Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero

www.USHPA.aero

JUNE 2011Volume 41 Issue 6

$6.95

http://www.flyozone.com

MAGAZINE STAFFMartin Palmaz, Publisher: executivedirector@ushpa.aero

Nick Greece, Editor: editor@ushpa.aero Greg Gillam, Art Director: greg@gillamdesign.com

Martin Palmaz, Advertising: advertising@ushpa.aero Staff writers: Steve Messman, Dennis Pagen,

Christina Ammon, Ryan Voight, Tom Webster, CJ Sturtevant | Staff artist: Jim Tibbs

Staff photographers: John Heiney, Jeff Shapiro

OFFICE STAFFMartin Palmaz, Executive Director : executivedirector@ushpa.aero

Robin Jones, Communications Manager : tech@ushpa.aeroBeth Hollendorfer, Membeship Services Coordinator:

membership@ushpa.aeroTerry Rank, Office Coordinator : office@ushpa.aero

USHPA OFFICERS & EXECUTIVE COMMITTEERich Hass, President: president@ushpa.aero

Dave Wills, Vice President: vicepresident@ushpa.aero Bill Bolosky, Secretary: secretary@ushpa.aeroMark Forbes, Treasurer: treasurer@ushpa.aero

REGION 1: Rich Hass, Mark Forbes. REGION 2: Dave Wills, Urs Kellenberger, Bill Cuddy. REGION 3: Bill Helliwell, Rob Sporrer, Brad Hall. REGION 4: Ryan Voight, Ken Grubbs. REGION 5: Donald Lepinsky. REGION 6: David Glover. REGION 7: Tracy Tillman. REGION 8: Michael Holmes. REGION 9: Felipe Amunategui, Hugh McElrath. REGION 10: Bruce Weaver, Steve Kroop, Matt Taber. REGION 11: David Glover. REGION 12: Paul Voight. REGION 13: Tracy Tillman. DIRECTORS AT LARGE: Dave Broyles, Bill Bolosky, Mike Haley, Dennis Pagen. EX-OFFICIO DIRECTOR: Art Greenfield (NAA).

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.

HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING magazine is published for foot-launched air-sports enthusiasts to create further interest in the sports of hang gliding and paragliding and to provide an educational forum to advance hang gliding and paragliding methods and safety.

SUBMISSIONS HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING magazine welcomes editorial submissions from our members and readers. All submissions of articles, artwork, photographs and or ideas for articles, artwork and photographs are made 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.aero or online at www.ushpa.aero. HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING magazine reserves the right to edit all contributions. We are always looking for well written articles and quality artwork. Feature stories generally run anywhere from 1500 to 3000 words. News releases are welcomed, but please do not send brochures, dealer newsletters or other extremely lengthy items. Please edit news releases with our readership in mind, and keep them reasonably short without excessive sales hype. Calendar of events items may be sent via email to editor@ushpa.aero, as may letters to the editor. Please be concise and try to address a single topic in your letter. Your contributions are greatly appreciated. If you have an idea for an article you may discuss your topic with the editor either by email or telephone. Contact: Editor, Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine, editor@ushpa.aero, (516) 816-1333.

ADVERTISING ALL ADVERTISING AND ADVERTISING INQUIRIES MUST BE SENT TO USHPA HEADQUARTERS IN COLORADO SPRINGS. All advertising is subject to the USHPA Advertising Policy a copy of which may be obtained from the USHPA by emailing the Publisher at publisher@ushpa.aero.

The USHPA is a member-controlled sport organization dedicated to the exploration and promotion of all facets of unpowered ultralight flight, and to the education, training and safety of its membership. Membership is open to anyone interested in this realm of flight. Dues for Rogallo membership are $270. Pilot memberships are $75 ($90 non-U.S.). Dues for Contributing membership and for subscription-only are $52 ($63 non-U.S.). $15 of annual membership dues goes to the publication of Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine. Changes of address should be sent six weeks in advance, including name, USHPA number, previous and new address, and a mailing label from a recent issue. You may also email your request with your member number to: info@ushpa.aero.

HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING (ISSN 1543-5989) (USPS 17970) is published monthly by the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, Inc., 1685 W. Uintah St., Colorado Springs, CO 80904, (719) 632-8300, FAX (719) 632-6417. PERIODICAL postage is paid at Colorado Springs, CO and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER Send change of address to: Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine, P.O. BOX 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901-1330. Canadian Post Publications Mail Agreement #40065056. Canadian Return Address: DP Global Mail, 4960-2 Walker Road, Windsor, ON N9A 6J3

DISCLAIMER The publication of any submissions, articles or advertising in HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING magazine does not constitute an endorsement of the authors, advertisers, products, services, apparatus, processes, theories, ideologies, opinions, advice and/or recommendations presented, nor does it constitute an endorsement of the authors or companies involved. The statements of fact and opinions as well as any product claims in the submissions, articles, advertisments, artwork and photographs appearing in HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING magazine are those of their respective authors, contributors and advertisers and not of the USHPA. The USHPA makes no representation, express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, nor assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, advice, opinion, recommendation, apparatus, product, product claims or process disclosed, in such submissions, articles, advertising, artwork or photographs. All individuals relying upon any materials published herein do so at their own risk. The USHPA is not responsible for any claims made in any submission, article, or advertisement. Advertisers may not, without USHPA's prior written consent, incorporate in subsequent advertising that a product or service has been advertised in a USHPA publication.

COPYRIGHT Copyright (c) 2011 United States Hang Gliding And Paragliding Association, 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 the United States Hang Gliding And Paragliding Association, Inc.

For change of address or

other USHPA business

call (719) 632-8300, or

email info@ushpa.aero.

The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, a division of the National Aeronautic Association, is a representative of the Fédération Aeronautique Internationale in the United States.

On the cover, Markus Zimmerman snaps a spring shot in the hills near Interlaken, Switzerland. Meanwhile, Ki Hong flies a tandem at Torrey Pines | photo by Nick Greece.

HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

EDITOR

PILOT BRIEFINGS

ASSOCIATION

TOWLINE

CENTERFOLD

TANGENT

NEW RELEASES

DISPATCH

RATINGS

USHPA STORE

PAGE 78

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16

40

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2011JUNE

by Nick Greece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

PARAGLIDING wORLD CUPCOLOMBIA

GALLERY

58

by Simone Short . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

by Michael Robertson and Ryan Voight . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

by Eric Katzfey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

by Kenneth Hudonjorgenson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

by Davis Straub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

by CJ Sturtevant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

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Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 7

I recently attended a class where a principle was presented that I found to have striking similarities to free flight—mindfulness. Mindfulness is defined as a type of meditation based on specific

sessions that develop awareness, using designated cues. For us, these cues might be the sound of a vario as you climb in a thermal, the sight of birds marking your way up, or the sensation of wind in your face. Years ago I postulated to some prospective students that free flight is a relatively cheap and easy way to reach a meditative state of Zen. Flying helps us escape the humdrum details of our daily lives and experience the joy of focused concentration upon leaving the earth below.

Niki Sue Mueller, a pilot in Jackson Hole, recently elaborated on how flying and mindfulness interact, when she commented: “ In flying, we are inherently practicing mindfulness because the inconsistent forces of nature and the delicate mysteries of the sky need full respect. Each time we step into our gear, stand at launch, thermal to puffy clouds, and land into the wind we are required to have the presence of mind for good deci-sion making.”

We, as pilots, are very lucky to have chosen a sport, which demands a disciplined focus, that literally and figuratively cuts all ties to earthly endeavors and routines. I believe this is one of the threads that bring together such a diverse cross-section of interesting people.

The June issue is packed with content that spans the spectrum of USHPA members’ pursuits. CJ Sturtevant, once again working the USHPA beat, provides a detailed look at the US National Hang Gliding and Paragliding team and puts out a call for award nominations for out-standing USHPA members in 2011.

We also have a report on the festivities surrounding the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Orville Wright’s soaring the dunes in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. On October 21st, soaring enthusiasts from all disciplines will gather in Kitty Hawk to participate in the Soaring100 event. The USHPA will conduct its fall board of directors meeting (BODM) in conjunction with this event, providing participants with the opportunity to take part in the USHPA BODM, celebrate the anniver-sary, and watch several Wright flyer replicas attempt to soar yet again on the undulating sand dunes that make Kitty Hawk a premier flying area in the history of flight.

Over the winter, cross-country pilots headed to Roldanillo, Colombia, for competitions and exhilarating flying. Davis Straub contributes “Flying in the Valle Cauca,” and tales and photos from the first Paragliding World Cup of the season in the land of sugar cane, coffee, and great climbs are presented by Davis Straub, and myself. This site proved to be the newest world class locale for winter escapes.

As always, we are on the lookout for content that reflects your experi-ences during this flying season. Let us know if an event, occurrence, story, or photo catches your eye in your local area. Have fun, and land safely!

7

[left] Natalia, Zippy, and Nick at Torrey Pines promoting free flight in America!

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero8

ALICANTE, SPAIN Scott Mason, the pio-neer of tandem paragliding flights with trained birds of prey, will team up with Doyouwanna in Alicante, Spain and offer Parahawking flights from May to October.

Mason 39, a falconer since he was 11, has been developing and running Parahawking in Pokhara, Nepal since 2001. Initially just an experiment, and an innovative way of flying with the raptors at his Himalayan Raptor Rescue Center, Parahawking has now grown in popular-ity and gained international recognition. It is listed in The Lonely Planet’s: “Best in Travel 2010” guidebook and features prominently on many travellers’ “Bucket

Lists”.Parahawking is a flight with a trained

bird of prey. The birds are trained to fly with paragliders and guide them to the best lift. Not only an unforgettable expe-rience, it provides a unique opportunity to understand these magnificent raptors and interact with them in their own en-vironment.

Mason is closely involved with bird of prey conservation in Nepal. According to Mason, Asia has lost up to 99% of sev-eral of their vulture species in the last 15 years, due to a veterinary drug called Diclofenac. In his own words: “These birds play an important role in our eco-

system and their potential loss has pro-found ecological and social consequences. Parahawking raises not only awareness of the vulture’s plight but also vital funds for their conservation. We hope that our op-eration in Spain can further support our work in Nepal.”

Keep your eyes open for news of the new Parahawking movie: “Flight for Survival” due to be released on DVD soon. “Flight for Survival” has been se-lected as a finalist in two categories at The Missoula 34th International Wildlife Film Festival.

For more information go to www.par-ahawking.com.

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Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero10

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS 2011 USHPA AwARDS

And the Winners Are…By the time you read this, the seemingly interminable cold-and-wet season should be behind us – that means sunshine, and thermals at last! What’s the flying season look like in your neck of the woods? Fly-ins, comps, social gatherings, fund-raisers are all essential parts of what holds our com-munities together, and keeps us involved. If your community is like mine, there are some key players who make things happen year after year, and if you’re lucky there are also some new folks who are coming for-ward with energy and creativity to spice up the old traditions.

So, how do you let those movers and shakers know you appreciate their efforts? Whatever your local group does, it’s all good, but how about adding an official

“thank you” from USHPA? It’s easy, it costs nothing but a few minutes of your time, and USHPA has awards for everything from club-level participation through con-tributions that enhance hang gliding and paragliding on a national level.

For example, who’s the photographer who keeps your website updated with eye candy from your local flying scene? If you think his or her images are aesthetically pleasing, original, and portray hang glid-ing and/or paragliding in a positive light, then they precisely fulfill the requirements for USHPA’s Bettina Gray photography

award. Is there a talented videographer in your group who’s produced a theater-quality film that promotes hang gliding or paragliding? The Best Promotional Film award recognizes one outstanding promo-tional film (and its creator) each year. If you don’t nominate your local artists, the rest of us may never have the opportunity to appreciate their creations!

On a more nuts-and-bolts level, for someone who has given exceptional ser-vice as a volunteer (i.e. no pay) organizer/meet director for a comp or fly-in, or worked on site or public relations issues, or participated in a heroic rescue operation, or done just about anything that enhanced someone else’s enjoyment of flying, or pro-moted the sport in some manner, there’s the USHPA Commendation (for USHPA members) and Special Commendation (for non-members). There’s no set limit to how many of these awards are presented each year; typically any nomination that makes a clear case for award-worthiness is accept-ed. The few minutes of your time required to fill out the online nomination form can go a long way toward assuring that our vol-unteers keep on volunteering, and our rela-tionships with landowners remain strong!

Typically the most hotly contested annual award is Instructor of the Year; one paragliding and one hang gliding instructor is selected each year. Students, colleagues and friends invest consider-able time, thought and feeling in craft-

ing their nominations, with the intent of convincing the Awards committee mem-bers that their favorite instructor stands head and shoulders above the rest of the field. Nominations are not considered

“votes” for the candidate (so a form stat-ing “I agree with so-and-so’s opinions” is a waste of your time and ours), but since many of the instructors are not person-ally known to the committee members, it’s these “from the heart” tributes that deter-mine which of the many nominees will be selected from the pool of well-qualified candidates.

Does your local club provide essential services that impact your flying commu-nity’s activities? The Chapter of the Year award recognizes a club with strong pro-grams in areas such as site procurement/development/retention, safety, support of beginner and novice pilots, membership development and more. If your newslet-ter or website is a state-of-the-art tool that supports and enhances your club’s ac-tivities and functions, nominate it and its editor/webmaster for the Newsletter of the Year award.

USHPA also has awards for those whose efforts reach beyond their local communi-ty: The Exceptional Service award is given for outstanding service to the Association during the past year, while the Presidential Citation, USHPA’s highest award, is for someone who has made significant con-tributions to the sport recently or perhaps over a span of years. The Rob Kells award recognizes someone who’s been actively supporting hang gliding and/or paraglid-

Membership | Policy | Involvement

TheASSOCIATION by C.J. Sturtevant

“Typically the most

hotly contested annual

award is Instructor

of the Year; one

paragliding and one

hang gliding instructor

is selected each year.”

[right] Paul Voight was awarded the first annual Rob Kells award in 2010 | photo by Nick Greece.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 11

ing, Rob Kells-style, for at least 15 years. The NAA Safety award recognizes some-one who has made a significant contribu-tion hang gliding/paragliding safety.

Submitting a nomination for any of these awards isn’t quite a no-brainer, but it’s close. Except for the photography, vid-eography, and newsletter awards, which require examples of the nominee’s work, you can complete the nomination online at http://www.ushpa.aero/emailaward.asp.

Links to a more detailed description of each award, and a list of past recipients of each award, are on that page as well.

You can submit a nomination at any time before the fall BOD meeting (usu-ally in October), when the Awards com-mittee reviews the submissions and makes the decision, but earlier is better, especially if you’re gathering a bunch of testimonials for the Instructor of the Year or Rob Kells awards.

USHPA’s awards are simply one more way for pilots to say, “Right on!” to their friends and neighbors in hang gliding and paragliding. It’s much easier to take on a task again next time around when you know your efforts have made a difference and are appreciated. It only takes a few minutes of your time to make the nomina-tion, but the award recipient will remem-ber those minutes of thoughtfulness for a long while!

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero12

2010 PARAGLIDING INJURIES SUMMARY Looking back at ushpa.aero, I see this will be my fifth annual summary ar-ticle. Last year, I finished the article with “Now, with this sobering experi-ence behind me [reviewing all the ac-cident reports], I am ready to try my hot new 2-riser comp wing scheduled to arrive this week. Here’s hoping I’ve learned enough to still be around next tax season!” Maybe I should have been a little more specific. I did manage to “be around,” somewhat to the surprise of my doctors. But it would have been better to avoid the whole medical detour.

