Flight Testing Lilienthal's Experimental

by Markus Raffel

:For most people, hang gliding is a sport that started about 60 years ago when Francis Rogallo’s flexible wing was adapted into modern hang gliders and paragliders. Many will also remember the early pioneers of that sport. They came together to fly all kinds of self-invented homemade flying machines during the first Otto Lilienthal Hang Glider Meet in 1971. But what happened before those days, and why was that event named after Otto Lilienthal? To many, Lilienthal is only remembered for crashing one of his gliders and eventually dying from his injuries, saying anecdotally, “Sacrifices must be made.”

However, some may recall that Lilienthal scientifically investigated the effect of wing camber for the first time and proved it to be the essential element in creating lift. His lift versus drag data was the first data the Wright brothers successfully used.

Only a few hang gliding and paragliding community members may know that Otto Lilienthal made over 2,000 glider flights and corresponded with many leading aviation enthusiasts and scientists worldwide, including Russian Nikolai Zhukovsky, Englishman Percy Pilcher, and Austrian Wilhelm Kress. Lilienthal was a member of the German Society for the Promotion of Aeronautics and the Royal Aeronautical Society. He sold patented gliders to aviator T. J. Bennett in Oxford and Professor G. F. Fitzgerald, a physicist at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.

He also corresponded with many Americans, primarily members of the Boston Aeronautical Society (of which he was an honorary member). One of the society’s founders, James Means, invited Lilienthal to

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America to establish a flight training school. Lilienthal also corresponded with Octave Chanute (later a friend of the Wright Brothers), Samuel Pierpont Langley (who visited him in Berlin), and Greely S. Curtis (who gained first-hand experience in gliding on a visit with Lilienthal beginning in September 1895).

In April 1896, William Randolph Hearst, the New York Journal publishing mogul, bought a glider made by the famed German aviation pioneer and became the only American known to own a Lilienthal glider. Hearst sponsored test flights by New Jersey athlete Harry Bodine. Eventually, the Lilienthal glider soared for a few hundred feet in some smooth air and then settled to the ground. An eyewitness of that time reported enthusiastically [1]: “The spectacle of a man supported on huge white wings, moving high above you at racehorse speed, combined with the weird hum of the wind through the cords of the machine, produces an impression never to be forgotten.”

Like many early pioneers, Lilienthal realized there was more to flying than doing so in a straight line. He had learned that shifting the body could change the direction of flight, but this method had its limits. Being a trained mechanical engineer, he began working on changing flight direction without using the body. He quickly invented, patented, built, and teste flew an automatic pitch control system based on rubber band actuated leading-edge flaps, the so-called Vorflügel.

Lilienthal also developed and flew wing tip rudders and the control mechanisms that led the Wright brothers to success in their 1902 Glider: wing warping and rudder actuated simultaneously via a hip cradle. He incorporated all of these controls into his 1895 Experimental, and we included them in our replica. The Experimental was the most complex apparatus that Lilienthal had built, and, while building a replica, we had to ask ourselves: How can one test fly a glider built by someone who flew very successfully but eventually

[1]Tom D. Crouch A Dream of Wings: Americans and the Airplane, 1875-1905; W. W. Norton 2002

At Marina Beach, Andrew Beem flys the Lilienthal replica towards the surge. Photo by Markus Raffel.

crashed and died more than 125 years ago? The answer? Carefully, carefully, carefully!

Replica Test Flights In 2016, more than 125 years after Lilienthal’s first flights in 1891, after a few successful full-scale wind tunnel tests, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) was looking for partners for flight testing Lilienthal replicas in the real world. They found open-minded, courageous supporters in the American hang glider community, including Andy Beem, Billy Vaughn, and George Reeves. After successful flight tests of a replica of Lilienthal’s Normalsegelapparat (the world’s first aircraft produced in series) in the spring of 2018 at Marina Beach, California, the pilots flew the Large Biplane replica in June 2019

The three pilots who flew both the replica of the world’s first man-carrying biplane and the Experimental glider with the control mechanisms reported the following:

