Milpitas, California. Sanctioned speed gliding contest Friday through Sunday, and on Sunday non-powered flying presentations by hang gliders, paragliders, and sailplanes. Additionally there will be skydivers, radio-controlled gliders, tandem flights, and hot air balloons. This event drew over 8000 spectators and participants in past years (it’s been over a decade since the last one). Our goal is to promote free flight so come out with your club members, wear your club T-shirts, fly your wings, try to win the spot landing contest or do an act. Invite your family and friends. For more information visit http://www.wingsofrogallo.org/events/silent_airshow.html. September 18-19: McConnellsburg Hang Gliding and Paragliding Festival, south-central Pennsylvania. A fun fly-in sponsored by the Capital Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association. Proceeds donated to the McConnellsburg Fire and Rescue Squad. Cross-country competition on both days as well as spot landing and other contests. Prizes GALORE!!! Big party and cook-out on the night of September 18. For more information, visit www.chgpa.org or contact Daniel Broxterman at Daniel.Broxterman@suntrust.com. September 25-26: Annual Bike&Fly, Chelan, Washington. Compete in both the bicycle and the flying contests, or just fly. Lots of prizes: for fastest bicycle time on the 10-mile ride from the LZ to the top of Chelan Butte, for hangs and paras in spot landing and target drop, more. Contact Marilyn Raines at (509) 682-2251 or Reni Gordon, reni.gordon@comcast.net, (206) 714-8824. October 23-24: Moyes Boys Reunion and 37-Year Celebration at Wallaby Ranch. Open to all pilots, family and friends. The weekend schedule of activities will include Party, festivities and visiting with old friends; all Moyes gliders and harnesses available for demo, introductions and demonstrations of the German-certified Dragonfly C-model, tuning and maintenance seminars; competition and XC flying clinics. The entire hang gliding community is invited. If you have not, in 37 years, flown a Moyes glider this is a perfect opportunity. Cypress Gardens will be opening in October, adding to the available activities in central Florida. For updates go to http://www.moyesamerica.com/ or contact Ken Brown, flyamoyes@aol.com. September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
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October 29-31: Annual Cape Cod Halloween Fly-In. Seascape Motor Inn, N. Truro, Massachusetts. Always a fun time!! Fly the east side or the west side! Play in the air, on the sea, and on the land! Dress up! For information and/or directions, call the Seascape at 508-487-1225, or check out the Web site at www.seascapemotorinn.com. October 30-31: Annual Halloween Women’s Fly-In, Chelan, Washington. Fall flying conditions suitable for hangs and paras of all skill levels. Come in costume, bring a potluck dish for the party on Saturday night. Prizes for best costume, best flying contraption, diners’ choice and most Halloween-appropriate potluck items, more. Contact Jaye Wilson, tsunami_day@hotmail.com or Jan Olsen, janolsen2003@yahoo.com or jolsen@voaww.org.
clinics , meetings, tours September 2-5: Instructor program and Tandem program in cool northern Arizona with Marty DeVietti. Base fee $300. Marty@paraglide.com. September 10-12: Advanced kiting and high wind skills seminar at Point of the Mountain, Utah, with Chris Santacroce. Hosted by Peak to Peak Paragliding. All pilots. Contact Kay Tauscher at (303) 817-0803, or email kay@peaktopeakparagliding.com. September 11-19: Thermal XC clinic in Northern Arizona with Josh Cohn (U.S. National Champion many times) and Marty DeVietti. Base fee $300/3 days. Marty@paraglide.com. September 17-19: Hang Gliding Instructor Training Clinic, Milpitas, California. Contact Pat Denevan at Mission Soaring, 1116 Wrigley, Milpitas, CA 95035, (408) 262-1055, email mission@hang-gliding.com. September 17-20: Owens Valley paraglider XC clinic with Kay Tauscher and special guest instructor Kari Castle. Advanced pilots. Instruction, hands-on training, and guidance during XC flights. For more information, email info@peaktopeakparagliding.com or download information from www.peaktopeakparagliding.com. September 24-26: Hang Gliding Instructor Training Clinic, Ellenville, New York. Contact Paul Voight at Fly High Hang Gliding, 5163 Searsville Rd., Pine Bush, NY 12566, (845) 744-3317, email flyhigh@frontiernet.net. September 24-27: Women with Wings Owens Valley paraglider XC clinic with Kay Tauscher and special guest instructor Kari Castle. Strong intermediate and advanced women pilots. Instruction, hands-on training, and guidance during XC flights. For more information, email info@peaktopeakparagliding.com or download information from www.peaktopeakparagliding.com. September 25-October 2: Contemplative Paragliding with Josh Weinstein of “A Higher Calling” fame, and sponsored by Kay Tauscher/Peak to Peak Paragliding, in Telluride, Colorado. $675 includes 3 meals a day for the 9-day course, and lodging either in a rustic cabin or tent camping. Minimum of 5 participants (P3 or higher) needed. Deposit required. For more information or to register, contact Kay at info@peaktopeakparagliding.com, or call (303) 817-0803. Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
