USHPA Pilot Vol50-Iss1 Jan/Feb 2020

January/February 2020 Volume 50 Issue 1 $6.95 UNITED STATES HANG GLIDING AND PARAGLIDING ASSOCIATION

Paragliding Accuracy Open + Kyrgyzstan + Wills Wing TIII

Lighter, higher performance, and more fun than ever!

The new Geo 6 is the largest performance increase, and weight decrease, in the history of the series. Modern construction techniques and a clever blend of materials have saved 350 grams of weight compared to its predecessor.

It's the ideal travel & adventure wing in the intermediate range, for pilots seeking highly capable XC performance and low weight & pack volume. Pairing it with the SOLOS harness makes for an easy and comfortable lightweight XC kit at under 7 kg!

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Photo: Ben Jordan Pilot: Lyndsay Nicole Location: Revelstoke, Canada

USHPA PILOT 3

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Martin Palmaz, Executive Director executivedirector@ushpa.org Beth Van Eaton, Operations Manager office@ushpa.org Erika Klein, Communications Manager communications@ushpa.org Chris Webster, Information Services Manager tech@ushpa.org Galen Anderson, Membership Coordinator membership@ushpa.org OFFICERS Alan Crouse, President president@ushpa.org Randall Shane, Vice President vicepresident@ushpa.org Ken Andrews, Secretary secretary@ushpa.org Mark Forbes, Treasurer treasurer@ushpa.org

1 NORTHWEST [ AK∙HI∙IA∙ID∙MN∙MT∙ND∙NE∙OR∙SD∙WA∙WY ] Mark Forbes Doyle Johnson Kimberly Phinney Randall Shane 2 CENTRAL WEST [ Northern CA∙NV∙UT ] Jugdeep Aggarwal 3 SOUTHWEST [ Southern CA∙AZ∙CO∙NM ] Ken Andrews Alan Crouse Steve Pearson Sara Weaver 4 SOUTHEAST [ AL∙AR∙DC∙FL∙GA∙KS∙KY∙LA∙MO∙MS∙NC∙OK∙SC∙TN∙TX∙WV∙VA ] Kate Griffin Daniel Lukaszewicz 5 NORTHEAST & INTERNATIONAL [ CT∙DE∙IL∙IN∙MA∙MD∙ME∙MI∙NH∙NY∙NY∙OH∙PA∙RI∙VT∙WI ] Mike Holmes Paul Voight

The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association Inc. (USHPA) 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. 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.

For change of address or other USHPA business +1 (719) 632-8300 info@ushpa.org POSTMASTER USHPA Pilot ISSN 1543-5989 (USPS 17970) is published bimonthly by the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, Inc., 1685 W. Uintah St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80904 Phone: (719) 632-8300 Fax: (719) 632-6417 Periodicals Postage Paid in Colorado Springs and additional mailing offices. Send change of address to: USHPA, PO Box 1330, Colorado Springs, CO, 80901-1330. Canadian Return Address: DP Global Mail, 4960-2 Walker Road, Windsor, ON N9A 6J3.

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USHPA PILOT 5

Martin Palmaz, Publisher executivedirector@ushpa.org Nick Greece, Editor editor@ushpa.org / advertising@ushpa.org Greg Gillam, Art Director art.director@ushpa.org

ON THE COVER Antoine Laurens flying a classic line from Walt's Point through the Sierras.

Photo by NICK GREECE

C.J. Sturtevant, Copy Editor copy@ushpa.org PHOTOGRAPHERS Ben White

STAFF WRITERS Annette O’Neil Dennis Pagen Jeff Shapiro C.J. Sturtevant

SUBMISSIONS from our members and readers are welcome. All articles, artwork, photographs as well as ideas for articles, artwork and photographs are submitted pursuant to and are subject to the USHPA Contributor's Agreement, a copy of which can be obtained from the USHPA by emailing the editor at editor@ushpa.org or online at www.ushpa.org. We are always looking for great articles, photography and news. Your contributions are appreciated.

ADVERTISING is subject to the USHPA Advertising Policy, a copy of which may be obtained from the USHPA by emailing advertising@ushpa.org.

COPYRIGHT ©2019 US HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING ASSOC., INC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission of USHPA.

2020 January/February CONTENTS 14 COMPETITION

8 FLIGHT PLAN

Paragliding Accuracy Worlds

9 USHPA ARC

US pilots end up on the podium at the USA's first FAI Paragliding Accuracy Open

12 LAUNCHING 13 AIRMAIL

by PEDRO TIRADO

56 RATINGS 61 CALENDAR 62 CLASSIFIED

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18 HISTORY

The Lilienthal Bi-Plane Glider Flying the wing that started it all!

by MARKUS RAFFEL 48 COMPETITION

16th Paragliding Worlds

The US Team heads to race against the World's best!

by CODY MITTANCK

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52 SKILLS

Learning Free Flight

You have to get up to get down. A primer on how to start with a bang.

by MITCH RILEY 64 FINAL

A Boy and A Girl

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It all started on a wing and a dream.

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by GAVIN McCLURG

22 REFLECTIONS: YEAR 43

36 COUPE ICARE

by ANNETTE O'NEIL

by BEN WHITE

Bob Barry looks back on a life in the sky.

Every pilot should go once in a lifetime.

28 WILLS WING TIII

40 KYRGYZSTAN

by RYAN VOIGHT

by ERIC ESSER

A competition-class hang glider review.

Five New England pilots explore air and ground.

HANG GLIDING AND PAR AGLIDING ARE INHERENTLY DANGEROUS ACTIVITIES

USHPA recommends pilots complete a pilot training program under the direct supervision of a USHPA-certified instructor, using safe equipment suitable for your level of experience. Many of the articles and photographs in the magazine depict advanced maneuvers being performed by experienced, or expert, pilots. These maneuvers should not be attempted without the prerequisite instruction and experience.

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Photo: Jerome Maupoint USHPA PILOT 7

TRAVEL LIGHT, FLY FAR The Calypso is a light easy intermediate (“low B”) wing for beginning and leisure pilots who want a confidence-inspiring wing that is easy to travel and fly with, whilst still offering great XC possibilities.

The Calypso has been developed from the ground up.

Handling is reassuring but fun — a little more dynamic than a typical glider in its class, but without surprises.

EN B // 5 sizes // 55-120 kg

Super Fly Paragliding 801.255.9595 service@superflyinc.com superflyinc.com

www.gingliders.com

Flight Plan [ Editor > NICK GREECE ]

I

n 2003 I read an article in Cross Country magazine about a mythical ridge in Morocco that began in the Anti-Atlas mountains and went for 100 miles. The photos and adventure, masterfully spun by Bob Drury, inspired me to sell all my possessions at a day-long yard sale and head off with my glider and a dream. I spent the next year flying, traveling, writing and taking photos for my monthly e-mails to my family, sent from internet cafes I hit on my hippy paragliding highway that ran from Morocco to Slovenia. That article, which sent me into the world to find adventure, forever changed my life: It set me on a course to become the North American editor of Cross Country magazine, cover the Red Bull X-Alps in 2007, edit Paraglider magazine for one issue and eventually, and happily, land at USHPA, editing this magazine, 12 years ago. It was with this lens that I hoped the magazine worked to inspire others.

My goal has always been to inspire others through this publication, and to create a campfire for every member to share whatever passion inspired them to contribute. It has been a continuous feedback loop of inspiration for me, as each story I worked on inevitably reminded me of some part of my flying life that inspired me. We have shared everything over these 12 years, from the latest and greatest gear, to organization news, to tales of far-off lands, to the story of one of the most epic endeavors in free-flight history—Dustin Martin battling with Jonny Durand to capture the world hang gliding distance record.

We published this story, written by our very own Pete Lehman, in the October 2012 issue of this magazine; it would go on to grace the front page of the sports section of The New York Times in 2013.

When I think back on what made the magazine successful over the years it brings to mind a cast of incredible characters. First off, I want to thank every contributor who took the time to live an adventure, cover it, and then send it in. The A-Team of repeat offenders who made each issue come to life include but are not limited to C.J. Sturtevant Mark “Forger” Stucky, Dennis Pagen, Harry Martin, Jeff O’Brien, Jeff Shapiro, Ryan Voight, Gavin McClurg, Andy Pag, Christina Ammon, Annette O’Neil, John Heiney, Ben White, Chris Santacroce, Alex Colby, Tim Herr for his diligent oversight, Jonathan Dietch, David Aldrich, Jody MacDonald, and Becca Bredehoft to name a few. Dennis Pagen provided us with the highest modicum of instruction and wit every month. The hard-working board members always inspired us with their dedication, especially, Rich Hass, Steve Kroop, Mark Forbes, Ken Grubbs, Bill Bolosky, and Dennis Pagen among many others.

Thanks also to our premier advertisers over the last decade, without whose support the magazine would have

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suffered: Steve Kroop at Flytec, Matt Gerdes at Ozone, Chris Santacroce at Superfly, Vicki Cain at Moyes, Northwing, and Wills Wing. These folks support free flight through the USHPA magazine, and hopefully when you choose to purchase new gear you will give them a chance.

I was one of six who made the magazine happen. The other five are equally responsible for elevating the tales of our membership, and the quality of the publication, to the level it reached. USHPA’s operations manager Beth Van Eaton is the glue that ties the magazine together. She keeps track of all the critical components of the schedule and advertising and diligently manages the process. Martin Palmaz, the associations ED, was always open to wild ideas, and allowed us to navigate the creative waters with integrity. Copy editor C.J. Sturtevant—without her work the magazine would be riddled with additional commas and misspellings. I would have left this position years ago if it were not for the amazing tutelage and support of C.J. and her husband George. Their fine-tooth comb, full of intrinsic knowledge gleamed from their lives on wing and in the middle-school classroom, constantly impressed, and saved me! And finally the man who made the magazine what it was and is: Greg Gillam, who year after year worked successfully to refresh the magazine and enable USHPA to put out a first-rate publication. Thank you, Mr. Gillam, for your exemplary work over the years. The organization is fortunate to have you staying on to work with our next editor, Liz Dengler. I am looking forward to seeing where you two take the magazine next.

I hope something in the 135 magazines we worked on has inspired you to fly, go on a trip with friends, or enjoy your airtime just a little bit more than you would have without us. Thank you for allowing me to tend the fire for all these years! It was a dream job, but I’m looking forward to going back to “private” life on the hill and sending in a few stories of my own to the new editor.

I chose a photo for the cover that epitomizes what I love about free flight. It was one of the best days in my life.

My friends and I headed to launch, set out to have a fun day, enjoyed the camaraderie on the ground and in the air, and spent all day under wing having an adventure of a lifetime. As I have said in my editor’s notes in the first issue of every year for the past 12, all of us at the magazine wish you a happy and safe New Year, and if you have a story to tell around the fire, send it in!

USHPA PILOT 9

Accident Review Committee

[ Chair, ARC > JERRY KELLER ]

Call for Volunteers

AIRS Accident/Incident Reporting System is standing by at airs.ushpa.org If you've been injured or experienced a close call, file a report today.

All AIRS reports are completely confidential.

the pilot or a witness. It only takes minutes to fill in the preliminary incident data and one can maintain anonymity if desired. We do, however, like to get contact information so we can follow up with any questions we might have to better understand the accident/incident. No one will ever be criticized or disciplined for making a mistake and coming forward with the report. Our only purpose is to learn and become better pilots.

The flying community is encouraged to make these reports no matter how trivial the incident may seem. Close calls and mistakes (which we all have from time to time) are just as important to report as injuries. The more data we get the better the trend analyses and the more we can learn from it, so we all can benefit and hopefully be safer pilots.

Also, our insurance premiums are positively impacted with more reporting. Capturing the volume and wide array of incidents more accurately reflects the true scope of activity, vs. the need to guess, which is larger than the true scope.

Additionally, USHPA’s insurance company needs to be notified in the event of our USHPA insurance coming into play as a result of the accident. Finally, the USHPA office collects information to meet the mandatory reporting requirements (per our SOPs) for instructors, tandem pilots, event and competition organizers, chapters, etc.

Some of you may already know about the Accident Review Committee (ARC) or may be wondering what it is and how it operates.

The ARC is managed under USHPA and has the following basic purpose: to try and understand causes and trends of accidents and share the findings with the free-flight community. Members/pilots have expressed a strong desire for more accident-reporting information and the committee is currently undergoing some changes and looking for volunteers to respond to this need. More specifically, the ARC responsibilities are: • Create and manage an easy and effective system for reporting free-flight accidents/ incidents • Review and investigate accident reports • Determine (as best as possible) the most probable cause(s) of the accident/incident • Analyze accident data for common trends • Work with Safety and Training committee for any accident-trend data that support training improvements • Report out to the flying community any lessons learned and causes of accidents/ incidents The investigation into accidents starts with USHPA receiving accident reports within their website when the reporter is logged in as a member and under “pilot resources” and “reporting an incident.” Anyone can submit an accident report but ideally it should be

2020 WALL CALENDARS are here, and they're incredible!

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Flying in Salt Lake City offers a lot of options with glorious views.

Point of the Mountain, Utah.

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A classic Jerome Maupoint angle in the Swiss Alps.

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There are three different groups who need to know about all accidents and incidents.

However, in most cases they can’t directly share information—in order to protect those involved! Therefore, there are now three forms you need to fill out, so that all USHPA members can learn from what happened and fly more safely; to make sure pilots and the organization are legally protected; and to ensure the office is informed.

Accident and Incident Reporting

Note that while all three forms listed below collect some of the same information, each is used and protected in different ways, which is why three different forms are required.

Step 1: Preliminary Incident Report Use this form to notify USHPA that there has been an accident or incident.

• Fulfills mandatory reporting requirements described in the SOPs • Fulfills mandatory reporting requirements described in competition and event rules • Information is not confidential or protected from discovery, but can be anonymous.

• If you provide your email address, you will receive a copy of the report.

• If you provide your email address and check the appropriate boxes, you will be emailed links to the other forms.

Interested in a more active role supporting our national organization?

USHPA needs you! Step 2: AIRS (Accident/Incident Reporting Have a skill or System) interest and some Use AIRS to provide details about any accitime available? dent or incident so that others may learn.

• All information is confidential and legally protected from discovery: Only AIRS investigators and project personnel have access ushpa.org/volunteer to the data.

• Reports may be anonymous.

• A Certificate of Confidentiality limits how that data may be used/disseminated in order to protect those reporting or involved in accidents/incidents.

• After you “Finish” the report a link to the final form (aka Step 3) is provided on the “Thank you” page

VOLUNTEER!

Step 3: Insurance Notification of a Potential Claim Against You Use this form to notify our insurance company of an accident or incident that involved 10 US H PA P I LOT

injury or property damage that you believe might result in claims against you relating to your flying activities.

• Reports may not be anonymous • All information provided is confidential and legally protected as client-attorney communication.

NOTE: If you are an instructor with a PASA-certified school you must report the incident using the Student Lesson Day logging system. You do not need to use this form.

The Committee

The ARC committee consist of volunteers and is managed by a paragliding and a hang gliding co-chairs. Chris Santacroce is the paragliding chairman and Jerry Keller is the newly appointed hang gliding chairman.

Most everyone in paragliding knows Chris and his contributions to the sport; he has been working on the ARC as a co-chair for several years. Jerry Keller recently volunteered to take over for Mitch Shipley, who has stepped down after a very successful tenure. Jerry has been a hang glider pilot since the early ‘70s with some breaks in the sport due to career. Jerry is a retired aerospace engineer and has a commercial and CFII pilot/instructor ratings. He has built several aircraft including a few ultralights and is an active RC modeler. Like most of us, his life has revolved around flying. He lives in Florida and mostly aerotows but travels to mountain sites during the summer months.

This summer he got to fly Andy Jackson flight park and Kagel in California, Dog Mountain in Washington and Mount 7 in BC. Jerry also volunteers as the Grant committee chairman and trustee for the Foundation for Free Flight, which is a nonprofit supporting site preservation, safety, education and competition.

The ARC also needs a couple of additional volunteers to support investigations, develop trend data and reporting. Anyone interested in helping out can contact USHPA at “Volunteer Opportunities” when logged in the member section of website.

Here are examples of reported data out to the flying community: A NEW P2 PILOT with less than 50 flights (and less than five at this particular site) was

USH PA PILOT 11

soaring at a ridge site in nominal conditions when he became fixated on the hill and landed 90 degrees to the wind and directly into some terrain, suffering a spinal cord injury.

The pilot is expected to make a full recovery.

This points to the idea that pilots with less than 100 flights oftentimes need ongoing supervision as they begin to fly new sites.

Also, there is a notion called “defensive ridge flying” in which pilots are cautioned to keep two “things” away from the hill at all times so that they can easily fly away if the terrain sneaks up on them. There are four variables total: eyes, head, hands and hips. Again, two of these should be facing away from the hill at all times. Never let all four be directed at the terrain.

A NEW P3 AT A MOUNTAIN SITE was flying an older glider that was overdue for inspection. He was thermaling on his way to the landing area when he caused a spin by over-braking one side of the glider.

He mis-managed the recovery and went through what he described as a cascade of events. The pilot was lucky to have only a hard landing with no actual injuries. On review of the event, the pilot concluded that having a freshly tuned or inspected glider would help prevent the inadvertent spin. The biggest lesson for the pilot was to exercise deliberate weight shift in order to develop a coordinated turn. Finally, it should be noted that one of the finest arts in paragliding is the way we develop a turn. First look and wait a moment, then pull gently and wait a moment, then pull the brake as needed. Let off smoothly. This formula enables pilots to avoid inadvertent spins, and it also yields the most coordinated turns with the most precise exits on the desired heading with little pitch movement on transition into straight flight. Finally, most spins (negative spin, not to be confused with spiral malfunctions) can be best addressed by releasing the brake. Too often, pilots will try to exit a spin smoothly into normal flight, but their hands and legs are oftentimes moving in a dramatic way as they are trying to regain equilibrium (upright in the harness). This often causes the malfunction to continue. For this reason, pilots are reminded to seek nominal feet together, elbows in with nominal amounts

󲢫 Above all, it takes two pilots to participate in a mid-air collision. So, there is little value in assigning blame. 󲢻 of brake (let off the brakes when the glider is behind the pilot’s head and brake when the glider is out in front of the pilot) in order to smoothly recover from dramatic events. Reserve deployment on recognizing a dramatic malfunction is almost always a great bet. This pilot thought he was too low but learned, after the event, that he actually would have had time to deploy. The immediate and first consideration should always be to use your reserve. If you have lots of height, you may be able to fix things, but if you are under 500 feet, you should throw instantly. If in doubt, get it out!

Several mid-air collisions were reported during the season. In the majority of the cases, there were no injuries, which is likely attributed to good luck. On review of the collisions, several things typically emerge.

Above all, it takes two pilots to participate in a mid-air collision. So, there is little value in assigning blame. Next, there are indeed right-of-way rules that we should all understand and honor whenever possible. Here is the tricky part: We should all be prepared for other pilots to not honor the right-of-way rules. In many cases, pilots feel betrayed and are in disbelief when other pilots don’t honor or interpret the rules in the way that we expect them to. Seasoned pilots know that the rules are just a guideline and that the best defense against a mid-air is to be hyper aware of all pilots flying at any moment.

