USHGA Hang Gliding & Paragliding Vol34/Iss11 November 2004 by US Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

Volume 34 Issue 11 November, 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

NOVEMBER,

Jayne DePanfilis, Publisher: jayne@ushga.org C. J. Sturtevant, Editor: editor@ushga.org Tim Meehan, Art Director: artdirector@ushga.org Staff writers: Joe Gregor, Thayer Hughes, Dennis Pagen, Davis Straub

POSTMASTER: Send change of address to: Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine, P.O. BOX 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901-1330.

Office Staff: Jayne DePanfilis, Executive Director, jayne@ushga.org Jeff Elgart, Advertising, jeff@ushga.org Michelle Johnson, Member Services, michelle@ushga.org Jane Borg, Member Services, jane@ushga.org

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES IN PUBLICATIONS: 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.

USHGA Officers and Executive Committee: Randy Leggett, President, ias@ot.com Lisa Tate, Vice President, lisa@soaringdreamsart.com Elizabeth Sharp, Secretary, Elizabeth.Sharp@heii.com Felipe Amunategui, Treasurer, dr.amunategui@att.net. 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.

2004

Canadian Post Publications Mail Agreement #40065056. Canadian Return Address : DP Global Mail, 4960-2 Walker Road, Windsor, ON N9A 6J3

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.

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 & 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. Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

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.

Dominique Steffen wings it over during the Red Bull Huckspedition in Monument Valley, Arizona Photo: © Christian Pondella, Red Bull

DEPARTMENTS Editor’s Corner ..................................... 6

Pilot Brieﬁngs: News and Events ............ 7

MASTERING FLIGHT Student pilots learn at different rates and with differing degrees of frustration, but all can attain mastery with thoughtful instruction, persistence and a strong desire to ﬂy. By John Matylonek .......................... 18

Air Mail: Readers Write In ........................ 9

Faces of the Future: Nathan Jacobs ....... 10

FLIGHT DECK REVIEW Staff writer Thayer Hughes tests a selection of paraglider ﬂight decks for comfort, convenience and security.

E.D. Speaks Out: On Wheel Landings . 12 By Thayer Hughes ............................ 25 Master’s Tips: Speed Bar Use ................ 14

Site Guide: Florida Ridge ....................... 55

Marketplace........................................ 57

Comp Corner: 2004 HG Nationals ...... 59

THE AIR ATOS V/VX RIGIDWING HANG GLIDERS Rigid-wing pilot Davis Straub reviews AIR ATOS’s latest gliders, which have a V-tail for added stability and pitch dampening. By Davis Straub ............................... 29

New Ratings ....................................... 62

Gallery ................................................ 63

HG Accident Reports.......................... 67

Calendar ............................................. 70

Classiﬁeds ........................................... 72

Index to Advertisers ........................... 77

Product Lines: By Dan Johnson ............. 78 4

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

NOVEMBER,

2004

OCEAN ENCOUNTER A moment’s indecision at a cliff site on the South African coast led to the author’s narrow escape from an ocean encounter.

By Gavin Behr ........................ 35

SANDIA SOJOURN Returning to Albuquerque as a hang glider pilot provided this pilot with an entirely new perspective on his former hometown. By John Wiseman .................. 42

THE SPIRIT OF HELLAS A world-traveling comp pilot discovers that being sidetracked and weathered out can yield surprising beneﬁts.

By Cherie Silvera ..................... 48

LANDING IN THE LEAFY BOUGHS: TERROR IN THE TREES How to avoid ending up out on a limb: Dennis Pagen shares lessons learned through harsh experience. By Dennis Pagen ......................52

Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

EDITOR’S

CORNER

Editor’s Notes very so often in my life I am offered a totally unexpected opportunity that I just can’t pass up. Last August, a local pilot friend mentioned that he was C. J. Sturtevant going to China to participate in a pre-PWC comp. “Entry fee is only $100!” he enthused, and added, “That includes hotel, food, rides to launch and retrieve, and a guide from Beijing to the comp site.” I suspect that he was only halfserious when he suggested I should come along. But he’d caught my attention, and before the week was out I’d applied for my Chinese visa and made reservations on the same flight to Beijing as my friend. It was only after I was totally committed that I realized that this trip followed far too closely on the PG Nats, and that the magazine production schedule was going to be almost impossibly tight. But with the help of our publisher Jayne, my husband George and a wonderfully supportive and competent friend, October’s magazine made the production deadline and was in the hands of art director Tim and on its way to the printer while I was off on the opposite side of the world. You’ll read an article on the China comp sometime this winter, and hopefully some of the magic of this amazing, exotic adventure will come through in our story and photos. Back in the here-and-now, November’s issue contains several articles from pilots who have been on adventures similar to mine that produced the same sense of amazement and awe. Comp pilot Cherie Silvera’s trip to Greece should have been a disappointment, given the flying conditions she encountered there, but instead she immersed herself in the experience and came home with a tremendous appreciation for the opportunities for personal enrichment that are inherent in every flying trip. John Wiseman’s adventure took him back to his pre-flying stomping grounds here in the states, where he delighted in seeing the familiar territory of Sandia from the totally different perspective of a bird – or a hang glider pilot! Gavin Behr, a relatively new paraglider pilot who loves to travel, learned the hard way that awesome trips to new sites can also include unexpected hazards. His analysis of a too-close encounter with the ocean in South Africa holds lessons that are relevant to both hang and paraglider pilots. Finally, if you’re itching to travel but don’t have a destination in mind, Davis Straub offers a suggestion as he continues his series of reports on hang gliding flight parks with this issue’s site guide on the Florida Ridge. Improving skills, trying new equipment and learning new techniques are essential ingredients in keeping us safe and interested in our flying. Staff writers Davis Straub and Thayer Hughes did some research on wings and things for this issue; Davis reviews 6

his favorite rigid wing, the Atos V, and Thayer details the advantages and shortfalls of a number of flight decks for paraglider pilots. Instructor John Matylonek focuses on how we acquire new skills, and makes suggestions for improving our ability to learn new tasks, regardless of current skill level. Going back to the very basics of learning, Rob Jacobs shares his pride in—and concern for—his son Nathan as he works up to his first hang glider solo flights. Zach Hoisington delves into speed-to-fly theory for paraglider pilots and provides useful guidance for determining the most advantageous way to use the speedbar. Executive Director Jayne offers some thoughtful insights on personal safety decisions in her discussion of wheel landings. Our hang gliding accident reporter, Joe Gregor, devotes much of his column this month explaining how accidents are analyzed and how conclusions are drawn and recommendations made. I’d like to reiterate his request that anyone involved in or witnessing an accident or incident submit an accident report. As Gavin points out in his “Ocean Encounter” article, every accident report has the potential to prevent a similar incident. The online accident/incident report form is here: http://www.ushga.org/emailacc.asp. A glance at the calendar of events on pages 70 and 71 provides a sharp reminder that the season’s events and comps are, for the most part, behind us. In this issue Davis Straub reports on last summer’s hang gliding nationals in Big Spring; we’ll have articles about many of 2004’s other comps and fly-ins in future issues. As always, the content of this magazine can only be as interesting, informative and entertaining as you make it. We all enjoy reading about flying adventures and misadventures, and poring over the photos of glorious sunshine and puffy cu’s during the gloomy winter days, and dreaming of updating our equipment with the latest new toys before next season. Please keep those articles and photos coming in—I appreciate hearing from all of you. Fly safely, travel with an open mind and heart, and enjoy every day, wherever you may be.

Enthusiastic Chinese children exchange autographs with C.J. Photo: Bob Rinker

C. J. Sturtevant, Editor

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

PILOT

Red Bull Vertigo 2004 Reaches New Heights! Vertigo Acro

Photos: Denis Balibouse, Red Bull

On August 20-22, the world’s best paragliding and hang gliding aerobatic pilots joined together in Villeneuve, Switzerland, for this seventh edition of the Red Bull Vertigo, officially part of the Aerobatic World Cup. For the fifth time, the Spanish brothers Raul and Felix Rodriguez were unbeatable in the paragliding competition. The importance of this competition is increasing every year, as aerobatics is from this year on an official discipline recognized by the World Air Sports Federation (FAI). The level of competence of the competing pilots also has been increasing every year, as aerobatics pilots are now actively preparing for the first Aerobatics World Championships that will take place in Villeneuve in 2006. On the first day of the event, 58 paraglider pilots executed their pre-planned maneuvers in synchronized pairs under partly cloudy skies that became clearer throughout the day. The international jury, composed of professionals from

Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

the free-flying scene, was judging for precision, execution, synchronization, and difficulty of the maneuvers. At the end of the first day, the Swiss team of Dominique Steffen and Mathias Rothen was out in front of the paragliding competition, and Swiss pilot Thomas Koller was leading the hang gliding competition. The paragliding competition was weathered out on the second day, but the hang glider pilots were able to fly in the strong wind. The 10 qualified hang pilots put on a show with a festival of loops and wing-overs that completely satisfied the audience that had traveled to Villeneuve. At the end of this run, Fredy Bircher from Switzerland led the competition. The paragliding pilots, forced to stay on the ground because of the weather conditions, were very flexible, with some of them taking advantage of the strong wind and offering the spectators some exciting kite-surf demonstrations. Under sunny skies, the paragliding competition resumed on the final day. The 29 pairs of pilots offered a show of nonstop action. Tumblings, wing-overs, and asymmetrical SATs succeeded each other in a high-speed rhythm. The Rodriguez brothers from Spain were clearly the

BRIEFINGS

best, demonstrating master-level skill in precision, technique and synchronization. They won their ﬁfth consecutive Red Bull Vertigo with a comfortable points lead over their followers. The Swiss team of Peter Neuenschwander and Chrigel Maurer placed second, with Bernd Hornboeck and Alexander Meschuh from Austria in third. The hang gliding competition crowned two Swiss pilots, Fredy Bircher in ﬁrst and Thomas Koller second. The Norwegian Jon Gjerde placed third. First Paraglider Crossing of the Grand Canyon Zooming across the Grand Canyon

Photo: Christian Pondella, Red Bull

Pilot: Will Gadd Glider: Gin Zoom Date: September 7, 2004 It was June 15, 1985 when Bob Thompson and Hans Heydrich ﬂew their hang gliders across the Grand Canyon and back after foot launching from Mt. Elden near

P DI LEOPT A BRR TI EMF IENNG T S

Flagstaff, Arizona. For 19 years, these two remained the only hang glider pilots to make this challenging 10-mile crosscountry flight. While most long-time hang glider pilots are aware of this historic event (see the article in the August 1985 issue of Hang Gliding magazine), many newer hangs and most paraglider pilots haven’t encountered this tidbit of “ancient” history. Thanks to Canadian paraglider pilot Will Gadd, the past has become relevant to the present, as he accomplished the difficult canyon crossing on his paraglider on the 7th of last September. Says Gadd: “I didn’t know about this flight when I put mine together; there were rumors, but no solid information. Most of the pilots I talked to swore [the Canyon] had never been flown over in a hang glider or paraglider, probably because this happened about a century ago in HG or PG time. “As I read their flight description it just fired me right up. There’s a lot we shared in common besides the flight—very cool. I felt like I was being a bit conservative by scouting and buying 50 maps, worrying about trails (Josh on standby to come get me, etc.)—good to hear these guys had a

Will Gadd, self-portrait above the Grand Canyon

similar attitude. As they note, ﬂying over the Grand Canyon is a serious business. But what a joy! We’re lucky little humans.

After flying for three hours at an average speed of 35 mph, Gadd successfully completed his record-setting rim-to-rim crossing. Though he had difficulty finding a safe landing zone, he eventually touched down in a meadow approximately 10 miles north of Jacob Lake, near the north rim of the canyon.

Diamond Safe Pilot Award “It was absolutely the wildest ﬂight I’ve ever had,” continues Gadd, 37, of Canmore, Alberta, Canada. “The air was very powerful and I was nervous because it could be fatal to land a paraglider in the Grand Canyon’s winds. And even if I survived the landing I didn’t know if I’d be able to get out.”

Why Pro-Design? • No compromise in safety • Top quality materials and ﬁnish • Ongoing research and development • Paragliders since 1986

A member of the elite Red Bull Air Force, Gadd launched his glider 15 miles southwest of Grand Canyon Village using a truck-mounted tow system. From there, he promptly thermaled up to an altitude of 17,900 feet before making the 10-mile crossing of the canyon. During his ﬂight, Gadd braved severe turbulence, strong lift and big sink, and near-freezing temperatures.

Call us at (970) 963-3558, (970) 319-9886 or check out our web page: www.patagoniaparagliding.com

The USHGA recognizes Kenneth Pelkey of Oceanside, California, USHGA member #76089, for his achievement of logging 1,000 consecutive safe ﬂights, earning him the First Diamond Safe Pilot Award. Congratulations, Kenneth!

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AIR

It’s Time for a Change in Region 2 (email, 8/25) Well, it’s another election year, and this time the stakes are high. I am talking about the race for USHGA Region 2 director. What we have here is an opportunity to bring about positive changes for Region 2. We in Nevada have been represented by Ray Leonard for way too many years. It’s time for a change! Jim MacKlow has stepped up and decided to run against Ray Leonard this year. Many of us are really excited about this! We [Pilots for Change] live in southern Nevada and we feel that our state has been poorly represented by Ray Leonard. We want and we need someone who cares to represent us, and that is why we are backing Jim MacKlow. Jim has been flying for many years and has flown both hang gliders and paragliders. Jim moved to Las Vegas last year, and has been a tremendous asset to our flying community. Through his efforts, we now have an official USHGA-sanctioned flight club, the Desert Skywalkers, which serves both hang gliders and paragliders. Jim has helped us put together a non-profit corporation for our club, along with securing insurance for our flying sites. And although currently he is our club vice-president, everyone here knows he’s really the man in charge. We have tried to contact Ray Leonard many times and he has never returned our phone calls. We literally had to contact one of the other Region 2 directors who lives in California to help us with our situation. That is not right! We have checked Ray’s attendance record for past USHGA meetings and have learned that Ray has not attended the last three meetings. I tried to call him to ask about this but again, he wouldn’t return my call. We need somebody to represent us, and I think Ray Leonard just doesn’t care anymore. We need someone new. We need someone who is excited about being Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

a regional director. We need someone who will attend the meetings and represent all of us in Region 2. We need someone who will return phone calls. We need someone who cares. In this critical election year, what we really need is your vote for Jim MacKlow. “Pilots for Change,” represented by Anthony Lang, USHGA #72589

Power to the Pilots! (email, 8/17) The issue of power is being reconsidered. Being both a P3 and a PPG [powered paraglider] pilot, there are in my mind some ideas worth pondering. Directly or not we all burn fuel to fly: on the machine itself, or the drive up to and back from launch, or the tow plane or the winch. Unless we have the luxury to live right on top of the launch, we all take advantage of the internal combustion engine one way or another to assist us into the air. Do the math on gallons of fuel burned per flight-hour on your round-trip commute to launch before poo-pooing those “smelly” engines. Nobody is making any more land, and by looking at the cover photo on the August issue of this magazine, you can see that over the Point [of the Mountain, Utah] some land is being eaten up by expansion. It’s happening everywhere. Launch sites are precious. I live in the Great Lakes area where soarable launch sites are far away and limited. I would have never progressed to a P3 if all of my flying hours were reduced to annual trips to the coast for training. I would have

MAIL

likely given up if I hadn’t had a PPG to augment my time in the air. The inventory of powered pilots, hang or para, is growing. The number of potential sites to fly opens up dramatically when augmenting with power. Many a new wing flies that would have otherwise never been considered. To offer power pilots the insurance advantage in exchange for earning PPG or PHG ratings would be a win-win situation. The flock would grow to have more pilots concerned about preserving launch sites, even for those who would infrequently or never use them. The standards of training would be better served for power pilots if they were expected to earn ratings to have the insurance. The general public makes precious little distinction between hang gliders, paragliders, powered hang gliders, powered paragliders, or powered parachutes for that matter. Any explanation of what we understand as clear distinctions falls on deaf ears to those who only see small contraptions in the air. All of our actions reflect on each other in people’s eyes even if we have no direct connection on the ground. With such low relative numbers compared to the greater population, dismissing our powered or unpowered cousins in flight divides the family of pilots and lessens the common voice to help preserve our shared passion. Isolationism among pilots should be limited to what gender bathroom we use at the restaurant. Wally Hines, USHGA #73158

FACES OF THE FUTURE

Nathan Jacobs

By Rob Jacobs

t the ripe old age of five, Nathan found himself among a very different sort of people: ones who could strap big kites to their bodies and run off cliffs. But at that age, it was the colorful gliders that intrigued him, not the fact that people could actually fly like birds. Nathan would often accompany his dad to Morningside Flight Park in Charlestown, New Hampshire, to spend the weekend camping, which was the really fun part for the five-year-old. The new flashlight, the sleeping bag, and actually cooking outside were the big attractions. Having our tiny son actually flying someday was the farthest thing from Mom and Dad’s minds. But by the time he was seven, it started! After spending a couple of years at the flight park, seeing all the fun everyone else was having, Nathan caught the bug. Dad, of course, was in full hold-back mode: “OK, Junior, when you weigh 100 pounds and can hold a Falcon 140 on your shoulders for five minutes, I’ll sign you up for lessons.” That day came at age 10, after another three years of chomping at the bit. So in August of 2003, Nathan was on the training hill at Morningside, running down the smooth grass slope—no shoes, learning to hold the glider, flare, ground handle, and so on. He was only three lessons into his training when fall caught up with us here in the Northeast, but Nathan was determined to 10

do a perfect launch and landing from about 30 feet high. Mom and Dad were on pins and needles, watching as Nathan started his launch run, then left the ground for the very first time by himself, under his own power. Needless to say, we were quite proud, even though his landing was fraught with grass stains! Nathan was smiling ear to ear and couldn’t wait to do it again, a sure sign of pre-Hang1 syndrome. Winter ensued, the snow fell, and fell, and fell. Nathan would periodically pick up the manual and read a page or two over the winter, but mostly he was enjoying his other passion— snowmobiling. Spring conditions being as they are here in the Northeast, Nathan had to wait a bit longer for the air to calm down some. It’s a great time of year for us thermal pilots, but not for my now 11-year-old son on the training hill—he was sitting this out until June. In June we started again, winter/spring rusty and all: Nathan went to the hangar, set up the 140 Falcon on his own, then stood at the base of the slope, harness and helmet in hand. “OK, I’m ready”—this lesson was conducted by Morningside’s chief himself, Jeff Nicolay! (Mom and I were truly scared at this point. But we knew that if this boy is to fly, Jeff would make it happen.) Nathan’s first day back on the training hill was tense—the wind was cross, somewhat light, and Nathan, after an almost cover-to-cover reading of the training guide, was cocky—even at 11 years old! On his first day back on the training hill he got his feet off the November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

FA D CE E P S O A F RT H T E MF UET U NR T E

ground, launching almost like a pro, but landing still needed some work. And at Morningside, unless it’s consistently perfect several times in a row, you don’t move up that hill unless you’re being chased by wild animals. Nathan progressed quickly—after all, he’d been watching all these pilots for years, and “kinda” knew what was expected of him. Nathan is quite tall for an 11-year-old, so his looongstrided launches were textbook examples. After a couple more lessons he was landing better than most H4 pilots! (Proud Papa Syndrome…) At that point the other instructors pulled him aside, Steve Prepost and Chris Larson. “OK, Nathan, let’s evaluate what you’ve learned today, and work on your rating.” Both Steve and Chris worked with Nathan for another week, then sat him down in the classroom, test in hand. Lo and behold, he passed it with only a few mistakes. Dad was off flying Rutland, Vermont, that day; upon return, I saw my son waving his new Hang1 temporary card in the air. He jumped on me with a huge hug, flashing his “ink still wet” card to anyone who would look. In the last couple months, Nathan has become one of the best foot-launch Hang1’s I’ve seen in some time. His long legs and bump-free strides down that hill are a joy to watch, and he’s consistently landing square on his feet. Nathan enters seventh grade this fall in Hooksett, New Hampshire, a small suburb of Manchester. He enjoys video games, riding his ATV and snowmobile, spending weekends at Morningside, ﬁshing on the bad days, and practicing on the good days. Nathan is also an avid lacrosse player and plays for his local team in Hooksett each spring. Mom and Dad are “holding the reins” for some time to come, before Nathan moves up to “the BIG hill.” He just turned 12 in August; we know he’ll be begging for more airtime, but alas, he’s just a kid, and moving him high enough to cause real damage is scary for any parent. It’ll be a slow progression, but in a few more years, I predict that Mikey Barber will have a real challenge on his hands!

Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

E .D.

SPE AKS

OUT

Wheel Landings: Broadening the Window of Opportunity

learned to fly by tandem aerotowing. This type of training suited me perfectly: I’m 5’3”, 100 pounds, I have low Jayne DePanfilis bone density and not a lot of physical strength. You probably know other pilots who fit this description and who have benefited from tandem aerotow instruction to obtain their novice rating. It’s likely you also know others who perhaps should have chosen this training method but decided to “tough it out” on the training hills where there’s a greater likelihood of an injury or a bad training flight as a result of fatigue. There are many excellent training hill programs around the country, but for people like me tandem aerotow instruction makes it possible to experience solo flight. Once you can launch the glider, fly the glider, tow the glider, set up a conservative approach, and land the glider without input from your tandem instructor, you are ready to fly solo in a glider that’s the right size for you. One of the benefits of tandem aerotow training is the opportunity to launch and land the tandem glider on wheels, every flight. By the time I was cleared to solo aerotow, I was very proficient at rolling in on wheels. In fact, for nearly all my landings since that first solo flight I’ve rolled in on 12” (training) wheels. Yes, I’ve been to the training hills and invested time in learning how to land on my feet, but only after I already knew how to fly. Still, I trust the technique I learned first: landing on wheels. For me, rolling in on wheels is the right thing to do. It is the safest way for me to end every flight. Christian Thoreson, flight school director at Lookout Mountain Flight Park, points out that landing on wheels is a special skill. It’s a technique that requires training and practice, just like flat-slope launch or restricted LZ or any of the other recognized special skills. One of the advantages of flying at a flight park is that often times there are plenty of gliders set up to fly each day. I seldom had to set up or break down the Falcon 140 that fits me so well. It was always set up, already equipped with a pair of 12” wheels that facilitated my landings. I eventually moved to a flying site where the majority of new pilots learned to foot launch and land from a training hill. This school has one of the finest training hill programs I’ve ever witnessed or participated in, but I knew my primary launch method would not be foot launching and my preferred landing method would not be landing on my feet. I was scared but I desperately wanted to launch from the cliff. Eventually, 12

with Christian’s help, I did do that cliff launch—but I landed on my wheels. When I moved from a flight park to a mountain/ridge soaring site I learned that I had more airtime than most novice pilots who had trained exclusively on a training hill. I was told my flying skills and my ability to set up an approach were better than average. I had to learn the rules of the ridge and the difference between flying in rotor and flying in lift, and I had great respect for the breadth of knowledge necessary to fly safely at a new site. However, I also learned that my choosing to land my glider on wheels was seen as a derogatory thing when I was surrounded by mountain pilots at some flying sites. I heard a new term used to describe my landing skill: belly landings. I envisioned belly flops, the kind we did in the pool when we were learning how to dive. Those comments hurt. Many pilots (who had not learned I have more control over the how to land on wheels properly, glider when I remain prone who had not refined this special skill) made me during the approach and feel like I hadn’t really learned a landing than I do attempting legitimate landing technique. I knew differto fly from the downtubes in ently. I seldom dragged my belly. an upright position. The front of my harness was pretty clean for a pilot who lands on wheels. Pilots who watched me land on the wheels time and time again should have been able to see that this was a skill and not just the “sissy” way out. After all, I had learned to land on my feet, and on a rare occasion or two I demonstrated this skill as well. But on these occasions I walked off the field with this thought: I have more control over the glider when I remain prone during the approach and landing than I do attempting to fly from the downtubes in an upright position. Well-intentioned pilots have advised me not to land on the wheels because it is dangerous. Their thought is that it is much worse to remain prone with my head close to the ground—but in control of the glider—than it is to be in an upright position, with considerably less control over the glider. This just didn’t November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

E.D.

make sense to me considering where and when I choose to ﬂy. Clearly we were considering the concept of landing on wheels from two different perspectives. For me, landing on wheels is second nature; it is a skill I’ve learned and practiced over and over again. But to the pilots who were concerned about me, it appeared that I was relying on a landing technique that was supposed to be reserved for potentially bad situations, like downwind landings. Theirs was a heartfelt concern—they didn’t want to see me injure my head or neck doing one of these wheel landings.

SPEAKS

OUT

one that many long-time pilots have not been trained to do. Many of these are mountain pilots and it simply isn’t practical or safe to roll in on wheels at most of their flying sites.The introduction of the flight park and flatland flying changed this.

Pilots who intentionally land on wheels after almost every ﬂight…know their head is closer to the ground. They

Pilots with special needs may consider landing on wheels safer than landing on their feet. We aren’t sissies. We’re smart, and we’re implementing good risk management, unless the site is not suited to wheel landings. Pilots who intentionally land on their wheels should never feel badly about using big wheels. Bigger is better. These pilots aren’t usually concerned about drag or performance, but peer pressure is a powerful motivator. Ridicule could sway a pilot who’s made the choice to land safely on wheels decide to opt instead for a potentially less-safe foot landing.

also know that there are It was difficult to resist the pressure to land on my feet, so every once in a other, more important factors while I landed this way just to prove to them (or to myself) that I wasn’t deficient in my training. But a pilot influencing their choice. who intentionally rolls in on wheels should not be disqualified from being considered a “real” pilot. Some wellLanding on wheels makes it difficult or respected comp pilots and long-time pilots impossible to land safely at many mountain have to land on wheels because they’ve experienced too many sites. Landing on bumpy or uneven terrain can be unsafe too. hard landings on their feet. It’s OK for them to land on their Don’t forget why you made this choice. Go to the training hill wheels, and it should be OK for anyone. and learn to land on your feet or don’t fly sites where wheel landings are not a safe option. There are some very good lessons to be learned from my experiences: Landing on wheels in tall grass can be done without incident if Pilots who first learn to launch and land a hang glider on wheels the pilot understands that the glider must quickly roll to a stop are generally much more comfortable and proficient at doing so and not turn or spin 180 degrees. If the glider turns or spins than pilots who rely on wheels for emergency purposes only. after the landing, the pilot landed with too much airspeed. This is unacceptable if you need to land in tall grass. Pilots may have more control over the glider when they don’t transition from the prone position to the upright position durAerotow tandem training and flight parks make it possible for ing the approach and landing. Some pilots maintain better airmore people to learn to hang glide or try it one time. I don’t fly speed this way because they can “pull in” farther than they can a lot, but when I do I fly a small glider with big wheels. I will when they are flying from the downtubes. A pilot who doesn’t probably always fly with big wheels. No need to switch to a need to transition to the downtubes during approach won’t stall higher performing glider unless I plan to fly more and want to the glider during that moment of transition. expand my options. I fly at sites in conditions that fit my flying style. I make decisions based on what feels safest for me. Pilots who intentionally land on wheels after almost every flight have in most cases decided this is the safest landing technique Isn’t that what we all should do, every time we fly? for them. They know their head is closer to the ground. They also know that there are other more important factors influencJayne@ushga.org ing their choice. Pilots who roll in on wheels aren’t doing what is commonly referred to as a “belly” landing if they are executing the landing correctly. Landing on the wheels properly is a special skill and Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

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Speed Bar Use for Maximizing Distance, Altitude and Total Flight Speed By Zachary Hoisington

rain A is traveling at 70 mph Zach Hoisington and heading east. Two hundred miles away, train B is traveling at 60 mph and is heading west. Where and when do they collide? Even for those who enjoyed this kind of math problem in high school, ﬁguring how much speedbar to use to collide with the next thermal remains more of a guessing game than a precise science.

A collapse typically occurs when part or all of the wing experiences a reduction in angle of attack. This results in a pressure decrease in the brake toggles that we react to by pulling down further. After a short delay, the increased trailing edge deﬂection induces the local airﬂow in front of the wing to climb, increasing the stability of the leading edge, and therefore avoiding a collapse. Alternatively, releasing the speedbar can be used to increase the positive force on the leading edge, but with less delay in the system. By feeling the change in bar pressure, the pilot has a direct and instantaneous connection to the lift force on the leading edge. When there is a sharp decrease in that force, an instant release in bar pressure increases the angle of attack, avoiding a collapse.

Turbulence-induced pitch oscilVery few pilots fly with lations slow us down and hurt My nine-mile glide to goal on Day 2 of the 2004 enough gadgets to get our glide. Using brake to stop U.S. Nationals, with Bill Belcourt in front. I had plenty of time for stressing about the best STF… useful guidance in the these oscillations is detrimental area of speed to fly (STF) to performance, but subtle taps and speedbar position. on the speedbar can stop us from In addition, the best STF swinging around while keeping can be influenced by our airspeed up. information your flight computer can’t access, Certain paragliders reach dangersuch as a bird climbing ously high angles of attack while in front of you. In this the big ears are in. This occurs article, a few different because the approaching airflow scenarios will be disis climbing at a steeper angle due cussed and STF solutions to the lower lift-to-drag ratio. will be offered that can By using the speedbar along with be used during recreears, a greater stall margin can ational or competition flight. Gliding situations include crossing be reached. Be careful to practice this at high altitudes. Some valleys, intercepting thermals that are drifting in the wind, and gliders are better suited for this technique than others. maximizing speed during a race. After playing with different hypothetical scenarios, hopefully you’ll find it a little easier to Speed to Get There the Highest achieve an intuitive feel for the best STF. When flying XC in the mountains, our flights often end because we can’t quite reach the next ridge or fixed thermal source high The Device enough. For this type of situation, using the STF that will allow The speedbar consists of a foot pedal that is connected to a system you to cover the most ground is useful. This is also the best STF of pulleys that decreases the angle of attack of the paraglider. when you are trying to reach a landing zone or to arrive at goal Some systems also make significant changes to the camber and as high as possible. twist of the paraglider for improved stability at higher speeds. This tuning of the wing is set up by the designer through the Consider this example: There’s a 15 mph headwind crossing 60 mechanical advantage on each riser and the placement of the degrees from your flight path. Your vario is reading 400 fpm attachment points on the wing. down, and your wing is flying at trim speed. Your destination is sitting a mile ahead of you, but getting there is going to be Glider Control a push. Not knowing exactly how fast to go, you stay at trim In general, when a speedbar is pressed, the wing loses structural speed and tuck your hands behind your risers for reduced drag. stability and is more prone to collapse from atmospheric turbulence. Unfortunately, small reductions in body drag will only buy However, active speedbar use can help avoid collapses, reduce the you around 14 feet of altitude over the next mile. Meanwhile, chances of stalling and efficiently dampen pitch oscillations. pushing the right amount of speedbar would improve the amount of ground covered by around 32% (more than 1500 feet). 14

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

Figure 1 approximates the best speed-to-fly to maximize distanceover-ground for a variety of wind speeds, directions, and amounts of lift or sink. This particular graph is only valid for a specific wing, altitude and wing loading. However, small changes in wing performance do not significantly impact the best overall speedbar position. In this graph, the glider is a high-end DHV2 wing with max glide around 9.0, flown in the middle of the weight range, at 5000’ density altitude. The polar and speed vs. bar position were calculated with a simple computer model that was calibrated to match flight test data. A sweep of flight conditions was entered and the best STF for each case is shown on the graph. Instructions: While flying at approximately trim speed, take note of your sink rate. This determines the family of curves that you should be using. Each family of curves has a red, blue, green, and gray line. Find the family that has the closest “trim speed sink rate,” labeled in blue. Using your GPS, estimate the wind speed and crosswind component relative to your desired flight path. If you are not using a GPS, simply guess, because an exact match is not that important. Locate your wind speed on the bottom axis (right side of the chart for headwinds, left side for tailwinds). Pick the line color that best represents your current crosswind component (red for 0 to 20 degrees, blue for 20 to 50, green for 50 to 70 and gray for 70 to 90 degrees). Once you reach your new flight speed, you Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

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Figure 2

Figure 1

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will have to manually adjust your heading to stay on course; use your GPS or visual references. Example: You are flying at trim speed and your vario reads 400 fpm sink. There is a 10-mph headwind that is offset 40 degrees from your flight path. How much speedbar should you use for covering the greatest distance over the ground? Answer: 3/4 bar. Speed to Intercept a Moving Thermal the Highest Thermals are often not significantly influenced by terrain features, and drift close to the speed of the wind. This is especially common over flat terrain and when using the lift beneath clouds. For this type of flying, if your goal is to reach the next thermal the highest, the previous method can still be used. However, since wind speed and direction no longer have any influence, the wind input can be ignored. You may find that it’s best to use a fraction of the total wind speed as an input, depending on the nature of the thermals and terrain. Speed to Get there First So far this discussion has been geared towards maximizing the margin between the pilot and the ground, completely ignoring 15

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that there may be a riskier, yet faster, solution. If a pilot in front of you is5 climbing, and is within an easy glide, the optimal STF is typically much0 faster, if speed is an issue. On days with moderate climb rates (500 fpm), the best STF is often faster than a paraglider is capable of flying. Figure 2 shows a sweep of expected climb rates when in lift. Each colored curve represents the sink rate that your vario reads when you are flying at trim speed. The vertical axis can then be used to pick off the best STF. For example, if a pilot in front of you has a climb rate of 600 fpm, and your sink rate at trim speed is around 220 fpm, you should be flying nearly full speed. Conclusion I recently found myself barely making the glide to goal on the last day of the nationals. Fighting a smooth 10-mph headwind, I was disappointed that the best STF was only at around 1/4 bar, as I watched some other pilots gain ground on me. The fastest of these gliders was a comp wing, with a far superior polar compared to my ship. He struck the ground just short of goal, and I felt pretty happy that I’d stuck with the most conservative STF, speed to get there the highest, as I floated on in. It’s probably not worth taping STF charts to your flight deck and trying to figure out what they mean in the air. Looking ahead for lift and keeping your glider flying is far more important than squeezing out every foot of altitude with STF theory. However, it is very time-consuming to develop an intuitive feel for the best STF, and an occasional check with the numbers can be useful.

Zach Hoisington is an aeronautical engineer and has been ﬂying paragliders for 15 years. He is a conceptual aircraft designer at the Boeing Phantom Works and an adjunct professor at the USC Department of Aerospace Engineering. 100

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Mastering Flight Article and photos by John Matylonek

have seen many people learn to ﬂy since getting into the sport 14 years ago. Transforming oneself into a bird isn’t trivial. It takes time, commitment, money and desire. Even when these are present, the uneven way in which some people progress in the sport has fascinated me. Pilots come in a wide spectrum of skill and accomplishment. Some pilots have steady progress in the sport and make it look easy. Some seem to crawl their way up the learning curve. Others have sporadic success, entering, leaving and re-entering the sport. Some have problems that restrict their versatility. Some seem to just stop learning and content themselves with being at one skill level but do so reliably. Conversely, some burn bright as a rising star—till an accident snuffs them out. Others just lose interest and drop out. Some never really achieve self-reliance and independence, using others for their judgment and decision-making. So, why is this? As a hang gliding instructor, I have used a general learning theory to help students progress more easily, steadily and further in the sport. I believe if students actually know how learning and mastery work, then they will be better students and advance further. Practically, masters in the sport tend to do more ﬂying, in a safer fashion, more successfully and with greater accomplishment and fun than other less-skilled pilots. 18

You can, too. This article will describe how mastery works and can help you achieve levels of skill that enhance your ﬂying career. Although the following emphasizes the beginner on the path to mastery, it also applies to those of us at intermediate stages wanting to improve. Structured Learning All complex activities are built on well-learned fundamental skills. Our bodies and brains regulate our behaviors and allow the development of these basic physical and mental skills. Learning involves the conditioning of web-like neural pathways so that the skills are performed reliably. Just like muscles, neural webs get strengthened when used and weakened when not used. By necessity, it takes focused attention during the trial-and-error learning process to physically change the brain and body. Neural connections need time to grow, consolidate and develop enough associations to perform a skill reliably. Focused attention and physical effort are sometimes hard work, and the error that comes with learning is sometimes frustrating. The instructor, the environment or the activity itself provides the feedback that allows one to modify responses until the standard of proﬁciency is reached. This process can be summarized in the following graph. November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

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Here are the stages that you must be aware of while learning. Unconscious Incompetence

People are most comfortable doing what they do best. If motivation and interest exist, they will tend to want to improve skills so that they feel more comfortable. The straight line represents developed skills where the pilot’s skills exactly match the challenges needed to accomplish a task. Below this “proficiency line,” where skills exceed the available challenges, a student pilot may be competent and comfortable but also bored. Above the line, where challenges exceed the available skills, the student pilot may be excited but also incompetent and overwhelmed. As task challenges increase (the vertical lines), skills rise to meet the increased challenges to a point where skills no longer are able to handle the challenges. Anxiety or error begins and the pilot retreats back into the comfort zone (the horizontal lines). However, newly developed skills are honed to perfection along these plateaus, hence the continuing upward slope of the proficiency line. Eventually, this efficiency leads to boredom and the student seeks more challenges along the vertical lines and develops more skills to meet them. Thus, as skills increase and become more complex, the pilot accepts challenges, to the point of increased error. At this point, the student retreats back into the comfort zone until they improve enough to seek slightly more challenge and develop further skills. This stair-step process develops the fundamental skills of any complex task. How to Gauge Progress A tool to measure one’s progress is gained by developing an awareness of competence. Your instructor, written material and other pilots are a treasure trove of information regarding techniques for flying. They are also indispensable for getting objective feedback. Remember, there is no failure or criticism, just corrective feedback. Getting objective feedback from instructors, other pilots or the results of your flying efforts is essential. However, ultimately, you must take learning into your own hands. Developing an accurate subjective awareness of your skill is very important. The important thing to note during this process is that mastery occurs at all skill levels. Unconscious competence in fundamentals must occur over a period of time before mastery can be said Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

Conscious Incompetence

Conscious Competence

Unconscious Competence

Mastery

As someone not seriously considering learning how to fly, we don’t even know we can’t fly a glider. We have unconscious incompetence when it comes to the skill of flying. The statement from non-pilots, “I’d like to try that,” is a good example of this mindset. Once convinced instruction is needed, we are aware we cannot, as yet, fly a glider. We are conscious of our incompetence. This is the mark of the good student pilot. After learning to fly a glider, and when we have earned a rating, we can certainly execute the various skills involved, but we do so consciously, acutely aware of weight shift, brake usage, speed control, and personal limits and skill level. We have conscious competence. After a while, we find we are flying at our particular skill level without conscious thought. A good analogy is driving home from work, pulling in the driveway and realizing that you don’t remember any details of the trip. This is the level of skill where so much of our minor decision-making is done unconsciously, and creative actions are driven by intuition. It comes about when our unconscious competence has been building during real-world experiences.

MASTERING FLIGHT

to exist. Only when prerequisite fundamentals are mastered should a student go on to the next skill level. Otherwise, skill gaps will show up during flight. Also, unconscious incompetence can happen at any stage or skill level due to denial, or lack of proper information or feedback. If you start making major errors (or even having potential incidents), then it’s time to retreat to the comfort zone below the learning curve. The Instructor’s Role The instructor’s role is to set up the learning environment so that the time and magnitude of the challenges above and below the proficiency line (developed skills) are near the student’s capabilities. The instructor creates a training environment that minimizes the variability and complexity in challenges (above the line) so the key components can be worked on—one at a time, in correct sequence so that complex skills are built on a solid foundation. These first fundamentals are far removed from the complete flight form. The frustration-to-success ratio is kept as low as possible to keep the student’s motivation high. But frustration is a necessary component of the learning process, as it indicates challenges that slightly exceed the skill level. Sometimes the fundamental skills seem unglamorous and unnecessary due to the impulsivity and impatience of students.

Pilots of All Wings

There’s much more to learn!

Students pay instructors because instructors are able to provide the proper information and standards of proﬁciency, encourage the learning process through structuring the tasks, and provide a safe but challenging environment. They also provide objective feedback, physical assistance and incentives to motivation to exactly meet the needs of the student. Objective feedback and coaching are what impel students forward and upward on the learning curve. The instructor holds back the overzealous student from over-reaching for challenges without the proper foundational skills. Since changing the brain’s neural structure takes time (more time than the average ego or impulse for pleasure would like), the instructor enforces plateaus on the student’s learning curve that allow the student to consolidate freshly learned skills. On the other hand, some students are so unable to see their own skill level precisely, or are so lacking in conﬁdence, that they become very tentative toward goals. They require incentives to motivation and assurances to get them to perform the required tasks. Balancing critique and acknowledgement of improvement is very important to the motivation, safety, and progress of students. Students can short-circuit this learning process by not understanding or appreciating the longer-term mastery curve that develops complex skills.