Andy For a few years, I’ve felt the historical significance of showing Otto Lilienthal’s influence on the Wright Brothers. I am very impressed with Lilienthal’s engineering and design, which used mainly weight shift for take-off, control, and landing. It’s also inspiring to see some of the techniques he employed that the Wrights later perfected to make their gliders more controllable and ultimately develop the world’s first airplane. This year, I tested the replica of Otto Lilienthal’s Experimental in various wind conditions. I eventually found the correct settings to deal with the lesser static stability of this glider that likely resulted from the deactivation of its leading-edge control mechanism. Once the proper settings were found, it was wonderful to fly. George When we flew the Lilienthal biplane in the summer of 2019, everyone landed it safely right from the beginning, and Andy, who did most of the flights, even made perfect flare landings. This year, with all the additional features that this experimental aircraft had, we decided to deactivate them during most of the flights to limit the aircraft’s complexity and practice safely. On our third day, we had the right amount of constant western wind, and when we saw Andy flying reliably, Billy and I took the opportunity to test the glider with weight shift control. It was well-trimmed and flew nice and easy. Billy You can spend a lot of time reading, going to the museums, and seeing the aircraft, but there is something irreplaceable about flying these replicas. The Lilienthal biplane was very intuitive to fly. I am a hang glider pilot, and I was right at home. It felt fantastic and simple and landed just the way I thought it would. Flying an aircraft with wing warping and rudder control requires more training, even if the control mechanisms are already coordinated and tuned, as is the case for the 1902 Wright Glider. However, the Lilienthal experimental Vorflügelapparat can also be flown with only weight shift control when the wind is steady and smooth. My flight on that aircraft at Marina Beach was another humbling experience and a valuable one that you can’t get in any other way.

at the same location.

In March 2022, all three pilots came together in California and teamed up to test Lilienthal’s most advanced glider: the Vorflügelapparat, which Lilienthal called the Experimental.

Flying this replica was an even bigger adventure than flying the other two gliders. The replica was made from reproduced 1895 shirting (English fabric), willow withies, steel wires, pine wood, and wood glue. It had a wing area of 250 square feet and a wing span of nearly 9 meters, and it was questionable how, or even if, it could be controlled—the Lilienthal method of shifting the center of gravity (done chiefly by shifting the legs) had its limits. Andy Beem piloted the first free flights in that majestic white glider at Marina Beach. Even though the leading-edge flaps proved effective during the DLR’s wind tunnel tests, the team here decided to keep the flaps securely closed rather than risk an unintended opening while in flight. The free-flight test showed that the automatic pitch control might have been a nice thing to have. On one of the launches, the glider flipped on its back, and its front ring dug into the sand on some of the landings. However, in the end, the glider was successfully flown by five American hang glider pilots.

THE FLYING MAN

A new, 350-page biography of mankind's first aviator.

In contrast to all books on the subject, it takes the reader right up to the present day, to the aerodynamics laboratories of the German Aerospace Center, where Lilienthal's airplanes underwent spectacular tests with today's aeronautical research equipment, and to the coast of California, where one of the authors – supported by American hang glider veterans - learned to master the world's first aircraft. Markus Raffel and his supporters devised training equipment and a personal training program to follow in Lilienthal's footsteps to learn and test flying in his spirit. The second author, Bernd Lukasch, was for many years director of the Otto Lilienthal Museum in Anklam, Lilienthal's birthplace, where Lilienthal's numerous aircraft constructions are documented and reproduced today.

The book is also available as an eBook that contains links to 27 videos showing the wind tunnel and flight tests. It is the first comprehensive text biography of Lilienthal available in English.

Springer.shop directly (eBook and print): https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-95033-0 Printed version in the museum shop too, of course: http://www.lilienthal-museum.de/olma/eshop.htm

Take your ratings and expiration date everywhere you fly. Download from the Members Area section of the USHPA website. Print, trim, and store in your wallet. Great for areas without cell coverage. Always available at www.USHPA.org Save