The FAA does not require any education or experience to fly a paraglider, so every pilot should always assume that any other pilot in his vicinity in the air does not have education or experience. Furthermore, pilots learn to aim toward open airspace and avoid congestion. Finally, our mantra should be “see and avoid” and we should never let ourselves end up in a potentially compromising position in the first place. As with catastrophic malfunctions, on experiencing a mid-air, both pilots should immediately and as a first consideration, use their reserve parachutes. Don’t be afraid of using your reserve—if in doubt, get it out!

Launching STODEUS GPSBIP+ The leGPSBip+ is a small (35 g), solar-powered (20 hours w/o sun) variometer with a GPS Logger (KML and ICG), accelerometer, and gyroscope sensor. This simple-to-use device will speak (13 languages) and vocalize vital information like altitude, ground speed and average climb rate in flight by tapping the unit twice. There’s also a weak-lift buzzer, which is adjustable but generally gives a buzzing sound in 50fpm lift to indicate a pilot’s proximity to a thermal. Vario lift-tone threshold and reactivity time are configurable via web interface. It also has an LED visual silent mode, in which the side LED blinks, according to the lift rate, green for lift and red for sink. Finally, Stodeus boasts “Instant Vario Technology,” which is not gust sensitive (at take-off, and while flying), unlike the conventional pressure-sensor variometers (95% of the vario market). This unit can sync with your Android phone for more in-depth information, with IOS promised for the future. Also check out the 25g, 100-hour w/o sunlight leBipBip+, which offers all the same vario functionality without the GPS. These are best-in-class vario solutions for first purchase as a primary instrument, and are also used as a compact and lightweight backup to a flight computer.

Both are available through www.superflyinc.com.

[ Latest Gear ]

NOVA BANTAM The Bantam is a certified miniwing that is super lightweight.

It’s gained notoriety during the 2019 Dolomitenmann competition, in which Chrigel Mauer flew it to victory, saying: “For me, the BANTAM is setting a benchmark for this type of wing because it glides better and clearly has better top speed. The handling is simpler and I feel comfortable, and this means I can use all the available performance.”

According to NOVA, the Bantam is the perfect miniwing for people who value light weight and reliability. As always in the US, this mini wing will be flown for strong-wind soaring, smaller pilots, on ski application, etc. Sizes 10, 12, and 14m. Weight: 1.65kg. Demos are available through www.superflyinc.com.

FLOW FUSION The Flow Fusion brings the performance of Flow’s highly successful two-line projects to the EN-C class. Flow claims that they have successfully fused a 2-liner feel with rear-riser steering, utilizing crafted control toggles and maintaining the security and comfortable workload of an EN-C glider. Expect a comfortable level of workload that an EN-C glider has with a shark-nose profile, 3D panel shaping, and detailed internal structure.

Visit http://liftparagliding.com/ for more information.

SUPER FLY HATS AND SILI-PINTS The Super Fly hat is an adjustable half mesh while the Sili-Pint is an unbreakable BPA-free 16oz. cup that is good to 450 degrees. Both of them scream “team” and are available at www.superflyinc. com.

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GIN CAMINO GIN claims that their new, lightweight EN C wing is ready for adventure both on the trail and in the sky. Gin, the designer, boasts that his new Camino has agile handling as well as stability in turbulence. “Our target was really to combine the agility of the Explorer (EN B) with the performance at speed of the Leopard (EN D), and offer it in a light package,” he reports.

The Camino comes in five sizes (XXS-L) and weighs 3.5-4.4kg. This glider is perfect for your adventurous winter and summer missions. Available at www. superflyinc.com.

USH PA PILOT 13

󲢫 ...a light bulb went off in my head.

The symptoms you described were EXACTLY what I was experiencing... 󲢻

Airmail

YETI UL GIN has released the new Yeti UL, a planar reserve parachute, a new type of reserve that, according to GIN, offers maximum safety performance in the smallest-ever package. This is GIN’s lightest and most compact reserve. It comes in three sizes from 19-27m and 85120kg. Weights are from .87-1.17kg.

Available at www.superflyinc.com.

NIVIUK KOYOT 4 P The Koyot 4 P opens the door to newer pilots wanting a lightweight glider for their hiking and flying adventures without sacrificing the security inherent in an EN-A class glider.

Incorporation of the revolutionary Nitinol (TNT) rods in the leading-edge profile increases elasticity and helps the leading edge hold and return to its original shape.

The use of this material increases durability and increases the life of the wing while protecting it during heavy use common in paragliding training. For more information visit paragliding.com.

WOODY VALLEY WANI LIGHT 2 PARAGLIDING HARNESS The Wani Light 2 is the successor to its very popular predecessor. Woody Valley has redesigned the rucksack shape, and has increased storage capacity. The rucksack waist belt is now removable; the harness is designed with an external helmet-storage area, a larger deployment bag and reserve compartment for larger reserves, a new retractable speed-bar system, and space for the optional “lightshield” back protection.

The harness comes in four sizes: S,M,L, and XL. Visit paragliding.com for more information.

[ Letters to the Editor ]

After reading Dennis Pagen’s article in the November/December 2019 issue entitled “Wing Loading Effects,” a light bulb went off in my head. The symptoms you described were EXACTLY what I was experiencing with my WW Falcon 170.

I lengthened the flying wires 1/2” on each side, as you suggested, by adding short stainless steel tangs to the outer ends. I didn’t alter the flying wires themselves at all; I wanted to be able to put things back to original if wanted. Also, I didn’t alter the top wires at all, to preserve the factory reflex. The small amount of slack in the lower wires prior to flight is no problem for me.

Well, the difference when flying was HUGE. The glider was so much more stable going up on tow (platform/payout winch). Off tow, in thermic conditions, it stayed put, didn’t require its previous large amount of high-siding, and didn’t wear me out by wanting to dart in and out of the bank angle. At the same time, it still had crisp roll control. As a matter of fact, it seems to have “power steering” now, without the instability. All in all, a delight to fly. Also, my main flying partner, who is very experienced, and who often flies my glider, was enthusiastically of the same opinion.

Prior to this, I couldn’t stay flying for much more than an hour, because of this problem.

So, thank you for this article.

- Doug Bebensee, USHPA #96122

Pan-Am Accuracy Competition

[ contributed by PEDRO TIRADO ]

USA's First FAI CAT 2 International Open Paragliding Accuracy Comp

COMPETITION

ABOVE Meet Director Jimmy Giroux announces the winners: 1. Lopez (COL) 2. Bob Brown (USA) 3. Pedro Tirado (USA)

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The first FAI Cat 2 International Paragliding ute to Justin Boer, HSB Park co-owner, who Accuracy (PGA) Open Competition in the USA died in a tragic accident earlier this year. His was held from October 4-6, 2019, at Horseshoe friend and business partner, Scott Edwards, Bend (HSB) Flight Park, in Horseshoe Bend, wanted to pay tribute to Justin, who began Idaho. Four USA pilots took the podium in planning for an Accuracy competition in the the general and female categories. A cadre of USA, while on a paragliding trip to Oludeniz, PG Accuracy judges was also trained. These Turkey. Justin’s parents attended the event, judges will be available for judging in othwith Justin’s dad training and officiating as one of the target judges. er Accuracy competitions in the USA and The competition was well attended by the throughout the Pan-American region. public and covered by the local news. DeliNext year, the competition promises to be even more popular and challenging. In addicious burgers and hot dogs were plentiful, and a live music tribute by Idaho musicians tion to the Horseshoe Bend Open, it will host and DJs added to the festive ambiance on Satthe final stage (super final) of the Pan-American Paragliding Accuracy Cup (PGAPC), in urday night. The opening ceremony included which pilots from seven countries in the a three-gun salute and a memorial flight Americas (Canada, USA, Ecuador, Colombia, performed by Scott Edwards, who flew with Peru, Chile, Argentina) will find out who Justin’s ashes. earns the 2020 Pan-American cup. The annual On Friday, October 4, pilots were able to HSB Accuracy competition, next scheduled practice, while judges and officials attended for October 2-4, 2020, is a USHPA-sanctioned, a seminar given by Jimmy Giroux, Canada’s US PG Accuracy National competition—curtop Accuracy pilot and a member of the FAI’s Accuracy commission. One scored training rently, the only one of its kind in the USA. The competition this year was held as a trib- round, as well as seven valid rounds, were

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completed between October 5 and 6. First place went to Colombian pilot Diego Lopez, second place to USA pilot Bob Brown, and third place to USA pilot Pedro Tirado.

Females acquitted themselves well. After a very close competition, top female pilot was Amy Hansen, who also finished third-best USA pilot in the overall competition. Rathdavanh Vongvilay took second place in the female category and finished as fourth USA pilot in the general category. Amy and Rath are respectively ranked 10th and 11th among Pan-American female Accuracy competitors.

Mini-wing pilots also demonstrated their flying and landing skills with their own Accuracy competition, which was held sideby-side to the FAI Cat 2 paragliding Accuracy competition. The only difference between mini-wing and paraglider target areas was the Automatic Measuring Device (electronic bullseye) used for paragliders. This was not used for the mini wings in order to prevent the device from being damaged from the faster and higher energy landings of the mini wings. FAI PGA rules were applied to both categories. In the mini-wing category, first place went to USA pilot Nick Schrand, flying a Swing RS; second place, to USA pilot E. Scott Edwards, flying a Little Cloud EZ; and third place, to USA pilot Josh W. Simpfenderfer, flying a Level Flame.

PGA competitions are big in Asia and Europe and continue to grow in popularity, with more countries joining the sport each year. In the Americas, the Colombians have an established national circuit and dominate, followed

by Canada and Ecuador. Chile, Argentina, and Peru have nascent national circuits with a goal of sending several national teams from the Americas to the 2021 World Championship in Macedonia.

Before Horseshoe Bend, most of the US-rated pilots had acquired their rating points (WPRS) by attending FAI-sanctioned competitions overseas. HSB was the first of its kind in the USA and, hopefully, will mark the start of a US national PG Accuracy fever. This year’s event followed the Canadian National Championship, held in Lumby, British Columbia, September 25-27 (a 10-hour drive from HSB). Next year’s competitions in Lumby and HSB will be coordinated in the same manner to make it attractive to participants from all

geographical areas, who can then attend both competitions over two consecutive weekends. TOP HSB Landing Zone. seen from the main launch HSB will also be the final stage of the 2020 site.

Paragliding Accuracy Pan-American Cup (PGAPC). PGAPC Circuit 2020 Season: Six (6) BOTTOM Trevor stages will comprise the 2020 PGAPC Season: Cowlishaw (USA) shows 1st Stage: 21-23 Feb 2020 in Canton, Paute, Accuracy competition is for everyone.

Ecuador (near Cuenca). 2nd Stage: 28 Feb-01 Mar 2020 in Piedechinche, Valle del Cauca, Colombia (near Cali). 3rd Stage: 25-26 April 2020 in Santiago, Chile. 4th Stage: 1-3 May 2020 in La Calera, Cordoba province, Argentina.

5th Stage: 25-27 September 2020 at Freedom Flight Park, Lumby, British Columbia, Canada.

6th Stage: (Super Final) 2-4 October 2020 at Horseshoe Bend Flight Park (HSB), in Horseshoe Bend, Idaho, USA. More information on

competition schedule, registration, etc., can be found at pgapc.org.

PGA events can be held almost year-round, as long as pilots are able to launch and land safely. Events can be foot-launched from hills, winch-towed, or a combination of both.

Lithuania and Estonia hold competitions in the dead of winter during their National Days in February. In Lithuania, landing is usually on a frozen lake next to Trakai’s castle.

LEFT Spectators at the Albania conducts a popular beachside open HSB lodge waiting for competition every May in Vlore. And Serbia competition to start just finished hosting the 2019 World Championship (FAI Category 1) this September, with RIGHT Amy Hansen (USA) wins the female Indonesia finishing first, China second, and category and crowns Colombia third, among the 35 participating herself as top USA female nations.

Accuracy pilot.

Accuracy training makes one a better and safer pilot, building confidence that helps one land a paraglider almost anywhere. Competi-

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tion consists of landing on a dot two centimeters wide to obtain the desired perfect 000 score. Every centimeter away from the edge of this dot is a point, up to a maximum of 500 points. Pilots must land on their feet, with no part of the body or equipment touching the ground until the wing is down or the pilot has exited the ten-meter circle around the target. Also, pilots must land in a glide, without stalling their wings. (If you think this is silly and easy, try it. Like golf, you will soon discover it requires a high degree of skill and is quite fun and addictive.) Unsafe flying is punished by disqualification.

USA clubs interested in running FAI 2 PGA competitions in the USA and becoming part of a national circuit can email me for information at pjtirado1@gmail.com. Hope to see you all in Lumby and HSB the last weekend of September and first weekend of October in 2020. Or I encourage you to attend any of the international FAI 2 Accuracy competitions listed in the FAI Paragliding calendar of events for 2020 which can be found at: https://www.fai.org/sport/ paragliding?upcoming=1&f%5B0%5D=fai_event_ year%3A2020&display=list

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Generous Donors, Loyal Supporters and Friends YOUR GIFTS MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

We couldn’t have done it

WITHOUT YOU!

The Lilienthal Bi-Plane Glider

[ contributed by MARKUS RAFFEL ]

Turn back the clock to 1895 and strap in!

HISTORY

This time we were confident. It was going to work. We’d shipped Otto Lilienthal’s masterABOVE Markus Raffel straps piece, the Large Bi-Plane, over from Germain to the Lilletnhal glider ny to the NASA Ames Research Center in replica from 1895.

Mountain View, CA. Volunteers at NASA had helped load the bulky wooden box on top of a U-Haul trailer behind my friend JT’s pick-up truck. Earlier, over a period of months, the glider had been carefully assembled by the skilled experts of the Otto Lilienthal Museum in Lilienthal’s birthplace, Anklam. Afterwards, the glider was thoroughly tested on a rope winch in Germany, where Markus and his supporters struggled, but finally succeeded, in finding the right trim. And now, at last, the glider arrived at the Marina State Beach, north of Monterey. Today we moved it out of the box, carried all of the gear over the dune, set the glider up and began flying it. We flew downhill along the slope of the dune, not too high above the ground, slowly and steadily.

This was the same way Otto Lilienthal, the first human who ever managed to fly repeat18 US H PA P I LOT

edly and controllably, flew 124 years ago.

It was not the first time we had met in California: Markus had flown Lilienthal’s famous Normal Soaring Apparatus last year at Tres Pinos and, today, together with Andy, at Dockweiler Beach and in Monterey. George had seen us practicing with the monoplane and come by to support us. He was the one who recommended flying at Marina, because it has a dune with constant wind, is not too crowded, and has the right slope. Also, flying uncertified ultralight aircrafts with weightshift control is legal in this country. The place couldn’t be any better.

The Normal Soaring Apparatus was patented and sold various times in 1895, both in America and Europe. It was the world’s first production aircraft and, together with the theory of curved wings, developed and published by Lilienthal, contributed to the epochal shift in the rapid development of aeronautics. However, it was also the aircraft with which Otto Lilienthal fatally crashed

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on August 9, 1896. On the day after his death, most people believed that his aircraft simply could not become stable and safe enough to fly, and that it only had been Lilienthal’s extreme fitness and skill that had allowed him to fly it. Even though he had flown his glider hundreds of times before the final crash, it was this failed attempt that influenced people’s opinion on the matter.

Bringing the monoplane to flight in 2018 was extremely hard work. After wind-tunnel tests by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in 2016, Markus conducted platform and winch tests in order to gain experience, before successfully flying the famous glider at the dune on Marina State Beach. These flights, taken on April 3, 2018, under the watchful eyes of Andy and George, were the first flights in this glider since 1896.

This year we had just three days, so everything had to be exactly right from the very beginning. With help from a handful of hardy volunteers, we rigged the glider up at the beach and carried it to the top of the dune.

The wind was steady, slowly increasing from 10 mph (16 kph) before noon to a maximum 14 mph in the afternoon. At first, we ventured only a few yards up the dune, where Markus, with his monoplane-glider experience, made the first attempt. He started very carefully and slowly, but the glider flew beautifully, right from the beginning. It glided steadily and pitched up as soon as Markus shifted his weight a few inches backwards. On this first day, the flights lasted just three or four seconds, but we were all excited and satisfied: one could easily see that the glider flew very safely and steadily and reacted surprisingly well to every weight shift of the pilot. Both Andy and Markus flew that day.

The next day started out even better. We began early, after a night in Monterey. Everyone knew what they were about. But something was wrong. All of us noticed the glider was flying left turns, in spite of the pilot’s trying to compensate for the inexplicable drift by shifting his weight to the right. Try as we might, we couldn’t figure out the reason. Instead of bothering too much about this imperfection, all three of us enjoyed flying the glider from farther up the dune. The left turn sometimes even helped catch the crosswind that increased at the foot of the dune. George did

his guest flight that day and flew and landed the glider right on his first try. We discovered later that one of the strings keeping the two upright bamboo posts in position had shifted and led to a misalignment. These two posts separate the upper from the lower wing. They were no longer parallel, due to the misalignment, and the upper deck was pointing a few degrees to the left.

O

ur third day of flying the bi-plane was set for one week later. It was the end of July and Markus had had time to set up the glider and find and correct the askew string attachment at the post. The result was exhilarating: The glider flew perfectly straight. It was still wonderfully sensitive to pitch control and didn’t do steep turns on lateral control, but reacted immediately and predictably. It became clear why Lilienthal, the flying man, had known that he had found the answer to a key question: how to combine a large wing surface while keeping the controllability of a monoplane. He had struggled whenever he tried to increase the wing surface by increasing the span width. Then, in October of 1895, he finally overcame this problem: The Large Bi-Plane flew majestically at low winds. For the very first time, he handed the glider over to a man who had no flight experience, to give it a try. The American physicist Robert W. Wood met Otto Lilienthal at the Gollenberg and flew and landed the glider on his own. He immediately made plans

󲢫 Seeing this large bi-plane in flight inspires tremendous respect for the man who designed, built and successfully and repeatedly flew a series of aircraft before anyone else. 󲢻

ABOVE Markus Raffel sending the dunes like they used to do when it all began.

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to buy one of the gliders and later described his afternoon with Lilienthal and his flight experience in an article. The two had met only one week before Lilienthal’s fatal crash.

One could say that Andy’s and George’s flights were similar to the flight of this American flight enthusiast 124 years ago.

George had his try on the second day but had to work on the third. Andy flew each of the days. It took him only one or two attempts to fly higher, longer and in a more controlled manner than Markus, who had brought them all together and who had spared no effort to bring the glider to this point: authentically made, perfectly trimmed, and transported to just the right place to be tested. Andy weighed 55 pounds less than Markus and had approximately 25 years more experience in hang gliding. And it showed: Andy was able to perform perfect flights. Not high enough for full turns, but always safe, always stable, and under full control, with flights lasting up to 14 seconds and sailing more than 100 yards.

Seeing this large bi-plane in flight inspires

tremendous respect for the man who designed, built and successfully and repeatedly flew a series of aircraft before anyone else.

We would therefore like to conclude this article with the words of Wilbur Wright, who wrote in an article published in The Aero Club of America Bulletin, 1912, the year Wilbur Wright died, about Otto Lilienthal: “No one equaled him in power to draw new recruits to the cause; no one equaled him in fullness and clearness of understanding of the principles of flight; no one did so much to convince the world of the advantages of curved wing surfaces; and no one did so much to transfer the problem of human flight to the open air where it belonged.

"As a missionary, he was wonderful. He presented the cause of human flight to his readers so earnestly, so attractively, and so convincingly that it was difficult for anyone to resist the temptation to make an attempt at it himself … he was without question the greatest of the precursors, and the world owes him a great debt.”

