USHPA Hang Gliding & Paragliding Vol37/Iss5 May 2007 by US Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

Volume 37 Issue 5 May 2007 $4.95

A Publication of the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, Inc. www.ushpa.aero

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The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding 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 USHPA supervision of FAI-related hang gliding and paragliding activities such as record attempts and competition sanctions.

Calendar of events items may be sent via email to editor@ ushpa.aero, 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@ushpa.aero, (425) 888-3856. For change of address or other USHPA business, call (719) 632-8300, or email info@ushpa.aero. U

E D S TAT

The USHPA 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 and Pilot membership are $69 ($90 non-U.S.). Dues for Contributing membership and for subscriptiononly are $52 ($63 non-U.S.). $15 of annual membership dues goes to the publication of Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine. Changes of address should be sent six weeks in advance, including name, USHPA number, previous and new address, and a mailing label from a recent issue. You may also email your request with your member number to: info@ushpa.aero.

Feature stories generally run anywhere from 1500 to 3000 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.

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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@ushpa.aero. ALL ADVERTISING AND ADVERTISING INQUIRIES MUST BE SENT TO USHPA HEADQUARTERS IN COLORADO SPRINGS.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine welcomes editorial submissions from our members and readers. We are always looking for well written articles and quality artwork.

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.

The material presented here is published as part of an information dissemination service for USHPA members. The USHPA 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 © 2007 Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine.

REGION 1: Rich Hass, Mark Forbes. REGION 2: Dave Wills, Urs Kellenberger, Paul Gazis. REGION 3: David Jebb, John Greynald, Brad Hall. REGION 4: Steve Mayer, Jim Zeiset. REGION 5: Lisa Tate. REGION 6: Gregg Ludwig. REGION 7: Tracy Tillman. REGION 8: Gary Trudeau. REGION 9: Felipe Amunategui, L.E. Herrick. REGION 10: Dick Heckman, Steve Kroop, Matt Taber. REGION 11: Gregg Ludwig. REGION 12: Paul Voight. REGION 13: Dick Heckman. DIRECTORS AT LARGE: Russ Locke, Elizabeth Sharp, Dennis Pagen, Bruce Weaver, Riss Estes. HONORARY DIRECTORS: Connie Locke, Jennifer Beach, Dutcher Sterling, Len Smith, Bill Bryden, Randy Leggett, John Harris, Jan Johnson. EX-OFFICIO DIRECTORS: Art Greenﬁeld (NAA).

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES IN PUBLICATIONS:

OC. INC

Lisa Tate, President: lisa@soaringdreamsart.com Felipe Amunategui, Vice President: dr.amunategui@att.net Elizabeth Sharp, Secretary: Elizabeth.Sharp@heii.com Mark Forbes, Treasurer: mgforbes@mindspring.com

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Office Staff: Jayne DePanfilis, Executive Director: jayne@ushpa.aero Rick Butler, Information Services Director: rick@ushpa.aero Martin Palmaz, Business Manager: martin@ushpa.aero Erin Russell, Office Manager: erin@ushpa.aero Michelle Burtis, Member/Instructor Services Administrator: michelle@ushpa.aero

HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING (ISSN 1543-5989) (USPS 17970) is published monthly by the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, Inc., 1685 W. Uintah St., Colorado Springs, CO 80904, (719) 6328300, FAX (719) 632-6417. PERIODICAL postage is paid at Colorado Springs, CO and at additional mailing ofﬁces.

Jayne DePanﬁlis, Publisher: jayne@ushpa.aero C. J. Sturtevant, Editor: editor@ushpa.aero Joe Hartman, Art Director: jhartman@brandingironmedia.com Martin Palmaz, Advertising: martin@ushpa.aero Matt Gerdes, Contributing Editor: mattg@FlyOzone.com Staff writers: Lisa Colletti, Matt Gerdes, Joe Gregor, Thayer Hughes, David Jebb, Steve Messman, Dennis Pagen, Tracy Tillman Staff artist: Jim Tibbs

RAGLI

The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, a division of the National Aeronautic Association,

is a representative of the Fédération Aeronautique Internationale in the United States.

Will Gadd, Devil’s Bedstead, Idaho Photo: Josh Cohn

DEPARTMENTS Editor’s Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Pilot Brieﬁngs: News and Events . . . . . . . . . . 8 Airmail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 USHPA: 2008 Regional Director Nominations Solicited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Dues Increase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Jury Selects New USHPA Logo . . . . . . . . 15

CLOUD CONSCIOUS, PART 1: LUMP EFFECTS Dennis begins a new series, using photos of clouds to help de-mystify what’s going on in the invisible medium that keeps us aloft.

By Dennis Pagen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

HG Accidents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Master’s Tips: Selecting a Superior Flight Training Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Towline: LSA Tug Airworthiness and Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

LAUNCH POTATOES Served as chips or fries or mashed with lots of gravy, it’s hard not to love potatoes! When one shows up in front of you on launch, it’s a diﬀerent story…

Pilot Proﬁle: Tom McCune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Comp Corner: Sanctioned Competition Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Metamorphosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Pilot Proﬁle: Hadi Golian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Review: Broken Toe Acro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Feature Article: Soarata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

By Herta Kurp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

MASTERING THERMALS “Mastery” of any skill means we can perform at peak proﬁciency with little conscious thought and almost instantaneously. Reaching that “mastery” level, however, requires plenty of focused thought and practice.

New Ratings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Classiﬁeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 One Last Thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Index to Advertisers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Photo: Felix Woelk

Michael Gebert carving the Atlantic air on the Portugese coastline. More of Felix’s photos are featured in this month’s gallery, which starts on page 64.

By Ken Hudonjorgensen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

WHY DO I STILL FLY? To many, an almost-senior-citizen out there actively questing for airtime is an enigma. To explain his continued obsession with powerless ﬂight, the author oﬀers a tale of an amazing encounter with an eagle, back in his early days of hang gliding.

ByLarry Ball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

In a few hours, it will all be recollection . In between, it's why you fly. Why settle for anything less than everything the experience has to offer?

LLS~

Nti

It's all about the flying.

WWW.WILLSWING.COM 500 WEST BLUERIDGE AVE. ORANGE. CA 92865 TEL: 714-998-6359 FAX: 714-998-11647

¡ALLYM! Anyone who has traveled oﬀ the beaten path with a wing knows that true adventures aren’t in any guidebook, or soul-stirring beauty on any map. Two pilots followed a hunch and a dream and found the experience of a lifetime.

By Alejandro Perez Rayon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW… A hang glider pilot celebrates in photos his 30 years of ﬂying.

By Curtis Faulconer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

18 HOLES OF PARASAILING Identical teenage twins with just enough cash resources to ﬁnd a wing and harness on eBay, and with the typical adolescent derring-do attitude, “invented” towing and ﬂew whatever they could get their hands on – and survived to grow up into highly skilled acro pilots! By Matt Gerdes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Gallery. . .64

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Photo: George Sturtevant

As I write this column, there’s fresh snow on 4000’-high of flying. “18 Holes of Parasailing” is an adventure tale that Mt. Si, just a couple miles east of my home, and George begins with two young teens purchasing a wing and harand I are debating whether to take advantage of last night’s ness on eBay, and follows their learning curve for several storm for one last XC ski, or head west for some between- years. They survive their ignorance and their delusions of the-showers soaring at Blanchard or on Whidbey Island. invincibility to become world-class acro pilots before they Such are the joys of being retired (George) and working a graduate from adolescence. Surely none of us who’ve been flexible schedule (me). flying for decades were ever this clueless and irresponsible Yesterday, we spread our full-year wall calendar out on – surely not! the floor and wrote in all the flying events that we’re aware Staff writer Thayer Hughes reviews Broken Toe Acro’s of across the country this spring and summer, in hopes of new DVD on the fine points of paragliding maneuvers, and seeing an obvious route for a road trip that would take us includes a strong reminder that even though Enleau and Ann on a non-stop trans-continental fly-in adventure. Planning O’Connor provide detailed “how-to” information on dealing adventures provides a significant chunk of our non-airtime with collapses and performing acro moves, one would be enjoyment of this sport; another big chunk comes from read- truly reckless to attempt to teach oneself acro. (See “18 ing about what others have been doing in places we’ve flown Holes of Parasailing”…) or would love to visit. On a more businesslike note, this issue contains the This issue has a couple of great adventure tales from USHPA regional director nomination form, an article by those “would love to visit” locations. Bubba Goodman’s USHPA treasurer Mark Forbes on a dues increase, and “Metamorphosis” story of how he purchased property at the results of the recent logo design contest. Tracy Tillman Tater Hill (N.C.) and immediately put on a top-notch para- and Lisa Colletti continue their Towlines column series with gliding event from his site was what got us thinking about timely information on preparing our aerotow pilots and tugs a cross-continent road trip – whether or not we can make for the transition to Sport Pilot. our plans mesh with this year’s Tater Hill event. Alex Perez And finally, for pure entertainment we offer several feaRayon writes of some extreme flying in Peru (way too far tures that will take you back to your roots and/or leave you for a road trip from the NW!), and while his flying aspira- smiling. Larry Ball reminisces about a long-ago flight that, tions are far higher than mine, “Allym!” makes me wish we’d for him, answers the question of “Why Do I Still Fly?” – a squeezed in some time in Peru’s awesome mountains during question that he’s often asked by friends and colleagues our recent South America sojourns. Dan Nelson interviewed (aren’t we all?). Chances are good that you’ll relate to his paraglider pilot Tom McCune, who won the bronze medal in tale. Curtis Faulconer found an ancient photo of himself runlast January’s world championships in Australia. This was ning his hang glider off a hillside, and sent it in along with Tom’s first time outside the North American continent – and, one of him in the same scenario last year. Enjoy the contrast hopefully, only the first of many such trips to compete with in “That Was Then, This is Now…” Richard Cobb submitted similar success on the international circuit! an “altered poem” that he titled “Soarata.” If you’re a child Across most of the country the flying season is just start- of the ‘60s, you’ll probably recall the original version. Herta ing, and skills are a bit rusty from winter’s disuse. To help Kurp spends a lot of time hanging out on launch and crewing you tune up for an accident/incident-free year, we’re offer- for her hang gliding husband, Konrad. Her “Launch Potatoes” ing many educational and thought-provoking articles this poem pokes fun at a typical takeoff frustration. month. As always, the Accident Report column’s analyses I’ll end with a special “thank you” to two of my most trearemind us that it’s so easy to make that little error in judg- sured staff members. Artist Jim Tibbs is this editor’s dreamment that leads toward potential disaster. Be diligent about come-true – whenever I have an article that, for one reason preflighting your gear and your attitude, please! or another, is difficult to connect with photos, I send the text Ken Hudonjorgensen gives us some skill-building tips to Jim. His invariable and immediate “I’m on it!” response in “Mastering Thermals,” and David Jebb’s Master’s Tips means that within a day or two, I’ll be grinning at some percolumn provides guidelines on what to look for when choos- fect artwork embellishments for the story. Thanks, Jim. ing a school for initial instruction or for advanced skills trainOur “One Last Thought…” writer is, apparently, a nevering. Dennis Pagen begins a new series, “Cloud Conscious,” ending source of articles that, in one short page, capture the which features clouds as visible indications of what the in- essence of some aspect of flying. Thanks, Steve Messman, visible air is doing. Dennis intends to continue this series for for filling this important niche every month. And while I am extremely grateful for the contributions as long as we pilots can supply him with interesting cloud of my small cadre of staff writers and artists, without the photos to analyze. David Jebb’s profile of Hadi Golian introduces a dedi- excellent and varied articles and photos that you readers cated paragliding instructor who initially acquired many of submit this publication would be slim indeed. Thanks to our his skills through the “school of hard knocks,” and who now wired world, you can reach me even when I’m on a road trip strives to provide his students with the knowledge and skills – editor@ushpa.aero. I look forward to hearing from you. to avoid the pitfalls that he encountered during his early days

C.J. Sturtevant Attention artists: The October 2007 issue will feature hang gliding and paragliding artwork – pen-and-ink, watercolor, altered photographs, sculpture, Tshirt designs, cartoons, oil on canvas, whatever your imagination can come up with – for the cover, centerspread and gallery. The deadline for submission to the October magazine is August 6. Contact C.J. (editor@ushpa.aero) if you need assistance uploading high-resolution images of your artwork to the magazine dropbox (ushpa.aero/ editorial_dropbox.asp). Wanted: Cloud Photos

Dennis Pagen is in need of cloud photos for future articles in his “Cloud Conscious” series – linear wave shots, rotor clouds, a glory or two, or any other interesting clouds that could serve as the kernel for a future cloud-analysis article. Please upload photos to the USHPA dropbox; directions for uploading are online at ushpa .aero/editorial_dropbox .asp. Or contact C.J. (editor@ushpa.aero) for assistance.

Calling All Kitty Hawk Kites Instructors!

their ﬁrst student to ﬂy on the KHK dunes. So whether you taught back in the golden days of the mid-1970s, or didn’t know what an Eaglet was until 2006, if you worked with students at KHK you’re encouraged to attend. Are you on the list? Go to www .khkalumni.com and add your name to the list of who’s coming back to the Outer Banks this May 18-21 to help make the 2007 event a blast. While there, browse the funky old photos, check out who else you taught with, and see who the Instructors of the Year were while you were teaching. How can you learn more? Visit www .hangglidingspectacular.com and www .kittyhawk.com for more information, including schedules of events, locations, and registration. Please call the school at (252) 441-2426 if you have questions. U.S. Distributorship of Moyes Hang Gliders Changing Hands

Photo: Paul Voight

By Ken Brown

As of last March, Moyes Gliders associate Kraig Coomber has taken the reins of the Moyes U.S. wholesale distribution. Kraig has an extensive knowledge of Moyes products as a result of 10 years working in the Moyes factory, and from being a top competition pilot on Moyes gliders since 1992. Kraig began working in the Moyes factory in Sydney (Australia) fabricating parts and assembling gliders. His most recent project with Moyes has been the development and refinement of the hugely popular Matrix harness. Kraig will be forming a new company, Moyes USA, to handle the resale and distribution of Moyes products. Located in Los Angeles, Moyes USA is in a prime location to be the key to efficient shipments into the U.S. market. John Harris (L) presents G.W. Meadows with a plaque commemorating G.W.’s induction into the Francis Rogallo Hall of Fame at last year’s Spectacular At this time plans are to continue the use of Pilot Airfreight for gliders In just a few weeks, Kitty Hawk Kites ises to be one of the biggest reunions ever and larger spares shipments, and the is hosting what will be one of the big- as KHK has been (and is still) actively U.S. Postal Service for smaller spares. gest gatherings of hang glider instructors searching for those long-lost dune goons, For all orders and communications rein recent years. Coupled with the ever- urging them all to come back and party garding Moyes products and services popular Hang Gliding Spectacular is the at the Spectacular. The history of Kitty contact Kraig at (714) 402-7415 or fly@ Instructor Reunion, where all former and Hawk Kites and hang gliding are so moyesusa.com. And what am I (Ken Brown) up to? current KHK instructors are formally in- closely entwined as to be essentially one vited to participate in an unforgettable and the same. Many of the biggest and After working the hang gliding business weekend of flying, fun, and old friends. brightest names in our sport took their fulltime for 27 years, I’ve decided it’s time This year’s event – May 18-21 – prom- first flights at Kitty Hawk, or taught to focus my energies in a new direction. May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

allocated to the building of the pavilion. A common sentiment is that a pavilion will benefit all pilots who fly Ellenville (not just campers). The reality is that “The Well Fund” has morphed into a new project. The proposed pavilion would be a permanent structure on the edge of the LZ, providing shade and shelter from rain, much like the event tents we rent every year for the annual Labor Day fun fly-in. It will be approximately 25’ x 40’. The club realizes that some of the donors to “The Well Fund” were not local folks and may not know of the status of the well project, or of Scott’s passing. Everyone who donated did so Important Notice RE: Ellenville (New because they wanted to help our club get York) Well-drilling Project a well drilled. To use their money for any By the SNYHGPA Board of Directors other purpose, however noble, would be dishonorable. Therefore, prior to embarking on the “Pavilion Project,” SNYHGPA would like to refund any and all donations to ANY pilots who request it. We still have accurate records of donators (without addresses). If you donated and would prefer a refund, simply send a request for a refund and your mailing address via Ellenville LZ lawn art, created by Roger Baker on email to flyhigh@frontiernet.net, and a Tony Covelli’s field refund will be mailed to you. It will be presumed that those who do Four or five years ago SNYHGPA, the Ellenville pilots’ club, began a fund- not make a request for a refund within raising process aimed at drilling a well two months of this magazine issue date in the LZ camping area. Funds were have been given sufficient notice, and solicited from pilots far and wide and all remaining “Well Funds” will then go many gave because they recognized the towards the construction of the “Scott benefits of having running water in the Jewell Memorial Pavilion.” LZ. The project took on a life of its own and became known as “The Well Fund.” Unfortunately, the primary movers behind the idea began to languish. The project became stagnant and has sat dormant for almost two seasons now. People began to lose interest while others began This is the longest running speedto question what should be done with the donations as it became clear to them that gliding event in the U.S., and the one at “The Well Fund” wasn’t going to come to which the original U.S. Speed Gliding Team was finally determined. The course fruition without someone driving it. The story took on a new twist with the tests not simply speed, but pilot accuracy recent and very unexpected death of one and judgment. Speed gliding is fast, but of our beloved pilots, Scott Jewell, who it isn’t just about speed – it is much more passed away in his sleep. Many of those technical than that. It is mostly about who gave to “The Well Fund” have sug- fun, and lots of it! Over the years, this event has evolved gested that a memorial pavilion be built in Scott’s honor. Many locals are willing into an unprecedented balance of comto let their “Well Fund” donation be re- petitiveness and cooperative education.

Photo: Paul Voight

It took me a while but I’ve found the perfect ﬁt: solar electric system design and sales. I am able to continue working with great products and great people, and I’ve found a great company. Check out www .SPGSolar.com for more details. I will continue representing Moyes within the local pilot community and supporting Moyes in special roles as appropriate and needed. I’m looking forward to more recreational ﬂying, and especially to spending more quality time with my family. Thanks to everyone with whom I have had the pleasure of working for all these years.

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Even though pilots are trying to earn the best placements, the true goal is to challenge oneself, to get better each round, and there is no shortage of tips from the faster pilots on how to do it better! The last day of racing is the first day of the 2007 Beach ‘N, a fun-filled spot landing fly-in! So leave your ballast at home, bring your glider, harness and Zagi clones and kick off the 2007 Chelan season with a week of excellent and rewarding flying! U.S. Paraglider Pilot Finishes Third in the 2007 Paragliding World Championships!

Washington State resident Tom McCune recently stood where no U.S. paraglider pilot has ever stood before: on the winners’ podium at a world championships! This is an amazing accomplishment in itself, but it’s even more incredible given that Tom comes from the Pacific Northwest, where there’s little to nil airtime opportunities from November through spring. Fortunately, Tom was able to arrive in Australia 10 days before the comp; unfortunately, his wing didn’t show up until four days later. Thus he had a few days of forced “down time,” which allowed him to recover from jet lag before jumping into full-on flying. He was driving for other competitors on the day of the infamous thunderstorms; once his wing arrived he “warmed up” for the worlds by competing in the XC Open. Prior to this trip to Australia, Tom had never traveled outside North America; other than in Canada and Mexico, he’d never competed internationally. Tom never considers himself an underdog, however, and his being outside the “in crowd” of world-class comps didn’t seem to handicap his performance. Although he never placed first in any of

all?” NOVA offers assurance that this tiny wing is not just a descent (or a speedflying) device, but a full performance soaring wing, with easy launching and docile flying characteristics. More information about the Ibex, and other NOVA products, can be found at www.nova-wings.com.

the five tasks flown, he was consistently in the top ten. As a result, his final score of 4080 placed him less than 100 points behind gold-medalist Bruce Goldsmith, who had accumulated 4178 points. JeanMarc Caron, from France, was second with 4161 points. U.S. pilot Josh Cohn placed 8th, also a highly respectable finish in a field of 149. The U.S. team, which included Kari Castle and Bill Belcourt, placed 13th out of 39 participating countries. More information about competitors, wings, tasks and other meet trivia, and lots of photos from the competition, can be found at www.manilla2007.com.

Photo courtesy Renegades/SKYWALK gliders

Photo courtesy NOVA

NOVA’s New Very Small, Very Light Mountaineering Wing

Paraglider Magazine Merges With Cross Country The publishers of Paraglider Magazine and Cross Country recently announced that the two publications will soon be one. Paraglider Magazine’s editor, Nick Greece, will work with Cross Country as the North American editor, and Greg Gillam will join as associate publisher. Safe Pilot Award Cross Country will begin servicing The USHPA congratulates H-4 pilot Paraglider Magazine subscribers with Pedro H. Rodriguez, USHPA #46164, of Issue 111, expected to be out May 10. Canovanas, Puerto Rico, on his achieve- Subscriptions will be honored issue for ment of logging 1000 consecutive safe issue. If you already subscribe to Cross ﬂights, earning him the 1st Diamond Country you’ll get an extension of your Safe Pilot Award. subscription (or if you’d prefer, you can choose to receive the new Paramotor The Renegades Acro Team Become Magazine instead). Some popular eleSKYWALKers ments of Paraglider Magazine will be incorporated into a fatter Cross Country. Questions, address changes or requests to be removed from the subscription list should be sent to Verity Sowden, oﬃce@xcmag.com. If you would like to purchase back issues of Paraglider Magazine ($3.95 each, or $39.95 for a 13issue bundle, while supplies last) go to http://www.paraglidermagazine.com. An Innovative Safety Feature From SOL

Wolf Rettenbacher and his renowned acro team of Renegades have made the decision to join forces with SKYWALK The Ibex is small enough to carry, well, just about paragliders, citing as one of the major anywhere! factors the safety and stable flight char“Ibex” (the species name of the Alpine acteristics of SKYWALK wings. In addiand Middle Eastern mountain goat) is tion, the convenient (for the Renegades) what NOVA is calling their new wing location of the SKYWALK factory in designed for alpinists and paragliding Grassau, Germany, will make training globetrotters. Weighing just under 3 kg, and test flying of new prototype wings this featherweight paraglider packs ex- easier for all involved. tremely small, is safe and fun to fly and SKYWALK has developed a new verallows launching in a wide range of wind sion of their DHV-1 Mescal (dubbed the conditions. Even better, NOVA backs “Ren-Cal”) exclusively for the Renegades, the Ibex quality with a full three-year with special strengthened construction to warranty! Currently the Ibex is available withstand the stresses of the Renegades’ in 15m 2 size; look for a 17m 2 and a 19m 2 new and dynamic maneuvers. version soon. A short video clip of the Renegades Given the small surface of only 15m2, practicing their new halfpipe routhe obvious question from most pilots tine is here: http://www.myvideo.de/ is, “Will this little thing carry me at watch/984260.