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MASTERING FLIGHT

The Mastery Curve There is no doubt that flying is complex. In fact, the complexity matches or exceeds that of many activities, including playing a musical instrument or learning a martial art. Our rating systems even parallel the latter art form. The learning curve controls the building of simple skills. Many advanced pilots cannot break down the components of their skills because they are ingrained as a seamless whole. Complex skills built upon fundamentals that result from intuition and reflex may be termed mastery. Whereas the learning curve time scale is hours and days, the mastery curve time scale is months and years. Below is a graph describing mastery. To emphasize proficiency, or a basic skill set, the vertical axis has been labeled “Skills” and the horizontal “Challenges,” the reverse from the Learning Curve graph. Proficiency ratings are simply complex skill sets that can handle a particular spectrum of environmental challenges (the flat areas on the mastery curve).

difficult because many students have the mistaken notion that every instance of practice or teaching must result in improvement. Some do not appreciate the level of variability in weather conditions they must experience for genuine proficiency—the very thing both student and teacher must surrender to. Complicating the learning and mastery process in flying is that there are three distinct systems being modified: physical (motor), intellectual, and emotional skills. Certain students may progress faster in any one of these areas or come to training with particular talents in one or two. Very few of us come to flying with inborn talent in all three realms. However, the good news is that all of these aptitudes are subject to growth if given the chance. This explains the endless spectrum of ability and progress in pilots. Retention of Skills It takes time to grow a critical mass of neural connections to support a skill. This, in turn, is dependent on the time it takes to experience environmental variability. Both of these are what give rise to the plateaus on the learning and mastery curves. There is a critical number of occurrences with the skill, or experiences with a situation, that a brain must deal with to develop a highly associative and reflexive state. Just as muscles atrophy with disuse, neural connections associated with a skill are lost without constant review. The versatility, reliability and longevity of the skill are increased with the experience of natural variability surrounding the skill. In the context of learning, a pilot who has a sporadic training schedule must constantly take time to review and re-establish previous levels of reliability. This wastes time, money and emotional energy. Regular and consistent practice of fundamental and advanced skills is essential to mastery.

As in the learning curve, the path to mastery is not a straight line with a regular upward progression but is a stair-step of learning curves punctuated by learning plateaus. These plateaus are a period when skill sets seem to remain stagnant. This is a time when the student’s skill set is being honed by the natural variability of the environment and the complexity of natural situations. The brain is integrating gains made in prior learning spurts with new information offered by our learning environment—either Mother Nature or the instructor’s tasks. For instance, a new student must experience various slopes and wind conditions to develop solid launch and landing techniques. These new experiences must be integrated into the basic information already learned in the ideal learning situation. Also, since the brain is being physically changed, there are biological limits to how fast one can truly develop a reﬂexive reliable response. With continued focus, persistence, and determination, these ﬂat areas are overcome and progress is once again seen. It just “clicks” and students suddenly improve. The plateaus are emotionally Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

Learning emphasis The beginning stages of learning how to fly depend on physicalemotional skills. Visual and kinesthetic (bodily activity, awareness and touch) cues are very important at this stage. Later stages emphasize intellectual-emotional skills. These require ability to absorb in-flight information, synthesize that information and make decisions. This change in emphasis is a pitfall, since most people depend on their strengths. They prefer one learning style over another because that’s where they have had past successes. Some people just need to get the “feel” of it. Others need to analyze the task completely before attempting it. Very athletic students excel at the beginning, but they may falter when attempting to deal with more complex mountain environments. On the other hand, intellectual students may have a hard time at the beginning, when just practicing the skills through action mimicry and physical commitment is required. Switching learning styles is essential in the mastery of free flight because once the physical finesse is developed, flying requires much more judgment and decision making. 21

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Emotional skills can especially be an obstacle to learning at all levels, since they can effectively block progress on the other fronts. But, equally, lack of interest in technical aspects can lead to major mistakes that result in emotional setbacks. Despite the interdependency of these aptitudes, interest and motivation are two necessary driving forces behind learning that depend on emotional aptitudes. The desire to ﬂy countered by what is actually possible—physically, intellectually and emotionally—is the most important thing. This brings up our next topic. Characteristics of a Beginner on the Way to Mastery Focused attention and persistence are the most important character traits in student pilots. Because learning requires error, a certain amount of frustration must be expected. In fact, considering the complexity of the sport, learning to ﬂy may be the most challenging thing you have ever attempted. Of course, anything worthwhile takes some work (and a helmet). Those needing more work in any one aptitude must expect more remedial work and frustration. Unbridled frustration is an unneeded emotional response. It is a distraction to focused attention. All distracters are mind-made, and must be managed by the student. I will describe

how to manage these gremlins in the next section. Yes, you are responsible for your own attitude toward learning. True intention is an important character trait. Motivation and interest depend on true intention. Interest in the art and action of flying must exist. Looking for an instant thrill, going along with the crowd, having a vicarious interest in personal flight, enjoying the social scene, or indulging your mate in a bonding experience is not sufficient. Without adequate motivation and interest in actually flying, learning is cut short because the focused attention needed to stay on the mastery curve is not there. Belief in the mastery curve and the three required aptitudes, whether conscious or not, is the most important predictor of higher levels of success in student pilots. That’s because this belief sustains the motivation and interest that will transform itself into focused attention and effort. It also forms a roadmap for life-long self-learning once the student has graduated from flying school. Acceptance of error and some frustration is inevitable, but we must also minimize the magnitude of those errors for safety reasons.

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

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Never being above practicing fundamentals, and a willingness to review, are important for versatility and complete mastery. There is always some regression of skills as task emphasis changes from one learning environment to another. As pilots ﬂy more in the mountains, actual launch and landing practice decreases as airtime increases. As pilots get used to their local sites, skills are biased toward the local conditions. This becomes very apparent when seasoned mountain pilots are presented with a 20foot dune to launch and land from—all within seven seconds of ﬂight time.

flexibility, commitment and expense of flying can cause much internal conflict. All advanced pilots remember the feelings of inferiority during learning, when everyone else was soaring, and they were down in the LZ. These distractions are as variable as the weather.

Management of Distracters Remember, focused attention and persistence are required to attain the physical, intellectual and emotional goals of ﬂying. Obstacles to learning include any distracting thoughts or attitudes, or conditioned habits that do not contribute to actual training. Willingness to stay on the plateaus toward the next learning goal despite frustration assures success. In other words, steady faith and determination that mastery will occur manifests itself as focused attention, effort and action. That action results in steady progress along all these fronts.

of fundamental and advanced skills. Separating and disregarding minor internal and external frustrations from learning is essential in learning to master free-ﬂight. Being able to note frustrations without overreacting to them, and realizing that the next experience will be different, are very useful emotional skills. Many beginners are surprised at how ﬂexible, tolerant, and patient they must be.

Foot-launch flight has many potential distractions. We cannot control the weather, yet we are deeply conditioned to plan and expect our activities on a rigid schedule. Sometimes, we are impatient with the mastery process and would just like to fly like the experts—right now, despite objective feedback to the contrary. Sometimes, we don’t appreciate the value (and fee involved) of instruction. Other times, the imperfect nature of the instructor distracts the student. Attaching self-worth to flight is a recipe for disaster, since we cannot make rational decisions in this state. Finding that our lifestyles will not support the time, Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

Distracted people have a harder time learning any one thing, even though they may excel at knowing many things less well. When a task is being learned well, there is none of this “extra” thought—just the effort of learning and the development

How to Become a Master Flying experiences are open to almost everyone with the proper assistance and supervision. Our flight parks are expert at providing flying experiences to all. But to achieve ratings and self-reliance requires an amount of personal growth that develops or compensates for all three aptitudes—physical, intellectual and emotional. A student pilot must be willing to pay the cost of this growth. Here is what you must do: 1) Have a true desire and interest to fly. 2) Believe in the mastery curve. 3) Develop flying goals. Break them down to 23

R GT M MDA ES TP EAR N F L EI GN HTT

manageable skills that can be practiced safely. If you are working with an instructor, insist on a deﬁ nite plan with steady and attentive feedback. 4) Schedule regular time for practice, practice, practice. Change your lifestyle to accommodate free-ﬂ ight. 5) Have a beginner’s mind. Resist skipping fundamental steps. 6) Eliminate distracters. Learn how to meditate. 7) Accept the variability of the air as your teacher. 8) Accept feedback from people and the air without denial or ego posturing. 9) Adapt your preferred learning style to accommodate the challenges. 10) Construct personal limits and safety margins for your present skill level.

Surprisingly, the students who have the most fun and the easiest time at learning to fly have average mental, physical and emotional aptitudes. For these students, not much remedial work or extra assistance in any one area is needed. This makes for a much more steady progression. Students having persistent handicaps in any one of these aptitudes can also achieve high levels of accomplishment and even excel over other “average types.” This is because a person who must work hard at developing a skill often learns the skill more deeply—to the bone, as it were. The student on the path to mastery addresses all three aptitudes in his or her flying career and follows the mastery curve. Conclusion Learning to fly is one of the greatest adventures a human can attempt. Flying rarely gets boring because there are always new things to learn, and nature always provides more and different challenges. When skills exactly match the challenges, a total immersion results that sends worldly concerns away. The pilot feels confident and in control. This is far superior and safer than feeling scared and lucky. To transform oneself into a bird should not be taken casually. After all, human beings have evolved to gaze over tall grasses across some flat savannah. Learning how this transformation takes place in our lifetime can be very useful. It can direct our own training plans and lessen the surprises of learning. Hang gliding and paragliding are very complex sports, involving physical, emotional, and intellectual skills. Very few people have inherent talents in all these realms. Mastery of any complex skill requires growth in all three areas. In part, that’s why pilots find so much joy and frustration in the sport. Constant challenges can surprise and frustrate the beginner, especially when encountering the inevitable plateaus, but at all stages they can create an endless fascination. Desire, persistence and goals are requirements to mastery. Those with a genuine desire to fly can get through the unglamorous parts of training, dodge the pitfalls of more difficult sites and circumstances, and discover a way to keep learning, safely, for a lifetime. John Matylonek, is a product of Kitty Hawk Kites and Lookout Mountain hang gliding schools, and has been flying hang gliders since 1990. He’s been an active USHGA-certified hang gliding instructor and private pilot since 1996, and is currently working on the fundamentals of paragliding. John runs the Oregon Hang Gliding School with centers of operation on the northern Oregon coast and the Willamette Valley. Contact him at john@oregonhanggliding.com.

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

G E A R

Flight Deck Review

By Thayer Hughes, staff writer

lthough I flew without a flight deck for many years, once I began using one there was no turning back. And while a deck may not be necessary to every pilot, I’m sure almost every pilot would find one useful. The advantages of having your instruments laid out and accessible not only makes a flight more enjoyable but also much safer. A quick glance is all that is necessary to give you pertinent information, and, when button-pushing is required, everything is easily accessed without fumbling. Occasionally I enjoy “light” flights with either no instruments at all, or a minimum of Suunto flight logger and mini vario. But normally I am prepared to fly high and far with an arsenal of VHF radio, full-size vario, small Solario vario, one or two GPS units, and my ever-present Suunto watch/flight logger/altimeter/ thermometer/barometer/etc. All flight decks typically use the hook side of Velcro to attach items to the deck. I have found that using the sticky Velcro tape on the back of the instruments works fine until the temperature starts warming up. Then, the tape adhesive softens and is easily overpowered by the Velcro hooks. What this means is that if you are repeatedly removing an item, such as a GPS for comp verification, pretty soon the Velcro pile is stuck to the hooks on the deck and not to your instrument. A more durable solution is to use contact cement to glue regular Velcro to the instrument or other item to be attached. In addition to holding instruments for display, most flight decks include an accessible purse-sized internal storage area to carry items such as batteries, antennas, camera, maps, water, your lunch, ballast or anything else you may need during the flight. A quick inventory of the storage area of my flight deck includes a note pad and pen; sunglasses; extra film; a mic for the radio; a Leatherman-type tool (knife, pliers, etc.); spare batteries for my camera, radios and GPSs; a map; chemical hand warmers; hard candies and a power bar; three different types of radio antennas; a packet of papers and forms (I fly tandems); and a few other odds and ends. When I fly in competitions I also carry a spare GPS, and whenever going XC I like to have an additional radio. ...whew! Do I really need all this stuff? Well, of course! While all flight decks provide basic functions, such as holding your vario in front of your face, not all do so with equal style or grace. I was given the opportunity to fly with five different decks and here are my impressions:

Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

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AVA Sport This deck is an average size, 10” x 5”, and uses two strips of loop Velcro to secure instruments. There is a 1” gap between the Velcro strips. Two plastic D-rings are provided to attach lanyards or retaining straps. The deck has a lightly padded instrument cover that unzips and folds out of the way when the deck is being used.

This deck has a good method for adjusting the slope of the deck for easy reading. Widely separated attachment points (two on each end) allow adjustment to nearly any angle desired. The attachment straps are each designed with loops on the ends to fit through the harness carabiners. Having to thread these loops on and off the ‘biners every time would be a pain, so there are quick release snaps on three of the four straps, leaving the loops attached to the harness. Why there isn’t a release on the fourth strap I don’t know. Maybe “no pain, no gain.” If I owned this deck I would probably add dedicated carabiners to facilitate attachment. The main storage area is about average in size but has no compartments or provision for securing items. To access the interior compartment, this flight deck features vertical full-access zippers on either end of the bag, in addition to the top zipper. These would work great for carrying any item too long to fit into the interior storage compartment, such as a long oxygen bottle or an umbrella. The construction is well done and although this flight deck uses the same neoprene-type material that the GIN deck uses, because the neoprene is on the side and not the bottom, it doesn’t receive as much wear. This is a clean and simple flight deck.

Critter The CRITTER Instrument Container comes in two configurations, both basically the same but each having a different mounting method, either front-mounted on your harness or as a fanny/ waist pack. As you would expect from CRITTER, the quality of construction is first-rate. The flight deck area is a generous 12” wide and has a nicely padded protective instrument cover which folds back when the deck is in use. CRITTER sews two strips of 1/4”-wide webbing across the face of the deck, making it easy to attach lanyards wherever you wish. The deck surface uses Velcro to attach your instruments securely. 25

T GDE EA PRA RR TE M V IE EN W

The interior storage area for both decks is very limited in size and accessibility. The clamshell design zips open from only one side, making it nearly impossible to access contents securely while flying or even just wearing the deck. Open the zipper and everything readily falls out. If the lower compartment were more rigid it would help contain items, and having a zipper that could open from the center would be an improvement. Unless you are retrieving a single large bulky item, such as a pair of gloves, I wouldn’t attempt to access the storage bag in-flight. The harness-mount configuration uses a simple adjustable web loop on each side with a quick snap for easy attachment. Unfortunately, these do not allow for much adjustment to the angle of the deck to improve the view of your instruments. The waist-mount version has a maximum belt size of 46” so large pilots who wear a lot of clothing should first try strapping it on. The deck angle may be adjusted by more or less tightening up the belt, which also promotes fatigue on anything but the shortest flights. Because the CRITTER Fanny Pack is worn at the waist it must fit inside any harness straps. In my case, it would get in the way or hang up on my harness when launching. I also routinely fly tandems and/or with a water ballast bag in my lap, so it competed for lap space. And, because it was down in my lap rather than chest high, reading or accessing the instruments was more difficult.

I thought the CRITTER Front Instrument Container version was very simple and, except for accessing the storage compartment, adequate. My impression of the CRITTER Fanny Pack as a fulltime, functional flight deck was less favorable. I think if you are attempting to navigate while not in a harness (such as walking around in the LZ trying to find the beer cooler) then this deck would work fine. CRITTER also makes another flight deck that provides for 8 liters of ballast. For more information on Critter decks, go to http://www.crittermountainwear.com/instrument_holders.htm.

Gin Of the five, this deck is the one I would choose to fly with. And indeed, I did! Although not quite perfect, this unit had nearly all of the features I find useful in a flight deck.

Ideally, the deck surface could be a little larger, but at 10” x 5” it will accommodate about four instruments. The idea for protecting the instruments is to unzip (open) the interior compartment, fold the deck (with instruments) into the bag, and then zip it shut. While this is a ﬁne idea, it pretty much makes the bag area unusable for holding anything else. This is the main criticism I have of this deck.

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

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R E V I E W

The method of attachment is by loops on either side of the deck that clip into the harness ‘biners. These loops may be easily adjusted while flying and the pitch of the deck can be altered. The only problem I had with this was when, at over a mile AGL and early into a flight, I noticed that the loop straps had slipped through the buckles and the deck was being held in my lap by gravity! The problem was corrected in-flight by flipping the strap a half turn and threading it back through the buckle. I haven’t had a problem since then. The deck also allows for attachment to the harness chest strap and additionally provides elastic straps near the bottom for a custom fit. This deck is very easy to clip on or off when beginning or ending a flight. This was the only deck I used that had a map holder. I find this feature VERY useful for XC or comps and this one is easy to access and then folds away on the front of the deck when not being used. At 8” x 16” and usable on both sides, there is plenty of area available for displaying maps and waypoint notes. This deck also has, on either end, two mesh pockets with elastic throats, perfect for holding a small camera or such at the ready. There are five sewn loops in various places to attach lanyards and keep items from being dropped. I would prefer a few more attachment loops inside the bag. The interior storage is about the size of a loaf of bread (10” x 5” x 7”, or 6 liters). While this is just enough volume to contain all the items I usually carry, I wish that the bag had inside pockets or dividers to keep things from exploding out while I’m rooting around for batteries or such at the bottom of the bag. And here’s a feature that I found on none of the decks that I reviewed but that I think would be a great improvement: If the deck/bag opened from the rear, rather than the front, it would be easier to contain items when accessing the contents in flight. At least the stuff might fall into your lap rather than bouncing off your knees on the way down. The only other shortcoming I felt this bag had was that it uses a stretchy, neoprene-type material on the bottom. This material doesn’t wear nearly as well as the rest of the bag and soon pills up and looks worn. All in all, this is an outstanding flight deck. While I was testing the various models, I often fielded inquiries and comments from other pilots expressing their interest in flight decks. This is one that I would recommend. For more information, go to http://www.gingliders.com/products/flightdeck.php#.

SOL The SOL flight deck features a built-in, 8-liter (about 17.5 lbs.) ballast bag. With generous overall dimensions of 12.5” x 6” x 9” (32cm x 15cm x 23cm), the internal compartment is large enough to stuff a cat into. The flight deck area is a usable 11” x 5.5” and uses multiple narrow webbing strips sewn across the deck to attach lanyards wherever necessary. The padded deck cover is thick and provides good protection for the instruments, folding out of the way when the deck is in use. Although I liked the large size, shorter pilots or those who sit low in their harness may first want to insure that their view is not blocked before buying.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

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R E V I E W

The deck is quickly attached to the harness with single loops on either side, which are adjustable and have quick-release buckles. Because the loops attach at single points to the deck, the angle cannot be changed. The compartment bag is provided with compression straps to help manage the added bulk of the water. If the deck is not used as a ballast container, the water bag insert can be easily removed and the ﬁlling hole covered by a Velcro ﬂap. Although I didn’t attempt to poke a hole in it, I question how durable the water container is. The plastic is thicker than a sandwich bag but appears nowhere near as sturdy as a Camelbak or Platypus. Replacing the water bag if it got punctured might be a concern. The screw-on cap isn’t tethered so care must be taken not to drop it when dumping ballast.

nitely recommend an additional backup tether between deck and harness as a precaution against gravity (D-rings are provided). Construction is good. The internal compartment only zips open from one side, limiting access. More information is available at http://www.solsports.com.br/english/acessories/menu/acessories/. So what would make an ideal ﬂight deck? While no single product will ever please everyone, here is a list of what appeals to me: Wide ﬂight deck ....................................................... (12”) Large interior storage .............................................. (SOL) A simple drawstring collar on compartment area to keep

Jettisoning ballast is easily done by unclipping the left mounting strap and swinging the entire bag off to the right while it’s draining, important if you are betting on getting back up to 16,000 feet and you don’t want to arrive with soaked harness and clothing. With all your expensive toys waving in the breeze I would deﬁ-

mishandled items from falling ..........................(none) Interior access opens towards you, not away ........(none) Interior pockets and dividers for small items .......(none) Outside pockets ....................................................... (GIN) Map holder, large and easy to use .......................... (GIN) Multiple attachment options ................................. (GIN) Ability to adjust angle of deck ...........(GIN & AVA Sport) Interior loops for securing items Securely attaches yet easy on, easy off Protective cover for instruments Durable material

Staff writer Thayer Hughes is a P4/T3-rated pilot who ﬂies recreationally and in competitions as often and in as many different geographical areas as he can manage. He enjoys working with new pilots and often ﬂies tandem with those who are advancing their thermaling or crosscountry skills. Contact him at thayer@nwlink.com.