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YEAR 43

Bob Barry Looks Back on a Life in the Sky

T

here’s something particularly pleasant about talking to a fella like Bob Barry. Soft-spoken, warm and easygoing, he encapsulates the best qualities of a dyed-in-thewool Californian—and his pedigree matches perfectly. He has wandered the state up and down since he was a very young man, and much of those wanderings have been in pursuit of a little slice of sky. Indeed, he’s been flying for more than 40 years now—and his footprints are all over California’s free-flight history.

“Flying is a passion,” he smiles, “and it takes complete focus.”

Bob’s path started in Lake Tahoe, where he lived for about six years in his 20s. At the time, he was working across the summers as a carpenter; during the winters, he would be a ski bum (“which I did well,” he laughs).

Eventually, Bob burned out on skiing.

In 1976, he left Tahoe and headed for the then-sleepy surf town of Santa Cruz—and found a whole new passion lying in wait for him.

“One day, my then-girlfriend, nowwife Carol and I were walking downtown,” he remembers, “and I saw a shop called Wings or Wheels. I thought, That’s interesting. What do they have in here? Well: They sold skateboards and hang gliding equipment. I was fascinated. I’d never seen a hang glider before; I was really keen to give it a try and see what it could do.”

At that time, the local hang gliding

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by ANNETTE O'NEIL school in Santa Cruz was located at Marina—near Sand City—so that’s where Bob learned to fly hang gliders.

“It was a great place to learn,” he muses. “I learned to fly on a standard hang glider, which they called a ‘Lawn Dart’ because there was no reflex. If it went into a dive, it would dive straight into the ground. They figured out how to fix that pretty fast in the evolution of hang gliding, but I didn’t know any different. That was a huge time for me, and it gave me a lot of confidence.

“The sand goes on for miles out there,” he adds. “You could easily kite the gliders back up the hill on a good day. I loved that, because on days like BELOW At the Rat Race 2011.

that we didn’t have to carry them up the sand dunes—which wasn’t much fun, honestly.”

Once Bob had the basics down, he and his wing started to travel up and down the coast a bit. He was introduced to a ridge site north of Santa Cruz—a beach-soaring site, naturally.

(It’s called Wadell Creek.) Once in a while, that site would provide the opportunity to bench up onto the hill.

“Well, one day, maybe a year or so after I first started flying hang gliders,” Bob recalls, “one other pilot and I just kinda found a convergence line and floated up to about 1000 feet. It was so smooth up there. I had no idea what it was at that time.

“But the really interesting part about that flight,” he smiles, “was the end of it. After flying around, my buddy and I set up to land. We knew we had a huge, proper landing strip—the landowner had a plane and a dirt-strip runway and didn’t mind us using it. But I was really new, and I wasn’t savvy enough to look at the water. If I had, I would have seen all the wind.

I didn’t. So—coming in, I thought I’d just make one easy 360 and land. Of course, after that 360, in those winds, I ended up way past that landing area. I suddenly discovered I was over a bunch of jagged cliffs at the edge of the cold Pacific Ocean. I ended up having to fly out over the water to lose altitude and then crab my way in.

There was no beach, just a rocky area.

Luckily, it was low tide, so only my

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feet got wet. It was pretty scary, but I was so stoked about being in the air like that that I hardly minded.”

With that mindset, it’s no wonder that Bob soon got himself invited to an international competition. In 1979, he found himself in Guatemala, on a launch over Lake Atitlan with a group of pilots including the British National Team, among plenty of others who counted at the time as among some of the best pilots in the world.

“I remember being scared to death,” he grins. “I’d never been in a comp before. The British had just won the Worlds, so I was a bit intimidated. It was supposed to be just for fun— but there was a cash prize, which changed the tone a bit. Still, it was a wonderful country and fun flying.

The tasks would be, like, soar this mountain for 20 minutes and then make a spot landing, or do a speed run to see who can go from this spot to this spot the fastest. We did one cross-country flight; I think it was something like five miles.

“After that, I did just two more comps—flat races,” he adds, “but I realized I am not a comp pilot. I was just putting myself at risk.”

In the early ‘80s, Bob and his wife bought a little resort in the Sierra foothills near Fresno. It was idyllic: little boat rentals, cabins, a grocery store. It was in a beautiful area as far as terrain was concerned, so Bob would drive around and look for sites to fly. He ended up discovering two such sites, downslope a little. One in particular he remembers with great affection.

“I don’t remember how I found it,” he smiles. “I was just driving around one day and it popped right out at me.

For a while there, I had my personal site, and I loved to share with other people. I could fly all the way back up into Oakhurst on the way to Yosemite.

I’m sure it doesn’t get flown anymore, but back then it was simpler. Those were the days of not asking permission; you just did it.”

HERE My first glider, learning to fly. No helmet, no shoes, no problem. BELOW Happy times at Funston Air Races with my buddy and organizer Walt Nielson.

Bob and his wife lasted three lovely seasons out at that little resort. In 1984, their business partner bailed on them and they had to sell. Feeling a bit burned by the experience, they decided to do something completely different: make the move down to San Diego County.

“It turned out fine,” he says, easily.

“Beach towns are fun.”

The move did, however, mean a short break in Bob’s free-flight career.

Torrey Pines was more-or-less close at hand, but it was a little socially

overwhelming for Bob’s quiet tastes (particularly because it wasn’t flyable when he made the long drive out there to check it out). Somewhat deterred, he took a brief sabbatical from free flight to try sailplanes. He got a sailplane rating, then moved on to a Cessna 172.

“I flew that around San Diego County for a while,” he remembers, “but I got sick of talking to ATC all the time and the restrictions. At the end of the day, it wasn’t like running off a mountain.

I missed that.”

TOP LEFT & RIGHT Launching and landing at Big Sur. ABOVE LEFT Giving young son Braden Coolidge his first taste of flight at Waddell Creek. He became a paragliding pilot about twenty years later with some crazy instructor named Nick Greece. ABOVE RIGHT International Comp, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala 1979. Sponsored by the government, it included their army vehicles for transport with two armed guards.

RIGHT This was one of the two sites I pioneered while living at Bass Lake, CA. I found these sites by just driving around on Forest Service roads. "Don't ask, don't tell"

Eventually, the persistent hankering to run off a mountain got the better of him. He put aside powered flight, and he started learning to fly paragliders in San Diego. It was the year 2000.

“The first day, the instructor was horrible,” Bob laughs, good-naturedly. “He didn’t just want us to get the gliders up; he wanted us to do a figure24 US H PA P I LOT

eight course around some pilings. We couldn’t even do that after a week of kiting. We were worried it was the sport we disliked—not just this guy’s teaching style—but, after a while, we started to relax a little bit. Of course we fell in love with it.

“We made a bunch of close friendships in those years,” he continues, “And as we got better and better, we branched out and flew more and better sites. There really is nothing like running off a mountain and flying for miles and miles. Learning to paraglide

USH PA PILOT 25 LEFT Landing at Waddell with the Flap Chaps. Running with them was the problem. We could have used Jonathan Dietch and his 'drogue shoots'.

BELOW & RIGHT The comp in Guatemala often included spot landing points after a soaring flight, which is what I'm attempting in these two shots. Some pilots had a little trouble making the LZ as you can see in the picture on the right. BOTTOM LEFT My good friend and mentor Jerry Noland designed these "Flap Chaps" I'm wearing with my harness to help with short-field landings.

They were not a commercial success.

BOTTOM RIGHT Launching my new Wills Wing Harrier at Tollhouse, CA.

felt like coming home.”

It was just about then that Bob made one of his biggest contributions to free flight. He and his cadre of fellow pilots had discovered the Palomar Mountain site in their explorations and had started to fly it quite a bit.

The launch itself was ideal—multidirectional and out on a nice ridgeline.

Bob and the rest of the little club did tons of XC out of there, launching and getting good XC flights in all different directions. On good days, they were climbing to 10,000 feet. It was

paradisiacal.

There was, however, trouble brewing.

“The launch was being trashed when we were first flying it,” he explains.

“It wasn’t us doing the trashing—we were just flying the site—but guys

with guns would go up and shoot, and they’d leave shell casings scatABOVE Ground Skimming" and learning in Sand City 1976 on a Wills Wing SST. BELOW LEFT Hanging out in a cantina in Costa Rica, 2009. We made it a point to land next to a bar whenever possible. RIGHT T-shirts saved all these years.

26 US H PA P I LOT

tered all over the place, and they would bring big trash to shoot—big refrigerators and whatnot. So the tribe shut it down. They got themselves a bulldozer and put up mounds so you couldn’t drive in, and they put up a fence and a locking gate.”

Bob’s friend Steve Rohrbaugh and the other Palomar crew knew that if

they ever wanted to fly their beloved site again, the situation called for some politicking.

“We started talking to the tribal leaders,” he continues, “and arranged to meet with them. We proposed to be the stewards of this launch site.

Before even a month had passed, they were our friends and they’d agreed to

USH PA PILOT 27

it—even after I made an accidental landing on the grounds of their tribal headquarters and had a chat with their police chief. They left the gate, but they bulldozed a road up to the site for us.

“They even helped us out with an official landing area,” he adds. “We were having trouble finding homeowners that would let us land, but the tribe had a clearing down there among the orange orchards for a maintenance yard, and they said we could land there. They also let us use a little bailout halfway down the mountain, so if we lost lift on a bad day we could get back up to launch quickly. All of that was amazing, and it is still that way today.”

Bob and his wife didn’t stay down south forever. The couple live in Auburn, California, now, not too far from those first digs in Lake Tahoe.

He’s pretty sure his flying days are done, but there’s no bitterness there.

He still owns all his equipment, but he hasn’t flown since last February in Colombia.

“There’s a flying community in Auburn,” he muses. “I met a few of them one day when they were out with their instructor. They’re much the same as they were back when I was learning. They are totally stoked.

ABOVE 'Parawaiting' with son Geoff on the side of Mt. Haleakala. BELOW LEFT Enjoying the beauty of Verbier, Switzerland. RIGHT A little XC at Palomar Mt. in San Diego County, my home site for many years.

Respectful. They want to learn.

“It’s different, though; so different, in many ways,” he insists. “We used to just find a place to run off a mountain.

You can’t do that anymore. Most everyone coming up realizes that; they learn that when they’re being taught how to fly. These guys know that you can’t just ask for forgiveness anymore.

“Part of why this is such a great sport is that it is so individual,” he finishes, smiling gently. “You might go with a group of guys, but you are flying by yourself. You have to make the right decisions for you. I’ve been thinking of letting paragliding go for over a year now and realize this is the right decision for me.”

Wills Wing TIII Competition-class Hang Glider Review

by RYAN VOIGHT

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USH PA PILOT 29

󲢫 I love to fly, and I view the equipment and gear as just a means to one singular focus, the flying experience. 󲢻

T

he GPS reads 500 West Blueridge Ave, as we cruise along one of the many multilane southern California freeways.

Some may recognize the address and will know why my heartrate was building. We were going to Wills Wing and were every bit as excited as Charlie was for the chocolate factory.

But this was better because, instead of chocolate, we’d find flying things and carbon fiber!

Through the (greatly appreciated) generosity of Wills Wing, I got to spend a week with a TIII 144 as if it were my own. Truthfully, I wanted to hate it. That’s not a typo. It’s also not the kind of thing you tell someone as you tie a borrowed glider to a makeshift pool-noodle rack on a rental car.

Especially this glider—the result of a lifetime of focused innovation and sacrifice, a total embodiment of one’s life’s work of making hang gliders better in every way. Maybe “I wanted to hate it” is a bit too strong.

I’ve owned several Wills Wing T2/ T2C’s, and each was nicer than its predecessor. That’s to be expected in a product that undergoes continual refinements. That is, a 2008 T2C is not the same as a 2012 model, and both differ from a 2016 model. Each improvement is progressive and incremental, never warranting a new name. Steve Pearson (WW president and chief designer) has always been adamant about not giving the generations of T2C’s new model names, although that would almost guarantee a boost in sales.

Even geriatric hang glider pilots will notice that “TIII” is a new name. And if you’re not geriatric, you might have seen Wills Wing’s social media giving it absolutely glowing reviews and praise. I don’t know if it’s the East Coast/New Yorker in me, but when I read such hyperbole I automatically

assume it’s exaggerated, over the top, sales marketing. My BS-radar tingles and my defiant side wants to NOT like something just because everyone else seems to be overdoing their commendations. Coming from me— someone who literally has Wills Wing embroidered underwear—I thought it was hype.

I was wrong. My pessimism was unsubstantiated. In hindsight, the flight reports I saw were from pilots I know personally and sincerely trust to be honest and straightforward. They also fly way better than I do, making them more qualified to speak to the new model. I still, though, sometimes think I know better, and I was sure this hype was malarkey. If I haven’t lost you already, this is NOT going to be another glowing rave-review. I’m writing this because I was wrong. I want to give readers greater detail than saying it’s amazing (coming

from the manufacturer) and other encomiums I read, just because I didn’t have enough meat to fill my sandwich of belief. So let’s get to it!

When I unzipped the bag and set it up, it seemed this glider might as well be any of my other T2C’s. But aiming a fine eye on the details let me discern some sail panels that are cut and sewn a little differently. The new bottom-surface pattern, with the new W logo, is an obvious difference. It has the same number of battens that go in curved-end first and the same sprog arrangement, with the curved tips going in the same. Yes, I know there are bearing tips in there (as all the reviews and marketing squawk about) but who cares? What I care, and care deeply about, is the EXPERIENCE. That’s what makes me fall in love (or not) with a glider. I love to fly, and I view the equipment and gear as just a means to one singular focus, the flying experience.

Finally, when I picked it up to go fly, I realized it’s notably heavier than my Falcon, which is what I’ve

ABOVE Setting up a TIII in Big Sur is just like setting up a T2C anywhere else… except for the view | photo by Lindsey Chew. OPPOSITE The handling is lightyears ahead of anything I’ve ever flown, and that makes climbing in this glider a pure delight.

ABOVE The TIII lifts smoothly and is well balanced as it efficiently accelerates through the launch. BELOW The author carefully tying the gliders on the rental car. Photos by Lindsey Chew.

mostly been flying. It seemed similar in weight to my last one, which was a little lighter than my older ones.

Static balance felt great and controlling both pitch and roll on launch felt familiar and confidence-inspiring.

With that first step, the wing started lifting immediately, and the glider accelerated efficiently into flight. The transition from “launching” to “flying” was very clean. Entering the air initiates involuntary smiles every time; you’ve been warned.

In the air the flight characteristics were familiar. It reminded me of spending time with a great friend after being apart for way too long.

This flight didn’t feel forced or like work; I was able to use skills from my T2C experience and muscle memory without experiencing a learning curve in this so-called new glider.

Its characteristics weren’t identical, though; I noticed that the TIII is able to slow down more easily than any other topless I’ve flown. Thinking about that later, I asked myself if it actually slowed down more, or if it has improved low-speed handling, which means flying slowly is now 30 US H PA P I LOT

controllable. Keeping my word to you and focusing on the experience, I guess it doesn’t matter if it’s actually slower or just more controllable. In either case, the flight envelope is expanded.

As we should expect with any new-

age topless hang glider, it climbs phenomenally. Being able to fly it slower, without a doubt, allows for less bank and smaller-radius 360s, a tangible advantage in climb performance. I think climbing with less bank has greater advantages than in sink rate:

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Less bank requires less pitch-coordination and way less high-siding is needed, so it’s easier and less fatiguing. The climbing experience is improved. Dramatically.

After corkscrewing it up, it was time to pull the go-rope (I think some people call it “VG”?). The rope does what its name suggests, no surprise.

My last T2C was a 2017 model I had nicknamed The Rocketship, because it went so well. The pilot who owns it now flew it in several competitions and did well. I really can’t, and won’t try to, say if the TIII glides better.

Comparing spec sheets, I can see the aspect ratio for the 144 sq. ft. model has increased from 7.3 to 7.5 (about 3% higher aspect, if I remember how to calculate). Talking to Pearson, he says the TIII has been secretly in development for 2.5 years, with several prototypes flying in competition. His most trusted comp pilots all reported, at worst, having “glide parity.” And they often experienced advantages with the latest protos and production gliders. No offense to Pearson or WW, but I don’t really care; my last glider was absurd in glide, so more glide isn’t what would trigger me to spend on an upgrade. I know that isn’t everyone’s perspective, and so if glide is uber important to you, I do believe that the TIII is la crème de la crème.

Here’s what makes me shout: TAKE MY MONEY!: While gliding from one peak to another at full-VG, a typical bit of thermal turbulence (or whatever) caused me to bank a few degrees and begin going slightly off-heading from my intended direction. Instinctually, I moved over a little and planned to hold that slight input for a second or two until the VG-tight glider started back on course. This was THE definitive eureka moment—the moment when I became both flabbergasted and entirely sold on this new model.

The response to my correction was immediate. And I mean like, more

TOP Enjoying the glider in clear coastal air over brilliant blue seas—life is good!

BOTTOM Zac Majors launching Crestline, CA on a TIII 154.

immediate than an input at 1/4 VG. I did have more airspeed than minsink, but I wasn’t flying anywhere near racing speed; I was just cruising around best-glide speed.

In a bit of disbelief, I figured this was a fluke, so I gave a small bump input to initiate a turn. The glider turned. If you’ve never flown high-performance gliders, or VG gliders pulled full-tight, it might sound nutty that I was surprised that the glider turned when I told it to turn. If you HAVE flown high-performance gliders, or tried to steer or even fly a straight line at VG full-tight, you know this is a BIG DEAL. It’s such a big deal you probably think I’m exaggerating, because it’s so good, it’s unfathomable.

Obviously, I sported a big grin to match how big a deal this was, a grin that would last the remainder of the evening, as I continued experiencing really, really enjoyable climbing and astounding gliding, even with a drogue-chute of a grin between my ears. This glider is really something you won’t believe without experiencing it.

Bringing my flight to an end, I could have used that drogue-chute grin, but I let it slip, as I concentrated on taking extra-special care of this incredible borrowed glider. The improvements in handling shone throughout the landing process, but I did overshoot my intended touchdown spot by more than I can remember doing in a long time. Some might quote this as signifying a glide improvement, and that thought definitely occurred to me. But I like quantifiable information, and maybe I just misjudged the approach. It was a non-event, other than that I’m the type of pilot who is hard on myself and strives for much better accuracy than “somewhere in the LZ,” which was how the landing felt!

Over the course of my lustful fling with the TIII, we made our way up the left coast to Big Sur for some sce-

nic flightseeing. We were going to fly Santa Barbara on the way back, but a wildfire and corresponding TFR ruled that out. Instead, we hit Crestline on what was a pretty ripping day. My experiences with the glider continued to solidify the initial impressions.

THIS IS, UNEQUIVOCALLY, AN ENTIRELY NEW GLIDER. This is not an improved T2C; this is an improved performance hang glider. Everything is improved: all-up glide, handling, maneuverability, increased flight envelope. Everything.

It’s sure not what I thought it was… “just another improved T2C with a different name.” Nope, it’s really something special to fly this glider. What it does for the overall hang gliding experience is far beyond my writing ability to accurately portray.

Speaking with Pearson about my impressions, I asked if it was just the bearing tips that make it so much better. His answer was “making the bearing tips ‘work’ took more effort than you could imagine.” He elaborated on how their implementation created many challenges, each one coming close to derailing the whole project. He shared that he almost gave up on it, and I am so thankful

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ABOVE My favorite line from Top Gun? “…because I was inverted”.