Since the beginning of last February, all SOL paragliders and harnesses come with the “Easy Check strip” to help pilots to determine if the distance between carabiners is according to the homologation of their wing. Each model and size of paraglider is homologated with a standard distance measure between carabiners. Any alteration in that measured distance can change both the wing’s performance and its safety characteristics during ﬂight. The “Easy Check strip” makes checking the distance between carabiners a nobrainer. The measurement must be made from horizontal center-to-center of the carabiners, as indicated in the picture.

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

The opinions expressed in the letters published in this column are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the magazine staff or USHPA officials. While every effort is made to verify facts stated in letters, readers are urged to check the accuracy of any statement before taking action or forming an opinion based on the contents of a letter. March Cover Quality a Disappointment

nical standards expected for submission to the magazine. The magazine is ﬁlled with excellent photos, any of which would have been more appropriate for the cover. I am going to assume that someone at the printer screwed up and you never would have knowingly put this image on the cover. The magazine is about ﬂying and not pretty pictures; nevertheless, you could have done better.

(email, 3/4)

I was surprised to see a poor-quality photograph on the cover of the March 2007 issue. The entire image is blurry and out of focus. Sometimes a photographer intentionally blurs the background, a technique called bokeh, to accentuate the main subject. However, in this case, even the hang glider, which is the main subject, is out of focus. In addition, the wing is blown out (clipped highlights). This image was particularly surprising considering the photographic-related articles in recent issues, which describe how to take good pictures and the tech-

Rich Parry, USHPA #77487

The March cover was a disappointment to me, as well. That photo was chosen to showcase the North Wing hang glider that was reviewed in the same issue, and was cropped and enlarged by the art director to accommodate the text on the cover page. In the process, apparently, the photo quality was diminished. I proof the magazine in low-resolution PDFs, and I did not realize that the cover image was less than stellar until I saw it in print. My apologies to the photographer and to the readers.

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Some Photos Are Meant to Be Blurry! (email, 3/10)

Kudos to Jeff O’Brien for his photography displayed on the cover of the February issue of USHPA’s magazine. The blurring of the close terrain beautifully captures the speed in this shot. Jeff’s other photos featured in previous issues also capture the essence of the sport using late-in-the-day lighting to get the subject into the sunlight. Dealing with camera mounting, running the shutter release lines and fiddling around with counterbalancing take up precious time while your buddies are all skying out – it can be frustrating! It is all done to capture and share the awe of our sport at the expense of the pilot/photographer’s flight. Thank you again, Jeff, for your efforts. Great work. Reto Schaerli, USHPA #38924

P-2 rating. The point of my letter is this: I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a great place to learn in Australia, but that was (email, 3/11) wa s I arrived in Manilla, Australia, largely largely luck. While I wish there by luck. I had read that there was para- a way that USHPA could gliding instruction there and decided to be more like the FAA in stop as I was traveling up the East Coast. ensuring good quality flight As it turned out, I had stumbled upon instruction (I’m a private pilot what I now understand is one of the great also), I understand that doing so paragliding sites in the world, and given would be too costly and time conthe terrific enthusiasm of everyone I met, suming for such a small organizaI decided to learn to paraglide. It was a tion. Thus, here is my suggestion: All wonderful experience! Bob and Godfrey, students sign numerous waivers when my two instructors, were fantastic and learning to fly, including some USHPA took great care to be safe and teach me documents. I believe one of those docuto make conservative, sound flight deci- ments should include information on sions. I left Manilla two weeks later with what to expect from instructors and their my international stage 3 and Australian equipment so that an uninformed novice paragliding licenses, and a hunger to can make a somewhat informed decision and evaluate what he/she sees. Whether fly more. When I returned to the U.S. I eagerly all instructors should offer harnesses with sought out instruction, looking to get back protection, reserve parachutes over a my international rating converted to a certain altitude, two-way radios, full-face USHPA rating. My first experience was helmets, DHV-1 gliders under a certain running off a small landfill using a har- age, and so on, I leave that to you experts ness with no back protection – perhaps to decide. In the end I believe that a safer, not a good idea, but I had driven so far more pleasant experience would result for and was so eager to fly. When I emailed all of us beginners if we had a reference my Australian instructor about it he told in terms of what to expect, and standards me to NEVER fly again without back to hold our instructors to. protection, even on a training hill. George Karris, USHPA #81471 I moved on to another instructor in another location. This individual used harUSHPA is currently preparing a digital nesses with back protection, but the level “new pilot” edition of our magazine, which of instruction was poor at best. Since I will be available online and in DVD form felt I had gotten the education I needed from schools and instructors beginnning in in Australia, I tried to push forward for early summer. Aimed at new students and the rating. When I had done all that he those who sign up for a “ discovery flight,” required, he told me that I could have the this digital magazine is a collection of lots rating when I bought a wing from him. of information for those just getting started. On to the next… Specific to your suggestion, we’re includThis was another instructor who didn’t ing a reprint of an excellent article by G.W. seem to think back protection was nec- Meadows, from the January 2004 issue of essary. When I inquired he cited a good HG&PG magazine, about choosing an insafety record. I bought my own harness… structor. Thanks for your input. but timing, weather and work conspired so that I never flew with him. Then I moved to San Diego and flew at Torrey Pines. It seems like every other issue of this magazine mentions Torrey Pines, and justly so. It is a beautiful site, but more importantly, they go overboard with safety precautions: full-face helmets, back protection, reserve parachutes and training in how to use them. My experience there was wonderful, and I got my

Beginner’s Experience Suggests Need for Information About What Makes a “Safe” School and Instructor

“New” Design Concept Isn’t So New After All (email, 3/7)

I read the article by “Dense Pages” in the March issue, and enjoyed it much. I do like reading about new gliders. At one point Dennis said, “Perhaps this is the first time such tips have been used on a singles u r f a c e glider,” referring to the curved tips on the Freedom. Oh, Dennis, how could you forget?! My third North Wing’s glider was a Seedwings Freedom Sensor 210-E and it was a single-surface glider with fiberglass curved tips. This is the same tip design pioneered by Seedwings, back then, that just about all the glider manufacturers are incorporating into their designs now. In fact, the 210 had deflexor posts on the wings too, and I used to wonder what it would look like and perform like without them. The Freedom

David’s Sensor

looks like a ﬁne glider, and it reminded me very much of what I imagined my old wing would look like without the deﬂexor posts and wires. Dave Dunning, USHPA #24042

Safety Tip Rules of the Ridge: The glider with the ridge on the right has the right-of-way.

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2008 USHPA Regional Director Nominations Solicited Deadline July 13

USHPA is issuing its annual call for nominations to the national board of directors. Twelve positions are open for election in October 2007 for a two-year term beginning January 2008. Nominations must be received at the USHPA oﬃce by July 13, 2007. Nominations are needed in the following regions. The current directors whose terms are up for reelection in 2007 are: Reg# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Current director Mark Forbes Paul Gazis Urs Kellenberger John Greynald Brad Hall Jim Zeiset Lisa Tate Greg Ludwig Nominations are not needed in Region 7 for this election. Nominations are not needed in Region 8 for this election. L.E. Herrick Matt Taber Dick Heckman Greg Ludwig Nominations are not needed in Region 12 for this election.

States within region Alaska, Oregon, Washington Northern California, Nevada Southern California, Hawaii Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah Idaho, Montana, Wyoming Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arkansas Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont Washington DC, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arkansas New Jersey, New York

Ballots will be distributed with the October issue of HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING magazine. USHPA needs the very best volunteers to help guide the safe development and growth of the sports. Send candidate nominations for receipt no later than July 13 to USHPA, PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901-1330. Biographical information about nominees should be received no later than August 6, for inclusion in the October election issue of the magazine. The bio should include the following information: name and USHPA number, photo and resumé (one page containing the candidate’s hang/paragliding activities and viewpoints, written consent to be nominated and willingness to serve if elected). Make a nomination by mail or via the USHPA Web site, at http://www.ushpa.aero/emailrdnomination.asp. You may nominate yourself if you wish. Nominations are not required for incumbents. ******************************************************************************************************************************************** REGIONAL DIRECTOR ELECTION NOMINATION FORM I nominate

as a candidate for regional director for Region #

NAME USHPA# (Send to USHPA, PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901-1330)

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REGION#

USHPA Dues Increase 8.7% Effective August 2007

right to vote in USHPA elections and get a magazine. • Pilot members add on the benefits of pilot ratings and recreational liability insurance. • Rogallo members add the benefits By Mark G. Forbes, USHPA Treasurer, mg forbes@mindspring.com of instructor ratings and instructor liability insurance. At the fall meeting of the USHPA growing the sport and investing in our Historically all pilots have been listed board, the directors voted to increase future. See the December issue of the as Rogallo members. At your next reannual dues for pilot members from the magazine for a discussion of some of newal, you can choose whether to renew present $69 to $75 effective with August these changes, or read the article online as a Pilot member or a Rogallo member. 2007 renewals. Dues for Rogallo mem- at http://www.ushpa.aero/mag_article Typically, only instructors will renew bers (those who have instructor privileg- .asp?id=33. as Rogallo members at the higher dues es) increase from $69 to $270. USHPA has had several member- level. If you plan to become an instructor The USHPA board has considered ship classes “on the books” for years, in the near future, you may want to go the effect of projected increases in ex- but they haven’t all been used. Starting ahead and renew as a Rogallo member. penses later in the year, related in part with this year’s renewals, members will Members who upgrade their membership to newly added benefits for members renew in different classes depending on class in mid-cycle will pay a pro-rated and instructors. Under the strategic plan their needs. share of the difference in dues. adopted by the board, improvements • Subscribers get a magazine, but have to our programs for pilots and instrucno voting rights, no insurance. tors are identified as a key element in • Contributing members have the $80.00

USHPA dues history Mark G. Forbes 02/11/2007 revision

$75.00 $70.00 $65.00 $60.00 $55.00 $50.00 $45.00 $40.00 $35.00 $30.00

Inflation data from: http://minneapolisfed.org/Research/data/us/calc/hist1800.cfm

$25.00 Dues rate $20.00

Dues in 2007 dollars 3% inflation

$15.00

4% inflation 5% inflation

$10.00

Poly. (Dues in 2007 dollars)

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

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1\Y` :LSLJ[Z 5L^ <:/7( 3VNV ;OH[ ,_WYLZZLZ ¸;OL )V\UKSLZZ -YLLKVT VM >OH[ >L +V¹ By C.J. Sturtevant, editor

Two years ago, there was a vote to change the name of our association (as if you didn’t know). The venerable old USHGA logo, which has served us well enough for decades, features only hang gliders. With paragliders now comprising nearly half of our membership, and with paragliding ﬁnally incorporated into our association’s name as well, it was clearly time to embrace a new logo that would include both hang gliders and paragliders. A logo committee was formed, and new designs were solicited from professionals, art students, members and non-members alike – in all, 147 submissions were received. The submitted designs were posted on the USHPA Web site, and members were encouraged to identify their favorite ﬁve designs in an on-line survey. A total of 616 members voiced their opinions, with the “favorite” design receiving 162 “votes” (26.3% of the “votes” cast); 124 designs received at least one “vote.” With only 6.3% of our members expressing an opinion, and with so many designs being indicated as a favorite contender, the jury realized that members’ opinions are as varied as the submitted designs.

emotional impact. USHPA’s logo needs to be optimistic and positive, and must evoke the essence of our sports. These key communications must come across immediately and without explanation. They must be intuitively understandable by people who know nothing about our sports, as well as by members in our organization. In addition to these “initial impact” requirements, USHPA’s logo must also • be visually interesting, so no one gets tired of looking at it; • display excellent design qualities, since people tend to associate well designed graphics with quality and integrity; • reproduce well in many applications – large and very small, multi-color or one color, and printing by various processes including screen printing; • be easy to recognize at a glance once you have seen it. Our old “orange ball” logo, which has the strength of tradition and familiarity, nonetheless has a homemade quality that suggests a grassroots club rather than a professional national organization. The jurors felt that the orange ball is lacking in emotional impact for people who aren’t familiar with it. In addition, the design is not consistent with the styles and qualiThe Jury’s Selection Process Before beginning their selection pro- ties familiar to today’s youth – those we cess, the jurors spent considerable time are hoping to attract to our sports. The consensus of the jurors was that in conference calls, defining and clarifying their task. Of primary concern was USHPA needs a logo that portrays our the fate of our old, familiar “orange ball” association and our sports clearly the logo. What are its characteristics? How first time people see the design, even if much equity does it have that we need they have no prior knowledge of what we to keep? Would it be better to stick close are about. While our old logo fulfills this functo that familiar design or make a step in tion to (at least some of) our members, a another direction? Much as the members did in the well designed new logo will very quickly online poll, the jurors studied all the become equally familiar; our memberlogos submitted and each juror selected ship will quickly learn to recognize it, five that best exemplified their definition and it can bring important advantages of the “ideal” logo. There were 16 logos that an adjusted old logo could not. represented among the selections of the five jurors. Jury’s Design Selection The jury selected and strongly recomJury-determined Criteria mended one design from the 147 subA crucial attribute of any logo is its missions. They felt that this one design May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

stood well above the other contenders in being emotionally uplifting, optimistic and profoundly positive. It suggests the boundless freedom of what we do. Its design directly expresses both hang gliding and paragliding with sufficiently realistic-looking wings. The gracefully included bird acknowledges that our sports are the closest approximation of bird-like flight available to mankind. The logo’s asymmetry creates motion, an upward-sweeping movement that evokes a glider in a turn. These visual and emotional impacts are immediate and intuitive. The logo is sophisticated without being complicated, and it is well designed and executed. These qualities make it persistently interesting to look at. It will be effective in very small and very large sizes, and it will reproduce well in any print or digital medium. USHPA Board Selection

At the spring BOD meeting last March, your USHPA directors voted, 138, to accept the selection of the jury as the new USHPA logo. The new design will be implemented gradually over time. The jury and the board wish to thank everyone who participated in this search for a new logo for the USHPA. It was a fun and interesting process! We all hope you will welcome the attitudes fostered

by this new logo, and we hope it carries us well into the future of our association.

ended up in Durban, which he describes as “a great surfer city”; there he got a job and met his wife. For the past five years Jury members: they have been living in England, just Margo Chase, Chairman south of London, and they now have an David Glover 18-month-old son. Peter Birren Andrew labels himself as a keen road cyclist and mountain biker, and he loves Martin Palmaz the outdoors, “although it’s a bit limJames Bradley ited in soggy old England,” he points Awards will go to the designers of the out. He found out about the logo comp three “finalist” logos selected by the jury. through a work mate, Andy Hill, who is “a keen paraglider pilot, a great guy ******** and a little crazy too, but we don’t hold it Who designed these logos? against him!” Here’s what the designers of the three Andrew says he’s grateful for the op“jury-selected” have to say about them- portunity to submit his logo, and wishes USHPA members “good luck in the selves. future – and happy flying!” Logo design contest winner: Andrew Allen

Andrew was born in Zimbabwe, some time ago. At age 21 he decided to head south to South Africa to study graphic design at Cape Town (“very awesome city!”) for a couple of years. Eventually he

“Creating this logo was truly a labor of love,” says Don. “I’m not a logo designer, but when I heard about this contest I immediately had a concept and in about an hour, it was ready to submit. It’s quite an honor to have placed so high in this competition. The entries I saw were just fantastic, and the passion put into them really shows through.” Second runner-up: Alex Halpern

Alex works as an architect and designer in Burlington, Vermont, where he lives with his wife and two children. He was introFirst runner-up: Don Ruzek duced to paraglidAs a teen, Don ing in 1992 while on an architectural took his first hang tour of the Salk Institute in La Jolla, gliding lesson California. Alex says, “To finally visit at Kitty Hawk Lou Kahnâ’s famous architecture was Kites, North pretty good, but to unexpectedly see a Carolina, in guy with a big kite magically lift off into 1976, and got the sunset was amazing!” It wasn’t until hooked im- years later, when he ran into old friend mediately. He Dean Slocum, that he realized such studied music in magic was possible in Vermont’s Green school and then performed and recorded Mountains. If he’s not flying or designing an airfull-time, making flying difficult due to travel. In the late ‘90s he got out of the port, Alex can be found outdoors kiting, music business – which meant he could skiing, scuba diving, or mountain climbfly more. He visited many of the west- ing with his family and friends. ern U.S. sites, and in 1989 settled into an instructor’s position for a few years at Mission Soaring Center and Airtime of San Francisco. It was here he took What’s to become of the familiar his first paragliding flight and enjoyed “orange ball” logo/ many hours soaring paragliders at Fort decal? Funston’s “bowl.” Last year Don took Stay tuned a 30th-anniversary flight at Kill Devil for more inforHills, the site of his first flight, but this mation about time it was in a paraglider. this topic. Over the years Don has done a lot of There’s still a visual design work for stained-glass winsmall stock of dows and lamps, as well as layout and these decals in the typesetting for small newsletters. His USHPA storeroom; if you don’t algrowing interest in visual design led him ready have one, it’s not too late to to the Web design field, and since 1996 own this small piece of history. he’s been a commercial Web designer. He currently leads the digital media branch of Navy Federal Credit Union, and has a wonderful family: a lovely wife and two great kids. May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Part 1: Lump Effects

This article begins a multi-part series of they wield in the form of thunderstorms. articles looking at clouds from the perspective Joni Mitchell sang of looking at clouds of learning more about our sky. We will try from both sides, but as opportunistic to discover the little lagniappes of lift that pilots we need to also look at them from are there for the taking as well as detect go- top, bottom and inside out. It behooves rillas in the mist. Hopefully in the end we us to understand their nature, for they are will all have a newfound appreciation for often the harbingers of lift. The more we the subtle clues embedded within the blurry know how to read their misterious signs image of clouds. – sometimes hidden, but sometimes fairly screaming at us – the better we are able Clouds are a wondrous part of our ev- to catch a free ride on a welcome upwelleryday sky. We often dream about ﬂoating ing. Without further ado, here’s our ﬁrst along with them, and sometimes we have cloud specimen (see Photo 1). nightmares about the potential hammer

When I ﬁrst saw this shot it knocked me for a wingover. In fact, this is the photo that got me started on this project. What we see is a view from the left window of a 737 on climb-out at over 25,000 feet. My friend and business colleague, Jeﬀ Goin, author of the book Powered Paragliding Bible, took the photo as he was leaving Manchester, New Hampshire, as pilot-in-command. I wish to thank him for thinking of me and sending it along. (Note: At the end of this article we provide more information on the mountain and location.)

Photo 1: You can zoom in on this photo online at http://www.ushpa.aero/mag_article.asp?id=45.

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The picture is very telling for a soaring pilot. The view is to the south and the wind is from the upper right corner of the photo, or southwest. The weather was influenced by a low-pressure system, so we have a fairly solid cloud deck. Why does a low produce such a cloud layer? Because the entire air mass is rising in a low-pressure system, and eventually it reaches the condensation point as it expands and cools during the rise. In a highpressure system, the air mass is slowly sinking so cloud formation is suppressed and skies are generally clear. This effect brings up our first main point: Clouds are indications that the air is rising or has risen recently. (One of the few exceptions to this rule is the creation of fog, which occurs when a cold surface cools the air down to dewpoint by contact.) Put this rule in your memory and think of it as basic precept to which we will return throughout this series. The first thing we can readily see are the wave forms emanating out from the lone mountain as if from the prow of a ship plowing through a sea. These waves are very much like the bow wake of a

boat in that there is an upwelling in the frontal area of the mountain that reﬂects up and down several times before dissipating. Note the angle that the waves sweep back from the mountain, just as they do from a boat. The amount of sweep will increase as the wind speed increases. In general, we see these waves due to the shadow and highlights produced by the low sun angle. But if you look carefully on the right of the mountain you can see some of the cloud dissolving in the two wave troughs as the air moves downward. There’s more: Look at how the cloud piles up immediately in front of the mountain and spills over the top to ﬂow downward. Then it appears to move back up again. This is probably not due to a true wave-type rebound, but instead to the leeside rotor. The end of the cloud appears to be rolling with wisps on both the top and bottom (On my computer I can blow the photo up to a great extent and see details lost in this magazine image). Also, it is apparent that some of the wave undulation takes place in front (upwind) of the mountain. Looking at the broad

picture we can see that the cloud has evaporated for a long way on the lee (downwind) side of the mountain. Unfortunately, the photo doesn’t extend the whole length of the cleared strip, but what is showing is at least ten miles as measured with the aid of a road map. This effect clearly illustrates the presence of extensive sinking air behind the mountain or, more likely, neutral air from a few miles downwind of the mountain and on downstream. (Note: The white patches behind the mountain are mostly snow-covered lakes.) Finally, if we look carefully we can see other ripples in the cloud cover. The most apparent ones are in the upper left of the photo. They are also a result of a terrain feature disrupting the flow. What flying lessons can we learn from this eye-opening photo? First, we nearly all know that lift is on the windfacing portion of the mountain. A solitary rounded mountain such as this one will allow the air to flow around its sides, and thus the best lift will be concentrated near the area facing directly into the flow. The highest pile-up of clouds over

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

the mountain can be seen at this point in the photo. Inexperienced pilots should be very aware of this matter. You may have heard of the venturi effect directly over a mountain, but in the case of a dome-shaped hill or mountain, there is a side venturi as well, and following a thermal too far to the side may mean having to fight the venturi back to the area of ridge lift. The presence and strength of lift on rounded hills and mountains is very dependent on your position. Secondly, imagine that you have topped out above this worthy knob and have the itch to go cross-country. You decide to maximize your distance and chances of finding a thermal by following a downwind path, but no matter how high you are above the top, it probably doesn’t make sense to initially track directly downwind through the lee wake of the mountain, for there lies sink. The best effective track is to depart one side or another at an angle. Initially this angle appears to be about 45 degrees. On the left side of the mountain, the waves fold in to almost parallel the downwind direction of the general flow. This effect is probably due to the air flowing around and behind the mountain (something the flow doesn’t do immediately behind the bow of a boat). On the right side, there are fewer, but wider, waves; despite a depression or two, they can be seen to travel much farther downwind than those on the left, while taking you farther from a direct downwind track. (The unequal flow on the two sides may be simply due to the nonuniform mountain shape.)

