USHPA Hang Gliding & Paragliding Vol37/Iss11 November 2007 by US Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

Volume 37 Issue 11 November 2007 $4.95

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

USHPA, Publisher: info@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: David Jebb, Steve Messman Staff artist: Jim Tibbs Staff photographer: Josh Morell Office Staff: Rick Butler, Interim Operations Manager: rick@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 USHPA Officers and Executive Committee: 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 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). 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. HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING magazine is published for foot-launched air-sports enthusiasts to create further interest in the sports of hang gliding and paragliding and to provide an educational forum to advance hang gliding and paragliding methods and safety. Contributions are welcome. HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING magazine reserves the right to edit contributions where necessary. The Association and publication do not assume responsibility for the material or opinions of contributors. HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING editorial offices email: editor@ushpa.aero. ALL ADVERTISING AND ADVERTISING INQUIRIES MUST BE SENT TO USHPA HEADQUARTERS IN COLORADO SPRINGS. 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.

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. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to: Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine, P.O. BOX 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901-1330. Canadian Post Publications Mail Agreement #40065056. Canadian Return Address: DP Global Mail, 4960-2 Walker Road, Windsor, ON N9A 6J3 DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES IN PUBLICATIONS: 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. Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine welcomes editorial submissions from our members and readers. We are always looking for well written articles and quality artwork. Feature stories generally run anywhere from 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. 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.

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.

Ryan Voight at Torrey Pines Photo: Paul Voight

Departments Editor’s Corner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Pilot Briefings: News and Events . . . . . . . . . . 8 Airmail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Foundation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Master’s Tips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 HG Accidents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Flight Report: Flight to the Borderlands, Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Comp Corner: The 2007 U.S. Paragliding Nationals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Pilot Profile: Geoff Loyns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

From Tibado to Hang Glider: Evolution of a Dream

A newbie turns his dreams into reality and in the process strolls through history, not only meeting some of hang gliding’s pioneers, but flying some of their gliders as well.

By Carroll Dee Liverman, Jr.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Ecuador: An Adventure in the Rain

A paragliding couple misjudge the arrival of the rainy season, but they’re in a beautiful country with the right companions, so life is good!

Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 New Ratings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Marketplace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 One Last Thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

By Alicia Harmon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Tech Tips: Dealing With a Cravat

Experienced comp pilots give tips on avoiding a cravat, and on sorting things out if avoidance techniques prove insufficient.

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

By Mike Steed, with tips from Brett Hardin and Brad Hill. . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Wills Demo Days:

Last spring, hang glider pilots came from all over the world to meet friends, to learn scooter towing, to fly and to party. They all left wanting more.

Volume 37 Issue 11 November 2007 $4.95

Photo courtesy ICARO Hang Gliders

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

Ignazio Bernardi winding it up in Italy

By Felipe Amunategui. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

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

IT TO BELi V

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SOM ONE

Unless you have flown one of our current models. it'.s. goiing to be pretty much impo:Ssib!e:f,or-you to,believe how much bielter they are than the hang gliders of even just a few ye1u:s ago. So. yo1u sha1uld Hy one. D1r, yo111could talk, as we have, to some of the pilots and i.nsinJ,c tus out ther,e who hau-e,.

..Just wanted to congratulate and thank you again for designing such ihiglfl: quality wJings. Besides being i1111love with my new T-2.1 test flew a customer's Sport 2135 ve·sterday and ittlew great anlil was alil absoluoo pleasure to thermal. The Sport 2. In my estimation, is, the fim and only true "beg·nn·ng to a.dvanced· will11.g out there. I hav.e, new H-2 students doing extremely well on them and experienced H-4s.thail:fly XC and lo1Je them a,s.well. Thanks and well done. I think the Falcon and now the Sport 2 are truly Ile best things that have·happen.ed to the saf,ety and overall expe.riem:e for p,e:o~le learnint ow tD flV hang gliders s:ince· I· have been flyi1111g." ·J'eff Shapiro1 Five Valley H.G. "I finally got mv new Falcon 3 outfor asoaring flight yesterdav. What an a·me,zing glider! I feel like I am dri1ving a little sports, car aim11nd in the s,ky, It's an absolute joy to Uy," -Dean Slocum

"'Thanks so muc'lii 00 Wills Wing for lettiri.g me borrow their great new Fa con 3 110. The glider was a joy to tty I was confident in all the thermals no matter how wild. I could whip it aro,und withot1t a problem. I was pushing ourt and flving , d

at less than 19 mph." -Da11is Strnob latter his record 205 mile ftightl

"This wes by far lha best day I've had under a wmgl This 1s a great glitJerl" -Ken Foote (after demo flight on a Spar 2)

Browse the complete collection of pUot: comments at www.wmswin,g.com Crick on the glider model you're interes.te·d in from the hom:e page•.and the:n select "Pih1t Commenf ' on the left-side menu.

'0r. just g,o ·nvon.eI

It's all abo U1t tJlne fll y i n g .

LLSWlNG.C

Icicle Insight

Alex’s goal: Get a flight from every mountain visible from his house. This epic flight in the spectacular North Cascades was just one result of that quest.

By Alex Peterson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

On the Road

A young man, his father and a good flying buddy loaded up their hang gliders and set off across the continent in search of airtime. It was the trip of a lifetime for the author.

By Ryan Voight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Gallery. . .62

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

I’m writing this column just as summer slides arrived at hang gliding through a into fall, but as you read it, we’re coming up on the rather unorthodox window. His season for tricks, treats and giving thanks. Please “From Tibado to Hang Glider” redon’t forget to say a special “thank you” to every- minds us that our roots aren’t necone who makes your pursuit of airtime such a essarily such ancient history as we pleasure, from drivers to supportive family mem- might have thought! Speaking of roots and ancient bers, from landowners to your favorite instructors/ tour guides and wing manufacturers. Of course history, Felipe Amunategui’s report we all express our appreciation throughout the on “Wills Wing Demo Days 2007” year, but it makes a significant impression when is about last spring’s awesome party we take a moment or spend a few dollars to do sponsored by this hang gliding George and C.J. at the Women’s Halloween or give or say something extra-special during the manufacturer that’s been on the Fly-in, a couple years ago scene since back when sex was safe holiday season. I hope you all enjoyed the artwork in the and hang gliding was dangerous (remember that The October magaOctober issue! One of the gallery pages this bumper sticker?). Steve Onstad and Russ Locke, zine had already month is devoted to the T-shirt designs that we trustees and this month’s cheerleaders for the gone to press when weren’t able to showcase last month. There will be Foundation for Free Flight, give us some excellent Dennis Pagen finally other non-photographic art sprinkled throughout reasons to “Make a Difference” by contributing tracked down the the magazines for the next several months; it’s not to the Foundation. On a sad note, Connie Locke name of the pilot too late to add your creation to the mix! You can and Jim Herd share memories of their long-time in the photo on upload material by going to ushpa.aero/editorial_ friend and fellow pilot, Geoff Loyns, who died in p. 51. Dennis says, dropbox.asp. Please send me an email when you’ve a sailplane accident last summer. “His real name is On the subject of safety, our hang gliding acput something in the dropbox so I can make sure Frédéric Jallard. He cident report this month is a collaborative effort it arrived OK. is Swiss, flies both As you might expect in an issue that’s assem- between author Bacil Dickert and the accident paragliders and bled at the end of the summer season, this maga- pilot. Their combined analysis of what went wrong hang gliders and is a zine has more than the usual number of reports on (“Keep Your Nose Down!”) and how to fix it is food very nice guy.” epic flights and adventures. As you read the con- for thought for all of us, whether or not we have a clusion to Paul Gazis’s “Flight to the Borderlands” nose angle to worry about. David Jebb’s Master’s tale, keep in mind that this is a true story, a real- Tips column is a good reminder that keeping a life adventure that took place over a decade ago. “Safe Distance When Scratching” contributes to Alex Peterson’s “Icicle Insight” photo essay takes lower-stress flying without sacrificing lift. Mike An error in the us deep into Washington’s North Cascades range Steed, who experienced a cravat right in front of layout resulted for some late-last-spring high-adrenaline para- launch at the paragliding nationals, offers a tech in Paul Villinski’s gliding and spectacular scenery. Hang glider pilot tip on “Dealing With a Cravat” – suggestions on artwork, on p. 65 in Ryan Voight, along with his dad and a good friend, how to avoid taking a cravat in the first place, and the October gallery, did the N.Y.-to-California “On the Road” trip last some options if your avoidance measures aren’t being truncated. summer with their hang gliders, leaving Ryan with sufficient. And as a final note, staff writer Steve My apologies to a firm belief that if you haven’t done a similar trip, Messman points out that anywhere outside a Paul – his beautiful you’re missing out on one of the finest experiences school classroom, “70%” is nowhere good enough butterfly sculptures, our sport can offer. Rob Sporrer’s “One For the to count as passing – or, in the case of free flight, fashioned from Record Books” gives the details of the day when may not even be survivable. “found aluminum,” As I finish up this November issue, USHPA is 10 pilots flew the longest task ever in a paragliding as well as his many nationals, and recognizes all the pilots, crew and still seeking the person who’ll succeed me as editor other flight-inspired organizers who helped make the 2007 paraglid- of your magazine; perhaps by the time this reaches creations, can be ing nationals such a memorable event for all who your mailbox we’ll know who’s taking over beginviewed online at attended. Alicia Harmon writes of “Ecuador: An ning with the March issue. At least until the end www.paulvillinski Adventure in the Rain,” and reminds us that a trip of December, you can reach me at editor@ushpa .com. is what you make it, and even bad weather can’t .aero. As always, I look forward to hearing from you! ruin your vacation if you have the right attitude. A couple of relatively new pilots have contributed to this month’s magazine. Ashley Guberman, an aspiring XC pilot, reviews the DVD Manilla Sky and provides a refreshingly different perspective on the 2007 Paragliding World Epigram, by Championships than what one might get from Paul Villinski a seasoned competitor. Dee Liverman recently November 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

It’s Not a Vacation, It’s an ADVENTURE! By Kevin Lee

In the dead middle of winter we all have those dreams of flying and exploring someplace warm and beautiful. THIS IS IT! Come explore the culture and mountains of Ecuador. Join Kevin Lee, USHPA’s 2006 Instructor of the Year, and Thermal Tracker Paragliding for our January flying vacation. Kevin has been leading paragliding adventures in Ecuador since 1996 and is supported by two Ecuadorian guides/pilots who know and fly the local sites. We’ll explore both the high Andean mountain thermal sites and the incredibly consistent and unreal coastal sites. Two-thirds of our tour is spent among some of the most beautiful peaks in South America, one-third soaring and relaxing on the warm coast, exploring miles of smooth coastal ridge sites, in addition to swimming, fishing, and eating great seafood to your heart’s content. The tour includes a very high attention to your personal comfort, advanced coaching, and attaining an intimacy with Ecuador that only our group can have. We arrange all details in country (lodging, transportation, drivers, guides, air shuttle from the coast, and much more). Lodgings are clean and pleasant, with accommodations ranging from family-run pensions, restored colonial train stations, and haciendas high in the Andes. For pilots and non-pilots alike (nonpilots always welcome!), we have a strong commitment to exploring the groundbased beauty of this country, from hiking to mountain biking, touring Inca ruins to river rafting, exploring jungles to visiting indigenous villages steeped in history. Book extra time to explore after the tour – don’t forget that Ecuador is the gateway to the Galapagos Islands! Each group is limited in size to promote quality, so reserve early to secure your space in this winter’s adventure! More information is available from Kevin Lee, Thermal Tracker Paragliding & Aero-Sports, (541) 890-7142, info@thermaltracker .com; photos and stories from previous trips are at www.thermaltracker.com.

Holiday Gift Suggestions From XCshop.com By Marcus King

Flying Over Everest DVD

This professionally produced DVD won 18 first-prizes at film festivals across the globe, and has been aired on Discovery and several other networks around the world. It’s 60 minutes of attention-grabbing action and incredible scenery, and is available in NTSC format from xcshop.com and from the USHPA store, ushpa.aero/store. Flying With Eagles DVD

We’ve been after this film for a long time, and finally it’s been released on DVD. Flying Over Everest follows the antics and adventures of the late Angelo D’Arrigo and his efforts to fly a hang glider over the summit of Mt. Everest. More than simply a documentation of the event itself, the film is a fascinating insight into Angelo’s preparations for the flight, and records his time spent testing both himself and his equipment in wind tunnels and hypobaric chambers with the Italian Air Force. A bold and adventurous pilot, Angelo was also passionate about birds of prey. Alongside his preparations for the flight, Angelo raised and trained two steppe eagles using both paragliders and hang gliders, with the aim of reintroducing them to the Mt. Everest valley system. Once in Nepal, Angelo and microlight pilot Richard Meredith-Hardy set off on the historic flight. A snapped tow line just below the summit caused controversy and speculation in the world of free flight, and resulted in many pilots questioning Angelo’s claims of flying over Everest. Now you can make up your own mind as to whether Angelo accomplished his goal or not.

Flying With Eagles presents an intimate portrait of three-time world paragliding champion Louise Crandal and her steppe eagle Cossack. Louise takes on the two-year-old bird, who was raised in captivity, and trains him to fly with her on the dunes of Denmark before venturing into the thermals of the Italian Dolomites. This engaging 45-minute film documents the intricate and sometimes frustrating path of the falconer and illustrates beautifully both the difficulties and the joys of training birds to fly with paragliders. Originally filmed for Danish television, Flying With Eagles is an Englishlanguage production shot in wide-screen format. Currently it’s available only in PAL format, which means it may not play on some U.S. DVD players. Visit xcshop.com or the USHPA online store, ushpa.aero/store, to purchase a copy.

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

Notes and Gloats From the Paraglider Manufacturers

ADVANCE Acro Pilot Takes Top Female Honors at Vertigo

Photo courtesy ADVANCE

By Valéry Chapuis

Swiss women’s acro champion Judith Zweifel

Vertigo, the international world cup in acro flying, was held this year once again in Villeneuve, Switzerland. In front of an enormous crowd the pilots set off from the takeoff site to show their skills in the two categories – solo and synchro

Andy Abei, 2007 Swiss national champion

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

APCO announces the latest addition to their world-famous range of Mayday emergency parachutes: the Guided Mayday (G-MD). APCO’s Anatoly Cohn points out that “the Mayday range is probably the longest-running rescue system on the market, and there have been no additions to the range for a number of years. Finally we are launching G-MD specifically to enhance our range and cover a market segment which requires an advanced solution in more difficult cases of flight emergency.”

The G-MD

Photos courtesy APCO

A veritable confectionery store of eye candy, this calendar presents 24 succulent images of paragliding, hang gliding and paramotoring from the best photographers in the world. The new 2008 calendar is a double-sided extravaganza – powered paragliding on one side, freeflying on the other – that’ll have you staring at the office wall more than ever before. As always, there’s plenty of room to jot down those all-important reminders. The new Fly Forever Calendar 2008 is available now from www.xcshop.com.

pairs. In the solo the scoring mainly reflects the difficulty of each figure, while in the synchro category artistic impression and synchronization are significant judging criteria. In both disciplines the accuracy and safe recovery of the maneuvers are the most important elements. ADVANCE team pilot Judith Zweifel finished 17 out of 42 international worldcup competitors, thereby attaining the title of Swiss women’s acro champion, but also achieving a remarkable second place in the Swiss final rankings! Many recreational pilots also found their way to this town in western Switzerland this year. The “testival” provided by a number of leading manufacturers was a very popular feature and many pilots took the opportunity to try out new products under ideal conditions. At the ADVANCE stand great interest was shown in our new entry-level glider, the ALPHA 4, and many made the most of the unique opportunity to have the legendary Andy Hediger show them how to set up the iMPRESS 2 harness. The weather gods were also kind to us at this sheltered spot, and this contributed to making the 2007 Vertigo another great success. Team ADVANCE heartily thanks the organizers and the countless helpers! Due to their excellent work the event once more turned out to be a smoothly run and safe contest, making it a great experience for all the pilots within the fantastic ambiance we have come to expect. ******** ADVANCE team pilot Chrigel Maurer reports that his teammate Andy Abei took first place in the Swiss National Championships, with Chrigel a close second. The event, held early last August, had less than stellar weather but still allowed three valid tasks with some spectacularly scenic climbs and exciting racing in the Wallis region of Switzerland.

Photo courtesy ADVANCE

Fly Forever Calendar 2008

This sophisticated rogallo-type steerable gliding emergency parachute is fully certified by CEN to the new EN norm and approved for up to 130 kg. It is designed to allow for maximum control over events in case of emergency, and the deployment sequence functions with or without a cut-away system for the main wing. The GM-D mainly targets pilots specializing in high-risk applications – acro, industry professionals and competition pilots – but the simplicity of use combined with advantages offered by a steerable gliding rescue system make it equally appropriate for the general pilot market. GM-D specifics: • Glides with L/D of ~1.5 – instead of high sink-rate vertical descent • Fully steerable – in the same fashion as a paraglider, allowing for choice of landing places

X205 TRITON. So the question is: Is NOVA back in the race? Hannes Papesh (NOVA’s designer) Some years ago, NOVA gliders were winning almost everything one could wouldn’t be Hannes Papesh if he was not possibly win. Then the Austrian brand excited about developing paragliders that decided to focus their efforts on wings for deliver the best possible performance! “Joe Average” – meaning with DHV cer- Officially, NOVA has not confirmed that tification. Last summer, however, NOVA they will compete again in the open catshowed up again with various prototypes egory, but Hannes Papesh has confirmed of comp wings at several events – and that they have received some inquiries for the X205 TRITON from world-class these wings did perform quite well… ******** NOVA team pilot Jerome Sarthe flew pilots. So we’ll see… Go to www.nova-wings.com for the APCO team pilots, flying the de- the X200 Proto and won overall at the signed-for-acro Twister, continue to win St. Gervais Montblanc Cup; during the latest information on NOVA wings, big in the aerobatic comps. The 21-year- third task of the “French Open” he came products and projects. old Green twins, from California, are in second on his X200 Proto. The OZONE Peak jacket is a waup-and-coming members of the APCO Italian Aaron Durogati, the youngest acro team. Visit apcoaviation.com to see member of the NOVA pilots’ team, flew terproof/breathable technical mounthis summer’s results. a NOVA X205 TRITON very success- tain shell for use while in flight, in the fully at the Slovenian Open. Aaron says, mountains, or in the city rain. Loaded “It was a good event for me. Overall, I with features, the Peak jacket effectively came in 14th because I grounded early in shields you from the elements and due to one task. Yet, I came in 3rd in task three.” its super-reasonable price, you’ll still have During the Trofeo Dario Bossone 2007 some cash left to get outside and use it. in Val Vigezzo, Aaron even won one task. “Max speed and L/D of the X205 are definitely among the best,” he says. “I feel extremely good with the X205 TRITON and flew full speed a lot and still I have not had a single collapse.” The Spanish league also confirms the outstanding performance of the NOVA X205 TRITON, with Alfredo Martin The APCO acro team in action leading the overall ranking on a NOVA • Very low sink rate • High deployment reliability • Ultra-fast opening with low deployment shock • Good flaring capacity on landing • Exclusive to APCO – competitive pricing • Comes complete with brake handles and bridle/riser

Is NOVA Back in Competition Flying?