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STATE RATING OFFICIAL H1 2 Nate Christensen UT Nic Baack H1 2 Justin Weippert CA Patrick J. Denevan H1 3 Artem Fuks CA Bob Steven Bendetson H1 3 Dylan Hendren CA Andrew T. Beem H1 3 Dwayne powell CA Josh Patrick Laufer H1 4 Emma comer VA Nic Baack H1 4 Johnny Davis NC Nic Baack H1 4 Becky DELETE NC Nic Baack H1 4 Aaron Lawson OK James E. Tindle H1 4 Brooke Peckins VA Dalton Burkhalter H1 4 Savannah Phillips TN Nic Baack H1 4 Barrett Snow VA Steve A. Wendt H1 4 Josh Walenten VA Michael Vaughn H1 5 Marcello Musumeci NY Mikah Ackerman H1 5 Pooja Shah NY Nic Baack H2 1 Corydon James Carlson MN Doyle Johnson H2 1 Jeremy Carpenter IA Theodore Hurley H2 2 Christopher Cooley CA Michael Briganti H2 2 Armin Masoumi CA Patrick J. Denevan H2 2 Luke Whitaker CA Michael Briganti H2 3 Joseph McCalla CA Andrew T. Beem H2 3 Joshua Meyer AZ Dan DeWeese H2 3 Forest Terry CA William C. Dydo H2 4 Michael Boisvert FL Gordon Cayce H2 4 David Budinger VA Gordon Cayce H2 4 Jason Del Roy FL Gordon Cayce H2 4 Bryer Donaldson GA Scott Schneider H2 4 Laura Gray TN Timothy Glenshaw H2 4 Garrett Green FL Malcolm A. Jones H2 4 Isaiah Hansen TN Gordon Cayce H2 4 Kelvin Hill TN Scott Schneider H2 4 Gordon Lewis VA Steve A. Wendt H2 4 Tori Carina Miller TN Jordan Stratton H2 4 Shane Scott VA Gordon Cayce H2 4 Dillon Scott VA Gordon Cayce H2 4 Robert Scott VA Gordon Cayce H2 4 Bruce Sutton NC Jordan Stratton H2 4 Stephen Treibs TX Tiki Mashy H2 4 Yaremij Remi Trytjak TN Gordon Cayce H2 4 Ryne Van Gorp GA Gordon Cayce H2 4 Cierra Wallace SC Gordon Cayce H2 4 John Wallace SC Timothy Glenshaw H2 4 Jackson Willing NC Theodore Hurley H2 4 Dimitri Yatsenko TX Tiki Mashy H2 5 Austin Adams PA Gordon Cayce H2 5 Yanis Beji CT Robert J. Hastings H2 5 Timothy Borchelt IN Gordon Cayce H2 5 Reuben Brenner OH John W. Alden H2 5 Todd Burchard MA Lukas Noah Shaanon H2 5 Oliver Denton PA Andy Thompson H2 5 Kurt Hirrlinger MD Anthony M. Lloyd H2 5 Tobias Seidel ME Scott Schneider H2 5 Laura Shears MI Gordon Cayce H2 5 Allan Smith IN Gordon Cayce H2 5 Cooper Toth CT Andy Thompson H3 2 Jarred Bonaparte CA John Simpson H3 2 Athanasios Chryssis CA Patrick J. Denevan H3 2 Nelson Dayanghirang CA Takeo Eda H3 2 Paul Filin CA Patrick J. Denevan H3 3 Ronald Andrade-McKeehan CA Takeo Eda H3 4 David Absalom GA Gordon Cayce H3 4 Mark Wayne Bailey OK Greg Chastain H3 4 Neil Brunett TN Gordon Cayce H3 4 Larsen Christiansen NC Jon C. Thompson H3 4 Neftali Coria FL Adrian C. Sanchez H3 4 Zachary Dawson VA Andy Thompson H3 4 Alejandro Deleon GA Adrian C. Sanchez H3 4 John Dubnowski VA Steve A. Wendt H3 4 Dalton Nagel AL Scott Schneider H3 5 John Coukos MA Jordan Stratton H3 5 Jude Denton PA Andy Thompson H3 5 Bill Diomis NY Richard A. Fitzpatrick H3 5 John Patrick Gagnon MD Jon C. Thompson H3 5 Carl R. Jonasch Jr NY Richard A. Fitzpatrick H3 5 Martin Jonikas NJ Richard A. Fitzpatrick H3 5 Luc Messier QC Gordon Cayce