This year we are seeing speed glid-ing wings in the statistics for the first time, so I’ll begin with them. Many of those now entering our sport seem to be choosing speed wings. I suppose they like the portability and ability to launch in high wind. Plus, there are the online videos. You’ve seen them—helmet cam shots as the pilot skims down the flanks of a big snowy mountain, barely clearing obstacles and jagged ridges. The video you saw was almost certainly filmed on a clear, nearly-calm day, in the middle of winter. Do people understand why?

One of our fatalities was a young skydiving instructor who took up speed gliding on the side. He and two others set out to fly from a high ridge on a

windswept tropical island. Because he was the last to launch, we know little about the crash except that he was found many hours later on a steep slope 600 vertical feet below launch. We don’t know if a reserve parachute or a padded harness might have saved his life; he ap-parently had neither.

Consider another speed flying crash, this one in the mountain west. A simi-lar demographic, but this time with an audience. A spectator had been talk-ing with the pilot and learned that it would be his 4th hike-up flight of the day. The spectator said he flew straight out, suddenly initiated a steep turn, and then seemed to have a problem with one wingtip. He spiraled to the ground from a height of 100 to 300 feet, accord-ing to various witness estimates. I found no mention of a reserve parachute in subsequent discussions. This was prob-ably our most serious non-fatality of the year. (I say probably, because we never got an accident report about these or a few other serious injuries.)

Another speed wing pilot was ridge soaring in strong wind at an inland site. The wing had a frontal collapse and re-covered, but he swung across the slope, impacting hard enough to break an arm. Another hurt a foot on the beach due to a mis-timed flare. Yes, they land

fast. And we’ll complete the speed wing reports on a happier note—one speed wing pilot was carrying a reserve para-chute, felt the need to use it, and walked away uninjured!

Here is another serious crash—this one a conventional paraglider that also spiraled to the ground. The pilot doesn’t recall any of it, but his GPS was intact, there were witnesses and even a video of the last bit. Apparently he got a tip cravat in a strong thermal. Other pilots reported he tried to fix the cravat as the wing made two large circles, but then the wing accelerated into a spiral dive and he never threw the reserve. He happened to hit the steep slope at a low angle and survived. His GPS showed a loss of 660 feet in 16 seconds, an aver-age of 41 ft/sec or 12.5 meters/sec. This sink rate is near the maximum of sink rates claimed by manufacturers for alti-tude loss in a spiral dive (with no cravat). Estimating the sink rate from the video of the last few seconds, I get an even higher number.

Attempting to fix a cravat is risky business, since it takes you into a hard turn for the duration. You may be better off paying full attention to brake and weight shift in hopes of preventing both a stall and spiral. When entering a spiral, you risk blacking out from the g forces and spiraling to the ground. Altitude is your friend—but when in a spiral, you are losing friends at an alarming rate.

As it happens, I had some firsthand experience with cravat spirals this past year. I was approaching goal with a se-rious surplus of altitude, more than a mile above the ground. A witness later asked why I pulled a helicopter way up there. What I recall is my wing rotating overhead like a helicopter, but without any brake inputs on my part and with no collapse, until I essentially ran over my own wingtip. With half a wing and twisted risers, I soon went into a steep spiral. For a full minute my average sink rate was 16 m/sec, peaking at more than 20 m/sec. Most of that time was spent struggling against g forces to reach above the twist and grab any rear lines. I was finally able to slow the wing and stalled it twice, but the collapse wouldn’t budge. So the reserve came out anyway, followed by steering the still-collapsed

Analysis | Preparedness | Incidents

SafetyBULLETIN by Mike Steed

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 13

wing upwind to try to get down before town. Not my best day, but not my worst either—that was still 3 days away.

This year the number of reports and injuries were down. We don’t know if this is due to a lack of reporting or a true reduction in the number of inci-dents. There were 45 unique reports—some from the online reporting system, and some less formal and complete. Of these, 17 ended without pilot injury, though 8 of those included injury to property (wings, trucks, power lines) or injury to another pilot. Two midair col-lisions at popular soaring sites injured one para pilot and killed one hang pilot. Reserve parachute deployments with-out injury were reported 6 times, if you count opening “a second or two” before impact and walking away with a stick puncture in the leg as uninjured. The pilot injured in a midair collision threw his reserve to full extension, but it did not open.

The statistics in the charts follow the usual rules: injury accidents only, pilots from anywhere, but USA locations only. We don’t count the guy who died of a coronary while laying out his wing, but we do count the guy who died while kiting. Both happened in 2010. You may have already read about the kiting fatality: a pilot on the beach removed the harness from his wing, and then kited the wing by holding the risers. He got lifted up and held on. He contin-ued up and up, eventually falling from a height of more than 100 feet.

This year, the age profile of injuries is especially unusual. Past years, injured pilots tended to be a bit younger than the pilot population at large. But this year, injuries are skewed way toward the older pilots. But note the small base of reports. You could change the age re-ported by three pilots and get a balanced chart. So maybe it is random, or maybe we just have fewer beginners making be-ginner mistakes.

While reported injuries were down across the board, women accounted for only one pilot injury and one tandem passenger injury. Female pilots are few, so their share of injuries tends to jump around, but over the years women seem less likely to crash as pilots. At the same time, women are more likely to be in the

worst (forward) seat in a tandem tumble.The wings flown by injured pilots

continue to span the range of ratings, with speed wings suddenly becoming a significant share as already mentioned.

The pilot rating of the injured pilot also spans the range, with a skew toward the higher-rated pilots. I suspect this says something about the tendency of some of us to fly cross-country in strong con-

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero14

ditions.Six injuries started before the pilot

even left the ground. These were vari-ously attributed to poor technique, bad preflight, or choosing to launch when conditions were not appropriate. Most of the rest were approach problems—pilot errors or surprising changes in wind velocity or direction. Wind shad-

ows that left the pilot with low air speed contributed to several stalls and spins.

Finally, the one statistic that is not down is the severity of injuries. Overnight hospital stays were encoun-tered with fully 69% of reported inju-ries. So while serious injuries persist, some of the minor injuries are either not being reported, or are being avoided by

more pilots. Back injuries continue to be the single most common (and serious) injury reported. Back/neck/head are in-jured more often than lower extremities, which are injured more often than upper extremities.

So where did I “fall” in all this? I’m the older P4 pilot on a comp wing who completed a 105K competition task a

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 15

little tired and dehydrated and then failed to note the strong wind, until drift-ing well past the airport goal. Pushing back upwind on speed bar, it became ev-ident I could barely get across the rocky terrain to the near edge of the runway. I got off bar and out of the pod, descend-ing vertically toward my intended land-ing spot. With no forward movement, I

soon realized I had to judge wind direc-tion by my crosswind drift, which I at-tempted to eliminate. Then, 20 meters above my target, I suddenly drifted right and up, not realizing that my whole left wing was folding under at the same time. I recall the imperative in my mind (keep it pointed upwind) being in conflict with subsequent reality—I couldn’t hold

my heading as the risers slowly twisted. I had no plan B. I don’t remember the rest, but apparently I did nothing and allowed the wing to enter a wild spiral, with the half wing diving below me at one point during about two 360’s.

A bit of advice – if you have to crash, do it right where nearly every medically-trained person in the county is either already assembled, or is about to arrive. Thanks to you all for getting me quickly and safely to a hospital despite my being mostly unconscious. I have since re-covered from injuries that included 6 broken vertebrae. Thanks also to good medical insurance, plus the repatriation insurance that flew me to another hospi-tal near home for surgery.

So, how best to close the article this year? Maybe just a wish that my next 19 years will be as injury-free as the first 19, and that year 20 will prove to be a sta-tistical aberration. And a wish that you all share your experiences (via the handy online form) so fellow pilots can learn from you and avoid injuries!

owing to the extraordinary success

of the POISON2, the bar was set

high for its successor. Consecutive two-time

winner of the German Paragliding Series Class,

the POISON2 has been treasured by pilots for its

balanced fl ight performance. We are certain

that we have developed a worthy heir.

With optimized silver cloth,

rigid foil, individual line connection

and an aspect ration of 6.8,

this is an extremely impressive

and performance-strong wing.

We are pleased to present our new fl agship, the .

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Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero16

HOw TO TEACH BETTER, HIGHER, FASTER The fundamental goal of writing our monthly series of Towline articles is to try to teach folks how to do useful things in a practical manner. This article is about teaching, along with how and why to develop a curriculum. Specifically, we provide a step-by-step ex-ample of developing an aerotow tandem curriculum.

Tracy: Question: What do hang glid-ing competitions, engineering projects, surgery, military battles, church services, and hang gliding instruction have in common?

Lisa: Well. If we are looking at good practice, it would be having a plan. Hang gliding comps have daily tasks and scor-ing plans, engineers have project plans, surgeons have operative plans, military forces have battle plans, churches have worship service bulletins, and hang glid-ing instructors should have a curriculum.

Tracy: And if we are looking at best practice, the plan—whether a project plan, competition plan, or teaching plan, etc.—should include expected perfor-mance objectives and standards, should be documented, and should be shared with participants.

Lisa: The point being made is that hang gliding instructors should follow a written curriculum. This helps them to teach more consistently, thoroughly, and not miss details. And they should share that curriculum document with their students so that every student can learn

with a better understanding of the over-all course and the expected performance objectives, which will help them to learn more effectively and efficiently.

Lisa: Good flight instructors know this. We subscribe to AOPA’s Flight Training magazine, which is a publica-tion specifically meant to help flight in-structors teach better and to help student pilots learn better. Every month, we usu-ally read this magazine cover to cover. Many articles, along with personal com-ments from master flight instructors and students, repeatedly drive home the point about the importance of using a written curriculum. Here are some (paraphrased) comments on this topic that we found in the most recent issue of Flight Training [ref 1]:

“It has been a long and expensive road for me, because of the lack of an organized syllabus from the flight school.” “To my flight instructor: It makes absolutely no difference to me that you consider your-self to be one of the best pilots out there…that does not necessarily make you a good instructor.” “Too many flight instructors lack professionalism and only seem inter-ested in taking your money. Fortunately, there are good instructors out there, too.”

“You can learn to fly properly if your flight instructor uses a comprehensive training syllabus.”

Tracy: So, other than reading that magazine every month, how much do you know about teaching?

Lisa: I know something about teach-

ing. In addition to being a hang gliding instructor, I have been a professor at a medical school for my entire professional career. I teach surgery to medical stu-dents and residents who may be on either a private practice track or an academic practice track, meaning I not only teach how to do surgery, but I also teach how to teach surgery. That’s just part of my job. As Associate Dean of the medical school, I oversee the selection and education of 1100 residents and the accreditation of 95 graduate programs of various medical and surgical education specialties.

Tracy: Oh yeah? Well, I know a little bit about teaching, too. I recently retired after 25 years in the college teaching pro-fession. I developed and taught a wide variety of college courses in R&D, en-gineering, technology, and management, and developed three college degree pro-grams, including a PhD program. Like you, I also taught grad students how to teach, because many of the students in my PhD program were aspiring (perspir-ing, actually) to become college profes-sors. I guess I was pretty good at it; I did receive a national teaching award in en-gineering.

Lisa: You got a nice plaque, too bad it wasn’t a leg lamp.

Tracy: But wait, there’s more. . .I’ve got three engineering-related college degrees and I worked as an engineer and manager in industry before going into teaching, so I know both practical and theoretical aspects of the discipline. That kind of background is not uncom-mon for a college professor, but what is less common is that I also have a PhD in Education. From that, I learned solid fundamentals of the art of teaching—the same as a certified school teacher—which made it much easier for me to be a decent college instructor. I also learned advanced topics about the science and psychology of teaching, such that most of my academic research, scholarly writ-ing, and consulting work was on engi-neering education and psychometrics. Related to all that, I became an ABET evaluator, which involved visiting other universities to evaluate the educational quality of their engineering programs for accreditation. As you well know, review of curricula and instructor syllabi are one of the first and most important parts of

HigherEDUCATION by Drs. Lisa Coletti & Tracy Tillman

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 17

assessing the quality of a university and its separate programs for accreditation and re-accreditation.

Lisa: So, is a narcissist who knows ev-erything still a narcissist?

Tracy: Sorry, I wouldn’t know about that….but did I mention that I’m also a hang gliding instructor?

Lisa: OK, OK, enough already. I sup-pose, since we are writing these articles every month, it doesn’t hurt for folks to get to know us a little bit better.

Tracy: And when it comes to the topic of teaching, our readers should be able to have some degree of confidence that we do have some expertise and know something of what we are talking about. As university professors and hang gliding instructors, we know that we teach better and our students learn better when we have a written curriculum that we share with out students—and we know exactly why this is so.

Lisa: This is an important topic. The future of our sport depends on the avail-ability of good quality instruction. An important and very practical foundation for good quality instruction is use of a written curriculum by an instructor that is shared with his/her students. I’m sure there are other hang glider or paraglider pilots or instructors in the US, such as certified school teachers or college teach-ers, who understand the requirement and importance of having and using a written curriculum to help them provide good quality instruction.

Tracy: Learning the fundamentals

about how to teach, which includes de-veloping and following a written cur-riculum, is part of the training program for USHPA-certified instructors. The process of how to become an instructor is provided on USHPA’s web site [ref 2]. Candidates are expected to develop a cur-riculum during their initial certification training and use it with their students after they get certified.

Lisa: Providing documentation of a written curriculum is also now part of the periodic re-certification process for USHPA-certified instructors, to encour-age continued use and improvement of their written curriculum [ref 3]. This is a new requirement for re-certification, and thus is a timely and important topic for us to cover this month.

Tracy: If a USHPA-certified instruc-tor has a written curriculum, it will be no big deal for them to include a copy of it along with the other documentation re-quired from them for re-certification.

Lisa: However, there may be a few instructors out there who may not have fully understood the expectation and im-portance of using a written curriculum, and may not currently have one to submit for re-certification. This can be resolved with a little remedial training to get up to speed on the basics of developing a cur-riculum.

Tracy: Holy-moly! That’s exactly what this month’s “Towline” article is all about!

Lisa: OK, OK, now settle down.Tracy: First, let’s talk about what a

curriculum is. Fundamentally, a cur-riculum is a teaching plan for a course of study. It is a Latin-based word, origi-nally referring to a race course [ref 4]. The modern term “curriculum” is most com-monly used in several ways: (a) a program curriculum refers to a set of subjects or courses that constitute an educational program, such as a college degree or avia-tion flight training program; (b) a course curriculum refers to the set of subjects or topics presented in a single course, as de-lineated in a course syllabus; (c) a lesson curriculum refers to set of topics present-ed in a single lesson, as spelled out in a lesson plan.

Lisa: So, at a minimum, a hang glid-ing or paragliding instructor’s curricu-lum could simply just be a written set of topics that they cover in a lesson, but would more commonly be what they cover in their course or training program. It’s their basic teaching plan.

Tracy: If an instructor knows what they are doing, it is very easy for them to develop that list. By having a written cur-riculum, the instructor can refer to their list of topics to make sure that the right topics are being taught at the right time, and that nothing is skipped. Over time, as an instructor gets new ideas or devel-ops new methods, he/she can modify the list for continuous improvement.