Photo 2

Even given this very clear visual guide, which side you should depart on is debatable. In normal flying conditions, we don’t have this cloud guide, so unless it is a regularly flown site with some local lore to guide you, the choice of departure side would best be based on factors such as the presence of landing fields, airspace, terrain features and clouds farther along the route. In any case, it is very desirable to follow the crest of a wave as far as practical once you leave the mountain. Perhaps we all can understand that point, but as mentioned, we wouldn’t normally be flying in such a cloud so we don’t have the picture painted for us so dramatically. That’s why this photo is so valuable. By studying it (and I have done so for hours) we can internalize its lessons and use them to guide our intuition in similar situations. The most important thing is to suspect such waving action around lone hills and then feel the air to help track through lift lines, rather than sink lines. If you blunder into sink, imagine where the lift lines appear in this photo and try to put yourself in that green air, then follow it as long as it lasts. It is this sort of accumulation of knowledge that helps experienced pilots excel. Be aware that many of these effects can be seen in a flowing stream of water with rocks taking the place of mountains. Needless to say, the leeside sink, rotor and turbulence should be avoided at all costs. We do this by moving to the side as noted earlier. As a point of reference, I live where the mountains are long and continuous. Only rarely can we skirt around the ends. When we go XC downwind we must go through the leeside perils, but we do it high enough to avoid rotor and turbulence, of course. But we typically find sink and thermal suppression for up to five miles downwind (the ridges average 1000 feet above the valleys). Finally, here’s a subtle lesson. On a thermal day, we can see why thermals are not uniformly distributed. We should expect thermals to be promoted where there is local lift and suppressed where there is sink. The latter means behind the mountain,

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of course. The former is obviously in the upward-deflected air in front of the mountain, but also in the upward parts of the waves. This rule of thumb applies to the waves in other parts of the photo, not just those dramatic ones at the mountain. Thermals in a blue sky are the hardest to find, so knowing how much the terrain can affect the air’s flow can be a real asset in your thermal quest. * * * I have included a second photo here. This one was also sent to me by Jeff and comes from Google Earth. The view is almost identical to the one in Photo 1. Here you can see the extent of the mountain and its location in SW New Hampshire. The solid line in the background is the Massachusetts border. Note the angular lake near the mountain, which is snow-covered in the first photo. The mountain is Mount Monadnock, a 3165-foot-MSL (over 2400 feet AGL) peak. The New Hampshire tourist board claims it is the most climbed mountain in the world(!) No doubt it is the most celebrity-climbed mountain with such luminaries as Twain, Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, and many others scaling its heights. More significantly, it is the archetypical solo mountain and its name has been adopted by geologists to mean a “stand-alone” mountain. If you Google the mountain’s name you can see side-view photos and will find it isn’t really very steep. A more abrupt mountain may produce even more vigorous wave action. Some claim the name comes from the Abaneki Indian word for “stand-alone mountain,” but my most reliable source says it means “mountain forming hawk-lifting waves which we are wont to ponder.” I hope you enjoyed these photos and essay. I am looking for additional cloud photos for future articles. Particularly, I would like some linear wave shots, rotor clouds and a glory or two, as well as any other interesting clouds that we can use to learn more about the medium we choose to inhabit. Please upload photos to the USHPA dropbox; directions for uploading are online at ushpa .aero/editorial_dropbox.asp. Or contact the editor (editor@ushpa.aero) for assistance.

2006 Accident Summaries By Joe Gregor, staﬀ writer

This month we summarize those accidents reported during 2006 that have not been described in our earlier columns. Note that these, together with the halfdozen or so accidents that were reported in greater detail over the last year, bring the total number of reported hang gliding accidents to something on the order of 25. Anecdotal evidence indicates to us that this is but a small subset of the total number of mishaps that actually occurred in 2006. If you experience an event from which others could learn a valuable lesson (and virtually every mishap qualifies in this regard), please report it. If you experience one sufficiently noteworthy to fill an entire column, consider writing a “there I was” story. Help others to benefit from your experiences. We are all in this together. The online accident report form is here: www.ushpa.aero/emailacc.asp.

launch. No injuries, but signiﬁcant glider damage ensued. Recommendation was given to the pilot to be observant of his pitch attitude during launch.

Time of Year: Spring Accident Site: Colorado Type of Launch: Aerotow Summary: A H-4 pilot launched via

aerotow and immediately discovered his parachute had deployed. The pilot released from tow, the glider stalled and came down horizontally with the pilot impacting the ground in the prone posiwing reversed the leading edges during tion. Post-flight inspection revealed that setup, putting the right outboard leading the pilot had stowed his tow bridle inside edge in the left D-cell and vice versa on the parachute handle prior to takeoff the left side. During the aerotow take- and had forgotten to remove it prior to off, the pilot noticed there was a control launch. The pilot noticed that the length problem but continued the tow. After of the tow bridle was shorter than usual, pinning off, the pilot assessed the control but did not bring it to the attention of issue, and decided that the aircraft was anyone around him for further inspecindeed controllable. The pilot continued tion. The pilot walked away with minor climbing in a thermal to gain more al- injuries, and an affirmation that we must titude, just in case control later became pay close attention to our preflight and an issue. The pilot landed without inci- pre-takeoff/hang-check inspections. dent and discovered his setup mistake. Time of Year: Winter Lesson learned: Always pay close attenTime of Year: Spring Accident Site: California tion during setup, and resolve to perform Accident Site: Nevada Type of Launch: Foot launch a thorough preflight before each flight. Type of Launch: Foot launch Summary: Against local recSummary: An intermediate pilot ommendations, an advancedwas flying at an unfamiliar desert site rated pilot chose to take the in relatively strong conditions. The northeast launch in northwest pilot did not position himself in front winds. Due to previous successof the ridge, and found himself unable ful flex-wing launches under the to maintain position in the stronger same conditions, he believed he conditions. Due to the strong winds could do it again. Unfortunately, and rotor, the pilot was forced over he experienced extreme sink the back and landed in rocky terrain, after launch and had to choose suffering glider damage and head and between landing in trees/brush leg injuries requiring multiple stitches. and landing downwind in rocky terrain. Time of Year: Winter Lesson learned: Always err on the side Choosing the lesser of the two evils, he Accident Site: Florida of caution when flying a new site. Give put it into the trees and brush and esType of Launch: Aerotow yourself ample room for error until you caped with only minor glider damage. Summary: A H-4 pilot launched his are comfortable with the new flying area Lesson learned: Just because you have rigid wing via aerotow and experienced a and varying conditions. beaten the odds in the past, doesn’t mean weak link break at approximately 10 feet. you will continue to beat them into the The left wing dipped immediately after indefinite future. takeoff, and just prior to weak link separation. The pilot landed without incident. Time of Year: Winter During the second takeoff, the pilot exAccident Site: New Mexico perienced the same left-wing roll and left Type of Launch: Foot launch the cart prematurely. The pilot skidded Summary: A novice pilot launched to a halt, at the cost of a bent downwith a nose-high attitude and stalled the tube. There was no obvious explanation glider. The left wing tip impacted the for cause, but unexpected rotor from the ground and spun the glider 180 degrees buildings to the east was suspected. into the mountain about 30 feet from Time of Year: Winter Accident Site: Florida Type of Launch: Aerotow Summary: A H-4 pilot flying a rigid

Photo: Nikita Degtoff

Always pay close attention during setup, and resolve to perform a thorough preﬂight before each ﬂight.

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Time of Year: Spring Accident Site: California Type of Launch: Cliﬀ launch Summary: An advanced pilot launched unhooked. The pilot

was able to hold on and effect a landing on the beach below, but suffered a broken pelvis and internal bleeding. It is extremely fortunate that this pilot had the strength to hold on for the duration of the flight, and it’s amazing that these were the only injuries suffered. Lesson learned: HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK! Your life will most often depend on it. Time of Year: Spring Accident Site: New York Type of Launch: Foot launch Summary: A student pilot experienced a wind gust upon

landing and ballooned up 10 or 12 feet. The pilot stalled the glider, then attempted a nose-low landing. In extending his right arm during landing to protect his head, the pilot suﬀered a broken right arm.

HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK! Your life will most often depend on it. Time of Year: Summer Accident Site: Florida Type of Launch: Aerotow Summary: An advanced pilot crash-landed his rigid wing

during an international meet. Pilots were flying a 33-mile outand-back task. As pilots were progressing to the north during the launch window, thunderstorm cells developed to the west. At 15:12 local time, the meet director stopped the task and directed pilots to land. Witness to the crash reported that the pilot experienced strong winds from a gust front while attempting to land in a less-than-optimal field. Other pilots reported that ample time was given to land and secure their gliders, and it was not known why this pilot failed to land immediately. If the accident pilot did indeed delay his landing for reasons other than attempting to escape from the storms, his extra airtime and distance flown were purchased at the cost of two broken wrists, a broken vertebra, and other assorted contusions. Time of Year: Summer Accident Site: Georgia Type of Launch: Foot launch (training hill) Summary: A student pilot was making his third flight from

the training hill. After climbing approximately 10 to 15 feet, the pilot stalled the glider. During the stall, the glider turned May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

During the base leg of his landing approach, the glider impacted high-voltage power lines and tail-slid backward into the ground, 35 feet below. Impact with the power lines severed both nose wires and one side wire and caused extreme sail Time of Year: Summer damage. The glider came to rest upside Accident Site: Utah down on a barbed-wire fence. The pilot Type of Launch: Foot launch Summary: A pilot launched and expe- walked away without a scratch. He never rienced the right wing tip rising during saw the power lines. The pilot had recentlaunch run. The pilot failed to correct ad- ly undergone radial keratotomy surgery equately for the lifting wing and clipped on his eyes. It is believed that the surgery a rock pile, causing a stalling turn and caused a loss of visual acuity that was also soon thereafter, a crash. The pilot was affected by mental and physical fatigue aware of crosswinds prior to takeoff, as from the extended flight and competition junior-rated pilots had been stopped from schedule. Hypoxia may have also played launching, although other like-rated a role, as the pilot’s oxygen supply had pilots had launched without incident. run out 90 minutes prior to the accident, The accident pilot suffered contusions and the pilot had been at 15,000’ MSL and major glider damage, but most of for a short time after the oxygen was dethe injuries were minor due to his wear- pleted (see Nov. 2005 issue). ing jeans, gloves, boots and other safety clothing. Lesson learned: Just because someone else pulled it off, doesn’t mean you will. Always do your own assessment prior to launching, based upon what you are experiencing at-the-moment. Things can and will change quickly. Time of Year: Summer Accident Site: Idaho Type of Launch: Foot launch Summary: An advanced pilot

structor experienced a structural failure of the glider during a tandem training flight. The instructor deployed the parachute and suffered a broken arm upon landing. The student suffered minor cuts. Determination of the exact cause for the failure is still under review. Time of Year: Autumn Accident Site: California Type of Launch: Aerotow Summary: An advanced pilot experi-

enced a failed launch from an aerotow cart. Observers reported that pilot was pulled through the control frame, and did not increase his pitch attitude to depart the cart. The glider nosed in, causing minor injuries to the pilot. The pilot admitted that it had been a long time since his last aerotow, and that he was rusty on his technique.

Just because someone else pulled it off, doesn’t mean you will. Always do your own assessment prior to launching, based upon what you are experiencing at-themoment. Things can and will change quickly.

was thermaling near the terrain (about 150 feet AGL). Observers reported seeing the pilot enter a steep 360-degree turn; the pilot only remembers turbulence. Belief is that the pilot went “over the falls” without adequate altitude for recovery and impacted the ground. The incident might have been avoided if the pilot had allowed for greater terrain clearance, either horizontally or vertically. Weight-shift aircraft are inherently compromised when it comes to control authority. Under turbulent conditions, it is always advisable to give hard objects (be they trees, mountains, or other gliders) a wider berth. Time of Year: Summer Accident Site: Idaho Type of Launch: Foot launch Summary: An advanced pilot ﬂying in

competition was 5 ½ hours into his ﬂight.

Time of Year: Autumn Accident Site: Florida Type of Launch: Aerotow Summary: An advanced tandem in-

Time of Year: Autumn Accident Site: New Mexico Type of Launch: Foot launch Summary: An advanced pilot

was attempting a first-time flight at a new site. Local pilots explained that there was a tendency for the left wing to lift at this site and that it must be compensated for during the launch run. As the pilot began his launch run, the left wing of the glider lifted. The pilot immediTime of Year: Summer ately experienced a hard right turn after Accident Site: California takeoff and impacted the terrain with Type of Launch: Foot launch his right wing tip, spinning him into the Summary: A master-rated pilot per- hillside. The results were minor injuries formed untested modifications to his to the pilot together with glider damage. harness to allow for a better heads-up Lesson learned: Listen to the locals; they landing position. The modified harness know stuff. failed during flight, causing the pilot to drop below the control bar. The pilot hooked the control bar under his armpits, but felt he was unable to maintain sufficient control for a safe landing. The pilot opted to throw his reserve chute and come down under canopy – probably a wise decision. The result was minimal glider damage and zero pilot damage. A “Bamboo Bomber” at an upstate New York site, 1976

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Photo courtesy Henry Boessl

to the left and impacted the ground. The pilot swung through the control frame and impacted the downtube, breaking his right arm in the process.

Selecting a Superior Flight Training Program By David Jebb, staﬀ writer, davidj@ﬂytorrey.com Photos by Ki Hong

Paragliding and hang gliding pilots typically have taken a basic training course and, once finished, seldom returned to school to upgrade their training and flight skills. Today we are witnessing a greater frequency of seasoned pilots coming back to schools or taking clinics to upgrade or fine-tune their flight skills. Regardless of whether you are a new or an older-than-dirt pilot, here are some of the things you might consider when selecting a paraglider or hang glider flighttraining program.

Radio contact between instructor and student enhances safety during training

•

• The Deﬁning Qualities of a Good Instructor

A good instructor • Is knowledgeable, and demonstrates proﬁciency in the skills being taught. Here we consider the experience level of the instructor. How long has he/she been ﬂying, teaching and •

•

promoting the sport? Is the instructor able to demonstrate proficiency in the fundamentals of flying and in conveying knowledge? Has a humble approach towards teaching. All too often we see instructors trying to set themselves up as the ultimate “know-it-all.” Humility, not arrogance, will open the doorway to students’ better understanding what is being taught. In the end we all put our pants on one leg at a time. Is an open, direct and concise communicator. Unlike most other forms of instruction, in free-flight we communicate a vast range of emotional levels and physical dimensions. Few other instructors have students who experience anything like the exhilaration of first flight, and who have the boundless sky as their classroom. Is patient and has a sense of humor. Having a short fuse and “losing it” in front of students doesn’t instill confidence in the learners. While learning to fly is a very serious business, having a sense of humor will help open the doorways to understanding. Has good morals. We earn respect by walking the talk. Some people in the hang gliding and paraglid-

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ing business are more interested in making a fast buck than in committing to developing a fully actualized pilot. • Is understanding. Dialogue must be a two-way street in order for there to be true communications. Developing an environment where there is open, honest sharing will foster better insight and awareness. • Has a holistic approach to teaching. An instructor with a holistic approach doesn’t just focus on flying, but rather on as many of the flightrelated aspects of aviation as possible. Some instructors just want to throw students off the hill, while others to take the time to build a solid foundation of theory, ground handling and flight management before taking the student to the air. • Is open to change and learning. The

sports of hang gliding and paragliding, and the equipment used to enjoy safe flight, are continuously changing. Yet many instructors become stuck in the dogmatic methods of the past. Look for instructors who show knowledge of the latest wing and harness innovations, and are open to new ideas and methods of teaching. The bottom line is that the “best” instructors have mastery of skills, while retaining enthusiasm and a sense of continued discovery and the ability to be playful while conveying serious stuff. A good instructor makes good decisions, and those decisions should be based upon understanding the student’s limitations. For instances, the UPHPA lists the specific flight limitations for each rating. Those limitations should be adhered to. Along that same line, the instructor must know his or her own limitations and set a good example – provide a role model – for the student. For instance, if the instructor tells the student that it is too windy or too turbulent for the student to fly and then launches himself into the sky, this presents conflicting information.

A good instructor will be aware of such conflicts, and will provide the student with specific information to allow resolution of the seeming disparity. Another important aspect of training is that the instructor should never attempt to teach beyond the student’s rating level. For example if the student is a beginner student, even a competent and enthusiastic beginner, teaching wingovers or high banking spiral dives is not appropriate. A good instructor will establish goals for the student in order to keep the student focused on learning and completing specific course requirements. The student should always be sent into the air with a radio and a flight plan. Having a flight plan prior to launch is important because, even if radio transmissions fail, the student has already visualized and rehearsed the flight plan prior to launch. The Defining Qualities of a Good School

When selecting a school, a student should ask these questions: • What type of facility does the school operate in, and where is basic ﬂight training conducted? Some of the training will involve classroom

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study and lecture. A small school may conduct class at the instructor’s home or in a garage, while a larger school may have a commercial facility. If possible, the actual flight training should be at a site where such activities are insured. • What is the average number of students per instructor/class? Oneon-one instruction is ideal, but normally three to five students per instructor is manageable. In my experience, beyond this ratio the quality of instruction begins to degrade. • What extra-curricular activities does the flight school offer? Ideally the school should provide a onestop shop, where when the basic training is completed the students can acquire flight equipment, aftersales support, equipment repairs, parachute repacking and on-going specialized and advanced flight training. The premier schools provide continuous support and education to the student long after the completion of the initial training. • What is the flight-training curriculum? A training curriculum is a crucial roadmap that allows the student to better focus on the specific tasks and requirements necessary for completion of the training. Good instructors will have a written curriculum for a prospective student to examine, or at least will be able to provide detailed curriculum information verbally.

• What type of gear will be used in the training process? The quality and safety of the course instruction is directly influenced by the equipment used for training. All school instruction should be done on certified gliders. Harnesses with full back protection and reserve parachutes should be used during flight training. Full-face helmets are recommended. If the school does not offer such safety gear, this should be factored into your decision to train at a particular school. Another option would be to purchase your own safety gear through the selected school in the event that the school is not using such gear in their training program. • How many instructors are affiliated with the school? Schools that operate with more than one instructor can offer benefits that a single instructor cannot. Obviously the more instructors sharing in the training program, the greater the likelihood that the student will glean a greater degree of perspective in the learning process. In the case where there is only one instructor, an instructor “helper” or “assistant” is a valuable asset, since ideally one instructor

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should work the launch area and one instructor or helper should work the landing zone. People are the most important component of any school. As I reflect on the schools that I would label “good” schools, I have observed that their strengths are not all in the same areas – that is, with one exception: They all have good leaders. A strong leader bonds relationships built upon trust and respect. The leader’s example becomes the standard. Good leaders understand the importance of people in an organization. They make every effort to bring qualified people into the sport and treat them with dignity and respect. The future of our sports and the personal safety of every pilot are enhanced by superior instruction at a well-run school. In my opinion, flight mishaps and injuries are greatly minimized when the quality of flight instruction is high. Therefore the selection of a superior instructor and school will ultimately ensure your personal enjoyment and fulfillment in one of the greatest adventures known to man – free flight!

Launch Potatoes By Herta Kurp

I love potatoes in the field, Tucked in the soil With soft brown skin, With eyes alert… To sprout.

Photo: Ron Gleason

How could it be These gentle creatures Have cousins so deplorable, Like couch potatoes … With eyes on nothing But the TV screen. But launch potatoes are the worst, O, what a dread! Stuck to the hill, Wings clutched in sweaty palms, They thought they’d fly… But that was only yesterday. Today they balk with all their might. Obscuring launch They force the window shut, Pass up each cycling wind In stubborn greed For better opportunity. If finally they do get off the ground By grace of circumstance Or simple law of gravity. One only sighs… And hopes… They will not plant themselves In someone’s flower bed…

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Photo: Tracy Tillman

Lisa checking the torque on the prop bolts. She does this every day before ﬂying.