By Till Gottbrath

Photos courtesy APCO

Windsocks have gone through many stages through the years, and OZONE has now brought back the basic aviationorange solid-color windsock. Both of these new products, and much more, are available now from your local OZONE dealer or online at www.flyozone.com.

The Twister’s hot new design

******** Can’t get out to fly today? OZONE is currently hosting a large amount of flying November 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Photo courtesy SKYWALK

SKYWALK’s new POISON2

The EASY 2 harness

When you purchase a new SKYWALK glider, fill out the guarantee card within two weeks of your purchase and mail it to SKYWALK, or complete the procedure online at www.skywalk.info. After two years, bring your glider to SKYWALK or to an authorized check center to have the glider tested. When the test is complete, your guarantee is automatically extended another two years – the 2+2 Guarantee! Customers who purchased gliders in 2007 from SKYWALK can also apply retroactively for the guarantee. You must have your sales contract/invoice to be eligible. The staff at the authorized “check centers” have been trained by SKYWALK in how to perform the exacting test procedures, and with the newest technical expertise. In conjunction with the University of Vienna, a new method of line-gauging technology has been developed for this very purpose. It is relatively simple to use and delivers excellent accuracy. The certified check centers will be completing a qualification process through the end of this year; information will be available in early January 2008 on the SKYWALK Web page. With the additional safety feature offered through the 2+2 Guarantee, SKYWALK reiterates their dedication to their motto: “More Fun Flying.”

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

Photo courtesy SOL

In layman’s terms, a “quantum leap” might be explained as a discontinuous change, moving from one level to another without passing through intermediate levels. SKYWALK suggests that the silver, mirror-finish material, aerofabríxTM [Al] 29, which they have developed in cooperation with the high-tech materials developer Aeroix, represents a true quantum leap. With a sensationally low weight of only 29g/m², this cloth demonstrates outstanding aging characteristics; over 90% of UV rays are reflected, and therefore cannot enter and damage the cloth fibers. This new fabric, used in the construction of SKYWALK’s DHV 2-3 POISON2, provides many advantages in a high-performance glider. The low weight results in unusually good takeoff behaviour for a top-performance wing. The flight characteristics of the POISON2 prototypes during extreme flight were surprisingly moderate compared to others in its class. Thus the SKYWALK team claims they were able to “stretch the design parameters accordingly, and ultimately the POISON2 offers an unequalled performance potential in the 2-3 class. The very low drag of the innovative line concept, with doublespliced high-performance lines, in interplay with the subtle accelerator system

and up-to-date profile, all contribute to SOL’s new EASY 2 harness is aimed the extremely efficient, stable accelera- at both beginning and advanced pilots tion capability.” who want a light harness with a good back protection system, comfort, aero******** dynamics and feedback. The reserve SKYWALK wants every pilot to parachute system on the EASY 2 follows have full confidence in the quality of the new specs given by the European any glider purchased from them. Thus, associations aiming for easier and safer Skywalk is now offering retroactively for opening systems. any SKYWALK glider purchased since January of 2007, the “2+2 Guarantee” as an option. Here’s how you get the guarantee:

Synergy 3, SOL’s new DHV-2 wing, offers a huge level of comfort and performance in its class. A combination of major flat aspect ratio and compatible projected aspect ratio frames a well-balanced arc, enabling the wing to climb easily in thermals and providing a strong stability whether accelerated or not. In designing the Synergy 3, SOL’s R&D team made use of the implemented technology in their competition and acro wings where the materials and the projects are exposed to the most complex conditions. Synergy 3 provides performance and agility for the pilot who looks for long distance flights or “freestyle” flying a DHV-2 glider.

A rainbow of Synergy 3s

Photo courtesy SOL

videos available to all pilots to download for free! Take a break from your day in the office and check them out at www .flyozone.com/paragliders/en/downloads/.

NIVIUK pilot Raul Rodriguez has announced to the world that he is bowing out of acro competitions after dominating the scene for many years. Raul is credited with the creation of many of today’s extreme paragliding acro maneuvers including the SAT and the Infinite Tumble. Raul, who started flying in 1992, will now concentrate on his R&D work at NIVIUK gliders.

Moyes Takes Top Honors at the Hang Gliding Worlds! Text and photos by Vicki Cain

Austrians Robert Reisinger a very close second and Gerolf Heinrichs in third, both on Litespeed 4S wings. Britain took first place in the team event followed by France in second and Austria in third.

Attila Bertok, first into goal on the first day

The 16th World Hang Gliding Championship was held in Big Spring, Texas, last August 9-18. There were 109 pilots from 25 countries competing in seven valid tasks from 10 competition days; Attila Bertok from Hungary, flying a Moyes Litespeed S5, led from the onset by winning the first three days. He never relinquished the lead throughout the entire competition. Moyes Boys dominated the meet, with

Three Moyes Boys 1st, 2nd and 3rd

At each morning briefing the winner of the previous day’s task was presented with a cowboy hat. After the first three days Attila had three hats!

Great Britain celebrates winning the team event.

Leo Bynum Appointed Chairman of USHPA Membership and Development Committee Leo took up hang gliding in 1978 while attending the University of Montana. He relocated to Southern California in the mid-’80s to work for NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he joined the Mt. Wilson and Sylmar hang gliding clubs. He “moonlighted” for both True Flight Concepts and Windsports as a weekend tandem pilot for the students of both schools. He currently has several thousand hang gliding flights including over 1000 tandem flights. He regularly flew the BrightStar Swift, a footlaunchable sailplane. He is an airplane owner and has a pilot’s license with a current instrument rating and over 2000 hours. Recently Leo was instrumental in strategy and communications leading to the re-opening of Mount Sentinel, a site that was closed and in jeopardy due to air-traffic concerns at the nearby international airport in Missoula, Montana. Leo has a master’s degree in Computer Science from USC and is an expert in GIS (Geographic Information Systems). He is currently employed at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque where he does research and simulation for national infrastructure. He has extensive experience in business and customer relationships, as well as extensive marketing and strategic planning skills to bring onboard. Leo is also a videographer with a released film, and is an accomplished jazz piano player. Visit his Web site, www .leobynum.com, to learn more about this multifaceted newest member of the USHPA BOD. You can contact Leo via snail mail at 2920 Hyder Ave. SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106. His home phone is (505) 255-1097, his cell phone is (415) 5092084, or you can send an email to leo@leobynum.com.

Attila Bertok at the opening ceremony wearing his lucky 1994 Tomas Suchanek T-shirt

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The opinions expressed in the letters pub- trieve my car keys from an internal pocket lished in this column are those of the authors in order to retrieve the vario from the car. and do not necessarily reflect those of the Having done that, I attached the vario, magazine staff or USHPA officials. While then put my arms through the armholes every effort is made to verify facts stated in and proceeded to fasten the chest zipper. letters, readers are urged to check the accu- Have you spotted the potentially fatal racy of any statement before taking action or omission? forming an opinion based on the contents of John saw what I was doing and pointa letter. ed it out. My harness is a deservedly popular Hang Gliding Harness With Automatic type made in the mid-1990s. However, I Leg Loops? am in the process of replacing it with a (email, 8/22) harness that makes it much more obviI was ready to launch in my hang ous that you are not secured if you forget glider. John Welch, our local paraglid- the leg loops. (My paraglider harness, a ing CFI, was on my front wires. I then SupAir Evo, has a single red backup leg noticed I had forgotten to attach my vari- loop that attaches to the waist buckles. ometer. (Because I use my vario both for The waist strap cannot be done up withhang gliding and paragliding, I keep it in out it.) the “bits and pieces” bag that I take with A succession of subsequent conversame whichever I fly, and the vario in its tions with other hang glider pilots, both bright yellow fabric container is always face-to-face and on the Oz Report hang on top of everything else so I don’t forget gliding Web forum, revealed an interestit. However, on this day it had slipped ing (but not scientific) statistic. Roughly down out of sight...) half of that sample (about ten, maybe) I had to get out of the harness to re- have either flown without being in the leg November 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

loops or have caught themselves in time before launching. Two said they successfully aborted launches in that condition. I hope they sent in incident reports. I did not, because the problem was found and corrected during normal pre-flight checks, and therefore it does not qualify as an incident. It seems to me that harness designers must take on board this lesson and eliminate the possibility of a pilot being in the harness but not in the leg loops and, therefore, not secured to the glider. Everard Cunion, USHPA #70230

In spite of the technical definition you provide, I would disagree with you that this was not an “incident” and thus should not be officially reported. An “incident” doesn’t have to produce some bad results for it to be worth sharing – in fact, it’s the absence of bad results that makes it an incident rather than an accident! I am glad your friend caught the lack of leg loops before you launched, and that you’ve chosen to share this event with the rest of us in hopes that both manufacturers and

aerotowing: Hang Glide Texas (Chapter 86) in Columbus, and The Hanggliding Society (Hearne) plus Jeff Hunt with Fly Texas/Mexico. My group, Hang Glide Texas, has Dragonflys Aren’t the Only Aerotow conducted aerotow demonstrations for Option! many years at NASA JSC during the (email, 9/6) Ballunar Festival, and has participated C.J., your Editor’s Corner com- as well in the pre-worlds and world ments are usually well accepted, but the championship comps in Big Spring. Fly September issue leaves some question Texas has also been a supporter of the Big regarding the facts. In paragraph 2 you Spring meets. wrote, “Without the trusty Dragonflys to Mark DeMarino, USHPA #31536 pull them aloft, there would be no spectacular hang gliding in Texas, or Florida, I stand corrected, and guilty of incomplete or at many other sites throughout the and overly generalized thinking, obviously. country.” While I agree that Dragonflys My apologies to all those who fly trikes, and have played an important part in aero- to those are towed aloft for spectacular flights towing around the country and in Texas, by non-Dragonfly wings. the trikes have and do their fair share and should be given credit where credit is due. In Texas for the past two or three years Paul Gazis Strikes Again! all of the towing has been done by trike (email, 9/2) aerotowing (not counting the comps or I’m already looking forward to the confly-ins). There are two specific groups in tinuation of “Flight to the Borderlands” Texas that support members’ needs for by Paul Gazis. But even before that, I

have to say that the sentence, “Some moments are so glorious, so overpowering, so overwhelming, that they seize you by the senses and drag you out of the prison of your skull, straight out into the world,” is one of the best sentences I’ve ever read (p. 30 in the September issue). Reading it was like getting struck with the hammer of understanding. Tom McGrath, USHPA #81112

Ryan buzzing launch at the south side of the Point

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Photo: Paul Voight

pilots will use the information to make our flying safer.

Make a Difference: Preserve Free Flight By Steve Onstad, secretary and trustee FFF

The soaring season is coming to a close and flying opportunities for many are limited until next spring; it’s a great time to look back on that XC, pegging out your vario, or the good times in the LZ after an epic day at your favorite site. It is also a time to reflect on just how valuable your flying site is. Pressures from regulatory authorities, property owners, and land development encroach more and more on our flying opportunities. Solutions to protect, enhance or develop our sites often require massive amounts of time and dollars, often more dollars than a club has available. Thanks to contributions to the Foundation for Free Flight (FFF – formerly the U.S. Hang Gliding Foundation) there is a source of help. Your dollars have helped the Foundation award site preservation grants to build roads and outhouses, clear trees, provide legal assistance and make an outright purchase of land. The Foundation’s mission also includes education and training, and we have been able to help fund or support site videos, instructor training, and our world teams. The Foundation is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charitable corporation, which is just the technical way to indicate that your contribution to the Foundation is tax deductible. There are many worthy charities out there but nowhere else can your gift go directly toward preserving and enhancing the sport you love. It is a very personal experience when you step off the ground, but we all know we are part of a very special club that needs to be preserved for all who wish to take that step. The Foundation is dedicated to that mission. So before you turn the page to the next story, consider the options you have if you are able to make a charitable contribution. • Donate when you renew your membership in the USHPA. The USHPA will match your contribution, up to $500. Your employer may also match your contribution, making each dollar worth three. • Direct cash contributions • Appreciated stock – the technical stuff you need is on our Web site (www.ushgf.org – a work in progress) under “Contribute.” This option allows deducting the fair market value of the stock at the time of the gift with no capital gain to report. Always check with your tax advisor. • Appreciated real estate • IRA contributions (for 2007 only) – for those under Required Minimum Distributions. (If you don’t know what this is, you’re younger than 70!)

make the biggest impact, or to one of the restricted funds (site preservation, safety and education), or one of three competition funds (hang gliding, women’s hang gliding, and paragliding). Donations made to these restricted funds are used specifically and only for that purpose. Whatever the size of your contribution, it is welcomed and needed to preserve free flight. Please consider the Foundation for Free Flight for your 2007 (and beyond) charitable contributions. Also, consider the Foundation in your estate planning. Visit our Web site for additional information, or, call any trustee or our executive director, Connie Work, at 888-262-4264 or (559) 338-2370. Help make a difference.

You can make your gift unrestricted by giving to the general fund, which gives the Foundation the most flexibility to November 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Help the Foundation Support Our Competitors By Russ Locke, trustee FFF Photos by Belinda Boulter

The Foundation for Free Flight was pleased to be able to assist the U.S. team with their financial burden from attending the 2007 World Hang Gliding Championships in Big Spring, Texas, last summer. The Foundation granted an initial $1000 and then created a challenge grant whereby the Foundation would match an additional $1500 of funds raised. Competition proponents Steve Kroop of Flytec and Jim Zeiset rallied a number of supportGlen Volk leads the team in to the openive pilots to contribute, and the coming ceremony at the bined effort provided the U.S. team 2007 World Meet in with some $4500 of assistance. Big Spring Congratulations to the U.S. team, which placed 8th in a field of 25 teams! Donations made to the Foundation may be restricted by the donor for specific uses, or the funds may be donated unrestricted, giving the Foundation the most flexibility in placing grant money where it’s needed most. Helping competitors like the U.S. hang gliding team is often a difficult job for the Foundation because most donors do not choose to allocate their donations toward one

The 2007 U.S. team (L to R): Kevin Carter, Phill Bloom (no hat), Chris Zimmerman, Dustin Martin, Mike Barber, Steve Kroop

of the three competition funds (hang gliding competition, women’s hang gliding competition, and paragliding competition). Donors certainly should follow their consciences, but if you would like to foster competitions in furtherance of our sport, consider making your preferences known and allocating your donations to one of the competition funds.

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

From Tibado to Hang Glider: Evolution of a Dream

By Carroll Dee Liverman, Jr. Photos by Pat Liverman

Photo courtesy Tom Sawyer

For as long as I can remember I have dreamed of flying. As a young boy I watched planes and birds and thought how great it would be join them. I often dreamed of flying beside the birds like Superman.

Tom Sawyer flying his Tibado kite

Photo courtesy Tom Sawyer

As a teenager I attended a local water ski show in Belhaven, North Carolina, and witnessed a man fly a Tibado flat kite. The man’s name was Tom Sawyer. I remember wishing I could do that. A few years later, I again saw Tom in a ski

show, but this time he was flying a standard rogallo delta wing that went so high I could hardly believe my eyes. Tom was flying at 2000 feet. Some 35 years later, I had an idle conversation at my job with an intern at work. We were talking about water skiing and kite flying when the young man mentioned that his dad used to fly in local ski shows. I was stunned to discover that I was talking with Tom Sawyer’s son! He told me that his dad still had the old kite, and I should contact him. Getting together with Tom rekindled my boyhood desire to fly. When Tom asked me if I would like to have his 35-year-old Ken Tibado kite, I couldn’t believe my ears. As the owner of Tom’s kite, I was on my way to fulfilling a life-long dream of flying. Tom taught me how to fly the Tibado, and from the first flight I wanted more. There was no turning back. I started to fly the Tibado three years ago, and it only requires a kite, a good boat, and a reliable crew. The kite floats when at rest, and you can take off on a

Tom Sawyer flying an old delta wing

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

Dee flying his custom Tibado

set of skis or barefoot. The pilot controls left-to-right roll, but the boat speed controls pitch. The tow harness is such that it sets the angle of attack and limits yaw. There is no parachute used due to the fact that maximum altitude gain is typically 20 feet. My kite is an original $600 model signed by Ken Tibado, but I retired it when he passed away. I then disassembled the kite so I could measure it and build my own. I upgraded the sail from 1.5-ounce nylon to three-ounce ripstop nylon. After $2500 and help from an engineer, I had a new and improved Tibado which I continue to fly. Flying the Tibado is fun, but I had also seen delta wings towed to 2000 feet. I began searching the Internet for information on delta-wing kites and soon learned that those early wings had evolved into today’s hang gliders. Articles on delta-wing kites inevitably mentioned Bill Moyes, and Tom confirmed that Bill Moyes was a central figure in the development of the delta-wing kite. In fact, Tom said that he and Bill were old friends. I tracked down Bill’s email address and sent him a note about myself and Tom. I caught Bill just before he left Australia to attend the “Moyes Boys 37th Reunion” at Wallaby Ranch in Florida. Bill asked me to invite Tom to the reunion, but Tom was hesitant to attend because of the long drive from North Carolina. My wife and I decided this was

Dee (L) and Bill Moyes

Photo: Malcolm Jones

Dee (center) with instructors Drew and Jonny

Wallaby owner/instructor Malcolm Jones and Dee (flying the glider)

an opportunity I shouldn’t pass up, so I called Tom and asked him whether he would go if he had a ride. He said yes, and I told him to pack his bags. Early the next morning, Tom, my wife, and I left on our adventure to Florida. On my 50th birthday, I met Bill Moyes. Life doesn’t get any better than that! At Wallaby Ranch, I took my first glider flight with the ranch owner, Malcolm Jones. During the tow, we quickly reached 2000 feet, and Malcolm let me control the glider for a while. I have never experienced anything like that in my life. I was finally flying high up there. After landing, I told my wife that no matter what, I was going to learn to fly hang gliders. Nine months later, I was vacationing at Wallaby Ranch and taking lessons. I worked hard every day and absorbed everything I could about hang gliding. Even though my vacation ended, I certainly wasn’t going to stop learning. Malcolm advised me to continue my lessons at Kitty Hawk Kites in North Carolina. Additional research eventually led

Dee (L) and Francis Rogallo

and Drew Cooper. Countless tandem training flights and written tests gradually brought me closer to my dream. When I was finally ready for my first solo flight, the weather was perfect – temperatures hovered at 75 degrees and me to find Francis Rogallo, the “father the winds puffed at seven miles per hour. of modern hang gliding,” 94 years After flawlessly leaving the cart, I asold and living in Kitty Hawk, North cended to 2500 feet and released from the Carolina. I was able to set up a meeting tug. Taking advantage of some thermals with Mr. Rogallo through his daughter and enjoying the view, I found real flight who assured me he would be thrilled much more amazing than my original to talk to me about hang gliding. At dream. Now that my boyhood dream is his home, Francis told stories about his a reality, the sky is the limit for this 50life and the many things he had done, year-old man. including working on projects with Orville Wright! More eager than ever to become a hang gliding pilot, I scheduled an aerotow flight at Kitty Hawk Kites. While I was there my skills developed under the expert instruction of Jonny Thompson

Bill Moyes (L) and Tom Sawyer November 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

SAFE DISTANCE WHEN SCRATCHING

Photo courtesy INDEPENDENCE paragliders

By David Jebb, staff writer

There are plenty of reasons why you might end up low along the ridge battling current wind conditions to remain aloft. The term “scratching” is used by pilots to denote being low, close to the ridge or the ground – in fact so low that your harness bottom or legs may be scratching the ground as you move over it. Yes, scratching is usually just eking out enough lift to stay aloft. This is flying in its most callous conditions. Anytime you are flying close to the ground or ridge surface, caution must be exercised. We have all learned this during our first few days of training. Since scratching does require your full and undivided flying attention, I hope to enhance your understanding of working such arduous conditions to help you avoid a scratching accident. Safety Tip One

We all have witnessed pilots who in extremely light conditions will move very close to the ridge hoping to eke out as much lift as possible in order to stay up. In fact many times you will observe pilots flying with their wingtips within several feet of the cliff’s face. If you were to discuss this flight strategy with them you might normally hear that they were flying close in to maximize their lift. But in fact flying within several feet of the cliff’s face typically does not maximize lift. This is primarily due to a term that many of your have heard: “wind gradient.” Wind that moves over the ground must contend with ground friction, and therefore wind moves slower next to the ground than, say, 30 feet above the ground. If this scientific theory of wind gradient is true for flat ground, then it certainly must be true for the wind moving up the face of a cliff. The dangers of flying too close are obvious, but what might not be obvious is this: The lift will be just as good if not better if you move a little farther away from the face. If you understand the effects of wind gradient, you’ll realize that there is no need to endure the risks of closein flying in order to find the best lift!