Lisa: Having a written curriculum on hand for reference is not only helpful for an instructor, but is also very helpful for a student. If a student has a copy of the cur-riculum, then he/she can know and un-

“Hang gliding

instructors should

follow a written

curriculum. This

helps them to teach

more consistently,

thoroughly, and not

miss details.”

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero18

derstand what needs to be covered from start to finish, and how far along they have progressed through the program. It’s much like making a simple agenda for a business meeting and sharing it with the participants—it makes running the meeting more effective and efficient, and it helps the participants understand and participate in meeting issues.

Tracy: Right, it is very helpful and practical. It is not at all hard to develop and use a simple curriculum, and in-structors don’t have to do it from scratch. During instructor certification training, candidates should have been presented with examples from their Instructor Administrator, and they should have de-veloped their own curriculum or syllabus at that time. More examples are avail-able in the Hang Gliding Instructor’s Training Manual [ref 5], which is used as a reference during instruction cer-tification training. If an instructor has any trouble developing a curriculum for re-certification, they should ask for help from their Instructor Administrator.

Lisa: In addition to encouraging the use of a written curriculum by instruc-tors, USHPA has a goal of looking at the curriculum submitted by instruc-tors, with their permission, to study and identify best teaching practices and de-velop models of best practices that can be shared to help all instructors.

Tracy: So, the new requirement to submit a copy of a written curriculum as part of the re-certification process can result in both an immediate benefit of improved quality of instruction for some instructors, as well as a long-term benefit of improved quality of instruction across our entire sport by providing models of best practice to all instructors.

Lisa: But won’t some instructors claim that developing and submitting a written curriculum for re-certification is too hard, takes too long, and is too burdensome?

Tracy: I suppose some might claim that, but they shouldn’t. First, having and using a written curriculum is the right thing to do for a certified instructor, who has been trained and credentialed to the level of being considered a professional. Second, they should have already devel-oped a curriculum during their initial instructor certification training. Third, lots of examples are available. Fourth,

that would be a claim based on the fear of doing something new, rather than the reality of how difficult it is to do. Putting together a basic curriculum is only about as hard as writing down a shopping list for the grocery store, and shouldn’t take any longer than setting up a hang glider.

Lisa: OK, prove it.Tracy: Fine.Lisa: Fine.Tracy: OK, let’s put together a basic

curriculum, meaning a list of topics that comprise a teaching plan, as an example of how to do it. Since this is a towing-related article, we can put together some-thing that could be used by an aerotow tandem instructor for an introductory

“discovery” flight training short course. Basically, it would consist of a ground school portion and a flight training por-tion.

Lisa: How long did it take you to figure that out?

Tracy: A few seconds.Lisa: But that is not enough infor-

mation to be considered a curriculum or teaching plan.

Tracy: Right, but it is the start of a basic outline. So, let’s expand the ground school portion first. Here is a short list of things that could be covered on the ground, before the tandem air work begins:

1 . Introduction, orientation, paperwork .2 . Description of equipment, method of

flight, and what the instructor and student will do during flight .

3 . Preflight check, fitting of helmet and harness, and practice of methods of control .

Lisa: How long did it take you to figure that out and write it down?

Tracy: All of about 2 minutes. Here is a more detailed version of that list:

1 . Introduction to instructors and other students .

2 . Orientation to flying site and facili-ties .

3 . Fill out required paperwork and submit payment for short course .

4 . Description of launch, tow, free flight, landing .

5 . Description and preflight check of equipment and safety systems .

6 . Fitting of helmet and harness .7 . Photo opportunity .8 . Demonstration and explanation of

methods of control by instructor, practice by student .

9 . Practice positive exchange of control between student and instructor .

10 . Practice complete release of control by student .

Lisa: How long did it take you to figure that out?

Tracy: It took me about 5 minutes to write down those 10 things.

Lisa: That’s a good start, how about the actual tandem flight training, the air work portion of the short course?

Tracy: Ok, here is a short list of the things that could be covered during the actual tandem discovery flight training portion:

1 . Pre-launch check by instructor .2 . Launch, tow, release performed and

explained by instructor .3 . Straight and turning flight demon-

strated and explained by instructor .4 . Straight and turning flight practiced

by student .5 . Landing performed by instructor .

Lisa: How long did that take?Tracy: It took me about 3 minutes to

write that down. Here is a more detailed version:

1 . HIERTow pre-launch check by in-structor .

2 . Launch performed by instructor and running dialog explanation by instructor during flight .

3 . Demonstration and explanation of normal and out-of-position maneuvers on tow by instructor .

4 . Identification of sites of interest that can be seen by air by instructor .

5 . Description of release from tow prior to release, followed by actual release from tow by instructor .

6 . Identification of landing field .7 . Demonstration and explanation of

straight flight control at normal (24 mph), faster (28 mph), and slower airspeeds (20 mph) by instructor .

8 . Practice of straight flight control at normal (24 mph) airspeed by student .

9 . Practice of straight flight control at faster (28 mph) and slower (20 mph) air-speeds by student .

10 . Demonstration and explanation of left and right turns by instructor .

11 . Practice of partial and full circle left

and right turns by student .12 . Free flight practice of speed control

and turns by student as time permits .13 . Landing pattern set-up and explana-

tion by instructor .14 . Landing and explanation by instruc-

tor .15 . Post-flight Q&A and photo opportu-

nity .

Lisa: And how long did it take for you to figure out that more detailed list?

Tracy: It took me about 10 minutes to write down those 15 things.

Lisa: So, you were able to put togeth-er a basic curriculum for both ground school and air work for this short course in about 5 minutes, and a reasonably de-tailed version of the curriculum in about 15 minutes.

Tracy: Right, it is not hard to do and it doesn’t take very long to do. To make it useful, an instructor needs to follow their teaching plan and provide a copy of it to their students. When a student knows what the plan is, it helps them to learn better and faster, and with more comfort and confidence in their instructor’s abil-ity and level of professionalism.

Lisa: Giving the student other writ-ten information in addition to that basic curriculum can be helpful. Along with the curriculum outline, an instructor could provide a general description of the course, time and location of training, names of instructors, cost, required or recommended textbooks, any required or recommended attire and eye protection, and general policies.

Tracy: What you just described is called a syllabus. A simple online search using the terms “example syllabus” or

“model syllabus” or “sample syllabus” will result in a multitude of examples available for instructors to follow. Many of these examples will also include “objectives” as an element of a syllabus. These may be called instructional objectives, course objectives, program objectives, lesson ob-jectives, learning objectives, and/or per-formance objectives. Ideally, these should be stated as observable behavioral objec-tives that define cognitive, affective, and/or psychomotor skills that are expected to be demonstrated by the student by the end of the lesson, course, or program.

Lisa: A simple and straight-forward

way for hang gliding instructors to add objectives to their curriculum or syllabus, and for students to understand them, is to just list the requirements and skills that a student must demonstrate to get a certain rating. Obviously, it is helpful for a student to know what it is they are sup-posed to be learning to do.

Tracy: If I were to add a list of learn-ing objectives to a syllabus given to a stu-dent attending a short course for tandem aerotow discovery flight training, the list could be worded something like this:

At the completion of this course, the stu-dent should be able to:

1 . Explain the nature of the USHPA and his/her status as a student member of the USHPA .

2 . Describe the general construction and safety features of a hang glider and harness .

3 . Describe the general method of launch-ing, flying, and landing a hang glider .

4 . Demonstrate control of a hang glider in straight flight, partial turns, and full circle turns .

5 . Appreciate the excitement and beauty of hang gliding .

6 . Never forget the experience and tell others about the great time you had .

7 . Proceed with a full hang gliding certi-fication training program .

It took me about 10 minutes to make that list.

Lisa: That’s a good example. Giving students a list of objectives in addition to a list of topics to be covered will clearly let them know what the plan is and what they should be learning to do.

Tracy: I hope that you noticed that the list includes objectives in the (a) cog-nitive, (b) affective, and (c) psychomotor domains of learning—which basically means learning things in terms of (a) knowing, (b) caring/feeling, and (c) phys-ical performance, respectively.

Lisa: Yeah, nice job. Some hang gliding instructors and many aviation Certified Flight Instructors (CFIs) also provide a skills check-off list to their stu-dents. This sheet delineates specific skills to be learned, with columns or boxes used for noting by the instructor when the skill has been (a) demonstrated by the instructor, (b) practiced by the stu-dent, and (c) mastered by the student. It is a great tool used in combination with

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero20

a written curriculum so that the instruc-tor and student can have an up-to-date record of the student’s progress on learn-ing and achieving specific performance objectives.

Tracy: A skills check-off list probably wouldn’t be very helpful for a very short course, like our tandem discovery flight training example, but is very helpful for a longer, more complex program. We use a skills check-off list for our Hang 1, Hang 2, Aerotow, and Scooter Tow training. It really helps us and our students keep track of their progress through the pro-grams.

Lisa: I hope that we have made it clear why having and using a written curricu-lum helps an instructor to teach better and faster. Now I also get the reason for word “Higher” to be included in the title of this article: “Higher Education: How to Teach Better, Higher, Faster.” As shown in your example curriculum and learning objectives, when a student takes their very first aerotow tandem instruc-tional discovery flight—if conducted in smooth conditions with sufficient al-titude—they will get a lot of hands-on airtime, get immediate and detailed feed-back from their instructor, and learn a lot very quickly. For example, they will

already be learning to do 360-degree turns on their very first flight. Being able to do a 360-degree turn is considered a special skill beyond a Beginner or Novice rating and can take months or even years to learn, via solo foot-launch training.

Tracy: One of the disadvantages of tandem aerotow training is that lessons are usually more expensive than foot launch lessons, because of the expense and operational cost of the aerotow and tandem equipment used and additional personnel that are needed. However, stu-dents can learn a lot very quickly because of getting more airtime and practice on each flight, and they can learn better, smoother, more precise, and more ad-vanced flying technique very quickly be-cause of having an instructor along with them on each training flight. Along with 360-degree turns, students will quickly learn other advanced skills, such as flight across a wide speed range, stall entry and recovery, soaring technique, speeds to fly for best gliding and soaring performance, and smooth and precise aerotowing skills—and be comfortable and confident at flying at high altitude and in mild tur-bulence. With tandem aerotow training, a dedicated student can learn to become a very competent solo novice pilot with

more advanced special skills in less than a week. That’s why it is better, higher, and faster.

Lisa: Still, it can be a lot of fun learn-ing on a hill, or other tow method beside aerotowing.

Tracy: No doubt about that. Whether solo or tandem, on hill or by tow, a stu-dent can learn well and have a great time with a good instructor. The purpose of the USHPA instructor certification train-ing program is to assure that students learn from good instructors.

Lisa: Pilots and students should real-ize that good instructors, along with indi-viduals who develop and maintain flying sites, are the true and often unsung super-heroes of our sport. It takes a great deal of caring, dedication, personal effort, and, often, personal expense, to serve others in the ways they do, rather than to be served.

Tracy: We’d also like prospective instructors to know that we offer hang gliding and aerotow tandem instruc-tor certification training on a full-time basis during our Michigan flying season. Instructor candidates can train one-on-one with us on their own schedule. Our school is part of the Dragon Fly Soaring Club, which is a non-profit organization. As such, we do not charge for instruction

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Lisa: Hey sweetie, you are my super-hero. Now that we are done with this article, you wouldn’t mind doing a quick vacuum and taking out the trash, would you?

Lisa is the Associate Dean and Professor of Surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School, and is currently Chair of the USHPA Towing Committee . Tracy is a past Chair of the Towing Committee, and is currently Regional Director for Regions 7 & 13 . He is also a FAAst Team Safety Counselor for the FAA Detroit FSDO area . They are both very active multi-engine com-mercial airplane and glider pilots, tug pilots, and tandem hang gliding instructors for the Dragon Fly Soaring Club at Cloud 9 Field (46MI), Michigan . Please feel free to contact them about towing related issues at cloud9sa@aol .com .

1. “The Flight Training Experience, Making it work” and “Stop Dreaming, Start

Flying.” Flight Training magazine, May 2011, pp.8 & 20. Digital issues available

on AOPA web site: http://flighttraining.aopa.org/magazine/

2. “How to Become an Instructor.” Process explained on USHPA web site: http://

www.ushpa.aero/instructors_how_to_become.asp

3. “General Requirements for All Instructors Being Certified or Re-Certified.”

USHPA SOP 12-05.05C(5): http://www.ushpa.aero/documents/sop/sop-12-05.

pdf

4. Origin of “Curriculum.” http://www.latinwordlist.com/latin-words/curricu-

lum-6562753.htm

5. “Hang Gliding Instructor’s Manual.” by Dennis Pagen. Available from USHPA:

http://www.ushpa.aero/store/

REFERENCES

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero22

If watching the world’s best free-flight pilots going full-on with the latest and greatest state-of-the-art equip-

ment fits your definition of vacation, then get yourself to Europe this July for an entire month of Olympics-quality free-flight XC racing. The paragliding world championship is first up, in Piedrahita, Spain, from July 3-16. Immediately fol-lowing is the hang gliding worlds, July 16-30, in Monte Cucco, Italy. (To follow the events from home, go to http://www.usparaglidingteam.org/ and http://flytec.com/worldteam/index.html.)

Dozens of countries send their nation-al teams to these biennial FAI-sanctioned world championships, and most of these teams can count on support from their nation’s government to defray the cost of the competition. It falls upon our athletes to finance their participation in the world championships, through fundraisers and T-shirt sales and raiding their personal bank accounts. These ten guys and one gal could use some help!

Why should the rest of us care about the USA’s participation in these world meets? The team pilots will point out that

flying in the worlds is hands-down the most personally enriching, skill-stretch-ing, memories-accumulating flying expe-riences they’ve ever had. But that’s them, not us.

In these days when hang gliding and paragliding are struggling to maintain our numbers and justify our presence at launch and landing sites all across the country, there are some strong commu-nity-based justifications for making sure our teams are going to the worlds with a strong chance of coming out on top. Here are a few:

by CJSTURTEVANT

The US National TeamsUsHPa's 2011 Xc rocK sTars

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 23

Hang gliding and paragliding activi-ties are a lot more “visible” in other parts of the world than they are here at home. Our teams include only five or six pilots, but, just as in the Olympics, those ath-letes represent the entire country. For two weeks, they are us, and their status is ours. If we have thousands of fans supporting our national teams, how can free-flight be anything other than “mainstream”?

As in any international sports event, the teams and participants who win ac-quire bragging rights not just for them-selves, but also for their country and their sponsors. Our pilots coming out on top at an international event give hang glid-ing or paragliding a legitimacy that could help alter the US public’s image of our sports as “fringe” activities.

Every donation to the cause builds mo-mentum. With strong financial support from the membership, the team members aren’t stressing about paying bills, and can focus on flying. Focused pilots are strong competitors, and potential sponsors

(that’d be us!) are typically more inclined to support a winning cause.

We who do it know that free flight is the coolest sport in the world. Teams USA are about to take on the world and prove that the US pilots are among the most skilled in the universe. Let’s give them our financial support—if you can pay for an airplane ticket, that’s awesome, but, if not, how about a pizza? Let’s take owner-ship of our teams! Let our team members know they have a strong cheering section in the bleachers! Most of us can’t be there in person, but when you get your name on the list of donors to the cause, the teams know for sure that you’re behind them. Whatever you can chip in towards each team’s goal of about $27,000 makes a statement that you’re a supportive fan.