September 25-26: Tandem Clinic with Rick Higgins, USHGA tandem administrator in Hood River, Ore. T1, T2, and T3 ratings to qualified pilots. Contact: Rick Higgins, SunSports Paragliding (541) 387-2112, SunSportsPG@aol.com http://members.aol.com/rsunsports/myhomepage. September 25-26: Mountain flying clinic with Ken Hudonjorgensen, Point of the Mountain and other Utah sites. For clinic description and prerequisites refer to Two-can Fly’s Web site at www.twocanfly.com. October 1-3: USHGA fall BOD meeting, Doubletree Hotel, Boise, Idaho. October 15-18: Women with Wings Owens Valley paraglider XC clinic with Kay Tauscher and special guest instructor Kari Castle. Experienced P2 and P3 women pilots looking to learn how to fly thermals and begin XC flight. Instruction, hands-on training, and guidance during XC flights. For more information, email info@peaktopeakparagliding.com or download information from www.peaktopeakparagliding.com. October 22-24: Instructor training clinic with Ken Hudonjorgensen, Point of the Mountain and other Utah sites. For clinic description and prerequisites refer to Two-can Fly’s Web site at www.twocanfly.com. October 22-24: 11th Annual Baja thermal clinic at La Salina, Mexico, sponsored by Torrey Pines Glider Port. Contact www.flytorrey.com, (858) 452-9858. October 23: Instructor recertification clinic with Ken Hudonjorgensen, Point of the Mountain and other Utah sites. For clinic description and prerequisites refer to Two-can Fly’s Web site at www.twocanfly.com. October 30-31: Tandem (T2 and T3) clinic with Ken Hudonjorgensen, Point of the Mountain and other Utah sites. For clinic description and prerequisites refer to Two-can Fly’s Web site at www.twocanfly.com. November 4-7: Backpack powered paraglider clinic in cool northern Arizona with Marty DeVietti. Base fee $200. Marty@paraglide.com. November 28-December 11: Nepal tour with Dale Covington and Kevin Biernacki. Fly with gentle thermals and big birds next to some of the highest mountains in the world. A unique culture and stunning scenery make this an unforgettable trip. Thermal and XC coaching, as well as over-the-water maneuvers training. $1800 for 2 weeks includes just about everything but your airfare to Nepal, lunch and dinner. Small group limit, so contact us early. Dale Covington, Big Sky Paragliding, (801) 699-1462, www.bigskyparagliding.com. December 3-5: Hang Gliding Instructor Training Clinic, Whitewater, Wisconsin. Contact Tommy Thompson Sr. at Free Flight Aviations, N463 City Hwy N, Whitewater, WI 53190, (920) 728-2231. January 9-16: 2005: Tapalpa #1; January 16-23: Tapalpa #2; January 23-30: Tapalpa #3. Fly three world cup sites only 1 hour from Guadalajara International Airport. Pickup, hotel, and guidance for 6 days, only $1,200. Coached and guided by Granger Banks. Group size limited to 5 pilots each week to give you personalized attention and space in Parasoft’s 4-wheel-drive truck. Parasoft Paragliding School, (303) 494-2820 www.parasoftparagliding.com. 71
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Used hang gliders should always be disassembled before flying for the first time and inspected carefully for fatigued, bent or dented downtubes, ruined bushings, bent bolts (especially the heart bolt), re-used Nyloc nuts, loose thimbles, frayed or rusted cables, tangs with non-circular holes, and on flex wings, sails badly torn or torn loose from their anchor points front and back on the keel and leading edges.
GREAT HANG GLIDING PACKAGE – 10m Pulse, Free Flight reserve chute w/paraswivel, CG2000 harness $1,800 OBO. (607) 432-4625 Oneonta NY, markvlflyguy@hotmail.com LAMINAR 14 ST – 1999, very sweet handling. Well maintained and cared for $1,695 rvander1@san.rr.com, (619) 787-8653.
PARAGLIDING ADVISORY
MOYES LITESPEED 54 – 2004, delivered June 20, only test flown. applebeepa@yahoo.com
Used paragliders should always be thoroughly inspected before flying for the first time. Annual inspections on paragliders should include sailcloth strength tests. Simply performing a porosity check isn’t sufficient. Some gliders pass porosity yet have very weak sailcloth.
NORTHWING T2 TANDEM GLIDERS – Used, at attractive prices. (262) 473-8800, www.hanggliding.com , info@hanggliding.com , http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports
If in doubt, many hang gliding and paragliding businesses will be happy to give an objective opinion on the condition of equipment you bring them to inspect. BUYERS SHOULD SELECT EQUIPMENT THAT IS APPROPRIATE FOR THEIR SKILL LEVEL OR RATING. NEW PILOTS SHOULD SEEK PROFESSIONAL INSTRUCTION FROM A USHGA CERTIFIED INSTRUCTOR.
SATURN 167 VG – Beautiful, near mint! ww.hanggliding.com, info@hanggliding.com, http://stores.ebay.com raven-sports, (262) 473-8800
FLEX WIN G S
ULTRASPORT 166 – Purple/blue, excellent condition $1,600. Mosquito NRG harness, folding prop, excellent condition $3,400. $4,800 for both. (704) 756-4029. Looking for a U2 160.
AIRBORNE STING II XC 154 – Almost new, flown 4 times, LMFP GT XC harness 5’8”-5’10”, Flytec 4020 vario w/bracket, 20 gore reserve, Hall airspeed indicator w/ bracket, wheels $4,700. (205) 655-4165, cswebster2@juno.com
TARGET 180 – It’s a steal! Like new, only 2 flights, 1 hour total. White upper, dark blue lower surfaces. Price lowered to $1,800. Call with questions. (512) 335-9459.
AIRWAVE MAGIC III 177 – 25 hours $650. Wills Wing Sport 150 $500. Both in great shape. kob7150@hotmail.com, (570) 629-0522.
WILLS WING SUPERSPORT 163 – Purple top, magenta/teal lower, fins, winglets, custom WW wheels $500. (856) 829-4571, kmyers3360@aol.com
EVEN-UP TRADES – Looking to move up from your Beginner or Novice glider, but can’t put up cash? (262) 473-8800, info@hanggliding.com, www.hanggliding.com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports
WORLD TEAM LAMINAR MRX 700 – 2003, loaded: MR A-Frame, high speed airfoil, carbon inserts on L.E. Hardly flown. Perfect condition $4,600. rvander1@san.rr.com (619) 787-8653.
FALCON 225 – Wheels, 2 downtubes, ladder hang strap $1,500. 1-800-WEFLYXC, jimzgreen@aol.com
WWXC 142 – $800. TRX 160 $800. Moyes Contour pod 5’10”-6’, 175-210lb $250. Pod harnesses: 5’8”-6’1” $150, 5’6”-5’9” $150. (801) 913-6560, asaceu3@yahoo.com
FALCONS CLEARANCE SALE – School use, one season. Falcon 1s and 2s. All sizes $1,250$2,500. (262) 473-8800, info@hanggliding.com, www.hanggliding.com, http://stores.ebay.com/ raven-sports 72
WWXC 142 – Great condition, <80 hours $1,000 OBO. mountnflyer@comcast.net, (303) 921-1508 for pixs and info.