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

A I R

The AIR ATOS V/VX Rigid-Wing Hang Gliders

A T O S

surfaces, and only have to be rotated and ﬁxed into place in the sail during setup.

by Davis Straub, staff writer: http://ozreport.com

ike other hang glider manufacturers, Felix Ruehle is always making incremental changes to his gliders to improve them. His AIR ATOS V is the latest (named) version of the standard-sized (146 square feet sail area) ATOS glider, an update of the ATOS C. The ATOS VX is a bigger (167 square feet) version that is applicable also for tandem gliding.

At the tips of the D-cells, an aluminum tube with an attached rib is shoved into a cylindrical slot. A carbon fiber tip wand is then shoved into the end of the aluminum tube to form the curved tip of each wing. A separate thin carbon fiber shell fits around the leading edge of the tube, continuing the form of the D-cell out to the last rib.

The VX has a longer aluminum tube with an additional rib, and a longer carbon ﬁber shell. Unlike on the V, the tube on the VX is canted up to add a bit more dihedral to the VX at the tip. When I asked Felix why he canted the tips on In-air photos: Flavio Tebaldi, photographer; the VX up he wrote: Alexandro Ploner, pilot The main reason is to have enough clearance at take-off. Wings with higher aspect ratio also tend to tighten up in turns. With the additional dihedral of the outer wing, the glider ﬂies with more stability in turns.

Figure 1 - The AIR ATOS V

Figure 3 - The tip pieces for the VX

Figure 2 - The AIR ATOS VX The ATOS V and VX are so named because they incorporate a V-tail in their design. The V-tail first became widely available in July of 2002 for pilots flying in the Rigid Wing Worlds in Chelan. It was a good thing, too, given the powerful thermals that we found out on the flats east of Chelan Butte. The V-tail provides additional stability and dampening in pitch.

The V has an aluminum box keel, and the VX a carbon fiber/aluminum keel built to handle the additional weight that comes with tandem flying. The V comes with a “whack tube,” a sacrificial aluminum tube at the nose that absorbs the shock of a nose-over. The VX comes with a hard foam core that likewise absorbs the shock. Figure 4a and 4b - The VX keel

The AIR ATOS is the predominant (in terms of the percentage of pilots in competitions who fly the ATOS) Class 5 rigid-wing hang glider. The Icaro2000 Stratos is a slight variant of the ATOS with very similar performance. Alex Ploner won the Rigid Wing World Championship in Spain on an AIR ATOS in 2001, and his teacher, Christian Ciech, won it on a Stratos in 2002. For those of you unfamiliar with hang gliders of this type, the ATOS gliders are made of D-cells: carbon fiber leading edges, with a spar wall (the vertical portion of the D) and rounded leading edges. The carbon fiber and foam sandwich ribs are attached to the back of the spar wall, defining the top and bottom wing Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

D E P A R T M E N T

The sails on the ATOS are quite a bit thinner (and much more prone to wear) than those found on flex-wing gliders. The design philosophy for a rigid-wing hang glider is that the carbon fiber D-cells are the main (and most expensive) piece of the glider, and you can easily and less expensively replace the sail. This is not true for flex-wing gliders. The thin sail (which is reinforced at the tip and trailing edge) is stretched around the D-cells, and the upper and under surfaces are formed by the ribs which attach to the trailing edge of the sail using little fish-shaped cams that are attached by Velcro straps to the trailing edge. The trailing edge is sealed with Velcro as the bottom surface and top surface meet at the trailing edge (i.e. the ATOSs have 100% double surface). Felix states that he has done a number of wind-tunnel tests to determine what cloth works best, and says that the current cloth has less drag than a layer of gel coat on the leading edges. I have no independent way of verifying his statement. Of course, what defines a rigid-wing glider as a Class 5 hang glider is the aerodynamic surfaces—in the case of the ATOS, the spoilerons located near the wing tips. These spoilers reduce the lift and increase the drag of a wing when they are raised. The VX has an additional smaller spoileron attached to the main spoileron by a small string.

Figure 5 - The VX spoilerons Jim Lamb, Midwest AIR ATOS dealer, states: The second spoiler was added to try to improve the roll rate, and seems to have done well. The roll rate is reported to be nearly the same as the V! The second spoiler is smaller, sits in the same relative position on the extended area, and is actuated by a connecting line that has a small amount of slack. The consequence of that is that the second spoiler does not deploy with minor deﬂections, but only after the main spoiler has deﬂected past approximately 25%.

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

A I R

The ATOS control frame is allowed to rotate a little to the left or right to activate the spoilerons by way of two wires attached midway down each downtube. It only takes a few inches of play to fully deflect the spoilerons. To the pilot, the sensation of moving the control bar from side to side is very similar to the sensation of controlling the roll of the glider through side-to-side weight shifting, but requires much less effort. The wires that activate the spoilerons also function as the front wires for the control frame. As on all hang gliders, you control the pitch of the ATOS by weight shift, and the control frame is fixed with respect to the wings by its front/spoileron and back wires. Because you activate spoilerons to roll the ATOS into a turn, Felix is much freer to increase the span of a rigid-wing hang glider without making it too difficult to roll, as would be the case for a glider that relied on weight shifting for roll control. In addition, he can add roll stability to the glider by going from the anhedral of a flex-wing glider (put into the design to make it less stable and therefore easier to turn) to a fair amount of dihedral. This makes a rigid-wing glider especially easy to tow, for example, as it will track steady with very little pilot input. It is also makes it much easier than a high-performance topless flex wing to fly in a straight line on fast glide. Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

A T O S

Greater span with the same wing area means a higher aspect ratio and therefore higher glide performance, with reduced drag losses from the reduced tip vortices. Sails can also be designed to be more efficient if they don’t have to shift as they do on a flex-wing glider. Rigid-wing gliders are known for their low minimum sink rates, even at higher wing loadings (brought about by the smaller standard sail sizes). The ATOS V has 146 square feet of sail versus 150-155 square feet for a standard-sized flex-wing glider. The ATOS V has a minimum sink rate of 142 fpm. The tail, by increasing pitch dampening, reduces pitch movements while traveling at high speeds when, for example, coming into goal in a competition. Of course, the main point is to reduce the pitch rotation speed when encountering violent turbulence, but an additional benefit is general pitch dampening in other circumstances. There are rare conditions in the air that hang glider pilots can encounter that will almost instantly rotate a hang glider. Hang gliders are built to resist these rotations, but they are not built to withstand the stresses that can come from very rapid rotations. Rapid rotations can quickly exceed the torsional loads that can be sustained by a hang glider (either rigid wing or flex wing), and 31

A I R

A T O S

the gliders can easily be destroyed when tucking and tumbling. Beefing up hang gliders so they are able to sustain such loads would make them too heavy. Reducing the rapidity of the initial rotation is the best strategy for maintaining the integrity of the hang glider’s structure. This reduces the stresses on the hang glider and also allows the pilot an increased opportunity to help recovery by holding the control bar at his/her chest. Adding a tail to any hang glider can significantly reduce the rapidity of rotation in more circumstances than would be the case without the tail. Flex-wing hang gliders with lower aspect ratios than rigid-wing hang gliders rely on their higher cord length, higher sweep, and twist to reduce rotational speeds. But there are circumstances where this will not be sufficient, and flex-wing hang gliders can be destroyed when rotational speeds are excessive. Kari Castle’s tuck and tumble at the 2004 Women’s Worlds in Austria is an example of this. The V So what incremental changes has Felix made in the evolution from the C to the V, beyond the addition of the V-tail (which first

appeared on the C)? First, the upper-surface Velcro on the trailing edge is now continuous. The sail is also ﬂatter at the trailing edge, especially over the ends of the ribs. The sail from the original ATOS is reinforced with heavier cloth at the trailing edge and tip. The shear rib on the eighth rib has been removed. The large cotter pins that connect the D-cells to the keel at the nose have been replaced with much smaller ones. Thin aluminum spoilers became available on later Cs and Vs. The C with the V tail came out in late 2002. It wasn’t until 2004 that the market in the U.S. became aware of the fact that AIR had changed the name of the C to the V with the addition of the V-tail. AIR lists the V at 151 square feet of surface area because Felix counts the V-tail as an additional ﬁve square feet of area. Felix sees the Vtail as a lifting surface as well as a pitch-dampening device. The V is built and tested to break at 1960 pounds both positive and negative. That is greater than six Gs for a pilot with a hookin weight of 220 pounds (half the weight of the glider is counted when making the G calculation).

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

A I R

The V is available with the option of an extended keel that places the tail farther back. I fly with such a keel. This placement of the tail is not DHV-certified. The extended keel is standard on the VX, and Felix was flying at the Worlds on a VX with an even longer keel. Pilots who fly with the extended keel report that there is increased pitch dampening. The VX The VX, with a wingspan of 46 feet (10 to 12 feet longer than a typical topless flex wing), is a monster glider. It’s listed at 172 square feet on the AIR Web site, but that includes five square feet for the V-tail. Still, it’s big. So far I’ve only had the chance to fly the VX in Florida, where you would hope that the air was not as turbulent as other locations (this is not always true). I have found it to be a comfortable glider to fly, and it doesn’t feel nearly as big as you would expect. Rigid wings are just a lot easier to control than flex wings. There were four VXs flying in the 2004 Worlds in Greifenburg, Austria, where there was plenty of high-mountain, steep-valley,

A T O S

high-wind, lee-side, strong-thermal turbulence. They were being flown by light pilots with little ballast as well as by heavier pilots. It would appear that the VXs do just fine in stronger, trashier conditions. The VX seems to absorb the bumps a bit more than the V, without translating the turbulence as much to the pilot through the control bar. There is a bit more leverage for turbulence at the tips to pick up or push down the glider, but so far I haven’t noticed that this is much different from the V. Having tucked, tumbled and destroyed an ATOS C (without a tail) in the air, I’m in the psychological situation where I am especially happy to have the additional strength of the VX over me, and I am willing to put up with the additional weight since I also get the great benefit of a reduced sink rate. The carbon fiber keel is built stronger to carry the additional tandem load. The plates that connect the D-cells to the keel are stainless steel instead of aluminum, and are a special stainless steel that is three times stronger than standard stainless steel.

Read about fascinating ﬂying machines like the Pod Racer and Escape Pod Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004 on ByDanJohnson.com • Sign up today to be notiﬁed when the site goes live.

D E P A R T M E N T

The VX D-cells are beefed up relative to those that you will find on the V. There is additional strengthening in the spar wall, carbon fiber end caps, and the tips. The spar wall has additional carbon fiber layers relative to the V and there is about 40% more unidirectional carbon fiber along the top and bottom of the spar wall. The VX is tested to the breaking point at over 2645 pounds. For a single pilot at 220 pounds hook-in weight, that’s more than 9 Gs. The VX is 13 pounds heavier than the V. ATOS - V (Small)

ATOS V

ATOS VX

Surface area including tail (sq. ft.)

127

152

172

Span (feet)

Aspect ratio

11.8

12.1

12.6

Max. lift/drag ratio

19:01

20:01

Min. sinking (solo - tandem) (fpm)

142

118 - 157

Minimum hook in weight (lbs)

183

198

240

Maximum hook in weight (lbs)

270

330

490

Equipment weight (with V-tail) (lbs)

Price with aluminum control frame (Euros)

9,850

Price with carbon ﬁber control frame (Euros)

10,900

12,400

Disclaimer: I have flown almost all the rigid-wing hang gliders (and almost all of the top topless flex-wing hang gliders) since the Flight Design Exxtacy version came out in the late ‘90s. I have owned many different AIR ATOS gliders, including the original version, the C, and now the VX. I have probably flown more miles on AIR ATOS gliders than any other pilot and have lots of competition experience with them. Curious readers can search through the back issues of the Oz Report (http://ozreport. com) if they wish to learn about my experiences with the ATOS gliders. In this article I do not compare the AIR ATOS V or VX to any other manufacturer’s gliders (other than the slight variant—the Icaro2000 Stratos) and only compare them with each other. I have recently flown a V extensively in competition in Europe. I have been flying an ATOS C with a tail (which is after all a V) since the summer of 2002, and a VX since the spring of 2004.

Photos for Figures 3-5 submitted by Felix Ruehle, felix@a-i-r.de.

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

OCEAN ENCOUNTER

By Gavin Behr Photos by Grant Gilron

Flying at a site called Map

north of Cape Town on the of Africa, about ﬁve hours st— no lack of beach here! east coa

Here is the story of my “OCEAN ENCOUNTER” in South Africa, written in February of 2004 while on a six-week paragliding vacation.

enough for my glider not to hit the cliffs as I came in. But the moment I touched down, the glider went over to the ocean side and was grabbed by a wave, and I was immediately sucked into the ocean!

esterday we drove up the coast from Cape Town a little ways to a “secret” ﬂying site. When we arrived the wind was light, but soarable—it was a blue-sky day, a perfect day to ﬂy along the beautiful South African coastline. This was a cliff ridge-soaring site, but with no beach below—only big waves against the cliffs. The locals told me that if I sank out and couldn’t land on top, it would be better to sidehill land on the cliff. They warned: “NEVER GO INTO THE WATER!”

Not good!

All I could think about was getting my harness buckles undone. I kept crawling back up the beach to dry sand, then getting dragged back into the water by the retreating glider. A wave would then come crashing forward and I’d be enveloped in the canopy. All I could see was yellow. I tried to keep crawling, but I also had to try not to move my feet too much as I knew that if a line or two went around my ankles, I would surely drown.

So I took off and had a good ﬂight—until the wind dropped. I was suddenly caught below the cliff top, but no panic yet. Up and down the ridge a few more times I went, hoping the wind would pick up again. But that was the not the case, so I ﬂew along the cliff towards the bail-out beach, which was quite far away. I kept zooming along, cliffs with crashing waves below me, no beach yet. I was losing altitude, still no beach in sight, and the side of the cliffs did not look very appealing for landing. I kept going, watching for little strips of sand to land on, getting lower and closer to the waves. Come on, little beach...Where are you? Well, then, I had no choice but to land wherever I was about to land. Luckily for me it was on a little strip of sand, just wide Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

Suddenly I felt a line cut into my leg below my calf, and I knew I had to get out of my harness and away from the glider ASAP! So I concentrated on the buckles and got out very fast. I was very lucky, as often when sand is in the buckles, they are impossible to open. (The water was also quite warm which helped a lot—in an earlier SIV clinic, I landed in very, very cold water and could not even ﬁnd my buckles, never mind undo them!) I was already tired, but my glider and harness were getting dragged up and down the beach slope and I had to try to save them. I grabbed the harness and hauled with all my might, running backwards to avoid the oncoming glider as the waves pushed it up towards me. Then everything would get sucked out again, and I would get dragged down the beach slope, my heels digging deep trenches in the sand as I tried my hardest to prevent my gear from 35

D E P A R T M E N T

being pulled out to sea. I don’t know how long this went on, but it happened over and over and over again. I had to continuously worry about the lines grabbing my ankles. I was absolutely exhausted. I could see a local guy farther down the beach and I kept waving at him to come and help, but he did not see me for ages. Finally he did, and came running over. I kept shouting at him to be careful of getting tangled in the lines, but I don’t think he understood what I was talking about, and I had visions of him getting tangled and drowning. We struggled for at least another hour to get my gear out of the waves. The wing was full of sand and water, so heavy and nearly impossible to drag out of the ocean. My reserve chute had “deployed” and was all tangled up in the glider’s lines, so we could not even separate the harness from the glider. Everything was one big tangled mess! Eventually we managed to haul it up to the base of the cliff, which was just a few feet away, but it took an eternity to get there. I was unbelievably exhausted. I could barely move. Now the glider was just a mess of lines and folds, a total disaster, full of heavy wet sand and water. To complicate things, the waves were coming closer and closer as the tide came in, threatening to trap us on this little stretch of sand between the ocean and the cliffs. We frantically tried to dump as much sand out as possible, and were relieved when another guy and girl came to help. But soon we had no choice except to either abandon the glider or make a run for it, while we could still get past the cliffs. With the four of us, we were able to pick up sections of the tangled mess and head out along the cliff. The glider was so heavy that we had to stop every 50 feet or so to switch positions and rest for a minute. 36

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

D E P A R T M E N T

Gavin (in the

yellow glider)

se Ridge, soaring Paradi pe Town north of Ca

We were having to run around the rocks as each wave retreated; from dry spot to dry spot we went, until we found a way up the cliff and got to the road. We all collapsed up there, unbelievably exhausted. What a disaster! It could have proven deadly had I landed where there was no dry spot, or had the lines tangled around my legs, or had I not been able to unbuckle! I was safe and sound now, but I could not say the same for my glider. It had a big hole in the undersurface, a bunch of broken and damaged lines, some inside cell damage, and I was sure every line must have been stretched after that long tug of war with the ocean. It took me forever to untangle the giant mess. I thought I’d never, ever be able to sort it out. Now I think I could run a clinic on How to Untangle Disaster Gliders! Two very nice young local kids worked on it with me. Needless to say, when I got to my mom’s place I rewarded the guy on the beach and the two kids handsomely, much to their shock and awe! My mom could not understand why I gave them so much money, but compared to what they gave me, it really was not so much! Anyway, my glider is now at the repair shop waiting for a line plan so it can get repaired. As for me, I have horribly pulled muscles in my back and spent a miserable night last night. All that pulling, tugging, picking up the heavy load and carrying it when it was far too heavy to carry sure did a number on my back. I never slept.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

OCEAN ENCOUNTER

Inland soaring near Porterville at a site called Dass Clip, a great XC spot in South Africa, about 1.5 hours northwest of Cape Town

I recently heard another scary story from a friend who had a similar ocean encounter. He landed on some rocks and got washed in by the waves. He clambered out three times, back onto the rocks, but he could not unfasten his harness buckles. He did undo his carabiners, but then could not get the speedbar lines unhooked. He had no hook knife, so he kept getting dragged back into the water. Finally he wedged himself between some rocks, somebody threw him a blunt bread knife, and he managed to cut through the speed bar lines and save himself.

Here is the big lesson I learned from my ocean encounter: Make sure you never drop below the cliff if there is no beach to land on below you! If you do drop below the cliff and there is no beach to land on: • Find a place on the side of the cliff to do a safe sidehill landing. • If you have to land on a narrow stretch of beach, make sure your glider falls to the CLIFF side and not into the waves on the ocean side! • If you’re going to land in the ocean, unbuckle your harness just before going in. Then slip out of the harness before you hit the water, letting your glider ﬂy on ahead of you, especially if you are going into the surf zone. At least that way you are much less at risk of getting tangled in the lines and being drowned by your glider. • Always carry a hook knife that is easily accessible and is attached with a line to your harness, so that it cannot fall out of your hand and be lost. 38

You have to think ahead: What is going to happen next? In my ocean encounter incident, I wasn’t thinking ahead. I was so glad to have my feet on the dry sand that I never thought about what would happen if my glider fell to the ocean side. That was my big mistake, one I do not believe I will ever make again! The other big stupid mistake I made was that I ﬁrst tried to pull my glider out of the water by pulling on the harness. The moment the glider hit the water, I should have been grabbing the one wingtip and pulling from that one side only. By pulling on the harness, I created this giant sea anchor and helped it ﬁll up fast with sand and water. I have always believed that reading other people’s accident reports can help save your own life one day or at least help reduce the injuries you may sustain. The more reports that are sent in and published, the more we can read about them and the more informed we will become, as long as they tell us what happened, why it happened and what should have been done or not done in that situation. How sad it is when somebody gets seriously injured or dies, because they had no idea how to react to the situation, because nobody had bothered to send in their report on a similar accident that happened to them a while before. November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

OCEAN ENCOUNTER

There are a lot of "IF ONLY'S" to this story:

IF ONLY I had landed sooner, before the wind started to really die down.

IF ONLY I had found a place to land on the cliff along the way.

IF ONLY I had dropped my glider down on the cliff side and not let it fall to the ocean side.