Early- or late-day conditions provide smoother, more predictable air for flying close to terrain. November 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

avoided. But if you find yourself unexpectedly in this situation, remember to always leave yourself more ground clearance on the downwind leg. This way if something unexpected occurs, you have more space between you and the ground to deal with the situation. For instance, on the upwind leg your ground speed might be 10 mph and on the downwind leg your ground speed might be 25 mph; obviously ground impact at the higher speed will likely cause more injury.

Photo courtesy the author

Safety Tip Three

Scratching up close to the cliff is risky, and most likely is not where the best lift will be found

Safety Tip Two

When scratching in slightly cross conditions, remember that your ground speed decreases as you are moving in the upwind direction and significantly increases on the downwind leg. Scratching in crosswind conditions is dangerous and should be

When scratching on a marginal-wind day or even a highwind day, try flying with your cliffside leg crossed over the opposite leg. This is a very safe and functional technique since it allows you to counter wind drift simply by rolling your hips to the upwind side and moving away from the ridge without using brakes for steering. If you sustain a significant deflation on the cliff side, your glider may start to rotate into the cliff. Normally a pilot will use a combination of brake and body roll away from the cliff to stop the glider from rotating toward the cliff. With your cliffside leg already crossed over your upwind side, you are in a better position to pull your body over to the inflated-wing side of the harness; since you would be normally hanging mainly from one carabiner in this situation, using your leg to help pull you over to the upwind side of your harness will increase your effectiveness measurably. This is a proactive way to fly when close to the ground, where every second that you can positively affect an adverse situation counts! Safety Tip Four

Flying in very strong conditions, in high winds or in cross conditions is dangerous and should be avoided. Remember that as the wind becomes more cross, the lift is significantly reduced, thereby forcing you to fly closer to the ground in more turbulent conditions. Scratching is usually a result of flying in diminishing winds, but if you are scratching as a result of flying in strong cross conditions then the element of risk is greatly increased. If you find yourself in such conditions, move out into the open area and go land. Remember that as the wind becomes stronger, your personal safety margins should expand. Turbulence is exponentially increased with wind speeds. If the wind speed increases from 15 mph to 30 mph, the turbulence area behind cliffside obstacles expands to four times its previous size and distance. Flying in marginal conditions requires hyper awareness and sensitivity. Gentle sloping grassy hillsides or sandy dunes might be the best place to practice low-level scratching. There are lessons and benefits to be learned from low-level scratching, but this is a skill that must be learned in forgiving conditions over forgiving terrain.

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reported, and it is his opinion that the HANG GLIDING ACCIDENT REPORT launch could have been salvaged had the

Keep Your Nose Down!

By Bacil Dickert

Pilot’s Account

pilot pulled in for airspeed and aggressively corrected for the left turn. Instead the pilot pushed out when already flying slow, making the bad situation even worse. The pilot was very lucky to escape without a scratch. Less than two weeks after witnessing this particular accident, the author was launching from a narrow shallow-tosteep takeoff slot. Upon getting airborne with good control airspeed from an aggressive run and proper nose angle he got turned immediately 45 degrees to the left towards the brush lining the edge of the slot. The author, remembering what he had witnessed less than two weeks previous, aggressively corrected for the left turn and got the glider straightened out and back on course. However, a foot and a half of the left wingtip scraped the brush as he flew away from the mountain; the encounter was captured (and HEARD) on the video that his daughter took of the launch sequence with her digital camera. In summary, we must remain vigilant during the entire launch sequence. We must set the proper angle of attack and maintain it while performing an aggressive launch run, no matter whether the winds are light, medium, or strong. The launch sequence is not over until we are safely clear of solid objects and are flying with plenty of airspeed for control. We must not let complacency creep into our launch technique, or into any stage of our flying for that matter. We must accept the fact that we may have potential flaws in our launch technique, and be open and receptive to constructive reviews from our peers. And when those reviews consistently point out the same flaw, we must return immediately to the training hill to correct that flaw with more launch practice, practice, practice.

“I arrived at launch, a slightly steep slot, ditions that the pilot habitually took off after work at approximately 2:30 p.m. in masked the flaw, lulling the pilot into Conditions were straight in (north) at 5 thinking his launch technique was fine. to 10 mph with some cycles from the left The pilot kept getting away with popping (west). I set up, preflighted and helped an- the nose periodically during the highother pilot launch. I suited up, hooked in, wind launches, which served to reinforce walked to launch, and did a hang check the bad habit. with assistance. I waited through one good cycle to ‘time’ the slight cross. At the beginning of the next good cycle I “I had been told previously that I picked up and balanced the glider, and was popping my nose during my cleared the wire crew. I started my run launch run but I’d never had a but didn’t keep the nose of the glider down and popped the nose. I got airproblem until now.” borne without sufficient airspeed. The glider mushed and did a gradual left Denial is another hazardous attitude turn toward the trees. I continued to push out, hoping to clear the tree line but that can come back to bite a pilot. The did not. I impacted the trees with both scenario might go like this in the mind outside leading edges at approximately of a pilot who is told his or her launch 15 to 20 feet above the ground. I landed technique is in need of improvement: “I in knee/waist-high brush/weeds at the mean, nothing’s happened so far to me. edge of the slot, unhurt except for my And I have been flying for years like pride. Help arrived immediately (six or this. I haven’t blown a launch yet. So eight people) to extricate the glider and my launch technique must be OK then, right?” Or, “Sure, I’ll get back to the help carry it back up to the setup area. “I had been getting used to launching training hill and practice my launches,” in higher winds with a wire crew and but then the pilot goes to the mountains much less run needed. I had been getting instead of the training hill since all his into the habit of a sequence consisting of flying buddies are going and the forecast a three- to four-step launch run, push- is for a soarable day. ing the nose up a little, and climbing out So how does a pilot overcome comfrom launch. I had not been to a training placency and denial? It would be great hill to brush up on my launch technique if pilots could recognize by themselves in many years, especially with a high- without any outside intervention that performance glider in light winds. I had they have become complacent and/or are been told previously that I was popping denying that they have a flaw in their my nose during my launch run but I’d launch technique, before an accident never had a problem until now. It’s back spells it out loud and clear. Unfortunately to the training hill for me to get it right!” the latter occurs much more frequently. It is a scenario that will continue to plague the flying community as long as Accident Analysis This accident is a classic example of humans fly. The author of this analysis was an how hazardous complacency is when piloting any aircraft. The accident pilot eyewitness to the launch accident being had become complacent in his launch technique, routinely launching in higher .aero Please report accidents or incidents that you winds, demanding much less of a run to witness or participate in; the online accident get airborne. Even though the pilot had .aero been warned that his launch technique report is at ushpa.aero/emailacc.asp. had a serious flaw, the high-wind conNovember 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Flight to the Borderlands, Conclusion By Paul Gazis

I heard the sound of a helicopter. I had no relief. For the first time since the clouds well better enjoy it! I didn’t enjoy it, of course, but in way to signal it, or even to see it, and I was had engulfed me three hours earlier, I also perplexed. What were they doing aloft began to believe I would survive. Oh, I some strange way this thought lifted in this weather? Were they looking for me? still had a choice to make – right or left my spirits. It took me at least an hour, perhaps This seemed unlikely, for I’d only been miss- – but this road looked well traveled and ing for two hours; surely this was not long maintained, so I was sure it would lead two, to hike down that road. Its length enough for a search to be organized. In this somewhere. I turned left, since that was was disturbing. I’d come out of the I was correct, for as I found out later, mine the direction downhill, and continued clouds way back in the valley, and there was no way I could ever have made it out marching. had not been the only adventure of the day. Now that I knew I would live, my to the beach. Indeed, the more I saw of Whatever its mission, there was no way the helicopter could help me. I listened to the thoughts turned to the possible conse- the surroundings the more I realized that sound of rotors fading into the distance, then quences of my adventure. These were I’d set down in the only place from which returned my attention to my map. Perhaps not particularly pleasant to contemplate. I could possibly have made it to a trail it contained a clue. I had explored five dead I’d been forced to abandon my glider, – anywhere else and I’d still be crawling ends. According to my notes, four of these con- which I doubted I would ever see again. through the brush. Even more disturbing tained some kind of artifact: a picnic table, a I had what felt like a bruised knee and was the fact that none of my surroundgarbage can with a newspaper, an aban- a cracked rib. I’d been forced to crawl ings were familiar. This was not the valley doned cooler, and some beer cans. The fifth through poison oak, roll in it, breathe I thought it was. I had flown farther in dead end was empty. Why was it different it, and perhaps even swallow it, for more the clouds than I realized. When we from the others? It was certainly worth an- than an hour. Such is the extent of my reconstructed my flight, weeks later, we allergy to this hellish weed that I could determined that I must have been in the other inspection. look forward to a month of agony, and clouds for at least five minutes, during I slogged back up the trail to this final possibly hospitalization. My adventure which I flew for five miles, crossed three cul de sac and examined it closely, to was unlikely to help our relationship ridges, and lost 1500 feet (!!!) of altitude. When I reached the end of the road, discover that it was not a dead end after with the local landowners – it might even all. What I had thought was the end of put some pressure on the site, in which where it met Route 1, I received a furthe trail was actually a large fallen tree. case the pilot community would not be ther shock. There was no beach here. This was a substantial obstacle, but noth- pleased. I had little to look forward too, There was no place to land at all. The ing compared with my desperate crawl and I was cold, damp, and miserable as I valley ended in a sheer cliff that dropped straight to the ocean. Even if I had manthrough the brush. A brief scramble got limped down the hill. Then I had a strange insight. Paul, I aged somehow to fly out to the mouth of me over it. On the other side, the trail thought, this is an Adventure! People pay the valley, I would have flown straight continued up the hill into the woods. Another quarter hour of march- money to read books or watch movies about into a box. I turned north – I know not why, since ing brought me to a forest service road. adventures like these, and here you are When I saw the road, I felt a wave of having one (almost) for free! You’d bloody I still thought I was north of the LZ – and limped down the shoulder of the highway. Then I rounded a corner to receive my final surprise. Far in the distance – almost, it seemed, on the very horizon – I could see rocks that I recognized as the ones that lay offshore of the campground. They were at least five miles away! I had thought I was flying west in the clouds, but I had actually flown several miles to the south! This was most definitely food for thought. Suppose I had turned a few degrees more, or a few degrees less, as could easily have happened? In the former case I would have emerged miles offshore, gone down in the ocean, and drowned. In the latter, I would have crashed

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downwind into some nameless ridge far back in the coast range and they’d never even have found my body. Neither of these possibilities was particularly comforting, so I turned my attention to the problem of getting back to the campsite. It was too far to walk, so I would have to hitch a ride. Unfortunately, the odds that a bedraggled pilot, his clothes tattered and shredded by a long crawl through the brush, might hitch a ride late in the day on the California coast at the end of a weekend are slim. Twenty-two cars passed without slowing down, and I could imagine the same conversation in each one. “Oh, look, Harold! There’s a man by the side of the road waving for help!’ “I don’t know, Esmerelda, he looks like another one of those hippie drug-addict illegal immigrants with deviant sexual practices that our pastor warned us about. I’ll bet he’s even a Democrat! We’d better not stop!” “Oh, Harold, I’m glad you are here to protect me!” Eventually I came to a turnoff in which three cars were parked. These offered better scope for requesting assistance since they were stationary, and I might actually hope to engage their occupants in conversation, but I realized that I would have to chose my prospects carefully. The two beautiful women seemed unlikely – that sort of thing only works in the movies; in the real world, they would be certain to flee at the approach of an injured stranger. The retired couple were right out – i.e. “Harold!” “Quick, Esmerelda! Get the old.45 I used to carry back during the Fillipino Insurrection!” BLAM! Et cetera.

That left the two burly fellows in the Mustang convertible with Midwestern license plates. This seemed promising. They would have little reason to fear a lone stranger, and tourists from the Midwest might be less likely to brush me off as a panhandler. Still, I considered my words carefully as I approached them. “Excuse me,” I said. “I’m a hang glider Pilot and I Crashed a few miles south of here. Could you possibly give me a ride a few miles north to my camp? It’s only a few miles.” I was careful to get the words “pilot” and “crash” out as soon as possible, before they had a chance to ignore me. It worked. I could see the thoughts running through their heads: Tattered clothes... unsteady gait... matted hair... pilot... crash... he’s probably a hippie drug-addict illegal immigrant with deviant sexual practices like our pastor warned us... wait a second. Pilot? Crash! Could this guy be telling the truth?

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They didn’t seem entirely sure they believed me, but my two nameless rescuers were still willing to give me a ride. I never did learn their names, and I doubt they will ever read this tale, but if they ever do – thanks, guys! You did a good deed that day! The conversation during the ride back to the campground was somewhat strained. This was understandable, I think, given the circumstances. “So, you, uh, fly hang gliders?” “Uh, yes.” “Is it fun?” “Well... uh... usually.” Fortunately for my benefactors, the ride was short. We arrived at the Sand Dollar day-use area to find an ambulance in the parking lot.

“Let me off here,” I said. “They’re waiting for me.” My rescuers obliged with what I suspect was a sigh of relief and sped off, perhaps to return to the Midwest with a tale to tell. Meanwhile, I limped over to the ambulance, which I discovered was not waiting for me after all. It seemed they had come here for Dan, who had been rotored into Sand Dollar LZ, suffered a concussion, and been airlifted to a hospital for observation, getting a ride in the helicopter I’d heard several hours before. But they were glad to see me, for they’d known a pilot was still missing. They took my name, gave me the address of the hospital, then sped off into the evening. There’s not much more to tell. I collected Dan’s gear and the relevant phone numbers. Then, since I had no way to recover my wing, I drove home to make the necessary phone calls and seek medical attention myself. The Adventure was finally over. Still, in a very real sense, the story will never be entirely over. Such stories never are. The gods had picked me up, decided I was too small, and thrown me back into the world. As Ernest K. Gann once wrote, I had peeked behind the veil, seen what some dead men have seen, and

returned to tell the story. One cannot help but be changed by such an experience. I felt, and I hope I will always feel, strangely privileged. Over the next several weeks I moved to a different apartment. I escaped from the clutches of the companion who caused me such distress. I even spent some of the money I’d been saving for the future on things that I wanted now – a practice I’ve tried to continue. I also found it easier to face crises at work and in my life. This isn’t a life-or-death situation, I would tell myself. It isn’t even close! I know, because I know what a real life-or-death situation is like! It’s a useful standard of comparison. I even managed to recover my glider. I did, after all, have this great map, complete with a list of the altitudes of every major fork in the trail. But it appears that I dropped my nose cone back at the crash site. It is almost certainly still there, so if anyone needs a spare nose cone for a Sport 150E Full Race, I know where you can find one. Hey, I’ve even got a map...

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One For the

Record Books:

The 2007 U.S.

Paragliding

Nationals

Photo: Josh Morell

By Rob Sporrer

Marty DeVietti beginning the longest task in U.S. paragliding nats history November 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

This past June, two big U.S. paragliding competitions were held in consecutive weeks. Mike and Gail Haley and their cadre of dedicated volunteers, along with Kevin Bernacki who served as comeet director at the Nationals, made it all possible. Two weeks of uninterrupted competition, at two venues, incited considerable discussion among pilots in the weeks leading up to the events. Some folks were upset that the meets were being run without a day off between them for travel and rest. Many were skeptical about the nationals being held in Lakeview, Oregon, which is renowned for its very windy conditions and the infamous shallowsloped Black Cap launch, which offers only a small window to find a thermal and connect before having to land and hurry back up the hill for a re-light. Lakeview was windy as predicted, but the Black Cap launch was less daunting than some had feared, and with 10 pilots successfully completing the longest task in U.S. paragliding nationals history (145 km – about 87 miles), it would be hard to argue that the 2007 Nats was anything less than successful. The bar has been raised in the United States. Making goal every day no longer guarantees a standing in the top ten. You needed to race if you wanted to see your name near the top of the list on the scoring sheet in the morning! Here’s how the three tasks at the U.S. Nationals shook down. Task 1 was an 84-km race from Black Cap to a turnpoint 50 km to the north, then 32 km back to the south, and a final four-km leg back into the wind to the north. Nobody made goal on this task. The first turnpoint, Ennis, proved to be challenging, and getting to – or near – Ennis took a good part of the day for most pilots. Although there just wasn’t enough daylight left after pilots hit the Ennis turnpoint, the day still proved to be valid. Kyndel Banister won the day on his Mac Para Magus 4; his bonus points for leading during the race placed him ahead of Josh Riggs, who actually flew farther on his Airwave Magic 4. Marty DeVietti won the “last back to HQ” award, after going deep into the backcountry on his Airwave FR3 and landing only five km

A small gaggle over the Black Cap launch Photo: Karl Decker

Targa prototype, Brazilian pilot Frank Brown was second on his Sol Tracer, and Dean Stratton third on his UP Targa 3. Meredyth Malocsay was the last pilot into goal after marking lift for the boys all day on her Ozone Addict. Australian Peter Warren also raced well on his Niviuk Artik, finishing 11th on the day. These last two pilots proved the task was doable for DHV-2 gliders if you knew how to climb well and fight the good fight. Task 3 was one for the record books: 145 km with five turnpoints The task was the longest ever called in U.S. paragliding nationals history, and 10 pilots would find themselves at goal and in the record book at the end of the day.