LSA Tug Airworthiness and Maintenance By Lisa Colletti and Tracy Tillman

In this issue of “Towline” we will continue our discussion of Sport Pilot issues, this time in regard to the airworthiness and maintenance requirements for LSA tugs. Tracy: Who is responsible for determining that a tug is airworthy? Lisa: According to FAR Part 91.7 [ref. 1] “(a) No person may operate a civil aircraft unless it is in an airworthy condition,” and “(b) The pilot in command of a civil aircraft is responsible for determining whether that aircraft is in a condition for safe ﬂight.” Tracy: So, even if you are a tug pilot ﬂying someone else’s LSA tug, you have to make sure that it has an airworthiness

certificate and that the aircraft is actually airworthy at the time. Lisa: And, the tug pilot must make sure that its last airworthiness inspection is still in effect, meaning that, per FAR 91.409 [ref. 2] the tug has had an annual inspection within the last 12 months; and, if the aircraft is used to tow for hire or for flight instruction, that it has had a 100-hour inspection within the last 100 hours. Tracy: How does the tug pilot do all of this? Lisa: In addition to performing a thorough preflight inspection, the tug pilot should inspect the paperwork that is required to be with the aircraft, per

FAR 91.203 [ref. 3]. Using the AROW method, the pilot should check the aircraft’s (A) airworthiness certificate, (R) registration, (O) operating handbook and placards, and (W) weight-andbalance information. Also, per FAR 91.417 [ref. 4] the pilot should check the aircraft, engine, and propeller logbooks for records that assure currency of the annual inspection (and 100-hour inspection as required for commercial or training operations), compliance with airworthiness directives (AD notes), and weight-and-balance information as determined for that specific aircraft. Prior to flying, the pilot must be sure that the weight and placement of fuel, baggage,

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pilot, and passenger will not cause the aircraft to fall outside the CG envelope or to exceed its maximum gross weight limit. Tracy: Who can do the annual and 100hour inspections, and log the inspections in the maintenance record logbooks? Lisa: If the tug is a factory-built S-LSA (like a new trike) or a typecertiﬁcated airplane that is LSA-eligible (like a J-3 Cub), then an airframe and powerplant (A&P) mechanic can do the inspections, as well as maintenance and repairs. If the tug is an experimental light sport aircraft (E-LSA), then the owner can perform maintenance and repairs, and per FAR 65.107 [ref. 5] the owner can also perform the annual (but not 100hour) inspections if he/she holds an LSA repairman with inspection rating (LSRI). Otherwise, the annual and 100-hour inspections on an E-LSA must be performed by an A&P mechanic or an LSA repairman with a maintenance (LSR-M) rating in the appropriate class, such as weight-shift vs. airplane. Tracy: Is there any simple preventive

maintenance that LSA owners can do on their own? Lisa: Per FAR 43 [ref. 6], if the tug is a factory-built S-LSA, the pilot may perform certain limited preventive maintenance procedures, as delineated in the aircraft’s maintenance manual, and log them in the maintenance records. If the tug is type-certificated, and if the pilot holds a Private (not Sport Pilot) license, then the pilot may perform up to 32 types of preventive maintenance procedures on their airplane, like tire and oil changes, as specified in FAR 43 Appendix A [ref. 7]. If the tug is an E-LSA, then the owner can do all his or her own maintenance and repair – not just preventive maintenance. Tracy: Most tugs will probably be ELSAs. That means, if the tug is used in a personal recreation or club environment (not used to tow for hire or for flight instruction) it will not need 100-hour inspections. Owners of an E-LSA can do their own maintenance and repairs, and they can do the annual inspections on their own E-LSA if they have the appro-

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priate LSR-I rating. That’s a good deal. What’s it take to get the LSR-I rating? Lisa: A couple of days and a few hundred bucks. If you are the owner of an E-LSA, you can attend one of many FAA-approved 16-hour LSR-I courses held around the country for your class of E-LSA, such as weight-shift, aircraft, or powered parachute. Actually, Tracy, you and I attended an EAA-sponsored SportAir Workshop [ref. 8] LSR-I course last year. Not only did getting the certiﬁcate enable us to perform the annual inspections on our own tugs, but also the course gave us the skills and knowledge to do better maintenance and a background on how to prepare our tugs for airworthiness inspection by a DAR for E-LSA certiﬁcation. In the LSR-I course, we received hands-on training on methods of inspection, maintenance, and repair. We were briefed on numerous applicable FARs [refs. 1-7], including FAR Part 43 [ref. 6] on aircraft maintenance, and we received a copy of AC 43.13-1B/2A [refs. 9, 10], which is a huge book and a great resource on acceptable

Photo: Bob Grant

methods and techniques for aircraft inspection and repair. Tracy: What would it take to be qualified to perform 100-hour inspections on your own E-LSA tug? Lisa: To do that, the owner would have to attend and pass an FAA-approved LSA repairman-maintenance (LSR-M) course. Like the LSR-I rating, the LSRM rating is class-specific, but requires 120 hours of class time for airplanes, 104 hours for trikes, and 80 hours for gliders. While the LSR-M course is much more intensive and expensive than the LSR-I course, getting the LSR-M certificate enables the holder to do maintenance, inspection, and repair for hire on any ELSA or S-LSA within a particular class, but not on type-certificated aircraft (like the J-3 Cub) – that requires an A&P. Tracy: There was a very good article last August in EAA’s Sport Pilot [ref. 11] magazine on LSA maintenance and LSA repairman certificate training. In that article, it noted that the FAA maintains a list of approved LSA repairman courses [ref. 12]. Currently, courses are offered by Rainbow Aviation Services [ref. 13], EAA SportAir Workshops [ref. 8], Sport Aviation Specialties [ref. 14], Virginia Aviation LLC [ref. 15], and the Aero Technical Institute [ref. 16]. Lisa: Well, that’s the end of the line for this issue of “Towline.” Let’s go turn some wrenches.

References

1. “Civil Aircraft Airworthiness.” Title 14 CFR Part 91.7: http://ecfr .gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ec fr&sid=12f39752809c06792890b29e9 a351df2&rgn=div8&view=text&node =14:2.0.1.3.10.1.4.4&idno=14

2. “Inspections.” Title 14 CFR Part rgAdvisoryCircular.nsf/ACNumber/ 91.409: http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/ E533BB05389C90E486256A54006E t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=12f39752 47B2?OpenDocument 11. “Maintaining Light-Sport 809c06792890b29e9a351df2&rgn=d iv8&view=text&node=14:2.0.1.3.10 Aircraft” by Tim Kern, EAA Sport Pilot and Light Sport Aircraft magazine, .5.7.5&idno=14 3. “Civil Aircraft: Certifications August 2006. 12. “Light Sport Aircraft Repairman Required.” Title 14 CFR Part 91.203: http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/ Training Providers”: http://www text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=12f39752809c0 .faa.gov/aircraft/gen_av/light_sport/ 6792890b29e9a351df2&rgn=div8&v media/repairman_course_listings.pdf 13. Rainbow Aviation Services: iew=text&node=14:2.0.1.3.10.3.7.2& http://www.RainbowAviation.com idno=14 14. Sport Aviation Specialties: 4. “Maintenance Records.” Title 14 CFR Part 91.417: http://ecfr http://www.SportAviationSpecialities .gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=e .com 15. Virginia Aviation LLC: http:// cfr&sid=12f39752809c06792890b29 e9a351df2&rgn=div8&view=text&n www.VirginiaAviation.com 16. Aero Technical Institute: http:// ode=14:2.0.1.3.10.5.7.10&idno=14 5. “Repairman certificate (light- www.AeroTechnicalInstitute.com sport aircraft): Eligibility, privileges, and limits.” Title 14 CFR Part 65.107:http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/ t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=9bc6b4de 8e4d02db7a86a8ffdef0a983&rgn=d iv8&view=text&node=14:2.0.1.1.4.5 .1.5&idno=14 6. “Maintenance, Preventive Maintenance, Rebuilding, and Proper communication Alteration.” Title 14 CFR Part 43: through clear and http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/ concise signals is of text-idx?c=ecfr& sid=415c9f517ce paramount importance 108872718d99c2b5b6723& tpl=/ ecfrbrowse/Title14/14cfr43_main_ for safe towing. 02.tpl 7. “Major Alterations, Major Repairs, and Preventive Maintenance.” Title 14 CFR Part 43, Appendix A: http://ecfr.gpoacUseful URLs and cess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecf phone numbers: r& sid=a070a738aa6401cca43ed7 d57c6689a8& rgn=div9&view=te For magazine submissions: xt& node=14:1.0.1.3.20.0.363.14 http://ushpa.aero/magazine.asp .45&idno=14 8. EAA SportAir Workshops: For accident reports: http://www.SportAir.org http://ushpa.aero/emailacca.asp 9. Advisory Circular AC 43.13-1B CHG1: http://www.airweb.faa.gov/ For membership info, Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/ change of address, and rgAdvisoryCircular.nsf/0/C827DB other USHPA business: 9BA AC81B86256B4500596C4E? info@ushpa.aero OpenDocument (719) 632-8300 10. Advisory Circular AC 43.13-2! Members only section: CHG2: http://www.airweb.faa.gov/ https://ushpa.aero/member_ Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/

Safety Tip

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Less than five years after being nearly crippled by back pain, Tom McCune stood tall and proud on the podium at the completion of the 2007 Paragliding World Championships. With his thirdplace finish at Worlds, Tom – of Issaquah, Washington – not only finished higher than any American paraglider pilot in history, but he became the first American ever to reach the podium. GETTING READY TO RACE

Soaring Success:

American Storms Onto the Podium at Worlds

Article and photos by Dan A. Nelson

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As seems to be a trend with world championships, this years’ event was met with unusual weather and difficult conditions. Organized and hosted by Godfrey Wenness and the Manilla SkySailors Club at Mount Borah, near Manilla, Australia, the comp opened under rainfilled skies. Tom – like most of the competitors – anticipated big days on full speedbar under cumie-rich skies. Indeed, this part of southeast Australia was mired in a years-long drought. Unfortunately for the pilots, the event caused the skies to fill with cloud and the rains to drench the earth. A handful of tasks were called and flown between rainstorms, but even then, the wet weather impacted flights. The thermal engines of the area were shut off – or at least significantly muffled – when the dry, brown fields turned vibrant green under lush vegetation. The conditions proved challenging, and though it wasn’t the race conditions he wanted, the race he got may actually have played into Tom’s favor. “I was definitely ready for big air and full bar,” he said. Indeed, he arrived in Manilla more than a week early so he could familiarize himself with the site and local flying. He participated in the Australian XC Open, which ran the week prior to Worlds. Because of an unexplained glitch with Quantas Airlines (the airline held his wing for three days in San Francisco with no explanation as to why), Tom was only able to fly four of the six official tasks in the XC Open. Still, he finished 13th overall – just 400 points off the lead. “The XC Open had the kind of flying I was hoping for. Lots of big air, lots of long flights,” Tom said. “Then the rains came and we got a totally different kind of comp for Worlds.” Like the competitor he is, though,

Tom, along with the rest of the U.S. team, adapted to the changing conditions and flew his own race. “I was disappointed. It wasn’t the way I wanted to fly,” he said. “I had to slow down and fly the conditions we were given. There were times we had to just go for it, and other times we had to really finesse the sky.”

Waiting to launch at Fort Ebey, Washington

work to scratch and claw up as high as possible, Tom knows when to hold onto the light lift and when to hit the bar and get out and away. That seems to be one of the key traits of a top paragliding competitor – the ability to know exactly when to just go for it. Tom didn’t start paragliding with competition on his mind. In 1997, he simply wanted to fly. As an avid outdoorTHE PILOT sman his whole life, paragliding opened a The light lift and low cloudbase were new door into the natural world. He says issues Tom was comfortable with. The he fell in love with the freedom and the dense gaggles of very aggressive pilots adventure the sport provided him. But it fighting for miniscule pieces of lift also re-ignited a simmering competitive weren’t. spirit in the 44-year-old, whose home is In his decade of flying, Tom has devel- actually on the flank of Tiger Mountain. oped a keen ability to find lifting air even In his youth, Tom broke seven school and while other highly skilled pilots sink out. regional records while on the track team Among those lucky enough to have flown at Glide High Schoo,l near Roseburg, with him, he has earned the reputation as Oregon. a pilot who can eke the greatest possible Setting records at Glide? Seems a pataltitude out of a butterfly fart. tern was established early on! Like most of the paragliding pilots in After he started flying, Tom’s innate the Seattle area, Tom is a regular at Poo competitive nature first drove him to Poo Point on Tiger Mountain, the pre- push his own “personal best” achievemiere paragliding flying site in western ments, which led to him setting several Washington. While other pilots at Tiger cross-country flying records at Tiger

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U.S. national paragliding team. In the three years he’s been competing internationally, Tom has never ﬁnished outside the top 20, and only once outside the top 10 (18th last year in the Mexican nationals). In 2005, he won the both the Rat Race competition in Medford, Oregon – one of two sanctioned competitions in the United States that year – and the Canadian National Championships When asked about being the topranked pilot in the United State, Tom got a bit emotional. “This whole thing has been an incredible experience,” he said. “I’m thrilled to be in a position to represent the United States on the world stage.” THE COMP

Tom stepping into the air at Fort Ebey

Mountain. Over the past half-dozen years, he has established new distance records every year or so. He was the first to fly a paraglider to Crystal Mountain from Tiger and later, the first to fly across the Cascades to Cle Elum. Eventually, he sought greater challenges and turned from individual goals to organized competitions. Amazingly, the year he started competing, he also underwent extensive back surgery. After years of athletic competitions, outdoor adventures and hard physical labor as an auto body technician, Tom could barely stand erect. In 2003, surgeons twice cut into his back to repair the years of damage. The surgery took away the pain, and he says flying has been a great way to rehabilitate his weakened back muscles. “Flying actually takes a lot of physical ability,” Tom says. “It’s not about power and strength, though. Flying paragliders really requires good

muscle control, finesse and endurance.” Flying comps also requires an innate intelligence, which Tom proved to possess, in spades! Tom worked himself back into peak physical condition after his surgeries, and his native intelligence is illustrated perfectly by his non-flying achievements during that same period of time. After his back problems ended his previous career, he returned to school following more than two decades away from educational institutions and earned his Associates Degree in business, graduating with a perfect 4.0 GPA. While doing that, he also took on the challenge of competing at the highest level of international competition. In the end, just three years after his last surgery, Tom has a new college degree, two first-place finishes in international competition (not to mention a plethora of top-10 finishes) and the top spot on the

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When he got to Manilla and found himself setting new personal bests for distances flown during the XC Open, Tom was excited for Worlds to begin. “I was into full-race mode. I wanted to go big. I love to fly fast and far,” he said. “So I was disappointed when that wasn’t what we got.” But Tom’s Tiger Mountain experience served him well. Scratching low, tight to a tree-covered hill, isn’t something everyone is comfortable doing, especially on a comp wing. It’s part of life on a paraglider at Tiger Mountain, though. “I felt at home in the conditions. I didn’t like them, particularly, but I was able to fly them effectively,” he said. “I’m real used to low cloudbases and light, broken lift. In fact, I like when some of the tasks have tricky conditions, because I’m comfortable that I can pull it off. “What I wasn’t comfortable with were the gaggles around the start cylinders,” he added. Indeed, given the low base and the light lift, the gaggles proved troubling to most of the pilots in the comp. Several midairs occurred, some with reserve deployments and injuries. Fortunately, the tough conditions thinned the gaggles once the pilots went out on course, and Tom frequently was in one of the lead groups. Together with teammate Josh Cohn, Tom pushed forward, staying well up in the rankings throughout the competition. Only once did he fail to make goal, coming up just a few kilometers short in Task 3. On Task

“As we went on course, the lift was getting better. There certainly were spots of risk but overall it was heaven compared to the launch area. The pilots in the lead were racing full speed. I thought it was great and wish the other days would have been more like that. I was playing it safe and staying high between areas of lift because there were still pilots landing out on course beneath us and I didn’t want to ruin a good day. The plan worked well and I didn’t need to pull off any low saves. It ended up being one of the best days because of the work that went into staying aloft and timing the areas where one would push the speed bar. “Many pilots made goal on that task and the anticipation and curiosity over the final scores was incredible. Upon finding out that I was to be the first American to make the “When we started Task 5, I didn’t think podium in the history of this event, I couldn’t anyone was going anywhere due to the low help but think…It’s not just me. It’s all of cloudbase and tiny amounts of lift. I also fig- the supporters, too! They helped make this ured there would be many pilots with noth- possible. I think we need a bigger podium!” ing to lose who would take off in a blazing At the end of the day, the results race and show the rest of the non-committed pilots where it was happening. I followed were too close to call until the computfairly close behind the lead pilots but then ers processed all the flight logs. In the end, Tom vaulted from fifth to third wished I had left with the lead.

4, he scratched a bit of lift right before the end and squeaked across the goal line at 30 feet AGL. The 10-day comp wound down with Task 5 being flown on the last day. At the start of that task, Tom was sitting fifth overall, well within reach of the top spot, though the podium wasn’t his just yet. During that final task, the gaggle conditions were reportedly the worst yet of the comp. According to U.S. pilot Bill Belcourt’s blog, the gaggles on this last day were a “9.5 clusterf*** on a scale of 1-11.” (http://www.pgcomps.com/). Tom, though, got out on course early and found conditions better than expected. Here’s what he wrote of that task in his blog entry:

overall, and Josh Cohn moved up to eighth overall, providing Team USA its best finish ever in a paragliding world championship event. Tom says he loved Australia and thinks Mount Borah may be the best flying site in the world – when conditions are “normal”! Indeed, when asked to name his most memorable moment of his Australian adventure, he instantly spoke lovingly of the first days of flying during the XC Open. Of getting high, dropping the bar, and going far. “The flying during the Open was the best I have ever experienced,” he said. What about standing on the podium at Worlds? “That was great, too,” he admitted. “But really, it’s all about the flying.” Dan A. Nelson is an author and columnist for The Seattle Times. Portions of this story appeared previously in the “Seattle Times Outdoors,” www.seattletimes.com.

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MASTERING THERMALS By Ken Hudonjorgensen

Is it really possible to “master” thermals? Recently, reading an article in the journal Science News and seeing the movie Wired to Win got me wondering just that. The article was about chess Grand Masters and how they achieved this mastery. The research concluded the following: • Chess Grand Masters do not plan ahead with their moves. They simply look at the board and the next move appears or jumps out at them within three seconds. • Any normal human being can achieve Grand Master skills through time and dedicated practice. • It takes about 10 years of focused effort to reach the Grand Master level for just about anything we humans undertake. With enough practice and repetition, the chess Grand Master can process all the information and input of a game as complex as chess, and produce the best response in less than three seconds. That is impressive! The movie Wired to Win (focused on the Tour de France) showed how the brain cell firings work in sequence, relatively slowly at first until the skill we are attempting to learn works well and we repeat it a number of times. Then the firings happen in quicker succession until through practice they happen all at once, without our trying to figure it out (thinking without effort). This is the beginning of mastery of any skill, be it childcare, chess, thermaling, dishonesty, archery – anything. Conclusion: Whatever we choose to practice we get better at, and with a lot of persistent practice we can master a complicated skill in about 10 years. When new pilots are learning thermaling skills, at first it is difficult and time-consuming because their timing is off, their ability to process all the information is slow and cumbersome, and their practice time in the air is short and infrequent. Through repetition, the brain begins to process the sequence more and more quickly until the brain firings happen all at once and the new pilot begins to react quickly enough to keep up with the wing and the parcel of air he or she is in. The firings become instantaneous and automatic. We usually refer to this as muscle memory but I believe we are simply creating a mental “rut” that makes it easier and easier to process the input and therefore it takes less time to execute an efficient response – so much so that it seems to take no time. In paragliding or hang gliding if you have to think about it … it’s too late. Once we get our hips to respond automatically to certain communications from the glider, our mind is freed up to work on another skill set, for example, moving our hands appropriately or noticing the recent changes in the sky. When we master one skill it frees our brain up so that we can work on mastering another. When 10 or 15 skilled responses become automatic, a pilot has begun to master thermaling. Thermaling is particularly tricky to master for three reasons: 1) We cannot see the thermal, and most people are heavily visually oriented. 2) We can’t practice thermaling every day because the weather and life get in the way. Remember, mastering something takes consistent, frequent repetition with disciplined effort. (This is why the ground-bound exercises for practicing the separated component parts of thermaling are so helpful.) 3) This learning is a three-dimensional experience

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Gaggle in Valle de Bravo, Mexico, January 2007 May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Photo: Ken Hudonjorgensen

Photo: Neil McGarry Photo: Rolan Yang

velop in order to master thermaling are: • Expanding into three-dimensional thinking • Sensing (noticing the details – we can’t respond appropriately if we don’t notice) • Responding efficiently, effectively and immediately (active piloting). Thinking of this responding as something that we do for our safety is fearJake Jacobs, eyes closed, practices mapping a therproducing; thinking that we do it for mal while listening to a tapping sound that simulates the vario. efficiency is more realistic and relaxing. I don’t know how many surges (forward/back, side/side, up/down). I have had in paragliding – probMost human beings are accustomed ably hundreds of thousands – and of to thinking of and relating to forward/ these only two have been unfriendback and side-to-side but not so much ly. A surge is just the glider jumpwith the up/down dimension. Birds starting itself. Stop thinking about and fish are much more three-dimencontrolling the energy in the glider sional than the dirt-bound species; it is and start thinking about managrelatively new for us to process and to ing it. Don’t fight it; use it to prouse the up/down to our advantage. We duce the desired result. The parcel of are not hard wired for it. air you are in is constantly feeding My own deepest three-dimensional varied amounts of energy to your experiences have been: • Figuring out the three-dimensional wing. We are constantly using that energy reserve to our advantage to connections of a construction project produce altitude and distance over (thus my admiration for carpenters) • Scuba diving the ground. • Thermaling (particularly with eyes • Altitude management (energy conservation, balancing patience with closed – not safe in traffic or near pushing, when to use speed, or wait, terrain!) • A deep state of meditation (more or top out the lift or leave early) • Mapping the thermals (noticing the than four-dimensional) nuances of shape, size, strength and Among the most important skills to de-

A fan and foam gliders can help pilots understand how a thermal will affect their wing and what that “feel” means about where they are in the thermal.

fractal pattern of each thermal) • Elongating (into the increasing lift, or downwind) • Shaping turns (to be most efficient with your map) • Remembering (Your three last turns should influence your next turn. Thermals and clouds are fractals, which we will talk about in another article.) • Anticipating (This, and remembering, add a fourth dimension, time.) • Coring (Don’t waste time in the thermal – work the core, if there is one.) • Reading the sky (Knowing how, what has been, and what is, creates understanding of what will be, and where in the sky it will be.) • Reading the ground, thermal triggers, and generators and ground tracking to maximize time and distance (Thanks, Peter Grey and Dennis Pagen, for the great debate on this in the magazine a few years ago). • Conservation of flying days (Very few pilots can afford to spend eight hours every day on flying, so predicting the weather is another neverending mastering process.) • Flexing with what nature delivers (Change your flight plan or thermaling strategy when necessary, and stick with it when appropriate.) • Repetition, which involves patience and persistence (Paragliding will teach you either patience or impatience, you get to choose which.) • Be at peace with your abilities once you have mastered the above, no matter how your skills compare with someone else’s. Brain cell firings happen more reliably, freely and instantaneously when we are relaxed.