Send in your reports, get them published or posted on the Web. Newer pilots, ask your instructors to help you find places to read about accident reports. Gavin Behr learned to paraglide a bit more than a year ago and admits to being totally obsessed with flying—he hasn’t missed a single weekend of flying since May of 2003! He owns his own dog-walking business and spends his weekdays hiking in the Santa Monica mountains with various packs of dogs. “I find I am always watching the clouds and wind direction and wondering if I could launch from any of the spots we hike past,” Gavin says, further proof of his addiction to airtime. He holds a P3 rating, flies a Paratec P43, and loves to travel to new sites around the country and around the world.

IF ONLY I had unbuckled sooner. IF ONLY I had pulled the wingtip out of the water sooner and not tried pulling on the harness.

IF ONLY I had thought about all these things before I launched off a cliff with no place to land below.

IF ONLY I had read this accident report before ﬂying that day, this probably would never have happened to me, or I would have been better prepared when it did.

I was lucky to walk away from this one.

If only I had sent an accident report in sooner… If only I had been able to read about this kind of situation sooner… Don’t let these happen to you. I have to wonder if things would have still ended so tragically if the pilot in northern California, or another pilot I heard about in South Africa, had been able to read my “Ocean Encounter” before they ended up in the ocean and drowned in similar incidents. Maybe reading my report would have let them walk away from their ocean encounter, thankful that they were prepared and had the information they needed stored in the back of their minds. Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

Fall Sale For a limited time Flyer USD $ 219 Runner USD $ 319 More features and cost less then the rest. 39

Curt Warren going for the spot during the 2004 Hang Gliding Spectacular at Jockey’s Ridge, North Carolina Photo: Jeff O’Brien

•

S A N D I A

S O J O U R N

By John Wiseman

hirteen years ago, the electronics ﬁrm that I worked for eliminated my division, and I left Albuquerque, New Mexico, the area that I had lived in for the previous seven years. Eventually I settled in eastern Pennsylvania, where I have been ever since. When I left Albuquerque, I thought that I had seen pretty much everything that there was to see in that area. I’d had fantastic views of the high desert of New Mexico, both close-up by riding my dirt bike many miles into some very inaccessible areas, and from afar by hiking on top of the Sandia Mountains, which rise up over 10,000 feet above sea level, and up to a mile above the city of Albuquerque below.

 About six years ago, through a series of random events, I started hang gliding, and I have been consistently flying the mountain and aerotowing sites of the mid-Atlantic states ever since. Quite quickly I learned what all pilots know: hang gliding has that special ability to transform an otherwise non-descript mountain ridge or even a small grass airport in the middle of nowhere into a magical place that few humans ever have the opportunity to experience. I also learned (from reading various stories and from talking to pilots who had flown there) that my old stomping ground, Sandia, was a world-class hang gliding site. Somehow I’d missed that one during the seven years I was there—I was totally oblivious to hang gliding until I became involved with it long after I had left New Mexico. But these thoughts set me thinking: I had been to the Sandia Mountains many times in the past, and I knew the area well. What would it be like to fly a hang glider from an already spectacular, magical and intimidating place like Sandia? I began seriously considering that question four years ago while on a family vacation in Albuquerque, during a ride up the mountain on the 42

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

Steve Tomany, one of the Sandia Crest guides, gets me set before launch amongst some of the many broadcast antennas at the Crest launch site.

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Photo: Linsey Whittaker

Sandia Peak tram. As amazing as that tram ride is, I knew it would pale in comparison to flying a hang glider from the top. I was a low-airtime H2 at the time, but I set it as a life goal of mine to return to Sandia someday with my hang glider, as it was obvious to me that I really had missed something during my original tenure in Albuquerque. Eventually I reached the skill level required to fly from either the Sandia Crest or the Peak launch, and last winter I started making inquiries to members of the Sandia Soaring Society about how I could turn my dream into reality. Coincidentally, Larry West and Andrew Vanis were organizing a fly-in that they were calling the Sandia Solstice Soar’n, scheduled for late June 2004. The required Crest and Peak guides and drivers would be available for an entire week, making this event an optimal time for an out-of-towner like myself to come and fly for the first time. I easily recruited the always-adventurous Pennsylvania pilot Shawn MacDuff, along with Jim Carroll (who’d had a single flight from Sandia Crest 10 years ago), to join me on the trip. From the moment I arrived in Albuquerque, the overwhelming, sheer scale of the place hit me. Now that I was actually here with my hang gliding equipment, the place seemed a little bigger than I remembered. The mountain is absolutely gigantic, requiring an east-coast pilot like myself to totally readjust perspective on almost all the components of hang glider flying. A typical mountain site that I fly may be one or two thousand feet above sea level, and maybe one thousand feet above the landing area below. The various parameters of Sandia, on the other hand, can be measured in miles! The mountain launches are roughly two miles above sea level, and one mile above the LZ, with a six- to seven-mile glide just to get there. Those are some awfully big numbers to comprehend just standing on the edge, contemplating the view as a hiker or a tourist, but they become almost astronomical in scale when you’re thinking about actually leaving the safety of the mountain with little more than a few square yards of sail cloth and some aluminum tubes over your head! I always come Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

away from my various hang gliding flights with a feeling of being “small” compared to nature, but this place made me feel that way almost to the point of total insignificance. And it wasn’t just the magnitude of the area that got my attention; the terrain below the launches is about as inhospitable as it gets. One of the thoughts that I had while circling over one of the knife-edged granite spines below me was that at most east-coast sites, a pilot can eke out a landing somewhere in an emergency situation. As a matter of course, we are taught as students to retain our wits even if we have to flare or parachute into the tops of the trees below us. But there is no option like that at Sandia, at least not until you get out to the foothills away from the mountain. Here I was, faced with a very large stretch of terrain where I could land absolutely nowhere if disaster were to strike. Sharp, jagged granite towers, reaching hundreds of feet straight up from their already incredibly high bases, are separated from each other by deep menacing canyons, with ominous-sounding names like The Cauldron and TWA Canyon. If the latter doesn’t immediately sound scary, then you haven’t ridden the tram to the top of Sandia Peak. For if you had, you would certainly have heard the infamous story about the TWA airliner that crashed on the Peak in 1955. Almost 50 years later, pieces of metal from the plane are still visible from the tram high above, hammering home the fact that no hang glider pilot wants to end up in that area. Sights and stories like these can play havoc with your imagination, with the sharp boulders morphing into teeth, the ridge spines transforming into legs and a tail, and the canyons and cliffs blending into backbones and plates. All of this conspires to make the view below appear to look like that of a menacing monster or a dragon, just lying in wait for something edible to make a mistake above it. This same imagery has obviously been experienced by people other than myself, as the point of rock that the TWA plane actually hit before tumbling into the canyon below is known as the Dragon’s Tooth. 43

S A N D I A

S O J O U R N

These thoughts called to mind a book that I’d been reading on the plane, describing a very risky nuclear weapon experiment performed in New Mexico during the days of the Manhattan Project. In that story, the famous physicist Richard Feynman had described what they were doing as “tickling the tail of the dragon.” Indeed, that is exactly what hang glider pilots at Sandia do, tickling his tail as they fly over him, trying to prod him enough to breathe his fire into the air, just enough to kick off the strong thermals that they need to soar well above him and stay out of his clutches. But of course it’s a game with the dragon of Sandia. Tease him too much, especially as he becomes more alert and active during the mid-day hours, and he awakens angrily, trying to swat the fragile hang glider pilot out of the air like a wild cat clawing at a butterfly. That is one of the reasons why the Sandia Soaring Society absolutely requires guides for any pilot without the substantial experience necessary to be flying there unsupervised. These guides have an intimate understanding of the beast based on years of accumulated site knowledge, and they are an absolute necessity to help an out-of-towner like myself avoid the potentially serious trouble that might be lurking between the launch and the landing zone at Sandia. But there was more to be intimidated by than just the imaginary dragon lurking below. Being into electronics by trade and hobby, I found the antenna complex that surrounds the Crest launch to be fascinating, both for what I could and what I could not directly see. The towers themselves are very large and daunting, 44

especially when you read all of the DANGER signs that are spread liberally around on the ground near their bases. But what is really scary is when you get direct feedback from your instruments that there is some serious radio frequency (RF) energy being emitted from these towers that humans cannot sense directly! I had three electronic devices with me as I launched my highly conductive aluminumframed craft from the Crest: my variometer, GPS, and 2-meter ham radio. Each of these protested in a different way when the RF soup that they were being immersed in overloaded their sensitive circuitry. My GPS would not lock onto a satellite when I was standing on launch. My vario, as soon as I The Sandia Peak stepped into the air and guide for the day, Bill Lemon, points got out in front where out the Sandia Tram the various beams conwires to the left of launch. Yes, I had verged toward the city noticed them… of Albuquerque below, howled in protest with a song that I have never before heard it sing. After a few confusing seconds, I realized that Photo: John Wiseman this cacophony was a combination of all the stored warnings and alarms that my vario can be programmed to emit, albeit all at once. A quick glance at the ridge showed me that I was indeed going up, not falling out of the sky as my sinkalarm song seemed to indicate. Luckily, my altimeter’s digital readout appeared to be working correctly, conﬁrming my visual observation that I was not in immediate danger. Once I traveled some ways south, perpendicular to most of the antennas’ beam paths, the electronics all returned to normal. That was certainly a welcome relief, as launching from the Crest is enough of a sensory overload experience without the added distraction of malfunctioning instruments crying out for attention! November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

SANDIA

But later in the flight, I rode a mild thermal up and started once again drifting toward the antennas and their invisible, yet very real, beams of energy. Again the vario started shrieking with the sounds of random alarms, my GPS flashed its display a few times, and my radio’s squelch overloaded. These warnings, coupled with the actual sight of the massive metal structures getting closer to my fragile craft, were more than enough incentive to leave the thermal early and head south again. I’ve already had my children in life, but it just didn’t seem like a great longterm health strategy to get any closer to these menacing RF energy sources, especially if I ever wanted to see any future grandchildren. So I again turned south and flew away from what for hang gliding pilots is potentially the world’s largest mosquito zapper. I was able to work a thermal high enough to fly over the top of the ridge and view the back side of the mountain to the east. I always find it fascinating when I launch from a mountain to be able to look down on the road that I drove to launch, and Sandia was no different. It was very easy to see why it takes over an hour to get from the landing zone to the top of the mountain, as I could pick out the roads that went all the way into the city, through the I-40 mountain pass, then up the back side through the town of Cedar Crest, before meandering up the much more gradual, tree-lined slope of the mountain’s east side. I could see a couple of cars slowly negotiating the last few hairpin turns as they approached the parking lot by the Crest gift shop and snack bar. Since I was high enough at this point, I turned south and pointed my glider down the ridge, flying diHang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

SOJOURN

rectly over the trail between the Crest and the Peak, the same trail that I had hiked with family and friends many years before. But one of my biggest thrills in flying Sandia came when I was able to launch directly from the Peak. The stunning 2.7-milelong Sandia Peak tram provides pilots with access to the Peak launch, with the gliders riding on top of the cable car. I had ridden the tram up to the Peak many times in the past, but I had Catching a thermal from the Sandia always purchased a Peak launch. The round-trip ticket—it Crest launch and antenna complex are felt a little strange to visible on the ridge ask for just a one-way to the right, and the city of Albuquerque ticket on this day. I’d is in the distance to seen tram passengers the left. ride up with their skis, but I had no idea that pilots could bring their hang gliders up the mountain on the tram as well. I had always gauged the magnitude, splendor, and of course the dangers of the mountain by the views from the tram, which itself is suspended only by steel cables and supported by a few widely-spaced truss towers anchored into the rock on the side of the mountain. Photo: John Wiseman The intimidation factor of this mountain is often quite evident from the looks on the faces of the passengers riding the tram, especially when you notice their eyes dwelling on the cables and the supports. Little do these people know, but it can be a lot more intimidating flying literally hundreds or even thousands of feet higher over those same rocks, with no steel cables to hold you up and guide you, or even a floor to stand on! As I left the mountain to fly out over the foothills to the landing zone, I could see directly below me Tramway Boulevard and the unique and expensive neighborhood where my crazy old boss 45

used to live and host his office parties. I could even clearly make out the roof and parking lot of the County Line Barbeque restaurant, where my family and I used to enjoy eating during trips to this part of town. If somebody had told me during one of these family dinners that 15 years later I would return to fly a hang glider right over this very same restaurant, I would certainly have thought that they had been out in the hot desert sun a little too long! But in a strange twist of fate, like a scene right out of the Twilight Zone, I ended up eating dinner there with Shawn, Jim and another pilot after this same flight, and the whole experience still seemed almost incomprehensible to me as we sat there discussing our flights. I had actually accomplished my goal of flying a hang glider from Sandia! It still is hard to believe, even as I write this now. When it was time to return home to Pennsylvania, I boarded the plane, taking my window seat on the right-hand side just behind the wing. With the engines straining in the high altitude, the plane accelerated down the runway toward the east. As the sun was rising over the Sandia Mountains, we lifted off the ground, banking over the city of Albuquerque as we turned north toward Denver. Looking down to the right, I was treated to a parting sight of the mountain in its entire splendor. When we passed Sandia Peak, I could follow the tram wires all the way up the mountain, as they were glistening brightly in the early morning sun. Directly down from my window were the primary and the alternate landing zones, clearly visible within the neighborhoods surrounding them. The antenna complex on the Crest appeared a lot less intimidating when viewed from an airliner at this distance, but I had to

Left to right, Pennsylvania pilots Shawn MacDuff, Jim Carroll, and John Wiseman wait with their gliders for the next tram car to arrive before heading up for a Peak launch. Photo: Dallas Willis

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

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wonder if the pilots noticed any electronic interference with any of the plane’s systems as we ﬂew through the invisible beams of energy. Knowing from ﬁrst-hand experience how powerful those beams really are elicited a silent chuckle when I heard the stock announcement requesting us not to use our meager portable electronic devices, to minimize potential interference with the plane’s navigation equipment.

moment, I saw the awakening dragon with his sharp teeth, claws, and tail staring up at me. Just as he faded from view, I faced forward in my seat, pulled down the window shade, and ﬁttingly selected the Who’s “I Can See For Miles” on my iPod. As I closed my eyes and started to fall asleep, I realized that the Sandia dragon had issued me a challenge, which I answered to myself in my best pseudo-Austrian accent:

The conversations around me indicated that I was not the only one who was marveling at the view of the mountain passing by us. I heard a woman behind me tell a fellow passenger that the view from the plane was very impressive, but that the best view of the mountain and the surrounding area was to be had by riding the tram up to the top of Sandia Peak. Up until a week before, I would have totally agreed with her. It had taken me 20 years to discover that there was a much more spectacular way to experience the mountain and the surrounding area. Maybe she’ll be so lucky some day.

“I’ll be back.”

John Wiseman is a Hang 4 pilot who’s been ﬂying for more than six years. His current glider is an Aeros Discus breakdown model, bought to make trips like this one easier to do. John is a member of the Wind Riders Hang Gliding Club in eastern Pennsylvania, and is the author of three articles published in Hang Gliding magazine. More photos from his Sandia trip can be found on his Web site at http://www.john-wiseman.com.

As we quickly gained speed and altitude, I turned back for a ﬁnal look at the mountain. The sun angle was just right—all the sharp spires and deep canyons of the west side of the mountain stood out clearly from the mountain itself. And for one ephemeral

The crowd gathers in the Big Sky LZ before driving up the mountain for a Sandia Crest ﬂight. The Crest launch is in the center of the mountain in the background, and the Peak launch is to the right, over the white truck.

Photo: John Wiseman

Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

H E L L A S

Hel·las n / he‐’läs /; 1. ancient name for Greece 2. early meaning traced back to The Light

he summer of 2003 was a season of paragliding turmoil and disappointments. The Greek world cup was blown out, Texas was raining, the world championships in Portugal was a bickerfest between nations, and here I was stressed about how to pay for all this overseas travel, in a quest for—what? I didn’t break any records, I didn’t win any competitions, nor did I did achieve any of my flying goals. It was months later, back home, while telling my friends stories about the summer adventures, that I realized what had made it all worthwhile. I had discovered the Spirit of Hellas—an irresistible hospitality unique to Greece. I had been working hard all year producing a reality adventure series, and the only thing that had had any airtime in the last eight months was that television program. But finally it was springtime, the work was done, and it was time to start the flying season. I was on my way to compete in the Kalavrita Paragliding World Cup in Greece, leaving a week early to clear the cobwebs off my wing, learn the subtleties of the site and be ready to fly fast and far in my first serious competition of the year. 48

A little story— not about flying— in the life of a comp pilot By Cherie Silvera Photos by John Myrianthopoulos

It took a good 24 hours of travel from my home in Aspen, Colorado, to reach Athens. Upon arrival I was counting on meeting up with some Greek flying acquaintances to catch a ride to the site and join them for some practicing. My earlier emails to them had gone unanswered, and so, early in the morning from the Athens airport, I tried to call my friend Vagelis (who happens to resemble a Greek god), but with no luck. Disappointed, lonely and jetlagged, I took the bus into town and was heading for the train station to find my own way to Kalavrita. I made one last call from the downtown bus depot, and to my delight, Vagelis answered and gave me directions to a place I couldn’t pronounce, telling me to make sure not to let the cabdriver rip me off. Athens is a massive traffic jam, with everyone shouting and honking, and you never know where you are unless you can read the Cyrillic street signs. If you ever saw the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding you get the picture—multiply the chaos, volume and crowd by several million, and that’s Athens. I braved the perilous speeding boulevard and hailed a taxi and threw my bags in. I thrust my scribbled address in front of the cabbie, and in a Greek New York accent, he responded, “No problem.” To my astonishment, he turned out to be a New York City cabdriver visiting his home and family for the summer. We picked up a few more fares along the way (Greek taxi style), and by the time he dropped me November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

Flying Mt. Kitheron, above Platees

The Spirit of Hellas

H E L L A S

Right: The tiny village of Platees as seen from Mt. Kitheron launch Below: Looking down on Mt. Kitheron launch and the snackbar/kiosk

I had been working hard all year producing a reality adventure series, and the only thing that had had any airtime in the last eight months was that television program.

off 45 minutes later, the friendly cabdriver had given me his cell phone number and told me not to hesitate to call if I ever needed help during my travels in Greece. This was my first hint of Hellas. Before I knew it, I was standing alone on a crowded street corner, burdened with 90 pounds of bulky luggage. The driver of a black car honked and flashed his lights, barely slowing down for me to toss in all my gear and jump in to join him—Vagelis! Within 20 minutes we were at a friend’s downtown paragliding shop recounting epic flying tales and merrily making glider repairs and building speedsystems. Sometime later Vagelis said that his friend who owns the shop, Dionisis (who also bears the appearance of a Greek deity), would take me home and he would catch up an hour later. The grand plan regarding our travel to Kalavrita eluded me, but I assumed it would be revealed to me eventually. A “quick” drive to Dionisis’s home turned out to be some errands and a two-hour drive into the country. With the language barrier, I had little idea where we were going, and I was too exhausted to resist or question this handsome stranger who was taking me on a bizarre kidnapping, as the city lights grew dim behind us. When I woke up it was dark and we were in a tiny countryside village. I discovered later that this was the town of Platees, which sits at the base of Mt. Kitheron, the local flying site for the Athenian Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

pilots. The village itself is centered around the Greek orthodox church and a handful of taverns. Dionisis owns the local paragliding school and has a second home here. After a couple of hours (Greek time) Vagelis showed up, and by 11 p.m. we were at a local tavern where a lot of shouting back and forth with the proprietor (this is normal) resulted in trays of fresh Greek salads, delicious grilled lamb chops and freshly cut fries—family style. I passed out late that night at Dionisis’s home. When I awoke the next morning the house was empty. After a while, a friendly man named Adonis appeared and reported that Dionisis had gone back to Athens, but Adonis offered to take me to see Vagelis. I was getting used to not knowing what was going on—no one spoke much English, but some higher power (Hellas) was looking out for me. My only anxiety was that I had come to Greece with a serious plan of ﬂying and practicing at the competition venue— Kalavrita was calling. Instead, here I was, not even sure of my coordinates, no bearings on plans or transportation, and totally at the mercy of my new Greek friends. Adonis and I joined Vagelis and drove out to a peaceful beach town where he had spent his childhood summers. We visited his old hideouts, indulged in succulent fresh seafood in a restaurant owned by a boyhood friend, and by late afternoon the strong winds that had been blowing all day abated enough for a little ridge soaring back in Platees. 49

H E L L A S

The local pilots came out of the woodwork and welcomed me to their site. The site is known for its consistency in year-round flying and bears a long pine-covered ridge that allows for nice ridge soaring as well as cross-country flying. It was fun to get in the air and fly a new place, but nonetheless, this ridge soaring wasn’t the flying or the site that I had traveled so far to seek out. Vagelis told me not to worry, it was probably too windy in Kalavrita anyhow (which I was reluctant to believe), and that we would head there the next day…or so…

culture. I had just enjoyed the most incredible hospitality from a revolving door of local pilots who took me in without a question and who didn’t know me from beans prior to this visit. I had been given the opportunity to be part of this delightful side of Greek culture. I was taken care of as a sister, as a friend, and I discovered what Greece is truly about—though a modern country steeped in history and lore, the Greek people are simply loud, boisterous, funloving, chronically late, overbearingly generous, and a little crazy.