Please note that aerobatics are dangerous, no hang glider is tested or certified for aerobatics, and that I trained and practiced for more than 20 years to be able to do what is seen here.

BELOW It’s really part aircraft and part art—as seen here flying off into the blue yonder at Big Sur.

he did not, as that would have been a real loss for all of hang gliding. The TIII is an evolutionary jump forward (and, by the way, he did say it’s not just the bearing tips that make it

what it is).

Earlier, I said this won’t be another raving, glowing, stream of compliments. Damnit. Well, OK, this is still a high-performance hang glider, which means it still takes sharper skills than a Falcon or Sport and will be less forgiving of mistakes. As I experienced, you’d better be righton setting up your approaches. It’s comparatively light for a topless glider, but it’s still 70 lbs. It’s also an intimidating chunk of change. I’d say the value is clear, since this glider is more than twice as enjoyable as my last T2C (which I liked a lot, but now I could never go back, knowing what my flying experience could be!).

Max-performance hang gliders are not for everyone, both in terms of being appropriate and in terms of the best tool for their objective. If you are a current topless hang glider pilot, get a demo on one of these. Please, please, don’t take my word for it. I didn’t take the word of pilots better than I am, right?! Go into it hoping to hate it as I did! I tell you, firsthand, it makes the awakening all the better.

It is a GOOD DAY to be a high-performance hang glider pilot. Now, where’s my wallet…?

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STORE

All this and more at USHPASTORE.com

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Flying in Salt Lake City offers a lot of options with glorious views.

Point of the Mountain, Utah.

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Is this the first time someone looped a TIII? Who cares, but it sure was fun! Photo by Ryan Voight

ONCE

COUPE ICARE

IN A

LIFETIME

by BEN WHITE

C

oupe Icare is a fantastic event to attend, especially as a pilot who has never traveled abroad for paragliding. Experiencing a new culture of free flight in a new location can certainly make a pilot feel more worldly. This celebration of free flight and powered flight is second to none, drawing 80,000 spectators in 2019, 10,000 of which were free-flight pilots. Traveling abroad as a paraglider pilot, witnessing wonderful displays of flight, and touching the latest and greatest gear as it is announced is everything I thought it would be.

How to get there

Flying internationally comes with a few challenges, even before showing up to the airport. A kit of gear is often

under 50 lbs. and can easily be checked on any airline. The thought of an airline losing a glider is pretty scary, but taking pictures of the bag claim tag can help in the recovery process.

Getting hurt abroad is also a daunting thought, and Gavin McClurg continually updates his website with information about the best travel health insurance plans that cover paragliding.

From the United States, the closest major airports to St Hilaire are Geneva (GVA) and Lyon (LYS). Drive-time from Geneva is about an hour and a half, and from Lyon, almost two hours. It is often less expensive to get a flight to Paris, but the drive is close to six hours long. If flying into Paris Charles De Gaulle (CDG), Terminal 2 houses the train station for taking a 200mph

bullet train (called TGV) to Grenoble.

There are many options to rent a car in Paris, Lyon, and Grenoble. If planning to arrive in Geneva, renting a car from the French side of the city will avoid the high Swiss taxes.

The event is held primarily on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in the town of St Hilaire du Touvet, about 25 km away from Grenoble. There are multiple other St Hilaire villages in France, one of which is almost 500 km away from where Coupe Icare is held. In St Hilaire du Touvet, there are many Airbnb’s within walking distance from launch.

The landing zone is in the village of Lumbin, also an option for many Airbnb’s. There is a shuttle for pilots going from Lumbin to St Hilaire that runs all day long, and plenty of people

USH PA PILOT 37

hitchhike as well. Crolles, the nearest town with options for hotels, is about a five-minute drive from Lumbin. The most fun option for accommodations is probably camping in designated camping areas for the event. Paragliding-related activities extend well into the night.

Highlights

One of the best parts of Coupe Icare, as an American, is experiencing another culture of paragliding. The largest paragliding event in the world may skew the perspective, but a few things remain the same, when all of the festivities are packed up. Launch is an astroturf ramp specifically built for free flight. More people show up to the Coupe Icare event than there are registered pilots in the US. There are brands at the tradeshow that do not have any kind of presence in America. The town of St Hilaire organized an event to celebrate free flight in 1974, and in 2019 there was an event that hosted 80,000 participants, of which 10,000 were free-flight pilots. Experiencing a mass celebration of free flight is something to behold.

ABOVE Costumes are a national past time for French Paraglider pilots. BELOW The Olympic rings was a crowd favorite. OPPOSITE St Hilaire has one of the most iconic launches in the world.

The event takes place on the Plateau des Petites Roches, approximately 600 m/ 2000 feet above the valley floor. In the mid-to-late afternoons, free flight is forbidden, in order to clear the skies

for organized airshows. The variety of aircraft performing is quite wide, and the launches quickly turn into ideal spectator spots. Wingsuit pilots jump off the Dent de Crolles and fly overhead into the valley below, and acrobatic paraglider pilots jump out of helicopters in front of launch. Airplanes fly from Grenoble and perform loops and stalls over the valley below, making interesting shapes with their smoke displays. The weird and wonderful fly by, and everybody smiles.

One of the most popular segments of Coupe Icare is the concours de déguisements, or costume-flying contest. A huge bank of prizes goes to the best costumes in a number of different categories, such as best hang glider, best paraglider, best tandem, and best group. There is also a prize for best costume in a certain theme each year, if participants are looking for inspiration, but any self-inspired costumes are encouraged to attend. The theme for 2019 was Leonardo da Vinci, but a crowd pleaser and third-place group winner was the family of ducks. A

tandem, two mini-wings, and a solo paraglider all flew with inflatable pool toy ducks, and launched by having friends pull them down a slippery watered surface they rolled out just before launching.

The most inspiring free-flight films are premiered at the Icare Cinema, a film festival held for 37 years in a row at the Coupe Icare. In 2019, 38 films, totaling 14 hours of viewing, were shown.

The crowd favorite was Playing with the Invisible, centered around Aaron Durogati and his quest to find a new perspective. Shots of flying in the Dolomites and Aaron’s thoughts on flying ABOVE The flying in the Haute Savoie is some of the best in the world.

󲢫 Putting together thousands of fellow pilots, amazing displays of aeronautical skill, and a great film festival all warrant a trip at least once in a lifetime to Coupe Icare. 󲢻 38 US H PA P I LOT

and life were a sensation to the crowd.

One of these highlights is enough to get curious about. Flying at a worldfamous site in a typically fantastic time of year raises a second eyebrow.

Putting together thousands of fellow pilots, amazing displays of aeronautical skill, and a great film festival all warrant a trip at least once in a lifetime to Coupe Icare.

Tradeshow

From the weird to the wonderful, vendors use the largest paragliding event in the world to show off their wares and announce the latest and greatest.

The tradeshow is held in two large tents at the bottom of the training hill and is hard to miss when walking from one launch to the other. It is a small enough show that independent and inventive companies can show off their wares next to the major players releasing the most cutting-edge technology. Some were selling super-simple solar-powered variometers the size of a large marshmallow. Other companies were selling 250cc paramotors.

Everything in between was on display, including the most-effective reserve parachutes, most-comfortable harnesses, and best-performing wings.

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he 46th Coupe Icare dazzled patrons with a huge array of sights and sounds. Between the acrobatic paragliding demonstrations, wingsuit flybys, and airplane stunt shows, paraglider manufacturers had a chance to show off their latest and greatest to the general public.

ADVANCE IMPRESS 4 With the Impress and Lightness growing more similar, Advance announced the Impress 4 at Coupe Icare as a more race-oriented harness. The most immediately noticed parts of the new harness are the windshield and the aero tail, neither of which are on the Impress 3. Two subtle changes are four adjustable harness straps in the lumbar region, as opposed to two from the prior model, and the option to have a seatboard or not. The Impress 4 weighs 6 kg and comes in three sizes for pilots 155 cm tall to 200 cm tall.

GIN YETI ULTRALIGHT RESERVE Gin announced not only a new product but a new technology in the field of reserve parachutes. By flattening the center of a square parachute, the effective surface area increases, allowing less material to be used. The end result is a smaller-packing, lighter-weight reserve made of less material. It is the ideal tool for those looking for a reserve for their hike-and-fly missions, or to reduce weight and volume as much as possible for vol-biv or general traveling activities.

Three sizes are rated for maximum loads of 85 kg, 100 kg, and 120 kg

NOVA DOUBLESKIN Available for a select few to demo, the Nova Doubleskin was a delight to see in action. It is the lightest-weight EN-A/EN-B paraglider ever built. With ease-of-use and hikeand-fly in mind, this glider is simple to inflate and fly after a long hike. The full two surfaces provide assurance for the pilot who wants the passive safety of an EN-A wing. Newer pilots in the 55-80kg range will appreciate another EN-A option in 17m2 size. More experienced pilots in the 75-90kg range may pick up the 17m2 option and appreciate the more dynamic flying associated with higher loading, while still enjoy knowing that in their weight range the glider gets an EN-B rating.

STODEUS GPS BIP+ The Stodeus GPS Bip+ variometer is a small package that packs a punch. It has a very rapid response time, responding sooner to a sensation of lift than many other varios on the market. The beeps are easily customizable, allowing users to match tones with whatever climb rate they desire. While flying, the GPS Bip+ stores the flight as a .kml file, which can immediately be opened in Google Earth.

No extra software is needed in order to look at a flight track and share it with friends. All of this fits into a package that weighs 35 grams and is smaller than a helmet camera. For real-time information, pair it with a smartphone and see plenty of information. The price point is also ridiculously hard to beat for such an advanced and compact instrument.

WHITE SUNGLASSES AND PARAPANTS Thousands of pilots attended Coupe Icare, showing off the latest in fashion trends. A pair of pants with black butt fabric, as well as a pair of white sunglasses, seemed to be the standard uniform of European paraglider pilots, male and female alike.

KORTEL KARVER + TANDEM UNIT For costume flying, this was the most popular tandem harness. While not a new product announced this year, it certainly made a mark at Coupe Icare. Pilots seemed to like it for the simple design and ease with which costumes can be built around it. By itself, the Karver is a fairly minimal harness, offering no back protection or reserve container. The tandem module easily attaches, providing both a place to store a reserve, as well as some foam padding for lower-spine protection, in a compact unit.

Five New England pilots explore Kyrgyzstan in the air and on the ground and drink fermented horse milk.

KYRGYZSTAN

by ERIC ESSER, JOHN ATWOOD, TIM COLEMAN, JASON WALLACE, and DENNIS MACKEY 40 US H PA P I LOT

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“Here’s to camping and flying in the mountains with friends!”

A

nother day ends with toasts and a bottle of Kyrgyz vodka being passed around the campfire.

Ular, our driver and new friend, won’t take no for an answer when it comes to endlessly refilling our cups. He has a feast simmering in a giant pot over the fire, and I’m feeling pretty mellow after a couple of beers and countless shots.

Comfortable, too, as Ular has removed the rear seat from his Chevy Suburban (he got it from the US Embassy and modified it to run on much cheaper propane, as well as gas) and put it next to the campfire. We’ve started calling this trip “vol biv safari,” as the support vehicle always seems to be able to reach us wherever we land. (Well, OK, one evening we landed in a high, remote valley and he couldn’t get to us, but he tried!)

I had envisioned spending more nights outside, bivying on top of some lonely mountain, but having Ular and Azret (owner of Suuslodge in the Suusamyr Valley) drive up with a cold beer after a long XC flight isn’t something I’m going to complain about.

Jason and I flew XC for 4½ hours today. Tim and Dennis have already headed back to the States to save some vacation time for other trips, and John took a rest day to recover from a stomach bug. The trip is winding down after two genuinely epic August weeks.

It took a few years for the idea of this trip to germinate into five New England pilots having an incredible adventure in Kyrgyzstan. The seed was planted when I first met John at one of the local flying hills in Vermont and learned that he also had lived in Montana for a while.

Then I discovered that he had spent much of his early adult years in Kyrgyzstan and had learned to paraglide there.

I half-jokingly said, “We should do a volbiv trip there some day.”

Well, ideas have a way of becoming reality, and after a couple years e,ver-

ABOVE Surveying the launch over the Suusamyr valley prior to the first big “vol” of the trip. The pilots crossed the valley and the range pictured beyond to camp in the next valley. Photo by Tim Coleman. BELOW Tim, John, and Jason at our camp in a remote valley en route from Suusamyr to Toktogul > photo by Eric Esser.

OPPOSITE Flying near Chunkurchak, south of Bishkek, the group is chased by afternoon overdevelopment in the first few days of the trip. Photo by Jason Wallace.

rything aligned for our newly forming team of adventurers. Kyrgystan seemed like the perfect place for vol biv. Mostly unexplored by paraglider, with hardly any western tourists or pilots, and endless mountains and lots of open, grassy toplandings. Also, it was going to be made easier by the fact that John speaks Russian and still has contacts there. As a fellow mountaineer, I knew Tim would be interested and capable.

Young Jason, who had been getting

more hours than all of us, after a summer of flying in Europe as a supporter for Team Mexico XAlps, asked to join us as well. And rounding out the group was Dennis, who is always up for an adventure.

And adventure it was! Complete with the literal highs of flying at 5000 meters in 6m/s thermals over beautiful, glacier-covered peaks on a route never flown before, to the lows of puking in the middle of the night from who-

LEFT Eric and Jason crossing the monstrous gorge of Issykata valley south of Toguz-Bulak on August 12 at the start of their longest flight of the trip > photo by Eric Esser. ABOVE Our jolly driver and head cook Ular creating a delicious camp dinner while cracking jokes and telling stories > photo by Jason Wallace.

knows-which food or water, for some of us. Or for me, hiking back up to relaunch after bombing out in 15 minutes, after hiking for three hours. But there were far more highs than lows. My campfire toast sums it up pretty well: What an amazing trip with friends!

So, it’s late summer now; we’re all home safe and have had a little time to reflect on the great flying and the kindness of the Kyrgyz people, and are ready to tell some tales. I’ll pass the talking conch to John Atwood, who will take it from here.

John Atwood

I had to pinch myself to tell whether or not I was dreaming. Each flight created

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new memories and brought back old ones, long forgotten. I had learned to fly in Kyrgyzstan in 2003. As a novice pilot I progressed rapidly, sometimes too rapidly to appreciate how lucky I was to get away with some of the flying I did. As these memories came back to me, I reminded myself that I was older and wiser. I had plenty of altitude, and the conditions were strong, but not too strong. It was time to focus and figure out where the next thermal would be.

Our most memorable flight as a team started from the north rim of the Suusamyr Valley. Launch was a round hilltop at 2738 meters, with a modest 500-meter drop to the valley floor. We had all gotten skunked by high pressure

the day before. To increase our odds, we planned to make two attempts at launching. We all sank out on the first attempt, too early. I was on the second shuttle up for launch number two. The team was already climbing nicely by the time I got in the air again. I stepped into the house thermal and was quickly in the game.

Our plan had been to start a two-day hitch to the east toward Lake Issyk-Kul. Thermals were plentiful, and I picked the ones I liked as I headed east to catch up with Tim, who was flying the interface between the mountains and the valley floor. Eric and Jason were flying a similar line deeper in the mountains.

Clouds in the east began over-develop-

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RIGHT Eric and John posing with the friendly shepherds at our camp > photo by Tim Coleman. BELOW Flying with the gorgeous view of Toktogul reservoir > photo

by Dennis Mackey. BOTTOM Eric enjoying the view after a hike up to our launch, south of Toguz-Bulak, from where we began our epic flight. You can see the ski resort where we slept in the background.

Photo by Jason Wallace.

ing and dropping out. Time to switch to plan B. The easy option would have been to stay in the Suusamyr Valley and fly west. We had not discussed this in our planning the night before, assuming that the wind would be coming from that direction. Our guide Azret had mentioned: “It would be really cool if you guys could fly across the Suusamyr Valley and then go to Toktogul.”

At the time, we dismissed this idea as being too hard and too committing. In the air, however, a convergence was setting up with puffy Qs showing us the way south.

Tim and I were in trouble. The mountains were getting shaded out, and the thermals were not working. We started heading west along the road, back towards

the lodge. If we didn’t find lift, at least it would be a short retrieve. With only about 300 meters of altitude left, that sinking feeling stopped. I felt myself being pulled up the roots of a massive thermal. Soon my ears were popping, and my vario was making sounds I had never heard before.

Fifteen minutes later, I was at cloudbase, just above 5000 meters.

It was hard to keep track of everyone in the air, but over the radio I could tell that we had coalesced on the same plan and were moving in the same direction. We kept each other informed of our positions by saying things like: “I’m crossing the river,” or “I’m at base, about to cross the south rim of the main valley.” We crossed the mountain range that formed the south

rim of the valley and quickly flew over another small valley. I topped out at 5300 meters, as I crossed the rim of the second valley. By this time, we had re-established visual contact with one another.

For a brief moment, we considered pushing on across the next mountain range. I was cold and tired and suggested that we look for water and a top landing instead. We were over the verdant jailoo (high mountain pasture). Crossing the next mountain range would put us in the hot, dry Toktogul Valley system. It’s rugged terrain, and different wind patterns would be tomorrow’s task.

Tim, Eric, and I landed within 1 km of each other. We wanted to land higher up, but had to backtrack to stay out of the

tree skiing, and my pets. As the sun was rotor coming off the mountains to our sinking low, I said it was time for me south. Jason landed about 3 km away and had a little bit of a hike to reach us. to head back to my campsite. My host and his dog graciously accompanied me Shortly after we landed, three shepherds rode up. They had seen us fly over back, to make sure I would not encounthe valley and were super excited to ter any wolves. They would join us on have visitors. We introduced ourselves, launch the next day as we waited for took some pictures, and made plans to the right conditions to take off on the visit once we got settled. next leg of our journey to Toktogul. And We hunkered down in our tents to now that my tome is told, I present Tim wait out a passing shower. Not too long Coleman, who is up next to stitch the after the rain let up, Jason rolled into blocks of our journey’s quilt. camp. We cooked dinner and toasted our success with a few sips of vodka Tim Coleman from a single serving package known Arriving in Kyrgyzstan after nine as a ‘yogurt’ for the similar packaging. months of anticipation, our group of With a few hours of sunlight left, I went adventurers was in awe of the vastto visit our neighbors. ness of the mountain ranges and huge The valley was dotted with tents valleys. The weather proved tricky to and yurts. In front of each yurt was a interpret as we worked with our guides

paddock where the sheep, goats, and horses are kept during the night. In the morning the animals are turned loose to graze. The shepherds bring the herds up to the jailoo in late May and take them back down to the villages in early September.

Conversation was tricky, because my hosts spoke more Kyrgyz than Russian, and my Kyrgyz consists of a handful of words. We managed to figure out how old we were, where we were all from, what our professions were, and a few other basics. I shared pictures of America from my phone. My hosts were hoping for pictures of tall buildings, but they were also pleased with pictures of paragliding sites in the Northeast, 44 US H PA P I LOT

LEFT Friendly children in Ular’s hometown Kemin. They are all laughing because the boy in yellow cannot figure out how to get my helmet off! Photo

by Jason Wallace. CENTER The Russian road > photo by Dennis Mackey.

ABOVE Stoked to reach the top of the next ridge after our first night out. Left to right: Tim, Eric, Jason, John. Photo

by Tim Coleman.

to find the best locations, given the forecast. Every day we would try to make plans A & B, but ended up with C, and sometimes D, plans. Each of the first three days, we were chased out of the high mountains by ominous storm fronts or thwarted by high pressure.