Photo: Bruce Riley

My 2006 season was highly successful for XC, and I had been perplexed to come up with a reason until I researched this article. Last season was not any better than usual for XC weather; in fact, other pilots in Utah were complaining about what a terrible year it was. I didn’t have any more time to spend on flying than I usually do, and I have been flying the same performance-level glider as I did for the two previous years. I had been doing a better job of selecting only the better XC Ground practice in the Valley of the Gods days, and therefore not having as many Some of these component parts can short (under 20 miles) XC days, but that be practiced on the ground in your yard, cannot be a primary reason because I am living room, or simulator. If you haven’t always flying with other pilots who are figured out thermaling yet, you can get good at XC. I actually spent fewer days three years’ worth of mapping practice attempting XC in ‘06 than normal, with done in 15 minutes in your living room. seven times greater success (measured in Remember when you master one skill it miles). I have come up with three possible frees your mind up to work on another; it reasons, and almost certainly my success would be impossible for a human brain to was a combination of the three. work on all of these components at once. 1) Luck: Bill Belcourt says, “Luck is None of us will ever get perfect at all of always a factor. The magic is in how you this, but we can get better, and the differ- use it when you get it.” ence between 50% and 51% accuracy can 2) Repetition: I’ve been practicing be measured in miles. since my first thermaling experience 1989.

3) Meditation which I have been practicing and teaching since 1969. This year I have been chanting and meditating more than normal during my XC ﬂights. Meditation has accomplished three things that have helped my thermaling and decision-making. • I am more relaxed. (CBS News had a piece last January on how stress reduces the size and number of connections of neurons in the brain.) • I think less (less clutter, more substance). • I am more lucid. (Lynn Curie says, “Fly from the inside out, not from the outside in.”) Flying more relaxed means I overreact less; thinking less means I do less overanalyzing or second-guessing myself, and both of those give me more clarity so that I do rather than think, debate and then do. Therefore I am able to keep my actions in the thermal at a minimum and more current. My ground track, cloud tracking and sky reading are also more automatic and accurate. The result has been that I am more

Photo: Ken Hudonjorgensen

Neil McGarry helps Jake Jacobs with thermal-hunting skills. Even when you are not in a thermal the air affects your glider in ways that can tell you where the thermal is.

consistently in the right place in the thermal and in the sky. Marcel Vogel and other brain researchers have said that at any given moment there are about 10,000 brain cell firings going on related to stimuli from our senses, and that of those 10, 000 only nine (9!) can come to consciousness. Our job in mastering thermaling is to find a way to bring the most productive nine for a successful outcome to consciousness and to have the rest become so automatic and non-conscious that we can reserve those precious nine bits for the most important, satisfying and immediate parts of our thermaling moment. And yes, of course it must be pleasurable or satisfying or we would not endeavor to repeat it. We have all seen friends get out of the sport because it ceases to be satisfying. They get so scared or frustrated (or some other negative emotional state) that they find flying less than satisfying. Often this happens because they attempt parts of the sport that they are not ready for yet, or they don’t stretch themselves enough to stay interested and instead just focus on their fears. There are many skills that must build one on the other to create a consistently successful outcome. For a chess Grand Master it is looking at and studying many different boards and moves for many years. For thermaling it is, at a minimum, the 16 previously listed skill sets practiced on the ground, in your head, in the air, and (through repetition) applying them lucidly when necessary and non-consciously as much as possible. For those of you who already understand the art of thermaling, this may seem overly complicated because all or most of it is already automatic for you. I hope you still find it useful for clarifying what you are doing. If you are just starting to learn, working on one skill at a time will increase the speed and safety of your learning-to-thermaling process. The highly simplified version of this class is, in the words of Todd Bibler, “When you’re going up, turn.” The magazine article, the movie and a good XC year have all motivated me to explore, through this article, how we improve our thermaling skills. I have realized for many years that working on separate parts of the process helps me to progress more quickly; now I know why. Writing this has been useful to me, and I hope to you. Thanks for the opportunity.

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Guy Baker coming into land at Tagnag, Mera Peak area, Nepal. Landing here is not easy: Your wing is ﬂying fast and the valley winds are hard to judge. It’s rock and ice with streams everywhere! Look for a photo essay on this trek in next month’s magazine. Photo: Joe McCarthy

Why Do I Still Fly?

By Larry Ball

I have been actively flying hang gliders for over 20 years and I think I’ve heard just about every wuffo question there could possibly be – and have even been able to intelligently answer a few. Now at age 54, when I tell people what I do, I’m hearing a different type of question: “Aren’t you too old to be doing that?” No, I say! “Aren’t you ever going to grow up?” Never, I answer! But recently I got a question that I really had to think about: “Why do you still fly?” Well, it’s hard to explain, even to those who fly regularly. I thought perhaps an experience I had many years ago might help to explain my obsession with powerless flight. In late July of 1994 I had gone to Colorado for a three-week flying trip in the Rocky Mountains and, as usual, the weather wouldn’t cooperate. Or, it seemed I was always at the wrong site at the wrong time. All I heard was, “Hey, man, you should have been here yesterday. It was booming!” But I did manage to get a few nice soaring flights, one at Paradox and an evening glass-off at Willow Creek and Williams Peak. One final chance to fly the great Rockies awaited me. I was dreading the thoughts of heading back to the East Coast, especially having to start it with an all-day ride across eastern Colorado and Kansas and their uninspiring “charm” of nothing but fence posts and prairie dogs as far as the eye can see.

Golden eagle in ﬂight Photo: Michael Peck, http://wildlife-pix.com

cycles; only a few of them got even extended sleds. I was the last one left on launch and it was going on five o’clock. The launch is rather flat, and I was a little nervous about trying to get off by myself, so I waited, hoping someone else would With hopeful apprehensions, I had made show up. The others radioed from the LZ that arrangements with a local pilot, Brad Koji, to fly Lookout Mountain, which is no one was heading back up to launch. an east-facing site at 6500 feet MSL, on It wasn’t soarable, but I might as well fly the Front Range near Golden, Colorado. since my truck was in the LZ. I suited Any of you barley-and-hops connois- up, walked to launch and hooked into seurs know what world-famous beverage my glider. A light cycle was blowing in. I manufacture operates at Golden, right? gave it another 10 minutes to see if conLaunch is just downwind of the Coors ditions would improve. The cycles seemed to be getting Brewing Company. Brad told me if you’re on launch and can smell the brewer’s stronger, and they were lasting longer. Suddenly, I started smelling something yeast from the beer, it’s soarable. I met Brad in the LZ around noon. sickeningly sweet. I radioed down to the Hopeful for a good day, we loaded on LZ and described what was happening. with some other local pilots and headed “Launch immediately!” I was advised. for the top. Again, conditions didn’t turn That unmistakable smell – the fermentaout as forecast. The sky was completely tion of the beer – was the Coors thermal, blue except for some really high cirrus and it would be soarable, guaranteed. I and there was no wind; none of us on picked up my Airwave K-4, and I could launch could smell the beer factory, only feel that it wanted to fly. The wind was in my face. I took a step and accelerated, a short distance away. After sitting on launch for several and up I went. Immediately I was climbing in reasonhours wishing things would improve, five local pilots, including Brad, punched off able but broken lift. The almost unbearable smell slowly diffused as I climbed in very light higher. I had set an aggressive goal of getting past 10,000 feet, which would have been a new personal record for me. I was really focusing on my instruments, trying to stay centered and maximize my climb in this small snake-like thermal. After a half-hour, the best I had done was 9000 feet. I was keeping a close eye on the landing zone because I didn’t want to drift too far back into the mountains. Suddenly my peaceful world was shattered by a loud, high-pitched screech. For

Photo: David Hooker

Larry Ball working lift over the foothills of southeastern Ohio

a second, I thought that someone else must have taken off and climbed to my altitude while I was so intent on my instruments, and now we were about to crash. I snapped my head towards the direction of the sound, every muscle in my body suddenly tense in anticipation of impending doom. What I saw stunned me. There, flying with me, was the largest bird I had ever seen – a huge and magnificently beautiful golden eagle. We stared at each other for only a few seconds, but I could sense she was trying to tell me something. The eagle started to fly off, and just as quickly she turned and flew back. This time she was so close I could almost touch her. Again she stared at me; I felt as if her hypnotic black eyes were searching my soul. Once more she flew off towards the mountains and away from the LZ. I hesitated. The eagle looked back at me and shrieked, and I knew she was beckoning, “Follow me, my brother.” So I did. We had only flown a little way when we started to climb in an amazingly smooth, strong thermal. The eagle and I flew together in perfect formation as we climbed to the heavens; at times, she was only an arm’s length away. Several times the eagle turned her head to look at me, her beak slightly open, and I knew she was smiling with the joy that I, too, felt. It seemed as though we had been flying for hours, when in fact it had only been a few minutes. Then she screeched again, and I looked over at my instruments. We were at 12,200 feet! I had done it! I had achieved my goal and then some! This was almost too good to be true! I couldn’t wait to tell everyone about how it had happened. I glanced back over to my flying May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Photo: Susan Epick

companion, but she was gone. I looked all around me, but she was nowhere in sight. Now I wondered, had she really been there at all? I easily glided back over launch looking for lift, but could find none. Brad and a few others had rushed back to launch, set up and re-launched and sank out again. While I was still high enough, I flew out over the Coors Brewery, finding some zero sink for a while, but the smell from the fermentation was so bad I had to leave.

Evening glass-off at Willow launch, Blue Mesa Reservoir, Colorado

I ﬂew back towards the landing area. I found a few weak bubbles that helped to mitigate the unavoidable forces of gravity, but soon I landed after a 2.5-hour ﬂight. I told my unbelievable story, but the other pilots there didn’t seem to be surprised with it. They just smiled and nodded knowingly. Brad and I sat in the LZ for a long time after everyone else had left, talking about my experience. Brad, too, had had similar experiences, and we tried to put into words the emotions we shared. But

Larry Ball, USHPA #47977, is a master-rated pilot who has been actively ﬂying hang gliders for over 20 years. He recently went back to college, wrote this piece for a Communications class, and submitted it for publication at the suggestion of his instructor.

Larry enjoying some fall soaring at Spruce Knob, West Virginia May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Photo: Susan Epick

Photo: Jim Rowan

Larry wearing his favorite sweatshirt

no words could truly convey those emotions, or that feeling inside us that makes us want to fly. Later, as I prepared to leave, I heard the soul-piercing cry of an eagle far back in the mountains. I turned and searched the skies, but my eagle friend was nowhere in sight. Even so, I knew she was there. Just before leaving for home, I closed my eyes, raised my hands to the sky, and said, “Thank you, my friend.” I have had many amazing adventures since that day so long ago, and that “feeling” is still there. Whether I am walking out on a launch somewhere preparing for flight, or even just looking out my window, I look up and I long to be up “there.” Why do I still fly, you ask? Others may not understand. But ever since that day with the eagle, the reason is clear to me. Something calls to me, beckoning me to be up “there.” And like a sailor is with the sea, so the eagle is with the sky, and “there” I, too, must be.

¡ALLYM!

(Which Means “Equilibrium” in Quechua, the Language of the Incas)

By Alejandro Perez Rayon, www.alas.com.mx

YES! We’re at 5350 meters and still climbing in front of Rasac, Jirishanca and the amazing Yerupaja! The day before yesterday we finally understood how the area around Jahuacocha lagoon works. We took off from a mountain on the south side of the lagoon at 4800 meters MSL. From here Gustavo went up in a thermal that took him to the north side of the lagoon and I explored the whole south side of this valley. So each one, above his own ridge, with the same objective, got as close and as high as possible to the unflown walls of Rasac, Jirishanca and Yerupaja with more than 6000 meters MSL. The condors, so high, were our only companions in the thin air and the benevolent thermals that gave us

nice 2- and 3-meters/second lift... Three days ago, Gustavo Montalvo and I started walking from a place called Pocpa towards the lagoons of Jahuacocha and Solterococha, right in the heart of the Cordillera Huayhuash in the northcentral Peruvian Andes. Our idea was to explore this place as a flying site, to see its real potential and hopefully to fly close to Yerupaja and its surrounding neighbors. The only thing we knew for certain was that the prevailing wind was from the north and that the area was plagued with deep gorges and huge vertical differences of more than 1000 meters! We also knew that a Frenchman, Manu Bonte, had done some paraglid-

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

ing descents from some mountains here. But we were looking not only for descents – we wanted to actually fly up the mountains and do the great Huayhuash trek in this new mode. Flying at more than 5000 meters in this remote, huge and little-known place was more than a dream for us. During the first day we climbed nearly 1000 meters, from Pampa Palca at 3800 meters up to Mina Punta pass, from where we expected to do our first flight here towards our planned base camp at the lagoons. How to describe the greatness of these mountains? My memories turned towards the Himalayas and a shiver ran

Landing in the grassy valley

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Photo: Liran cohen and Nir Shay

around them and the whitest glaciers above and the amazing views from the whole cordillera! We thought, as we had done an hour ago, that it couldn’t get any better than this. But eventually we learned we were wrong! We sat down to analyze the winds, the clouds and the sunny sides of the mountains. Two great birds flew past us. It took us a moment to realize that these were two of the biggest Andean condors we had ever seen. They had three, or maybe four, meters of wing span, and of course the way they gained altitude made me long to join them. So I put on my harness and at the next thermic cyle I took off. The condors were still there to teach me a good lesson. I’m not a condor and I can’t fly as well as they do, so even when they through my body. My wanting to fly here turned into needing. kept gaining altitude I barely managed to stay aloft and slowly Unfortunately the slope on Mina Punta was very mellow and sank down towards the lagoons. I don’t think that, even with a after a short horizontal walk we reached a rocky but beautifully vario, it would have been any different. These birds fly so well dome-shaped summit. Immediately we placed some windsocks that a paraglider can’t compare with these masters of flying. made from disposable paper-plastic and laid our UP prototype Since I wasn’t going to be going up, I took out my video ultralight mountain paragliders on what we believed would be camera and started shooting. The views and the excitement a good spot to take off. The Nervures harnesses in conjunc- made me want to share this moment with the people I love tion with the UP mountain paragliders made for the lightest back at home. I flew above the Jahuacocha lagoon until I lost equipment for flying and all this, united with the fact that these almost all my altitude. After a couple of turns to measure the mountains are utterly unknown as flying territory, made our wind direction I touched down on grass as green as if it were hearts start revving up inside our chests. part of a golf course. a From where we set up we were finally able to see the laI was met by a shepherd who introduced himself as Carlos goons far below us: two turquoise gems with the greenest grass Gamboa. His astonished eyes told me this was the first time he had ever seen a paraglider. He immediately asked where I had come from and why I hadn’t flown longer, and why I had everything hanging from my harness, and why and why. So I told him to look back up to watch Gustavo try and take off. But a short time after, just as I was finishing packing my glider, the wind came in and it came strong. Gus had lost the window and he would have to sit and wait for the wind to calm down. While we waited below, Carlos told me that he has a couple of donkeys and that he knows his way around these mountains. I made a deal with him to be our guide and arriero (muleteer).

Carlos invited me to go fishing. “Here?” I asked. Yes, here, he assured me. So we fished for almost the whole afternoon, until we finally saw Gustavo take off and do a magnificent sledride with the sun setting behind him. He landed right at our soon-to-be base camp, and immediately we presented him with two beautiful rainbow trout. The next morning we woke up with adrenaline pumping hard; it took us no time to get some 700 meters above camp. The cycles were already getting strong and there were big birds everywhere. I took off quickly, only to find that the 15-km/hr thermic cycles we had felt on launch were barely strong enough to keep me from sinking down. Eventually the cycles started to subside and I flew off to the next mountain. I arrived at about half its height and again found just enough lift to stay at that same altitude. I soared this mountain and managed to go all the way to a moraine that connected Jahuacocha lagoon and Solterococha lagoon at Rasac’s feet.

The views were amazing, and flying for the first time so near these mountains, even though I was flying “low,” was great. I hadn’t gained any altitude during all the flight – instead I had gotten lower as I flew over higher ground. The thermals were still very weak and it was hard to tell if I was going up without a vario. Eventually I had to search for a landing place, and chose to go back to the delta above Jahuacocha. There was a beautiful patch of green grass right beside the lake. The wave pattern in the grass gave me a very good idea of the wind direction and speed. But this field turned out to be a very wet place and after landing I had to run with the glider over my head to drier ground. Meanwhile, Gustavo took off and headed the other way, hoping for better luck. He tried his best to stay aloft, but he ended landing again on base camp. We decided that we had taken off too early – we would need to wait for stronger lift before trying to soar here. That night we dined, again, on garlic

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Photo: Liran Cohen and Nir Shay

Yerupaja – ﬂying over this amazing scenery left us breathless!

with trout and good old-fashioned black tea at Carlos’s house. Deyfilia, his wife, is an excellent cook and Eric, their little seven-month-old son, made us laugh with his truly innocent smiles. The next morning we were awakened by a herd of sheep and, more determined than ever to fly, we immediately headed for higher ground. We went up again to Cerro Colorado as we had felt stronger thermal activity there the day before. This morning we decided to wait for at least 20- or 25-km/hr thermal cycles before launching. We could see high clouds similar to the ones that precede bad weather, but perhaps this was a good omen as these clouds usually provide good conditions for flying. A little over an hour later we reached a great red sandy slope at 4750 meters that looked perfect for launching. The cycles were already producing 15-km/hr winds, and as we got ready to go they intensified up to 20 km/hr. I waited for a little longer, knowing that the flying time would get shorter as we would have to land before

1:00 or risk getting trapped by the afternoon high winds that had prevailed for the last two days. I launched into a good cycle and almost immediately began climbing at about 2 m/s. I reached 5000 meters in no time and I waited there for about five minutes for Gustavo to join me. We explored the “house” thermal and its surroundings before Gustavo caught a strong thermal that took him high fast. I tried to grab the same thermal but instead only found turbulence. So I explored the south side of the lagoons while Gustavo explored the north side. I climbed as high as possible and headed east towards the bigger mountains. I reached a huge rock face that was in the sun, gained more altitude and headed farther east in constant lift. I reached the height of Rasac’s north summit, 5350 meters, and Gustavo climbed towards Jirishanca’s walls at 5600 meters. The views were humbling, the great shiny walls of Rasac and Jirishanca felt within hand’s reach, and the feeling of flying in the center of this great mountain circus was indescribable. The thin air made me breathe in gasps, but my inner soul was soaring, rejoicing even while my body was struggling. After returning to Cerro Colorado from Rasac I spotted Gustavo flying low towards our base camp. I gained more altitude and flew west of Cerro Colorado towards Cerro Huacrish to see if I could get near its peak, but I only managed to soar a big vertical rock face some 100 meters below the summit. I waited there for a thermal, but with no luck, and fear that the prevailing winds were already settling in drove me back to Cerro Colorado. I got high again but I knew I had to land before the strong winds arrived. So I headed towards base camp where I landed in a heap of joy. This was one of the best flights I have ever had! Twenty minutes later the wind picked up as strong as on the previous days, and in the afternoon stormy clouds moved in to create an amazing sunset. All the time we were there the southeast side of the cordillera had developed huge cumulonimbus clouds; we decided that we would explore this other paradise some other time. For the time being we felt fulfilled, and we headed back to Huaraz to search for other great places to fly.

Our sponsors: UP Paragliders: Summit 2 and Makalu light proto Harnesses: Nervures, Expe 2000 A special thanks to Alas del Hombre, Mexico, for helping us realize our dream!