Casey Meeks getting it out front

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

Photo: Karl Decker

Photo: Kevin Biernacki

in the first part of the race would force them to fly committed lines over tiger country, and would also make logistics and retrieval options a nightmare for the chase vehicles. Cut-off, about 20 km east of the start cylinder, was chosen as the first turnpoint, but the strong south-southwest flow made it challenging to tag. Pilots found good climbs to above 12,000 feet in strong lift that drifted them to the northeast, but then, after climbing out, most found nothing but sinking air and a stiff headwind as they left on glide toward Cut-off. Some landed in the enDean Stratton chanted forest and had a bit of hiking. The pilots who tagged Cut-off found a behind the leader but a long hike from climb near the turnpoint, and many got any drivable road. as high as 16,500 feet in the convergence Task 2 presented a challenge for the unleashing in the valley close to the town task committee. Typically the commit- of Plush. Nineteen pilots – all but a handtee attempts to make the hardest part ful of those who tagged the turnpoint of the task toward the end of the race, – completed the remaining 45-km route which often means an upwind leg to goal. to goal at Flagstaff Lake. That handful However, the southwest wind direction wished they’d tanked up in the convermade it difficult to construct an “ideal” gence before getting into race mode! route. A task that sent pilots downwind Josh Cohn won the day on his UP

Photo: Rob Sporrer

Photo: Josh Morell

Cliff Curry gets away

Dean Stratton, Kari Castle and Frank Brown

Photo: Matt Beechinor

Marty DeVietti over goal after flying the 145-km Task 3 course

at the turnpoint, and Cut-off took many pilots out of the race once again. Those who did get this first turnpoint still had over 120 km to make goal. British pilot Jamie Messenger was the overall point leader going into the final day after two fourth-place finishes on the first two tasks. He had a good start and got away early on his Ozone RO7. Jamie stayed out front for a good part of the day but ended up landing 37 km short of goal. Some of the pilots who made goal were patient and worked together in small gaggles, while others made gutsy calls – charging ahead, leaving lift and getting low believing they would find another climb before hitting the deck. The final glide came down to Frank Brown, Dean Stratton, and Dave Prentice, who finished in that order. Task 3 turned out to be the final round of the comp as the wind took hold for the rest of the week. A task was attempted on the last day, but it was canceled by Mike Haley and Kevin Bernacki because of unsafe conditions due to strong winds. Josh Cohn and Matt Dadam got on course that day and landed going backwards; Josh confirmed later at headquarters that canceling the day was the This long task was similar to Task 2, right call. Brazilian Frank Brown was the overwith Cut-off as the first turnpoint, and a long downwind run with a string of way- all winner; Dean Stratton took second points heading northeast. We saw a whole place and was crowned the 2007 U.S. new strategy and different lines on this national champion. The awards party task as opposed to what we had seen on was a great time. Gail Haley got a hot tip the previous day. This time, many pilots from Steve Roti and booked the Moon worked to get upwind of Cut-off before Mountain Ramblers. Eric Reed led out gliding toward it. Although the low-level as we all went into a frenzy and ripped it wind seemed to be more west on the way up dancing till the wee hours on a warm to Cut-off, it was still strong southwest Oregon night.

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Marty DeVietti 75 km out on Task 3 Photo: Matt Beechinor

Sam Crocker ready to get high Photo: Josh Morell

Jan Voegli climbing out Photo: Karl Decker

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2007 U.S. Nationals Final Results

(full results at mphsports.com) Overall 1. Frank Brown, Sol Tracer 2. Dean Stratton, UP Targa 3 3. Kyndel Banister, Mac Para Magus 4 4. Jamie Messenger, Ozone wing 5. Matt Dadam, Gin Boom Sport 6. Matt Beechinor, UP Trango 3 7. Marty DeVietti, Airwave FR3 8. Dave Prentice, Gradient Avax SR7 9. Hayden Glatte, Gin Boomerang Sport 10. Josh Riggs, Airwave Magic 4 Serial Class 1. Peter Warren, Niviuk Artik 2. Tim Kuenster, Gin Zoom Race 3. Tim O’Neill, Gradient Aspen 2

Photo: Josh Morell

Women 1. Kari Castle, UP Targa 3 2. Meredyth Malocsay, Ozone Addict 3. Cherie Silvera, Gradient AVAX XC

Riss Estes looking for love

Masters Class 1. Mike Steed, Nova Tycoon 2. Jack Brown, Advance Omega 7 3. Tim O’Neill, Gradient Aspen 2 The 10 pilots who completed the 145-km record-setting task on Day 3: 1. Frank Brown, Sol Tracer 2. Dean Stratton, UP Targa 3 3. Dave Prentice, Gradient Avax SR7 4. Kyndel Banister, Mac Para Magus 4 5. Brad Gunnuscio, UP Targa 3 6. Matt Beechinor, UP Trango 3 7. Marty DeVietti, Airwave FR3 8. Matt Dadam, Gin Boomerang Sport 9. Hayden Glatte, Gin Boomerang Sport 10. Josh Riggs, Airwave Magic 4

Lakeview winners November 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

“Umm, well, you know, the thing is…” A Profile of Geoff Loyns, 1951-2007 By Connie Locke Photos courtesy Geoff ’s friends and family

Geoff on the day of his last hang glider flight, Dunlap, California, 2003

spend most weekends in flight. One of the things I remember about Geoff was how meticulous he was in preparing for flight. Geoff took extraordinary care of his equipment, he checked all the weather information, and he maintained an incredibly detailed flight Geoff waiting for a tow on his homemade tow log, which he referred back to on a regusystem, 1994 lar basis. Geoff’s standard advice to new Geoff Loyns began hang gliding in pilots, often heard over the radio, was, Wales in the early 1970s. But his love “Turn when the beepy thing goes off.” for flight began even earlier; his sister He was always willing to help fellow Geraldine recalls that Geoff’s room was pilots, share information, and encourage decorated with model planes and gliders those in need. Juan Laos writes: “Once from a very early age. His interest in chas- far above Diablo in a convergence I was ing records brought Geoff to the United in some turbulence. Geoff was on the States in the early 1980s, and he imme- ground somewhere on launch. Geoff diately fell in love with the Owens Valley. must have heard the fear in my voice, and He was also a regular fixture at Dunlap said, ‘Don’t be scared, Juan, just stay in Flight Park in California for a number the lift…’ I can still hear his voice and of years. His work in the Bay Area as a it is still very comforting when I think world-class woodworker allowed him to about it.”

In the early ‘90s Geoff set out to make even more record attempts. He designed and built his own tow system and headed for places like New Mexico and Texas in search of adventure. Geoff achieved many records in hang gliding: • 6/11/86: Distance to goal of 272.19 km – Owens Valley (World, National) • 6/11/88: Distance of 312.86 km – Mt. Elden, Flagstaff, Arizona (National) • 7/26/88: Out-and-return distance of 310.302 km – Owens Valley (Joint World Record with Larry Tudor, USA, National) • 8/18/88: Speed over a triangular course – 25 km at 30.401 kph – Dunlap Flight Park, California (World, National) • 6/28/90: 202.618 km distance via one turn point – Walt’s Point/

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

me at PO Box 519, Dunlap, CA 93621, connie@lockelectric.com, or by telephone at (559) 338-2621. Geoff will be sorely missed. He brightened our lives, broadened our horizons, and challenged us all to greater heights. Geoff at Dunlap, California

Jim Herd provided the initial report on Geoff’s death in the Pilot Briefings section of the October magazine. He sent the following update on September 6.

enough to be sharing the sky on the same day, part of the fun was hearing Geoff’s Horseshoe Meadow to Coaldale radio reports of his progress and the Junction, Nevada USA (National) weather and the terrain that he used to Web site: “A Tribute to Geoff” • 7/3/90: 231.813 km distance via reach his reporting position.” Jennifer Ware (my wife) has created Geoff’s own words on his change of a Web site (www.ourairport.org/geoff one turn point (National) • 6/27/91: 439.84 km open dis- wing: “A sailplane is a hoot – our after- .html) containing a compilation of most of tance – Big Spring Air Park to noon milk run is launch Minden about the material we have available. It should east of Highway 287, Texas USA 1:00, turn Cerro Gordo about 4:00 and provide a great summary for anyone home by 6:00. You have to cinch down unable to attend the celebrations and a (National) the seatbelts as you come into Boundary memento for those who did. The mateGeoff had 2600 hang gliding hours, Peak on the way out. It is a fun 650 ki- rial on the Web site is quite extensive 19,300 cross-country miles, 397 cross- lometers, no crew, no driving back in the and quite moving, so find a quiet corner country flights (66 of those being over early hours of the morning and hitting when you have a half-hour to spare. And 100 miles), and had achieved seven UK deer, and in the airport bar for a cold one a glass of wine or a pint of real ale might national records. He was the second pilot by 6:30. Oh, how sweet it is.” be helpful. On 7/07/07 Geoff had a very lucky day: to be awarded the FAI Gold badge in a hang glider (which requires that the pilot He flew in his sailplane from Minden, all Celebrations of Geoff’s life complete an altitude gain of 3000 meters, the way across Nevada, past the Utah Fremont, California: Even though a distance flight of over 300 km, and a border, and then back to Minden for a Geoff had been living in Nevada for eight 1000-km flight. His flight was 8 hours, years, about 40 people showed up in duration flight of five hours). In November of 1998, after complet- 45 minutes, and 44 seconds in length and Fremont, California, on Saturday, August ing his first solo in a sailplane, Geoff he only spent 26 percent of his time in 33 25. It was a mix of the old hang gliding switched to sailplanes when his good thermals circling. crowd and about eight of Geoff’s work So, how could it happen that a pilot colleagues from the outrageously luxufriend Jim Herd had a severe hang gliding accident. Geoff moved to Minden, of this caliber has an accident that can’t rious homes they construct in Atherton, Nevada, in order to continue his flying be explained? Speculation helps with California. Also notable were the dreams. He carried his intense flying the grieving process and it is a power- Purnells, who were “friends of a friend” standards with him as he converted to ful thought process to make us all better and fellow Brits, and Jim Schoenborn, sailplanes. Bob Semans offers this per- pilots and possibly prevent a repeat trag- a triple-seven airline pilot based in Salt spective of Geoff: “Because of his skill edy. The autopsy revealed little except to Lake City who’s a recent addition to the and understanding of soaring conditions, tell us that it was an instant event and our Minden soaring fraternity. on the days he flew, most often he was good friend did not suffer. There were The formal presentation was an imthe pilot who flew the furthest. After the several attempts to retrieve the GPS data provement on what was presented at day’s flying, it was always a treat to hear loggers that were on board, but due to the Minden the week before, and this crowd him excitedly recount what he had found altitude, high temperatures, and extreme was boiling with funny stories. It was and seen during his flight. If I was lucky terrain most of those recovery attempts almost a roast for Geoff! Russ Douglas failed. Jim Herd provides more detailed closed the formal part with a rousing information on the salvage attempts in rendition of “Shame and Scandal in his sidebar to this article. the Family” – a Geoff favorite. (See the The light of Geoff’s life was his 11- “Web tribute” to hear the song. If you year-old granddaughter Kimberley. At don’t know the song you will get a good this time I am working to assemble laugh.) for her a scrapbook about her grandfaAt least half the attendees then adther’s life in the United States entitled journed to a pizza joint and the celebra“Kimberley, let me tell you about your grand- tion continued. It was a great opportunity Geoff after a 70-mile flight from Big Spring, dad…”. If you have any stories or pictures to mingle one-on-one, and hear more Texas, 1994 that you would like added please contact about segments of Geoff’s life that were Geoff in his sailplane, May 2007

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

a mystery. It was almost like Geoff had four distinctly separate Salvage efforts lives (Wales, hang gliding, sailplanes, and work) and each “life” We all had hoped to learn more from the wreckage, perched rarely crossed paths with the others, until now. As people de- about a mile above the valley floor on the side of Boundary parted, I heard several folks remark that they felt much better. I Peak. (Note that the valley floor is already higher than the guess that is the definition of success. summit of Mount Snowdon in Wales or Ben Nevis in Scotland A celebration in Wales is still in planning and will likely – the highest points in all of Britain!) See the Web tribute for a happen early in the fall. We hope to post a report on this, and spatial orientation to the crash area. perhaps add some materials to the tribute Web site, for those of As previously reported, the first assault on foot failed. Then you stateside. So take a look at the Web site again in a month Rick Walters and his brother Jeff tried again. Despite heat exor so. haustion, they got up to the altitude and walked around the area but never found the wreck site. The third attempt was an offiFamily update cially sponsored effort by the NTSB (National Transportation Geoff’s family, and the James family, are all now back in Safety Board) and the insurance company, involving a profesWales. They are planning the fall celebration of Geoff’s life sional salvage crew and a helicopter. A full report is included on for the entire Welsh contingent. As Martin Pingel said in a the Web tribute, including photos. Basically, the wings and rear video tribute, they will miss Geoff especially on the December fuselage are the only recognizable pieces. And the most critidate when he was already ticketed for his Christmas visit with cal parts – the “black-box data recorders” – were retrieved but them. are too damaged to yield any new information. This is greatly Some of the family have intentions to return to the USA, disappointing. The NTSB guy who investigated the crash site concluded perhaps next summer. They will be seeking to thank those who have done tremendous work to help them deal with the over- informally that the impact was instantaneous and almost verwhelming tasks. They repeatedly said that the outpouring of tical. Despite several theories, the true cause of the accident help not only made their work easier but also was the best pos- remains unknown at this time. You can eventually view the official NTSB report via their Web site, but this may be months sible tribute to the mark Geoff had left behind. away. There is still a small chance of getting better answers as a few leads continue to be followed.

Slipping the surly bonds of earth . . . You’re looking through a portal into another world, traveling through another dimension; a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. It's a journey into a wondrous land whose only boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead — your next stop, the Flylight Zone.

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FF ee rr

TT ee rr rr yy

Terry Ferrer submitted this as a potential cover for the October “artwork” issue – complete with the pesky white box for the address label!

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

The Vilcabamba valley

Ecuador:

An Adventure in the Rain By Alicia Harmon Photos by Rob Whittall

It’s raining again, hard. This has become an increasing event in both time and volume ever since our arrival in Ecuador. We ran from the rain in Quito hoping to find drier conditions up north or at least a chance to stretch our wings on Imbabura’s 4609 meters. Instead we spent a few days huddled in our cosy room at a mere 2500 meters, reading books, listening to music and fighting over the side of the bed farthest away from the cold brick wall. I am going to give this to you straight. Our entire month in Ecuador did not result in huge flights or long distances – no record highs nor life-saving lows. In fact, every flight Rob and I had, aside from the coastal sites, went something

like this: Get up crack-of-ass early, catch a taxi to the trailhead, hike for a few hours until flying off the summit becomes totally impossible and huck off wherever we can before we are either blown out or clouded in…which was the case in most of our flights down. It was so much freaking fun! It was Rob’s inspired idea to go for a month hike-and-fly trip in Ecuador. I was leading a two-week trip down there at the end of March so we decided on the month of April due to availability more than sensibility. We did our research and were aware that we had picked a month that bordered the wet and dry seasons… but we were hoping our optimistic natures would tip the balance in our favor.

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

Up, up and wait in Vilcabamba – good thing this gear is ultralight!

...and jungle, side-by-side

which lasted the entire trip, following us from Quito to Imbabura, Vilcabamba and Ilinizas. We only just barely outran it for a while on the coast in Canoa and Crucita. When the weather cooperates, the flying potential in Ecuador is vast. The only obstacles are the numerous power lines that seem to cross the country more like a disease spreading than a planned route. Rob and I traversed most of the country and we were both impressed by the diversity of the people and topography. You can travel just a few hours to go from coast, to highlands, to cloud forest to Amazon. One of the Earth’s most varied groups of flora and fauna still exists in the jungles, as do many of the country’s indigenous populations. The country might be small, but you can spend years there and barely scratch the surface. Flying inn Canoa, Ecuador’s coast... We started up north at Imbabura to Besides, we only had that month available. not believing we were carrying flying train our legs for the hiking and our lungs Our idea was to hike three volcanoes and gear at all – we looked like climbers since for the altitude. Although we attempted launch from the summits with our new our gear also included ice axe, rope and the mountain twice we never continued Ultralight wings which Matt Gerdes and crampons (thanks to assistance from Bill to the summit. There was no point, really: the boys at Ozone had sorted out for our Belcourt and Black Diamond). The summits were perhaps hikeable, but adventure. This Ultralight glider is the The three volcanoes we chose were never huckable. However, I did have one smallest and certainly the lightest wing all around 6000 meters: Cotopaxi, of the most memorable flights of my life I have had the pleasure to fly. It weighs Chimborazo and Cayambe. Well, we on our second flight off. After a hard few a total of 2.5 kilos and the lightweight didn’t hike a single one of those, but we hours up we were forced to admit that we reversible harness/backpack doesn’t add did manage to hike-and-fly four times, fly would only be able to climb a bit higher much more. It is so small and inconspicu- six new sites, and pioneer three of them. than we had on the previous morning. ous that we had people (including pilots) The problem of course was the wet stuff, The clouds were engulfing the valley and,

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

Working the ridge in Canoa

finally, us. We got ready anyway, turning our reversible backpacks into harnesses. We had already attached the speed bar and spread out our new Ultralights the day before but I still took time to enjoy the crinkly sound of the brand-new fabric as we hurried to be off at the first opportunity that presented itself. We might not get another; we might have to walk down. We waited patiently, hands freezing in thick gloves that made keeping hold of the thin risers a challenge, when suddenly it happened – a clearing! GO! I set up a reverse and had a flawless takeoff, following Rob out. I flew directly over the heads of some poor hikers on their way up. They almost certainly had to hike down in cloud and rain; what would take them hours would be over for us in 15 minutes. It was a matter of heading for the open patches and doing some slick cloud dodging.