EMERGENCY PARACHUTES
AUTHORIZED CHUTE REPAIR – And service center for APCO, Elan, Chiron powered parachutes and UP/Perche/Independence paragliders and more! We have a full-time loft available with quick turn around for small to huge repairs and annual inspections. Ship your chute to MoJo’s Gear Ltd. Co., 1475 CR 220, Tow, TX 78672 Attn: REPAIR or INSPECTION. Include a note about the service(s) you require as well as a contact phone number and email. We will contact you with an estimate prior to starting the work. Office: 915-379-1567, www.mojosgear.com INSPECTED RESERVES – For HG or PG $199+up. Used Quantum, all sizes $475+up. Some trades accepted. (262) 473-8800, info@hanggliding.com, www.hanggliding.com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports METAMORFOSI CONAIR PARACHUTE – Like new $450. rvander1@san.rr.com (619) 787-8653. HARNESSES
AEROS VIPER RACING HARNESS – Matrix claw outer skin, incredibly streamlined, very comfortable, sized for 6’-1” to 6’-4”. Barely used. New $1195, sacrifice at $595. rvander1@san.rr.com. (619) 787-8653. HARNESSES – 5’0”-6’5”. Cocoons $125+up. High Energy Cocoons $200+up, Pods $200+up. Inventory, selection changes constantly. Some trades accepted. (262) 473-8800, info@hanggliding.com, www.hanggliding.com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports PA R A G L I D E R S
AIRSPORTSUSA–www.powerparaglider.com, www.flyforfun.net. Manufacturing the BP Parawing! Americas #1 selling backpack motor. ALL WINGS HAVE LOW (20-50) HOURS – And are in great condition. If you don’t like the price, make me an offer. Bill Hughes: (503) 705-1312, bill_hughes@comcast.net. Firebird Ignition (M) red $900. Gin Bandit (L) yellow/red $1,400. Apco Bagheera (L) red/ white $800. OZONE VIBE 2003 – Medium-large, 2 hours, w/Ozone backpack, 2000 Pro Design Jam harness, reserve chute, 2003 Flytec vario $4,000 OBO. (970) 376-2545, msousa@eastwestresorts.com September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
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RIGID WINGS
MISSION SOARING CENTER – Distributor for AIR Atos, worlds most popular rigid wing. New! Atos VX tandem or powered harness, incredible sink rate with a solo pilot. (408) 262-1055, www.hang-gliding.com ULTRALIGHTS
AIRSPORTS USA – WWW.FLYFORFUN.NET – W W W. P O W E R - PA R A C H U T E . C O M Manufacturing the DFS Single and DFS dual. Trike or Powered Parachute, check out our web site for this amazing plane! DRAGONFLY AEROTUGS – For up to $10,000 off the price of new ones! Enclosed trailer available for pickup/delivery. (262) 473-8800, www.hanggliding.com, info@hanggliding.com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports SABRE TRIKE – F16 wing, Rotax 503, dual carb, tach, EGT, MPH, ultraprop 59” 4-blade, 2nd Chantz 750lb ballistic chute. $6,000 firm. (330) 721-2924. WANTED
WANTED – Trade in your old gliders, harnesses, parachutes, etc. (262) 473-8800, www.hanggliding.com, info@hanggliding.com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports SCHOOLS & DEA L E R S ALABAMA
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK – The best facilities, largest inventory, camping, swimming, volleyball, more. Wide range of accommodations. 877-hanglide, (877) 426-4543, hanglide.com CALIFORNIA
AIRJUNKIES PARAGLIDING – Year-round excellent instruction, Southern California & Baja. Powered paragliding, clinics, tours, tandem, towing. Ken Baier (760) 753-2664, airjunkies@sbcglobal.net airjunkies.com DREAM WEAVER HANG GLIDING – Competitive prices, state-of-the-art equipment. Complete lesson programs. Northern California Mosquito harness dealer. Ideal training hill. Tandem instruction. USHGA Advanced Instructor Doug Prather (209) 556-0469, Modesto, California. drmwvrhg@softcom.net FLY ABOVE ALL - Year-round instruction in beautiful Santa Barbara! USHGA Novice through Advanced Certification. Thermalling to Competition Training. (805)965-3733 Visit www.flyaboveall.com . Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
FLY SANTA BARBARA – With Rob Sporrer of Eagle Paragliding. Award winning instruction and the nations best year round flying. www.FlySantaBarbara.com (805)968-0980. THE HANG GLIDING CENTER – PO Box 151542, San Diego CA 92175, (619) 265-5320. MISSION SOARING CENTER – Largest Hang Gliding Center in the West! Our deluxe retail shop showcases the latest equipment: Wills Wing, Moyes, AIR, High Energy, Flytec, Icaro. West Coast distributor for A.I.R. Atos Rigid Wings including the all new VX Tandem Atos. Parts in stock. We stock new and used equipment. Trade-ins welcome. Complete Lesson Program. Best Training Park in the West, located just south of the San Francisco Bay Area. Pittman Hydraulic Winch System for Hang 1’s and above. Launch and Landing Clinics for Hang 3’s and Hang 4’s. Wills Wing Falcons of all sizes and custom training harnesses. 1116 Wrigley Way, Milpitas, CA. 95035. (408) 262-1055, Fax (408) 262-1388, mission@hang-gliding.com., www.hang-gliding.com, Mission Soaring Center, Leading the way since 1973. O’CONNOR FLIGHT SCHOOL – Specializing in Safety In-Flight Training & Maneuvers Clinics and Aerobatic Instruction. Enhance your knowledge, increase your level of confidence, take your piloting skills to new levels. Over-thewater safety and aerobatics clinics. Enleau and Ann O’Connor, www.oconnorflightschool.com, (530) 227-4055 and reserve your clinic. TORREY PINES GLIDERPORT – Come soar in San Diego! This family owned and operated flying site offers USHGA certified instruction, advanced training, equipment sales, tandem flight instruction, motorized pg/hg instruction and site tours. We also have an extensive pg/hg outfitting shop offering parachute repacks and full-service repairs. Bring your family for our amazing sunsets and dining at the Cliffhanger Cafe. Importers for Paratech and Independence gliders. We also carry AustriAlpin, Center of Gravity, Crispi and Sup’Air. Check us out online for sales and questions at: www.flytorrey.com, or call toll-free at 1-877-FLY-TEAM (359-8326). Also, tune in to the Internet Paragliding Talk Show at www.worldtalkradio.com every Tuesday 9-11:00am (PST).