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

USHPA Sanctioned Competition Notice East Coast Hang Gliding Championships Dates: June 3-9 Event description: cross-country race to goal Location: Highland Aerosports Flight Park, Ridgely,

Maryland Registration: Opened March 15, ends June 3 Fees: Class 1 & 5: $275

Sport Class: $225 Mandatory meeting: June 2, Highland Aerosports Flight

Park Pilot qualiﬁcations: Advanced (H-4) or intermediate

(H-3) with meet director approval; AT, TUR and XC endorsements More information: www.aerosports.net

Vrezh Tumanyan getting some West-coast airtime at Kagel Mt., California

Tater since 1978, and I remember the first paraglider flight around 1990. Not long after seeing that initial flight off Tater Hill I started learning to fly paragliders. A few good para-pilots came up and we talked about the potential of paragliding cross-country from Tater. The takeoff area can handle multiple launches, and the valley has plenty of good LZs. There are other peaks nearby for mountain hopping and flatland flying over the back about 20 miles. We get light winds and good clouds, so out-and-returns are very possible. With a site this good, surely hosting a meet here would be a no-brainer. Still, wondering if anyone would come to From Hang Gliding Competitor Into Paragliding Meet Organizer a small East Coast meet, I made a few By Bubba Goodman phone calls and put the word out about Mystery free-flyer enjoying Tater Air trying to do a comp at Tater. I knew if one good pilot was enthusiastic about Since back in 1979 I’ve always loved paying for the privilege of flying my site. coming, others would follow. competing in hang gliders. I’m one of I “grew up” in flying when there was The first response was from an old hang those pilots who think you learn so much a Masters of Hang Gliding competition gliding buddy, Jeff Huey, who strongly more about flying when you’re around once a year at Grandfather Mountain in supported my efforts. Although Jeff got great pilots in a competition environ- North Carolina. This was an invitation- hurt and couldn’t ment. Having said that, I also know that only event and the owner of the moun- make it, he was flying in a competition and organizing/ tain, Hugh Morton, treated the pilots a prime motivarunning a competition are two totally like celebrities. In the hang gliding world, tor for my going different things. some of them were! Hugh’s example through with The very day I bought the Tater Hill from the Masters of Hang Gliding days the plans. Luis launch last year, I knew I wanted to put served as inspiration for the Tater Hill Rosenkjer and on a sanctioned competition – not for Paragliding Open. Todd Weigand hang gliding but for paragliding. I also Tater is an amazing site! It is a natural from Atlanta Todd Weigand pictures knew I wanted every pilot to feel like a bald, west-facing, at an elevation of 5000’ Paragliding ex- himself playing in the convergence of task 2 welcome guest rather than someone just ASL/2000’ AGL. I’ve been flying at pressed interest

Photo: Lynn Willis

Metamorphosis:

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Dave Cameron ﬂying at Tater Hill with Grandfather Mt.. in background Photo: Lynn Willis

– and they ended up placing first and or ask questions about the meet – and the second in the meet! When Dave Prentice questions came! I work in South Carolina called to say “Count me in!” we had in the winter while Beth works and plays enough of a response to go for it. closer to home. Communication between The next step was getting the meet us all winter is by phone only, which serisanctioned. I quickly discovered that ously complicated our comp-organizing these days everything has to be done on efforts. Beth would get an email, call me computer. I’ve never even turned on a for the needed information, then email computer, but fortunately my girlfriend back my reply. This got a little ridiculous Beth Burgin jumped in and took over at times! Finally, though, Beth got all the initial paperwork and email details. the paperwork filed with and accepted by Competition experts Liz Sharpe and USHPA, just in time for an early springDavis Straub were extremely helpful with time meet. (We eventually wised up and the paperwork process of qualifying the have attempted to eliminate the middlemeet for USHPA and FAI sanctioning. woman – on the Web site it now says, Once sanctioned, we needed a Web “Bubba does not do email – call him!”) Now the competition was officially site; Beth’s brother Mike, the family computer wiz, helped her put together a sanctioned, so I got busy. I talked to beautiful site, flytaterhill.com. Now pilots owners of LZs in the valley to make all over the world could look at pictures sure it was OK to land on their property

during the comp. I drove around to all the potential goal fields and most of the turnpoints, took GPS points and elevations, and scouted for safe places to land. A local old-time hang pilot, Tom Ives, flew me on reconnaissance in his small plane. We call him Nine-lives Ives for good reason, but if you want to see a field or a mountain top close-up, he’s your man. I’ve flown XC for years around Tater in a hang glider so I knew the safe routes and what was doable as a task, but interest in what a few really good para pilots might do around here was part of what had spurred me to host a competition. Some of the most enjoyable meets I’ve participated in were the first hang gliding comps that GW Meadows organized. Even if it wasn’t flyable, GW made the pilots’ meetings fun. He gave away lots

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

of stuﬀ, from cup holders to T-shirts to Flytec varios. He made the pilots – who’d spent a bunch of money to attend his meet – feel special and appreciated (just like Hugh Morton did at Grandfather). Wanting to do the same, I called some of my hang gliding friends asking for prize donations. It seems whoever I approached was glad to help out! You can see the long list of generous contributors on the Web site. The town of Boone was also pretty helpful – we got meals from good restaurants, T-shirts, gift certiﬁcates to some of the shops around town and, best of all, money! The names of all the sponsors went on the back of a great T-shirt designed by hang pilot Claire Vassort, who does amazing silk artwork and was happy to help out.

I tried to keep the cost of the comp as low as possible. The $175 entry fee I hoped would cover expenses with some left over for pilot prize money. Lots of gratis time and energy from so many people really helped keep expenses down. Especially appreciated was Greg Babush, who volunteered to do the scoring. With his help, Beth had scores posted within hours of downloading everyone’s track logs. Since Tater is privately owned, we wanted to minimize the road traﬃc; my good friend Daniel shuttled pilots up the mountain for $10 a day in his big Dodge truck. I realized after some feedback that, unlike hang pilots who expect to pay for rides up the hill and retrieve during a comp, para pilots want these included. With Daniel’s help, getting everyone up

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

the hill turned out to be a non-event and retrieves were easy, too – compared to hang glider retrieve, it is totally uncomplicated to transport paraglider pilots and gear in a car. Other comp perks included a safety clinic hosted by JC Brown and a GPS clinic by Greg Babush. Dave Prentice ﬁelded questions about competition ﬂying, and Chris Grantham gave groundhandling lessons every chance he got. Lisa and Mike Isenhour created the “Mr. Potato Head” trophies for the winners –by far the best comp trophies I’ve seen! Then there was Driver Drew’s Crack House: With a projector and a big white sheet, Drew turned the darkened loft space above the shop into theater X-Box vortex. Pilots entering the vortex often didn’t surface for hours! The local

(photographer unknown)

Photo: Greg Babush

eight or ten laptops going at once in our small living room. Pilots came from all over. Some showed up and paid the entry fee but didn’t compete; they just wanted to give support to our effort. Lots of free-flyers came by, and we worked them in to fly whenever possible. Liz Sharpe came as a USHPA representative and declared our comp a highly successful first attempt. We gave away more prize money than any other U.S. comp, and with the fewest pilots entered. There was lots of talk about coming back next year. Well, it’s now “next year,” and Beth and I have decided to do it again. Dates for the 2007 Tater Hill Paragliding Open are July 31 through August 6. The The winners: (L-R) Todd Weigand (2nd), Luis Rosenkjer (1st), Maria Bono (1st Women’s) and air should be a little mellower and more David Prentice (3rd) consistent than the springtime conditions we experienced last year. We’ve increased paramedics were on hand at launch in the once conditions are good, four or five the entry fee to $275 to include shuttle to mornings and in the main LZ in the af- launches can happen in less than 10 sec- launch and retrieves. Boone is a great place to visit during ternoons, just in case... (This year we are onds. I was blown away! I had worried doing a benefit Fly-in for the paramedics about having enough room on launch but August so come and enjoy the flying. – watch the Web site for dates.) For the Tater’s takeoff area could have handled For more details check out the Web site, awards party, some generous neighbors three to four times as many pilots with- www.flytaterhill.com, or you can call me at (828) 773-9433 (I still don’t do email). provided a great backyard BBQ at their out a problem. The biggest commonalities between Whether you’re a seasoned comp pilot, a own house. It’s amazing and gratifying how many people were eventually in- hang and para competitors, as you would first-timer or even a free-flyer, you’ll be expect, are that pilots want to fly, have welcome at Tater. volved in making this meet a success! From my perspective as a former com- fun and be safe. We flew four out of the petition hang pilot, one of the biggest dif- seven days, with no accidents – it was an ferences between hang glider comps and excellent week for all of us! Beth and I the Tater Hill Open was the task com- made lots of new friends. Many of the mittee. In my recent experience at hang pilots stayed at our small cabin or in the gliding meets, one person does a weather loft above the shop or in the backyard, analysis in the morning and then picks or in the basement. The shower ran a lot a task according to the forecast, some- and Beth’s high-speed wireless Internet times (it seems) without having looked access was a big hit. At times there were out the door to see what’s actually going on in real-time. The task committee for the Open consisted of three experienced pilots (two go-for-its and one more conservative), and I added my input. Another pilot served as our weather guru. Even though we had some unique weather, the task committee did a good job. We did have to learn some scoring basics, such as minimum distance required for a valid day, and we figured out very quickly how to choose a task that maximized the possibility for full validity. Another difference that struck me is that paraglider pilots seem more laid back and don’t necessarily take off just because Pilots waiting for the convergence wall to retreat the window is open. On the other hand,

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Curtis Faulconer launching his Bill Bennett Phoenix 6C at Poteau, Oklahoma, in 1977

This is Now…

Photo: Kevin Peters

Photo: Rick Poe

That Was Then,

Curtis Faulconer launching his Sensor 610F at Buffalo Mountain, Oklahoma, in May 2006

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

THOSE WHO FLY: Hadi Golian

By David Jebb, staﬀ writer Photos courtesy Hadi Golian

Saturday and Sunday for the next three months, he passionately practiced and learned the art of paragliding. His first introduction Hadi Golian to Kagel was merely as a driver and observer, but eventually he began early-morning and late-afternoon sled rides. After completing his novice training, Hadi was introduced to another instructor and started flying over Palos Verdes, Marshall, and Mexico. By the time he completed his intermediate paragliding rating, Hadi had adopted the entire Southern California region as his personal “backyard” of free-flight activities. Hadi’s hours of airtime continued to accumulate and by the time he was signed off for his advanced rating, he was a regular in the Ventura and Santa Barbara areas as well. One of his favorite flying locations is Palos Verdes. It was here that he learned canopy control and refined his advanced skills. While still in the learning curve Hadi had two successful reserve deployments. The first deployment resulted from a major deflation and the second from flying with old wornout gear. While his main focus was on developing more experience and flying time, much of the more technical skills that he picked up along the way were self-taught Hadi and a student in launch mode at Torrey Pines and resulted from the

I’d like to introduce to you paragliding pilot/instructor Henry “Hadi” Golian. Hadi presently resides in Woodland Hills, California, with his wife Frooz and two adult children. He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and has been a paragliding instructor for the past three years. His paragliding “love affair” started ten years ago when he was driving down San Fernando Road off Highway 210 in Southern California and he saw someone in the air. “I chased him down and finally ended up in the Marshall LZ,” Hadi recalls. He ran up to the pilot who had just landed and announced that he wanted to learn to fly. Hadi, a former skydiver with several hundred jumps, thought that he could pick up the flying easily. Of course, he learned that paragliding was very different from skydiving – or from any other sport, for that matter. Shortly after that first chance encounter, Hadi walked into a local hang gliding and paragliding shop and signed up for lessons. Every

school of “hard knocks.” Even now, Hadi frequently assists other instructors with their new pilots as a means of learning and developing his own skills. Hadi eventually obtained his basic instructor rating. His main focus when teaching students is safety. He will often take his students on tandem flights and teach from the back seat. He has developed a reputation as a very conservative pilot and one who considers the safety of his students and passengers to be the most important aspect of their experience. Among Hadi’s favorite places to fly are Spain, Ecuador, Alaska, Utah, and Marshall, Palos Verdes and Torrey Pines in California. He averages about 10 to15 hours of airtime per month, and, like many pilots, when he is not flying, he is thinking about flying. “It’s an obsession,” he says. Much of his instructing involves teaching by example. “Teaching pilots to think safely, and to understand weather and good flying conditions is a way to keep pilots out of trouble,” he says. “A good instructor, like a good leader, must lead by example. There are many days when students must walk back down the hill, because it is not safe for them to fly. On these occasions, I walk down with them, even though I could have flown.” Hadi says that in the end, his business success is due to the many pilots who have helped him over the years. A unique aspect of his training is that it is done at many different sites throughout the Southern California area. There are few instructors who put more mileage on their personal vehicles than Hadi does! It is not uncommon for Hadi and his crew of students to drive for hours, covering the area from Ventura to San Diego County, to find a safe location for flying on that day. He is also a tour guide for visiting overseas pilots. The fact that he is fluent in three different languages is certainly helpful when showing foreign pilots around the Southern California flying sites. Flight training is an evolving process.

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Hadi believes that nothing should disract a student during his or her training. He expects his students to be fully committed and focused, or they don’t fly. Hadi believes the future evolution and growth of paragliding is Hadi and a young student prepare for a intimately tied to tandem takeoff. better instruction, and to training methods that result in declining injury statistics. Always concerned about pilots’ safety whether they are experienced pilots or students, Hadi will ask questions if he sees unsafe decisions being made at launch – it upsets him personally to know that someone might be flying in bad conditions or with unsafe equipment. His major focus is on an evolving means of developing higher standards of flight safety. He counsels pilots never to push themselves. Hadi is a quiet person. He would rather listen than talk. He is humble and in spite of his extensive flight experience he feels that he can learn from others. This is especially true when Hadi is flying in foreign countries where he can glean skills for flying in other environments. He is blessed with a good family that

understands his passion and dedication to teaching paragliding. His wife and children wholeheartedly support his dream of personal ﬂight and of sharing this dream with others. So if you see Hadi out there on the training hill, go up and introduce yourself to him. He, like so many others in our sport, is someone who will make a positive diﬀerence for the future of our sport. His Web address is www.PGgolian.com.

The requisite whistle in his teeth, Hadi is ready to ﬂy at Torrey Pines.

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Broken Toe Acro By Thayer Hughes, staﬀ writer

and supervised setting should certainly go without saying. But, it never hurts to reiterate that this, or any other, DVD can NOT substitute for individual instruction and human-to-human interaction (as compared to monkey-see, monkey-do). The information presented in Broken Toe Ann O’Connor Acro can supplement your understanding of the subjects, but please obtain proper The menu structure on the DVD guidance before trying anything new that makes it easy to jump quickly to any you see in this DVD. Consider this advice specific maneuver that you’re interested to be on par with what your mother told in watching. The SIV and acro maneuyou about running with sharp scissors or vers are first described by Enleau and playing with porcupines (...depending on then demonstrated with in-flight video. where you grew up). Many of the video segments are shown This 2 hour 41 minute video is chock- in synchronized split screen, presenting full of instruction, with SIV maneuvers the action from varying viewpoints, and covering full frontal and asymmetric often there is additional voice narration deflations, B-line stalls and descent tech- by the pilot as the maneuver is executed. niques, pitch oscillations, riser twists and While I do like this DVD and will full stalls. Acro maneuvers include round recommend it to you, there are a few The new Broken Toe Acro DVD, re- and asymmetric spirals, wingovers, re- points that, for me, detract from the overall value. First, the presentation style leased in February by Don’t Play versals, the SAT, spins and helicopters. Enleau also gives additional info in many of the chapters appears too inDead Productions, is touted as a “full instructional-encyclopedia for paraglid- in a “Master’s Tips” section covering formal, with Enleau extemporaneously ing SIV and acro maneuvers,” and it cer- stabilo lines, ground (death) spirals, the describing a particular maneuver and tainly comes close to that! Narrated by “SATBack,” spin variations and more. pantomiming the actions involved. Often, Enleau and Ann O’Connor, recognized Some great info on boat towing is cov- it is only after a decidedly long commenexperts in safety-in-flight training and ered by Ann in a “Special Features” sec- tary that we finally see a short video segacro, this disk is crammed with over two tion, which also includes a “Welcome ment of the actual wing/pilot/maneuver and a half hours of SIV and acro maneuvers to O’Connor Flight School” chapter in action. I believe that more of Enleau’s that should educate and entertain nearly that I would recommend watching first invaluable experience would be conveyed to set a tone for the other chapters to if his verbal explanations were accompaany viewer. Ranging from six to 14 minutes each, follow. It includes additional tips and nied with action video. the many chapters describe and explain background info from Rob Sporrer and This thought also applies to the abuneach maneuver, giving the how-to’s of Marty DeVietti (both former USHPA dant warnings given towards what can what to do (and NOT to do!), and how instructors-of-the-year). cause a maneuver to go bad. Alas, too few video examples are shown to better to best execute it. I was tempted to write underscore the points being made. So, “to safely execute,” but let’s remember “Where’s the beef?” I ask. I’m sure that that “safe” is a relative concept within the with the many hundreds of students realm of acro. There is no substitute for the O’Connors have trained over the learning SIV and acro maneuvers from years that someone must have botched a the pros, and doing this in a controlled

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

maneuver while a camera was rolling! In comparison, Ann’s segment on towing does a ﬁne job of blending demonstrative video with straight narrative. Another thing that strikes me in the video is that many of the maneuvers are shown with the pilot’s hands inserted through the brake handles. Speaking

from hard experience, I would caution pilots to seriously consider the consequences of being tied up in the brakes whenever there is a higher-than-normal probability that the sheet is going to hit the fan and chucking the reserve is likely. Lastly, some narration is occasionally difficult to hear as the speaker faces away from the camera, or because of the conflicting background music. Even so, none of this is a showstopper and I believe this DVD is definitely worth adding to your library. The Broken Toe Acro DVD appears professionally produced and is currently available in NTSC format online at

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

www.brokentoeacro.com, and from the USHPA online store (USHPA.aero/ store). The Broken Toe Acro site also oﬀers some screen shots and trailers from the DVD. Check it out!

18 HOLES OF

PARASAILING By Matt Gerdes, staﬀ writer Photos courtesy Ozone

Anthony Green just got sucked off the top of the cliff in a dust devil. I am hauling on my D lines hard against the incredible wind, trying my best to not get blown over the back of launch and off the cliff that Anthony is now swirling above, in an out-of-control pattern of spins, deflations and riser twists. His glider rotates 270 degrees in one place without actually going negative, and then changes its mind, surging into a violent dive and spiral in the opposite direction, right at the cliff. For a second, I am pretty sure that he is going to die. My glider is actually off the edge of the cliff now; it only needs to pull me another eight feet and my situation will be worse than Anthony’s, because my wing is in no condition to fly – holding the D risers against the gust has twisted the glider into a mutilated shrimp shape. The dust devil hasn’t released Anthony yet, and he makes another sharp banked turn towards the cliff face, missing it by a couple of feet. As his turn takes him away from the cliff he gains more altitude in the mini tornado and manages to

get spit out of it in the right direction. He flies down the ridge in the direction of the LZ and I laugh with relief along with the only other pilot still on launch at this time of evening. An hour ago somebody warned us that the wind might be cross and over the back, and there might be strong dust devils up here at this time of day. But Anthony and I came up anyways, because hey, you never know. As it turned out, the wind was so cross and strong that it was actually impossible to launch off the shallow south slope. When a cycle did finally come up the hill, we both pulled our gliders up into it about one second before we realized it was a dust devil. It hit Anthony more directly than it did me, and he got his free ride off the hill, while I had to pack up and catch a ride down. But for some reason I wasn’t jealous. As we drove down the hill we could see Anthony coring up into a thermal just down the ridge, and when we got back to the landing zone 45 minutes later, he was at cloudbase turning circles under a dark monster, flying around as if he hadn’t ac-

tually pooped his pants. This epic learning experience was just another chapter in the education of Timothy and Anthony Green, the Paratwins. Although it was Anthony who was plucked off the cliff by the dust devil, Timothy was destined to learn the lesson as equally thoroughly as if it had been he. This symbiotic learning arrangement has doubled their capacity for experience and thus their speed of progression. Two heads are indeed better than one. Timothy and Anthony Green learned to fly on a golf course with a used parachute they purchased on eBay, towing themselves behind a golf cart. And it gets better: Their harness? A WWII

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training harness they found in a newspaper ad. The quick release? A Phillip’shead screwdriver passed through a loop in the line (which only worked when the line was not under tension). At this time in their lives, since they had never seen parachutes or gliders being towed, as far as they were concerned they had invented towing. This early setup had some serious problems. First of all, with only 75 feet of ski rope, it wasn’t possible to get very high. Second, the golf course security was losing patience after having received 126 calls about their antics, and the twins had already been issued one citation for “misuse of course.” Third, it was already obvious that the performance of the Raven Parachute was not going to cut it. On the Internet again, the twins discovered a concept called glide ratio and the fact that paragliders have a lot more of this glide ratio stuﬀ than parachutes do… four times more, in fact. They were convinced, and after foot-launching the parachute from a few hills and experi-

menting with boat towing, ski-launch towing, and increasing the rope length to almost 800 feet, the twins had conquered parachute towing and were ready to ﬂy paragliders. They met an instructor in northern California who was generous enough to sell them an aged DHV-2 glider that

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

was one size too large, complete with a faded harness and a skydiving reserve that was literally older than they were. All for $800… what a guy! With their excellent new equipment, the twins were eager to ﬁnd instruction (the instructor who sold it to them was obviously not brave enough to be there when they tried

Proof positive that at least one of the twins can walk a ﬁne line when the occasion demands it.

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

to fly it) but most instructors refused to teach them on that pathetic gear. Finally another northern California/Nevada instructor volunteered, and for the bargain price of $500 the twins and their father learned to launch and land. Thus began chapter two of their flying career: fun with paragliders. Two years later I met the twins at the Dune du Pyla on the west coast of France. Their reputation had preceded them, as by this time they were both competent acrobatic pilots and rumors were flying about the 18-year-old American twins who were looping and SATing around the Chamonix valley, where they were living at the time. When I heard the American accent, the California accent no less, I knew exactly who they were. With virtually no organized or professional instruction, Timothy and Anthony had grown into two excellent young pilots with a serious set of skills for acro and XC. They had already flown from Annecy to Chamonix and almost all the way back, which is impressive because you are supposed to go from Chamonix to Annecy and back, not vice versa, due

to prevailing winds. That little adventure earned them a profile in Parapente magazine, and they were already gaining notoriety in France. Shortly before the Dune, they had competed in the synchro division of the Acrofolies acro competition at Annecy, and the week after the Dune du Pyla I flew with them at the Ozone Chabre Open in Laragne, France. They eat, sleep and breathe flying, and it shows. At the Ozone Chabre Open they both flew well, finishing in the top 25% of the field. The week after the Chabre, I returned with them to their new hometown of Chamonix for a little XC flying. Conditions were brilliant and we were at cloudbase above the Brevent before 11 a.m. A late crossing at Sallanches put Anthony and me on the ground while Timothy cruised along the 60km route to Annecy. The next day Timothy and I flew from Chamonix to Les Aravis where we were turned around by a great deal of shade and the cumulonimbus that was creating it. As we turned and ran from the huge black cloud, we were flying into wind in steady 500fpm lift over a shaded valley – the cu-nim was sucking

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all of the air out of the Megeve valleys at a rate that we could just barely escape. It rained on us just enough to make the ﬂight interesting, and when we touched down in Chamonix four hours after we’d left, all hell broke loose in the skies above the valley there. In the Alps, timing is everything. Timothy and Anthony enjoyed living in Chamonix, as they should have, but have since moved to Paris for university studies, where they live near the center of the city. They still manage to escape the clutches of the city life on the weekends and holidays, so if you’re ever in the Alps, look out for two matching wings performing acro shockingly close together, and never far apart. Matt Gerdes is an American currently residing in France, where he spends most of his time playing in the Alps with various toys designed to aid in ﬂying, falling, and sliding through the mountains. The rest of his time is split between babysitting the Ozone Team pilots, and writing (mostly emails, unfortunately).