On Day 4, we made a modest plan A to fly 22 km eastward down the Suusamyr

Valley to a top-landable waypoint. After bombing out on our first attempt, we all hurried back up to re-launch. Jason, Eric, and I were the first three up again, and we hooked rides up to cloudbase without much trouble. I started heading east as planned, but within a few miles, I could see the sky over our target beginning to drop torrents of rain. I looked back to see that Eric and Jason had maintained near launch. After changing course to return to launch, both John and I got drilled in massive sink. We thought we were done, as Eric and Jason began to make their way across the valley, starting plan B or C to cross the valley southward. “Unless we get a Hail Mary, we are done,’’ I said over the radio. That huge thermal must have heard us, because right then my

vario announced that we were back in the game.

Now it was a chase to catch up to Eric and Jason. We could see they made it over the next mountain ridge, and soon we were there as well and looking into the next valley. That storm front was also hot on our heels and spilling into our new valley, so we quickly decided to find a place to land strategically close to water, as well as to the next set of mountains for day two of our vol biv.

John, Eric and I landed and rushed to set up our tents to get the gear inside to keep dry. After the front passed, we met some shepherds who had noticed our friend Jason landing a few miles away, and we jokingly thought how

USH PA PILOT 45

cool it would be if Jason had been picked up by a shepherd on his donkey.

Well, about an hour later, Jason comes riding into camp on a donkey. It was an incredible first day of our vol biv.

We were staying in contact with Dennis Mackey, who was with our support team who were making their way around the mountain range we had just crossed. This was no easy feat, as we later learned. Their attempts involved maneuvering a full-sized Suburban up steep mountain passes that were only used by shepherds and their flocks.

The next morning we awoke to a beautiful sunrise, surrounded by mountains. When we arrived at the summit of the nearby ridge a few hours and miles later, we were awarded

place to land, but we’d committed and went for it. As we got into the valley, we talked about where we were going to try to land, but then came that bonus thermal that put us back in the game to make it to town. After covering about 50 km, Eric and I landed in a field on the edge of town, where some friendly local children watched us, laughing. We believe they were making fun of us, these unusual foreigners flying down from the mountains.

But where did Jason end up this time? We each had a Garmin InReach, which was an amazing tool, because we

with a spectacular view into the next valley and an almost-perfect launch site to execute our next leg of this trip.

As things started to heat up, John was the first to launch and took a lower, more direct route down the mountain range. A few minutes later I launched, followed by Eric and Jason. Tweaking our plan to chase the popping clouds over highest terrain, we whooped in boomer lift up to 16,000’, and off we went down the range toward the city Toktogul. Eric and I worked together, while Jason was a little behind us. We decided to stick to the high terrain until we saw a clear line to town, which involved crossing another little valley with a lot of topography and no nice

could easily see where the others were and text information to our support team for retrieval. Within an hour, along came Azerat, Ular, Jason, and Dennis, with beers to celebrate our volbiv adventure. But where was John?

Come to find out, he had landed back in an area that isn’t very populated. He did manage a ride back to town, after a tricky landing and an hilarious adventure involving drinking a lot of kumis.

We all reunited over a well-deserved lunch and shared our individual stories.

This vol-biv trip has turned out to be one of my favorite adventures to date.

I’m so glad to have done it with a great group of friends!

Dennis Mackey is up next to regale

BELOW Panoramic aerial view of the north side of the mountain range near Bishkek > photo by Jason Wallace.

you with our tall tales of adventure in far off lands!

Dennis Mackey

We were on a “road less taken,” which was created by the Russians as a mountain pass (and not maintained since,) or so we were told by a young Kyrgyz man who had flagged us down for a ride earlier. We were en route to meet up with the rest of the team, located high up on the mountain range we were driving towards. This young man, maybe 12 years of age, was helping his aunt and her family with their beekeeping business. Our driver, Ular, was speaking in Kyrgyzs with the young man, while Azret was checking Google Maps for directions. Ular reported that the boy lives a short two-hour walk away,

which he takes on a weekly basis!

Our journey had started earlier that afternoon, after watching the rest of the team fly across the Suusamyr Valley while being chased by some daunting clouds. Having landed out much earlier that day, I was enjoying lunch, while listening to the radio chatter. Watching the group coalesce at cloudbase and push across the valley, I knew a vol-biv was in full swing.

Back at the Suus Lodge, we scrambled to get all the gear into the truck and started to head towards their last InReach update, having lost radio contact. With only one main road to cross the mountain range, a 250km drive, we opted first to reach the pilots

This view was so spectacular—what a beautiful place to end such an awesome retrieve adventure!

by a direct path. An hour later, having driven past groups of wild horses, yurts, and friendly waving locals, we ended up within 15 km of the team, on a rocky road along the river, and discovered we could not make it to them this way.

At this point, we received messages stating that everyone was down safe and setting up camp, to avoid the coming rain. Our next attempt to unite the team took us on the main road into the Talas region, which is the direct route to Toktogul. Driving through the pass, one can see the change from the greener, cooler Suusamyr region into the arid Toktogul area; driving through the valley the temperature went from 25°C to 40°C. Along with the beautiful mountain views, we spotted roadside restaurants with delicious food, local honey vendors, and fresh wild raspberries on the busy road.

In the meantime, Azret and Ular discovered a road that would bring us to within 7 km of the rest of the Vultures (the name of our informal New England Club). As we detoured from the main paved road of Toktogul onto the dirt roads of the Tianshan mountain range, the view turned into a classic countryside filled with farmlands, small villages, steep mountain roads, and beautiful mountain peaks. Our typical smiling and waving passersby were replaced by those with stern, somber looks. Ular explained that this region 46 US H PA P I LOT

is known for people who are unsmiling and unfriendly.

After driving up and down countless mountain roads, avoiding horses that preferred to stay on the road (instead of moving aside) and enjoying spectacular valley views, we dropped off our young passenger at his village to save him his brisk two-hour evening walk. Now, we were ready to start up an old Soviet-era road that would take us to the rest of the team. Arriving at the road at night, in hindsight, was possibly ideal, as we joked afterwards that we probably never would have attempted the drive, if we actually could have seen what we were getting into.

At first, this road, which cut alongside the steep mountains along a river, was decent (for a dirt mountain road), but it soon became clear that its modern use was mainly to move animals rather than cars. Our initial push into the valley was atypical of the adventure so far, and even though the dirt and rock road turned into larger loose rocks, it was quite driveable. After navigating the Suburban through the first of many river crossings, however, as we began to gain elevation, the road itself started to fade and the rocks grew larger.

Our “road” morphed into an overgrown path, which became more harrowing with each passing kilometer.

When the steep switchbacks started, and some of the rocks on the road

were too large to drive over, Azret and I walked ahead to clear the them out of the road so Ular could press forward.

Shortly thereafter, when we saw that a semi blocked a portion of the road, we thought we could perhaps dig a path that would allow us to continue. But in the distance, we recognized the signs of a landslide, making the road totally impassable.

We had arrived approximately 7 km from the team, but given the darkness and the hour, we decided to try to meet up with them in the morning. The next big task was how to drive a Suburban backwards, down a steep mountain pass road. Fortunately, the previous bend was just wide enough to perform a harrowing multipoint turn in pitchblack conditions, with the aid of our headlamps. Having narrowly avoided the drop-off of this steep road, we admired the clear sky full of stars, with a collective sigh of relief.

Two hours of jostling later, well past midnight, we were back in Toktogul, and an hour after that we pulled into a hotel on the Toktogul reservoir, a glacier-fed body of water that flows into a hydroelectric plant. Because of the proximity to the nearby mountains, foot-launch SIV clinics are held here.

The next day we jumped at the chance to fly over this azure lake, even getting in some synchronized spiral practice and later ending the day with a swim in the crystal clear, cold water. This view was so spectacular—what a beautiful place to end such an awesome retrieve adventure!

That’s the story as I know it, and to conclude this tale of a merry band is our clean-up pilot, Jason Wallace.

Jason Wallace

We awoke to the sounds of horses and hooves, as the ski area’s owner’s son, himself on a horse, herded his charges down the path near our tents. Eric and I got our gear packed and sat on benches in the abandoned-for-the-summer ski-lift house a stone’s throw from our camp.

USH PA PILOT 47

As we enjoyed a breakfast of last night’s leftovers, the owner and his colleague came by to wish us good morning. Because I had cell phone reception (which was surprisingly good and very cheap: a premium data plan is ~$2USD a week), we could use Google Translate’s “Conversation” feature that allowed us to speak in turns into the phone that would translate between English and Russian automatically. We praised this technology, since we would have been attempting sign language otherwise.

We thanked our host for giving us permission to camp there the night before, because it was a perfect access point to be dropped off from the road and a reasonable hike to our morning launch.

After shaking hands with smiles all around, Eric and I began our hike up.

Azret, in his classic chill way, had left us with the instructions that a launch could be found “somewhere on that first or second hill.” We ascended excitedly, because conditions were looking really good: A steady breeze from the west was already augmenting the thermic activity wicking up the shrubby slopes.

After passing a few “maybe we could make this work” spots, we reached the first false peak and decided it was a perfect launch. Grazing animals had pretty cleanly cleared off the area for us and the breeze was blowing nicely.

Launching into just enough ridge lift to maintain, we worked together,

Like that eagle we followed, Eric pulsing up and down with the thermic made it look easy, as he danced from bubbles. Milking little spines for lift thermal to thermal ahead of me. It was and accumulating meters in the bigger “textbook,” as he later recounted—the bubbles, Eric and I scratched our way terrain was “totally on” in all the expectup the ridge. Here we were flying over the highest hilltop grassland, before the ed places. The mountains had risen up ground transitioned to steep rock and in front of us, forcing us to incorporate scree. The high grass must have been the terrain again into our flight. Luckily, tasty, because we spotted an entire herd the now-sunny west faces joined forces of horses. They watched us nonchalant- with the prevailing wind to help us on ly, flicking their tails as we wheeled and our way. I chased after Eric, whom I lost sight of as he climbed up and over soared above. the first ridge of the massif in front I kept finding mediocre thermals, but of us. As I took a direct line over the because of increasing wind, I was heshighest of its 3600m peaks, I marveled itant to drift back just yet. Then along at the barren rock, completely devoid came stronger cores, and eventually, I of snow or shrubs, as it spectacularly lassoed one to ride up and back. I was formed rainbows of reds, tans, and even at about 50 m over the ridge, feeling greenish hues that created an astonishthe lift getting better and better, and then, “VROOOM!” came the rocket that ing and sometimes mesmerizing effect. boosted me up to top of lift! It was a Totally different from most of the other rowdy climb, having come up from the terrain of the trip, perhaps this was the sun-warmed east-facing lee side and most beautiful mountain I had ever mixing with my first thermal and the crossed. prevailing wind from the west. Come on, Eric, hook it! I thought, but I was fter it was all said and done we too busy flying the wing to get to the had lived the dream with a great radio. At the top it finally calmed down, team in far-off lands. The stuff and I radioed: “Phew, that was exciting! that will carry us through the winters Come on up!” Before I knew it, Eric and which we can lean back on while had followed an eagle into the elevator at work, and/or shoveling driveways and was right there with me. Now at a and smile to ourselves, knowing that comfortable altitude, we kept following we experienced/lived an adventure our feathered guide and began the first only a very few people in the world will and most daunting valley crossing of ever even slightly know the beauty and the flight. power of.

The New England crew with our guide, excited for the first flying day of the trip. Left to right: Azret our guide, Eric, Jason, Tim, Dennis, John. Photo by Ular.

A

RIGHT Team USA on launch. Cody, Brad, Bianca, and Mitch.

16th FAI Paragliding Worlds

[ contributed by CODY MITTANCK ]

COMPETITION

The US Team heads to Macedonia

48 US H PA P I LOT

In case you missed it, the 16th FAI Paragliding World Championship took place in Krushevo, Macedonia this last August 5-18. The US Team was represented by Brad Gunnuscio, Mitch Riley, Bianca Heinrich, and me. With the exception of Brad, the rest of us were first-timers on the US team, but that didn’t diminish the pride we felt in representing the USA in such a high-level international competition. After 10 intense and exhausting tasks, the US finished 19th out of 48 nations, a respectable finish considering the field of paragliding legends we battled each day.

The level of competition at the World Championships has grown extremely high over the last decade. It is now very close to the Paragliding World Cup Superfinal, which is considered to be the highest level in our sport.

The difference between the two is a matter of quantity, not quality. The selection for the World Championship happens every two years.

The number of pilots allocated depends on the nation’s world ranking (WPRS), where nations with pilots ranked low in the WPRS may only be allocated one or two spots—these pilots wouldn’t typically qualify for the PWC Superfinal. In contrast, nations with many highWPRS-ranked pilots are still only allowed up to four spots in the World Championship but

would be densely represented in the PWC Superfinal, e.g. France. In the past this has meant that pilots with very little experience were competing against the best in the world. This would be like throwing me in an F1 car and letting me race at Monaco because I was the best go-cart driver in Azerbaijan. But things have changed and the World Championships now feels very much like a Superfinal. I like to think of it as a testament to our sport growing in popularity, but certainly the CCC wings have changed the paradigm. There is now less of a gap between the professional full-time pilots and those of us that pay-to-play. Even though they may have a team masseuse and assistants to carry their wings in the launch queue, at least we are now all flying wings with essentially the same speed and performance. With everyone on practically the same wing it comes down to the subtle differences in technique and strategy.

If you have flown a competition you’re familiar with the “gaggle.” It’s a tight group of pilots sharing a single thermal and fighting wingtip to wingtip on glides. This term breaks down at this level since there is no other group to differentiate. It is only one swarming mass of 100 pilots and a scattering of stragglers desperately trying to keep up. On most days,

USH PA PILOT 49

only a couple of minutes separated the first 60 pilots across end-of-speed. With so many great pilots, it’s incredible to see the very best distinguish themselves from the pack by making subtle changes in speed or shifting meters to the right or left on glide and consistently nailing final glide to arrive only meters above the goal line.

I asked Bianca to share some insights she gained from the competition and, always an over-achiever, she sent me a novella. This was her first high-level comp and she was on a small Zeno (a good wing, but lacking that last bit of performance of the CCC wings), a combination that would frustrate any pilot. Her enthusiasm for the sport is infectious. It was good to see that even though it was a challenging week her passion to fly competitions is still intact.

󲢫 It’s incredible to see the very best distinguish themselves from the pack by making subtle changes in speed or shifting meters to the right or left on glide and consistently nailing final glide to arrive only meters above the goal line. 󲢻

In Bianca’s words

I was excited! The US had not had a woman on their Worlds Team since 2011 and I was ready to represent! For the last two years I have had my eye on it, but just missed the qualification requirements. To be eligible to participate in the PG World Championships, you need to be ranked in the top 500 in the world or score a minimum of 40 WPRS points in a single FAI sanctioned event. In 2017, my best year ever, I had only been #516 and I had never gotten 40 WPRS points in a single comp. But… fast forward to 2019, and here I was in Krushevo. In the last couple of years I flew my first PWCs and slowly moved up in the food chain. I had gotten lucky on one of my PWCs. The lead gaggle had sunk out on a couple of difficult days and I was able to make goal by flying a bit more patiently. I ended up 61st overall and in my other PWC, I ended up 93rd. I figured as long I was flying consistently on my EN-D wing and got myself to goal most of the time then I wouldn’t be completely useless as a team member. However, the event that was about to happen was not just very competitive, it was going to be insanely competitive!

On the first day, the lead gaggle consisted of easily over 100 wings. From the back I was able to see the course line and watch the pack, like a huge bee swarm, migrate towards goal.

On that first day, 140 out of 150 pilots made goal, and 50 pilots came into goal within the first two minutes of the leader, and another

50 crossed the goal line within the next three minutes. In other words, if you came in only five minutes after the leader, you were already in the hundreds on the scoring board! My mind was blown, and so I got ready for two

ABOVE Start gaggle > photo by Eduardo Garza.

󲢫 There were times where I simply ran out of day because the thermals started dying out in the valley by around 5 p.m., and the task was just too long for me to finish with the speed at which I was flying it. 󲢻

weeks of cross-country flying and learning

ABOVE Over Krushevo > rather than racing. photo by Eduardo Garza.

Even on the days where I found myself in an

excellent start position, by the first thermal

TOP RIGHT Bianca and following the initial transition, I was already at Mitch > photo by Bianca the back of the field. I started resenting flying Heinrich.

all by myself so I pushed harder to fly with at

BOTTOM RIGHT Over the least some people. That resulted in me leavvalley > photo by Bianca ing low and bombing out more often than I Heinrich.

usually do. Especially on the days where there was a lot of wind in the valley. It was hard to fight against the wind without a lot of buddies around.

Interactions with fellow pilots were some of the most precious experiences I took home from the Worlds. Learning about New Zealand’s team strategies from Kari Ellis, talking about Zeno-to-CCC transitions with Elisabeth

50 US H PA P I LOT

Egger and Patricia Garcia de Letona, picking Meryl Delferierre’s brain about flying faster, getting advice from old-timer Helmut Eichholzer, and definitely sharing thoughts on how to make-it-all-work in life with pretty much everybody!

What I certainly realized in Krushevo was that you can’t keep up with the “super gaggle” unless you’re on the same equipment as them. Cody sarcastically suggested to gain some weight to fly a bigger wing, but hey…I’m not that desperate just yet!! LOL. Of course, I could ballast up more, but I think I’ll work on other things first: how to fly more efficiently on speed bar, observing how thermal strength varies with altitude on a particular day, making sure to read the terrain well, and assessing how long the day will actually be usable.

USH PA PILOT 51

There were times where I simply ran out of day because the thermals started dying out in the valley by around 5 p.m., and the task was just too long for me to finish with the speed at which I was flying it.

After all, equipment is not everything. Petra Slivova won task 6 on a Leopard, a D-rated wing! It shows that everything and anything is possible. So I’m looking forward to more learning coming my way, staying as safe as possible and most importantly, enjoying this wonderful sport and community that we are so lucky to have!

On behalf of the US Team I want to thank all of you who donated to help get us to Macedonia. Through the combination of individual donations and a grant from the Foundation for Free Flight (FFF) we were able to raise almost $12k to cover all of the team’s travel expenses and competition fees. The FFF is comprised of dedicated volunteers that work in the background to make sure we have access to flying sites, education, and competition in the US. If you want to help grow the sport of competition paragliding in the US you can donate directly to the “Paragliding Competition Fund” at www.foundationforfreeflight.org.

TEAM FUNDRAISING A Word from the Foundation for Free Flight The 2019 World Paragliding Competition Team fundraising effort was successful because Bill Hughes and team members Cody Mittanck, Brad Gunnuscio, Mitch Riley, and Bianca Heinrich worked closely with Foundation volunteers to make the Foundation’s online donation form widely accessible to donors who made tax-deductible donations to the team. The world team also submitted a detailed grant application to the grant committee who provided additional funding to help offset the cost of international competition, which is one of the Foundation’s five core missions.

To donate to paragliding competition in general, or to the paragliding world team directly, visit foundationforfreeflight.org, click on “donate to targeted funds” and select the preferred option from the drop-down list. Your tax-deductible gift will automatically be credited to the chosen fund.