VUELO LIBRE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA – We offer the best no-hassle flying vacations. Just bring your wing and clothes! We provide airport and site transportation, camping gear, site intros, retrieves, Tandem flights, scenic tours and more. Contact us at www.eparaglide.com or (925) 260-3370, we’ll make it easy for you! Now B&B. WINDSPORTS – Don’t risk bad weather, bad instruction or dangerous training hills. 350 flyable days each year. Learn foot launch flying skills safely and quickly. Train with professional CFI’s at world famous Dockweiler Beach training slopes (5 minutes from LA airport.) Fly winter or summer in gentle coastal winds, soft sand and in a thorough program with one of America’s most prestigious schools for over 25 years. (818) 367-2430, www.windsports.com COLORADO
AIRTIME ABOVE HANG GLIDING – Fulltime lessons, sales, service. Colorado’s most experienced! Wills Wing, Moyes, Altair, Aeros, Airwave, High Energy, Ball, Flytec, MotoComm and much more. Call (303) 674-2451, Evergreen, Colorado AirtimeHG@aol.com GUNNISON GLIDERS – Serving the western slope. Instruction, sales, service, sewing, accessories. Site information, ratings. 1549 County Road 17, Gunnison CO 81230. (970) 641-9315, 1-866-238-2305. PEAK TO PEAK PARAGLIDING LLC – New paragliding school in Boulder! Offering excellent state-of-the-art instruction. Equipment & tandems. Kay@peaktopeakparagliding.com www.peaktopeakparagliding .com FLORIDA
GRAYBIRD AIRSPORTS– Paraglider & hang glider towing & training, Dragonfly aerotow training, XC, thermalling, instruction, equipment. Dunnellon Airport email: fly@graybirdairsports.com (352) 245-8263, www.graybirdairsports.com LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK – Nearest mountain training center to Orlando. Two training hills, novice mountain launch, aerotowing, great accommodations. hanglide.com, 877-hanglide, (877) 426-4543. 73
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MIAMI HANG GLIDING – We have the most advanced training program known to hang gliding, teaching you in half the time it takes on the training-Bunny Hill, and with more in-flight air time. Yes, we can teach you faster and safer. (305) 285-8978, 2550 S Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, Florida 33133, www.miamihanggliding.com THE BEST AEROTOW – Instruction available. The only U.S. hang gliding school with two national champion instructors and U.S. World Team Members Bo Hagewood 2000 National Champion and Paris Williams 2001, 2002 & 2003 National Champion. From your first tandem to advanced X-C racing instruction. Open every day with beautiful remodeled 90+ acre facilities. Plenty of other activities like our screened in pool, hot tub, private lake, canoes, fishing, volleyball and just minutes from Orlando attractions. Learn from the best.... at Quest! www.questairforce.com Email: questair@mpinet.com (352) 429-0213 Groveland, FL WALLABY AEROTOW FLIGHT PARK – Satisfaction Guaranteed. Just 8 miles from Disney World. Year round soaring, open 7 days a week, six tugs, no waiting, every direction. 50+ nice demos to fly, topless to trainer gliders: Laminar, Moyes, Wills, Airborne, Airwave, Exxtacy, La Mouette, Sensor; also harnesses, varios, etc. Ages 13 to 73 have learned to fly here. No one comes close to our level of experience and success with tandem aerotow instruction. A great scene for family and friends. 10 motels & restaurants within 5 minutes, camping, hot showers, shade trees, sales, storage, ratings, XC retrievals, great weather, climbing wall, trampoline, DSS TV, ping pong, picnic tables, swimming pool, etc. Flights of over 200 miles and more than 7 hours. Articles in Hang Gliding, Kitplanes, Skywings, Cross Country and others. Featured on numerous TV shows, including Dateline NBC, The Discovery Channel & ESPN. Visit us on the Web: http://www.wallaby.com. Please call us for references and video. 1805 Dean Still Road, Disney Area, FL 33837 (863) 424-0070, phone & fax, fly@wallaby.com, 1-800-WALLABY. Conservative, reliable, state-of-the-Art. F.H.G. INC., flying Florida since 1974. GEORGIA
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK – Discover why 5 times as many pilots earn their wings at LMFP. We wrote USHGA’s official training manual. hanglide.com, 877-hanglide, (877) 426-4543. 74
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BIRDS IN PARADISE – Hang gliding & ultralight flying on Kauai. Certified tandem instruction. birds@birdsinparadise.com (808) 822-5309 or (808) 639-1067, www. birdsinparadise.com
CLOUD 9 SPORT AVIATION – Aerotow specialists.Wecarryallmajorbrandhangglidersand accessories. Cloud 9 Field, 11088 Coon Lake Road West, Webberville MI 48892. Cloud9sa@aol.com http://members.aol.com/cloud9sa Call for fall tandem lessons and flying appointments with the DraachenFliegen Soaring Club at Cloud 9 Field. (517) 223-8683, DFSCinc@aol.com http://members.aol.com/dfscinc
FLY TRIKES NA PALI – Kauai’s ultimate flying experience. Training in paradise. Full safety equipment and insurance. Craig McMillian, (808) 645-6316, www.flyforsport.com PROFLYGHT PARAGLIDING – Call Dexter for friendly information about flying on Maui. Full service school offering beginner to advanced instruction everyday, year round. (808) 874-5433, paraglidehawaii.com IDAHO
KING MOUNTAIN GLIDERS – Alluring site plus shop supplying all your HG/PG needs. Instruction, equipment sales, tandems, complete accessories. (208) 390-0205 Visit our website www.kingmountaingliders.com. ILLINOIS
HANG GLIDING CHICAGO – Full service aeropark, 2 tow planes. Full time certified instructors, ultralight instructors, East Coast record 217 miles. www.hangglidechicago.com (815) 325-1685 RAVEN HANG GLIDING, INC. – Now booking reservations for training hill and tandem aerotow lessons at two locations! (262) 473-8800, www.hanggliding.com, info@hanggliding.com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports MAINE
DOWNEAST AIRSPORTS – Paragliding and hang gliding instruction, quality equipment sales. Extended training/tour packages with lodging available. www.downeastairsports.com, in_a_cloud@hotmail.com, Marc (207) 244-9107. M A RY L A N D