SOARATA By Richard Cobb, http://wind-drifter.com

Soar quietly along the ridges, on them, except from the air. Be and remember what true peace comforted on the training hill, there can be in an evening sled amid the sticker bushes and pretride. Avoid rotors and downwind zeled downtubes, knowing that launches unless you are truly many others have passed here crazy. Know first aid. Encourage before you. Strive to know not membership in the USHPA, and such pride that good advice is lost, support your local chapter. but yet, believe not all you hear. If a person appears in doubt of Remember Dennis Pagen, and himself, he may be a Novice. Give keep his word holy. Exercise reahim help and encouragement. sonable caution, especially in unBeware of conditions. Consider known conditions. Know well the that it is better to feel bad for not way of thermals, lest that which flying than to feel bad because got you up even more quickly you’re broken. bring you down. Be assured that Whenever possible, treat Wuffos flying under that dark cloud may with patience, and look not down get you higher than you wish to 62

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be. Therefore, soar not near the Towering Thunderhead of Death. Surrender gracefully the things of youth: virginity, solvency, sobriety, and be sure your glider rack is well padded. For good times, treat your drivers well, and see to their comfort. Be heartened amid rainy, stratus-filled days; someday the sun and cumies must once again fill the sky, and reflect that, however miserable you feel, you’d only feel worse if you’d driven 300 miles to get there. May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Pilot, know the limits of your abilities, for you shall not long soar with hawks, be your attitude that of a turkey. You are privileged to soar high, provided you preflight and remember to hook in. Therefore, learn patience, pay your dues and site fees, party, but not to excess, use a locking carabiner, and remember your back-up hang loop. Keep in mind, above all, that hang gliding is an activity peculiar to the living. Fly safely, and enjoy. (Based loosely on Desiderata, written in 1927 by Max Ehrmann) 63

Gallery

Felix Woelk, gliding above the peaks of the western Dolomites...

...banking it up over the glacial ice of the Marmolada massif in northern Italy...

...and in some hot August lift, high over the southern side of the Austrian Alps Photos by Felix Woelk

Advance team pilots launching to show the new range of wings at the bi-annual Bregenzerwald Cup, in western Austria. Photo: Andy Busslinger

Brad Gunnuscio in Governador Valadares, Brazil Photo: Josh Waldrop

Adam West crossing classic Wasatch terrain near his home in Utah Photo: Adam West

Turkish USHPA member Tugrul Akkok, making a selfportrait over the Mediterranean lagoons of Oludeniz

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.ushpa.aero. SANCTIONED COMPETITION

May 1-5: Chelan, Washington. 2007 Speed Gliding Championships. Registration opened 2/27, closes 5/1. Entry fee $150, Sport Class $75. H-3 or above. More information: Aaron Swepston, (206) 826-1112, (206) 235-0773, tontar@mindspring.com. June 7-10: Riﬂe Roan Cliffs, Colorado. Part of the paragliding South-

west League fun comp circuit (more League dates to follow). Comp designed as a fun learning event; a good warm-up for the Rat Race and the PG Nationals. P-3 or above required. More information: Pine Pienaar, mail@adventureparagliding.com or (970) 274-1619 or Greg Kelley, (970) 376-0495.

May 7-13: Casa Grande, Arizona. Santa Cruz Flats flatland HG aerotow competition. XC race-to-goal format, GPS scoring, class 1 and 5. Mini- July 11-15: Moore, Idaho. King Mountain Hang Gliding Championmum H-3 with AT sign-off and current aerotow experience in competition ships. Pilot briefing and multimedia show of the area on Tuesday evening, conditions on the make and model of glider to be used. Comp will take July 10. Lots of fun and superb flying in some of the most scenic mounplace at Francisco Grande Hotel & Golf Resort in Casa Grande. Contact tains in the world. Open, recreation, and team classes. Open-distance Dustin Martin, flydustin@hotmail.com. XC along a specified route with bonus LZs and handicap scoring. BBQs, breakfasts, free camping, super-extra-special trophies and all that... June 3-9: Highland Aerosports, Ridgely, Maryland. East Coast Hang plus the envy of the HG world – shirts by Dan G. (suitable for framing)! Gliding Championships. Registration opened 3/15, closes 6/3. Class 1&5 Entry fee of $60 includes pilot packet, shirt, maps, awards party, and a entry $275, Sport Class $225. H-4, or H-3 with meet director approval; ton o’ fun! Contact Lisa Tate,1915 S. Arcadia St. Boise, ID 83705, (208) AT, TUR and XC endorsements. More information: www.aerosports.net. 376-7914, lisa@soaringdreamsart.com. June 17-23: Woodrat Mt., Ruch, Oregon. Paragliding Rat Race. August 7-19: Big Spring, Texas. 2007 World Hang Gliding ChampiRegistration opens February 15, and the meet has filled up on that onship. See the world’s best hang glider pilots in action. More info: http:// opening date in past years. Maximum 130 pilots, USHPA memberwww.flytec.com/Events.htm. ship and P-3 rating required. $375 entry fee includes land use fees, daily lunches, retrieval, awards party, T-shirt, mentoring program, September 30-October 6: Dunlap, Tennessee. Tennessee Tree training sessions and more. Additional information and registration Toppers 2007 Team Challenge, offering Hang 3 pilots an introduction details at www.ratracecomp.com. to competition and cross-country flying in “The Hang Gliding Capital of the East”! More information and online registration available at June 24-30: Lakeview, Oregon. U.S. Paragliding Nationals. Regiswww.treetoppers.org. tration opens February 15. Max 130 pilots, USHPA membership and P-4 rating (or P-3 with XC and turbulence endorsements). $350 before April FLY-INS 15, $400 after. Fee includes daily energy smoothie, retrieval, no-fly day basketball tournament with $500 prize money, street dance with the Ladies of May 18-20: Glassy Mountain, near Greer, South Carolina. SpringLakeview, lots of prizes. Additional information and registration details at time Fly-In – come enjoy flying and competing (spot, duration, XC, balwww.vip2comp.com. loon toss, etc.) at this beautiful south-facing mountain. Plaques awarded July 22-30: Lakeview, Oregon. “Hang-on” hang gliding competi- to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers in all competitions (except balloon tion. Registration opens March 15, $295 before May 15, $350 May 15- toss). $20 entry fee for competition flying and $10 for fun flying. Fly-In July 22. Max 130 pilots. USHPA membership and H-3 with turbulence T-shirts are available. Glassy launch is 1500’ AGL. Contact: Paul Peeples, and XC endorsements. Trophies and general prizes will be awarded PO Box 2121, Brevard, NC 28712; (828) 885-2536 (home); (828) 553in rigid wing, flex wing, sport class, single surface. More information: 3777 (cell); pbrannenp@msn.com. (Due to tree restrictions at launch, paragliders cannot be flown at this site.) www.mphsports.com. July 29-August 4: Boone, North Carolina. Tater Hill Paragliding May 18-21: Jockey’s Ridge State Park and Jockey’s Ridge CrossOpen 2007. Registration opens March 15. Cross-country race to goal at ing (milepost 12.5), Nags Head, N.C. 35th Annual Hang Gliding Speca site friendly for first-time competitors; GPS and comp strategy sessions tacular – the oldest continuous hang gliding competition in the world. Some of the best hang gliding pilots in the world compete in friendincluded. More information at www.flytaterhill.com. ly competition on the dunes of Jockey’s Ridge State Park. Demonstrations, instructor alumni reunion, street dance and awards cereCOMPETITION monies are all features of this spectacular event. Families can enjoy a May 12-13, June 9-10, July 14-15, August 18-19, Sep- rock-climbing wall, hang gliding simulator, kite making, face painting tember 22-23, October 6-8: Northern California Cross-Country and a visit by Wil Bear Wright. 877-FLY-THIS, (252) 441-4124, www League weekends, location to be decided three days before the week- .kittyhawk.com. end. All sites will be within a four-hour drive of the San Francisco Bay May 19: Outer Banks, N.C. Kitty Hawk Kites Instructor Reunion – more Area. Cost: $10 per race. More information: Jug Aggarwal, jaggarwal@ instructors have taught at Kitty Hawk Kites than any other school in the es.ucsc.edu, or check the Web site for the Northern California XC League country. If you’ve ever been a part of the Kitty Hawk family we encourat http://www.sfbapa.org/ and follow the link for the XC League. age you to come back for a weekend of good fun, great memories, and hilarious stories. Visit www.khkalumni.com and www.kittyhawk.com or call Bruce Weaver at (252) 441-2426.

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

May 26-28: Dry Canyon, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. 27th annual Memorial Day fly-in, hosted by the Rio Grande Soaring Assn. Great flying this time of year! Spot landing, race to goal, duration, bomb drop and XC events. Sunday evening awards banquet. Entry fee $20 – covers everything but a ride up the hill. Contact Mike Ellsworth (505) 378-1219 or any contact on the RGSA Web site, www.flywithrgsa.org. May 26-28: King Mountain, Idaho. 2007 Spring Fling at King – start your XC season off right with this fun fly-in. All-you-can-eat dinner and dessert. Cash prizes for greatest XC HG/PG flights. Free camping as usual. More information: (208) 390-0205, email goxc@ kingmountaingliders.com, full details at www.kingmountaingliders.com. May 26-28: Woodrat Mountain, near Ruch, southern Oregon. 31st annual HG/PG StarThistle Fly-in. Come fly Woodrat’s legendary thermals, join fun contests, barbecue and general good times. Registration info and site orientation at http://rvhpa.net/index.htm; organizer Ron Scott, (541) 858-2800, RonScottFlintlocks@msn.com. June 6-10: Albuquerque, New Mexico. Hang gliding XC fun fly-in – launch from 10,678-foot Sandia Crest. 2006 was tons of fun with many 100+ milers, including 3 at 150+ and one at 185 miles. More information: Andrew Vanis, (505) 304-5306, vanis13@yahoo.com, www.flysandia.org. June 6-10: Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sandia Soar’n, HG XC-fun

ﬂy. 2006 was tons of fun with many 100+ milers, 3 at 150+ and one at 185 miles. www.ﬂysandia.org, Andrew Vanis, (505) 304-5306, vanis13@yahoo.com.

May 6-10: Prescott, Arizona. Scooter-tow clinic presented by Mark Windsheimer, hosted by Greg Berger. This clinic is open to all who want to learn how to use a scooter tow. We will cover all the different aspects of scooter towing, including building of scooters, purchase of equipment, use in schools, and clinics and fun flying. We will use both foot launch and dolly launch, and will discuss towing of different hang gliders and paragliders. Clinic geared toward hands-on towing every day weather permits. More information, pricing and availability: airtimehg@aol.com, or call Airtime Above Hang Gliding, (303)-674-2451. May 19-21: Utah. Paraglider thermal clinic with Ken Hudonjorgensen. More information: (801) 572-3414, twocanfly@gmail.com, www .twocanfly.com. May 24-27: Utah XC sites. Paraglider cross-country competition clinic – a friendly introduction to cross-country flying with instruction from U.S. and North American XC record-setter, and 2005 U.S. national champion, Bill Belcourt, and Ken Hudonjorgensen. All aspects of XC and competition will be covered. More information: (801) 572-3414, twocanfly@gmail.com, www.twocanfly.com. May 26-28: Salt Lake City, Utah. Point of the Mountain PG Demo Days – try the latest makes and models, watch aerobatic demonstrations, participate in informative sessions and enjoy the camaraderie and parties that make the Point of the Mountain Demo Days famous. The only fee involved with participation is the club membership fee. All manufacturers and distributors are invited. Exhibitors will be charged a small fee by the local club. Maneuvers sessions are scheduled before and after the event. Contact chris@superflyinc.com for details.

June 15-24: Girdwood, Alaska. Arctic Air Walkers’ annual 10 Days

May 26-June 4: FRANCE, SWITZERLAND, ITALY. Experience the of Solstice fly-in at Alyeska Resort, with tram service, in the land of the Alps where it all began! Join Luis Rosenkjer and Todd Weigand on an midnight sun. More info: www.arcticairwalkers.com. Register for maneu- unforgettable tour to some of the most beautiful paragliding sites in the vers clinic held during the fly-in and hosted by Chris Santacroce: http:// world. Fly every day at world-famous sites such as St. Hilaire, Annecy, www.midnightsunparagliding.com/. Chamonix, Mieussy, Verbier, La Madeleine, Les Saissis and more. Luis July 1-8: Chelan, Washington. 2007 Paragliding Towfest. Last year has been guiding international pilots to France for the last five years a beginner pilot flew 70 miles under an old Bolero. The Sky Brothers and, due to popular demand, is now offering the trip to U.S. pilots as will be out there again this year with two tow rigs. Cost: $125 per day. well. More information: Luis at www.atlantaparagliding.com, luis@ Max participants: 20 pilots per day. Call in advance to schedule your atlantaparagliding.com, or Todd at wallowaparagliding@gmail.com. days – chances are we won’t have room for you if you just show up. June 1-3: Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Paraglider tandem certification Contact Nik Peterson at nikpeterson@hotmail.com. Also, check out clinic presented by tandem administrator Scott Harris at Jackson Hole siknikpeterson.blogspot.com. Mountain Resort. More info: www.jhparagliding.com or call (307) 690August 3-5: Leakey, Texas. USHPA HG/PG National Fly-in/Texas

Open. More information: www.ﬂexwing.org/txopen, (830) 486-8031. CLINICS, MEETINGS, TOURS

8726. June 2-3: Utah. Paraglider mountain ﬂying clinic with Ken Hudon-

jorgensen. More information: (801) 572-3414, twocanﬂy@gmail.com, www.twocanﬂy.com.

Spring 2007: Super Fly’s Chris Santacroce and Peak to Peak Para-

June 8-10: Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Paraglider instructor certificagliding’s Kay Tauscher will team up again in early May in Colorado for tion program presented by instructor administrator Scott Harris. More a week of paraglider over-the-water courses. These courses will be info: www.jhparagliding.com or call (307) 690-8726. focused toward supporting pilots flying Advance, Gin and Nova gliders. Three consecutive 3-day courses will be offered. Exact dates and June 16-22: Girdwood, Alaska. Join Peak to Peak Paragliding for more information available at www.peaktopeakparagliding.com or (303) paragliding under the midnight sun. Kay Tauscher will lead a group of pilots to Alaska’s beautiful mountainous countryside for long days 817-0803. of great flying. The primary destination will be Girdwood, Alaska, but May 1-24: Alpine, Wyoming. Paraglider maneuvers training courses other sites may be visited as well. Call (303) 817-0803 or email info@ by Jackson Hole Paragliding at the Palisades Reservoir, Alpine, Wyoming. peaktopeakparagliding.com for more information. Come and tow and maneuver with the Jackson Hole team – coaches Scott Harris and Matt Combs. Information and reservations: (307) 690- July 5-7: Location to be announced. Paraglider maneuvers (SIV) clinic with Ken Hudonjorgensen. More information: (801) 572-3414, 8726, www.jhparagliding.com. twocanfly@gmail.com, www.twocanfly.com.

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Ratings issued during January 2007 Paragliding Division Rating Region

P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-3 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4 P-4

1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 7 8 8 8 9 10 10 10 13 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 4 7 8 8 9 10 10 10 13 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 4 5 5 8 1 1 2 3 7

Name

Hang Gliding Division City

Brandon Fite Damascus Amy Leung Hayward Michael Walker San Mateo Jeffrey Freeman Pleasant Hill Chad Brey Berkeley Ian Bettinger San Francisco Wendy Schuss Reno Heather Reid Huntington Beach Joseph Booth Waikoloa John Samson San Marcos Teresa Schanze Slc Gingher Leyendecker Mesa James Mackenzie Phoenix Anthony Sackett Waconia Jeffrey Pooler Old Orchard Beach Kenneth Browne Hampton Falls Karen Holt Plymouth Bradley Flowers Darby Lourens Smit Charlotte Marcos Rosenkjer Royston Daniel Harrison Huntsville Levent Uygur Mugla Brandon Fite Damascus William Deley San Francisco Amy Leung Hayward Stewart Hester-chow Belmont Jeremy Wolf Henderson Ryan Piaget Portola Valley Wendy Schuss Reno Heather Reid Huntington Beach Doug Testing Colorado Springs Kyle Croft Tucson Mark Anderson Tijeras Robin Hahn Salt Lake City Anthony Sackett Waconia Israel Obando Sunapee Kenneth Browne Hampton Falls Bradley Flowers Darby Lourens Smit Charlotte Daniel Harrison Huntsville Michael Garner Bean Station Emrah Akar Kocaeli Michael Dunn Anchorage Timothy Reynolds Bend Bill Walker Bend Carl Madson Girdwood Dallas Holmes Corvallis David Virgil Ramona Aaron Culliney Kimei Laurent Sauzeat Redondo Beach Russell Obrien Sandy David Mathis Sundance Greg Schutte Boise Scott Barros Hebron Nathan Hoffman Portland Douglas Mullin Portland Shad Preston Chico Scot Thorstad Kanehoe Orlando Abreu Fishers

State

Rating Ofﬁcial

OR Kelly Kellar CA Wallace Anderson CA Wallace Anderson CA Jeffrey Greenbaum CA Jeffrey Greenbaum CA Jeffrey Greenbaum NV Andrew Palmer CA Marcello De Barros HI Kirkeby Deffebach CA Gabriel Jebb UT Bill Heaner AZ Chris Santacroce AZ Chris Santacroce MN Jeffrey Greenbaum ME Carlos Madureira NH Jonathan Jefferies NH Robert Hastings PA David Binder NC Luis Rosenkjer GA Hynek Cibula AL Christopher Grantham Murat Tuzer OR Kelly Kellar CA Wallace Anderson CA Wallace Anderson CA Wallace Anderson NV Kevin Biernacki CA Gabriel Jebb NV Andrew Palmer CA Marcello De Barros CO Kevin Biernacki AZ Jim Eskildsen NM J C Brown UT Jonathan Jefferies MN Jeffrey Greenbaum NH Robert Hastings NH Jonathan Jefferies PA David Binder NC Luis Rosenkjer AL Christopher Grantham TN Mike Fiﬁeld Murat Tuzer AK Sebastian Zavalla OR Steve Roti OR Steve Roti AK Sebastian Zavalla OR Kevin Lee CA Michael Masterson HI David Binder CA Gabriel Jebb UT Chris Santacroce WY Nik Peterson ID Peter Hammett CT Ken Hudonjorgensen OR Steve Roti OR Kelly Kellar CA Chad Bastian HI Pete Michelmore IN Tirado, Pedro J

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Rating Region

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-3 H-3 H-3 H-3 H-3 H-3 H-4 H-4 H-4 H-4

2 2 2 3 9 10 10 2 2 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 9 9 10 10 1 2 3 9 10 12 2 9 9 10

Name

City

Mark Suttie Keven Morlang Scott Pierce Erik Larabie Teppei Akiyoshi Jerry Carroll Dario Rasinhas Don Anderson Mark Suttie David Suits Vincent Martin Matthew Pistone John Riedel Jeffrey Danielson Shane Mcclure Joshua Lyon Michael Compton Teppei Akiyoshi Jerry Carroll Dario Rasinhas Rodney Rieder Joseph Jackson Iii Craig Perkins Teppei Akiyoshi Bill Reynolds Justin Lamarche Matthew Epperson John Claytor Teppei Akiyoshi Scott Schneider

Citrus Heights Sacramento Milpitas Burbank State College Fort Myers Margate Sacramento Citrus Heights Santa Cruz Roseville Nevada City El Seguno Prescott Cottonwood Prescott Dayton State College Fort Myers Margate Everett San Carlos San Clemente State College Miami New Paltz Orinda Richmond State College Wildwood

State

Rating Ofﬁcial

CA CA CA CA PA FL FL CA CA CA CA CA CA AZ AZ AZ OH PA FL FL WA CA CA PA FL NY CA VA PA GA

George Hamilton George Hamilton Michael Jefferson Paul Thornbury Malcolm Jones James Tindle James Tindle George Hamilton George Hamilton Patrick Denevan Patrick Denevan Barry Levine Joe Greblo Greg Berger Greg Berger Greg Berger John Alden Malcolm Jones James Tindle James Tindle Jeff Beck Jim Woodward Bill Soderquist Malcolm Jones James Tindle Paul Voight Wallace Anderson Steve Wendt Malcolm Jones Ron Knight

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS CLOUD 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 DEIMOS PARAGLIDING. . . . . . . 48 FLYTEC USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 FOUNDATION FOR HG&PG . . . . 18 HIGH ENERGY SPORTS. . . . . . . 16 KITTY HAWK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 NORTH WING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 O’CONNOR FLIGHT SCHOOL. . . 46 OZONE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 SSA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 SKY WINGS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 SPORT AVIATION PUBLICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . 24

SUPERFLY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 THERMAL TRACKER PARAGLIDING . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 TORREY PINES . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 TRAVERSE CITY HG&PG. . . . . . 43 USHPA BANK OF AMERICA . . . 79 USHPA CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . 36 USHPA CALL FOR CALENDAR PHOTOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 USHPA DVD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 USHPA RENEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 WILLS WING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

MARKETPLACE ADVENTURE PRODUCTIONS. . . 72 FLYTEC USA GPS . . . . . . . . . . . 72 FLYTEC THERMAL . . . . . . . . . . 72 KITTY HAWK KITES . . . . . . . . . 72 LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN . . . . . . . . 72

MOYES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 NORTH WING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 USHPA BOOKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 USHPA XC FLIGHT AWARDS. . . 72

THERMAL NUCLEAR DETECTION

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

2007 World Champion Bruce Goldsmith in Manilla, Australia Photo: Josh Cohn

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

HANG GLIDING ADVISORY: 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 ADVISORY: 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 USHPA CERTIFIED INSTRUCTOR.

FLEX WINGS 135 SPORT 2 – less than 30 hours, perfect condition. $3300. Litespeed 5S-mylar sail, great condition. $2650 (970) 641-5654. 2001 LAMINAR MRX – 14-meter, great condition, 65 hours, lime green and orange, $2250 OBO. Call Bruce Waugh (541) 765-3191 brucewaugh@hotmail.com. 2005 LAMINAR 07 13.7 – Mint condition. Purple/Green. $2500 Call Steve Lee (423) 949-2176 - TN. DISCUS 160 B-MODEL – new in ‘05, ﬂown once. Red, yellow and white. $4000. Matching Moyes X-treme harness and chute for 5’11” pilot. $350. Call Rod (425) 2522789. 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 $1250-$2500. (262) 473-8800, info@hanggliding.com, www.hanggliding .com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports.EMER WILLS WING FALCON 170 – Excellent beginner glider. Complete with matching knee-hanger harness and emergency chute. Helmet and training wheels also included. Blue/fuscia. Very little airtime. $3000. dmkball@ bellsouth.net.