Kalavrita, the site of the competition, is a ski/resort town located When I awoke the next day I found a local paragliding in- 50 km from the ocean, surrounded by steep lush mountains and structor, Gregorius, waiting to enstill mourning a gruesome WWII mastertain me, as Vagelis had left for sacre that will forever scar this quaint Athens in the middle of the night to and friendly village. Once we settled pick up some Czech competition piinto Kalavrita, it was great to see my lots. Another slow-motion afternoon global circle of flying friends from years ensued of sipping coffee and visiting past, but it became apparent that I had beaches and time-stands-still fishing become a regular tourist again and the villages…another afternoon of waitmagic of Hellas had disappeared. My ing for the wind to lessen so we could Greek friends retreated back into their fly. Everything around me was funcgroups, where they didn’t have to strugtioning on Greek time, which is not gle with English, and we settled into very expedient—I had been in Greece ours. The winds continued to howl all for three days and was not really week as a meteorological phenomenon, any closer to Kalavrita than when I typical of late summer, settled upon had landed in the airplane. By now us in early June (leave it to free-flying Al fresco dining and socializing in Platees I was so isolated, I convinced mycompetitions to change global weather self that my more serious peers were systems). We spent our days hiking or having great cross-country flying in on the beach watching the Swiss team Kalavrita, and getting to know the lay of the land. My com- catch big air kitesurfing (they are smart and travel with all the toys), petitive aspirations were being thwarted, and I was in confl ict the Germans trying to keep up, and the French being French. The between just enjoying my local environs and the desire to get Greeks were drinking frappes, and I had my little gang of Englishin some earnest flying practice. While I waited impatiently speaking pilots that included the Antipodeans and Scandinavians. to get back on the road, I had some pleasant flying around For meals we ordered food from the menu, and it was hit or miss… the area and made many new flying friends. Dionisis fi nally but mostly miss. Becoming a regular tourist again meant we didn’t returned from the city and bestowed upon me the honor of have the benefit of the boisterous discussions that resulted in the induction into the competition team he sponsors. I became freshest foods of the day. We got in a few little free-flights in shelTeam Freedom’s fi rst female pilot and I received the commen- tered valleys, but I missed the special initiation to Greece I had ensurate Freedom logo on my glider. joyed my first week, and I started to realize how fortunate I had been during my abduction in Platees. Seven days after I had arrived in Greece, and many cups of Nescafe-frappe and Greek coffee later (the Greeks have a fetish With the non-competition over, I caught a ride back to Athens for coffee in any variation), we finally arrived in Kalavrita—the from Nico, one of the Greek organizers. I squeezed into his tiny Fiat day before the competition was to start! As Vagelis had predict- Panda with another pilot from Crete, our gliders tied to the roof. ed, it had been too windy to fly there, and the early-arriving Completely buried in the back under gear, I could barely move, pilots had been grounded all week. Hellas had spared me from a much less understand any of the loud debate coming from the frustrating week of non-flying. front seats. Yet a couple of hours into the drive I did notice when Nico took a turn off the highway and headed south (not the way Had I not been so fixated on trying to get to Kalavrita, had I been to Athens). When I asked if my orientation was off, he announced more relaxed and been able to “see” better, I would have realized that we were going to take a “little detour” to visit a friend. Three that my life of paragliding was merely a vehicle to experience hours later we were at the very end of a peninsula, in the most prisso intimately these people, their villages, landscape, food and tine fishing village I have ever set eyes on. After a refreshing swim 50

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

H E L L A S

to rinse the driving stiffness off, we sat down and out came the tsipouro (local moonshine). Some acquaintances joined us, there was lots of hi-decibel chitchat and trays appeared bearing some of the tastiest foods I have ever encountered. The feeling of this place was indescribable: it was timeless, it could have been a hundred years ago. Waves were lapping, sun sparkling on the water and my new friends felt like they had been friends for life. I could stop here and just be happy. I had been abducted once again for a final glimpse of Hellas. The village fiesta was starting the next day and promised to be fantastic. Our friends begged us to stay, but my flight home was early the next morning and I became the party spoiler. Instead of staying for the fiesta, we boarded a ferry back to Athens as the sun was setting, Above Platees and left paradise behind. Before I knew it, I was on a plane again, this time to Edinburgh, Texas, with dreams of long-distance records. Instead I encountered rain, and wind blowing from the wrong direction, as my unrequited quest for favorable wind and thermals started again. It has taken a long time for it to become clear to me why I am roaming around the world with my paraglider. It is more than following my desire to fly, or testing myself in competitions. My paragliding travels have become a door that allows me to have these life experiences. Instead of always fixating on one’s ambitious or competitive goals, or thinking that the grass is greener elsewhere (green=thermals), sometimes you have to remind yourself to take a step back and see the big picture—realize how fortunate you are, to be wherever you are, to be doing what you’re doing, here and now. Hellas, my guiding “light,” has taught me this lesson. If you ever have the opportunity to go to Greece, make sure you step away from the big tourist sites, head into the hills, and try to meet a few locals. If they take you in, I promise the experience will be unforgettable—dismiss your original plans and just go with the flow!

Instead of always fixating

on one’s ambitious or

competitive goals, or

thinking that the grass

is greener elsewhere

(green=thermals),

sometimes you have to

remind yourself to take

a step back and see the

big picture—realize how

fortunate you are, to be

wherever you are, to be

Cherie Silvera is an adventure documentary producer and a member of the U.S. paragliding team. For the past four years she has been competing and traveling around the globe with her glider. She rarely wins or achieves her goals, but she probably has more fun than the pilots with the big trophies.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

doing what you’re doing,

here and now.

L A N D I N G S

LANDING IN THE LEAFY BOUGHS

he ﬁrst article I wrote for the USHGA magazine was on tree landings, way back in 1975. It’s high time we revisited the subject in the light of new gliders, new performance and new 911 capabilities.

I once dropped a paraglider into a 10-foot tree. It took me three hours to extricate it without damaging canopy or lines. There is a demon that inhabits every tree and induces all the little twigs to entangle lines like a plateful of fettuccini. I imagine getting a paraglider out of a 60-foot tree, when you can’t walk around and free individual lines, would be a daunting if not impossible task. In the early days of hang gliding, we often had more enthusiasm than performance, more gumption than sense. As a consequence, among other things, we occasionally landed in trees. I have been perched in a few myself, and have helped rescue about 10 other pilots who were out on a limb. The experience has always been sobering, for once the magic of ﬂight is abruptly terminated by a tree landing, our chimpanzee limbic system kicks in and delivers fear of heights, fear of falling and panic. Whether it’s due to better-performing gliders, better training or deforestation, we don’t seem to be rocking in the treetops as much as we used to. But it still happens on occasion, with hang gliders and paragliders alike. 52

Photo: Oli Barthelmes

T R E E

GETTING TREED I don’t want to focus too much on the techniques of landing in a tree safely, for that subject is covered in detail in both Performance Flying (for hang gliders) and The Art of Paragliding. Suffice it to say that the dangers are getting impaled or whacked and falling out. The latter possibility should be taken very seriously, for gliders have hit trees, not stuck and plummeted to the ground to maim or kill the hapless pilot. The books mentioned go into details of the dangers. Let’s look at some of the reasons pilots land in trees, in the interest of prevention. The simple answer is misjudgment, but that’s a complex subject. In my own experience, one tree landing occurred when I had just learned to ridge soar. I found out the leafy way that you must not get too close to the trees because the wind rolls through the upper boughs and causes random control effects. A little bit of down air is all it took to drop me into a 50-foot oak. Another time in the early era, I did a 360 down low only to confront a lone tree in a field at the 180° point. In yet another incident, a friend went along a ridge in a strong crossing wind and couldn’t penetrate back to the landing field. I have also witnessed a number of pilots scratch too low on a slope and not make it out to the landing field. In all these cases the problem was poor judgment brought on by inexperience and perhaps a trace of ignorance. I quickly learned November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

T R E E

A securelywedged hang glider allowed easy escape from this tree in Washington state.

L A N D I N G S

…ONCE THE MAGIC OF FLIGHT IS ABRUPTLY TERMINATED BY A TREE LANDING, OUR CHIMPANZEE LIMBIC SYSTEM KICKS IN AND DELIVERS FEAR OF HEIGHTS, FEAR OF FALLING AND PANIC.

to give the billions of trees in my area more clearance, as did the rest of the hang gliding community. Now, about the only time I see a hang glider in a tree is when the pilot gets gusted during the launch process and wings over to catch a branch. Often paraglider tree encounters occur during the launch process as well, when a crosswind or an imperfect pull-up results in the canopy moving sideways. But paragliders still get caught trying to penetrate out to a field. Darwin taught us that it is better to learn from the misadventures of others rather than our own harebrained mistakes, but here’s what we have learned the hard way: If you are a newer pilot or from treeless areas flying around trees for the first time, be aware that there is a zone of mixing above and around trees that increases in size and violence with the wind speed. Also, there is a looming effect whereby the pilot doesn’t sense the loss of altitude and free glide path until it’s too late with too few options. We can distill our message down to a thought: Take heed. Tree landings are dangerous. The safe solution is to allow XTRA clearance to combat turbulence, sink, headwind and random mental lapses. Also allow yourself right of refusal on overly-challenging launches.

NESTING Once the tree landing has occurred, your heart may or may not return to its normal sluggish pace. Often you are precariously perched. One of my arboreal escapades resulted in me being suspended way out on tiny, tiny branchlets. The wind was swirling, the glider was swaying and I was praying. Your number-one priority is your precious and fragile body. A number of pilots have died falling out of a tree after they had landed safely. If the glider is reasonably well captured by the tree, it is almost always better to remain attached to the glider, especially if you can’t reach out and grab the trunk or sturdy branches. You will probably find it more comfortable to wait for the rescue (which may take more than an hour) in your harness or seat, rather than crouching in a crotch. What often happens in a hang glider is that you are suspended away from the wing and can’t provide slack to unhook the carabiner because of branch springiness. For this reason, in the early days we usually flew with quick release suspension straps. Now we have hook knives. A hook knife is an essential piece of equipment for pilots flying over trees (and water).

Another essential piece of equipment is a roll of dental ﬂoss. It Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

T R E E

L A N D I N G S

takes up little space and adds imperceptible weight, but it should be reachable when you are lying or sitting in your harness. The dental floss is used to drop down to a ground rescue crew in order to pull up a line that is subsequently used to pull up a rope. This point can’t be overemphasized, for only a rope can deliver you from treetop terror to terra firma when the tree trunk is over about a foot in diameter. A third piece of essential flying equipment is a strong line long enough to tie you to the trunk or a stout branch in order to prevent an inadvertent fall while waiting for assistance. With Spectra line, the bulk will be negligible.

THE SAFE SOLUTION IS TO ALLOW XTRA CLEARANCE TO COMBAT TURBULENCE, SINK, HEADWIND AND RANDOM MENTAL LAPSES. ALSO ALLOW YOURSELF RIGHT OF REFUSAL ON OVERLY-CHALLENGING

Self-portrait of Steve Wilson, treed in Utah

LAUNCHES.

EMERGENCY Now let’s look at emergency situations. To begin, you should treat all tree landings as emergencies, but some are more dire than others. If you hear branches cracking after the initial settlein, you should consider making yourself more secure. Usually the chances of falling out of the tree are greater the farther away from the trunk you are hung up. In such situations, it is almost always better to remain in the harness, for if you plummet, a hang glider may take some of the impact, and a paraglider may entangle further on the way down to brake your fall. If there is no other recourse, consider removing your parachute and giving it a well-aimed toss over a good strong branch. Ideally, this branch will be above you, and the canopy will come back down as the bridle extends so you can grab it and tie yourself off. Usually, however, you will only be able to throw it over a branch to your side. Hopefully it will hang up on something if you fall, or a rescuer lower down can tie it off. At any rate, recognize your bridle as a great safety strap.

I once used my parachute, not as a rescue device, but as a measuring device. I was in a fat oak and had lost my glasses. I couldn’t tell how far the drop was from the lowest branch to the ground. I used my bridle to reach the ground, brought it up to compare with my body length and discovered that if I hung by my arms I only had a 5-foot drop onto the forest duff. When no help is imminent, sometimes you have to be resourceful and use what tools are available. This completes Part I of our tree landing discussion. Next month we’ll cover the ups and downs of actual tree rescue.

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

S I T E

The Florida Ridge by Davis Straub, staff writer on assignment http://ozreport.com

Photos by Dan Critchett

n a land far, far away there is a magical place with big, soft thermals, light winds, and green open lands with cushy landing areas. Of course, there is the odd alligator or two, and maybe some good-sized snakes, but only if you decide to land in the few swampy areas. For the most part you’ll find open cattle range. The winds come off the Caribbean or the warm southern Atlantic and bring the moist, soft air to the warm inland plains where the cu’s start popping before 9 a.m. and early launches are the general rule. You float in these tropical breezes over the lush landscape using the black buzzards as spotters for your next thermal. The Florida Ridge Flight Park, located 12 miles east of the small town of LaBelle on Highway 80 and a ways south of the Florida Ridge geologic feature (which actually does exist), is the most extreme southerly flight park in the United States. A few miles southwest of Lake Okeechobee, which feeds the Everglades, and two miles south of the Caloosahatchee River, the flight park is flat and behind a dike that keeps the river of grass away. It used to be an orange grove, but now it is a spacious grass field. Located in wide-open agricultural country, The Florida Ridge is far from any major metropolitan areas, with Miami about 100 miles away. Its local pilot base is Miami hang glider pilots trained at Miami Hang Gliding. There is an RV park and a very inexpensive golf course right across the highway. No wireless access at the RV park yet, but there’s modem access at the flight park. Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

G U I D E

Being pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, you’d hope for some selfsufficiency at the flight park itself, and you’ll find it. There’s a nice aboveground swimming pool, an office building, hangar, glider storage trailers, tie downs, toilets, showers, and a covered deck. You can camp at the flight park with tents or RV, and full hookups are available across the highway. You can drive a few miles into LaBelle for groceries and dinner if you like. There are some decent restaurants. You won’t find Disneyland nearby, but the real Florida is all around you. I would ride my bike back and forth from the RV park, and in the canal next to the highway I once saw a large ‘gator. Ron Gleason got to see more while he was thermaling low north of the highway over the swamp 10 miles south of the flight park. The Everglades are only 30 miles to the south. Fort Myers is 35 miles to the west and West Palm Beach is 60 miles to the east, although you’d hardly know it once you’re out in this flat countryside devoid of just about everything except grass and trees. Still, you can visit the beaches if you like giving the family a day off, or see the Thomas Edison home at Fort Myers. I personally enjoyed the bird and animal life in the surrounding countryside. The season starts a month or two earlier in south Florida, with outstanding conditions in February while the flight parks to the north are just getting ready for great days. The presence of moist air makes for great thermal markers early in the day, helping you on those long cross-country flights to the north. Any time the wind is from the southeast you’re looking at a chance to go all the way to Georgia. During the competition last spring we got to fly south, west and north of the Florida Ridge. On our last day 55

S I T E

G U I D E

there Bo ﬂew as far as Quest Air, more than 120 miles to the north (while the rest of us stopped at the goal at Avon Park), before running into over-development north of Orlando. There were several small airports within ﬂying distance that made for easy task calling and retrievals. We would stick to the northsouth and east-west highways to further reduce the chances of getting stuck behind a rancher’s locked gate.

cially good time to go, even though it’s getting on towards the hot weather, as there will be lots of activity with many visiting pilots from around the country. But, if you are looking for really early-season hang gliding adventure, then The Florida Ridge is the hot spot starting well before the comps.

With a southeast wind it was very easy heading north up Highway 27 along the actual Florida Ridge, which begins at about 100’ in elevation up on the northwest corner of Lake Okeechobee. It’s a quick jump from the flight park to Highway 29 or 27, then just follow along from cloud to cloud. Sebring is the first populated area to the north on the highway. You’ll find more information about The Florida Ridge Flight Park at http://www.thefloridaridge.com. It’s open for business Thursday through Monday (Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the staff’s days off) during the non-summer months. We will be down there again this coming year, especially for the South Florida Championships in April or May. This is an espe-

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

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2004 U.S. Hang Gliding Nationals by Davis Straub, staff writer: http://ozreport.com omebody loves us. The city of Big Spring wants to become the permanent home of the U.S. National Hang Gliding Championships. They go all-out to entice us to come there, and perhaps it is their special niche. We could do worse. You’ve got to admit they have excellent flying conditions here in Big Spring at the bottom of the Texas panhandle. It’s wide-open flatland flying with gentle but generally powerful thermals and lots of cumulus clouds to help us see where the thermals are. While not overly warm on the ground (and with a large hangar to store the gliders overnight and protect us from the sun) it is a quite pleasant temperature in the air. You can fly every day in only your speed sleeves (on your top half, at least).

But, 2004 was the year of the cold and the wet, not just in Texas, but the whole middle west. With summer temperatures 20 degrees below normal, the Midwest was no longer sweltering, but was downright pleasant. The cool and rainy spring had left the fields around Big Spring soaked, with little lakes dotting the landscape. The temperatures started off in the mid-eighties on the first days of the meet, got into the upper nineties as the week went on, then dropped down on the last day after a night with an inch and a half of rain. The moist conditions and lower temperatures meant that Big Spring felt a lot like Hearne in east Texas with its big, soft thermals. Fortunately, Hearne is one of our favorite places to fly, and home of a previous U.S. Hang Gliding Nationals.

One of many signs throughout Big Spring during the competition showing great support from the community

On the first day we started out with forecasted overdevelopment at Big Spring; those of us on the task Photo: Davis Straub committee (Kraig Coomber, Jerz Rossignol, and I) called an 86-mile task that got us away from town and out to the northwest to an The ground elevation is only 2,500’ MSL, so it is unlikely that area where we thought there would be the least likely chance for you’ll need oxygen. We have climbed to over 12,000’ MSL cu-nimbs. This turned out to be the right call for many pilots as a here, so you can get high over the ground without getting too cu-nimb exploded just to the east of town as the rigid wing pilots high in the air. headed out. Still, many flex wings, starting a half-hour behind the rigid wings, got caught in a cu-nimb that formed to the north All and all it’s a lovely situation for the recreational cross- and landed short of goal. A wet start to the competition. country and competitive hang glider pilot. The abandoned Air Force field on the west side of town provides a great Those of us who got to goal ahead of the cu-nimb experienced venue for launching behind truck towing or aerotowing a day of mellow lift and great flying, and it sure did remind me vehicles. Thermal generators are nearby, and the clouds of flying in east Texas. While we were seeing this soft reality, the work like clockwork. weather models still seemed to think that drought conditions were with us and called for 700 fpm lift and 12,000’+ cloudbases on the Fortunately, Quest Air and Flytec and their tug pilot friends second day. You would think that we were out west. are willing to ship all their expensive Bailey-Moyes Dragonfl ies out from Florida to stock the Big Spring airport with enough Given these forecasted strong conditions, we called a 130-mile (200man-made mountains to keep all us competitors happy. In km) triangle on the second day, but backed it up with a “shorter” 94spite of the fact that Texas is the magic land when it comes mile triangle just in case it didn’t look quite as strong as the forecast to hang gilding (and sailplanes, for that matter), there is very predicted. It was hard for us to imagine that the forecast could be little towing going on there when the boys from Florida are right, given how soft and moist things were on the first day. home. I wonder if this will change in the future. We did choose the smaller triangle and it turned into a difficult In 2004 we came back to Big Spring for our second U.S. Hang day with a much stronger wind out of the south, less lift and Gliding Nationals there in a row. We had a great time in 2003 a much lower cloudbase (at 7,000’) than was called for. The with strong conditions, and we just knew that we would have fi rst part of the 25-mile second leg back into the south wind a great time in 2004—and we did. called for a great deal of patience as I and others flew forward and then drifted backwards in thermals, making repeated low Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

C OC MA PL E CN OD RA NR E R

saves. Thankfully the smaller task gave some of us the opportunity to make it back when conditions improved on the course later in the day. On the third day we decided to head north downwind 89 miles to a small airport just south of the Lubbock airspace. I was now doubting the weather models and expected (in spite of the forecast for strong lift and high cloudbase) the day to be much like the previous day: mellow lift, low cloudbases, cu’s to mark thermals, with a 10-mph tail wind. On the fourth day we also headed north downwind for 63 miles after we saw the forecast (which we believed) calling for a blue day. Gaggle ﬂying was very important on this day, with 10 of us rigid pilots (and many more ﬂex wings) stuck together for much of the task.