HIGHLAND AEROSPORTS – Baltimore and DC’s full time flight park tandem instruction, solo aerotows and equipment sales and service. We carry Aeros, Airwave, Flight Design, Moyes, Wills Wing, High Energy Sports, Flytec and more. Two 115 HP Dragonfly tugs. Open fields as far as you can see. Only 1 to 1.5 hours from: Rehoboth Beach, Baltimore, Washington DC, Philadelphia. Come Fly with US! Ph (410) 634-2700, Fax (410) 634-2775, 24038 Race Track Rd, Ridgely, MD 21660, www.aerosports.net, hangglide@aerosports.net
TRAVERSE CITY HANG GLIDERS/ PARAGLIDERS – Put your knees in our breeze and soar our 450’ sand dunes. Full-time shop. Certified instruction, beginner to advanced. Sales, service, accessories for ALL major brands. Visa/MasterCard. 1509 E 8th, Traverse City MI 49684. Offering powered paragliding. Call Bill at (231) 922-2844, tchangglider@chartermi.net. Your USA & Canada Mosquito distributor. N E VA D A
FLY LAKE TAHOE/RENO – Hang gliding and paragliding. www.pyramid.net/advspts, (775) 883-7070. NEW YORK
AAA FLIGHT SCHOOL – In Ellenville. Mountain Wings Hang Gliding and Eastcoast Paragliding Center. The Northeast’s oldest, largest and most professional training center. Sales, service, demos, towing, ultralight training, pro shop and the “best damn training hill” anywhere. mtnwings@hvc.rr.com www.mtnwings.com (845) 647-3377. FLY HIGH, INC. – Serving New York, Jersey, and Connecticut areas. Area’s exclusive Wills Wing dealer. Also all other brands, accessories. Area’s most INEXPENSIVE prices! Certified instruction/service since 1979. Excellent secondary instruction! Taken some lessons? Advance to mountain flying! www.flyhighhg.com, 845-744-3317. SUSQUEHANNAFLIGHTPARKCOOPERSTOWN – 160’ training hill with rides up. 600’ ridgelarge LZ. Specializing in first mountain flights. Dan Guido, 293 Shoemaker Road, Mohawk NY 13407. (315) 866-6153, dguido@dfamilk.com PUERTO RICO
FLY PUERTO RICO WITH TEAM SPIRIT HG! Flying tours, Rentals, Tandems, HG and PG classes, H2 and P2 intensive Novice courses, full sales. (787) 850-0508, tshg@coqui.net September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
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TENNESSEE
VIRGINIA
PA R T S & A C C E S S O R I E S
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK – Just outside Chattanooga. Become a complete pilotfoot launch, aerotow, mountain launch, ridge soar, thermal soar. hanglide.com, 877-hanglide, (877) 426-4543.
BLUE SKY – Full time instruction at Blue Sky Flight Park near Richmond. Scooter, platform and aerotowing available. All major brands of equipment, with Mosquitos and Doodlebugs in stock. Steve Wendt (540) 432-6557, (804)-241-4324, www.blueskyhg.com
CLEARANCE SALE – Raven Hang Gliding, Inc. inventory reduction sale. Save big on varios, radios, gliders, wheels, downtubes, basetubes, harnesses, helmets, parachutes… if you don’t see it, ask! www.hanggliding.com, info@hanggliding.com, (262) 473-8800, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports
TEXAS
AUSTIN AIR SPORTS – Hang gliding and ultralight sales, service and instruction. Steve Burns sburns@austinairsports.com. (512) 236-0031, Fred Burns (281) 471-1488, austinair@aol.com, www.austinairsports.com GO...HANG GLIDING!!! – Jeff Hunt. Austin ph/fax (512) 467-2529 jeff@flytexas.com www.flytexas.com HILL COUNTRY PARAGLIDING INC – Learn complete pilot skills. Personalized USHGA certified training, ridge soaring, foot & tow launching in central Texas. Motorized paragliding instruction & equipment available. (915) 379-1185. 1475 CR 220, Tow TX 78672. TX FLYSPORTS – Specializing in powered paragliding, certified instruction. Sky Crusier and other great ppg’s. US importer of MacPara Technology paragliders (Muse, Eden 2, Intox, Pasha). (713) 494-1970 Houston, www.macparaUSA.com UTAH
CLOUD 9 SOARING CENTER – Once again, we are the closest shop to the Point of the Mountain. Utah’s only full time PG/HG shop and repair facility. Contact 1-888-944-5433 or www.paragliders.com SUPER FLY PARAGLIDING ACADEMY – Join Team Super Fly! We offer comprehensive pilot training programs, powered paragliding instruction, tandem flights, maneuvers training, towing training/certification and tandem pilot training. We make great pilots! We are the closest shop to Point of the Mountain, open year round and supported by the Super Fly, Inc. distribution and service center just minutes away. Call about demo and used equipment of all kinds. Instructors Ken Hudonjorgensen, Chris Santacroce, Kevin Biernacki, Dale Covington, Jake Walker, Jeff Farrell. Lessons start at $65. (801) 255-9595 or www.paraglidingacademy.com Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
SILVER WINGS, INC. – Certified instruction and equipment sales. (703) 533-1965 Arlington VA silverwingshanggliding.com WA S H I N G T O N
AERIAL PARAGLIDING SCHOOL AND FLIGHT PARK – The premier place to realize your paragliding dream. (509) 782-5543 doug@aerialparagliding.com, or visit www.aerialparagliding.com. WISCONSIN
RAVEN HANG GLIDING, INC. – Now booking reservations for training hill and tandem aerotow lessons at two locations! (262) 473-8800, www.hanggliding.com, info@hanggliding.com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports WYOMING
JACKSON HOLE PARAGLIDING – Come to Paragliding Paradise and enjoy alpine flying at its absolute best! Jackson Hole Paragliding can help turn flying dreams into reality with our quality instruction and guide service. Long known as an outdoorsman’s paradise, Jackson Hole has evolved into a Mecca for paragliding activities. JHPG offers tandem flights, beginner through advanced instruction, mountain thermal clinics, XC clinics, towing, maneuvers training, aerobatic demonstrations and paramotoring. A perfect flying day, launch the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Aerial Tram in the morning, tow at the Palisades Reservoir in the afternoon. Contact: scharris@wyoming.com www.jhparagliding.com (307) 690-TRAM (8726) MEXICO
FLYMEXICO – Valle de Bravo and beyond. www.flymexico.com, 1-800-861-7198, Winter 04/05, in and out on Sunday, PG & HG. Discounts for returning clients, other discounts available. $895 PG, $1,095 HG w/glider included. Lodging at a Grand Hotel or houses, go flying every stinkin’ day.