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RTG RGN NAME

STATE RATING OFFICIAL P3 1 Jeffrey Merkley OR Brad Hill P3 1 Chirag Mishra WA Rob Sporrer P3 1 Sydney Miyahara WA Nathan Alex Taylor P3 1 Brian Olsen WA Derek Baylor P3 1 Andrew Pattison MT Jennifer Bedell P3 1 Terrell Poole ID Nathan Alex Taylor P3 1 David Preston WA Marc Chirico P3 1 James Swanson WA Denise Reed P3 1 Stephen Teller WA Matt Senior P3 1 Rebecca Wilson WA Calef Letorney P3 1 James Winter OR William Purden-Jr P3 2 Steven Michael Fels CA Jeffrey J. Greenbaum P3 2 Kelly O. Foreman CA Brian Kerr P3 2 Casey Gerstle CA Robert Black P3 2 Luise Gleason CA Rob Sporrer P3 2 Nicholas Hill CA Jesse L. Meyer P3 2 Janica Lee UT Dale Covington P3 2 Alec Page UT Gary Begley P3 2 Krishna Harsha Reddy Kothapalli CA Jesse L. Meyer P3 2 Wade Taylor CA Robert Black P3 2 Juan Vargas CA Jeffrey J. Greenbaum P3 2 Ethan Veneklasen CA Jesse L. Meyer P3 2 Carrie Vockrodt NV Mitchell B. Neary P3 2 Warren Williams UT Jonathan Jefferies P3 2 Wren Yocom UT Jonathan Jefferies P3 3 Mariam Ahmed CA Marcello M. DeBarros P3 3 David Andrade CA Jordan Neidinger P3 3 Andy Barber CO Kevin McGinley P3 3 Dylan Beard CA Jordan Neidinger P3 3 Andrew Bradberry CO Misha Banks P3 3 Robert Brown CA William Purden-Jr P3 3 Richard Browne NM Chris W. Santacroce P3 3 Rik Bundey CA William Purden-Jr P3 3 Terry Camp CO Chris W. Santacroce P3 3 Ellie Delbridge CA William Purden-Jr P3 3 Nathan Duray AZ Chandler Papas P3 3 William Erkelens CO Johannes Rath P3 3 Heather Eves CA William Purden-Jr P3 3 Alexis Falquier CA Rob Sporrer P3 3 Peter Foster CO Stacy Whitmore P3 3 Alex Haberich CO Gregory Kelley P3 3 Arjun Heimsath AZ Chandler Papas P3 3 Kenneth Wayne Henderson CA William Purden-Jr P3 3 Dana Hunt CA William Purden-Jr P3 3 Shervin Khorsand CA Marcello M. DeBarros P3 3 Alix King CA Cynthia Currie P3 3 Michael King CA Cynthia Currie P3 3 Grant Matchett AZ Patrick Johnson P3 3 Andrew Melville CA Rob Sporrer P3 3 Joseph Milunas CA Marcello M. DeBarros P3 3 Aaron Morrissey CO Gregory Kelley P3 3 Jim Murphy CA Jordan Neidinger P3 3 John Nagyvary NM T Lee Kortsch P3 3 Michael Renner CA William Purden-Jr P3 3 Dennis Shen CA Max Leonard Marien P3 3 Julia St Clair CA Emily Wallace P3 3 Ezra Stallings NM Charles (Chuck) Woods P3 3 Garrett Stowall CO Misha Banks P3 3 Bjorn Sumner NM Chris W. Santacroce P3 3 Zach Vasnick CA Emily Wallace P3 3 Matthew Walker CA Jonathan Jefferies P3 4 Dominique Bagnato DC George R. Huffman P3 4 Harry Barzilay FL Jc Perren P3 4 James Brindley SC Austin Kasserman P3 4 Rodrigo Coelho TN Austin Kasserman P3 4 Zakey Faieq VA Ben White P3 4 Helene Fiorucci GA Austin Kasserman P3 4 Peter Horine TN Austin Kasserman P3 4 George Pitcock GA Kelly Myrkle P3 5 Daniel Bartus NH John Atwood P3 5 Nicholas Boccia NH Calef Letorney P3 5 Moon Choi BC Matt Senior P3 5 Mike Curran MA Joachim P. Roesler P3 5 Josh Gleiner NH Calef Letorney P3 5 Warren Green MI Mitchell B. Neary P3 5 Daniel Jazwinski MA Calef Letorney P3 5 Lindsay King MD Rob Sporrer P3 5 John McCarten Misha Banks P3 5 Slawomir Pasieczny NY Thomas McCormick P3 5 Viacheslav Pavlov NH Andrey Kuznetsov P3 5 Cameron Peters MA John Atwood P3 5 Marco Puerto NY Zion Susanno-Loddby P3 5 Kristopher D. Reynolds MA Calef Letorney P3 5 Mike Sopyla NH Calef Letorney P3 5 Charles Walsh NY Philippe Renaudin P4 1 Lynn Bryson OR Kevin R. Lee P4 1 Adrian Forman OR Kevin R. Lee P4 1 Peter Forster WA Mitchell Riley P4 1 Moriah Gottschalk OR Max Leonard Marien P4 1 Kevin Graupman WA Mike Bomstad P4 1 A. David Hoffman ID Jeff Shapiro P4 1 Andy Holmes WA Roger Brock P4 1 Daniel Jackson WA Marc Chirico P4 1 Peter Kabai WA Mitchell Riley P4 1 Chad Uchino WA Denise Reed P4 1 Alex Williams WA Mitchell Riley P4 2 Jorge Eduardo Andrade da Silva UT Marcus V. Santos P4 2 Asher Brown UT Ben White P4 2 Janaina Franca UT Marcus V. Santos P4 2 Mitchell Friedeman UT Johannes Rath P4 2 Dodam Ih CA Jeffrey J. Greenbaum P4 2 Jonathan Mallory UT Ben White P4 2 Dale McMahon CA Brian Kerr P4 2 James Ryan McPherson CA Jason Shapiro P4 2 Benjamin Moody UT Scott C. Harris P4 2 Tristan Selva CA Robert Posey P4 2 Mickey Sensenbach CA Joseph B. Seitz P4 2 Steve Toney CA Jesse L. Meyer P4 3 Jonatas Alves Ferreira CA Marcello M. DeBarros P4 3 Ed Armstrong NM Paul Gurrieri P4 3 Myles Connolly III CA Rob Sporrer P4 3 Joel Hanson CO Mauricio Fleitas P4 3 Don Herres NM Jeffrey J. Greenbaum P4 3 Miles Higgins CO Johannes Rath P4 3 Martin Johnson CO Kevin McGinley P4 3 Marshall Maccready CA Josh Waldrop P4 3 Quint Morrison CA Marcello M. DeBarros P4 3 Michael Pavlik CO Gregory Kelley P4 3 Bryan Sillorequez CO Misha Banks P4 3 Cole Vandenberg CA Rob Sporrer P4 3 Cameron Weber CO Mauricio Fleitas P4 3 Alexis Wheeler CA Juan E. Silva P4 3 Jay Brandon Whiteaker CA William Purden-Jr P4 4 John F. Lindsay TN Austin Kasserman P4 5 Davidson RS Alves MA Davidson Da-Silva P4 5 Nogah Bergman Israel Charles (Chuck) Smith P4 5 Adam Chappell VT Calef Letorney P4 5 Quinn Connell NH Calef Letorney P4 5 Helder De Lucio NY Davidson Da-Silva P4 5 Karim Hamdi NY Philippe Renaudin P4 5 Cristian Camilo Martinez Henao NJ Luis Ameglio P4 5 Ricardo A. Tejada NY Thomas McCormick P5 1 David Dexter Binder HI Chair Safety and Training Committee P5 1 Paul Gurrieri HI Chair Safety and Training Committee P5 1 Paul C. Schaller-Franco HI Chair Safety and Training Committee S0 2 John Csukran UT Jeff Katz S1 5 Michael Gross NY Jeff Katz S2 2 Jake Trevino UT Jeff Katz S2 3 Wyatt Ebert CO Douglas Brown S2 3 Rob Eschbach CA Douglas Brown S2 5 Quinn Connell NH Calef Letorney S2 5 Peter R. Williams MD Douglas Brown S3 3 Logan Hulett CO Carl Weiseth S4 2 Arash Farhang UT Carl Weiseth S4 3 Dante Wardlaw CO Carl Weiseth