A crinkly new wing at Imbabura

Magical moments, Imbabura November 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

In what could be described as one of the most mystical and serene moments in my life, Rob and I glided through those misty clouds that allowed us to just stay on their edges. Each time, as they were about to close in, a parting would appear and I would effortlessly slip through to the next layer. I looked over at Rob, glad that he was wrong about a possible bumpy ride going out. I gave him a genuine grin for the camera, but since I was much higher and behind him it’s not a great photo. Still, Rob was able to capture the essence of that day despite the lack of sun. After a decent warm-up we headed back to Quito to do some basic housekeeping tasks. Having my beer on the main drag, I waited out the afternoon showers and watched the endless parade of tourists from everywhere: long darkhaired Quito cowboys, high-heeled halfdressed Quieten chicas, and groups led by frantic flag-waving bullhorn-yelling guides. It was time to move on. We took another hellish two-day bus journey to the south of Ecuador to Vilcabamba, another ex-pat haven. Historically Vilcabamba is reputed to have curative powers in the water and the lifestyles, with locals living into their 100’s. I am not sure about those claims but I know that the curative powers of flying in that region could be very beneficial to every pilot’s health. Rob and I had a plan to fly off an ecofarm called El Condor that was situated high in the mountains in a wide valley that seemed invitingly flyable. We spent

a few days watching the stormy weather and enjoying the local sights. When a break in the weather occurred, we immediately made for the improvised launch area. We waited about three hours on the hillside for the valley to heat up after the hard downpour the night before. Most of the time we spent watching butterflies shoot past us and keeping a vigilant eye on trees for any movement. The Rodrigo, Alicia and the thermals were light and not all what we ancient truck were hoping for, so Rob kept insisting sity. We took the best cycle we could on patience. We were both pacified by the lovely and started to thermal up. I flew out of view as we watched the clouds form, the thermal searching in the wrong didie and then reform stronger, closer. rection and when I looked back I found The valley is picture-perfect in its va- Rob expertly soaring up and away. riety of greens, differing contours and Cursing myself but happy that Rob mix of local and European flavors. The was up, I struggled to make it happen air is clean, a result of the area being below. I searched for lift over the undersmall, remote and partially protected by construction water towers, much to the Pedacarpus national park on much of the delight of the workers, and then attempttown’s borders. There is horse riding, San ed to fly the ridge in search of more lift Pedro ceremonies, and food from Italy, – without a vario and in a shaded area. The dark clouds had engulfed the Mexico, Germany and, if you look hard, Ecuador. What there isn’t is an official sun and it was obvious that rain was on its way. So after scratching around and flying site. Well, this one would do. The rain clouds behind us pushed our seeing Rob safely high above the next departure time forward through neces- ridge, I landed in our predetermined LZ. It was a race to get the glider packed before the rain hit. Rob spiraled out of the sky, choosing to land with me and beat the rain. According to Rodrigo, one of the water-tower workers who gave us a lift back to town, we were the second ones to paraglide in Vilcabamba and the first from that site. Rodrigo had lived there his entire life and apparently had owned the same truck for a century or so as it was tied together in places, a literal furnace inside and beyond rust. I’m not sure if Rodrigo’s flight facts are true, but regardless, it was a fun flight from a new site. It satisfied the itch, and so we headed off for our final destination, Las Ilinizas.

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and started to climb. The winds were picking up to about 25-35 mph. I looked apprehensively at the rocks nearby and concentrated on getting it right the first time. I did, and was following Rob when he suddenly got plucked straight up just above the low cloud layer. Someone once described it as God reaching down and pulling you up by your hair or, in Rob’s case, his bald noggin. I was headed The market in Esperanza straight for the elevator so I told myself This flight turned into our most des- to sit back and enjoy the ride. I thought perate attempt to get down before we got briefly about my lack of a reserve and soaked. The excitement of actually pull- then firmly put it out of my mind, telling ing it off in intense conditions made for a myself to just fly the wing. By the time I arrived all I found was very memorable experience. We arrived at La Montańero hostel in the afternoon sink and a nasty deflation that I caught and found the town – two shops, no res- and then continued to follow Rob. He taurant – to be seemingly deserted. There thermaled for a few turns but by the time was a sense that tumbleweeds might I arrived nothing remained – typical! We blow through and doors rattle on their covered a bit more ground before making hinges at any moment. It was definitely a dramatic descent into a cow pasture, off-season, and so it was without much fast and paratrooper-like. Rob actuhope that we spent ten bucks to get to La ally stalled his wing at the last moment, Virgin trailhead the following morning dropping about 15 feet and immediately and try our luck. Rob mumbled concern running forward using the inflation to over the strong cross winds and what hop over a fence to land in the same field would surely be bad weather. Windy, as I was in. The owners of the field come over to cross, no prospects for launching high up inspect and helpfully told us that the and a nasty chance of rain later: perfect! Rob, always on super speed half a town was only a half-hour walk away. mile ahead, yelled in triumph about two We packed up nice and relaxed, now that hours later: He’d found a launching site. death was out of the equation for that day. He had no intention of climbing up six Rob held my hand and we had a lovely hours only to have to walk back down walk in the countryside discussing our or sit in the cold rain – we had to take favorite subject: “Honey, what adventure our chances and fly now or nada. The launch was facing the right direction but far from the summits of the Ilinizas. We set up looking at the fantastic views of Cotopaxi across the valley shrouded in low cloud coverage. We obviously needed to launch quickly before our valley filled in and we had to do a multi-hour walk down in the rain. So Rob put away his camera, calling this a suicide flight and not a photographic opportunity, and muttering to himself, “Rob, what are you doing? Are you really going to launch your wife into this?” The idea was to clear the rocks on launch, follow the ridge to the end, dive below the cloud layer that was forming a solid blanket over the valley below and then land safely. In theory, it was a solid flight plan, but in practice, it was a stroke Las Ilinizas, before the clouds of luck. Rob launched in a calm cycle November 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

should we do next?” I kept glancing back at the Ilinizas; only the south had cloud coverage while the north route, where we wanted to go, was still clear of cloud and taunting. I expressed remorse at not attempting more of the climb but Rob kept insisting we were lucky to get off before it all went to hell and that we’d come back in season to try again. He couldn’t have been more correct as, much to my chagrin, the rain arrived and all the mountains disappeared into thick dark cloud the moment we stepped on the bus for Quito. All too quickly Rob’s time in Ecuador was up, and he had to return home while I remained for another three weeks. “See you for kiting in two months, luv,” he whispered, smiling, winking, and holding me close before getting into the taxi. I smiled back, content with the realization that I am finally at the level flying where I can be confident at unknown sites, land accurately, and best of all, I get to share this adventure with my best friend. I realize I’m fortunate and am thankful in the extreme! I am also, in a way, glad that nothing went according to plan – what kind of adventure would that have been? As Rob’s taxi pulled away it started to rain…but just a little.

Tech Tips: Dealing With a Cravat By Mike Steed, with tips from Brett Hardin and Brad Hill Composite photo by Kevin Biernacki

A paraglider can go into a number of undesirable configurations. A frontal collapse will often quickly fix itself. Big ears or an asymmetric collapse tend to come out eventually but will recover more quickly with proper input. A line tangle may be impossible to fix in flight. This article is about cravats, a situation that falls between the extremes – it may be difficult to remedy in flight, but can often be fixed with the right input. Kevin’s photos show my cravat in front of Blackcap launch on the last day of the 2007 nationals. The image is two sequential frames spliced together to show the flight path. This cravat was near the limit for being able to fly straight. Unlike an asymmetric collapse, where you may be able to fly straight with half a wing, a cravat is often pinned in such a way that it generates lots of drag and will turn the wing strongly. If this happens to you, what will you do?

experimenting with brief increases. In the second photo my brakes are near the stall limit, but this wasn’t held continuously. You should weight-shift toward the good side, but this will be difficult if most of your weight is already hanging from one riser. If this is the case, you can press on the good riser with an open hand to lever yourself up. This is easier said than done if you need to hold some brake at the same time; you may need to use the opposite hand. Another trick, if you don’t need much brake, is to pull a big ear on the opposite tip; this won’t eliminate the turn tendency, but should level up the harness. In the photos I was applying some of the “wrong” brake – maybe trying in vain to coax the tip out, but also unaware that my instinctive “feel” for brake pressure was now totally misleading. (Some acro pilots will fix a cravat by using both hands to haul in several meters of brake on the bad side – this sounds sketchy to those of us who are not Some suggestions comfortable with spins and riser twists.) Fly the wing first. In my situation an uncontrolled turn Can you fly straight? If not, you probably don’t have time could have ended badly. Even if you have lots of altitude, it is for the steps above. Do you have the altitude and skills to do much easier to prevent an uncontrolled turn than to stop one. a full stall? That may sort out a serious mess, but it isn’t a sure Apply as much opposite brake as you can without risking a stall, cure. Otherwise, find your reserve. Decide and act now, before the steep spiral and loss of altitude. About your only choice is where on your path the reserve will open. If you are able to control the turning, there are less drastic measures. Check the wing. Is the tip knotted somehow, or simply draped across other lines? Is there a line over the top of the wing? How much of the wing is disabled? Find the stabilo line, the one that connects to the end of the malfunctioning tip. Be aware that reaching for it will shift your weight the wrong way and cause any turn to worsen. Is the stabilo snug, or hanging slack? In the cravat shown, the tip was draped quite low across the other lines and there was about a meter of slack in the stabilo. You need to pull on the stabilo, but first you will have to remove any slack. I tried to wrap the slack around one hand, but using both hands (and holding the brake at the same time) would have been more effective. Tug on the stabilo a couple of times. You may need to pull in some line and try again. Don’t forget to watch your heading. If that fails, decide if you prefer to land as-is with limited control, or take a reserve ride. Decide while you are still high enough to throw safely. Who’s At Risk

So, what is your risk of a cravat? Clearly, the higher your wing’s aspect ratio, the more likely it is to snake around and get messed up. Certain line configurations are worse than others, more lines or more forks near the tip probably being worse. Especially troublesome are situations where the wing goes tipforward, such as a frontal collapse followed by a front horseshoe. Consider your wing’s launch behavior – if your wing tends to come up tips-first, you may be at greater risk.

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But even a relatively stubby wing can cravat if it goes slack enough times. So, to prevent a cravat, prevent situations that cause lines to go slack and the wing to wander. Going hands-up in a big collapse to let the wing recover on

its own may be a bad idea, especially on a high-aspect wing. A brief tug on the brakes may make the difference between opening cleanly and leaving a tip draped across your other lines. The specific cravat in the photos was

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caused by a frontal collapse while on full speed bar; I was in a rush to go pimp someone’s thermal. The recovery evidently included a partial horseshoe with insufficient brake input. Stepping out of the harness was automatic; I don’t recall doing so. Complicating matters, I was wearing heavy gloves that do not slip out of the brake toggles easily, so all recovery was done with hands through the brake toggles. Once I gathered most of the slack in the stabilo, a barely-effectual tug on the stabilo along with a bump from a thermal popped the cravat out. I have had a smaller cravat that required a stronger tug on the stabilo – probably an indication that in that case the tip was tangled, not simply draped. I have also had a large cravat (tip at mid-wing), caused by excessive pull in a B-stall and subsequent horseshoe. In such a large cravat, use the reserve and survive to fly another day.

Unknown pilot soaring the ridge at Ecola State Park, Oregon Photo: Jason Friesen

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Wills Wing Demo Days 2007

By Felipe Amunategui Photos by Rick Mullins

Wills Wing Demo Days, April ‘07 – lots of airtime to be had!

They came from all over the world to meet friends, to learn scooter towing, to fly and to party! They all left wanting more. Wills Wing celebrated its 10th annual Demo Days at the Wallaby Ranch in style. Through the generosity of Wills Wing, and of Wallaby Ranch’s Malcolm Jones and his crew, a large crowd enjoyed awesome hospitality, amazing food, fantastic parties and terrific educational events. While the conditions were not typical for this time of the year, we flew almost daily. The Ranch was buzzing with pilots from all over the world. French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and English spiced the air during meals and at the evening parties. Pilots from our ancient history mingled with newcomers and comp pilots.

Names withheld in case there were any innocents

Four FAA field officers stopped by unannounced and were treated to Malcolm’s famed hospitality. Their jaws dropped the moment they arrived, and their faces showed their amazement until they left. While the FAA folks were looking around the facility at the equipment and practices, as if on cue a comp gaggle of over 30 pilots raced by overhead. The FAA field officers were in awe! After the tour, an impromptu group sat with the FAA folks to talk about the burdens the LSA (light sport aircraft) regulations impose on hang gliding aerotow practices. The conversation was friendly, informative and went a long ways toward generating good will on both sides. One of the field officers “came out” and shared that he is also a trike pilot and that he is starting a scooter-tow operation in his home state. All this took place amidst a festive atmosphere, but it was not all fun and games, or at least not all games. Steve Wendt conducted a four-day scooter-tow clinic at no cost to participants. This was possible through the generosity of Wills Wing and the Ranch. Attendees raved about Steve’s enthusiasm, thoroughness, and masterful ability to share his vast knowledge. High-quality visual aids and written

materials enhanced the theoretical segment of the clinic. The applied part was fun and instructive. Newcomers and seasoned pilots alike grinned from ear to ear after each tow. Using Wills Wing

Laurie (L) and Felipe at the luau

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Gliders lined up and ready to launch at Wallaby

Condors and Falcons, Steve showed the efficiency and safety of this method of instruction. Many attendees left intent on starting their own scooter-tow operations throughout the world. There was a lot more to learn. Forecasted winds were in the 20+ mph range for an entire day. However, the blown-out day did not go to waste thanks to the generosity of Wills Wing and the Ranch. Cross-country guru Mike Barber gave a free daylong seminar on XC theory, technique and psychology. Participants learned to “fly their own flights, plan ahead and do it NOW!” Attendees learned about exploiting lift lines, use of trigger points, speed-to-fly theory, sink avoidance, and all sorts of

other little gems to extend our XC treks. As conditions improved in the following days, many of Mike’s students took to the air and applied their newly acquired soaring knowledge. Several of us intend to take the applied part of Mike’s course that involves flights guided by the guru himself. The Foundation for Free Flight (formerly USHGF) met all day long near where Mike held his seminar. More than one Foundation member admitted to splitting their attention between their business and the XC seminar. Rumor has it that the Foundation meeting was very productive, with many initiatives funded. Jojo and Jimmy, the Ranch resident chefs, treated us to delicious meals with a variety of cultural themes. These treats were beyond the “usual” tasty daily breakfasts and lunches. The first one was an awesome Brazilian BBQ – the cows on the adjacent farm lost several relatives that night. Later we were treated to a Hawaiian luau; Ranch residents and guests dressed to impress. Strict “Vegas

Party animals of several species

Rules” prohibit disclosure of further details. Then, as a prelude to the Wills Wing bash, the Ranch showed off its smoker, cooking 21 turkeys for a feast that even impressed the professional chef who was preparing for the grand finale the following night. The next day, as pilots wrapped up the afternoon flying, a gigantic truck-drawn barbeque pit rolled into the Ranch. The air filled with the aromas of slow-cooked ribs, chicken and other delights. The band was setting up in the newly renovated and enlarged pole barn, and people were busy mingling and emptying kegs and wine bottles. The place took on the

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Photo/artwork: Mark Vaughn

George Whitehill (pilot) and Rob Kells (seated on cart)

feel of a carnival. Wills Wing kicked off the festivities with a few words from their main people. Many eyes misted as Rob Kells spoke about living with prostate cancer. His dignified and courageous way of facing this illness reminded us of the things that really matter, like friendships, kindness

Some quiet contemplation between the end of a flight and the beginning of the party

and appreciation. So the crowd danced late into the night to the sounds of live music. By the way, who were those guys in the band? They were awesome! The following morning was quiet and activity started later than usual. The crowd thinned as tribe members returned to their lands. The following days saw the return of more typical weather for the time of year, giving pilots a chance to soar and Ranch folks a chance to get much needed rest. I left the Ranch a few days later determined to return, and more grateful than ever to be part of this awesome community of pilots.

Wills Wing, Malcolm, and all those of you at the Ranch who made this possible, as the poet said: “Thank you for a really good time!” Felipe Amunategui started flying hang gliders in Chile back in the late ‘70s, and is dedicated strictly to recreational flying; he has been a member of USHPA since 1981 and is rated H-4. He is currently Region 9’s director and USHPA’s vice president. Felipe and friends have been aerotowing in northeast Ohio since the early 1990s. A psychologist by trade, Felipe works at the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in University Hospitals of Cleveland where he is the director of psychology education and the associate director of residency education.

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Article and photos by Alex Peterson

For years I have been coming to Leavenworth hoping to fly over these peaks in the North Cascades. This past year, living in Leavenworth, I set a goal to hike and fly off every peak I can see from my house. After the first three peaks I found the gem of the North Cascades: a nice 20-minute hike to a good launch, and I can land at the espresso shop or back home from there. So there we were, last June – Ed and I had hiked the trail to launch and it was coming in perfect, three to five mph, straight up the front. It looks good! I thought as laid out my Gin Zoom ...

Getting established on top of the Icicle Ridge, looking NW from somewhere around 8000’

Relaxing at 9000’, leaving the Icicle Ridge and going on glide towards Eightmile Lake

One last glance north towards Glacier Peak, about 40 miles away

After making the crossing from Icicle, looking SW up the Eightmile Lake drainage and Mt. Stuart looming behind it November 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Got low on the shoulder of Cannon Mt. and scratched back up to catch a glimpse of Edward Peak’s sharp tooth. Surfing at 30 feet over trees for 45 minutes looking for the lift is a really good time! 47

A little higher on Cannon might get me over there to that gnarly stuff yet!

Still a little low for the crossing, but this looks like a really good place not to land. I think that’s my shadow… 48

Established at 7000’, making the crossing looking south at the Enchantment range, Cannon and a popular shlog and ski route on the NE spire of Cannon,

Aaaah! This is crazy! I can’t believe I’m doing this...going to fly next to these huge rocks!

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Climbers and now sky-brother students Reese and Dan were climbing this monster just two days earlier – let’s go have a closer look!

Got there low and was hoping to top land on the nipple, but instead hit megalift and couldn’t find the down string. 50

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Oh, jeez! Skimming the Zoom past this monolith, looking deeper into no man’s land on the west side of Edward Peak, also known as the mole of the sleeping lady. I think it would take a long time to hike in to here!

Mesa Lake on the way back home, high up the Wedge Mt. valley November 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Eddie on the red, landing on my head – glad to be back to Leavenworth! 52

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Ed Ries twisting up in a fatty, looking back at the Enchantments from 5000’ and thinking to himself, Get

me out of this thermal, I think I can see lunch from here. Thirty-three-year-old Alex Peterson has been flying paragliders for 10 years and couldn’t stop if he wanted to. He recently opened Sky Brothers Paragliding (www .skybrothers.com) and is currently teaching all sorts of air sports from kiteboarding to speed flying. Snowkiting is his passion during the winter months, and he expects to be gearing up for some snow action as you read this. Alex is grateful to Bill @ Dakine, Chris @ Superfly, and Ed for all the vanilla lattes.