CLOTHING – Embroidered and screenprinted shirts and hats with sharp hang glider artwork. Raven, Wills, TTT, and other brands. www.hanggliding.com, info@hanggliding. com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports, (262) 473-8800 FOR ALL YOUR FLYING NEEDS – Check out the Aviation Depot at www.mojosgear.com featuring over 1000 items for foot-launched and powered paragliding, hang gliding, stunt and power kiting, and powered parachutes. 24/7 secure online shopping. Books, videos, KITES, gifts, engine parts, harness accessories, electronics, clothing, safety equipment, complete powered paragliding units with training from Hill Country Paragliding Inc. www.hillcountryparagliding.com 1-800-664-1160 for orders only. Office (915) 379-1567. GLIDERBAGS – XC $60! Heavy waterproof $100. Accessories, low prices, fast delivery! Gunnison Gliders, 1549 County Road 17, Gunnison CO 81230. (970) 641-9315, orders 1-866-238-2305. HALL WIND METER – Simple. Reliable. Accurate. Mounting brackets, control bar wheels. Hall Brothers, PO Box 1010, Morgan, Utah 84050. (801) 829-3232, www.hallwindmeter.com MINI VARIO – World’s smallest, simplest vario! Clips to helmet or chinstrap. 200 hours on batteries, 0-18,000 ft., fast response and 2 year warranty. ONLY $169. Mallettec, PO Box 15756, Santa Ana CA, 92735. (714) 966-1240, MC/Visa accepted, www.mallettec.com OXYGEN SYSTEMS – The world-class XCR-180 operates up to 3 hours @18,000 ft. and weighs only 4lb. Complete kit with cylinder, harness, regulator, cannula and remote on/off flowmeter, only $400.00. 1-800-468-8185. 75
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RISING AIR GLIDER REPAIR SERVICES – A full service shop, specializing in all types of paragliding repairs, annual inspections, reserve repacks, harness repairs. Hang gliding repacks and repair. For information or repair estimate, call (208) 554-2243, pricing and service request form available at www.risingair.biz, billa@atcnet.net TANDEM LANDING GEAR – Rascal™ brand by Raven, Simply the best. New & Used. www.hanggliding.com, info@hanggliding. com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports (262) 473-8800, WARM FLIGHT SUITS AT MPHSPORTS.COM Flight suits flight suits flight suits flight suits flight suits flight suits flight suits flight suits flight suits flight suits flight suits flight suits. mphsports@comcast.net, (503) 657-8911. WHEELS FOR AIRFOIL BASETUBES – WHOOSH! Wheels™ (Patent Pending), Moyes/Airborne & Wills Wing compatible. Dealer inquiries invited. (262) 473-8800, www.hanggliding.com, info@hanggliding.com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports WINDSOKS FROM HAWK AIRSPORTS INC – PO Box 9056, Knoxville, TN 37940-0056, (865) 945-2625. World famous Windsoks, as seen at the Oshkosh & Sun-N-Fun EAA Fly-Ins. Hawk@windsok.com, www.windsok.com PUBLICATIONS & ORGANIZATIONS
BIRDFLIGHT – Otto Lilienthal’s genius in scientific observations and analysis, documented in this work, became the basis for the experimentation of the early pioneers in aviational flight. The “hero” of the Wright brothers, Otto is considered to be “The Father of Gliding Flight.” Lilienthal’s definitive book has been out of print for almost a century, but is now available to everyone for a wonderful and absorbing journey into aviational history. 176 pages, 16 photographs, 89 drawings and 14 graphs. $19.95 (+$5 s/h) Call USHGA 1-800-616-6888, or order off our website www.ushga.org FLY THE WING! Hooking Into Hang Gliding, by Len Holms. This is the perfect book for those curious about the sport of hang gliding. Written at a level which will not swamp the reader with daunting amount of technical details, you will learn about hang glider wings and the skills needed to fly them. 84 pages with photos and illustrations. $12.95(+$5 s&h). USHGA, PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901. 1-800-616-6888 www.ushga.org 76
MAGIC WINGS – Author-publisher Alden Moffatt examines the dread, acceptance of fate, and elation of learning to soar. Filled with heartpumping action, adventure, gossip. Readers call it “excellent!” “a page turner!” 124 pages. Paperback. $10.95 + $3.95 shipping. Order from: A.G. Moffatt Publishing, 6400 Hwy 66, Ashland, OR 97520.
DON’T LEAVE YOUR GROUND-BOUND EQUIPMENT SITTING IN THE GARAGE. SELL IT IN THE HANG GLIDING CLASSIFIEDS.
SOARING – Monthly magazine of The Soaring Society of America Inc. Covers all aspects of soaring flight. Full membership $64. SSA, PO Box 2100, Hobbs NM 88241. (505) 392-1177, ssa.org
WORLDWIDE INTERNET PARAGLIDING TALK SHOW – WWW.WORLDTALKRADIO.COM Listen live or to the archives! Live Tuesday 9-11:00 am (PST). Call toll-free, 1-888-5142100 or internationally at (001) 858-268-3068. Paraglider pilots and radio hosts David and Gabriel Jebb, want to hear about your stories, promotions/events or insight: they also take questions!