EMERGENCY PARACHUTES INSPECTED RESERVES – For HG or PG $199+up. Used Quantum, all sizes $475+up. Some trades accepted. info@hanggliding.com, www.hanggliding.com, http://stores.ebay.com/raven-sports, (262) 473-8800.

EMPLOYMENT FOR SALE – Queenstown New Zealand. Hang gliding & paragliding business. Busy, established foot-launch business with good turnover. Can be run as summer only (October - April) or all-year business. All equipment included. Vehicles, gliders, contracts, Web site etc. Price on application. For details, email gottaﬂy@clear.net.nz. Tel; 0064-3-4425747. NORTH WING DESIGN – is accepting applications for metal shop/wing and trike airframe mechanic. Also accepting applications for sail maker and sewing machine operator. Send application to: 3904 Airport Way, E. Wenatchee, WA 98802 or Fax (509) 886-3435 (www .northwing.com).

HARNESSES 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.

ULTRALIGHTS M2 GLIDER TUG – less than 100 hours airframe and engine, plus enclosed trailer. $15,000. Call Tom (530) 2335125.

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.

ARIZONA FLY HIGH PARAGLIDING.COM – over 10 years of experience, offers P-2 certification, tandem flights, towing, new and used equipment, the best weather to fly in USA. (480) 266-6969.

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. USHPA advanced instructor Doug Prather, (209) 556-0469, Modesto, California. drmwvrhg@softcom.net. EAGLE PARAGLIDING – SANTA BARBARA offers the best year round ﬂying in the nation. Awardwinning instruction, excellent mountain and ridge sites. www.FlySantaBarbara.com, (805) 968-0980.

FLY ABOVE ALL – Year-round instruction in beautiful Santa Barbara! USHPA novice through advanced certification. Thermaling to competition training. Visit www.flyaboveall.com, (805) 965-3733. THE HANG GLIDING CENTER – PO Box 151542, San Diego CA 92175, (619) 265-5320. MIKE BUTLER HANG GLIDING SCHOOL – Located just 30 minutes west of Yosemite National Park. WW and Flytec dealer. mbutler@sti.net, (209) 742- 8540. 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 1s and above. Launch and landing clinics for Hang 3s and Hang 4s. 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. Overthe-water safety and aerobatics clinics. Enleau and Ann O’Connor, www.oconnorflightschool.com, (530) 2274055 and reserve your clinic. TORREY PINES GLIDERPORT – Come soar in San Diego! This family-owned and operated flying site offers USHPA 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 fullservice repairs. Bring your family for our amazing sunsets and dining at the Cliffhanger Cafe. Importers for Para-tech 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 9-11:00 a.m. (PST). 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 – Full-time lessons, sales, service. Colorado’s most experienced! Wills Wing, Moyes, Altair, Aeros, High Energy, Ball, Finsterwalder, Flytec, MotoComm and much more. Call (303) 674-2451, Evergreen, Colorado. AirtimeHG@aol.com.

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

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 – THE Front Range paragliding school, located in Boulder. Offering excellent state-of-the-art instruction. Equipment & tandems. (303) 817-0803, Info@peaktopeakparagliding.com, www .peaktopeakparagliding.com.FLO

FLORIDA FLORIDA RIDGE AEROTOW PARK – 18265 E State Road 80, Clewiston, Florida, (863) 805-0440, www.thefloridaridge.com. GRAYBIRD AIRSPORTS – Paraglider & hang glider towing & training, Dragonfly aerotow training, XC, thermaling, 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 – For year-round training fun in the sun. (305) 285-8978, 2550 S Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, Florida 33133, www.miamihanggliding.com. 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. Enjoy our 110-acre mountain resort. www.hanglide.com, 877-hanglide, (877) 426-4543.

ALOHA! ISLAND POWERED PARAGLIDERS/THERMALUP PARAGLIDING – The Big Island’s only choice for USHPA certified instruction. Both free flight and powered tandems year round. DVD of your flight included. One-onone lessons from our private oceanside launches and training facilities. Contact Yeti, (808) 987-0773, www .ThermalUp.com or www.IslandPPG.com. Aloha! PROFLYGHT PARAGLIDING – Call Dexter for friendly information about flying on Maui. Full-service school offering beginner to advanced instruction every day, year round. (808) 874-5433, paraglidehawaii.com.IDAHO

IDAHO KING MOUNTAIN GLIDERS – Alluring site plus shop supplying all your HG/PG needs. Instruction, equipment sales, complete accessories. Visit our Web site www .kingmountaingliders.com or (208) 390-0205.

INDIANA CLOUD 9 SPORT AVIATION – See Cloud 9 in Michigan.

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 fulltime 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! (410) 634-2700, Fax (410) 634-2775, 24038 Race Track Rd, Ridgely, MD 21660, www.aerosports.net, hangglide@aerosports.net. MARYLAND SCHOOL OF HANG GLIDING – Sales, service, instruction since 1976. Specializing in foot launch. www.mshg.com 410-527-0975 Proudly representing Wills Wing & Moyes

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 spring tandem lessons and ﬂying appointments with the Draachen Fliegen Soaring Club at Cloud 9 Field. (517) 223-8683, DFSCinc@aol.com, http://members.aol.com/dfscinc.

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. www.mosquitoamerica.com.

NEW YORK AAA E-VILLE OUTFITTERS, MOUNTAIN WINGS INC. – Aeros, North Wing (845) 647-3377, mtnwings@verizon .net, www.evilleoutfitters.com, Ellenville, N.Y. 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. SUSQUEHANNA FLIGHT PARK COOPERSTOWN – 160’ training hill with rides up. 600’ ridge – large LZ. Specializing in first mountain flights. Dan Guido, 293 Shoemaker Road, Mohawk NY 13407. (315) 866-6153, dguido@dfamilk.com.

NORTH CAROLINA KITTY HAWK KITES – FREE Hang 1 training with purchase of equipment! The largest hang gliding school in the world. Teaching since 1974. Learn to ﬂy over the East Coast’s largest sand dune. Year-round instruction, foot launch and tandem aerotow. Dealer for all major manufacturers. Ultralight instruction and tours. (252) 441-2426, 1-877-FLY-THIS, www.kittyhawk.com.

OHIO CLOUD 9 SPORT AVIATION – See Cloud 9 in Michigan.

PUERTO RICO FLY PUERTO RICO WITH TEAM SPIRIT HG! – Flying tours, rentals, tandems, HG and PG classes, H-2 and P-2 intensive novice courses, full sales. (787) 850-0508, tshg@coqui.net.

TENNESSEE LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK – Just outside Chattanooga. Become a complete pilot – foot launch, aerotow, mountain launch, ridge soar, thermal soar. hanglide.com, 877-hanglide, (877) 426-4543. TENNESSEE TREE TOPPERS – #1 club in America. Home of the world famous Radial Ramp; great XC, easy launch, huge LZ. Just north of Chattanooga. www .treetoppers.org.

HAWAII

TEXAS

FLY HAWAII – Hawaii’s hang gliding, paragliding/ paramotoring school. Mauna Kea guide service. Big Island Hawaii, Achim Hagemann (808) 895-9772, www.aircotec .net/ﬂyhawaii.htm, ﬂyaglider@yahoo.com.

AUSTIN AIR SPORTS – Hang gliding and ultralight sales, service and instruction. Steve Burns, (512) 236-0031, sburns@austinairsports.com. Fred Burns, (281) 4711488, austinair@aol.com, WWW.AUSTINAIRSPORTS .COM.

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

GO...HANG GLIDING!!! – Jeff Hunt. Austin ph/fax (512) 467-2529, jeff@ﬂytexas.com, www.ﬂytexas.com.U

UTAH CLOUD 9 SOARING CENTER – Once again, we are the closest shop to the Point of the Mountain. Utah’s only full-time PG/HG shop and repair facility. Contact 1-888944-5433 or www.paragliders.com. HANG GLIDE UTAH! LLC – The one and only fullservice hang gliding school in Utah! We provide lessons 7 days a week, including tandem instruction. We also provide mountain tours. Currently in stock: New Falcon 2 140 and North Wing Horizon ET 180, as well as a variety of used equipment. Please visit our Web site at www .hangglideutah.com, email pete@hangglideutah.com or call (801) 232-1964. LEARN TO FLY WITH SUPER FLY, CHRIS SANTACROCE AND A WORLD CLASS TEAM. With very small classes, a fantastic training site (Point of the Mountain) and brand-new, state-of-the-art training equipment, you can’t go wrong. Over-the-water maneuvers coaching, optional paramotor training and experience in both high and low wind help us to output a very well rounded pilot. Contact chris@superﬂyinc.com or at (801) 706-6076 to schedule your intensive paraglider training course. Don’t want to come to Utah? Learn with one of our 50+ instructor/ dealers throughout the continent.

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.

WASHINGTON AERIAL PARAGLIDING SCHOOL AND FLIGHT PARK – Award-winning instructors at a world-class training facility. Contact Doug Stroop at (509) 782-5543 or visit www.paragliding.us.

WYOMING JACKSON HOLE PARAGLIDING – 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).

INTERNATIONAL BAJA MEXICO – La Salina: PG, HG, PPG www .FLYLASALINA.com, www.BAJABRENT.com, He’ll hook you up! rooms, tours, & intros, bajabrent@bajabrent .com, 760-203-2658. MEXICO – VALLE DE BRAVO and beyond for hang gliding and paragliding. Year-round availability and special tours, Gear, guiding, instruction, transportation, lodging – all varieties for your needs. www.ﬂymexico.com, 1-800-8617198 USA.P

PARTS & ACCESSORIES ALL HG GLIDERBAGS, harness packs, harness zippers and zipper stocks. Instrument mounts and replacement bands. Mitts, straps, fabric parts, windsocks, radios. Gunnison Gliders, 1-866-238-2305. 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. CRITTER MOUNTAIN WEAR – your one-stop Web site for paraglider equipment and accessories. You can find a full line of backpacks, stuff tarps, flight suits, clothing, GPS and vario holders, flight decks, ballast containers, radio holders, tow bridles, windsocks, boots, helmets, hook knives, varios, windspeed meters and much, much more. Everything you need to have the ultimate day flying your paraglider. Critter Mountain Wear also imports and distributes lightweight wings and harnesses from Nervures. Go Wild. Escape from overcrowded takeoffs to launch with cool serenity, share a mountain flight with good friends, or travel the world in search of poetic flights amidst stunning landscapes… that’s what the pilots and designers at Nervures dream of. crittermountainwear.com, 800-686-9327. FLIGHT SUITS, FLIGHT SUITS, FLIGHT SUITS, Warm Flight suits, Efficient Flight suits, Light-weight Flight suits, Flight suits in twelve sizes. Stylish Flight suits. www .mphsports.com, (503) 657-8911. 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 (325) 379-1567. GLIDERBAGS – XC $75! Heavy waterproof $125. 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 XCR-180 operates up to 3 hours @18,000 feet and weighs only 4 lbs. Complete kit with cylinder, harness, regulator, cannula and remote on/off flowmeter, only $400. 1-800-468-8185.

RISING AIR GLIDER REPAIR SERVICES – A fullservice shop, specializing in all types of paragliding repairs, annual inspections, reserve repacks, harness repairs. Hang gliding reserve 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.com, http:// stores.ebay.com/raven-sports. 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 – 1673 Corbin Lake Rd, Rutledge, TN 37861, 1-800-826-2719. Worldfamous Windsoks, as seen at the Oshkosh & Sun-N-Fun EAA Fly-Ins. Hawk@windsok.com, www.windsok.com.

PUBLICATIONS & ORGANIZATIONS *NEW* AND THE WORLD COULD FLY – And the World Could Fly tells the story of how piloting for the masses became a possibility and then a reality. This is a tale of free flight in every sense of the term. Edited by Stéphane Malbos and Noel Whittall, And the World Could Fly contains contributions from many parts of the world as well as much new writing. Together, the editors have more than fifty years of undiminished enthusiasm for foot-launched flight. And the World Could Fly is produced by the International Hang Gliding and Paragliding Commission (CIVL) to celebrate the centenary of FAI. It is a book which will appeal to anyone with an interest in free flight, whether an old-stager who can remember the early California days or a newcomer who wonders where it all came from. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www .ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901. 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 aviation. 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 aviation history. 176 pages, 16 photographs, 89 drawings and 14 graphs. $19.95 (+$5 s/h) Call USHPA at 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901. *NEW* CLOUDSUCK: The Life and Death Struggle for the Hang Gliding World Record. Davis Straub tells the story of the dramatic 10-year race to fly “farther than anyone has ever gone in a hang glider.” From the historic 1990 flight that first broke the 300-mile barrier, through 10 years of adventure and challenge, this is a first-hand account of the driven individuals who struggled against each other and against nature to set the next hang gliding world distance record. $17.95. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

*NEW* CONDOR TRAIL, PARAGLIDING THE CENTRAL ANDES – the guidebook to paragliding and traveling in the Central Andes. It’s packed with 256 pages of maps, site descriptions, local lore, free-flight contacts and photos, all the information you need to plan your own Andean paragliding adventure. Most of the launch and landing access throughout the Andes is done with cheap public transportation. Condor Trail gives you bus routes to catch, areas to avoid, traveler tips, and contacts for the local flying communities throughout Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Northern Argentina, and Northern Chile. Call USHPA at 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www .ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901. 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 that will not swamp the reader with a 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). Call USHPA at 1-800616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901. 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 USHPA – WWW.USHPA.AERO

*NEW* PARAGLIDING: LEARN TO FLY DVD – This MISCELLANEOUS DVD brings to life many of the hard-to-visualize concepts which are so important for us to understand, like airflow “AEROBATICS” POSTER – Full color 23”x 31” poster around hills and mountains, turbulence and convergence, featuring John Heiney doing what he does bestLOOPING! See www.ushpa.aero under store/misc for dynamic and thermic lift, plus aerodynamics like lift and example. Available through USHPA HQ for just $6.95 drag, speed to fly and so on. The production team have spent months on the 3D animation and video sequenc- (+$5.00 s/h). USHPA, PO Box 1300, Colorado Springs CO 80933. (USA & Canada only. Sorry, posters are NOT ing. $44.95. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off AVAILABLE on international orders.) our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901. DVDS-VIDEOS-BOOKS-POSTERS – Check out our Web store at www.ushpa.aero. *NEW* PERFORMANCE FLYING DVD – When it comes to making paragliding films, Jocky Sanderson doesn’t pull any punches. The suave Englishman’s slick production skills were first evidenced in his debut films, “Security in Flight” and “Speed to Fly.” Jocky’s latest film, produced with Ozone’s test team, hones in on the finer piloting skills of flying XC, acro and SIV. $42.95. Call USHPA 1-800616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901. *NEW* RED BULL X-ALPS DVD – Red Bull X-Alps 2005 finishes in Monaco! This stunning DVD features over 70 minutes of footage, including pilot interviews and wild POV camera angles. $41.95. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901. RISK & REWARD – By Jeff Goin. This 70-min. DVD exposes the risks and rewards of powered paragliding in a fun, action-packed adventure. You owe yourself this inside look that could easily save your life. Three years in the making, Risk & Reward gathers wisdom from a long list of instructors. Spectacular video from around the world sheds light on essential concepts with clarity and realism. $29.95. Order yours at www.ushpa.aero/store.

*NEW* DARE DEVIL FLYERS – The 94-minute digital video docupicture covers all thirty years of hang gliding and all seventeen years of paragliding. It begins with the Bob and Chris Wills story – they founded Wills Wing, the only surviving American manufacturer/dis- *NEW* SPEED/SECURITY DVD – “Speed to Fly” and tributor of hang gliders and paragliders. Two legendary “Security in Flight” are two great films designed to help you progress in paragliding, packed with stunning air-topilots guide the audience through these extreme sports air footage. $48.95. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or with their narrative. The docupic features competition in order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, the extreme sports of aerobatic hang gliding, speed hang gliding and high-altitude cross-country paragliding. Wing- Colorado Springs CO 80901. mounted POV cameras provide the docupic with an in- USHPA MAGAZINE ARCHIVE 1971-2004 – The DVD the-air thrill ride from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific set holds the history of our sport, from the earliest days coast. Narrator Bobby Carradine threads us through the of bamboo and plastic to the present. Within these pages three decades. Call USHPA at 1-800-616-6888 or or- you’ll find the evolution of foot-launched flight from the der off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, first days of bamboo dune-skimmers to the modern vaColorado Springs CO 80901. riety of hang gliders, paragliders and rigid wings. Each PDF file is one complete magazine, just as originally pub*NEW* INSTABILITY 2 DVD – Bruce Goldsmith’s new film is set to become the new benchmark in SIV instruc- lished. Pages with color are produced as color scans, the tion. In 1992, the Airwave designer co-presented “Insta- rest scanned as black and white images. Future issues will be available on an update disk. Each disk includes bility,” a film which helped thousands of paraglider pilots Adobe Acrobat Reader Version 7 for Windows, Macintosh gain insight into tips and tricks learned by the professionand Linux systems. $30 for members and $90 for nonal test pilots. $41.95. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, members. Call USHPA at 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Colorado Springs CO 80901. Springs CO 80901. *NEW* NEVER ENDING THERMAL – This DVD is an “Endless Summer” for the free-flying generation. The action-packed documentary features the adventures of Venezuelan pilots Herminio Cordido and Jorge Atramiz as they embark on an around-the-world paragliding odyssey. $41.95. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

WORLDWIDE INTERNET PARAGLIDING TALK SHOW – WWW.WORLDTALKRADIO.COM. Listen live or to the archives! Live Tuesday 9-11:00 a.m. (PST). Call toll-free, 1-888-514-2100 or internationally at (001) 858-2683068. Paraglider pilots and radio hosts David and Gabriel Jebb want to hear about your stories, promotions/events or insight; they also take questions! CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RATES – The rate for classified advertising is $10.00 for 25 words and $1.00 per word after 25. MINIMUM AD CHARGE $10.00. Phone number=2 words. Email or Web address=3 words. AD DEADLINES: All ad copy, instructions, changes, additions & cancellations must be received in writing 2 months preceding the cover date, i.e. November 15th is the deadline for the January issue. ALL CLASSIFIEDS ARE PREPAID. If paying by check, please include the following with your payment: name, address, phone, category, how many months you want the ad to run and the classified ad. Please make checks payable to USHPA, P.O. Box 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901-1330. If paying with credit card, you may email the previous information and classified to info@ushpa.aero. For safety reason, please call your Visa/MC or Amex info to the office. No refunds will be given on ads cancelled that are scheduled to run multiple months. (719) 632-8300. Fax (719) 632-6417

STOLEN WINGS & THINGS GRADIENT ASPEN – My paraglider equipment was stolen from my vehicle on November 7th in San Diego, California. The wing was a red, gradient Aspen 26m, SOL Large CX harness, SOL 33 CELL reserve, Ozone red and gray backpack. REWARD, no questions asked, $250 or please contact me with any information regarding the equipment. David Thulin, davidthulin@hotmail.com or (307) 690-5792. 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 TO (719) 632-8300, FAXED TO (719) 6326417, OR EMAILED TO INFO@USHPA.AERO FOR INCLUSION IN HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE. PLEASE CALL TO CANCEL THE LISTING WHEN GLIDERS ARE RECOVERED. PERIODICALLY, THIS LISTING WILL BE PURGED.

Lessons Learned from Dumb Beginnings

By Steve Messman, staﬀ writer

Photo: Stuart Munson

You walk up to a sleeping Rottweiler and kick that huge animal really hard right smack in the kisser. Then, you run like mad. The mass of black raging muscle with a chest about as wide as an axe handle is close enough to slosh big globs of doggie slobber onto the heels of your brand new Nikes. Your vision locks onto the tree ten paces to your front like a tractor beam from the starship Enterprise. Within seconds you are clambering onto the highest limbs while the earthbound attack animal howls from below. Whew! The look on your partner’s face deﬁnes you as a total idiot, and with understated indignation she says, “Boy, that was really dumb!” The story is of course exaggerated, but the point is not. We all do some really stupid things. Thankfully, hopefully, most of the dumb things we do as pilots won’t get us hurt. Mostly, they teach us lessons if we are intelligent enough to learn them. My lesson began and ended with a trip to Vancouver, British Columbia. I did what good pilots do. I assessed the situation and acted accordingly. I was only going for two days and one night, so packing was minimal; blue jeans, undies, a couple of T-shirts and a weather check. The weather forecast included eighty percent cloud cover, a sixty percent chance of rain and a south wind of only one or two miles per hour. Packing did not include my wing. With the car headed north on autopilot, I began to study all the more important things that pilots focus on while driving – wind, clouds, weather, birds. The weather was not at all as predicted. I did not see the expected heavy cloud cover. In fact,

I saw nicely forming cumies and lots of blue sky. All the indicators were different than predicted. My wife, Carol, was the first to mention the disparities. She made some non-pilot comment about how beautiful and fluffy the clouds were. I retorted with a wisecrack about the lack of expected rain and way too much blue. The farther north the car traveled, the more I noticed a westerly slant to the flags that were also indicating a wind of almost ten miles per hour. The weather was turning out to be great. I was steaming, inside and out. Both the day of traveling to Vancouver and the day of visiting family in Vancouver were perfect flying days – totally not like the forecast. As I drove away from that gorgeous city, I could only look at Grouse Mountain and dream. I drove past Chuckanut Drive and only guessed at the beauty of the San Juan Islands from the air above Blanchard. I drove past the ferry docks. The westerly component in the winds only hinted of the possibilities that must exist at Fort Ebey. I didn’t even want to think about what could be happening at Tiger Mountain. Sometimes I ask myself how I could have been so dumb as to not pack my wing. Other times I look back and remember what I learned: Always put the wing in the car. It doesn’t take up that much room. I actually stated it in a much more philosophical manner to Carol as we drove home. “We should always be prepared for the surprise, not the disappointment.” I didn’t have my wing. I was prepared for the disappointment, and that is exactly what I received.

The San Juan Islands, from Blanchard Hill May 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

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