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ON THE

ROAD By Jack Kerouac Ryan Voight

One car, three pilots... three weeks on the road Photo: Paul Voight

gliding-related traveling – until last summer. In June my mom had to go to a work-related conference in San Diego, which seemed the perfect excuse for my dad and me to strap our gliders on the car and head west. Not long after making the decision to go on this trip, I found myself talking to my flying buddy, Jamie McGuire, about hang gliding on the West Coast. He was saying how he’s never flown out there, Hang gliding has always been a large and how badly he wants to do that. It part of my life – those who know me know wasn’t until a little further into the conhow true that is! I grew up surrounded versation that I realized he wasn’t saying by hang gliding. I had already flown this because my dad and I were going – (tandem) all across the country before I in fact he didn’t even KNOW we were had my first girlfriend (which might not going. I immediately invited him, and be saying much, since it’s hard to have without hesitation or any regard for his a girlfriend when you’re traveling and financial well-being (i.e. his job), he said, flying all the time…). I had also been on “I’m in!” So then there were three of us who’d many a road trip, driving cross-country from New York to Telluride, Colorado, be driving out, each with a glider, a harfor the annual aerobatics meets, driving ness, and three weeks’ worth of clothes. from New York to Lakeview, Oregon, for We’d be meeting up with my mom in California, so then there’d be a fourth their fly-ins – you get the idea. But since I’ve started flying solo, person, and more bags. My girlfriend, we haven’t been done much hang- Desiree, couldn’t take three weeks off This is the story of a somewhat spontaneous hang-gliding-inspired road trip across the U.S. (New York to California, and back again). In the article below I provide a brief run-through of our entire trip, but for those who aren’t big readers, I have separated the moral of the story – which is the purpose of this article – into a short sidebar that appears at the end. Whether you read the entire thing, or just the sidebar(s), I hope you enjoy…

from work to drive out with us, but she did have some airline vouchers kicking around, so she made plans to fly out and we’d pick her up in California also (more on this later). With the trip progressively snowballing into more people, more things we wanted to bring (I refused to leave my camera equipment behind, for example), and more places we wanted to hit, my dad decided to rent a U-Haul trailer to help carry all the baggage and debris. My dad had to go through some major hoopjumping to get the U-Haul, but it turned out to be well worth the trouble. In preparation we put an agenda together (see sidebar), packed up, and got as much sleep as possible, for our plan was to drive from Pine Bush, N.Y., to the far side of Binghamton to pick up Jamie, hop on Route 80 West, and drive like a bat-out-of-hell to Point of the Mountain, Utah – stopping only for gas and beef jerky. It was awesome! I’ll spare you the minute details of the 36-hour drive, but here is a synopsis: My dad drives to Jamie’s, then drives again

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Set up and ready to go on the south side of Point of the Mountain, all before sunrise

patrol. That actually wound up being one of my favorite parts of the whole trip! The next thing I remember is waking up to Jamie and my dad setting up, in the dark. We flew our butts off that day! My dad had more than 10 flights – he really likes the top landings and moonwalk launches. I had three hours or more of airtime – I couldn’t bring myself to land! Jamie was something of a compromise between us.

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

Photo: Ryan Voight

till dinner. I drive; it’s uneventful. Jamie gets behind the wheel – the skies darken, then open up and dump some of the worst torrential downpours I’ve ever seen. My mom calls about halfway through Jamie’s shift, asking where we are. She’s watching The Weather Channel and sees severe thunderstorms and tornado watches in Iowa/Nebraska. We’re somewhere in the middle of that mess, but can’t see well enough to say where. We don’t stop – Jamie drives through the weather, and the night, till breakfast. After breakfast my dad takes another shift – and as soon as he starts the car the clouds part, leaving us with beautiful blue skies again. That pattern continued the whole way to Utah. Our original agenda had us pulling in to the Point at about 6 a.m., just in time to do “dawn patrol” (see sidebar). But somewhere around Wyoming we realize we’re ahead of schedule, and we’ll be hitting Draper, Utah, around 3 a.m. After a quick brainstorm session, we decide to sleep in the car on launch (on the south side), so we’re there and ready for dawn

Eventually we brought ourselves to land and break down. We went to Joanna’s Kitchen (best breakfast place in town), checked into our hotel, and SHOWERED (which we hadn’t done since N.Y., which was 36 hours of driving and nearly four hours of flying earlier). After some quick naps, we headed back to the Point. Typically, in the mornings the wind blows south, and sometime mid-day it switches around and blows

Ryan buzzing the south-side launch, Point of the Mountain

Ryan getting upside-down on the south side of the Point

Photo: Ryan Voight

Ryan doing an early-morning fly-by, Point of the Mountain (south side)

north. There are launches on both sides of the mountain – the south side, where we’d flown earlier, is more or less a giant playground, whereas the north side is more of a “traditional” high-altitude site. Our day on the north side was an epic wonderwind; we couldn’t have asked for anything better! We did dawn patrol one more time on the south side before heading west again to San Diego, where we hit Torrey Pines for two days. The first thing I say about Torrey has to be how nice everyone was. David Jebb, Torrey Pines Gliderport manager, was especially welcoming – I’m not used to being treated so well! And the rest of the staff, and even the chef at the onsite restaurant, were all equally great. Any one of them would have given us the shirt off their backs (and they have really nice collared shirts, too – I should have tried that!) The flying, two-days-for-two, was stellar as well… I can’t leave out that minor detail. After San Diego we headed to Orange, California. Desiree was supposed to arrive that night, but due to bad weather in Houston lots of flights were delayed, overbooked, and otherwise scrambled. We were on launch at Marshall when my mom called – she was frantically trying to get Des a different flight. My dad volunteered to help – and not fly – so that Jamie and I could. After all, he justified, he’s flown there many times and probably has 40 hours at Marshall/Crestline. Jamie and I happily obliged. We set up quickly and walked down to the launch. My dad explained how reliably soarable the place is, but I sat and waited until I suspected a thermal right in front of launch. By some stroke of sheer dumb luck, I was right, and started 360-ing my way up. Jamie followed me off, and we were both a couple hundred feet above launch almost instantly. Jamie darted out of the thermal and headed to the spine to our right. I briefly laughed at his ignorance – until he hit a

Ryan running off Marshall launch, in Crestline, California November 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Photo: Paul Voight

Photo: Paul Voight Photo: Paul Voight Photo: Paul Voight

Passing a tandem paraglider in front of launch at Torrey

Photo: Paul Voight

Ryan landing in the Crestline LZ – note the beautiful grass they maintain and irrigate daily.

huge core and specked out within seconds. Then I wasn’t laughing anymore. I found my monster thermal shortly thereafter, but not before I learned a valuable lesson: This is different flying from what I’m used to! At Ellenville (or most sites, I would bet) it is foolish to leave perfectly good lift. If I had a buck for every time I got suckered by an apparently “better” thermal (and later regretted it), I’d probably be halfway to a new glider by now. For anyone curious, after landing I asked Jamie what made him dart off like that. He casually explained that he fig-

ured there’d be lift, and he thought he felt our thermal pulling that way. Poor Desiree wound up having to stay in the airport overnight, unable to get to California until early the following morning. We picked her up, stopped back at the hotel so she could at least shower and try to wake up a little, then headed over to the Wills Wing factory, where we were once again given the red-carpet treatment. Rob Kells provided us a VIP tour of the factory, complete with pizza! We were there during lunch break, so we didn’t see/meet EVERYONE who had a

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

hand in making our gliders, but on the up side it seemed like we had the place more to ourselves, and weren’t interrupting the production process too badly. From there we headed to Yosemite National Park, with a brief detour to visit Huntington Beach (any “OC” watchers should recognize the name). At Yosemite we semi-coincidentally met up with the other two principals of Wills Wing, Mike and Linda Meier, who were there for their annual camping outing; Russ and Connie Locke, as well as several other friends-we-rarely-see, were there too. It was neat for me, because many of these people hadn’t seen me since I was a toddler. After flying that morning, we decided to stay another (unscheduled) night there, and fly again the next day. All I can say is that I’m glad we did, because it was definitely worth it. Flying in Yosemite is limited to Hang-4 pilots, and only early-morning sled rides are permitted. If you’re a Hang-4 pilot, and you haven’t flown Yosemite, make a point to get there – you’ll be glad you did. Now that I think

Photo: Desiree Rhinesmith

about it, the same is true for all the sites we visited… Fort Funston was our next stop. It was really gusty when we arrived, and the locals had all landed and were opting not to fly again. We took that as a sign and went to find a hotel and some dinner. We checked into a nice hotel a couple of miles down the coast from Funston, and went sight-seeing/ hunting-and-gathering for food within San Francisco. Des and I were celebrating our three-year anniversary, so it was extra-nice when we found ourselves at a very nice (READ: fancy) Brazilian steakhouse. And to top things off, my dad picked up the tab for everyone’s dinner! We tried Funston again in the morning, but it was too cross. We hung out and socialized for a while, but eventually hopped in the car and moved on. Fort Funston was the only site that didn’t give us ideal conditions – not bad for a three-week trip!

Jamie McGuire flying out towards Half Dome, Yosemite, California November 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

A view of Slide Mountain’s launch from above

Jamie McGuire thermaling up at Slide Mountain, Nevada

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

Itinerary:

Dawn Patrol on the south side of POM, Utah

Photo: Ryan Voight

Thursday, June 21 - Leave N.Y. Sat./Sun., June 23/24 - Point of the Mountain, Utah Monday, June 25 - Stop in Vegas, Nevada Tues./Wed., June 26/27 - San Diego/ Torrey Pines Gliderport, California Thursday, June 28 - Crestline (Marshall), California Friday, June 29 -Wills Wing factory/ Huntington Beach, California Sat./Sun., June 30/July 1 - Yosemite, California Sun./Mon., July 1/2 - San Francisco/ Fort Funston, California Tuesday, July 3 - Lake Tahoe, California/Nevada Wednesday, July 4 - Slide Mountain, Nevada Thurs./Fri., July 5/6 - Point of the Mountain, Utah Sunday, July 8 - Back home in N.Y.

Photo: Desiree Rhinesmith

Photo: Ryan Voight

Our next destination was Lake Tahoe. over. It wouldn’t surprise me if he flew We spent a day doing lazy-beachy things till dark! The drive home went as smoothly as (giving the girls a break from all the hang gliding), and that night enjoyed the July the trip out, with the exception of one little detour: Apparently the road zigged 3rd fireworks display. The next day we met Bob Petty, who (and I zagged), which briefly brought us took us to Slide Mountain, another into the state of Michigan. If you want to AWESOME site. In an effort to keep see two grown men, sleeping like babies, this article short(er), I won’t go into spring to life, just read a sign that says, detail about my epic flight… but boy, was “Welcome to Michigan” out loud… it epic! After flying Slide, we took the girls Moral of the Story: to Reno airport so they could head back This was a truly life-altering, oncehome to work. We three boys started our in-a-lifetime experience for me, and I know I’ll never forget it. The road trip, long drive back east… but not without the flying – all alongside my friends one last stop at Point of the Mountain! and family – words really can’t do it And, again, our timing was perfect justice! and we got to sleep in the car on the I strongly recommend that everyone south side. That doesn’t sound nearly make the time to go on a flying trip/ as fun as it really is – you’ve gotta try it adventure similar to this one. A trip like to understand. After flying, we visited our favor- this should head everyone’s “things to ite breakfast place, and then our favor- do before I die” list, period. You’ll understand after 36 hours in the car and ite hotel (with our favorite showers). you’re watching the sun rise over the Unfortunately that day the north switch Wasatch Mountains as you stuff ribs. never came, and it blew east all afternoon. We were content to hang out and tell the stories of our adventures. Dawn Patrol: The locals tipped us off that the south At the South side of Point of the side should be extra-stellar in the mornMountain, it usually gets soarable around ing… and they proved they know their sunrise, sometimes even earlier. What site. It was south and epic ALL DAY! we did, and what I would recommend, is As heartbreaking as it was, we had to get there earlier than early, and set up to admit to ourselves that it was time to while it’s still dark. This way you’re ready head home. We broke down our mel- to go when it turns on, and you can fully ancholy gliders, all the while watching enjoy the smooth morning air. “Dude” (local hotdog/yahoo) do sliders and buzz launch over and over and

DVD Review: Manilla Sky –

includes many shots of paraglider gaggles. What caught my attention here was both the number of wings in the air, as well as the number of times we see the gaggles in the DVD. In both instances, there’s a tremendous number, and I couldn’t help and brief introductions of some of the wondering how that many pilots could pilots. The scenery is beautiful, and the maintain appropriate spacing for safety. introductions allow the pilots to share Elsewhere in the video, I got my answer: their thoughts and concerns about the Some of them did not maintain adequate event, as well as where they are from and spacing, and there was more than one what wings they fly. Since this review mid-air collision with reserve tossing. The video does an excellent job in capis by a U.S. pilot for a U.S. magazine, I obviously paid close attention to the U.S. turing some of the thoughts and emopilots, especially Tom McCune (third tions of the pilots as they discuss their place), who had a huge smile and the en- plans and strategy for the various tasks. thusiasm of a puppy-dog right from his Some pilots are excited, while others are more anxious about competing at the first appearance in the DVD. Overall, the video has ample footage world-championship level. Pilots are seen of flying, launches, and scenery. While it expressing their doubts about making it lacks a compelling story line or charac- through the competition or about reachter development, it does cover the main ing goal. There is the ever-present longevents and tasks during the competi- ing of pilots for “just one more thermal” tion from the practice sessions through in the hopes of going the distance. Also, the awards ceremony. Included with the since there were nearly 150 competitors early material is a brief interview with with GPS tracks to be downloaded and German pilot Ewa Wisnierska who got scored, one pilot compared waiting for sucked into a thundercloud to altitudes the posting of each day’s results to waiting for Christmas morning’s arrival so higher than the summit of Mt. Everest. Like most paragliding videos, this one that he could see what he got.

Paragliding World Championships By Ashley Guberman, XC wannabe

The DVD starts with some footage of the flying region (Manilla, Australia)

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

The pilot interviews in the DVD made it clear that the competition was really about far more than just being the fastest one to cross the finish line – instead, the 12-day event was an incredible competition that tested each pilot’s skill and endurance on physical, emotional, and psychological levels.

U.S. pilots Tom McCune (L) and Bill Belcourt in Manilla

In the strategy discussions, it was difficult for me to fully grasp parts of what the pilots described without being familiar with the local environment. However, the DVD makes good use of images from Google Earth to help provide visual perspective on the pilots’ verbal descriptions. Other aspects of the importance of strategy were clear based on how the tasks had been structured, sometimes with

Ashley has been flying paragliders for two years and has only recently begun venturing out on some shorter cross-country flights at her local site near Seattle. She points out, “For me, the difference between a short flight to the LZ and successfully traveling XC is still as much a matter of luck as it is of skill. I watched the DVD, hoping to learn multiple launch windows that required something to move me from the former to the additional choices by the pilots. Out of latter category of flying. the more than 140 pilots in the competi“The DVD contains several tidbits of intion, 56 pilots reached goal on one of the formation that will probably appeal to other five tasks, 45 on another, while the re- like-minded beginner and intermediate maining three had less than 30 crossing pilots; I expect that the appeal for the more the line. In a few cases, pilots had flown experienced pilots will be the scenery and the for hours, traveling upwards of 100 ki- video footage of the people and events.” lometers, only to land short, sometimes within a literal stone’s throw of the goal.

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

Gallery

Circling low over the town of Nkawkaw, in central Ghana Photo: Olivier Laugero

A typical hang gliding shade park at King Mt., Idaho Photo: Donna Matthias

September thermals over the western Massif du Mont Blanc, France Photo: Jerome Maupoint, courtesy GIN Gliders

Kitesurfaglide: the next huge extreme sport? Probably not. Lionel Lang providing some lift for a friend in Fortaleza, Brazil Photo: Olivier Laugero

Everybody’s doing it… sort of. A montage of pilots bungling the Infinite Tumble, all taken during the same weekend competition in Zell am See, Austria. No American pilots were harmed in the making of this montage.

Photos courtesy of Paranoia Acrobatixx, montage by Matt Gerdes

Biwingual traffic at Torrey Pines, California Photo: Jerry Gillard

Chris Lauderback enjoying classic desert glass-off conditions at Merriam Crater, Arizona Photo: Paul Alley

Tanner Patty skimming along his home turf at the cinder cones, Flagstaff, Arizona Photo: Paul Alley

Stacy Alley launching Merriam Crater, with Utah’s painted desert in the background Photo: Paul Alley

T-shirt Gallery From the 2005 King Mt. meet, submitted by Donna Matthias

Artwork by Darren Darsey

Artwork by Diane Gerard, our cover artist for the October issue

Artwork by Dave Lundquist

Artwork by Dave Lundquist, who did the artwork for the Grateful Dead, way back when… Artwork by Dave Lundquist

Artwork by Diane Gerard

Artwork by Eron Schultz Artwork by Dave Lundquist

Artwork by Eron Schultz

Calendar of events items WILL NOT be listed if only tentative. November 4-11: Phoenix, Arizona. Escape the winter cold – fly Please include exact information (event, date, contact name three nearby sites. Details at www.parasoftparagliding.com/travel/ and phone number). Items should be received no later than six phoenix.php. weeks prior to the event. We request two months lead time November 12-December 11: Oaxaca, Mexico. Improve your for regional and national meets. For more complete informa- thermal and XC skills with top-ranked U.S. PG pilot David Prentice. Fly tion on the events listed, please see our Calendar of Events at over the world-famous Monte Alban camp of pyramids. Week-long tours www.ushpa.aero. include airport pickup/drop off, lodging, transportation, guiding, XC retrieval. Plenty of fun and adventure for the family. More information: (505) 720-5436, www.earthcog.com. Competition November 15 through Feburary 17: Valle de Bravo, Mexico. December 15-22: Valle de Bravo, Mexico. Pepsi Max XC Open VOL VALLE! allows pilots to choose what level of service they want, from World Series, 125 paraglider pilots from all over the world, compete just a room to everything including guide, meals, transportation. Based in five classes for $21,000US in prize money! More information: www on the sprawling Rancho de San Ramon, a large hacienda with stunning .pepsimaxteam.com/xcopen_en.htm, www.xcopen.org, www.flymexico views that can house up to 20 guests. A 10-minute drive from Valle de Bravo with its own large LZ, on the route to the butterflies. Nightly shut.com.mx. tles to and from Valle de Bravo included. Lots of activities for the family: January 2-10: Forbes, Australia. Forbes Flatlands Hang Gliding sailing, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, sightseeing. More inChampionships. Registration/practice on January 2, competition Janu- formation: David Prentice, (505) 720-5436 or earthcog@yahoo.com. ary 3-10. More information: http://www.moyes.com.au/Forbes2008/ or November 17-December 3: Iquique, Chile. Luis Rosenkjer and email event manager Vicki Cain, Vicki@moyes.com.au. Todd Weigand guarantee you’ll fly every day of your tour or get your monJanuary 11-19: Mt. Beauty, Victoria, Australia. Bogong Cup hang ey back for non-flyable days! Don’t take our word for it – check out our gliding competition. Registration on January 11, competition January 12- trip program for more details. Luis is a multiple Argentinean PG cham19. More information: Vicki Cain, Vicki@moyes.com.au. pion and owner of Atlanta Paragliding. Todd has been seasonally guidFebruary 17-23: Dominican Republic. The Ozone Caribbean XC ing, instructing, and perfecting his acro and XC skills in Chile since 2001. Challenge is a low-key, education-oriented paragliding competition Both hold open-distance records in Argentina and Chile. Multiple tours with few rules, stress-free ambience, pure XC flying, amazing location, available. www.atlantaparagliding.com, info@atlantaparagliding.com, coaching from expert pilots and the assistance of Jocky Sanderson to wallowaparagliding@gmail.com. help maximize your time in the air. Categories and prizes for pilots flying December 12-January 14: Valle de Bravo, Mexico (site of the DHV 1, 1-2, 2 and 2-3 (CEN A, B, C and D) wings, plus an Ozone glider 2009 world PG championships). Improve your thermal and XC skills with raffled among competitors. Registration opened on September 15. More top-ranked U.S. PG pilot David Prentice. Week-long tours include airport information: http://www.caribbeanxc.com. pickup/drop off, lodging, transportation, guiding, XC retrieval. More inforFly-Ins December 8-9, and December and January in general: Tenancingo, Mexico. Come celebrate the grand opening of La

Malinche, a relatively new flying site with great XC potential. Free rides and retrieval. A beautiful manicured paraglider or hang glider launch for up to three at a time, 360 degrees of flying options and excellent LZs all around. Contact +(52)1-722-312-3363. More information at http:// picasaweb.google.es/sumocobre/TenancingoFlyingSites. clinics, meetings, tours

October 31-November 11: Travel tour in Michoacan, Mexico.