RTG RGN NAME STATE RATING OFFICIAL

CALENDAR Submit listings online at ushpa. org/page/calendar. A minimum 3-MONTH LEAD TIME is required on all submissions. Tentative events will not be published. COVID reminder: Please contact event organizers regarding the status of events and any local COVID requirements.

JAN 27 - FEB 4, FEB 4-12 & 12-20 > EAGLE PARA-

GLIDING COLOMBIA TOURS > 3 weeks of tours near Roldanillo Colombia. Pilots of all levels will get coaching on thermaling, XC Flying, Tandem XC. We’ve offered tours for over two decades all over the world. The number of high caliber staff members supporting pilots at Eagle clinics and tours is unprecedented. Let Austin Cantrell, Marty DeVietti, Chris Garcia, Brian Howell, Jeff Shapiro, Rob Sporrer, and Logan Walters support you in achieving your goals for the week. www.eagleparagliding.com

MAR 10-12, APR 14-16, NOV 10-12, DEC 8-10 > EAGLE PARAGLIDING SANTA BARBARA CLINIC THERMAL

XC CLINIC > Santa Barbara, CA has a very long mountain flying season extending from September through early June. These clinics are aimed to get pilots familiar with the thermal triggers, and lines to take to get from lift source to lift source moving down the range. We often set tasks similar to race to goal events much like the SB HoeDown organized by local flying guru Aaron “Cracka” LaPlante. www.eagleparagliding.com