David Glover as Elvis Presley and host of Terry Presley’s 50th birthday party at the pilots’ meeting

In the end pilots were only able to ﬂy just over 20 miles, about one-third of the task distance, so the day value was greatly reduced and didn’t affect the cumulative outcome determined from the day before. It was great to be able to stay up in such light lift and feel every bit of the lift that the day offered over a four-hour period.

Photo: Belinda Boulter

We break down after an 89-mile ﬂight to the Town and Country airport just south of Lubbock, Texas. Photo: Davis Straub

On Thursday, the fi fth day, the winds turned around and with a believable forecast for northeast winds we called a task 73 miles to the southsouthwest. The temperature increased and cloudbase rose to almost 10,000’. The clouds were just little wisps, but all of them worked and many of us made goal. The sixth day was the strongest day of the meet. We were very concerned about overdevelopment and just before the launch window opened we looked closely at the clouds before deciding on a task straight south to the airport at Big Lake. In fact, soon after we got going we could see a cu-nimb off to our east and we had to be sure to fly fast to get around it in time. With lift averaging over 400 fpm and cloudbase over 6,500’ AGL, it was a fast glide to goal, with many pilots finding their way around the shade from the cunimb and to the airport.

half on the area around Big Spring. At first it didn’t look like we could fly at all on Saturday. But we did get into the air and found that we could stay up, but not get up over 2,000’ AGL for the first two hours. The four top rigid wing pilots were able to stay up while almost everyone else went down and had to be towed up again.

Russell Brown talks with tug pilot trainee Pete Lehmann sitting in the Flytec Dragonﬂy on the tarmac at Big Spring. Nice clouds, eh?

Overall the conditions were not what we expected from Big Spring, but we were still able to complete strong tasks in good times. We would have called longer tasks, well over 100 miles, if we’d had stronger lift and higher cloudbases. But a competition is against other pilots, and weaker conditions just mean that you have to be able to ﬂy against other pilots in those conditions. David Glover, the meet organizer and director, was able to set up a pilot tracking system so that spectators could follow the meet at home over the Internet. Special radios with GPSs were placed in pilots’ gliders and they were broadcast to Internet gateway radios that transferred the tracks to a special Web site.

Photo: Davis Straub (

Around town there were a dozen billboards that advertised the fact that the U.S. National Hang Gliding Championships were in town. We cause real excitement in Big Spring. I can’t think of any other place where this happens. I hope that we go back next year and that the conditions are stronger. Big Spring wants us to return and as long as we are all having a good time, there’s no reason to go anywhere else.

On Friday night, the rains from the cu-nimbs came and laid an inch and a 60

The ATOS VX

Photo by Pete Hammer November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

C O MC PA LC EONR DN AE R

Rigid Results: Place Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Total

STRAUB Davis .................................................... 5575 POUSTICHIAN Mark .......................................... 5112 BARMAKIAN Bruce .............................................4869 GLEASON Ron ...................................................4252 YOCOM James ................................................... 4213 ENDTER Vincent ................................................. 3765 BROWN Russell .................................................. 3737 LAMB James .......................................................3622 BURTON Rich .....................................................3240 BOWEN Campbell .............................................3036 MALLETT Denny ................................................2567 GREGORY Ollie ..................................................2420 STUMP Mark ...................................................... 2143 SEWELL Ron .......................................................1842 EVANS Tim ...........................................................461

The hangar Photo: Pete Hammer Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

Flex wing results: Place Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47

Total

WARREN Curt .................................................... 5511 HAMILTON Robin ..............................................5456 MARTIN Dustin ..................................................5067 COOMBER Kraig ................................................5039 HAZLETT Brett ...................................................5005 BLOOM Phil .......................................................4849 WILLIAMS Paris ..................................................4841 ROSSIGNOL Jerz ................................................4827 BARBER Mike ...................................................... 4768 CARTER Kevin .................................................... 4592 PRESLEY Terry ....................................................4202 VOLK Glen ......................................................... 3937 LANNING Tom .................................................. 3716 GOODMAN Bubba ............................................3424 ZIMMERMAN Chris ...........................................3266 DEGTOFF Mike ...................................................3095 SEGURA David ...................................................3094 STEBBINS George .............................................. 3018 LEHMANN Pete .................................................2935 FUNK Dean ........................................................ 2916 SIMMONS Jack ..................................................2871 BUNNER Larry ...................................................2848 HESCH John .......................................................2801 VASSORT Claire ..................................................2782 CHASTAIN Greg .................................................2693 SLOCUM Jack .....................................................2663 ZABO Shawn .....................................................2625 FRANQUIZ Nelson ............................................. 2492 BURICK Carl ....................................................... 2423 ALDRICH Erick ...................................................2358 KELLEY Paul ........................................................ 2319 HAYWOOD John ................................................2276 SALAMONE Linda ..............................................2245 MCGOWAN Tom ............................................... 1915 OLAZABAL Alex ................................................. 1913 CHIPMAN Jeff .................................................... 1760 WILLIAMS Michael ............................................. 1530 HUNT Jeff ..........................................................1485 GREGOR Joseph ................................................. 1478 BERECZKI Dan .................................................... 1431 RAYBURN Dan ...................................................1204 FRUTIGER Mark .................................................. 1043 SEGURA Pepe .......................................................977 RUSSEK Rodrigo ...................................................897 PROCTOR David ..................................................826 CHANEY Chris ......................................................500 KINSLEY Steven ......................................................37

N DE EWP AR RATT MI N E N G TS Region Name

Region Name

H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-1 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2

1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 7 7 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 11 12 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 7 7 7 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 10 11 12

KEN MILLARD DARREN DARSEY GLENN JAMES JAN SAFRANEK CHIP MASCHAL CHRISTOPHER VALLEY BELEN SANCHEZ ZACHARY COLE PERE MONCLUS AARON WALDRON MARK HERSEY MALURY SILBERMAN HARRIS OISHI DAN BAAS BRIAN VAN ZANDT PAUL AVELLINO RICHARD HELM KEVEN REEDER JAMES KENNELLY BRUCE JONES GLEN SIMPSON JOSE LOPEZ JOHN WARAKSA DANIEL DUQUETTE CHRIS ABBOTT PIERRE COUTURE NILS FISCHER DAVID MORSE MICHAEL DEBRO JERRY HICKS PAUL WENNERSTROM SEAN PEFFER JESSE MARTIN SR JOHN CARRIKER RANDY CHAMBERLIN MARK SMITH DAVID KOPP, JR BLAKE EDWARDS BEATRIZ NIETO JESUS BURGOS DE JESUS BRANDON TAYLOR DANIEL BERKOWITZ KEN MILLARD DARREN DARSEY REBECCA RUNDLE BRAD JAMES JAN SAFRANEK KEVIN KREEGER ARSHID TORKAMAN DAN BAAS DOUGLAS MARTENS PAUL AVELLINO RICHARD HELM KEVEN REEDER JAMES KENNELLY BRUCE JONES GLEN SIMPSON JOSE LOPEZ JOHN WARAKSA DAVID ARNOLD KEVIN BYLER DAVID JORGENSEN MICHAEL DEBRO JERRY HICKS JOHN COSNER PAUL WENNERSTROM SEAN PEFFER JESSE MARTIN SR MEGAN CHAPMAN CHRISTINA HOLMES RANDY CHAMBERLIN MARK SMITH DAVID KOPP, JR JOHN BRAY BRANDON TAYLOR DANIEL BERKOWITZ

H-3 1 H-3 2 H-3 3 H-3 3 H-3 3 H-3 3 H-3 4 H-3 4 H-3 4 H-3 5 H-3 9 H-3 9 H-3 9 H-3 10 H-3 10 H-3 10 H-3 10 H-3 10 H3 11 H-3 12 H-3 12 H-4 2 H-4 3 H-4 7 H-4 7 H-4 10 H-4 10 H-4 10 H-4 10 H-4 10

TERRY REID MICHAEL DENEVAN GREGORY BROWN KEN STRAIT MIKE LOPEZ FREDRICK WILLIAMS WESLEY NISTLER PHILIP PUGIN JASON MCKAY ROBERT GARRITY JOSEPH GILBERT RONALD ROHDE JOSH CRISS ALICIA DERIN CANDICE MILLER R. REYES ALICEA LUIS REYES ALICEA JASON BATTERSON WALTER STOKER EDUARDO PONTÓN JUAN DE LA CRUZ STEPHEN WASSON ROBERT MORAN ROBERT LINEBAUGH NICOLAS ORAND STEVE BERNIER ALAIN AZURMENDI ROBERT DALLAS ROBERT CRUM J. GREENSTEIN

Region Name

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 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

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 7 7

CANICE HARTE SHERRY BROWN IRINA STARIKOVA GEFFREY TRAVIS HAROLD JONES JIM WHITNEY STEVE NEWMAN MICHAEL WEST JONATHAN BAR-OR ROBIN MCELROY A. DOWNSBROUGH LES WALDMAN A. PRAT-WALDRON WAYNE CLAY ANN HANSEN DEBBIE VOSEVICH JAMES WELLS NATHAN WELLS MARK RICKERT MIHIR LALA ARTURO CAMPOS DAVID PREVOST MIN ZHOU BRADLEY GEARY CHRISTOPHER HARE BRETT GEARY VANCE MCCLAIN TILLEY ADAM LINTZ ANDREW FOOTE EZEQUIEL CHALBAUD ADAM TRAHAN C. SZATKOWSKI MARK MARANTO CAMERON TREAT JOHN SLACK TY MCCARTNEY GREG CLARK BRAD JEZEK ELLEN PEASE JASON FREEZE RONNIE MOOTZ DEB MOOTZ SOYOUNG BARK JARED TRINE

Region Name

P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P1 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-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-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 P2 P-2

7 8 8 8 9 10 10 10 10 12 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 13 13 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 10 10 10 10 11 12

Region Name

WILLIAM BUTCHER JOSEPH CHETCUTI JOSHUA SIM NEIL JOHNSON PATRICK JONES MARCEL CHRISS BRANDON CARTER DENNIS JOYCE E. GONZALEZ REYES GREG MASON TRISTAN SHERIDAN MARKO GEORGIEV CAROL CHO PABLO NAVARRO LEE YUK SING PETER AARON RATNER TONI LESKELA TUGRUL AKKOK ISMAIL BASER CELAL KARA REX SIMENSEN IRINA STARIKOVA GEFFREY TRAVIS HAROLD JONES STEVE NEWMAN GAL BAR-OR JONATHAN BAR-OR ROBIN MCELROY LAURIE BELL JAMES SMYTH LORIE TEICHERT-SMYTH A. PRAT-WALDRON WAYNE CLAY ANN HANSEN DEBBIE VOSEVICH MARK RICKERT MIHIR LALA ARTURO CAMPOS DAVID PREVOST MIN ZHOU KIRK ROSE BRADLEY GEARY CHRISTOPHER HARE SUNG LIM BRETT GEARY ROBERT GANNON ADAM LINTZ ANDREW FOOTE CODY CHENOWETH SANDERS CRATER JOHN FULLENKAMP ADAM TRAHAN C. SZATKOWSKI MARK MARANTO CAMERON TREAT JOHN SLACK TY MCCARTNEY GREG CLARK BRAD JEZEK ELLEN PEASE JASON FREEZE RONNIE MOOTZ DEB MOOTZ SOYOUNG BARK JARED TRINE WILLIAM BUTCHER JOSEPH CHETCUTI JOSHUA SIM MELANIE WIDOFF NEIL JOHNSON JASON DIVENERE MARCEL CHRISS BRANDON CARTER E. GONZALEZ REYES BARRY WARD GREG MASON

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-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-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 T-1 T-1 T-1 T-1 T-1 T-1 T-1

12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 7 7 7 7 8 9 10 12 13 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 9 11 12 12 4 9 9 9 10 10 10

TRISTAN SHERIDAN MARKO GEORGIEV CAROL CHO PABLO NAVARRO LEE YUK SING PETER AARON RATNER TONI LESKELA HAYATI UNAL CHRIS COGHLIN ROGER ROBISON CHET MORITZ RUSSELL AGNEW JONATHAN LINHART CELIA PENDER ANNE RZEPIELA ADAM WOOD KEA EVANGELISTA HEATHER WITHNELL CARY YOUNG BOB JOHNSON BRUCE ELDER BRETT GEARY HELENE BARIBEAU JUNE AKERS MICHAEL FORBES KENNETH COOK JAMES TRUJILLO BRIAN CLARK TIM CLEVELAND RICHARD HAZEN MIKE STONE JANINE STONE DANIEL WALKER DAVID BOOKO SCOTT MCHATTIE BILL PENROSE MARCEL CHRISS CARLOS CARRASCO TONI LESKELA KURT ROBERTS WENDY HUGHES BILL HUGHES PETER COOK JAMES COOK JOEL MCMINN ROY KRAUTSTRUNK ROBERT CARLSON WILLIAM CARPENTER PHIL BROESAMLE ROBERT PELOQUIN ALEX COLBY KEN BERRY KIRKEBY DEFFEBACH FELIX WEITZMAN DOUG CANNALTE MATT BEECHINOR JEFFREY COULTER FRANS VAN DER MERWE JAMES COBLENTZ BILL ARMSTRONG AHN JIN HONG FREDERICK SOLOMON C. HUNLOW JOHN HARPER ALLEN SPARKS SHAWN MACDUFF STEVE BERNIER ROBERT CRUM J. GREENSTEIN

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

Gallery GALLERY GALLERY GALLERY

Late day launch at Woodrat Photo: J. Patrick Cudahy

Photo: Bo Criss

Ben Stephens top landing at Cayucos

Trafﬁc at Point of the Montain, Utah

Photo: Leroy Grannis

Photo: Adam West

Colorado pilot Jim Yocom launching his Atos

Ken Howells launching at Crestline

Photo: Kiernan O’Donovan

Photo: Marty Michelson

Ghostly images of Alex McCulloch breaking down at dusk in a long exposure from Point of the Mountain, Utah

Photo: Adam West

A C C I D E N T S

Hang Gliding Accident Report

By Joe Gregor

n our previous column you received the initial notifications for seven major hang gliding accidents. Our current working definition of a major accident is one involving substantial damage to the aircraft and/or life-threatening injury. In six of those cases lives were not merely threatened, they were extinguished. The seventh accident pilot is, thankfully, now home and recovering well. During happier times, substantial damage might have been defined as a broken leading edge, a broken crossbar, or a major sail violation.

of the available information has been collected and secured, some effort must be made towards validation— that is, ensuring that the data we have collected is indeed true and correct. Most often, the ﬁrst available information will be in the form of eyewitness reports. In many cases, those reports will constitute the primary source of information.

Getting airborne with the cart attached to your glider is dangerous! This highlyexperienced pilot–and the cart–escaped unscathed.

As you read this, volunteers around the country continue to labor collecting, validating, and analyzing information in an effort to make sense of these events. It is critically important that we exhibit One recent patience during this phase. There is a investigation Photos: Greg DeWolf great deal of work to be done in support required the of a major accident investigation, use of rocketry more than most people can imagine. Information concerning the accident ballistic analysis must be acquired and collated: witness software in statements, police reports, coroner’s an effort to reports, weather observations, etc. understand the Physical evidence must be preserved and failure of a documented: description/diagrams of the accident scene, data from the pilot’s reserve system to GPS and barograph (if available), damage deploy properly. to the glider and surrounding objects, injuries to the pilot, etc. In most cases this The following anecdote, from personal requires travel to the accident site, and/or experience, highlights the pitfall of rushing detailed coordination with pilots local to to judgment based on such preliminary, the scene. The volunteers running these unvalidated, information: investigations are doing so while maintaining jobs and meeting their family obligations. Oft times, they labor under difﬁcult I witnessed a pilot at a recent aerotow competition carry the launch personal circumstances, as the accident they are investigating may dolly 10-15 feet into the air before dropping it to the ground. I involve a close friend or personal acquaintance. We owe them a noted that the weak link broke just after the cart began to fall away debt of gratitude, our patience, and our support. from the glider. I was seated, relaxing, with a clear view of the entire launch process, which I was watching in an effort to judge The investigations for these seven accidents are currently conditions for my own upcoming tow. I am your dream witness: in various stages of completion. Every accident is different. a professional accident investigator and current hang glider pilot, Some may seem relatively straightforward; others are more scrutinizing events at the moment the accident occurred. A video complicated. Some provide us with an abundance of information; capturing the same event was reviewed the next day. This video others seem destined to remain a mystery. Any investigation, clearly showed the weak link breaking just before the cart was however, will follow the same general process. I would like to dropped— from about 30 feet AGL! share with you this process, so you may better understand what is being done and why. This illustrates a fact well known within professional accident investigation community: Eyewitness reports are your least We have already discussed the ﬁrst and most important phase: reliable source of information. Yet, in many cases, these statements Information Gathering. You can’t do much without data. Once all will constitute our primary source of information. Validating Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

such information by comparing it against other sources of data—additional witness statements, physical evidence, recorded data (video, GPS, or barograph)—is absolutely key. A conclusion based on inaccurate information is almost certain to be flawed. In a professional accident investigation, the information collection and validation stage is concluded with the issuance of a Factual Report. This is a Dragnet/Joe Friday “just the facts, ma’am” type of document. No interpretation of any kind is permitted within its pages. The factual report may never see the light of day outside of the investigation. It may not take the form of a formal report at all. But somewhere, there must be a Some eyewitnesses collection of information the investigator has determined with confidence represents saw the glider the truth (as best as that can be known). make multiple Interpretation comes next, only after the 360‐degree turns facts have been established to some level of confidence. This happens during the just prior to Analysis phase of the investigation.

ground impact. Others described a downwind, base, final type approach.

The Analysis phase is where we ﬁrst try to make sense of all the information before us. This phase may be short, or it may be quite long, depending on the nature and complexity of the accident. The more complex investigations—in cases where the evidence is either contradictory or inconclusive—may require the use of specialized tools to help gain an understanding of events. For instance, one recent investigation required the use of rocketry ballistic analysis software in an effort to understand the failure of a reserve system to deploy properly. In other cases, expert support may be required. The equipment manufacturer is the expert on the glider, harness, parachute, instrument, what have you. Manufacturers have the unique expertise required to understand the system, and access to the facilities needed to conduct any specialized testing that may be required. Often, we will need their help. Unlike the NTSB, the USHGA does not have a mandate to investigate accidents. We can request, but we cannot compel, cooperation from outside agencies. Manufacturers, dealers, and instructors are all busy people operating on razor-thin margins. Cooperation is costly to them. It diverts precious time and resources away from their primary task of staying in business. We as a community can help mitigate these costs by exercising patience, allowing them to advance their support as time and resources permit. At some point, we must terminate our analysis and express our understanding as best we can, by concluding which factors were contributing to the accident. The primary factor is called the Probable Cause. Why probable? Because, even if our analysis were objective and ﬂawless, our conclusions will only be as good as the data they rest upon, and our information will never be perfect, never be complete. The best we can ever do is to determine the most likely scenario. If we are careful and studious, our judgment will most often be correct. If we miss a critical piece of information, the most cogent and skilled analysis may still arrive at the wrong answer.

November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

A C C I D E N T S

An example: An advanced pilot flying a topless glider during a competition event crashed upon landing. The pilot suffered a closed head injury including loss of consciousness and seizures. The pilot was medevaced to the hospital, where he was stabilized in a deep coma. He was removed from life support several days later. Numerous gliders and ultralight tugs were launching and landing in the same area at the same time as the crash. Some eyewitnesses saw the glider make multiple 360-degree turns just prior to ground impact. Others described a downwind, base, final type approach. Early in the investigation, a Probable Cause was advanced: a conflict with an ultralight tug landing at the same time, which could have forced the pilot to modify his approach. Data downloaded from the pilot’s GPS indicated that he had intended to land at or near to the accident site. No objective information could be found to confirm or refute the tug conflict hypothesis, however, and at the close of the investigation this remained the most likely scenario. As the final report was being drafted, revelations were made of a pre-existing medical condition that had caused this pilot to experience a similar landing accident in the recent past. This new information was corroborated. The most likely scenario then shifted, and the potential tug conflict became a possible contributing factor, rather than the primary cause.

reports are mere paragraphs long. The record for conciseness goes to a two- or three-sentence narrative that states, basically, “I crashed.” These reports, like most we receive, contain little more than a single eyewitness statement along with the conclusions made by that same observer. Investigating such reports is clearly impractical. Yet many valuable lessons lurk within these stories. We will discuss how best to utilize this growing body of anecdotal information in our next column. Fly high and fast, Joe Please report your accidents and incidents here: http://www.ushga.org/emailacc.asp.