The Foundation for Free Flight is an independent, 501(c)3 charity separate from USHPA. We rely on donations from pilots and benefactors to fulfill our mission. The Foundation for Free Flight works hand in hand with the freeflight community to support site preservation and enhancement, safety and education, and competition. We are a dedicated team of volunteers accessible 365 days a year, and are ready to assist.

- Jayne DePanfilis, Executive Director

Foundationforfreeflight.org

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Learning Freeflight

[ contributed by MITCH RILEY ]

One of the nation's best chimes in on what makes a great foundation.

SK ILLS

I’m hiking up a winding mountain trail with two good friends, Andrew Byron and Logan ABOVE Train hard Walters. As we move through the crisp dawn and fly safe! air, we delight in the feeling of wind on our skin while we talk about our dream flights.

Andrew and Logan are both just a few years into their flying and have been fully hooked since the beginning. When they are not flying, they are reading articles about big flights, micro-meteorology, and sports psychology, in an ever-passionate effort to become the best pilots they can be.

Surmounting a ridge, we are awestruck by the beauty of a sunrise illuminating the coastline and mountains of Santa Barbara, in a convergence of pinks, oranges, and blues. As we continue our hike, a light wind comes up the front side of the mountains; we smile in anticipation of the flight ahead. On our backs we carry our aircraft, paragliders, that we hope to launch off a mountaintop, enjoy the air, and gracefully glide down to land, pack up, and go to work. The three of us have a lot in common, but what we share the most is our dedication to being the best possible pilots we can be.

The next section of the trail is steep. Conver52 US H PA P I LOT

sation converts to heavy breathing, and I begin thinking about how impressed I have been with Andrew’s and Logan’s first few years in the sport. I feel privileged to be an instructor and mentor to them, as well as a fellow student, and they are, in turn, outstanding students and teachers to me. I learn about my sport and myself every time I hang out with these guys. As the grade becomes shallower, I ask them what advice they would have for pilots either entering the sport, or on the cusp of entering the sport. Here are a few gems from that conversation.

Dedication

Paragliding is a form of aviation and paragliders, as the slowest aircraft, are a particularly technical form of aviation. While it is easy and quick to begin taking small flights in calm conditions, it requires time and effort to become a competent and confident pilot. Whenever we introduce something new into our lives, we need to be prepared for the time and commitment that pursuit requires. During a pilot’s first couple years of paragliding, he will want to commit a large amount of his time to

USH PA PILOT 53

flying, studying flying, and ground handling (practicing handling the glider on the ground).

This is a worthy effort that usually includes excited rides up mountains with good friends, gorgeous views, rewarding flights, fun stories in the landing fields, and endless learning opportunities. Like anything that is rewarding, interesting, and exciting, you get out of it what you put into it.

A good goal to have for your first year of paragliding is to practice at least one hour of ground handling a week. We can’t all get to a launch and fly during our busy schedules, but going to the nearest open area, getting the glider out of the bag, and doing any practice that conditions allow will give you a sharper feeling of your glider and make you more confident at takeoff and in the air.

Embrace the “suck”

Rewarding pursuits are not easy to master.

When we are new to a rewarding pursuit, we should fully expect to suck at it. The more we are able to embrace that suck, the more we will learn from it; after dedication, time, and effort, the suck will become less frequent. I have committed my life to being the best paragliding pilot I can be for many years, and I still encounter plenty of suck to learn from.

All pilots often land earlier than they would like, are challenged by learning how to handle the glider on the ground, and feel a ping of jealousy when their peers outfly them. Expect to have successes and make mistakes during your entire flying career, and try to be a student of those lessons. We should acknowledge our successes and our mistakes and learn from both.

Finding Support

Become a member of your nearest flying community as soon as possible. Before you even start taking lessons, you can attend club meetings, show up at flying sites, and drive vehicles down the hill. Ultimately, grooming a new pilot is a community affair. If you show up to gatherings, express a desire to learn, and are friendly, you will find many mentors to help you in your growth as a pilot. Ask for advice about which school to learn from.

Choosing a flight school should not be done lightly. If you choose the right school, you will have lifelong coaching guidance and support.

Look for schools that are heavily involved in their flying community and have instructors who are passionate about flying.

Visualization

Visualization is an amazing tool to help us recognize real learning benefits. When visualizing, you don’t need to see yourself in the situation. You need to feel yourself in the situation. While paragliding, we often want to have a light two pounds of pressure in the brakes to maintain communication with the glider. If you want to get better at feeling that two pounds of pressure, try to imagine feeling that pressure while you’re feeling the wind on your face and the harness against your back.

Each and every aspect of paragliding can be visualized.

In 1996, Dr. Biasiotto, University of Chicago, conducted a study on the effects of visualization during which he split randomly selected participants into three groups and tested each

TOP Listen carefully and learn from others.

BOTTOM Great launches and great landings. Everything else is a bonus.

Colonel George R. Hall was an avid golfer before his deployment to the Vietnam War. His plane was shot down over North Vietnam in September of 1965. He spent the next seven and a half years in a 4’ by 6’ cage. To keep his sanity, he visualized playing round after round of golf—feeling the clubs in his hand, and even writing down his score after each hole. Colonel Hall was released in February of 1973 and was invited to play in the 1973 New Orleans P.O.W Pro-Am Open just six weeks later. He was 100 pounds lighter than during his last game and still physically wrecked by his ordeal. Despite this, he scored a 74 on his first round, matching his old handicap. He hadn’t touched a golf club for almost eight years, while surviving a hellhole. Yet visualization allowed him to maintain his top-form golf game.

This does not mean we should quit flying and spend all our time imagining flying. What it does mean is that committing time to visualizing successful launches, turns, landings and so on will improve our flying. It is not always easy or possible to go flying or do ground handling, but it is always possible to spend a few moments imagining yourself doing so and doing it well. The benefits of dedicated visualization practice are great.

group on how many basketball free throws they could make.

The first group was told not to touch a TOP ABRL. Always be basketball for 30 days and to do no basketready to land in a PLF. ball activities whatsoever. The second group practiced shooting basketball free throws BOTTOM Look where you 30 minutes every day for 30 days. The third want to go... group came to the gym, closed their eyes, and visualized throwing successful free throws for 30 minutes every day for 30 days.

The first group showed no measurable improvement. The second group improved their free throws by 24%. The third group, having only visualized successful free throws, showed a 23% improvement! Their measurable improvement was essentially the same as the group who physically practiced.

󲢫 Committing time to visualizing successful launches, turns, landings and so on will improve our flying. 󲢻 54 US H PA P I LOT

The Daily 3 P’s of Learning

Preparation: On any learning day, spend some time at the beginning of the day thinking about what you learned from the successes and mistakes during your last session (see processing, below). Give yourself small, attainable, skill-based goals for each day’s session and visualize succeeding at those goals. Goals: Our goals for learning sessions should be small, attainable goals that are skill-based.

One example is to have the goal of feeling and seeing the approximate wind direction and velocity during a training session. This goal is attainable for all of us, will help your flying, and will give you a reward and the associated dopamine release when you successfully meet it. The larger the number of small attainable goals we set for ourselves and meet, the more we can keep track of our progress, and the more fun (more dopamine) our learning will be.

If our learning is more fun, we will invest more time and effort in it, and get more competent in a shorter amount of time.

Performance: This is the time you spend in

USH PA PILOT 55

the activity. During a day of learning how to fly, we are going to be operating in the present, living very much in the moment. Each and every one of us will have mistakes and successes during a learning day. It’s important to acknowledge those mistakes and successes, but not get emotionally attached to them. We all know that feeling of getting frustrated with our performance and then allowing that frustration to dig us deeper and deeper into a hole of stress, low confidence, and worse performance. Early in my flying career, a mentor gave me this valuable advice: “Give yourself permission to suck.” We should not expect to be an expert at flying a paraglider on our first day, first week, or even first few years.

We must accept and acknowledge mistakes in order to learn from them.

Processing: This is the end-of-day effort spent looking back over the day. Did you make progress towards meeting your goals?

Acknowledge the mistakes and successes you had throughout the session and create a plan to replicate the success and reduce the mistakes in the next session. Discussing the day in an honest way with mentors and friends is

󲢫 We should not expect to be an expert at flying a paraglider on our first day, first week, or even first few years. 󲢻 important. Journaling or doing a voice recording detailing your day and what you learned works really well. At the very least, spend 5 or 10 minutes thinking through the day and finding those points where improvement can be made and points where successes should be repeated. Visualizing the way you want to perform works well here. Circle back to preparation before your next session.

E

ventually, Andrew, Logan and I reached EJ takeoff at the top of our local mountains. We took the gliders out of our bags, donned our harnesses, jackets, and helmets and launched together. For the next 3000 vertical feet we flew in a tight formation through smooth-as-silk air, next to rocky faces, and over deep canyons. Landing with big smiles on our faces, we went our separate ways to start our working day. Our exhilarating flight was our reward!

BELOW It's all about the kiting game.

Ratings Issued August/September 2019 RTG RGN NAME

Take your ratings and expiration date everywhere you fly.

Download from the Members Only section of the USHPA website.

Print, trim, and store in your wallet. Great for areas without cell coverage.Always available at www.USHPA.aero Save the PDF on your mobile device for easy reference.

56 US H PA P I LOT

H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2

1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Thomas Kennedy Yosuke (Josh) Miyakawa John Michael Aaron Ahmad J. Alkasmi Yijing Bai Spencer Bodoone Balona Simon Cacy Dan Harrison Austin McCulloch Maya Rosecrance Wade Stewart Jonathan Seamus Blackley Livio Bognuda Grant Garcia John Jensen Dirk Wallace Malcolm Alexander Steven (Taylor) Couch Zach Freeman Alexander French Brooks Harlow Anne Louise Horgan Pedro Luzuriaga David Shane Nahabedian Shaun Olson Dewey Plaster Jonathan Blake Smith Jr Thomas Vandiver Jr Michael Vaughn Susan Allison Pradeep Alturi John A. Davidson James Keith Deibler Starla Diehl William Hardy-Abeloos Garrett Ryan Kusmack Timothy Smith Michael E. Stanton Samuel Tolkoff Thomas Very John Lydic Yosuke (Josh) Miyakawa John Michael Aaron Ahmad J. Alkasmi Spencer Bodoone Balona Geobio Boo Austin McCulloch Peter McEvoy Marcus Petersen Maya Rosecrance Robert Scharffenberg Michelle Wang Livio Bognuda John Jensen Kyle Schumacher Sean Yun Anastasios Zolas Malcolm Alexander Steven (Taylor) Couch Zach Freeman Alexander French Anne Louise Horgan Pedro Luzuriaga David Shane Nahabedian Jonathan Blake Smith Jr

STATE RATING OFFICIAL

MN WA CA CA CA CA CA CA UT CA CA CA CO CA CA CA AL TN OK VA VA TN TX AL NC VA VA GA VA MI NY OH MD PA NJ MI WI NY MA PA OR WA CA CA CA CA UT CA CA CA CA CA CO CA CA CA CA AL TN OK VA TN TX AL VA

Doyle Johnson William C. Dydo Robert B. Booth Eric Hinrichs Eric Hinrichs Eric Hinrichs Josh Patrick Laufer John Simpson Kevin Koonce Scott Seebass Patrick J. Denevan Josh Patrick Laufer Mark A. Windsheimer Josh Patrick Laufer Robert Hugel Josh Patrick Laufer Gordon Cayce Matthew Taber Scott Schneider Ian Boughton Steve A. Wendt Matthew Taber Scott Schneider Matthew Taber Wolf Gaidis Wolf Gaidis Andy Thompson David Miller Wolf Gaidis John W. Alden Gordon Cayce John W. Alden Steve A. Wendt Gordon Cayce Greg Black Gordon Cayce Daniel Lange Daniel C. Guido Gordon Cayce Gordon Cayce Patrick J. Denevan William C. Dydo Robert B. Booth Eric Hinrichs Eric Hinrichs Robert Hugel Kevin Koonce Robert Hugel Michael Briganti Scott Seebass William C. Dydo Michael Briganti Mark A. Windsheimer Robert Hugel Josh Patrick Laufer Andrew T. Beem Josh Patrick Laufer Gordon Cayce Matthew Taber Scott Schneider Ian Boughton Matthew Taber Scott Schneider Matthew Taber Andy Thompson

RTG RGN NAME

H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H2 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H3 H4 H4 H4 H4 H4 H4 H4 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1

4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 2 3 3 3 4 5 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Thomas Vandiver Jr Susan Allison Pradeep Alturi John A. Davidson Starla Diehl Garrett Ryan Kusmack Samuel Tolkoff Thomas Very Vincent Lynn Geer Jonathan Hajnos Jason Post Alan Redmon John Kelly Jeff Rader Javier Rios Maya Rosecrance Edward A. Batakis Derek Gordon Kevin Kader Arthur Benson John Conger Alex Holsted Carl Jacobsen James Scott Trimble Aron J. Lantz Johander Navas Isaiah Clapp Sanders (Sam) Crater Jeff Odle Sara Weaver Mike Wall Jessica Pearson Daniel C. Walker Irving Aguilar David Albright Phil Armstrong Brian Arnold Elias Athey Michael Behrandt Clay Blackiston Edward Bourguignon George Bristow Benjamin Brown David Conaway Emily Cone Zorina Curry Kristen Dallum Evan Davis Stephanie Dishno Sydney Doolittle Tatum Epperson Brittney Fisher Samuel Fordyce Aaron Gale Graeme Greenwood Steve Grimes Chandler Haberlack Lucas Hansell Randi Harman Stephen H. Hart Cindy Hutler Will Johnson Maxim Kazitov Samuel J. Kurdy Guillaume Labranche

STATE RATING OFFICIAL

GA MI NY OH PA MI MA PA WA ID OR WA CA CA CA CA CO CA CA GA TX GA GA GA PA PA CA CO CA CO GA MA MI WY WA ID NE MT WY WA WA ID WA WA WA WA WA NE MT WY WA MT WA WA MT MT WA MT WA WA HI WA WA WA WA

David Miller John W. Alden Gordon Cayce John W. Alden Gordon Cayce Gordon Cayce Gordon Cayce Gordon Cayce Larry C. Jorgensen Ken J. Cavanaugh James W. Tibbs Larry C. Jorgensen Takeo Eda Eric Hinrichs Eric Hinrichs Scott Seebass Mark A. Windsheimer Andrew T. Beem Josh Patrick Laufer David Miller Jeffrey Hunt Matthew Taber Matthew Taber Gordon Cayce William Perez John W. Alden Eric Hinrichs Dean Miller Andrew T. Beem Dean Miller Gordon Cayce Jonathan Atwood Norman W. Lesnow Fred Morris Kelly A. Kellar Randall Shane Fred Morris Ryan Schwab Fred Morris Denise Reed Maren Ludwig Randall Shane Denise Reed Matt Cone Matt Cone Denise Reed Denise Reed Scott C. Harris Casey Bedell Fred Morris Denise Reed Lisa Dickinson Derek Baylor Denise Reed Lisa Dickinson Rob Sporrer Denise Reed Lisa Dickinson Kelly A. Kellar Jonathan Jefferies David (Dexter) Binder Denise Reed Marc Chirico Matt Cone Matt Cone

USH PA PILOT 57

RTG RGN NAME

P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

David Madeira Karen Marley Dean Maruyama Matthew McClelland Jeffrey Merkley Dashael Morris Ryan Murray Rachel Newell Joseph Nolte Benjamin Norin Thomas Norin Brian Olsen Jonathan Pak Tyler Pennewill Christopher Remer Julian Ritchie Frederick Roth David Schnaible Sarah Seick Adam Seick Devin Shannon Daniel J. Simon Cristiano Muller Streibel Dennis Erik Strom Scott Thiel Adam Van Straten Hayden Waddle Brandon West Ripley Yates Steven Zettel Jokin Aboitiz Zane Balona Ian Bergman Latifah Binti Hamzah Jessica Borowski Brian Codde Kira Crowell Nate Crowther Matthew Dennie John B. Dority Russell Field Eva Fornaeus Tim Fortner Joshua Fugle Nicolas Galarce Alarcon Gabrielle Gangitano Yury Gitman Tova Goldstein John J. Graham II Bill Green Jonathan Hair Visal Hak Joseph Hastings Sean Heslin Raymond (Chase) Kabisch Parker Landgren Kevin Landgren Layne Lisser Jeffrey Lock Chaeden Luebberke Jakub Mazur Nathaniel Nesiba Enrique Perez Smutny Fernando Rodriguez Joshua Ruchty

STATE RATING OFFICIAL

WY WA HI OR OR WA WA AK WA WA WA WA OR MT MT WA AK HI WA WA WA ID OR WA WA WA OR WA WA MT CA CA CA CA CA UT UT UT CA CA CA CA UT UT UT CA CA UT NV UT UT CA UT CA NV UT UT CA CA NV CA CA CA UT UT

Fred Morris Denise Reed Scott Gee Kevin R. Lee Brad Hill Denise Reed Denise Reed Jake Schlapfer Denise Reed Maren Ludwig Brad Hill Denise Reed Maren Ludwig Casey Bedell Casey Bedell Denise Reed Jake Schlapfer David (Dexter) Binder Maren Ludwig Maren Ludwig Denise Reed Dale Covington Todd Joseph Weigand Nathan Alex Taylor Denise Reed Johannes Rath Kelly A. Kellar Denise Reed Denise Reed Casey Bedell Rob Sporrer Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Mitchell B. Neary Jesse L. Meyer Jesse L. Meyer Jonathan Jefferies Ben White Chris W. Santacroce Jesse L. Meyer Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Wallace K. Anderson Jesse L. Meyer Nathan Alex Taylor Nathan Alex Taylor Nathan Alex Taylor Wallace K. Anderson Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Chris W. Santacroce Nathan Alex Taylor Ken W. Hudonjorgensen Nathan Alex Taylor Cynthia Currie Ben White Aaron Cromer Zion Susanno-Loddby Jonathan Jefferies Jonathan Jefferies Cynthia Currie Jesse L. Meyer Mitchell B. Neary Jesse L. Meyer Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Robert Posey Jonathan Jefferies Dale Covington

RTG RGN NAME

P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Isaac Rushton Daniel Shamy Rick Smith Jessica Suen Jake Tallman Chase Terry Scott Williams Luigi Zevola Evan Ackema Francisco J. Acosta Matthew Alarie Michael Albert Erick Arevalo Cheyenne Assil Andrew Bottolfson Kendrick A. Brown Courtney Burghart Larkin Carey Matthew Carlino Rob Crafts Steve Curtis Sara Curtis Shawn Curtsinger Peter Ducato Dennis A. Duvall Kristen Echols Meghan Evilsizor Johnny Fawks Eric Froelicher Preston Garland Russ Gibfried Kayla Gibfried Brian Gleason Lani Gordon William Graf Alexander Ivanov Pedro Jaramillo Amitkumar Kakkad Eric Kane Mitch Keller John Kensek Scott Kent Daniel Klein Billy Krasowski Jessi Laird Amy Leary Gabriel Martin-Hsia Shawn May Chase McLean Jacob Melonis Christopher Edward Mendoza Jason Middlemiss Aaron Montemayor Tyler Moyer Craig O'Brien Taylor Pardue Sebastien Pasquali Alex Patterson Ross Jeffrey Quave Matthew Ryan Beat Rychener Kenneth L. Smith Jason Spencer-Galsworthy Lane Michael Taylor Ryan Thomson

STATE RATING OFFICIAL

UT UT CA CA CA UT CA CA CA CA CA CO AZ CA CO CA CA CO CO CA AZ AZ CA CA CA CO CO AZ CO CO CA CA CA CO CA CO CO CA CO CA CO CO CO CO CA CO CA CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CA NM CO AZ CA CA CO CO CA CA CO

Stephen J. Mayer Jonathan Jefferies Christopher Grantham Jesse L. Meyer Rob Sporrer Jonathan Jefferies Robert Black Jesse L. Meyer Jordan Neidinger Rob Sporrer Gabriel Jebb Johannes Rath Gabriel Jebb Stephen Nowak Misha Banks Stephen Nowak Misha Banks Johannes Rath Mauricio Fleitas Gabriel Jebb Jonathan Jefferies Jonathan Jefferies Joseph B. Seitz Rob Sporrer Stephen Nowak Kay Tauscher Nathan Alex Taylor Chris W. Santacroce Casey Bedell Mauricio Fleitas Gabriel Jebb Rob Sporrer Philip D. Russman Johannes Rath Vito Michelangelo Mauricio Fleitas Mauricio Fleitas Gabriel Jebb Gary Begley Gabriel Jebb Mauricio Fleitas Mauricio Fleitas Misha Banks Gregory Kelley Marcello M. DeBarros Gary Begley David John Hebert Misha Banks Mauricio Fleitas Misha Banks Patrick Johnson Mauricio Fleitas Misha Banks Mauricio Fleitas David John Hebert Brian Clark Mauricio Fleitas Gabriel Jebb Christopher Grantham David John Hebert Johannes Rath Mauricio Fleitas Christopher Grantham Gabriel Jebb Gregory Kelley

ERRATA

In April, Carl Jacobsen was issued his H3 by Matt Taber. His rating didn't make it into previous listings.