We will fly several different PG sites as we travel across the beautiful state of Michoacan, including Patzcuaro, Escalera and Zitacuaro. Tour includes airport pickup/drop off, lodging, transportation, guiding, XC retrieval. More information: David Prentice, (505) 720-5436, www .earthcog.com.

mation: (505) 720-5436, www.earthcog.com.

December 27-January 7: Valle de Bravo, Mexico. Guided PG tour with thermal and XC instruction with Bill Belcourt (from 12/30 to 1/7 only) and Ken Hudonjorgensen. More information: (801) 572-3414, twocanfly@gmail.com, www.twocanfly.com. December 28-January 2: Forbes, Australia. Open to any pilot who orders a new Moyes hang glider to be picked up at the factory in Oz in December 2007. It’s not a competition but more of a tuning/ training seminar to get dialed into your new glider before the comps. Maximum 30 pilots, no entry fee, just tow fees. We’ll tow out of Forbes for a couple of days then, weather permitting, set goal to another designated town, tow out of there for two days and move on again. Gerolf Heinrichs and Jonny Durand Jr. will host this event. More information: Vicki Cain, Vicki@moyes.com.au.

December 30-January 22: Nepal. Big Sky Paragliding will host two 10-day tours in the most stunning and unique flying sites in the November through March: Valle de Bravo, Mexico. Again af- world. Mild conditions, big mountains and big birds. Thermal and XC ter over 14 years, FlyMexico keeps going and growing. Sunday-Sunday coaching with Dale Covington. $1600 covers all transportation withpackages, hang gliding and paragliding. Every stinkin’ day we go flying! in the country, lodging and breakfast. For more information visit www .bigskyparagliding.com, or call (801) 699-1462. Contact: www.flymexico.com, 1-800-861-7198. November 2-4: Utah flying sites. Paragliding instructor training and instructor re-certification clinic with Ken Hudonjorgensen. More information about the clinic and prerequisites for participation: (801) 572-3414, twocanfly@gmail.com, www.twocanfly.com.

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

January 4-15: Ecuador. Join USHPA’s 2006 Instructor of the Year,

February 10-17, 2008: Southern California PG flying trip with Ken Kevin Lee, and Thermal Tracker Paragliding for a flying adventure! Kevin Hudonjorgensen. More information: (801) 572-3414, twocanfly@gmail has been leading paragliding adventures in Ecuador since 1996 and is .com, www.twocanfly.com. supported by two Ecuadorian guides/pilots who know and fly the local sites. Explore both the high Andean mountain thermal sites and the in- February-March: Governador Valadares, Brazil. Leave the cold credibly consistent coastal sites. Includes advanced coaching and all de- northern hemisphere and enjoy the beauty and warmth of Brazil. Febtails in country (lodging, transportation, drivers, guides, air shuttle from ruary and March are the best months for soaring and consistently good the coast, and much more). More information: Thermal Tracker Para- thermaling with flying virtually every day. With 10 years of flying in GV gliding & Aero-Sports, (541) 890-7142, info@thermaltracker.com, www we can offer bilingual guide service, USHPA hang gliding and paragliding instructor, transportation, retrieval, hotel accommodations and a .thermaltracker.com. warm welcome at the GV airport. Limited to 4 - 6 pilots at a time to inJanuary 5-12, 12-19, 19-26, February 2-9, 9-16, 16- sure personal attention and service. Every level of pilot skill welcome. 10 23, March 1-8, 8-15, 15-22, 22-29: Costa Rica with Nick days: paragliding $1500; hang gliding $2000 with your glider, or with Crane, paragliding instructor, tandem instructor and veteran Costa Ri- our equipment $2500 single surface, $3000 double surface. Special can traveler. Small groups, quality accommodations, safe and fun fly- airfares available plus assistance with all your travel plans. Adventure ing for all levels in exotic Costa Rica. Fly over tropical forests and land Sports Tours, (775) 883-7070, email skybirdwings@hotmail.com, more on uncrowded beaches. Share the sky with toucans, macaws, king vul- info at http://www.pyramid.net/advspts. tures and pelicans. We have pioneered some of best sites in Costa Rica. For details contact nick@paracrane.com, (541) 840-8587, or www .paracrane.com. January 6-11: Big Island of Hawaii. Mauna Kea paragliding ther-

mal clinic with Achim Hagemann. Mauna Kea (13,796’) has flying sites at various altitudes. Pilots should expect big air, high-altitude takeoffs and challenging XC flying as well as relaxing coastal flying. Skill requirements: Novice or better. Cost: $375, includes 4x4 transportation, airport pickup, guide service, free camping, daily state-of-the-art weather report. Contact: Paraglide Hawaii, flyaglider@yahoo.com or (808) 8959772, http://paraexpeditionshawaii.blogspot.com.

January 6-13: Tapalpa, Mexico. P-2 week with Parasoft Para-

gliding School. We’ve been taking pilots to fly in Mexico since 1991. The P-2 week focuses on long easy flights from 2500’. Details at www.parasoftparagliding.com/travel/tapalpa%20_mexico.php. January 13-20: Mexico. P-3 week with Parasoft Paragliding School.

We tailor our weeks to your pilot skills. In the P-3 week we focus on thermaling and short XC flights. After starting in Tapalpa, we fly both San Marcos and Colima. Details at www.parasoftparagliding.com/travel/ colima.php.

February 2-15: Dominican Republic. Big Sky Paragliding will spend two weeks flying the varied sites in the Dominican Republic with local pilot Sebastian Mier. Green and mild to dry and strong, this small island has diverse conditions appropriate for most pilots. $1600 includes transportation, lodging, breakfast and coaching. Contact Dale Covington at (801) 699-1462 or visit www.bigskyparagliding.com.

Ryan Voight celebrating his first flying at Yosemite Montage by Terry Ferrer November 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Photo: Desiree Rhinesmith Four images composited into one by Ryan Voight

Ra t i n g s i s s u e d d u r i n g J u l y 2 0 0 7 Paragliding Division Rating Region Name

P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-1 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2 P-2

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

Michael Teixeira Michael Borella Martin Hill Trevor Gamble Bob Pope Sara Richter Evan Vandermay Keun Yang Luis Jaimes Fred Reed Olgiord Lyzwanski Tyler Bradford Donald Simmons Paul Borne Roy Zaleski Lincoln Spencer Davia Hammon Matt Funkhouser Gabriel Regalbuto Terry Martin Mark Weezendonk Eric Borkovec Daniel Trentman Christopher Lake Bryan Berry Andrea Lamb Lori Jessop Lynette Dickerson Jason Finlinson David Sullivan Ed Schuyler Bill Sullivan Ivan Fazio Kamal Jweda Kelsey Durels Daedra Goldschmid Neill Unsicker Scott Lisk Matt Ballal Tamas Fischer Rob Bastiaansen Marc Richter Jeff Speer Michael Teixeira Brice Alexander Bob Pope Bill Bouselmeyer Gary Price Graham Brown Keun Yang Robert Mical Luis Jaimes Olgiord Lyzwanski Tyler Bradford Paul Borne Khanh Van Lai Richard Oleson Joel Saikin Adam Harris Dan Weik Allen Stewart Lincoln Spencer Davia Hammon Kevin Foster Jonie Millhouse Gabriel Regalbuto Ed Totman Steve Day

City

Redmond Monroe Snoqualmie Ashland Portland Pullman Kent Millbrae Campbell Alameda Santa Cruz South Lake Tahoe Belmont Joshua Tree El Cajon Huntington Beach Simi Valley Romona Carlsbad Phoenix Albuqueque Tempe Salt Lake City Draper Bountiful Grand Junction Draper Sandy Lehi Phoenix Cottonwood Heights Twin Falls Ketchum Detroit Wilton Dummerston Dummerston Nicholasville Washington Bethesda Leusden Bangalore North Bend Redmond Anchorage Portland Everett South Prairie San Rafael Millbrae Redwood City Campbell Santa Cruz South Lake Tahoe Joshua Tree Garden Grove Honolulu Kaneohe San Diego San Diego San Diego Huntington Beach Simi Valley San Diego Idyllwild Carlsbad Poway Redondo Beach

State

Rating Official

OR Kevin Lee WA Ross Jacobson WA Steven Wilson OR John Ivey OR Maren Ludwig WA Murat Tuzer WA Steven Wilson CA Kyoung Ki Hong CA Ricardo Mantilla CA Jeffrey Greenbaum CA Kyoung Ki Hong CA Bruce Kirk CA Jeffrey Greenbaum CA Rob Mckenzie CA Gabriel Jebb CA Stephen Mayer CA Bruce Kirk CA Joshua Meyers CA Stephen Mayer AZ Stephen Mayer NM T Lee Kortsch AZ Chandler Papas UT Stephen Mayer UT Mike Steen UT Ken Hudonjorgensen CO Etienne Pienaar UT Mike Steen UT Dale Covington UT Stephen Mayer AZ Chandler Papas UT Jonathan Jefferies ID Mike Steen ID Kevin Hintze MI Norman Lesnow CT Charles Smith VT Jeffrey Nicolay VT Jeffrey Nicolay KY Charles Smith DC Stephen Mayer MD Stephane Pascal Kevin Mcginley Murat Tuzer WA Lan Chirico OR Kevin Lee AK Jake Schlapfer OR Maren Ludwig WA Douglas Stroop WA Marc Chirico CA Wallace Anderson CA Kyoung Ki Hong CA Wallace Anderson CA Ricardo Mantilla CA Kyoung Ki Hong CA Bruce Kirk CA Rob Mckenzie CA Bill Armstrong HI Pete Michelmore HI Pete Michelmore CA Bill Armstrong CA Gabriel Jebb CA Bill Armstrong CA Stephen Mayer CA Bruce Kirk CA Bill Armstrong CA Bill Armstrong CA Stephen Mayer CA Bill Armstrong CA Hadi Golian

Rating Region Name

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

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

City

Charles Harris Quartzsite Terry Martin Phoenix Matt Hecker Evergreen Mark Weezendonk Albuqueque Damon Parker Golden David Chesterton Boulder Daniel Trentman Salt Lake City Christopher Lake Draper Bryan Berry Bountiful Andrea Lamb Grand Junction Lori Jessop Draper Lynette Dickerson Sandy Jason Finlinson Lehi Ed Schuyler Cottonwood Heights Bill Sullivan Twin Falls Clint Troxel Jackson Darlene Girard Driggs Ivan Fazio Ketchum Brent Povis Lake St Louis Michael Peterson Farminton John Dunn West Dover Heath Woods Guilford Samuel Dasilva Holliston Davidson Da Silva Framingham Sandro Andrade Sousa Framingham John Pratt New Haven Fabio Soares Flamingham Mark Lemon Blacksburg Ronald Hott Lehew Matt Ballal Washington Tamas Fischer Bethesda Robert Weber Highlands John Lucado Wesley Chapel Erik Webb Lilburn Dylan Hoyt Atlanta Edward Sullivan Roswell David Lindemuth Plano Roger Nathanson Kerrville Shannon Lucas Austin Miroslav Skovajsa New York Phoenix Kalen New York Rob Bastiaansen Leusden Steve Fisher Montreal, Qx George Von Der Heide Girdwood Heidi Neil Issaquah Oleg Sotnik Tigard Keun Yang Millbrae Raymond Broad Farmersville Paul Borne Joshua Tree Steven Starwalt Santee Michael Wellborn San Marcos Adam Harris San Diego Lincoln Spencer Huntington Beach Shane Murphy Ramono Angelo Regalbuto Malibu Jonathan Sirrine Farmington Tamas Fischer Bethesda Robert Weber Highlands Jorge Garza Sosa Saltillo Tom Huff Portland John Hobart-culleton San Francisco Patrick Allaire Fremont Bradley Geary Ramona Mike Teger Colorado Springs Michael Semanoff Orem John Fullenkamp Breckenridge Luiz Coelho Green Island Dominik Tomanek Forest Hills

State

Rating Official

AZ Chris Santacroce AZ Stephen Mayer CO Granger Banks NM T Lee Kortsch CO Granger Banks CO Granger Banks UT Stephen Mayer UT Mike Steen UT Ken Hudonjorgensen CO Etienne Pienaar UT Mike Steen UT Dale Covington UT Stephen Mayer UT Jonathan Jefferies ID Mike Steen WY Scott Harris ID Scott Harris ID Kevin Hintze MO Douglas Stroop MN Chris Santacroce VT Jeffrey Nicolay VT Jeffrey Nicolay MA Jeffrey Nicolay MA Jeffrey Nicolay MA Jeffrey Nicolay VT Bill Heaner MA Jeffrey Nicolay VA Stephen Mayer WV Douglas Stroop DC Stephen Mayer MD Stephane Pascal NC Luis Rosenkjer FL Scott Harris GA Luis Rosenkjer GA Luis Rosenkjer GA Luis Rosenkjer TX Bill Armstrong TX Paul Greenwood TX Paul Greenwood NY Bill Armstrong NY Bill Armstrong Kevin Mcginley Chris Santacroce AK Peter Gautreau WA Chris Santacroce OR Rob Sporrer CA Kyoung Ki Hong CA David Prentice CA Rob Mckenzie CA Bill Armstrong CA Gabriel Jebb CA Bill Armstrong CA Stephen Mayer CA Joshua Meyers CA Stephen Mayer MN Chris Santacroce MD Stephane Pascal NC Luis Rosenkjer Miguel Gutierrez OR Kelly Kellar CA Julie Spiegler CA Gever Tulley CA Joshua Meyers CO William Laurence UT Jonathan Jefferies CO Etienne Pienaar NY Bohan Soifer NY Sander Koyfman

Hang gliding ratings issued in July are on p. 72.

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

THERMAL NUCLEAR DETECTION

Use your Glider, or our STRATUS Glider!

North Wing A.T.F. Soaring Trike

HANG GLIDERS  ULTRALIGHT TRIKES

509.886.4605

www.northwing.com November 2007: Hang Gliding & Paragliding – w w w.ushpa.aero

Safety Tip Soaring uncomfortably close [to the terrain] is normally not beneficial. Besides, keeping a bit more distance will be good for the nerves!

- Berkhard Martens, in Thermal Flying for Paraglider and Hang Glider Pilots

Useful URLs and phone numbers: For magazine submissions: http://ushpa.aero/magazine.asp For accident reports: http://ushpa.aero/emailacca.asp For membership info, change of address, and other USHPA business: info@ushpa.aero (719) 632-8300 Members only section: https://ushpa.aero/member_ login.asp

Hang Gliding Division Rating Region Name

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

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

City

Allen Justh Santa Clara Erick Idy Beverly Hills Marc Webster Valencia Dale Morrison Mesa Christopher Dong Boulder Ian Freemole Polson Philip Salmon Indpls Keith Beebe Hinsdale Josh Beebe Hinsdale Stacy Patterson Hanover Gregory Cyr Lebanon Ben Daly Beverly Kurt Gergler Perkinsville Shin Abe` Concord Jakery Groat Fairless Hills David Graney Hilliard Steve Ziegler Lancaster Terry Urbine Naples Carrie Kindl-wright Marion Malcolm Macfee Kill Devil Hills John Spontak Ocala Rachel Mccutcheon Ft Myers Aguinaldo Bisoto Fort Lauderdale Catherine Hayes Estero Mike Jernigan Garner Victor Fresco Charleston Lori Pignatelli Duluth Mike Urbine Naples Bernie Zidar Atlanta Mack O Rear Chattanooga W C Zachary JohnsonTrussville Cory Barnwell Smithville Alexandre Andrade Clarksville Russell Levine Dallas Ricker Goldsborough Madisonville Steve Baumann Sussex Kendru Guerrero Brooklyn Andrew Goodell Oneonta Desiree Porter Annandale-onhudson Andreas Zien Alaro Jim Hartwick Bc John Taylor Boulder Creek Allen Justh Santa Clara Bill Brick Yorba Linda Dale Morrison Mesa Christopher Dong Boulder

State

Rating Official

CA Patrick Denevan CA Lynden Vazquez CA Lynden Vazquez AZ Steve Cortez CO Lynden Vazquez MT Jeff Shapiro IN Gordon Cayce MA Daniel Guido MA Daniel Guido NH Steven Prepost NH Steven Prepost MA Steven Prepost VT Steven Prepost MA Steven Prepost PA Randy Grove OH John Alden PA Gordon Cayce FL James Tindle NC Gordon Cayce NC Jon Thompson FL Robert Lane FL Eric Gurr FL Eric Gurr FL Eric Gurr NC David Rosner SC Diana Koether GA Gordon Cayce FL James Tindle GA Gordon Cayce TN Gordon Cayce AL Gordon Cayce TN Diana Koether TN Gordon Cayce TX Jack Walters LA Gordon Cayce NJ Andy Torrington NY Malcolm Jones NY Daniel Guido NY Daniel Guido Tammy Burcar Jeff Beck CA Patrick Denevan CA Patrick Denevan CA Lynden Vazquez AZ Steve Cortez CO Lynden Vazquez

Rating Region Name

H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-2 H-3 H-3 H-3 H-3 H-3 H-3 H-4 H-4 H-4 H-4 H-4 H-4 H-4 H-4

5 5 7 7 9 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 11 12 12 13 13 13 6 10 10 10 12 12 2 3 5 10 10 10 12 13

City

Ian Freemole Polson Michael Wold Jackson Michael Schneider Bloomfield Hls Philip Salmon Indpls Kathy Goodman Baltimore Brandon Thom Grafton John Mallory Arlington David Gingras Mineral Steve Ziegler Lancaster Terry Urbine Naples Carrie Kindl-wright Marion Bent Kaabier Jr Ft Myers John Spontak Ocala Rachel Mccutcheon Ft Myers Aguinaldo Bisoto Fort Lauderdale Catherine Hayes Estero Lori Pignatelli Duluth Mike Urbine Naples Bernie Zidar Atlanta Mack O Rear Chattanooga W C Zachary JohnsonTrussville Alexandre Andrade Clarksville Ricker Goldsborough Madisonville Thomas Baumann Sussex Kendru Guerrero Brooklyn Andreas Zien Alaro Jamie Hurschler Ontario Jim Hartwick Bc Ross Davis Cape Girardeau Colin Hodsdon Nashville John Nuchols Oak Ridge Makbule Baldik Lookout Mountain Thomas Galvin Jr Cold Spring Kendru Guerrero Brooklyn Ronald Jones Tollhouse Andrew Routley Studio City Robert Garrity Florence Stephen Crozier Powells Point Eric Donaldson Wildwood Alex Holsted Trenton Kendru Guerrero Brooklyn Douglas Doerfler Calgary

State

Rating Official

MT Jeff Shapiro WY Bart Weghorst MI Tracy Tillman IN Gordon Cayce MD Andrea Zeger VA J. Michael Cosner VA Kevin Coltrane VA Steve Wendt PA Gordon Cayce FL James Tindle NC Gordon Cayce FL James Tindle FL Robert Lane FL Eric Gurr FL Eric Gurr FL Eric Gurr GA Gordon Cayce FL James Tindle GA Gordon Cayce TN Gordon Cayce AL Gordon Cayce TN Gordon Cayce LA Gordon Cayce NJ Jon Thompson NY Malcolm Jones Tammy Burcar Michael Robertson Jeff Beck MO George Woodcock TN Daniel Zink TN Matthew Taber GA Daniel Zink NY Greg Black NY Malcolm Jones CA Robert Soares CA Joe Greblo MT Jeff Shapiro NC Andy Torrington GA Ron Knight GA Daniel Zink NY Malcolm Jones AA Christopher Valley

November 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.