There are several ways to get your name on that list. You can contribute directly to the teams online at http://www.uspara-glidingteam.org/ and http://flytec.com/worldteam/index.html. By late May or early June, there should be information

on the USHPA website, http://ushpa.aero that will direct you to whatever fund-rais-ing drives develop this spring.

Paraglider team leader Rob Sporrer re-minds us that we can support the teams throughout the year: “The best way to donate is when you renew your USHPA membership. You can enter a donation amount in the Tax Deductible Donation section of the renewal application. Your donation is matched dollar-for-dollar by USHPA, up to $500. Check the Paragliding or Hang Gliding Competition fund box on the renewal application, in-dicating that your specific wishes are for your donation and matching funds to go to the US National Team of your choice. The US teams need to educate and remind pilots to make their donations through the USHPA renewal application when-ever possible since their donations will be matched by USHPA.

And now, for something even better: In NPR Pledge Week-style, USHPA has acquired an anonymous donor who

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero24

will match individual donations, up to a total of $2000 for each of the 2011 teams, made via the Foundation for Free Flight’s brand-new National Paragliding Team targeted fund and National Hang Gliding Team targeted fund. The details are not solidified as this article goes to press in mid-April, but by the time this

magazine is in your hands, there’ll be in-formation on ushpa.aero and foundation-forfreeflight.org explaining exactly how to make your tax-deductible donation di-rectly to these targeted funds set up by the FFF. Support your favorite team (or both teams!) through the FFF and double your contribution—how sweet is that?!

The members of the 2011 US Hang Gliding and Paragliding Teams thank you, with enthusiasm, for your financial and moral support.

Brad GUnnUscio, saLT LaKe ciTy, UT“I feel happy, lucky, and blessed to be a part of this team going to the 2011 Worlds. I know what it feels like to win a world championship task and I want that same kind of excitement and adrenaline again –not only do I want it, but I need it! As I look at the donor list on http://www.usparaglidingteam.org/ I see people I have flown with, people I have cried with, people I’ve laughed with and people I’ve lived life to the fullest with… and that’s something special. And when we take off on the first task at Piedrahita in July, I know we will feel all those people by our sides—their energy, their sup-port—and that is a wonderful feeling!” Brad took the 1st place trophy, and won task 2, in the 2010 Monarca Paragliding Open in Valle de Bravo, Mexico, was the 2009 US Paragliding Champion, and finished first during one task at the 2009 World Championships.

JosH coHn, eL cerriTo, ca“I took great pride watching in 2009 as Eric ‘The Badger’ Reed led the first four tasks of the Worlds in Valle de Bravo and the US team came in fifth. I took even more pride knowing that I’d contributed in a small way to their success through a donation (as well as moral support). I can’t promise we’ll do better, or even as well, this time, but we’ll sure try!” Josh won the 2010 Paragliding World Cup in Chelan, finished 2nd at the 2010 Monarca Paragliding Open, and was 1999 US paragliding champion.

JacK Brown, ancHoraGe, aK“There has been nice momentum building over the past few years by US pilots on the competition world scene with numer-ous top-five comp finishes and task wins in both FAI Category 1 and Paragliding World Cup events. We were all proud to see Josh Cohn take home the 2010 PWC America’s title! I’m honored to be a part of the team this year, and will work hard to continue the momentum with a strong US showing at the FAI Worlds in Spain this July. At every site and within every USHPA chapter around the US, there are pilots who aspire to not only fly XC, but to race XC. Supporting our FAI World team is a great way to inspire these pilots to keep working for it and to show overall support for paragliding in the US.” Jack is the current US paragliding champion and won two tasks at the 2010 PWC in Chelan.

nicK Greece, JacKson HoLe, wy“Representing the US on an interna-tional level is an amazing opportunity and something everyone on this team has worked for years to achieve. The US racing program, due in part to the support from USHPA members for the former team, is on the precipice of taking a podium spot. Thank you in advance for your assistance in helping us real-ize what to the team is a life goal.” Nick was third in the US Nationals Series in 2009, second in the US Nationals Series in 2010, and second in the Paragliding World Cup in Chelan. He won the 2011 Paragliding World Cup America’s title in Colombia, after taking second in 2010.

MeredyTH MaLocsay, FaLL ciTy, wa“Competition has taken me to sites I never would have flown, introduced me to pilots I would have never met and taught me things I would have never learned. I’m so grateful that our small community recognizes the value of competitions and how it helps grow and develop our sport. The advances in wing design over the past couple of years prove that whether you compete or not, if you fly a paraglider, you can benefit from what we learn through competition.” Mer started paragliding in 2005, was US female champion in 2008 and 2009, and in 2009 placed 4th overall (and 1st female) in the Rat Race.

dUsTin MarTin, PHoeniX, aZ“I feel like our current team has evolved into an aggressive, wise, very tactical wolf pack that is easily capable of a group gold this year. We are at our best and get-ting better with each comp, and overseas events like the world meet are what put the polish on our collective skills. The best of the best will be there and they challenge us to go beyond the comfort of local meets and local sites. I feel fortu-nate to be part of the team at this point in its development, and I’m confident that all pilots can benefit from the trickle down technology driven by the competi-tion machine.”

JeFF sHaPiro, MissoULa, MT“It’s amazing to have the opportunity to watch, learn from, and be part of a grow-ing competition community of cohesive US pilots. In all of us is the drive to im-prove and learn, to discover new limits, to define and redefine perspective of what’s possible. To live in a time where people

in THeir own words...This year’s National Team members talk about why they compete, and why it’s so important to have the support of the rest of us .

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 25

are flying hang gliders over 400 miles and paragliders over 500 k’s is proof in itself that progression is continuing to inspire growth. I feel that competition brings out the imagination and creativity to help advance the sport, not only with improved equipment but also by break-ing barriers of speed and distance. To be fortunate enough to help represent the US in the 2011 World Hang Gliding Championships inspires me to do the best I can in every way. We are a young team of good friends that have grown together and gained international experience to be competitive. Days have been won and lost but our drive to be a cohesive team working toward the podium is strong. I deeply appreciate the support by all of the amazing and like-minded friends in our community and will do my very best to contribute to the team and to US hang gliding in a positive and progressive way.”

derreK TUrner, ForT Meyers, FL“I’m just a weekend pilot who really likes comp flying, so I feel very fortunate to be on the team with these talented pilots.

Why do I love comp flying? It makes me a better pilot by scoring my decision-making abilities, plus it lets me see how I measure up to other pilots. There is no better feeling than winning a task and knowing you made the best decisions to get there faster or go farther on that day! I’ve only won a few times, but it’s a con-tagious feeling that you want more of! I’d like to ask our friends to give us a helping hand so we can make you proud to say you’re a US Team supporter.”

Larry BUnner, wriGHTsviLLe, Pa“Competition has given me the mojo to improve my flying skills and the impetus to do my absolute best whenever I fly. It has been my dream to challenge my skills against the world’s top pilots, and, after 36 years in the sport, I am about to re-alize this opportunity. I’m honored and excited to represent the USA in Italy, and I’m looking forward to measuring my skills against the best hang glider pilots in the world. Your support is an essen-tial ingredient toward making this dream become a reality.”

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero26

by DavisSTRAUB

Valle del Cauca, Colombia, a beau-tiful and friendly flying site south of the border, welcomes US hang

glider and paraglider pilots, especially when the flying weather in the US is un-friendly. It is the site of an international hang gliding competition usually held in January and in January, 2011, was the site of a Paragliding World Cup (PWC) com-petition. In January, 2013, it will be the site of the PWC Superfinal.

The Valle del Cauca (valley of the Cauca River) is also a department (state) in Colombia whose capital, Cali (Santiago de Cali), is located on the central-western side of Colombia. The valley is a large ag-ricultural (mostly sugar cane) area situated between a western mountain range (largely deforested by the paper industry) and a higher eastern mountain range. The valley

floor is flat and wide with numerous land-ing areas and paved access highways on both the east and western sides.

Hang gliding and paragliding sites are located throughout the valley, but the popular sites near Cali are in the town of Roldanillo, two hours north of Cali (the site of the international airport). There are six paraglider and three hang glider launches near Roldanillo, the site of the major competitions.

The Valle del Cauca offers excellent winter cross-country flying (and competi-tion) conditions when North American pilots are grounded by their own winter conditions. With easy access from Florida, New York, and Los Angeles—using Colombia’s hang glider and paraglider pilot friendly national airline, Avianca—pilots can get to South America quickly

and cheaply.While Roldanillo is a great flying des-

tination, you’ve probably heard rumors about Colombia and Cali that make you reluctant to go there. Newspapers have reported that FARC (the rebel group in Colombia) is into kidnapping and that there is drug related violence. (Remember the Cali Cartel). You may be concerned for your safety on the ground.

The US State Department says: “The Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the dangers of travel to Colombia. While security in Colombia has improved signifi-cantly in recent years, violence by narco-terrorist groups continues to affect some rural areas as well as large cities. The po-tential for violence by terrorists and other criminal elements continues to exist in all parts of the country.”

Flying Colombia'sValle del Cauca

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 27

I would suggest that the State Department warning could also be ap-plied equally to the US. If for some reason you feel safe in the US, you should prob-ably feel equally safe in Roldanillo and other hang gliding and paragliding sites in Valle del Cauca. I certainly didn’t have any reason to feel unsafe when I flew there. I also had great support from the local flying community.

Daniel Velez Bravo, a Colombian hang glider pilot living in Bogota, writes: “The most important and valuable character-istic of Roldanillo and Colombia, and what we should be most proud of, is the people. Roldanillo, like the other flying sites of Colombia, is all about the people. The pilot community (especially the hang gliding community) in Colombia and the ordinary local people are always kind and available to give a hand to any foreign pilot. There’s always a smile, and somebody will-ing to help out unconditionally. Unlike what happens in Europe, the tourist is not a ‘plague,’ nor a ‘problem,’ but an interest-ing and fascinating stranger who does not speak Spanish and seems as extraordinary as a pink elephant. So, yes, foreign pilots can take great advantage of traveling to Colombia, because you will find yourself with a lot of positive attention and focus, in a place where you will become not an-other boring tourist, but a ‘VIP’ in this tropical place.”

Other reservations about traveling to Colombia sometimes arise from tourists being afraid of getting ill from water-borne microbes south of the border. For example, this is what you often hear about Mexico:

“Mexico is so notorious for travelers’ di-arrhea it is often called “Montezuma’s Revenge” (Venganza de Moctezuma). The reason for this is not so much the spicy food but the contamination of the water supply in some of the poorer zones in Mexico. In most of the less-industrialized small towns only the poorest Mexicans drink tap water. The best policy is to drink only bottled or purified water, both of which are readily available.”

I did not run into this problem flying in Roldanillo in March, 2011, and have not heard of anyone else having this as an issue.

Even though South America seems far away, it is inexpensive to fly there, not much more than the cost of flying into Mexico City. Avianca will take your hang

glider without hassle for $120 and often at no cost on the way back. Avianca was the official airline of the PWC in 2011 and of-fered a discount coupon. Many other air-lines fly into Cali.

You’ll find that accommodations are inexpensive in Roldanillo. I stayed at a hotel with my own bathroom and shower for $10/night, right across from the Museo Rayo and next to the main church and square. Food is also inexpensive; you can eat typical Colombian meals for a few dol-lars in the local restaurants.

The flying at Roldanillo is superb; the conditions are pleasant over both the mountainsides and the flats in the valley. The valley is green all year round, and January through March is one of the two dry seasons. The thermals are smooth and the winds light. Cloud base can vary from 3,000’ to 6,000’ over the valley floor at 3,000.’

I went to Roldanillo in March, 2011, to fly in the Hombres Pajaro, 2011. The name of the comp carries on the tradition started in 2009 at Canoa, Ecuador, of using the Spanish words for “birdman.” Twenty-five local and Ecuadorian pilots flew with me in this competition. I was under the wing of Mike Glennon, an international hang glider pilot who lives in Cali and has been flying in Roldanillo for twenty-five years. It was great being helped by a local connection who had encouraged me to come south to experience wonderful Colombia. Mike has a driver in Roldanillo who retrieved us for $2.50/pilot/day (5,000 pesos), one- tenth of the cost of a driver in

the United States. I assume that the para-glider pilots at the PWC were able to hire drivers for similar rates.

Mike Glennon picked me up at the Cali airport, which is situated near the main highway (25) to Roldanillo, north of Cali, a very pleasant drive from the airport. (You don’t have to drive into Cali to get to Roldanillo.) You can also take the “back” or westside road (23) up the valley.

We had our own rooms at the La Posada Hotel, the one hotel that featured hot water. Other nice hotels provided housing within a block-and-a-half. Roldanillo has a population of 30,000, but the business dis-trict is centrally located, with restaurants, internet cafes, ice cream parlors, bakeries, food carts, grocery, hardware, clothing and other stores within a short walk of the hotels.

The main hang glider launch is one-half hour outside Roldanill, built up next to the western hillsides. The road is paved almost all the way to the launch, but four-wheel drive is required for the last quarter mile on the offshoot road leading directly to the launch. Some of the other paraglider launches (which I did not visit) don’t re-quire four- wheel drive. Altogether, there are six paraglider launches and three hang glider launches near Roldanillo. But you’ll need a local contact to help you find them.

The Hombres Pajaro, one of two in-ternational hang gliding competitions in

[opposite] The author on the north launch with a thermal next to him. [below] Daniel Velez Bravo displays the task on the map of the valley.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero28

Colombia each year, usually takes place in January. It was moved to March this year to accommodate the PWC and to encourage Ecuadorian pilots to attend. It also made it possible for me to attend after I returned to the US from the Australian competition season. The second competi-tion, the Colombian Nationals, takes place in the other dry season in August, with even better conditions than January, but at a time that most North American pilots

are taking advantage of the good weather in the US.

The new hang glider launch has a steep north launch and a moderately sloped south-facing launch; however, the breezes on launch are normally from the east. The launch is on the east-facing mountains and is an early launch, as are all the launches around Roldanillo. The launches near El Pomo near Cali are on the east-facing hills and are later launches.

Our routine was to get to launch before 9 AM and be ready to launch before 11 AM. My earliest launch was 10:26 AM. At that time I found 100 fpm just above the town after ten minutes of gliding east toward the valley. Cloud base was often below launch when we got there early in the morn-ing, but would rise to above launch as the morning wore on. Often the cloud base was quite low until later in the afternoon. We usually found lift to be light near the launch and one could quickly get to cloud base given its low height, maybe a thou-sand feet above launch (at 7,000’). Flying north to the next ridge we would consis-tently find better lift and a high cloud base. It is easy to fly along the western mountain range, either north or south.

The Pacific Ocean to the west is about 130 km away, and in the afternoon the sea breeze can come in and set up a strong west-ern wind. This is why you want to launch and get flying early, before the west wind comes in. I only saw a strong sea breeze one day out of the seven that I flew there. Most often the winds are very light in the valley, allowing you to go either north or south from Roldanillo and come back to land at

the designated goal on the ultra- light field on the north side of the main east-west road coming in from highway 25 to Roldanillo. The competition consisted of tasks that went up and down the valley, not far from Roldanillo— with goal either not too far away after multiple turnpoints or back to Roldanillo. There were cu’s every day, and I bet that is the normal pattern. There would often be three layers of clouds, sometimes with total shade from the cirrus, but still it would be soarable. Apparently the soar-ing conditions are better in January, but we still had fine conditions.