A hurried investigation, one based on limited information gleaned within the ﬁrst few days, would have arrived at a very different probable cause for this accident. No one can know for sure if the conclusion ultimately drawn in this report was the correct one. It is far more likely to be correct, however, after the consideration of all valid information.

Original photo: Gene Atkins

The final step in the investigative process is one we all too often try to arrive at first. It is the primary reason most people want to see this column: to answer the questions, “How do I avoid a similar fate? How do we avoid a recurrence of this type of accident?” We call it the lessons learned. In the professional accident investigation community, it takes the form of a Recommendation. Lessons learned or recommendations—what we call them is unimportant. What is important is that they flow from our conclusions concerning what contributed to the accident. They flow from the Probable Cause. Get this wrong, and you will arrive at the lessons learned for an event that never actually happened. Useful? Perhaps, in an academic sort of way, but certainly not optimal. We owe it to ourselves, and the others, to learn the correct lessons. A few of these seven major investigations are nearing completion even as I write this column. You will be able to read their findings in the next installment. In the meantime, we have a growing library of minor accident reports to discuss. Many of these Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

C A L E N D A R

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 November 10-15: Reunion Island (Indian Ocean), Pierrefond WC Series paragliding competition. This international category 2 competition, provided with 5000 € prize money, counts for PWCA ranking. Package includes flight with fifteen extra kilograms luggage and optional free stopover in Mauritius Island (...for kite surfing!), airport shuttle and accommodation for 8 days (760 € from Frankfurt, Milan, Geneva and Paris, 960 € from Madrid). Information and registration available at http://www.lvlr.net/crocvl/ or email Lausin Odile, insa.claude@wanadoo.fr.

clinics , meetings, tours November 5-7: Graybird Airsports, Ocala, Florida: Paragliding Instructor ICP, new and recerts. Ray Leonard, Administrator. Contact Gregg or Ray, (352) 245-8263, (775) 883-7070, or email fly@graybirdairspots.com. November 5-7: Safety Maneuvers Training with Enleau and Ann O’Connor, Sonora, California. Visit www.oconnorflightschool.com, or contact Ann O’Connor at ann@oconnorflightschool.com or (530) 227-4055. November 5-7: Hang Glider Instructor Training Seminar, Southern California. WINDSPORTS: 12623 Gridley ST Sylmar, CA 91342 USA. Voice: (818) 367-2430, Fax: (818)-367-5363. Joe Greblo. November 12-14: Safety Maneuvers Training with Enleau and Ann O’Connor, Sonora, California. Visit www.oconnorflightschool.com, or contact Ann O’Connor at ann@oconnorflightschool.com or (530) 227-4055. November 19-21: Tandem clinic in the San Francisco Bay area with Advanced Paragliding. Comprehensive tandem clinic for all tandem pilots and aspiring tandem pilots (T1, T2 and T3). Contact Juan Laos, tandem administrator, at juan@advancedparagliding.com, (925) 377-8810.

It’s not about finding yourself, it’s about CREATING yourself.

Go Higher Check our website for details on upcoming trips to Chili and Mexico.

November 19-29: Touching The Andes of Peru Paragliding Fall Tour 2004. Jeff Cristol of Adventure Tour Productions has been visiting Peru to climb and paraglide since 1981. With his wife, a native of Lima, Peru, Jeff and Adventure Tour Productions will return to visit sites on the Pacific coast and in the high Andes. Please see adventuretourproductions.com for more information, or call (970) 728-1754. November 26-28: Safety Maneuvers Training with Enleau and Ann O’Connor, Sonora, California. Visit www.oconnorflightschool.com, or contact Ann O’Connor at ann@oconnorflightschool.com or (530) 227-4055. 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: Safety Maneuvers Training with Enleau and Ann O’Connor, Sonora, California. Visit www.oconnorflightschool.com, or contact Ann O’Connor at ann@oconnorflightschool.com or (530) 227-4055.

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December 3-5: Hang Glider Instructor Training Seminar, Whitewater, Wisconsin. FREE FLIGHT AVIATIONS: N463 City Hwy N Whitewater, WI 53190 USA. Voice: (920) 728-2231. Tommy Thompson, Sr. November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

December 3-15: Mexico Travel Tour. This 12-day adventure will take you to several of the best flying sites Mexico has to offer, Monterrey, Valle de Bravo, Molinalco, Orizaba, Veracruz, Oxaca. We will also visit several ancient pyramids, historical museums, cultural and ecological sites. Includes transportation, lodging and guide services. P3 required. Limited space. Leaves Houston, Texas, December 3rd. For more info contact David Prentice at earthcog@yahoo.com. December 10-12: Safety Maneuvers Training with Enleau and Ann O’Connor, Sonora, California. Visit www.oconnorflightschool.com, or contact Ann O’Connor at ann@oconnorflightschool.com or (530) 227-4055. December 17-19: Safety Maneuvers Training with Enleau and Ann O’Connor, Sonora, California. Visit www.oconnorflightschool.com, or contact Ann O’Connor at ann@oconnorflightschool.com or (530) 227-4055. December 23-January 2: Christmas and New Years special. Enjoy the festive holiday atmosphere of Valle de Bravo, Mexico and some of the best flying you’ve ever had! Improve your thermal and XC skills with 2005 world team member David Prentice. Includes transportation, lodging and guide services. Limited space. For more info contact David Prentice, (505) 417-6593 or earthcog@yahoo.com. January 2-9, 2005 and January 9-16, 2005: Fly south this winter! The most affordable winter flying vacation ever! Group tour to Mexico, includes transportation, lodging and guide services. $675. P3 required. Improve your thermal and XC skills with 2005 world team member David Prentice. Limited space. For more info contact David at earthcog@yahoo.com or (505) 417-6593.

Join Super Fly for a one week flying vacation. Experience world class flying, coaching and accommodations. 4 weeks in a row starting January 9th 2005. info@4superfly.com or (801) 255-9595

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, www.parasoftparagliding.com, (303) 494-2820. January 22-30, 2005: Monarca paragliding competition. Valle de Bravo, Mexico. www.monarcaparaglidingopen.com. Entry fee $200US. January 22-February 5, 2005: Come Fly Tapalpa, Mexico, with Juan Laos and Advanced Paragliding. This will be our sixth consecutive year guiding tours to this area which boasts some of the best flying in Mexico. This is the site of the 2002 and 2004 PWC and is Mexico flying at its finest, without the crowds. Wide-open launches and LZs, long mountain ridges and escarpments for cross country flying with easy retrieves. We will be flying Tapalpa, San Marcos, San Juan Cosala, and Guadalupe. All are within approximately 1 hour of our first-class lodging in the historic mountain town of Tapalpa. We will have four USHGA instructors on the tour for personalized thermaling and cross-country instruction. Just show up at the Guadalajara Airport and we take care of the rest. The tour fills up fast so reserve early. $1800. Contact Juan@advancedparagliding.com, (925) 377-8810. March 25-27, 2005: IP Clinic in the San Francisco Bay area, open to aspiring instructors and basic instructors looking for recertification. Registration must be received no later than February 15, 2005. Hosted by Juan Laos, IP administrator, and Advanced Paragliding. Contact Juan@advancedparagliding. com, (925) 377-8810. Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

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C L A S S I F I E D S

HANG GLIDING A D V I S O RY

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. PARAGLIDING A D V I S O RY

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. 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. FLEX WINGS

AEROS STEALTH KPL 129 - Mint condition (no kidding, it’s like NEW), two extra downtubes $800. Also, Genesis 135 $300. Jimmy Pricer (208) 376-7914. DREAM 165 – Good condition, low UV, careful storage, ﬂown twice in 4 years, training harness, helmet, wheels $600. (503) 997-2761 Portland, OR. 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. 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. MOYES LITESPEED 54 – NEW, only test flown, $5,000. applebeepa@yahoo.com, (850) 653-1635. NORTHWING T2 TANDEM GLIDERS Used, at attractive prices. (262) 473-8800, www.hanggliding.com , info@hanggliding.com , http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports. Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

SATURN 167 VG - Beautiful, near mint! www.hanggliding.com, (262) 473-8800, info@hanggliding.com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports.

OZONE OCTANE - DHV2, great condition, <40 hours, yellow w/red stripe. Fun to ﬂy. P3 and above only please. $1,800. Lee Anne (805) 640-8687.

TARGET 180 - Great beginner glider. As close to new as you can ﬁnd and your for half the new price. White upper, dark blue lower surfaces. Price to sell at $1,500. (512) 335-9459.

RIGID WINGS

TWO KIDS, NO TIME – Complete package, WW Falcon 195, <12 hours, large wheels, graphite helmet, Brauniger vario, harness, chute, gear bag, transport tube $3,000 take all. wingnut@zeecon.com. ULTRASPORT 147 – Practically brand new, low hours, red/yellow under, white gold ﬂake LE $1,500. (310) 720-1604, rlett@robertlett.com. E M E R G E N C Y PA R A C H U T E S

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. HARNESSES

FLY ABOVE CLOUDS - In a power harness! Don’t buy new and save! 10hrs, electric start, excellent condition. Selling to fund trike lessons. Serious? paulyunker2002@yahoo.com. 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

AIRSPORTS USA - www.powerparaglider.com, www.ﬂyforfun.net. Manufacturing the BP Parawing! Americas #1 selling backpack motor.

GHOSTBUSTER 2000 - Excellent condition, low air time, many extras included. Enjoy high performance, excellent handling of this beautiful rigid $3,600 OBO. Bill (858) 775-6543, wsbuchwald@yahoo.com. 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. U LT R A L I G H T S

AIRSPORTS USA — WWW.FLYFORFUN. NET WWW.POWER-PARACHUTE.COM 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. WA N T E D

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 & DEALERS ALABAMA

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK - The best facilities, largest inventory, camping, swimming, volleyball, more. Wide range of accommodations. hanglide.com, 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. 73

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FLY ABOVE ALL - Year-round instruction in beautiful Santa Barbara! USHGA Novice through Advanced Certification. Thermalling to Competition Training. Visit www.flyaboveall.com (805) 965-3733. 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). 74

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 (352) 245-8263, email fly@graybirdairsports.com 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. MIAMI HANG GLIDING - We have the most advanced training program known to hang gliding, teaching you in half the time it takes on the trainingBunny 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, (352) 429-0213 Email: questair@mpinet.com 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-ofthe-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. H AWA I I

BIRDS IN PARADISE — Hang gliding & ultralight flying on Kauai. Certified tandem instruction. (808) 822-5309 or (808) 639-1067, birds@birdsinparadise.com www.birdsinparadise.com. 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. November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

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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. Visit our website www.kingmountaingliders.com or (208) 390-0205. ILLINOIS

HANG GLIDING CHICAGO – Full service aeropark, 2 tow planes. Full time certiﬁed instructors, ultralight instructors, East Coast record 217 miles. (815) 325-1685, www.hangglidechicago.com. 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. MARYLAND

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. MICHIGAN

CLOUD 9 SPORT AVIATION - Aerotow specialists. We carry all major brand hang gliders and 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. Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

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. 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.

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. U TA H

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. VIRGINIA

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.

TENNESSEE

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. TEXAS

AUSTIN AIR SPORTS - Hang gliding and ultralight sales, service and instruction. Steve Burns (512) 236-0031, sburns@austinairsports. com. 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.

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. 75

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WYOMIN G

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). INTERNAT I O N A L

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. PARAGLIDING COSTA RICA – With the locals. (908) 454-3431, ftg@fast.net. SOUTH AMERICA FLYING EXPEDITIONS - Fly Argentina this winter! November-March, 12 day custom trips for small groups. $1,850 everything included! You’ll only worry about charging your radio pack. www.flysur.com. PARTS & A C C E S S O R I E S

BIG EARS PTT - $99.95. Includes speaker and microphone, radio connection, sealed ﬁnger switch. Choose the full-face or the open-face model. www.bigearsptt.com, (805) 965-3733. 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! (262) 473-8800, www.hanggliding.com, info@hanggliding.com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports. CLOTHING – Embroidered and screenprinted shirts and hats with sharp hang glider artwork. Raven, Wills, TTT, and other brands. (262) 473-8800, www.hanggliding.com, info@hanggliding.com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports. 76

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. (949) 795-0421, MC/Visa accepted, www.mallettec.com. OXYGEN SYSTEMS - The world-class XCR180 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. 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. (262) 473-8800, www.hanggliding.com, info@hanggliding.co m, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports. 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. 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. VIDEOS & DVDS VIDEOS FROM USHGA – USHGA.ORG

*NEW* STARTING POWERED PARAGLIDING - Great intro to powered paragliding. From the 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. November, 2004: Hang Gliding & Paragliding

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*NEW* LIFTING AIR For Paragliding-How to Thermal and Soar. Master the principles of lifting air. 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. Basic how-to and safety tips. 24 minutes $24.95 ALSO AVAILABLE IN DVD, same great price. WWW.USHGA.ORG. MISCELLANEOU S

“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).

STOLEN WINGS & THINGS

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

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.

Adventure Productions ...........................57

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, this listing will be purged.

Apco Aviation..........................................56

JUST ONE MORE…

Aerolight .................................................28 AIR ATOS.................................................57 Angle of Attack .......................................34 Atlanta Hobby.........................................57 Big Ears PTT ............................................57 Chris Chaney Creations...........................72 Cloud 9 Soaring Center ..........................57 Critter Mountain Wear ............................26 Dan Johnson ...........................................33 Digiﬂy .....................................................39 Flight Connections ..................................57 Fly Mexico...............................................70 Flytec ..................................................... 80 High Energy Sports .................................68 Independence/Fly Market .......................36

APPAREL, VIDEOS, BOOKS & POSTERS — Check out our web page www.ushga.org.

Just Fly ....................................................22

DON’T LEAVE YOUR GROUND-BOUND EQUIPMENT SITTING IN THE GARAGE. SELL IT IN THE HANG GLIDING CLASSIFIEDS.

MacPara Technology .............................. 17

WORLDWIDE INTERNET PARAGLIDING TALK SHOW — WWW.WORLDTALKRADIO.COM Listen live or to the archives! Live Tuesday 911:00 am (PST). Call toll-free, 1-888-514-2100 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!

Mojo’s Gear ..............................................7

Kitty Hawk Kites ......................................57 Microgliders ............................................57 Mission Soaring ......................................57 Mountain Sky Gallery .............................24 Moyes America .................................46, 57 Peak to Peak Paragliding .........................70 Pro Design ................................................8 Sport Aviation Publications .....................20 SuperFly ...................................... 16, 57, 70

C LASSIFIED ADV E R T I S I N G

The rate 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 809011330, (719) 632-8300. Fax (719) 632-6417 or email: ushga@ushga.org your classiﬁed with your Visa/MC or Amex. Hang Gliding & Paragliding: November, 2004

Thermal Tracker ......................................27 Torrey Pines ......................................36, 37 Totally Awesome Flying Sports .................2 Traverse City ...........................................32 U.S. Aeros ...............................................30 Firebird team pilot Alex Rodriguez putting the F-18 Acro into a SAT in Spain Photo courtesy Firebird

USHGA Calendar.....................................58 USHG Foundation ................................... 11 Wills Wing...............................................79 77

P RD OE DP U A CR TT M L IE NN ETS

His Hamilton Training System is catching the attention of organizations like NAFI, the National Association of Flight Instructors. NAFI held its first of several symposia to educate the general aviation community of certified flight instructors on the business potential of Sport Pilot. The première event took place in Sebring, Florida, at the end of October when that city hosted the first-ever U.S. Sport Aviation Expo. Paul was one of the speakers. He also worked with the NAFI at the summertime airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. FMI: www.sport-pilot-training.com/ hts.htm ••• Another guy reaching out to alternative flying groups is Mr. Moyes USA, Ken Brown. Many in HG and PG seem focused so tightly on our favorite way to fly that we forget to go beyond our borders. Yet all human endeavors require growth for the health of an organization, business, or activity like soaring flight. I commend people like Paul and Kenny for marketing their goods and services to the

St. Paul, Minn. -- Just as the October “Product Lines” was headed to press, a last-minute update was inserted into the column by USHGA’s alert art director, Tim Meehan. At the end of last month’s column I was writing about Alan Chuculate’s paraglider aerotow trike, the SlowTow. A week after the deadline, Alan wrote, “The SlowTow project suffered a major setback on Wednesday when Floyd Fronius crashed in the trike and crushed a vertebra and his heel. It was a classic case of a low-altitude aerotow problem resulting in the towplane pilot getting pitched down and not releasing early enough. Both trike and glider were airborne at approximately 150 feet AGL.” Alan reports that Floyd thought the glider had released because the towline was slack. He began to descend and turned left to reconnect and try again. “But as he turned left the towline tightened rapidly, the glider climbed dramatically, and the trike was slowed and pitched nose down.” Perhaps Floyd should have released at the ﬁrst sign of the problem, but it takes a short time to comprehend the situation and he didn’t have those precious seconds. Neither did Floyd have time to hand deploy the reserve parachute that was

wider group of aviators or non-pilots. ▲ To that goal, Kenny is promoting participation in the Soaring Society of America’s Airsports Expo coming up in Ontario, California, over February 10-12, 2005. Ken writes, “SSA is very excited about the inclusion of our Part 103 ultralights to the mix. As a supporter of the Expo I have taken on the task of building up the participation of vendors in the Part 103 end of the flight spectrum.” He continues, enthusiastically, “Nowhere on the west coast will you find more aviation enthusiasts gathered. Sailplanes, motorgliders, sport planes, hang gliders, paragliders, motor harnesses and accessories will be on display in the main hall. Manufacturers, distributors, dealers, school and flight park owners will be on hand

part of the SlowTow’s equipment list. ▲ Alan supposes, “If he had more altitude he would have fully pulled out of the dive, but instead impacted at between a 45-degree and a 60-degree descent angle.” The good news is that surgery on his L3 vertebra was a complete success and he is expected to fully recover in about four months with the exception of some titanium preventing flexure between L2 and L4. Were it not for his broken heel he could be standing today, Alan says. His heel will be operated on next week and is expected to take three months to heal. ▲ The trike’s airframe appears to have sustained little damage based on a superficial inspection. About the project, Alan reports, “The SlowTow project will probably continue but possibly using a different configuration than a trike. We may abandon use of the trike because of its inherent limitation of liftoff speed being significantly faster than stall speed.” He expects Floyd will continue participation

with the latest gear and info.” ▲ You can also attend lectures by experts in various soaring fields. Brown says topics will run the gamut from performance flying to how to crash confidently. He advises you can go to www.SSA.org for information and the speaker schedule. Vendor info is available from Gaynell@ssa.org. ▲ If USHGA or other groups wish to meet at the event, Ken promises, “A room is being provided free of charge to our group as a result of our participation if we can pull together a cohesive group. I will be proposing to the HGMA that we hold a general meeting open to all professionals to hammer out a future marketing strategy.” I applaud Kenny’s efforts to push hang gliding businessmen to work harder at reaching out to other groups. FMI: flyamoyes@aol.com or (530) 888-8622. STOP THE PRESS—Hang gliding lost one of its most colorful and successful early pioneers on October 7th. Bill Bennett died flying a trike which reportedly suffered engine failure on takeoff. Look for a tribute to Bill in next month’s magazine. ••• 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!

in the project after he recovers. ▲ For those who’d like to help out while Floyd is unable to operate his business, you can send donations through a fund made available at Lite Touch Films, the Web site of friend and pilot Phil Russman: www.litetouchfilms.com/floydfund. html. Phone calls to Floyd at home are encouraged: (619) 238-0835 or cell phone (619) 283-2336. ▲ Best wishes to Floyd as he recovers. ••• Paul Hamilton is known to many hang glider and paraglider pilots as the “video guy” who produces more DVDs than anyone I know in our favorite segment of aviation (he reports producing over 40 films!). Some years ago, he branched out into powered aviation and today, he is taking steps to be part of the Sport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft explosion. P

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