PARAGLIDERS ADVANCE SIGMA 5 – Great condition, $750. Nova Aron, great condition, $750 OBO. California, (805) 2761852. APCO TANDEM PLAY 42 – good condition, white, blue. Trimmers/split A’s, 4 years, $800. skypilotbrian@ yahoo.com.

Powered paragliders LA MOUETTE SOLO 210 POWER UNIT – Older but good. Runs great. Pilot weight to 190 lbs. Extra 4-blade wood prop. $1700. skypilotbrian@yahoo.com.

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.

QUICKSILVER SPRINT ULTRALIGHT – New, partially built. No Sport Pilot license required. $7500. California, (805) 276-1852.

FLEX WINGS

ALABAMA

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.

ATLANTA PARAGLIDING – 20 years of experience, top instructors, top pilots and very consistent weather conditions all year around, make us your best choice on the East Coast. www.atlantaparagliding.com, (404) 931-3793.

FALCON 195 & EUROSPORT 150 – Both very good condition. High Energy Sports & WW Z1 & kneehanger training harness. For 5’10” & 175-lb. pilot. Parachute & drogue chute. $2000 for the lot. Call Tom, (530) 2335125, Northern California.

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGHT PARK – The best facilities, largest inventory, camping, swimming, volleyball, more. Wide range of accommodations. hanglide.com, 877-hanglide, (877) 426-4543.

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.

ARIZONA

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 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

SCHOOLS & DEALERS

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.

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

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 and service – Colorado’s most experienced! Offering foot launch, tow and scooter-tow instruction. Wills Wing, Moyes, North Wing, AIR, Altair, Aeros, High Energy, Finsterwalder, Flytec, MotoComm, and more sold and serviced. Call for more info (303)-674-2451, Evergreen Colorado, Airtimehg@aol.com. GUNNISON GLIDERS – Serving the western slope. Instruction, sales, service, sewing, accessories. Site information, ratings. 1549 County Road 17, Gunnison CO 81230. (970) 641-9315, 1-866-238-2305.

PEAK TO PEAK PARAGLIDING LLC – 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.

FLORIDA ATLANTA PARAGLIDING – 20 years of experience, top instructors, top pilots and very consistent weather conditions all year around, make us your best choice on the East Coast. www.atlantaparagliding.com, (404) 931-3793. 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. QUEST AIR – #1 site for US competition & the biggest flights on the East coast. No-wait, 1-on–1 lessons from first tandem to advanced XC training. Towing 8amsunset everyday. All amenities including on-site accommodations, time-honored clubhouse, pool, hot tub and private lake. Demos, rentals, sales, storage & repairs. Minutes from Orlando in Groveland, FL. Phone (352) 429-0213, fax (352) 429-4846, www.questairforce.com, questair@ mpinet.com, 1-877-FLY-QUEST. 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

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 summer 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.

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.

HAWAII FLY HAWAII – Hawaii’s hang gliding, paragliding/ paramotoring school. Mauna Kea guide service. Most experience, best safety record. Big Island of Hawaii, Achim Hagemann, (808) 895-9772, www.aircotec.net/flyhawaii .htm, flyaglider@yahoo.com. 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. Oneon-one 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 & hang gliding instruction using tandems & scooter towing for easy safe learning. Quality equipment sales. www .downeastairsports.com, in_a_cloud@hotmail.com, Marc (207) 244-9107.MARY

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.

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. – A eros, 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 – 1 60’ 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 ATLANTA PARAGLIDING – 20 years of experience, top instructors, top pilots and very consistent weather conditions all year around, make us your best choice on the East Coast. www.atlantaparagliding.com, (404) 931-3793. 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.

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.

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

SOUTH CAROLINA

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, (804) 241-4324, www.blueskyhg.com.

TENNESSEE ATLANTA PARAGLIDING – 20 years of experience, top instructors, top pilots and very consistent weather conditions all year around, make us your best choice on the East Coast. www.atlantaparagliding.com, (404) 931-3793. 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.

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

uTAH CLOUD 9 PARAGLIDING – Come visit us and check out our huge selection of paragliding gear, traction kites, extreme toys, and any other fun things you can think of. If you aren’t near the Point of the Mountain, then head to http://www.paragliders.com for a full list of products and services. We are Utah’s only full-time shop and repair facility. Give us a ring at (801) 576-6460 if you have any questions. 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. REVOLUTION FLIGHT SCHOOL – with Bill Heaner and the Revolution Instructor Team. Closest paragliding school to the Point of the Mountain! Learn true wing mastery from some of the greatest instructors in the world. We offer P-1 through P-4, tandem flights, instructor certification, tandem certification, over-the-water courses, paramotor instruction, guided tours and a full-service shop within five minutes of the Point of the Mountain. Campground, shopping and hotel accommodations within walking distance of our shop. Contact Bill Heaner, 800-7072525, bill@rpmppg.com, to get on our schedule. www .rpmppg.com/school/facility. Virgin

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.

WISCONSIN FREEFLIGHT AVIATIONS – The Midwest’s largest hang gliding school. Using both aerotow tandem and on-site training hill, 7 days a week, April through November. For the traveling hang glider pilot, rental equipment is available. (920) 728-2231, tommy@freeflighthanggliding.com, FreeflightAviations.com.

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 COSTA RICA – Grampa Ninja’s Paragliders’ B&C (bed and coffee). We offer rooms and/or transportation and guide service. Lessons available from USHPA certified instructors. Open January through April. United States: (908) 454-3242. In Costa Rica: (506) 877-5604 (January through April). www.paraglidecostarica.com. 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, 1-800861-7198 USA.P

CRITTERMOUNTAINWEAR.COM – 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, wind speed 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. 1-800-686-9327. 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 $450. 1-800-468-8185. PARA SUPPLY – Flight suit $130, PTT $49, Radio 5 watts+PTT $129, flight desk/backpack $45, fastpacking tube “Cocoon” $39. www.parasupply.com.

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.

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.

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.

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.

PARTS & ACCESSORIES

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

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. *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 – *NEW* Instability 2 DVD – Bruce Goldsmith’s new By Len Holms. This is the perfect book for those curious film is set to become the new benchmark in SIV instrucabout the sport of hang gliding. Written at a level that will tion. In 1992, the Airwave designer co-presented “Instanot swamp the reader with a daunting amount of tech- bility,” a film which helped thousands of paraglider pilots nical details, you will learn about hang glider wings and gain insight into tips and tricks learned by the professionthe skills needed to fly them. 84 pages with photos and al test pilots. $41.95. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or illustrations. $12.95 (+$5 s&h). Call USHPA at 1-800- order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, 616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. Colorado Springs CO 80901. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901. *NEW* Never Ending Thermal – This DVD is an SOARING – Monthly magazine of The Soaring Society “Endless Summer” for the free-flying generation. The acof America Inc. Covers all aspects of soaring flight. Full tion-packed documentary features the adventures of Venmembership $64. SSA, PO Box 2100, Hobbs NM 88241. ezuelan pilots Herminio Cordido and Jorge Atramiz as (505) 392-1177, ssa.org. 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 REAL ESTATE Springs CO 80901. OWN 10 OR 20 ACRES next to paragliding/ hang gliding site in beautiful Flagstaff, AZ. Pris- *NEW* Paragliding: Learn to Fly DVD – This DVD brings to life many of the hard-to-visualize concepts tine property with wide-open views. To view go to www which are so important for us to understand, like airflow .northernarizonamls.com. Enter listing #s 123164, 123165, around hills and mountains, turbulence and convergence, or 125465. Call Debra White, Dallas Real Estate, (928) dynamic and thermic lift, plus aerodynamics like lift and 853-0761. drag, speed to fly and so on. The production team have GORGEOUS 2.5 ACRES in Flagstaff. Surrounded by spent months on the 3D animation and video sequencbeautiful homes with access to national forest. Close to ing. $44.95. Call USHPA 1-800-616-6888 or order off town yet only minutes to paragliding and hang gliding. Call our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Debra White at Dallas Real Estate, (928) 853-0761. Springs CO 80901. CUTE 3 BEDROOM 2 bath with 2-car garage on 1 acre horse property in Flagstaff. Has been rented for $1450/ month. Only $279,900. Call Debra White at Dallas Real Estate, (928) 853-0761.

VIDEOS & DVDS VIDEOS FROM USHPA – WWW.USHPA.AERO *NEW* BROKEN TOE ACRO – Broken Toe Acro is a full instructional-encyclopedia for paragliding SIV and acro maneuvers. Each chapter is six to 14 minutes and contains descriptions of the maneuver, explanation on how to (and how not to!) perform it, as well as in-flight examples from many simultaneous camera angles. All instruction and narration is by Enleau and Ann O’Connor, leading experts in Safety-in-Flight training. Two hours and 40 minutes running time! Call USHPA, 1-800-616-6888, or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero, or via snail mail, PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

*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 *NEW* Speed/Security DVD – “Speed to Fly” and Wing, the only surviving American manufacturer/dis- “Security in Flight” are two great films designed to help tributor of hang gliders and paragliders. Two legendary 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 Colorado Springs CO 80901. gliding and high-altitude cross-country paragliding. Wingmounted POV cameras provide the docupic with an inthe-air thrill ride from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast. Narrator Bobby Carradine threads us through the three decades. Call USHPA at 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

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

USHpA Magazine Archive 1971-2004 – The DVD set holds the history of our sport, from the earliest days of bamboo and plastic to the present. Within these pages you’ll find the evolution of foot-launched flight from the first days of bamboo dune-skimmers to the modern variety of hang gliders, paragliders and rigid wings. Each PDF file is one complete magazine, just as originally published. Pages with color are produced as color scans, the rest scanned as black and white images. Future issues will be available on an update disk. Each disk includes Adobe Acrobat Reader Version 7 for Windows, Macintosh and Linux systems. $30 for members and $90 for nonmembers. Call USHPA at 1-800-616-6888 or order off our Web site, www.ushpa.aero. PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs CO 80901.

MISCELLANEOUS “AEROBATICS” POSTER – Full color 23”x 31” poster featuring John Heiney doing what he does bestLOOPING! See www.ushpa.aero under store/misc for example. Available through USHPA HQ for just $6.95 (+$5.00 s/h). USHPA, PO Box 1300, Colorado Springs CO 80933. (USA & Canada only. Sorry, posters are NOT AVAILABLE on international orders.) DVDS-VIDEOS-BOOKS-POSTERS – Check out our Web store at www.ushpa.aero. WORLDWIDE INTERNET PARAGLIDING TALK SHOW – WW.WORLDTALKRADIO.COM. Listen live or to the W 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!

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.

Index To Advertisers

WW XC 155 –  White upper surface, white l.e., assymetric blue and green lower surface with XC logo. Chris Smith Cloudbase pod harness, purple. Lee full-face helmet, red. Flytec 4030 Race with airspeed. Taken from TTT Henson Gap LZ late afternoon Wednesday, June 5, 2007. Dan Shell at danshell@bledsoe.net, (423) 9496912, or (423) 667-9457.

Cloud 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Deimos Paraglider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Flytec USA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Foundation for Free Flight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 High Energy Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 North Wing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 O’CONNOR Flight School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 OZONE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Sky Wings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Sport Aviation Publications . . . . . . . . . 60 SSA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Super Fly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Thermal Tracker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Torrey Pines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Traverse City HG & PG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 USHPA Bank of America Card. . . . . . . . . 79 USHPA Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 USHPA Contributing Member . . . . . . . . . 55 USHPA DVD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 USHPA REnew. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Wills Wing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

STOLEN WINGS are listed as a service to USHPA members. Newest entries are in bold. There is no charge for this service, and lostand-found wings or equipment may be called in to (719) 632-8300, faxed to (719) 632-6417, 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.

Adventure Productions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Flytec USA GPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Flytec USA Thermal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Kitty Hawk Kites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Lookout Mountain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 NOrth Wing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 MPH Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 USHPA Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 USHPA Stickers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 XC Flight Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Stolen from the Andy Jackson Airpark California, May 14, 2007. Falcon 195 #25038. Silver leading edge, red bottom surface, white trailing edge. Contact Rob or Dianne through www.flytandem.com or (909) 883-8488.

MarketPlace

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

GPS GARMIN 76 CSX – The last day of the Rat Race, after the tracklog information was downloaded, someone picked up my GPS from the table. It has white tape in the upper left corner with my pilot number 326 written on it. If you discover this GPS in your possession, please contact me at USHPA. Martin, 800-616-6888. I borrowed the GPS from a friend, so it would be an enormous relief to have it returned.

Tom Galvin flying off into the sunset with his trusty 11-meter Pulse, Ellenville, N.Y.

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

Photo: Morgan Galvin (age 13)

STOLEN WINGS & THINGS

70%

Photo: Neil McGarry

I used to teach middle school – for over 10 years. All I can say is, thank God I got out of that! To those who do teach and desire to stick with it, I say bless you. But, really, my teaching job did have its benefits. One such benefit was the conferences I attended. At every one, I learned something new and exciting. I remember one conference in particular; the keynote speaker, damned if I can remember his name, was spectacular. Well, not him so much as the content of his speech. Not that what the man had to say was new, or different. It wasn’t. What he had to say was simply inspiring. That, I assume, is why the conference planners hired him. The speaker noted that the only place we ever accept 70% as passing is in our public schools. Nowhere, absolutely nowhere else, is 70% considered either passing or even remotely acceptable. Think about it. What if the sanitation workers at your house only picked up 70% of your trash, or what if they picked up your trash only 70% of the time? What if the utilities people only gave you electricity or water 70% of the time? What if you received a correct order at your favorite restaurant only 70% of the time? Or, what if your bank only deposited 70% of your check? And, just imagine your next flight on your favorite airline when the captain of the airplane says, “Sit back, enjoy the flight, be assured that we have

A pilot who forgot to buckle in falls out of his harness in Valle De Bravo, Mexico.

Photo: Aaron Bell

By Steve Messman, staff writer

Launching at Sheba Crater, Arizona

a 70% chance of landing safely.” Seventy percent isn’t passing, people. It’s disaster. So what does all this have to do with flying? A very good question. But, I have one of my own. What DOESN’T it have to do with flying? The most dangerous times we have as pilots are while launching and landing. What would happen to us if our foot-launch instructors incessantly demanded that we perform 70% of our launches perfectly? Imagine the mayhem if they insisted beyond all reason that we absolutely nail 70% of our landings. And being great instructors, I am certain their unified insistence on making certain we can perform at least 70% of our 360s without either stalling or spiraling has kept us all alive over the years. Bless them all for that. But really, what has kept us alive and uninjured over the years? Why is it that our pilot friends get their 1000, 2000, or 3000 safe-flight certificates? Because they try 70% of the time? Hardly! We are alive and well because we give 100% to the perfect launch and the perfect landing. We are alive and well because we practice on every single flight. We work hard to do the best we can do. We practice on the ground when the weather is bad. We practice in the air when the weather is good. We take care to begin each new flying season with caution, to re-acquaint ourselves with our wings after a long winter. We remember those stern words and demands of our great instructors who demanded 100% in our launches, 100% in our flights, and 100% in our landings.

Of course, every one of us makes mistakes. Of course people get hurt, and of course we have accidents. Almost invariably, our flying accidents can be traced to something we as pilot-in-command did or did not do. There might have been a piece of equipment we failed to inspect. There might have been a maneuver that we fell short on. There might have been a simple, momentary lapse in judgment of the wind speed or direction. There could have been any number of perfect reasons that we only gave 99.999% of our effort to that particular flight. And hopefully, the result was an inexpensive lesson, like landing in blackberry vines or in eightfoot-high scotch broom. Safe pilots always strive for 100% in every situation. That is the reason we continue to fly day after day, year after year. That is how we continue to enjoy flying, and that is the reason we continue to enjoy our lives in the air and on the ground. Our instructors taught us correctly. They know, and you know, that 70% is never passing or acceptable! The only way we can do our business successfully is to do it with 100% of our mental and physical effort. We are foot-launch pilots. We leave the ground behind and soar thousands of feet above, tied to aluminum and/or nylon. We can never afford to put less than 100% of ourselves into our sport. Our goal must always be 100%. Leave that goal of 70% to the public school system.

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

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