Ratings Issued August/September 2019 (continued) RTG RGN NAME

P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P2 P2

58 US H PA P I LOT

3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1 1

STATE RATING OFFICIAL

Shaun Wallace CA Gabriel Jebb Chris Williams CO Douglas Brown Levi Wood AZ Kimberly Phinney Patrick Woodruff CA Stephen Nowak Bader Yousef CA Rob Sporrer Andrew Agiato FL Nathan Alex Taylor Ghassan Al-Akwaa DC Rob Sporrer James Anderson AR Randolph Ruffin Sean C. Barrett VA Gabriel Jebb Bill Beam AL Christopher J. Pyse Nicole Blanton TN Grayson Brown Michael Brewer NC Jonathan Jefferies Leah Catullo FL Jaro Krupa Ashley Coburn MO Grayson Brown Reilly Cooper NC Johannes Rath Sebastian Domingo GA Timothy Ryan Stahl Carson Hartis NC Kevin R. Lee Thomas Harvey VA Nathan Alex Taylor Ben Hightower TX Jesse L. Meyer Joe D. Hutton AL Grayson Brown Austin Ibele NC Nathan Alex Taylor Collin Ireton TN Grayson Brown Linda McNulty TN Christopher J. Pyse Michael Retoff TX Nathan Alex Taylor Beau Riebe FL Michael Freedman Derrick Riner NC Nathan Alex Taylor Theron Rogers MO Jonathan Jefferies Geoff Shotz GA Grayson Brown Hart Stringfellow FL Maren Ludwig Perry Talbott KY Grayson Brown Kesha Thompson NC Christopher J. Pyse Rui Vicente GA Timothy Ryan Stahl Steven Vromant TX Rob Sporrer Travers Xanthos TN Christopher J. Pyse Brad Allan NY Philippe Renaudin Fred Block WI Chris W. Santacroce Alex Bogner NY Calef Letorney Michael Brodie-Brown Sheung Wan Steven Jules Yancey Srikant Bykadi MD Rob Sporrer Anthony Carolei NY Nathan Alex Taylor Jonatas Da Silva Cardoso MA Heath Woods Warren Dorning IL Jaro Krupa Jeff Dorr Hong Kong Steven Jules Yancey Brian Douglas IL Mariyan Radev Ivanov Stephen G. Fedarcyk MD Chris W. Santacroce Jameson Flaherty VT Calef Letorney Timothy Glenshaw MD John E. Dunn Michael Herring NY Christopher J. Pyse Basil Hwang Steven Jules Yancey Garth Jay OH Timothy Ryan Stahl Ciara Kamahele-Sanfratello NY Ken W. Hudonjorgensen Juliette Lannet WI Timothy Ryan Stahl David Ayres Leland VT John E. Dunn Scott Leland MA John E. Dunn Kai Lenel VT Calef Letorney Kyle Leonard PA Brian Clark John Mitchell VT John E. Dunn Quentin Odier Kowloon Steven Jules Yancey John Quint Hong Kong Steven Jules Yancey Charles Torsiello NY Nathan Alex Taylor Matthew Waltenberry WI Mariyan Radev Ivanov James Wilson Buckinghamshire Jerome Daoust Lesia Witkowsky IL Brian Kerr Irving Aguilar WY Fred Morris David Albright WA Kelly A. Kellar

RTG RGN NAME

P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Phil Armstrong Brian Arnold Michael Behrandt Clay Blackiston George Bristow Benjamin Brown Josie Marie Bunnell Gino Ceravolo Austin Chart David Conaway Emily Cone Zorina Curry Kristen Dallum Evan Davis Stephanie Dishno Sydney Doolittle Tatum Epperson Brittney Fisher Samuel Fordyce Aaron Gale Graeme Greenwood Steve Grimes Chandler Haberlack Lucas Hansell Stephen H. Hart Robert D. Horn Jr Cindy Hutler Will Johnson Maxim Kazitov Samuel J. Kurdy Guillaume Labranche James Langdon Tyrus Leverich David Madeira Karen Marley Dean Maruyama Matthew McClelland Dashael Morris Ryan Murray Rachel Newell Joseph Nolte Brian Olsen Tyler Pennewill Christopher Remer Joel Retzlaff Julian Ritchie Frederick Roth David Schnaible Devin Shannon Daniel J. Simon Whitney Skoog Cristiano Muller Streibel Dennis Erik Strom Scott Thiel Adam Van Straten Brandon West Ripley Yates Steven Zettel Jokin Aboitiz Ian Bergman Latifah Binti Hamzah Jessica Borowski Brian Codde Kira Crowell Nate Crowther

STATE RATING OFFICIAL

ID NE WY WA ID WA OR WA OR WA WA WA WA NE MT WY WA MT WA WA MT MT WA MT WA OR HI WA WA WA WA ID OR WY WA HI OR WA WA AK WA WA MT MT WA WA AK HI WA ID AK OR WA WA WA WA WA MT CA CA CA CA UT UT UT

Randall Shane Fred Morris Fred Morris Denise Reed Randall Shane Denise Reed Kelly A. Kellar Maren Ludwig Kate Eagle Matt Cone Matt Cone Denise Reed Denise Reed Scott C. Harris Casey Bedell Fred Morris Denise Reed Lisa Dickinson Derek Baylor Denise Reed Lisa Dickinson Rob Sporrer Denise Reed Lisa Dickinson Jonathan Jefferies Kelly A. Kellar David (Dexter) Binder Denise Reed Marc Chirico Matt Cone Matt Cone Matt Cone Kelly A. Kellar Fred Morris Denise Reed Scott Gee Kevin R. Lee Denise Reed Denise Reed Jake Schlapfer Denise Reed Denise Reed Casey Bedell Casey Bedell Brad Hill Denise Reed Jake Schlapfer David (Dexter) Binder Denise Reed Dale Covington Chris Reynolds Todd Joseph Weigand Nathan Alex Taylor Denise Reed Johannes Rath Denise Reed Denise Reed Casey Bedell Rob Sporrer Mitchell B. Neary Jesse L. Meyer Jesse L. Meyer Jonathan Jefferies Ben White Chris W. Santacroce

USH PA PILOT 59

RTG RGN NAME

P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Matthew Dennie Marie Eide Kristian Eide Eva Fornaeus Tim Fortner Joshua Fugle Nicolas Galarce Alarcon Tova Goldstein John J. Graham II Bill Green Shobhit Gupta Jonathan Hair Visal Hak James D. Haskin Joseph Hastings Sean Heslin Raymond (Chase) Kabisch Daniel Kappler Kevin Landgren Parker Landgren Layne Lisser Jeffrey Lock Chaeden Luebberke Jakub Mazur Enrique Perez Smutny Duyen (Diane) Pham Alexander Pirozhenko John Rocca Fernando Rodriguez Joshua Ruchty Isaac Rushton Daniel Shamy Rick Smith Jessica Suen Jake Tallman Chase Terry Filippos Toufexis Scott Williams Luigi Zevola Evan Ackema Francisco J. Acosta Michael Albert Cheyenne Assil Andrew Bottolfson Anthony Brumfield Courtney Burghart Echo Campbell Larkin Carey Matthew Carlino Robert Crowder Donny Cryer Steve Curtis Sara Curtis Peter Ducato Kristen Echols Johnny Fawks Mauricio Fleitas Eric Froelicher Preston Garland Kayla Gibfried Brian Gleason Lani Gordon Brandon Hankins Peter Hudson Alexander Ivanov

STATE RATING OFFICIAL

CA CA CA CA UT UT UT UT NV UT CA UT CA CA UT CA NV CA UT UT CA CA NV CA CA CA CA CA UT UT UT UT CA CA CA UT CA CA CA CA CA CO CA CO CA CA CO CO CO CO CO AZ AZ CA CO AZ CO CO CO CA CA CO CA CA CO

Jesse L. Meyer Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Jesse L. Meyer Nathan Alex Taylor Nathan Alex Taylor Nathan Alex Taylor Chris W. Santacroce Nathan Alex Taylor Ken W. Hudonjorgensen Wallace K. Anderson Nathan Alex Taylor Cynthia Currie Wallace K. Anderson Ben White Aaron Cromer Zion Susanno-Loddby Jesse L. Meyer Jonathan Jefferies Jonathan Jefferies Cynthia Currie Jesse L. Meyer Mitchell B. Neary Jesse L. Meyer Robert Posey Cynthia Currie Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Robert Black Jonathan Jefferies Dale Covington Stephen J. Mayer Jonathan Jefferies Christopher Grantham Jesse L. Meyer Rob Sporrer Jonathan Jefferies Wallace K. Anderson Robert Black Jesse L. Meyer Jordan Neidinger Rob Sporrer Johannes Rath Stephen Nowak Misha Banks Gabriel Jebb Misha Banks Johannes Rath Johannes Rath Mauricio Fleitas Patrick Henry-II Douglas Brown Jonathan Jefferies Jonathan Jefferies Rob Sporrer Kay Tauscher Chris W. Santacroce Mauricio Fleitas Casey Bedell Mauricio Fleitas Rob Sporrer Philip D. Russman Johannes Rath Gabriel Jebb Chad J. Bastian Mauricio Fleitas

RTG RGN NAME

P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5

Pedro Jaramillo Eric Kane John Kensek Scott Kent Daniel Klein Jayden Korst Jessi Laird Amy Leary Mahmoud "Arash" Majidi Michael Andrew Marion Gabriel Martin-Hsia Shawn May Chase McLean Jacob Melonis Christopher Edward Mendoza Jason Middlemiss Aaron Montemayor Tyler Moyer Jennifer Mvongo Craig O'Brien Taylor Pardue Sebastien Pasquali Ross Jeffrey Quave Matthew Ryan Beat Rychener Kenneth L. Smith Jason Spencer-Galsworthy Lane Michael Taylor Jacobus Venter Chris Williams Levi Wood Bader Yousef Andrew Agiato Sean Ahrens Ghassan Al-Akwaa James Anderson Sean C. Barrett Bill Beam Nicole Blanton Michael Brewer Leah Catullo Ashley Coburn Reilly Cooper Sebastian Domingo Ken Forbes Carson Hartis Thomas Harvey Ben Hightower Joe D. Hutton Austin Ibele Collin Ireton Douglas B. Patrick Michael Retoff Beau Riebe Derrick Riner Theron Rogers Geoff Shotz Perry Talbott Kesha Thompson Rui Vicente Steven Vromant Travers Xanthos Brad Allan Glaubertt Andrade Fred Block

STATE RATING OFFICIAL

CO CO CO CO CO CO CA CO CA CO CA CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CA CA NM CO CA CA CO CO CA CA CO CO AZ CA FL PR DC AR VA AL TN NC FL MO NC GA FL NC VA TX AL NC TN VA TX FL NC MO GA KY NC GA TX TN NY MA WI

Mauricio Fleitas Gary Begley Mauricio Fleitas Mauricio Fleitas Misha Banks Patrick Henry-II Marcello M. DeBarros Gary Begley Gabriel Jebb Mauricio Fleitas David John Hebert Misha Banks Mauricio Fleitas Misha Banks Patrick Johnson Mauricio Fleitas Misha Banks Mauricio Fleitas Gabriel Jebb David John Hebert Brian Clark Mauricio Fleitas Christopher Grantham David John Hebert Johannes Rath Mauricio Fleitas Christopher Grantham Gabriel Jebb Etienne Pienaar Douglas Brown Kimberly Phinney Rob Sporrer Nathan Alex Taylor Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Rob Sporrer Randolph Ruffin Gabriel Jebb Christopher J. Pyse Grayson Brown Jonathan Jefferies Jaro Krupa Grayson Brown Johannes Rath Timothy Ryan Stahl Grayson Brown Kevin R. Lee Nathan Alex Taylor Jesse L. Meyer Grayson Brown Nathan Alex Taylor Grayson Brown Chris W. Santacroce Nathan Alex Taylor Michael Freedman Nathan Alex Taylor Jonathan Jefferies Grayson Brown Grayson Brown Christopher J. Pyse Timothy Ryan Stahl Rob Sporrer Christopher J. Pyse Philippe Renaudin John E. Dunn Chris W. Santacroce

Ratings Issued August/September 2019 (continued) RTG RGN NAME

AIRS Accident/Incident Reporting System is standing by at airs.ushpa.org If you've been injured or experienced a close call, file a report today.

All AIRS reports are completely confidential.

60 US H PA P I LOT

P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Alex Bogner Michael Brodie-Brown Srikant Bykadi Geylani Can Anthony Carolei Eder De Souza Warren Dorning Jeff Dorr Stephen G. Fedarcyk Jameson Flaherty Matthew Foster Michael Herring Michael Hinc Andree-Aude Lambert Kai Lenel Kyle Leonard Ehsan Mehdizadeh Paulo Milko Quentin Odier Boris Paleyes Owen Pomykacz John Quint Valdir Santana Charles Torsiello James Wilson Tristan Wimmer Lesia Witkowsky Forrest Cox Garrett Daybell Charles Fiedler Jackson Flynn Olivier Le Saux Taylor Maitri Keats Maxwell Dan McPherson Jeffrey Martin Olszewski Jason Roberts Runnoeun (Ryan) Suy Karl Allmendinger Gabriel Beninati Dennis Bowman David Denning Bella Ely Jeffrey George Ismo Karali Chaeden Luebberke James Ryan McPherson Scott OBrien Alina Jessie Petrik Chris Proctor Fernando Rodriguez Creedence Shaw Andrey Shvidchenko Jean Weatherwax Robert Bacastow Donald S. Broce Anthony Brumfield Todd Davidson Glaucio Daniel De Oliveira Adam Dengler Eugene P. Florentino Jr Michal Gola Ben Horton Jonathan Jordan Tyler Langenfeld Michael Moser Matt Niccoli

STATE RATING OFFICIAL

NY Calef Letorney Sheung Wan Steven Jules Yancey MD Rob Sporrer MA Calef Letorney NY Nathan Alex Taylor MA John E. Dunn IL Jaro Krupa Hong Kong Steven Jules Yancey MD Chris W. Santacroce VT Calef Letorney MA John E. Dunn NY Christopher J. Pyse Sai Kung Steven Jules Yancey Sai Kung Steven Jules Yancey VT Calef Letorney PA Brian Clark ON Steven Jules Yancey MA Patrick Johnson Kowloon Steven Jules Yancey NY Philippe Renaudin NJ Johannes Rath Hong Kong Steven Jules Yancey MA John E. Dunn NY Nathan Alex Taylor Buckinghamshire Jerome Daoust PA Brian Clark IL Brian Kerr OR Todd Joseph Weigand ID Randall Shane OR Maren Ludwig ID Charles (Chuck) Smith HI Dilan Benedetti ID Randall Shane MT Stefan Mitrovich WA Kelly A. Kellar OR Kimberly Phinney ID Randall Shane WA Denise Reed CA Wallace K. Anderson UT Nathan Alex Taylor CA Jeffrey J. Greenbaum CA Gabriel Jebb CA Rob Sporrer UT Chris W. Santacroce CA Jeffrey J. Greenbaum NV Mitchell B. Neary CA Jason Shapiro CA Jesse L. Meyer CA Mitchell B. Neary CA Robert Black UT Jonathan Jefferies CA Jesse L. Meyer CA Jason Shapiro CA Jesse L. Meyer CA Stanley-Kyon Ki-Hong CA Jordan Neidinger CA Gabriel Jebb CA Rob Sporrer CA Gabriel Jebb CO Chris W. Santacroce NM Charles (Chuck) Woods CA Jerome Daoust CA Christopher Grantham CA Gabriel Jebb CA Gabriel Jebb CO Jerome Daoust CO Kay Tauscher

RTG RGN NAME

P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P3 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4 P4

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5

Amir Poost Pardaz Daniel Quick Naya Sawah Sydney Schachter Mark Snyder Sam Stitt James Swift Samuel Williams Derek Bartlem Leah Catullo Anthony J. Fabiszak C.S. Reddy Gadipally Austin Ibele William Trevor Murchie Blake Pigeon Joseph G. Schad Tanner Tillung Kaden Wolford Alexandra Xavier Chieh Yu Lucio De Souza Brian Faenza Michael Kaminski Roger Spurrell Tyler Weller Stephen Wright-Eaton Paul Andrews Bill Brooks Ian Cherteiny Brian Duchovnay Chris Moody Kyle Mooney Brian David Morrison William John Smith Jr Leif Swanson Josh Alger Raziel Alon Brix Casserly Brian Christensen Ian Gillespie Christopher Hilliard Tristan Horn Jason Lauritzen Arnaud J. Le Hors Peter J. Lewis Vladimir Likhtenberg Eric McAuliffe Zane OConnor Eric Rasmussen Fernando Rodriguez Mark Owen Cope, Jr Benjamin Cox Charles Cozean Christopher Dewey Don Hillmuth David Jacobs Brian Kaiserauer Lucas Longo Daniel Whitney Andrew Marvil Jeff Sinason Lucas Soler Timothy Taylor Rafael Rumiel Araujo De Faria Franco Braggion Yerko Antonio Galeas Moya Igor Santos Daniel C. Walker

STATE RATING OFFICIAL

CA CA CA CO CO CA CA CA MO FL AL MO NC GA TX VA FL TN OK VA NH NH OH MA PA ME AK AK HI OR WY MN ID MT WA UT CA UT UT UT CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA UT CA CA CO CA CO CA CA CA CO VA TN NC TX MA NJ CT MA MI

David W. Prentice Marcello M. DeBarros Gabriel Jebb Etienne Pienaar Ryan J. Taylor Gabriel Jebb Jordan Neidinger Gabriel Jebb Marc Noel Radloff Jaro Krupa Rick Jacob Marc Noel Radloff Christopher J. Pyse Stephen J. Mayer Gabriel Jebb George R. Huffman Kevin McGinley Steven (Taylor) Couch Jerome Daoust Rick Jacob Davidson Da-Silva Douglas Brown Thomas McCormick Jerome Daoust Ryan J. Taylor Calef Letorney Kay Tauscher Jake Schlapfer Pete Michelmore Roger Brock Scott C. Harris Christopher Hunlow Charles (Chuck) Smith Casey Bedell Roger Brock Rob Sporrer Jesse L. Meyer Chris W. Santacroce Chris W. Santacroce Chris W. Santacroce Jesse L. Meyer Jeffrey J. Greenbaum Wallace K. Anderson Jesse L. Meyer Jesse L. Meyer Jesse L. Meyer Mitchell B. Neary Jason Shapiro Scott C. Harris Jonathan Jefferies Christopher Grantham Stephen Nowak Sanders (Sam) Crater Philip D. Russman Michael A. Jobin Dave Turner Rob Sporrer Rob Sporrer Alejandro Palmaz Gabriel Jebb Rick Jacob Christopher Grantham Scott C. Harris Davidson Da-Silva Philippe Renaudin Sebastien Kayrouz Davidson Da-Silva Norman W. Lesnow

USH PA PILOT 61

2019 CALENDAR Submit listings online at https://www.ushpa.org/page/calendar.

A minimum 3-MONTH LEAD TIME is required on all submissions. Tentative events will not be published.