While I was there, piles of cu’s were over the mountain ranges and sparser cu’s out over the valley, flats and agricultural fields. Long ago hang glider pilots flew just along the western mountain range, but discovered there was no problem flying out into the valley because there was actually lift out there over those green, wet fields. Maybe the presence of cu’s in the valley clued them into that.

Our tasks took us north or south in the mountains and then sent us out into the flats. I was able to perform a number of low saves out in the valley, finding more consis-tent, if not as strong, lift, there, compared with the hill- sides, even when the fields below me looked very unpromising as ther-mal generators. The fields were sometimes swampy, sometimes flooded from the river, and sometimes I was over the very substan-tial river. I was pleasantly surprised to find

how easy it was to get back up.The wide agricultural valley also offers

the reassurance that you can always land safely if you don’t find lift. The fields are often full of sugar cane which, when it is high, is not the best place to land. Good luck getting the glider out. But there are plenty of fields with new sugar cane plants or fallow fields or pastures with or without cows. You’ll want to check out the roads before you land so you can see how to get retrieved.

It was flyable every day, even the day that was cancelled because of a bit of rain in the morning. Four days counted for the competition. Even when it looked dark and totally shaded, it was soarable and tasks could be carried out. The day often improved, opening up to the sun. One day clouds coming from the west— from a little bit of over-development on the west-ern mountains—shaded the final leg to goal, so only two pilots were able to make it.

The competition was well-organized by Mike Glennon and well-scored by Daniel Velez Bravo (using FS). He quickly placed the results up on his blog each evening. The meet director was a local paraglider pilot.

Both open class and sport class pilots flew the same tasks, but were given sepa-rate awards. The sport class pilots flew kingposted gliders.

You can learn more about the Hombres Pajaro 2011 competition, including de-scriptions of each task and the flying each day, as well as lots of other detailed information about Roldanillo, Colombia, etc. at http://ozreport.com/hombrespa-jaro2011.

[opposite top] Mitch Shipley off the north launch. [bottom] Raul Guerra, Daniel Velez Bravo, Mike Glennon, David Brito Filho in the goal. [above] Pilots in the goal landing zone, the ultralite hangar.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero30

OPEN CLASS RESULTSPlace Name Nat Glider Total

1 Daniel Velez Bravo COL Wills Wing T2C 144 3619

2 David Brito Filho BRA Wills Wing T2C 144 3561

3 Mitch Shipley USA Wills Wing T2C 144 3013

4 Raul Guerra ECU Moyes Litespeed RS 3.5 2623

5 Mike Glennon COL Moyes Litespeed S 5 2110

6 Carlos Mario García Londoño COL Wills Wing T2 1953

7 Gustavo Adolfo Jimenez COL Wills Wing TALON 141 1935

8 Davis Straub USA Wills Wing T2C - 144 1865

9 Oscar Morales COL DISCUSS 147 1781

10 Jorge Enrique Garcia COL Wills Wing T2 1739

SPORT CLASS RESULTSPlace Name Glider Total

1 Oscar Morales DISCUSS 147 1781

2 Oscar Gómez Wills Wing Sport 2 175 1668

3 Jose Alfredo Marin Icaro 2000 Laminar 1517

4 Juan Camilo Marin Moyes XS 901

5 norman campaña Wills Wing XC 155 889

6 Andres Felipe Peña Moyes Litesport 137 463

7 Jheison Fabian Pineda Wills Wing Spectrum 331

8 Guillermo Balcazar Moyes Litesport 5 193

9 Mauricio Tovar Nieto Moyes SCX 72

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Open Distance?What is

by Kenneth Hudonjorgensen

Kristjan Morgan over 'Inspo' in the Wasatch mountains | photo by Matt Dadam.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 33

This year our organization is hold-ing its first US Paragliding Open Distance (OD) Nationals. If, after

reading that, your response is “What?”…this information is for you. The National Championships we have had in the past and will continue to have in the future are in the Race-to-Goal-format (R2G). This will be the first, of many, National Open Distance Championships.

Approximately one year ago, some of USHPA’s finest met in Salt Lake City to revamp, renew, redefine and define anew, competitions within our organization. One of our new creations is an Open Distance Nationals, the first of which will be held Sept. 4-10, 2011, in Utah.

I have hosted four USHPA-sanctioned open distance paragliding competitions at Snowbird and Inspiration Point in past years, and I love the format.

USHPA’s definition is: “An open dis-tance (OD) competition uses scoring based on a total distance measurement. It does not recognize a fixed goal.”

The stated philosophy is: “Many ac-complished pilots relish the adventure inherent in epic journeys over a distant horizon. It is the unknown that draws us: the serendipitous unfolding of events that shape the flight; the unique problems that arise; the challenges to our creativ-ity. Each of us will have a unique experi-ence: our own tale to tell. For many of us, cross-country is what first inspired us. It is what we seek to do at local sites with our friends. In this spirit, we have devised an open distance competition format. There is an emphasis on simplicity, inclusiveness, and freedom from encumbering restric-tions. The guidelines are flexible and, pur-posefully, not overly specific, in an effort to accommodate the unique features of different venues.”

This doesn’t mean that OD does not have any restrictions, parameters, rules and/or guidelines. There are still plenty of those, just fewer.

I love OD because it is imbued with individual exploration and openness that goes far beyond what is available in race-to-goal (R2G) comps, although I love those for different reasons. The essence of XC is exploration, establishing routes that work and those that do not. Establishing the route from Olympus to the Point of the Mountain took less than a season for

Bill Belcourt, John Bouchard and me. Establishing the route from Snowbird to the High Uintahs in Utah took me seven seasons by myself.

It takes longer to figure out any-thing in paragliding when you are alone. Having an XC competition at a site is a tremendous boost to the understanding of the site and its potential. One hundred pilots doing a task on one day is worth five or ten years of one pilot’s exploration. The OD venue should be a boon to the under-standing and potential of every site that hosts an OD comp.

More from USHPA: “Any task wherein the distance goal is undeclared and scor-ing is based on a distance metric will be considered a valid open distance format. The task committee may allow pilots to choose their own tasks on certain days.” Routes may be determined by pilots or fixed by a task committee, or a combina-tion of both. “Multiple predetermined turn point cylinders {including triangles, out-and-backs and other geometries} may be included in a route, as long as no endpoint is declared. The day’s task may stipulate a starting gate or turn point from which measurement may begin.”

To summarize: Open distance com-petitions offer no end point and no goal except to rack up as many miles as you can before sunset, stay as safe as you can, and have as much fun as you can, as long as it is legal. The task committee can also set an artificial sunset, in case we get in very long distances for too many days in a row, as happened the last time we had a Nationals at Inspiration Point, on seven valid consecutive task days. For example, sunset could be changed from 8:30PM TO 3PM to give competitors a break.(No, that doesn’t mean it will get dark at 3. Fortunately, we do not have that much power yet.)

We will declare national champions in each class and also give second and third place awards for open, women, serial, over-55, and sport classes. That amounts to five national champion awards.

Come and join us in this historic op-portunity to participate in a first national event!

For more information email Ken at twocanfly@gmail .com .

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero34

On the Dunes atKitty Hawk

by SimoneSHORT

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 35

October24,1911

The sands of the Outer Banks glistened under sunny autumn skies. Orville Wright worked his way into his 32-foot span glider; its small seat and bracing wires made “mounting” the plane a chore. The wind was howling at 40 miles per hour and some of the bystanders, and per-haps the pilot himself, thought that it might have been safer today to remain inside. But at Orville’s command, his launching crew picked up the glider with Orville aboard and faced it into the roiling gale. Instantly, the updrafts of the wind supported the glider and soon lifted it higher than its launch point. Wright was soaring. Although the glider was descending through the air, the upward vector of the air rushing up the slope met or exceeded the descent of the plane. The speed of the glider going forward matched the speed of the wind, so to the spectators, who were barely accustomed to the notion of air-planes flying at all, it looked like hovering. To many it was a mystery.

Orville had to wrestle with the controls to keep his little glider in the area of lift in front of the dune— no mean feat in such a light craft, with controls that were just being tested and were incapable of making large, quick directional changes. He was, however, able to keep it straight and level and make it recover from the upsets it encountered as the wind gusted around it. Minute-after-minute the glider soared in the challenging conditions; Orville landed almost ten minutes later, about 120 feet from where he had launched. As exhilarating as the flight may have been, it was time for a break. He had flown about 20 flights this day, logging 22 minutes in just three soaring flights, capped by his final 9-minute-45-second flight.

Orville’s record flight was no fluke; in fact, during his two-and-a-half week stay at Kitty Hawk, he recorded a number of amazing glider feats and new records. When the wind was moderate, the 1911 glider sailed down the dune, once gliding 637 feet over a “curved path.” Alec Ogilvie, British racing pilot and friend of the Wrights, made

[left] Bruce Weaver captured in a composite shot on the dunes of Kitty Hawk | photo by Wes Gutekunst.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero36

three long flights on October 17 in a ten-mile wind, covering a distance of 473 feet on his longest flight. But on the 24th, Orville had succeeded in soaring

“more than 50 feet above top hill” as he noted in his diary.

To put these flights at Kitty Hawk in perspective, Otto Lilienthal had estimated his longest flight to be a quarter kilometer (825 feet) in length in the 1890’s. The longest flight of Chanute’s team in 1896 was

measured at 359 feet in 14 seconds. The longest glide of 1902, flown by Wilbur Wright, was 622.5 feet in 26 seconds and by Orville, over 500 feet in 1 minute 12 seconds, climbing at times to an altitude of 60 feet. Earlier in 1911, students from Darmstadt, Germany, glided almost 1,000 feet down the south slope of the Wasserkuppe Mountain. But on October 24, 1911, Orville Wright succeeded in flying by far the lon-gest duration soaring flight yet, a record that lasted ten years—until broken in Germany. An American did not exceed this mark until 1929. Orville’s flight showed the world that gliders were now sailplanes that could soar and stay aloft without engines.

Thus began the modern sport of soaring. But the design of the 1911 glider was then and

still is a mystery to many, providing fascinating ques-tions. How did the design and Orville’s experience enable the glider to handle the gusty low-level winds of Kitty Hawk? Did it have more stability or control-lability, or was Orville just lucky to keep the craft under control for almost ten minutes? Three separate groups are now looking for answers to these ques-tions and hoping to reveal some interesting facts as the 100th anniversary of Orville Wright’s soaring flight approaches. Each of the builders plans to be part of the SOARING100 Celebration on October 21-24, 2011, at the Outer Banks, NC. USHPA is one of the major players.

[above] Pond skimming to the breakdown area.

[below] Ryan Voight giving a helping hand during the

Kitty Hawk Spectacular. Photos By Nick Greece.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 37

THe WrigHT glider A CenTury lATer

Little is known about the glider that Orville Wright and Alec Ogilvie assembled in 1911. To duplicate and recreate the “soaring machine” that started the excitement of the soaring movement in 1911 is not an easy task. The Wrights left no drawings, but, for-tunately, there are about 60 photos, Orville’s 15-page diary, a few personal letters and lots of contradicting, but sensational, newspaper and magazine articles about the “secret flights of the Wrights.”

Aeronautical knowledge and expertise in the form of computer-aided drafting, in conjunction with re-search, imagination and common-sense, is needed to interpret the various photos and available data in a meaningful way in order to recreate the 1911 Wright glider. Even though many good photos exist, none are dated. Studying what is available, side-by-side, one can see several changes in the structure of the glider, especially after mishaps. But we are reason-ably certain of how the glider looked on October 24, as many newspapers published photos of the glider in flight.

Three groups from different parts of the coun-try are approaching the project of recreating the 1911 glider from different angles. The Kansas group consists of Ron Blum, Harry Clayton, Neal Pfeiffer, John Wells and David Wilkus, all members of the

aircraft industry based in Wichita. In Maryland, Jim Dayton envisions his “Dayton Flyer” to be a looka-like with a modern control system, making it easier to fly for today’s pilots. The third person, Rick Young, from Virginia, plans to build an exact replica for dis-play, but is considering a second machine for flying.

After deciding on the main features of the glider, like the size of the “fuselage” and wings, all the detail work begins. Each of the various small parts needs

[previous page] Dune gooning at its finest | photo by Nick Greece.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero38

to be painstakingly drawn up since little contemporary information is available. The restored Vin Fiz, hanging high in the National Air & Space Museum, provides some answers, but this airplane is not easily accessible for close-up measuring.

The overall goal of each participant is to soar in a recreated 1911 glider on the weekend of October 21-24, 2011, at the dunes of Jockey’s Ridge State Park on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, just

south of the sites where Orville and Alec flew a century earlier.

SOAring100

The weekend of October 21-24, 2011, will offer a full program of activity, in addition to the opportunity of watching the repli-cas fly at Jockey’s Ridge State Park.

Kick-off for SOARING100 on Friday afternoon, October 21, will include the

dedication of National Landmark of Soaring No. 16, a program initiated by the National Soaring Museum, Elmira NY, in 1981. The purpose of this program is to identify and memorialize sites, indi-viduals or historic events related to the na-tional history of motorless flight. The live dune at Jockey’s Ridge State Park will be recognized as a significant site that helped promote the growth of the sport in the past, a tradition that will continue in the future. A brass plaque will be installed outside the Kitty Hawk Kites Hang Glider School, with a text that reads:

The steady winds and gently sloping dunes of soft sand on North Carolina’s Outer Banks have been attracting soar-ing pilots since the early 20th century. The Wright brothers flew many pioneer-ing glider flights at Kitty Hawk between 1900 and 1903, with Orville Wright re-turning to set a 9-minute 45-second soar-ing record there in 1911. The area again achieved soaring fame when Francis Rogallo and others introduced hang glid-ing in the 1970’s. These same coastal winds and dunes continue to bring pilots from around the world to soar Jockey’s Ridge today.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 39

The cost of this plaque will be under-written by the Foundation of Free Flight and the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association.

The next day, Saturday, October 22, a “Soaring History Symposium” will high-light the early history of the sport. One of the invited speakers is Paul Dees, long-time hang glider pilot from the Seattle area who built and flew a Chanute-type glider replica in 1996 as part of the Landmark of Soaring No.8 celebrations in Gary, IN. A year later, he was one of the pilots to fly the Wright 1902 glider replica at Jockey’s Ridge.

Several hang gliding pioneers will speak on Sunday, October 23. That sym-posium, called “History Makers Speak,” will be a-once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for those interested in hearing about the development of hang gliding as a sport. The list of invited speakers is not complete yet, but Bill Liscomb, Mike Meier and John Harris have already agreed to par-ticipate.

The Barnaby Endowment at the National Soaring Museum allows the museum to sponsor the prestigious

“Ralph S. Barnaby Lecture,” given at various locations throughout the nation. This year’s 40th Barnaby lecture will be presented on October 22 at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. On Monday morning, October 24, the National Park Service will have a special ceremony to honor the actual centenary of Orville Wright’s 9-minute-45-second soaring flight.

A cavalcade of soaring history will consist of a flying demonstration of vin-tage (from the 1930’s) and modern sail-planes and various hang gliders from the early 1970’s up to modern times at Wright Brothers National Memorial on Saturday and Sunday, October 22 and 23. But throughout the weekend, hang glider flying will take place at Jockey’s Ridge, as usual.

JULY 11-16 • FLYKINGMOUNTAIN.COM

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero40

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 41Colombia | photo by Carlos Alberto

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero42 Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero42

by Michael Robertson USHPA #1058

This year’s annual Wills Wing Demo Days in Florida, held at “The Ranch”, was another in the long line of won-

derful reunions. The hospitality, learning, food, people, and ambiance were stellar, as usual, and, big bonus—we got to fly!