VIDEOS & DVDS
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RATES
VIDEOS FROM USHGA – WWW.USHGA.ORG *NEW* STARTING POWERED PARAGLIDING – Great intro to powered paragliding. From t first lessons, first solo flight, to advanced techniques. Covers ground school w/simulator training and paraglider wing ground handling, equipment fundamentals , weather to fly, & expert pilots showing advanced techniques. 44 minutes $36.95 ALSO AVAILABLE IN DVD, same great price. WWW.USHGA.ORG *NEW* LIFTING AIR For Paragliding – How to Thermal and Soar. Master the principles of lifting air with Dixon White. Learn where to look for thermals and ridge lift, how to stay in the lifting air to climb efficiently, and deal appropriately with the dynamics of the soaring conditions. 40 minutes $39.95 ALSO AVAILABLE IN DVD, same great price. WWW.USHGA.ORG *NEW* PARAGLIDER TOWING Instructional. Learn the fundamentals of paraglider towing with Dixon White. Basic how-to and safety tips. 24 minutes $24.95 ALSO AVAILABLE IN DVD, same great price. WWW.USHGA.ORG MISCELLANEOUS
“AEROBATICS” POSTER – Full color 23”x 31” poster featuring John Heiney doing what he does best-LOOPING! See www.ushga.org under store/misc for example. Available through USHGA HQ for just $6.95 (+$5.00 s/h). USHGA, PO Box 1300, Colorado Springs CO 80933. (USA & Canada only. Sorry, posters are NOT AVAILABLE on international orders.) SPECIALAerobatics poster & Eric Raymond poster-BOTH FOR $10 (+$5 s/h). APPAREL, VIDEOS, BOOKS & POSTERS – Check out our web page www.ushga.org
The rate for classified advertising are 25 words for $10.00 and $1.00 per word after 25. MINIMUM AD CHARGE $10.00. Phone number=2 words. Email or web address=3words. AD DEADLINES: All ad copy, instructions, changes, additions and cancellations must be received in writing 2 months preceding the cover date, i.e. September 20 is the deadline for the November issue. Please make checks payable to USHGA, P.O. Box 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901-1330, (719) 632-8300. Fax (719) 632-6417 or email: ushga@ushga.org your classified with your Visa/MC or Amex. STOLEN WINGS & THINGS
SOL YARIS XL & EQUIPMENT – Stolen Dec. 12, 2003 from car in HEMET, CA. Yellow top w/2 thunderbolts on undersurface, Paratech M3 harness, reserve, 2 stuff sacks, red/ black back pack. Contact William Carpenter (909) 658-2929, blwhite84@hotmail.com HARNESS – Lost Sept 20, 2003 at SADDLE MOUNTAIN, WA. Hand-made harness in a 25lb green back pack. Also reserve, helmet, flight instrument. Russ (206) 367-8963, russlfboe@concast.net TRIM HARNESS PACK & EQUIPMENT – Stolen Sept. 21, 2003 on the road to the Rampart Ridge launch at SNOQUALMIE PASS, WASHINGTON. Black/blue trim harness pack With blue/purple striped CG-1000 pod chest entry harness, 26 gore Odyssey parachute, white Uvex carbon fiber helmet w/PTT2 mike & headphone, Ball M-19e vario, Garmin Etrex GPS. Contact Gary (206) 283-2185, braundesign@msn.com September, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
C L A S S I F I E D S
INDEPENDENCE DRAGON – Stolen August 29th, 2003 from a car in SAN DIEGO, CA. Red & Grey, size XS, 2” white patch on upper canopy, taped broken sheath, 3rd right D riser, upper line. Medium P4 harness, rear/top mount reserve, gloves & radio antenna in pockets. Both in light grey Independence backpack. Reward. Diana Tung (760) 271-0425, dineorama@yahoo.com
OK, ONE MORE…
INDEX TO ADVERTISERS
Adventure Productions ...........................57 Aerolight .................................................20 AIR ATOS.................................................57 Angle of Attack .......................................35 Apco Aviation..........................................18
PRO-DESIGN TARGET – Paraglider, stolen August 8, 2003 from car at WINTER PARK RESORT, COLORADO. Red w/large comp numbers “42” on underside, Pro-Design Concept Air harness & reserve, blue helmet, Ball M19e vario, Yaesu FT-411E radio, Hanwag boots. Contact: Mark Ziegler 970-887-3066 mzig@rkymtnhi.com
Atlanta Hobby.........................................57
STOLEN FROM MULLER WINDSPORTS, Cochrane, Alberta, Canada between July 1820, 2003. APCO ALLEGRA MEDIUM YELLOW #600271, in purple stuff sack; APCO FIESTA MEDIUM RED #765452 , new; APCO PRIMA 24 VIOLET #25818 , faded bag, w/first harness; APCO FRONT MOUNT RESERVE MAYDAY 20 w/Y bridle; APCO CONTOUR LARGE HARNESS, black/blue; UP TETON HARNESS, large, grey/blue. Please contact us if you have any information: fly@mullerwindsports. com, (403) 932-6760, fax (403) 851-0737 or contact Cst. H. Boilard, Cochrane RCMP (403) 932-2211, fax (403) 932-2842.