THE SANTA BARBARA HOEDOWN is a winter-long casual competition for hang gliders and paragliders in Santa Barbara's mountains. Whether you are an experienced comp pilot or a new pilot looking to learn about task flying and safe XC protocols from older pilots. There is something for everyone! Cost: FREE (must be SBSA member) Task Brief and De-Brief: At the SBSA club meeting at Rusty’s on Cabrillo at 7pm, first Thursday of every contest month. Objective: Have fun, try different challenges, and improve your skills. More info: https://freeflightcomp.appspot.com/comps/sbhoedown2019/

JAN 24 - FEB 1, FEB 1-9, FEB 9-17 > EAGLE PARAGLIDING 2020 COLUMBIA TOURS Roldanillo, Colombia. Expect 7 days of flying, daily coaching, evening debriefs, and evening presentations by each of our exceptional guides Marty DeVietti, Brian Howell, Mitch Riley, Jeff Shapiro, Rob Sporrer, and Dave Turner. Don’t forget the cross-country tandems you will take with our guides over mountains and flat lands, which are all included in the tour at no additional cost. These tandem flights are perhaps the best educational opportunity available for thermal and cross country flying. More Info: www.paragliding.

com

MAR 6-8, APR 4-6, NOV 13-15, DEC 12-14 > EAGLE PARAGLIDING SANTA BARBARA CLINIC Santa Barbara, California.

This clinic is aimed at getting pilots familiar with the thermal triggers, and lines to take to get from lift source to lift source moving down the range. After attending this clinic you will have a better understanding of the moves necessary to get down range, and the confidence to get through the pass and fly to Ojai and beyond. Mitch Riley will lead this 3 day clinic cost is $795. More Info: https://paragliding.com/shop/services/ clinics/thermal-xc-clinic/ APR 12-18 > 2020 PARADISE AIRSPORTS NATIONALS Wilotree Park, Groveland, Florida. USHPA Sanctioned HG Race To Goal XC Nationals Competition | Flatland competition in Florida where the weather is so good so early. Open, Sport, Swift, and Rigid wing classes. This is a CIVL category 2 competition set up for Class 1 Open pilots. Sport Class pilots who can’t qualify for the Worlds can register also as well as any Sport Class pilots flying in the Worlds. Women, Rigid and Swift class pilots looking to practice in advance of the Worlds are also welcome. Flying dates: Sunday April 12th through Saturday the 18th, 2020. Official practice days with tasks and daily scoring (not counted in the overall score) - Friday, April 10th and Saturday, April 11th. Check-in Friday and Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon. Live tracking with Flymaster trackers provided. The competition is USHPA and CIVL sanctioned. | Organizer: Davis Straub abd Belinda Boulter, davis@ davisstraub.com | Website: https://airtribune.com/2020-paradise-airsports-nationals/info/details__info

APR 19 - MAY 1 > 2020 WILOTREE NATIONALS Wilotree Park, Groveland, Florida. USHPA Sanctioned HG Race To Goal XC Nationals Competition | Flatland competition in Florida where the weather is so good so early. Open, Sport, Swift, and Rigid wing classes. This is a CIVL category 2 competition set up for Class 1 Open pilots only. It will take place at the same time as the 2020 FAI World Hang Gliding Championships.

Check-in on Sunday, April 19th. Live tracking with Flymaster trackers provided. The competition is USHPA and CIVL sanctioned so USHPA NTSS and CIVL WPRS points will be awarded.

Maximum 125 pilots minus participants in the Worlds. | Organizer: Davis Straub abd Belinda Boulter, davis@davisstraub. com | Website: https://airtribune.com/2020-wilotree-nationals/info/details__info APR 19 - MAY 1 > 2020 FAI WORLD HANG GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIPS Wilotree Park, Groveland, Florida. USHPA Sanctioned HG Race To Goal XC Worlds Competition | 2nd FAI Sport Class World Hang Gliding Championships, 14th FAI Women’s World Hang Gliding Championships, 9th FAI Class 5 World Hang Gliding Championships, and 21st FAI Class 2 World Hang Gliding Championships | Organizer: Belinda Boulter and Davis Straub, belinda@davisstraub.com | Website: https://airtribune.com/2020-world-championships/info/details__info MAY 15-17 > EAGLE PARAGLIDING MARSHALL CLINIC San Bernardino, California. Marshall is one of California’s most consistent sites. We get newer pilots off early and late in the day at our clinics and fly through mid day with experienced pilots on XC missions. We enjoy team flying down range. Our clinic goals at Marshall are to allow you to become familiar with the area, and understand where the thermal triggers are located. We also hope to show you possible lines to follow when making moves down range on XC missions. More Info: https:// paragliding.com/shop/services/clinics/thermal-xc-clinic/ JUN 7-12 > EAGLE PARAGLIDING WOODRAT MOUNTAIN / APPLEGATE VALLEY CLINIC Ruch, Oregon. Woodrat Mountain in southern Oregon is where the Applegate Open competition is held. This clinic focuses on allowing pilots to become familiar with the area, and routes flown during the competition held each June. This clinic is great as it prepares pilots for the competition. The staff leading these clinics have been on the podium at the race to goal competitions held from this site, and know the area very well. Cost is $1495 for 6 days. More Info: https://paragliding.com/shop/services/clinics/thermal-xc-clinic/

JUN 13-20 > 2020 APPLEGATE OPEN Woodrat Mtn, Ruch, Oregon. USHPA Sanctioned PG Race To Goal XC Nationals Competition | Open Race, Sprint Race, and SuperClinic Race entry fees $475 SuperClinic fees $675. $20 Local membership required. Registration opens Feb 3, 2020. | Organizer: Terri Stewart, AO-organizer@rvhpa.org | Website: wingsoverapplegate.org JUL 11-18 > 2020 OZONE CHELAN OPEN Chelan Butte, Chelan, Washington. USHPA Sanctioned PG Race To Goal XC Nationals Competition | The Ozone Chelan Open is a new fun competition format (for the USA) where new to competition pilots get to race along with and learn from the best pilots in the USA/world with everyone flying EN-C or B wings. | Organizer: Matt Senior, mattysenior@yahoo.com | Website: https://airtribune.com/events/next AUG 2-14 > 2020 PAN-AMERICAN NATIONALS McMahon Wrinkle Airport, Big Spring, Texas. USHPA Sanctioned HG Race To Goal XC Nationals Competition | The 1st FAI Class 1 Pan-American Championship combined with the 2020 Pan-American Nationals for Sport Class, Women’s, Atos Class and Swift Class | Organizer: Belinda Boulter and Davis Straub, belinda@davisstraub.com | Website: https://airtribune. com/2020-pan-american-championships/info/details__info AUG 2-14 > 2020 FAI WORLD PAN-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS McMahon Wrinkle Airport, Big Spring, Texas. USHPA Sanctioned HG Race To Goal XC Worlds Competition | The 1st FAI Class 1 Pan-American Championship combined with the 2020 Pan-American Nationals for Sport Class, Women’s, Atos Class and Swift Class | More Info: https://airtribune. com/2020-pan-american-championships/info/details__info; belinda@davisstraub.com

SEP 11-13 > EAGLE PARAGLIDING PINE MOUNTAIN CLINIC Ojai, California. Eagle organizes clinics at Pine Mountain behind Ojai. Two local legends Tom Truax a.k.a. “Sundowner“, and “Diablo”, Tony Deleo each set the California state distance record from this site back in the 90’s. September is our favorite month to do clinics out there, and we held a clinic there years ago where a pilot flew 50 miles on his first Cross Country flight. We followed the Team Flying strategy we share at our clinics an don our tours with a group of pilots on this flight. Cost is $795. More Info: https://paragliding.com/shop/ services/clinics/thermal-xc-clinic/ SEP 28 - OCT 3 > RED ROCKS FALL FLY IN Richfield, Utah.

Paragliders and Hang gliders from all over the world. We are expecting over 250 pilots this year. $80.00 for the whole week.

Plus $10.00 per ride up the mountain. Flying Cove Mountain, Monroe Peak, Mt Edna, Parker Ridge. Emphasis at the Red Rocks is on low pressure fun, safe, and enjoyable flying. More Info: www.cuasa.com | Stacy Whitmore, 435-979-0225, stacy@cuasa.com | Jef Anderson, 435-896-7999, jef@cuasa.com | Jon Leusden, 719-322-4234, jonathon@cuasa.com OCT 1-4 > 2020 HSB ACCURACY CUP HSB Flight Park, Horseshoe Bend, Idaho. USHPA Sanctioned PG Spot Landing Nationals Competition | The HSB Accuracy Cup is an opportunity to challenge your ability for spot landings. The venue offers wide open space within the scenic Payette River Corridor.

The valley flow along with our arid weather support smooth air and consistent conditions. Camp out and enjoy the stunning landscape of iconic rural Idaho with the flying community. | Organizer: Scott Edwards, hsbflightpark@gmail.com | Website: hsbflightpark.com OCT 10-12 > EAGLE PARAGLIDING OWENS VALLEY CLINIC Bishop, California. The Sierra’s and White mountains provide excellent thermal and XC opportunities. A variety of launch locations, means we will make a move to the launch which matches our forecast for the day. We can work as a group and team fly here as well, and put out some big distance numbers.

The State distance record is held from this area by Dave Turner.

The area is world famous and worth a trip in the fall or spring for some classic flying, and big distance opportunities. Cost is $795 for 3 days. More Info: https://paragliding.com/shop/services/clinics/thermal-xc-clinic/

CLASSIFIED RATES Rates start at $10.00 for 200 characters. Minimum ad charge is $10.00. ALL CLASSIFIEDS ARE

PREPAID. No refunds will be given on ads cancelled that are scheduled to run multiple months. For more info, visit www.ushpa.

org/page/magazine-classified-advertising GEORGIA > LMFP > provides unmatched service & attention to students & visitors. We have over 40 years of experience making dreams of flight come true on Lookout Mtn & can't wait to share our passion with you. Visit www. flylookout.com

62 US H PA P I LOT

HAWAII > PROFLYGHT PARAGLIDING > Call Dexter for friendly information about flying on Maui. Full service school offering beginner to advanced instruction, year round. 808-874-5433 paraglidemaui.com

USH PA PILOT 63

NEW HAMPSHIRE > MORNINGSIDE > A Kitty Hawk Kites flight park. The Northeast’s premier hang gliding and paragliding training center, teaching since 1974. Hang gliding foot launch and tandem aerowtow training. Paragliding foot launch and tandem training.

Powered Paragliding instruction. Dealer for all major manufacturers. Located in Charlestown, NH. Also visit our North Carolina location, Kitty Hawk Kites Flight School. 603-542-4416, www. flymorningside.com NEW YORK > SUSQUEHANNA FLIGHT PARK > 40 acre park. Awesome training hills with rides up. 600 mountain take off. Best facility in NY to teach foot launch. New and used WW gliders in stock. www.cooperstownhanggliding. com NORTH CAROLINA > KITTY HAWK KITES > The largest hang gliding school in the world, teaching since 1974. Learn to hang glide and paraglide on the East Coast’s largest sand dune. Year-round instruction, foot launch and tandem aerotow. 1902 Wright Glider Experience available. Dealer for all major manufacturers. Learn to fly where the Wright Brothers flew, located at the beach on NC’s historic Outer Banks. Also visit our NH location, Morningside Flight Park.

(252) 441-2426, 1-877-FLY-THIS, kittyhawk.com/hang-gliding

TENNESSEE > LMFP > provides unmatched service & attention to students & visitors. We have over 40 years of experience making dreams of flight come true on Lookout Mtn & can't wait to share our passion with you. Visit www. flylookout.com TEXAS > FLYTEXAS TEAM > training pilots in Central Texas for 25 years. Hang Gliding, Paragliding, Trikes. Hangar facilities Lake LBJ, Luling, Smithville www. flytexas.com 512-467-2529 VIRGINIA > BLUE SKY > located near Richmond , year round instruction, all forms of towing, repairs, sewing , tuning... Wills Wing, Moyes, Icaro, Aeros PG, Mosquito, Flylight, Woody Valley. www.blueskyhg.com CLINICS & TOURS BAJA MEXICO > La Salina Baja’s BEST BEACHFRONT Airsport Venue: PG, HG, PPG: FlyLaSalina.com. by BajaBrent.com, He’ll hook you up! Site intros, tours, & rooms. bajabrent@bajabrent.com, 760203-2658

PARACRANE Paragliding Tours 2020 > Fly Costa Rica, Brazil and Europe with veteran tour guide Nick Crane.

Small groups, flexible schedule | Costa Rica-Jan 21-31 & Feb 4-14 | Brazil-Feb 19-29 | Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy June 1-10 and Sept 8-18 | France, Italy, Switzerland Sept19-29 | visit: www.costaricaparagliding.com, contact: nick@paracrane.com FLYMEXICO > Valle de Bravo for Winter and year round flying tours and support.

Hang Gliding, Paragliding. Guiding, gear, instruction, transportation, lodging. www.flymexico.com +1 512-467-2529 SERVICES LMFP has a full glider shop and sew shop for all pilot needs. From annual inspections to bigger fixes, we have you covered. Visit www.flylookout.com or call 706-383-1292 WINGS & HARNESSES LMFP has the largest fleet of new & used wings and is one of the largest Wills Wing dealers in the US. With GT Harnesses just next door, we deliver top quality custom orders on your trainer, pod, or cocoon. www.flylookout.com

Fly beyond! with the Oudie

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grassy sheep-covered hills gives boy a taste for the magic. The boy has avoided flying for over a decade. He’s heard about all the accidents; the gear is expensive; it looks boring. But now he has a girlfriend and she flies and flying seems very interesting indeed.

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

T

his story begins with a girl, as all good stories do. The boy is in the midst of attempting to sail around the world when he meets the girl. The girl is a pilot and has lost the love of her life to the sport just eight months earlier. She’s not angry and she’s not really sad, at least on the good days. She misses her partner but in the maelstrom of death the reason for living is revealed and she is grateful for the life lesson that most never grasp. It is late 2003, the world is still reeling from 9-11 and we are told our woes will be solved by shopping. The boy and girl have a different concept of what’s important and meaningful, and their chance encounter will radically alter both of their lives forever.

TAKING THE LEAP

The boy convinces the girl to leave Sun Valley, Idaho and come to New Zealand, where the boy’s boat is currently being readied for a season of charter work across the South Pacific—Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia and beyond. The girl teaches the boy how to ground handle a paraglider during limited lulls between long days of laying fiberglass, rebuilding critical systems, fixing-fixing-fixing fast and furiously for four months in the never-ending rain. The ground handling and seconds-long damp flights off 64 US H PA P I LOT

The boy and girl spend a season in the South Pacific operating kitesurfing expeditions. The girl’s idea. She is seasick every day. The boy is broke. The work is brutal. But they are seeing the world and life is simple. The objective is adventure. Many things go wrong: the definition of good adventure.

UNFORSEEN PATHS

The girl’s photography talent and passion blossoms. The boy’s writing gets some traction. Their adventures are published in magazines around the world and the business improves.

But the boat is old, every dime made is invested in repairs, and the boy and girl are exhausted. Always exhausted.

The desire for adventure is as strong as ever but change is needed. The boat is sold in 2005 and the boy and girl embark on an absurd idea: raise over a million dollars from people they have never met for a boat that doesn’t exist so they can circumnavigate the world by sail on their own terms with other

USH PA PILOT 65

people’s money footing the bill. The girl and boy have no idea how to pull this off.

PULLING IT OFF

It takes a year, and it takes every penny they have. When the boat is purchased they have nothing left. No car, no money, and they’ve worn out their couch-surfing welcomes. And it is the greatest year of their lives.

When you have nothing to lose, you have nothing to lose. They have their paragliders (the boy is now a P2) and they have their dream.

It begins with a crossing of the Atlantic from Italy to Trinidad 12 hours

after purchasing the boat in late 2006.

The boy has never sailed a catamaran and his tool box consists of a Leatherman. Over the next five years the boy and girl will sail to 90 countries.

Circumnavigate the world. Nearly sink several times (boy’s fault). Fly, kite, and surf countless places where no one had before. The boy will jump (unintentionally) on a tiger shark off the coast of Madagascar. The girl will nearly die from a staph infection. And typhoid. And a parasite. The boy and girl will cry, scream, laugh, fight, and love at an intensity that matches the mission. The boy’s obsession with flying grows and the girl’s photography

talent blooms. Life is driven by the unknown. What’s out there?

THE NEXT CHAPTER

The expedition ends in late 2011. The boy and girl are living in Morocco.

Now what? The boy and girl have had many features published in this magazine over the years, and Nick Greece invites the boy to Haiti to fly.

The boy and girl are seeking a place to live. The boy wants to fly big lines in big mountains. Nick suggests the Owens, Jackson Hole, (where Nick will beat the foot-launch record in a few short months) and Sun Valley. The boy and girl spend four hours in Sun

PUSHING

In 2013 the boy breaks the North American foot-launch record. Articles and films. More articles and more films. In 2014 the boy flies across the Canadian Rockies with his hero Will Gadd. Another record. Big movie. Big articles. Sponsors. Podcast. X-Alps.

The girl and boy go into their 10th year together but there isn’t much of a celebration. The boy’s obsession doesn’t leave room for other. Other needs, other wants, other desires. The boat worked because it was a shared mission. Shared goals. Shared wins and losses. Now there is no we, there is only me.

Valley and buy a house. The boy’s first flight in their new home is several thousand feet higher than he has ever been under a piece of fabric. First time using oxygen. First big triangle. The boy’s first World Cup begins two days later. Life is perfect. Until it isn’t.

TROUBLE

In 2012 the boy is invited to fly with pilots who have skills far beyond his

own on a bivvy expedition across the Sierras. The girl is the photographer. One pilot is hospitalized on day 1. Another bows out on day 5. Three pilots of the original six make it to the Oregon border 18 days after the start.

The boy is addicted. More. Bigger. Farther. At any cost. The girl has seen this before. The boy puts flying in front of everything. Including the girl.

THE END

The boy’s obsession culminates in the most difficult of them all. Alaska. The girl and boy are no longer together.

But they are better. Now they are friends. As they always were. It ran its course and it was good. It was great.

It was a time that will forever define their lives. It was a time that will always make them smile. And cry. contributed by GAVIN MCCLURG▼

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