The good news (gn) versus bad news (bn) scenarios: When I arrived on Thursday afternoon, the event was just

getting rolling with lots of pilots and sup-port crews having arrived from disparate destinations.(gn) The bad news was that I missed the first day of Ryan Voight’s fantastic landing clinic. According to all who attended, it was the highlight of their stay. As an instructor of instructors for forty years, I was hugely impressed with Ryan’s teaching techniques. Like his dad Paul, who assisted, (how’s that for every dad’s dream come true?) Voighter 2 is a

natural. During the video review of all the landings, he involved everyone, asked questions, focused on the fix of one or two key points, was gentle and supportive of even the mild disasters and found a way to start and finish each review with a positive statement. Wow! A++!

A one-line landing clinic summary (for experienced pilots only it's a ¼ loop!) could be: Elbows back, keep flyin, keep flyin', etc., flare. Commit. HG being a

Wallaby Ranch

and Wills Wing Demo DaysSpring Fly-In

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male-dominated sport, we do have com-mitment issues. Probably the highest ac-colade for Ryan came from Mike Meier, our co-host, who attended the clinic on Thursday (with low expectations) since it was blown out. With the myriad flights he's had and the orangutan-length arms he was issued (they reach below the knees), he was surprised, even shocked, that he had things to learn. Imagine how it was for the rest of us.(gn)

Not all of the video footage of the pilot-flights got reviewed as part of the clinic. Perhaps a couple of them should have been. One really experienced, but not too current, hang 4 attendee put it in the trees at the end of his second flight. (bn) As much as we want to emulate the birds, I’d suggest stopping short of landing in trees. The good news: the pilot and the bird were unhurt. No marks on either! The bad news: the analysis clearly showed a poor

approach plan, coupled with slow air-speed. But a last minute flare (gn) ensured the glider would hang up in the branches and not drop heavily to terra firma. The pilot was quick to accept responsibility and shared the learning experience during the clinic, since the event was videoed. (more gn)

Friday and Saturday provided hun-dreds of flights. The conditions made it challenging to stay up and many passed the test. I thoroughly enjoyed my 30 min-utes on Saturday in a borrowed (Thanks, Terry from Toronto) Sport 2 -155. I stayed above a topless in a weak-with-hot-spots-thermal to 4000’ when he headed out upwind. There was considerable drift. I have a rule for these conditions: don’t leave lift for what might be better lift. I broke it. My head overruled my intuition, reasoning I had a better chance following the blade-wing before I was blown any further back. Wrong. His superior glide

[opposite] Wayne DeVilbiss launching. [left] Dave Aldridge filming Ryan Voight…who is filming landings for a landing clinic. [below] Carolina Castro & Malcolm Jones assisting a pilot prior to launch.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero44

KICKIN' IT by Ryan Voight

There are only a handful of “don’t miss”

events in hang gliding, and the Wills

Wing Demo Days is the top of that list.

Every year Wills Wing teams up with

Wallaby Ranch in Florida to host what

is possibly the biggest annual event in

hang gliding.

The event, in a nutshell, goes like

this: The Wills Wing crew load their

truck and trailer with as many gliders

as it will possibly hold—all the newest,

latest and greatest goodies. They

drive from Southern California to

Central Florida, set up the gliders and

welcome pretty much anyone with

appropriate skills to fly them free of

charge.

But the “demo days” is just a

small portion of the whole experi-

ence. Another aspect is the location:

Wallaby Ranch is a pleasant break

from reality! From the moment you

turn onto 1805 Deen Still Rd and pass

under the Wallaby Ranch arch, time

stops and responsibilities fade away.

This place could aptly be described

as a therapeutic hang gliding retreat.

You can stay on-site, eat culinary-

quality meals for breakfast, lunch and

dinner, and, oh… there’s hang gliding,

too!

Florida flying is every bit as good

as you’ve probably heard. Anyone

who doubts the Earth is round hasn’t

flown in Florida! It is SO flat that by

the time you get off tow, you can see

the curvature 360 degrees around you.

And, above, Florida gets the fluffiest,

most perfect cumulous clouds you

could imagine. I’m not sure if it’s the

humidity or the low altitude or what,

but thermals just seem to be bigger

here, with mellower edges. Climbing is

effortless, entirely enjoyable.

Coming from the mountains of

Utah, I would have been satisfied with

the grass and nothing more. Wallaby

has the greenest, golf-course-quality

grass of anywhere I’ve ever flown.

Many of the people visiting take their

shoes off when they arrive and don’t

put them back on until they leave—in-

cluding me. I go from wearing ski

boots every day to flip-flops; words

don’t exist to express the pleasure.

And what is an event, without the

people who make it? Every year Wills

Wing’s Mike Meier and Steve Pearson

make themselves totally accessible

to answer any question, no matter

how trivial. I know I asked more than

my fair share, and I’m sure I wasn’t

the only one. Every time I attend this

event I think I double my knowledge

base. It was fun debating (getting

schooled in) physics and aerody-

namics with Mike! And Steve, Wills

Wing’s chief designer, is the wizard of

wings. ‘Nuff said. Besides the Wills

Wing presence, the guest list of this

event is practically a Who’s Who of

hang gliding. From California’s Dave

Aldrich, filming for his upcoming

film, Dreaming Awake, to Wolfi from

Austria and people from places all-

over-in-between. If you didn’t make it

this year, mark your calendar and save

up your airfare for next year!

New this year was a landing clinic

from Wings over Wasatch, sponsored

by Wills Wing! When I say sponsored,

I mean it was open to anyone inter-

ested in improving their landings. And

it didn’t cost a cent! Show me another

hang glider manufacturer that does

THAT! The clinic was very popular,

with classroom sessions and video

analysis of participant’s landings. I’m

a bit biased (I was running the clinic),

but I think it’s safe to say we widened

people’s perspective on how to plan

and execute their landings and deter-

mine what offers the highest prob-

ability for safe, consistent landings

in a wide variety of situations. There

was talk about having a repeat clinic

at next year’s demo days, but it’s too

early to say.

The “main event” of the week is

the party on Saturday evening, again

sponsored by Wills Wing , and hosted

by Malcolm Jones and his staff. A

tasty BBQ dinner is provided for all in

attendance, under one of those “event

tents”. Speeches, awards, and films fill

out the ceremony. Following the meal,

Malcolm always kicks it in gear with a

great live band, fermented beverages

in copious amounts, and occasion-

ally fireworks! Actually, this year there

was live music EVERY night after the

dinner meals!

I’m sorry I have missed this event

the past few years. Attending this

year’s with a fresh perspective really

made me appreciate how special

this weekend is. The opportunity to

test-fly a variety of gliders and sizes,

back-to-back, without needing to stuff

a single batten, is clearly the best way

to compare them. I truly enjoyed this

event and vow not to miss another.

Next year, I’ll see you there!

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 45

allowed him to penetrate far enough, with sufficient altitude to get back up. Mine didn’t. After many minutes of 50 up, 100 down, I decked it. Great fun. One of my favorite students, Steve Bellerby (learned at 10 yrs old 25 years ago), accomplished a flight from Quest Air in time for the Saturday evening party on his brand new T2C. He set out with a couple of really hot pilots in a quartering headwind but was alone when he landed. I’d say he has ar-rived in more ways than one!

The Saturday night party saw standing room only. The BBQ ribs were consumed in copious quantities by the carnivores while, for the first time, we veggies had excellent fare as well. Seth Warren again showed footage featuring Baby, the grease-gobbling biodiesel super-truck (el-ementstour.com) and sundry ecological topics. Speaking of green—recycling, well the lack of it, had been a sore point for me here in the past. Last year Lori started a bin program, and, at first, I thought it

had been abandoned.(bn) I was bummed. Then I learned that ALL the trash now gets sorted by the collecting company. Super, eh? Even the beer bottles that miss the recycling bin get reused.(GN)

We viewed movies during dessert. Some of the most gorgeous footage I’ve ever seen came from Dave Aldridge who’s been shooting stunning BIG lens helicop-ter stuff for his Dreaming Awake movie. With RIO to warm them up, these smooth terrain-soaring scenes should blow audi-ences away. How many times have I had a tandem passenger say, “Ohmigosh, this is not scary, it’s surreal—just like my dreams!?” Thousands. Maybe HG (and, of course, PG) will realize its promise of helping lift humankind into the new Aquarian age of peace and plenty.

So the event is over. Most people have left and it’s been raining continuously for almost twenty hours. The rain is bang-ing so hard on the roof we can’t hear well enough to present our new Novice Ground School DVD. (bn) But to the Ranch crew it’s a blessed relief to have a break. Quiet calm has returned and they can relax.(gn) Super kudos to them and their leaders, Malcolm Jones and Laurie Croft and to Wills Wing for making it all happen. Again and again.

Keep it up.

[left] Lori Croft and Paul Harrison dancing. [sidebar] GLIDERS!! [below] Ken Westfall launching.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero46

ColombiaParagliding World Cup

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ColombiaParagliding World Cup

by NickGREECE

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero48 Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero48

Colombia is the business! Plain and simple. It doesn’t deserve the lasting black mark that past negative press coverage, vis-a-vis the

Ingrid Betancourt debacle, has left on this incredible South American country. Before I left the US, friends and family cautioned me in hushed tones about the possibility of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) capturing me whilst on a flying holiday. Should that occur, I responded, I might come out of the experience fifteen pounds lighter with a book deal. The rebels, who according to locals are drug suppliers utilizing the guise of communism to protect their coca operations, have been pushed back to the far reaches of Colombia, deep in the mountains. This is in glaring contrast to the problems with “narco-violence” that Mexico currently faces. One still needs to mind their times of travel and take caution in major cities, but isnt this a wise practice in a number of often travelled lands?

Roldanillo is a wonderful place to visit, full of people who genuinely want to interact and share the central plaza, no matter how late you decide to enjoy it. The flying is incredibly diverse—from throttling mountain-fueled climbs to wonderfully smooth flat-land thermals in the valley. Launch is a well-mani-cured slope with the potential of hurling over 120 very aggressive comp-wing clad pilots into the sky in less than forty-five minutes.

Many of the USA’s competition, and cross-country, cadre moved further south this winter to take advan-

tage of two high-level events that were hosted back-to-back by the Jimenez brothers. Hugo, Lucho, and Felipe Jimenez did a terrific job of welcoming pilots from all points to a site that is bound to set a high standard for both flying events and flying holidays. It’s an unspoiled flying mecca that delivers amazing options both in the air and on the ground. The food is solid, the tap water potable, the prices very reasonable, and the sky is flyable nearly every day. Roldanillo’s people warmly welcomed pilots to their wonderful valley, which— even during a year that broke all re-cords for rainfall—allowed pilots to fly diverse and interesting tasks on each day of two competitions. The

“100-year floods” wreaked havoc on the agriculture and people of Colombia for the month leading up to the events, but spared the meets. The only adverse ef-fects for the visiting cast of characters were water-filled landing options and slightly diminished climb rates.

International pilots arrived in Rodanillo in January of 2011 for the Colombian Open and the first race in the 2011 World Cup. The Open was a six-task race in rather tricky conditions. Eric Reed (USA) won the Colombian Open, Brad Gunnuscio (USA) placed second, and Xevi Bonet (ESP) came in third. Seiko Fukuoka Naville (FRA) won the women’s title with an impressive ninth place overall finish.

The first leg of the 2011 Paragliding World Cup was held directly after the Open. With winter’s grasp still clinging to Europe, and its being the first event of the year for the World Cup, a strong 123-pilot

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero48

[previous page] Eric Reed and Brad Gunnuscio on their

way to finishing first and second respectively in the Roldanillo Open. [above] Jack Brown on his way to

launch. [below left] Loaded for launch. [right] Driving

up to launch the strong rains the month before had washed out sections of the

densely covered terrain. Photos by Nick Greece.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 49

field turned up to race in the incredibly consistent Colombian skies.

The weather for the World Cup was better than the prior week, with only two-out-of-six days seeing large down shifting necessary to make it through tough sections of the course. While the Roldanillo Open competitors flew in light conditions for a week, the practice days for the World Cup were exceptionally strong.

Therefore, the first day of the World Cup caught many top competitors by surprise, as it turned into a slow grind through the middle of the course. Michael Sigel and Russ Ogden raced into goal, with Ogden crossing the line first and Sigel winning the day on leading points. In a demonstration of what the rest of the race would turn into for the top spot, these two battled back and forth in much the same manner for the next six days. Sigel would push out front, while Ogden would take a commanding position through-out the race and convert altitude to speed for the finish.

Ogden, a test pilot for Ozone who won the US Nationals in Chelan last year, remarked on the flying in Roldanillo, “We had everything from weak and stable, to strong and racy. These types of conditions re-quired frequent gear changing. The fact that the valley was flooded, and always quite tricky to cross, actually made it even more interesting. Climbing well, taking

good lines, and changing gears were the most impor-tant tactics, rather than just charging about at full speed.”

Day two was a 138 km task that gave a grand tour of the area, including turn points previously unvisited. A control point was placed back in the main valley to keep pilots from a deep course line. Ironically, this placed me deeper, and, as luck would have it, lower than I ever had been in Colombia. The day was very difficult for many who were caught by huge patches of shade and leeside wind, and many pilots faced ad-venturous walks from their makeshift landing zones. Andreas Maleki flew the furthest, with Eric Reed and Peter Neuenschwander close behind.

With over ten hours in the air in two days of racing, the third day was called with a Murillo flare of a non-traditional exit cylinder on one of the turn points and a racey shorter course in mind. Yassen Savov and Jack Brown smoked the whole field with a creative course line decision that placed them three minutes ahead of the gaggle that incorrectly supposed they were in the lead. Going into day four, Savov led the comp and was flying true to form on his new Boomerang 8.

Day four shook up the standings at the top and saw a very technical course and stopped task. The lead gaggle blazed through the mountains, while some of those who had been left behind and low in relatively

[above] Launch.

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Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 5151

AMERICA's CUP RESULTSPlace Name Nat Glider

1 nick greeCe uSA Ozone Mantra r10.2

2 Josh COHn uSA niviuk icepeak 4nS

3 Michael VOn WACHTer Ven gin Boomerang 8

WORLD CUP RESULTSPlace Name Nat Glider

1 Michael Sigel CHe gin Boomerang 8

2 russell Ogden gBr Ozone Ozone prototype

3 Peter neuenSCHWAnder CHe Ozone Mantra r10.2

aMerican racinG, while unknown to

most of the world, has been growing

for the last ten years. At the World

Championships in Manila, in 2007, Tom

McCune took 3rd place and Josh Cohn

8th overall. At the Worlds in Valle De

Bravo, Mexico, each American male

team member won a day. For the first

time, US pilots, as well as pilots world-

wide, have competitive access to top

performing gliders.

The American culture is one that

promotes strong mentoring by the top

pilots. As the newer pilots have matured

under the tutelage of Bill Belcourt, Len

Szafaryn, Josh Cohn, Nate Scales, and

many other gifted XC pilots, the pilot

base has been able to learn and play off

of a solid mix of instinctive and cerebral

pilots who have been pushing each other

on the national level to go faster and

smarter for several years.