Flight Connections ..................................58
APCO XTRA COMP PARAGLIDER & SUP’AIR HARNESS — Paraglider, stolen June 4th, 2003 from SEATTLE, WASHINGTON. Purple w/white underside, minor repair work. Purple Sup’Air backpack comp harness w/whire rear mount reserve, log book, green Protech helmet. Terry Stuart, (425) 369-9920, upland_contracting@yahoo. STOLEN WINGS are listed as a service to USHGA members. Newest entries are in bold. There is no charge for this service and lost and found wings or equipment may be called in (719) 632-8300, faxed in (719) 632-6417, or emailed at ushga@ushga.org for inclusion in Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine. Please call to cancel the listing when gliders are recovered. Periodically, listings are purged. Hang Gliding & Paragliding: September, 2004
Big Ears PTT ............................................57 Cloud 9 Soaring Center ..........................57 Critter Mountain Wear ............................22 Dan Johnson ...........................................36 Digifly .....................................................27
Flytec ..................................................... 80 High Energy Sports .................................51 Independence/Fly Market .......................26 Just Fly ....................................................19 Photo: John Heiney
Kitty Hawk Kites ......................................57 MacPara Technology ..............................32 Mojo’s Gear ............................................58 Moyes America .................................52, 58 North Wing ............................................69 O’Connor Flight School ..........................20 Parasoft ...................................................33 Peak to Peak Paragliding .........................38 Pro Design ..............................................55 Sport Aviation Publications .....................30 SuperFly ............................................16, 57 Thermal Tracker ......................................46 Torrey Pines ......................................44, 56 Totally Awesome Flying Sports .................2 Traverse City ...........................................10 U.S. Aeros ...............................................39 Wills Wing.........................................58, 79 77
© By Dan Johnson <cumulusman@aol.com> www.bydanjohnson.com
P RD OE DP U A CR TT M L IE NN ETS
Neither could he locate Richard and the Pegasus trike. ▲ His
OSHKOSH, WISC. -- Last month I was thrilled to report the Over Everest achievement of Richard Meredith-Hardy and fellow pilot Angelo d’Arrigo. Since then, I established contact with d’Arrigo for a story I prepared for Kitplanes magazine (Nov. 2004). ••• After I investigated the project more thoroughly, I gained a clearer picture of the enormous challenges. So… ▲ As we left our heroes last month, Meredith-Hardy reported d’Arrigo was being bounced around after both aircraft flew through some high-altitude turbulence. No surprise, really. In thin air at 29,035 feet the hazards are real—even if you’re standing still. According to tug pilot Meredith-Hardy, the “time of useful consciousness is less than one minute” without oxygen. Only with rigorous training over long periods have some climbers made the ascent without oxygen. The temperatures are colder than a cruel Minnesota winter with the wind howling. During their final ascent climbers take one step, rest for a full minute, then repeat…for hours. ▲ Keep that in mind when you envision Angelo towing along over some of the most forbidding terrain imaginable, wearing a large bottle of oxygen on his back and flying a glider festooned with cameras and batteries. His landing will be faster than you’ve ever flown your hang glider. ▲ Launching at 7:00 a.m. on May 24, 2004, d’Arrigo began a flight that would set a new precedent for hang gliding worldwide. Here’s a man who has already crossed the Sahara, the Mediterranean, and Siberia with his hang glider. Now he’s also flown over Everest with his hang glider. Where did YOU fly last weekend? ▲ Back to our Everest flight… Takeoff was achieved at about 45 mph after a long run, says d’Arrigo. Following their climbing cross-country flight of many miles, d’Arrigo chronicled a key moment: “South of Everest and close to the peak, we ran into a gigantic area of rotor turbulence, which dragged the microlight violently downwards, projecting me upwards at the same time. This caused the towrope to break at the safety link. ▲ “We were at a height of about 9,000 meters, I was 500 meters south of Everest, about 150 meters over the peak. I released what was left of the towrope and headed for the peak, flying over it soon after.“ ▲ Then the situation became grave. Originally, d’Arrigo would have stayed on tow and planned a controlled release for free-flight over the summit. He and Richard could have maintained visual contact with one another. However, the turbulence that upset the flight and broke the towline weak link left the trike pilot unable to see his aerial companion. ▲ Richard writes, “I realized we had a line break. [But] with all my high-altitude gear on I didn’t have much neck mobility so I couldn’t look back to see [Angelo] and I didn’t see anything in the mirror. By the time I had circled round [his] white [Icaro Stratos disappeared] against the vast white background of the upper Khumbu Glacier. Vanished into thin air!” ▲ Now, miles from his preferred LZ, d’Arrigo had been suddenly cut loose and had to fend for himself. P
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story continues: “I had identified ten possible emergency landing sites. I had marked them all on a map, with their GPS coordinates.” Of these he eliminated several as unworkable and focused on an Italian research station near the base of the final Everest summit. Thanks to careful planning and nerves of steel developed in his earlier exploits, d’Arrigo was able to make his emergency landing. ▲ “When I had reached the right height, I started to prepare for the final approach. When I was just a few meters from the ground, my speed was still 100 km/h. It was important to use the wheels for landing because of the high speed caused by the altitude along with the weight of the equipment (oxygen cylinder, thermal clothing, three video cameras with recorders and batteries, two still cameras, survival materials, etc.).” ▲ Angelo’s original idea was to tow aloft and then release, subsequently soaring up on the powerful ascending currents blowing up the north face of Everest. This proved impossible. Instead he chose to tow near the peak of Everest, approaching from the south, then to glide over the summit after having released the towrope. This would have better positioned him for landing and he and his tow pilot could’ve kept each other in sight. ▲ The whole story is available at their Web sites—a fascinating
flight and human drama. FMI: www.angelodarrigo.com or www.flymicro.com (Richard’s site). CONGRATULATIONS, FELLOW PILOTS! JOB WELL DONE! ••• I struggled to decide which story was more important. FAA’s long-awaited release of Sport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft is significant. Yup, at a press conference on July 20th in the agency’s DC headquarters, FAA was finally able to say, “It’s done!” ▲ SP/LSA is much less important to soaring flight than to powered aviation. Yet it hits us big regarding towing—for which we have a solution at hand*—and for two-place flying. Both have a major impact on hang glider training. ▲ Whatever you think of the new regulation, Part 103 will not be altered. All single-place hang gliding and paragliding will see no change so long as you mountain-launch. ▲ The *solution is that tow pilots will be able to fly legal Light-Sport Aircraft tugs—once manufacturers state that they comply with ASTM certification standards—but they’ll have to use a Private Pilot license or better. The Sport Pilot license will NOT allow towing. Yet a Private can’t be paid to tow, unless FAA grants a limited payment as acceptable. The agency is pondering this and invited key USHGAers to the Oshkosh airshow to discuss it. Jayne DePanfilis represented USHGA on the teleconference FAA set up for their press event. This story is just starting so stay tuned for more on the brave new world of SP/LSA. ••• So, got news or opinions? Send ‘em to: 8 Dorset, St. Paul MN 55118. Messages or fax to (651) 450-0930. Email to Dan@ByDanJohnson.com. THANKS! n
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