MAY 19-21, OCT 6-8 > EAGLE PARAGLIDING OWENS

VALLEY CLINIC > Bishop, CA. We fly the Owens in the spring and fall. The Owens Valley offers a variety of launch locations, and 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. The area is world famous and worth a trip in the fall or spring for some classic flying, and XC opportunities. www.eagleparagliding.com

JUN 18-24 > EAGLE PARAGLIDING WOODRAT MOUN-

TAIN CLINIC > Woodrat Mountain, Ruch, OR. This clinic is aimed at getting pilots familiar with the fundamentals, techniques, and theory to excel at thermal flying, and making XC moves. Clinic discussions include reading terrain features, thermal triggers, with a goal of moving from lift source to lift source flying XC. After attending this clinic, you will have a better understanding of the moves necessary to get down range. www.eagleparagliding.com

SEP 23-24 > 2023 USHPA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MEETING > Richfield, UT. USHPA is excited to host the Annual Board of Directors meeting in Richfield, UT before the Red Rocks Fly-in. Please visit the website for updates. www.ushpa.org/boardmeeting

CLASSIFIED Rates start at $10.00 for up to 200 characters. ALL CLASSIFIEDS ARE PREPAID. No refunds given for cancellations. More info: ushpa. org/page/magazine-classified-advertising

HAWAII > PARAGLIDE MAUI > Call Paul Gurrieri for information about flying on Maui. Our school offers beginner to advanced instruction, year round. It takes 10-14 days to get your P2 license. 808-874-5433 paraglidemaui.com

NORTH CAROLINA > KITTY HAWK KITES > The largest hang gliding school in the world, teaching since 1974. Learn to hang glide on the East Coast's largest sand dune. Year-round instruction, foot launch, and tandem aerotow. 1902 Wright Glider Experience available. Dealer for Moyes, Wills Wing, and North Wing. 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

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 aerotow training. Paragliding foot launch and tandem training. Powered paragliding instruction. Dealer for Moyes, Wills Wing, and North Wing. Located in Charlestown, NH. Also visit our North Carolina location, Kitty Hawk Kites Flight School. 603-542-4416, www.flymorningside.com

VIRGINIA > BLUE SKY > Full-time year-round hang gliding instruction, scooter towing, platform towing, powered harnesses, part-time aero towing, part-time paragliding, custom sewing. Wills Wing, Moyes, Icaro, Swedish Aerosport, Woody Valley, 804-241-4324, www.blueskyhg.com

USHPA WEBSITE CONTENT COORDINATOR > Have experience with content review? USHPA needs your help! We are in search of a volunteer to review and index content on ushpa.org to help our updating process. Interested? Visit ushpa.org/volunteer (259 characters)

PARACRANE TOURS 2023 > Paragliding tours to Costa Rica, Brazil, and Europe with veteran tour guide Nick Crane. Small groups, flexible schedule, epic flying. Costa Rica, Jan. 17-27 & Feb. 1-11 / Brazil, March 10-20 / Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Sep. 7-17 / France, Switzerland and the Coupe Icare, Sep. 20-30. www.paracranetours. com, contact: nick@paracrane.com

GUNNISON GLIDERS > XC to heavy waterproof hang glider gliderbags. Accessories, parts, service, sewing. Instruction ratings, site-info. Contact Rusty Whitley 1549 CR 17, Gunnison CO 81230. 970-641-9315.

BUYERS SHOULD SELECT EQUIPMENT THAT IS APPROPRIATE FOR THEIR SKILL LEVEL OR RATING. NEW PILOTS SHOULD SEEK PROFESSIONAL INSTRUCTION FROM A USHPA CERTIFIED INSTRUCTOR. USED HANG GLIDERS should always be disassembled before flying for the first time and inspected carefully for fatigued, bent or dented downtubes, ruined bushings, bent bolts (especially the heart bolt), re-used Nyloc nuts, loose thimbles, frayed or rusted cables, tangs with non-circular holes, and on flex wings, sails badly torn or torn loose from their anchor points front and back on the keel and leading edges. USED PARAGLIDERS should always be thoroughly inspected before flying for the first time. Annual inspections on paragliders should include sailcloth strength tests. A porosity check isn't sufficient. Some gliders pass porosity yet have very weak sailcloth. If in doubt, many hang gliding and paragliding businesses will be happy to give an objective opinion on the condition of equipment you bring them to inspect. BUYER BEWARE.