Also, having a PWC in the US, where a

few of the top European pilots ventured

out of their home field, helped many US

pilots gain valuable insight into racing

on the international level. With our top

pilots attending more international

competitions than any other US crew in

history, the experience needed to finish

well at top level meets will surely be

earned in the next few years—especially

when the 2011 Superfinal comes to Valle

De Bravo, Mexico, the wintering area for

all US competition pilots.

Josh Cohn won the 2010 Continental

Paragliding World Cup Americas title,

with Nick Greece taking second and

Jack Brown third— for a United States

sweep of the podium last year. In 2011

Nick Greece took first, Josh Cohn placed

second, and Jack Brown snagged

fourth—for another solid showing at the

World Cup level.

The US still has a long way to go from

demonstrating potential to finishing the

game successfully. During the winter

and upcoming season, US pilots will be

working hard to fortify strategies, tactics,

and teamwork to present a strong show-

ing at the World Championships in Spain

and the Superfinal in Mexico. However,

at the end of the day US Team leaders

remind their pilots, “It is all for fun, and

the team who did as well as they could

with the biggest smile is the real winner.”

windy hills opted to take the valley line to a large turn point in the center of the valley, 50 kilometers down course. Michael Sigel ended up on a self-professed magic line, just before the task was stopped due to rain on course, and put an astonishing 10 km lead on the rest of the field, catapulting him to the pole position. Savov had pushed too hard, too early, and paid the price.

The last two days saw Ogden trying brilliantly to close the gap on first but eventually running out of time, even while winning day five and beating Sigel handily on day six. Ultimately, the lead was insur-mountable and Sigel, very deservedly, won the first, and hotly contested, Paragliding World Cup in one of the most consistent and amazing locations for a flying meet in the world—Roldanillo, Colombia.

US Team from left to right: Jack Brown, Josh Cohn, Nate Scales, and Brad Gunnuscio.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero52

[this page, clockwise from above] Brad Gunnuscio throwing his wing around before the start of the Roldanillo Open which he took second place. The town plaza in morning light. Hambuerguesas con todo. Landing in the soccer field meant huge cheers and signing autographs for the locals while walking home.

[opposite page, clockwise from top left] Mark Watts in a commanding position after grabbing a turnpoint and heading to the next. On the way to launch. Breakfast was at 7 and rides to launch started at 8. The

terrain in Colombia is varied from red mountains to sugar cane and coffee fields in the flats. Fresh chips! Mark Watts flying over a section of flooded sugar cane fields. Photos by Nick Greece.

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Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero54

by Eric Katzfey

My son Alex has been interested in flight and in weather for as long as I can remember. At

an early age he developed a fascination for extreme weather such and tornados and hurricanes. He studied these phe-nomena for fun and even did his fourth

grade science project on the force of tor-nados. He built a special wind tunnel, complete with a small model village, to demonstrate the forces of the wind. He has also been interested in flight and, when he was just 12, asked to go for a tandem paragliding flight at the Torrey Pines Gliderport in La Jolla, California for his elementary school graduation gift.

He came back from this first flight with a huge smile on his face and a desire to learn the sport for himself. Over the next couple of years he began pestering us for lessons but we felt he was still too young. After graduation from middle school last year he once again asked for a tandem flight. This time I decided to take a flight as well to see what this sport was all

KATZFEYALEX

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 55

about. After our flights I could see that, not only was this an awesome sport, but that he was truly serious about his desire to pursue it. The pestering about taking lessons had escalated, but it was also clear that Alex had matured to the point where we felt he could safely undertake the challenge. After consulting with the staff at Torrey Pines Gliderport we decided to enroll Alex into the P1 level training course. Since the equipment is provided by the gliderport, this looked like a great way to explore the sport without having to commit to buying all of the expensive gear. Based on how well he did in this initial lesson we would see how serious Alex really was about learn-ing. So, at age 14, in the summer of 2010, Alex began paragliding lessons!

Before the first day of lessons Alex was so excited that he could hardly sleep. We got to the gliderport and got through all of the necessary paper-work to get him enrolled. We met the instructors and were impressed by their qualifications and their professional-ism. While we were a bit nervous about this whole thing we felt confident that he was in good hands. They spent some time discussing things with Alex but didn’t waste too much time getting him out and introducing him to kiting with

a real paragliding wing. When we came to pick him up at the end of the first day he was beaming! According to his in-structors he was doing great and would soon be ready to try a flight on his own. I couldn’t believe how quickly things were progressing! The next day I dropped off Alex and went to work. I told him to call me if there were a chance that we would be going for his first flight. Sure enough, a couple of hours later, he called and said that he would be going. I rushed over to the gliderport and got to watch my son taking his first paragliding flight. I was scared, but then that turned to amaze-ment, excitement, and pride after watch-ing him take off, fly around, and then come in for a perfect landing! He made it look effortless on his very first flight!

It quickly became clear that this was not just some passing fancy and that Alex has a true passion for paragliding. It also became quite clear that paraglid-ing is not just about flight, but about weather as well. As he began to study the dynamics of the wind in order to better understand flight it became clear that this was a melding of his previous passion for weather and his new passion for flight. He loved studying the books about wind and weather patterns and often spent his time explaining to us all of the interesting new things he was learning. It was becoming very evident that we had made the right choice to get Alex involved with this sport.

[left] Alex getting ready for his first lesson. [above] Kiting with his new Skywalk paraglider.

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Many parents who hear that our son is involved with paragliding think that maybe we are a bit irresponsible for al-lowing him to partake in such a danger-ous activity. However, there are a few reasons why I think maybe the opposite is true, that it would be irresponsible for us to deny him this opportunity. Obviously, it takes some maturity to undertake an activity such as paraglid-ing. It certainly can be dangerous if not approached with a healthy respect for the potential for accidents and knowl-edge about what constitutes safe flying conditions. It also means that one has to understand their abilities and not to pro-ceed if the conditions are beyond what they are capable of safely dealing with. Part of this is the maturity and the in-telligence of the pilot and part of this is the training and mentorship provided by the instructors. All of this was evident to us as we watched our son learn this new sport. I could see that the staff had taken Alex “under their wing”, and were not only providing him training in the basics of flight, but also instilling in him a greater sense of maturity and personal responsibility.

The dangers of paragliding became evident a couple of weeks after Alex started his lessons. He was progressing quickly and had already received his P2 rating. He was now working on his P3 rating and he was venturing off on trips with the group to new areas around San Diego and beyond. We had also pur-

[left] Beautiful flight over the Pacific Ocean. [top] Packing up after a day of filming with the GoPro.

“It quickly became clear

that this was not just some

passing fancy and that

Alex has a true passion for

paragliding. It also became

quite clear that paragliding

is not just about flight, but

about weather as well.”

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 57

chased all of the equipment for Alex. One day there was an incident involv-ing a student. Alex was flying at the time and was right above it. Apparently there was some question of right of way as one pilot was coming in for a land-ing and the student was flying towards this other pilot. Regardless of who was at fault, the student reacted too late and ended up colliding with the other pilot. As he fell towards the cliffs below he at-tempted to deploy his reserve chute but it was much too late for that. He hit hard and started sliding down the cliff face. Luckily his equipment became en-tangled and stopped him from going all the way down the cliff. Since all students are in radio contact with the instructors my son could see and hear everything going on as he flew above it. After being rescued by the San Diego Cliff Rescue team the student was pulled to safety and brought to the hospital. Thankfully, the student was not too seriously injured, but it certainly gave all of us a first hand view of what can happen.

As Alex continued his flight lessons

he began to fly at other locations. One spot is called Blossom Valley and is a place known for thermals. Alex had never experienced the thrill of flying in thermals and was completely stoked after his first taste of this type of flying. He immediately asked for a variometer to help him fly in thermals and maxi-mize his exposure to the lift. Since this was an expensive piece of equipment we asked him to put it on his Christmas list. He also wanted to start filming his flights and asked for a “GoPro” camera that he could mount on his helmet. This, also quite expensive, went on his birth-day list. However, we buckled on the camera, and told him he could have his birthday present early. So now we got a better view of all of Alex’s flying action through the lens of the new camera. Alex took footage from the camera and made some videos that he posted on his facebook account for friends and family to view. The reaction was incredible! Everyone was amazed at what Alex was up to and our pride grew. He was really blossoming as a person with this new

sport! And I can’t begin to say what a great bunch of folks he has been intro-duced to in the local paragliding com-munity.

Alex got his P3 certification in record time and can now go fly whenever he wants at the gliderport. Unfortunately, the wind hasn’t been so good over the winter months and Alex hasn’t been able to fly much. However, he is “chomping at the bit” to get out there and fly once the conditions improve. He monitors all of the wind reports very carefully in hopes that the conditions will be favorable. His grandparents bought a radio controlled glider for his birthday present so we take that out to fly when conditions are not good enough for the paraglider. And as Alex looks toward his 16th birthday at the end of this year he can’t help but get excited about all of the new flying opportunities this will bring. I think that Alex has found a true passion in this sport and I am not only proud of him, but think that it is really a very postive activity that will help him greatly in life.

If you love to soar, then you’ll love skydiving!

Celebrate the U.S. Parachute Association’s 65th anniversary by taking the leap! Spread your wings, and explore the sky in a way you never imagined!

To find a skydiving center near you, visit www.uspa.org. LA

MBE

RT

USPA and its 33,000 member skydivers enjoy and promote safe skydiving through parachute training, rating and competition programs. USPA represents parachute jumping from aircraft and helps keep skydivers in the air.

Do You

to Fly?

GALLERY

60

[previous page] Moonscape. Kristjan

Morgan, looking down on the Colorado River above the Southern Utah desert.

[right] Mini flight Park.[opposite top] GoPro shot

high over the South Side. Enjoying winter thermals.

[opposite bottom] Kristjan Morgan signaling his “OK” high above the Southern

Utah Desert. Photos by Kristjan Morgan.

62

[right] Alex Cuddy | photo by Glauco Pinto.

64

[right] Red mystic night loop. [opposite top] John

Heiney brought out one of his favorites to the vintage hang glider fly in at Torrey Pines. [opposite bottom]

All kinds of people and types of birds showed up at Torrey Pines for the Rio movie promotion. Photos

by Nick Greece.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero66

LasT year, eight new paragliding state distance records were set in seven states. The number of records and states differ because the record was broken twice in Indiana, once at the beginning of the season and, again, at the end.

What’s good to see is the increased geographic spread across the country over the past year. In 2009, the Midwest saw the most action; only one of the record flights was in the West. But this year the West returned with three big records of over 200 km. Also, this year hill-launched records outnumbered tow-launched (indi-cated by /T) by five-to-three. Two of the record flights were done on Gin gliders (Boomerang 6 and Boomerang 7), includ-ing the fastest flight— Andy Macrae’s— that averaged 39 km/hour.

Below are a few comments and links to more information about the new state records. And, as always, you can find the complete list of paragliding state records on the USHPA website. http://www.ushpa.aero/comppgstaterecords.asp. The list of state distance records set in 2010 follows:

6/20/10 | arKansasBriTTon sHaw18.1 MiLes, 1Hr15 FroM MT. MaGaZine MacPara MaGUs 6Details about Britton Shaw’s flight.

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/

leonardo/flight/342043

5/02/10 | FLoridaandy Macrae/T115.5 MiLes. 4Hr46 FroM La BeLLeGin BooMeranG 6 Blog post by Andy Macrae about his

Florida record at http://web.mac.com/

macraeandy/Site/Andy_Macraes_Blog/

Entries/2010/5/3_1st_Impressions.html

8/17/10 idaHonaTe scaLes148.5 MiLes, 8Hr03 FroM BaLd MTn oZone ManTra r10.2Newspaper article about Nate Scales

at http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.

php?ID=2005132827

5/29/10 indianaManTas MaKaras/T 54.7 MiLes, 4Hr12 FroM naPPanee aPco visTa

Details on the first Indiana record of the

year by Mantas Makaras at http://www.

xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:ma

ntolinis/29.5.2010/16:19

10/17/10 | indianaJaro KrUPa/T56.6 MiLes, 4Hr08 FroM naPPanee sKy coUnTry MysTic2Jaro Krupa, on breaking the Indiana

record in mid-October: “Flight im-

pressed me also because it was so late

in the season. I didn’t take camera with

me; I just snapped a picture when I

landed and noticed how low the sun

was :-)) Hopefully, next year I

will report more good flights.”

Details at http://www.xcontest.

org/world/en/flights/detail:flyb

oy0871/17.10.2010/17:09

7/24/10 | TennesseeLUis rosenKJer38.2 MiLes, 3Hr16 FroM waLden’s ridGe GradienT avaX Xc3Details on Luis Rosenkjer’s flight at

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/

leonardo/flight/360433

8/26/10 | UTaHBiLL BeLcoUrT159.2 MiLes | 8Hr01 FroM JUPiTer Gin BooMeranG 7 Bill Belcourt, on breaking his old record:

“Yeah, it was a bit crushing to take over

2 hours longer (minimal tailwind) to fly

only 5 miles further than my 10-year-

old record that was set on a serial

glider (an Ozone). Oh, and it was only a

45mph tailwind. I was not wanting to do

that again…. “

8/02/10 | wyoMinGcHiP HiLdeBrand137.2 MiLes, 6Hr19 FroM PHiLLiPs ridGe UP edGe Chip Hildebrand says, “We had a big

day here in Wyoming on Aug 2nd.

Three of us flew over 100 miles: Jon

Hunt, former WY record holder; Josh

Riggs, former WY record holder, a stu-

dent of Jon Hunt; and I, also a student

of Jon Hunt.”

2010 ParaGLidinG sTaTe disTance records by Steve Roti

67

DON’T MISS OUT.BE SURE TO RENEW.

Be sure to renew your USHPA

membership before it expires to

take advantage of online renewals

and participate in the USHPA Green

Initiative. Online renewal is only

available to current members. Expired

members will not have access to

online renewal.

Interested in joining USHPA?

Download an application at

www.ushpa.aero/forms

or call 1-800-616-6888

nO lOnger Flying?Become a

Contributing MemberParticipate in elections!

Receive the monthly magazine!

Application at

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HANG GLIDER PILOT PUBLISHES USHPA

member and magazine contributor,

Mike Vorhis, has written and published

his first fiction novel. “ARCHANGEL

is the culmination of eleven years of

work and the realization of a life-long

dream,” Vorhis says. “Reviewers have

told me the subtle romantic friendship

interwoven through a high suspense,

high intensity thriller is an addictive

potion.” Vorhis reports that the

characters were conceived of a melding

of traditional values, a romantic view of

people and life, ancient warrior code,

and my incurable love for the Outdoors.

And of course the story wouldn’t be

complete without a healthy dose of

soaring flight.

Vorhis’ thriller, ARCHANGEL, is avail-

able in the Amazon Kindle store, the

Barnes & Noble Nookbook store, and

the Apple iBookstore. For more infor-

mation go to www.vorhis.com.

NewRELEASESBooks | Films | Apps | Sites

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero68

SANCTIONED COMPETITION

JUne 5-11 Highland Aerosports Flight Park, Ridgely, MD. East Coast HG Championship. Race to goal. Requirements: Advanced H4, (H3) with meet director approval XC, turbulence, AT ratings, previ-ously flown in a USHPA aerotow comp or have writ-ten approval (before registering) from meet direc-tor, GPS. Prize money awarded based on number of competitors. EntryFee: Class 1/5 $450 early, $500 after 4/15. Sport class $375 early, $425 after 4/15. More Information: Highland Aerosports, Inc 410-634-2700, hanglide@aerosports.net, or www.aerosports.net.

JUne 19-25 Woodrat Mt, Ruch, OR. The Rat Race. Race to Goal. P3 minimum requirement, USHPA membership, helmet, reserve, radio capa-ble to transmit & receive on USHPA frequency. Race trophies for top three open, serial, sport & women. Sprint trophies for top three serial, sport & women. Entry Fee: $395 postmark 4/15; $495 4/15 - 6/19. More Information: Gail Haley - MPH Sports MPHs-ports@charter.net, or www.mphsports.com.

JULy 4-9 Chelan, WA. Chelan Classic National Open Distance Championship. Come fly in the the first National Open Distance hang gliding champi-onship in the world class flatlands of Chelan. Na-tional title awarded to winner. Chelan is fun for the whole family with great camping on the river. More information contact the Cloudbase Country Club, or Steve Alford, at airczr@hotmail.com.

JULy 11-16 Moore, Idaho. The 2011 King Moun-tain Hang Gliding Championships will be held again in the amazing Big Lost Mountains of Idaho. Come fly big distances with fun and challenging tasks with some of America's most dedicated mountain pilots. For more information go to flykingmountain.com, or contact Connie Locke at connie@lockelectric.com.

JULy 11-16 King Mountain, Idaho. Open distance XC. Requirements: H4 or H3 w/sponsor, parachute reserve, helmet. Entry Fee: $1oo prior to June, $150 after June 1. Registration starts Feb 2011 and ends July 11. Prizes: Trophies 1-3rd in Open & Recre-ation class. More Information: www.flykingmoun-tain.com.

JULy 24-30 Monroe Peak, Ritchfield, UT. 2011 Paragliding US Nationals. Race to goal. Require-ments: P3 w/turbulence sign-off, reserve & back protection. Trohpies. Entry Fee: $325 before 5/1, $375 after. More information: Stacy Whitmore 435-979-0225, stacy@cusa.com, or stacy@cusa.com.

aUGUsT 14-20 Big Spring Airport, Big Spring, TX. Big Spring US Nationals. Safe, Fair & Fun Race to Goal. Requirements: H3, aerotow, current experi-ence. Trohpies. Entry Fee: $350 by 6/1 More infor-mation: David Glover 405-830-6420, david@da-vidglover.com, or www.endlessthermal.com.

aUGUsT 14-20 Hearne Municipal Airport, Hearne, TX. Lone Star Nationals PG. A natioal level flatland race to test the potential of hosting a large scale national tow event in the USA. Requirements: P3, tow sign-off, tow bridle. 10% of all entry fees go to prize money. Top three overall & top female. En-try Fee: $250 before 7/1, $350 after 7/1. $150 tow fee. More Information: David Prentice earthcog@yahoo.com, or www.earthcog.com.

sePTeMBer 11-17 Francisco Grande Golf Re-sort & Hotel, Casa Grande, AZ. Santa Cruz Flats Race. XC race to goal. Requirements: H4 or foreign equivalent, aerotow rating, xc & turbulence sign-offs, extensive experience on glider to be flown in comp. 3D GPS. Max 60 entrants. Trophies and day prizes. Entry Fee: $275, tow fees TBA. More Infor-mation: Jamie Shelden 831-261-5444 naughtylaw-yer@gmail.com, or santacruzflatsrace.blogspot.com.

sePTeMBer 4-10 1st US Nationals Open dis-tance Championship at Inspiration Point (Squaw Peak Lookout), Utah. Open distance as per USH-PA OD scoring system. Requirements: P3 w/turbu-lence sign-off, reserve & back protection. Trophies Entry Fee: $325 before 6/1 $375 after. More infor-mation: opendistancenationals.com, Ken Hudonjor-gensen, 801-572-3414, twocanfly@gmail.com, or twocanfly@gmail.com.

NON-SANCTIONED COMPETITION

JULy 18-22 Golden, BC. Canada’s premier rac-ing event at one of the best XC sites in the country. It is sure to be an awesome week! More Information: Brett Yeates 250-421-0670, 2011cannats@gmail.com, or https://sites.google.com/site/2011paraglidingnationals/.

FLY-INS

JUne 3-5 Glassy Mountain, SC. South Carolina Springtime Fly-In, at Glassy Mountain near Greer, SC. Come and enjoy flying and competing (spot, duration, X-C, balloon toss, etc.) at this beauti-ful south-facing mountain. Plaques awarded to all 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers in all competitions (except balloon toss). $20 entry fee for competi-tion flying and $10 for fun flying. Fly-In T-shirts are available. (Due to tree restrictions at launch, para-gliders cannot be flown at this site) More Informa-tion: Paul Peeples 828-885-2536 pbrannenp@msn.com, or http://www.southcarolinahanggliding.com/.

JUne 17-19 Jackson Hole, WY. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, WY. AeroFest 2011. Hike and Fly, Spot Landing, and XC contests. BBQ, Party and Raf-fle. Discounts available on lodging and lift pass-es. More information: Scott Harris 307 690 8726 scott@jhparagliding.com, or www.jhparagliding.com.

C A L E N D A R & C L A S S I F I E DDISPATCH

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 69

JULy 4 Lakeview, OR.The Umpteenth Annu-al Festival of Free Flight will be held on the 4th of July weekend. In addition to the Sugar Hill air race and spot landing competitions, this year registered USHPA pilots will have the thrill of choosing a doll for the new "Barbie Drop." The Pilots party will be held at the Feeley's and fireworks will light up the sky to close out this fun family fly-in. This is a fun time for both hang glider and paraglider pilots, along with their family, friends and pets. For info contact Caro at 541-947-6040.

aUGUsT 13-21 King Mountain, Idaho. Glider Park Safari. Annual Idaho event just east of Sun Valley. Hang Gliders, Paragliders, Sailplanes, and Self Launching Sailplanes are all welcome. Awe-some glass off and cloud bases at 17’999. Fly to Montana or Yellowstone. Campfire, Potlucks, Star Gazing, Hiking, Mountain Biking and Fishing. Free camping at the Glider Park. Call John at 208-407-7174. Go to www.kingmountaingliderpark.com for directions and more info. See the pictures from pri-or Safaris in our gallery.

CLINICS & TOURS

May-ocToBer Michigan. Dragon Fly Soaring Club, Cloud 9 Field. Free basic, advanced, tandem instructor training. Full-time instructor training cen-ter, your schedule. Free instructor training! Normal DFSC flying/rental costs apply. See Hang Glide Uni-versity info at http://dfscinc.org.

May 15 - JUne 15 Peru. Touching the Andes of Peru Tours. Join Jeff Cristol and Adventure Tour Productions for our annual paragliding tour to the Andes of Peru. From Huaraz in the northern cordil-leras to the famous flying near Cuzco visit the high mountains of Peru with Jeff Cristol who intimately knows sites throughout the country. Please visit www.paraglideperu.com, www.adventuretourpro-ductions.com/articles/touchingtheandes.htm and www.adventuretourproductions.com/articles2005/sacredvalley.htm to read about these adventures and for any questions or to reserve a spot:(970) 729-0078, or write jeff@adventuretourproduc-tions.com

JUne 3-5 Jackson Hole, WY June 3-5, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, WY. Instructor Certification Clinic presented by Scott Harris. More Information: Scott Harris 307-690-8726, scott@jhparagliding.com, or www.jhparagliding.com.

JUne 9-14 California. Over-the-water Maneu-vers Clinics in Northern California with Eagle Para-gliding. America’s top all-around acro and compe-tition pilot Brad Gunnuscio will be coaching with our state of the art towing set up. More information: www.paragliding.com, or 805-968-0980

JUne 18-19 Utah. Mountain Flying and learning how to pioneer a new site in Utah with Ken Hudon-jorgensen. Phone: 801-572-3414, or twocanfly@gmail.com, or www.twocanfly.com.

JULy 1-4 Richfield, UT. Paragliding Pre-Nation-als xc and competition clinic. More information: Ken Hudonjorgensen at twocanfly@gmail.com, or 801-572-3414

aUGUsT 4-9 Over-the-water Maneuvers Clin-ics in Northern California with Eagle Paragliding. America’s top all-around acro and competition pilot Brad Gunnuscio will be coaching with our state of the art towing set up. Visit www.paragliding.com , or call 805.968.0980 for more information.

sePTeMBer 16-26 Italy. Join us for Eagle Para-gliding’s Italian Dolomites SIV and XC Tour. This tour starts with a three day SIV clinic at Lago de Garda in Italy. We travel to the Dolomites and other flying sites in Italy flying XC routes. Your tour guides will be Rob Sporrer and Brad Gunnuscio. More informa-tion: www.paragliding.com, or 805-968-0980.

sePTeMBer 24-25 Utah. Mountain Flying and learning how to pioneer a new site in Utah with Ken Hudonjorgensen. More information: 801-572-3414, or twocanfly@gmail.com, or www.twocanfly.com.

sePTeMBer 29 - ocToBer 4 Over-the-water Maneuvers Clinics in Northern California with Ea-gle Paragliding. America’s top all-around acro and competition pilot Brad Gunnuscio will be coaching with our state of the art towing set up. Visit www.paragliding.com , or call 805.968.0980 for more in-formation.

ocToBer 7-9 Owens Valley, CA. Thermal and Cross Country Clinic with Eagle Paragliding. Many pilots are sure to get personal bests. View photos and videos from our last clinic at www.paragliding.com, or call 805.968.0980 for more information.

noveMBer 4-6 Santa Barbara, CA. Instructor Certification Clinic with Rob Sporrer of Eagle Para-gliding in Santa Barbara, California. This three-day clinic is open to basic and advanced Para-gliding Instructor candidates, and those needing recertification. Visit www.paragliding.com, or call 805.968.0980 for more information.

noveMBer 7-8 Santa Barbara, CA. Tandem Paragliding Clinic with Rob Sporrer of Eagle Para-gliding in Santa Barbara, California. Classroom and practical training at our world class training hill. Visit www.paragliding.com, or call 805.968.0980 for more information.

noveMBer 8-15 &/or 17-24 Iquique, Chile. Fly sites w/Ken Hudonjorgensen and local guides. A great trip to what many pilots consider to be the best place to fly in the world. More information: 801-572-3414, or twocanfly@gmail.com, or www.twocanfly.com.

noveMBer 19 - deceMBer 5 Iquique, Chile- Where can you ride thermals everyday of the year? Only in Iquique! Soar endless sand ridges high above the Pacific Ocean until you are tired, thirsty, and hungry, then land on the beach next to our 4 star hotel! Your guides, Luis and Todd, have been Iquique competition champions multiple times and have pioneered many new sites and XC routes, in-cluding the longest flight in Chile! Join them on a paragliding trip of a lifetime where most pilots col-lect more airtime and pilot skills in one week than they normally would in an entire year! With over 16 years of guiding experience in Iquique, they guaran-tee you will fly everyday, or get money back! More details at: www.paraglidingtrips.com

6020

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero70

noveMBer 26 - deceMBer 12 Southern Peru and Iquique, Chile. 2 Countries, 9 PG Environments, 1 Gagillion Flight Hours. +MTBing, Sandboarding & Machu Picchu. Combine the essential with the up-and-coming on our integrated fly-&-travel ad-venture through the Peruvian Andes, Machu Pic-chu, Iquique and Southern Peru. More Information: Pete Rognli 307-200-4912 pete@radventuretrav-els.com, or http://www.radventuretravels.com/pe-ru-iquique.

FLEX WINGS

A GREAT SELECTION OF HG&PG GLIDERS (ss, ds, pg) -HARNESSES (trainer, cocoon, pod) -PARA-CHUTES (hg&pg) -WHEELS (new & used). Phone for latest inventory 262-473-8800, www.hangglid-ing.com

DREAm 222, HPAT 158, NOVA 190, 4 HARNESS-ES, 2 helmets, 1 parachute, Flytec vario, many misc accessories. All $2500, or part out. Contact: ddlofty@hotmail.com, or 503-728-1322

BUSINESS & EMPLOYMENT

INSTRuCTORS NEEDED - Full or part time basic/advanced hang glider instructors. Lodging available. Please contact Greg at Mountain Wings in Ellenville, NY 845-647-3377 mtnwings@verizon.net

LIFE INSuRANCE FOR PILOTS - Inexpensive life insurance is indeed available to U.S. Residents that will protect your loved ones with complete coverage, Term or permanent life. Includes coverage while Hanggliding or Paragliding without exclusion. Call 619-721-3684 or email doug@8financial.com for more information. Ca. ins lic 0b18364

SCHOOLS & DEALERS

ALABAMA

LOOKOuT mOuNTAIN FLIGHT PARK - The best facilities, largest inventory, camping, swimming, volleyball, more. Wide range of accommodations. hanglide.com, 877-HANGLIDE, 877-426-4543, hanglide.com.

CALIFORNIA

AIRJuNKIES PARAGLIDING - Year-round excellent instruction, Southern California & Baja. Powered paragliding, clinics, tours, tandem, towing. Ken Baier 760-753-2664, airjunkies.com.

EAGLE PARAGLIDING - SANTA BARBARA offers the best year round flying in the nation. Award-winning instruction, excellent mountain and ridge sites. www.flysantabarbara.com, 805-968-0980

FLY ABOVE ALL - Year-round instruction in beautiful Santa Barbara! USHPA Novice through Advanced certification. Thermaling to competition training. Visit www.flyaboveall.com 805-965-3733.

FLY AWAY HANG GLIDING - Santa Barbara. Best hill/equipment, glider shuttles up hill, tandems, sales, service, 20 years experience, Instructor Administrator Tammy Burcar. 805-403-8487, www.flyawayhanggliding.com.

THE HANG GLIDING CENTER - PO Box 151542, San Diego CA 92175, 619-265-5320.

mISSION SOARING CENTER LLC - Largest hang gliding center in the West! Our deluxe retail shop showcases the latest equipment: Wills Wing, Moyes, AIR, High Energy, Flytec, Aeros, Northwing, Hero wide angle video camera. A.I.R. Atos rigid wings- demo the VQ-45' span, 85 Lbs! Parts in stock. We stock new and used equipment. Trade-ins welcome. Complete lesson program. Best training park in the west, located just south of the San Francisco Bay Area. Pitman Hydraulic Winch System for Hang 1s and above. Launch and landing clinics for Hang 3s and Hang 4s. Wills Wing Falcons of all sizes and custom training harnesses. 1116 Wrigley Way, Milpitas, CA 95035. 408-262-1055, Fax 408-262-1388, mission@hang-gliding.com, Mission Soaring Center LLC, leading the way since 1973. www.hang-gliding.com

TORREY PINES GLIDERPORT - This historic site, established in 1928, offers all of the services you need. We provide USHPA certified instruction, advanced training, equipment sales, tandem flight instruction, paramotor instruction, SIV clinics, cross country clinics, tandem instructor clinics, paragliding instructor clinics, and a fully staffed cafe. We also have an extensive glider sport shop offering parachute repacks and full-service repairs. We are importers for Paratech, Ozone, Skywalk, Independence gliders and are dealers for all brands! We also carry an extensive certified used inventory of gliders and harnesses. We are the primary Ki2Fly dealer, and also carry AustriAlpin, Crispi, Black Hawk Paramotors, and too much more to list! Check us out online at: www.flytorrey.com, or give us a ring at 1-858-452-9858.

WINDSPORTS - Don’t risk bad weather, bad instruction or dangerous training hills. 350 flyable days each year. Learn foot-launch flying skills safely and quickly. Train with professional CFI’s at world-famous Dockweiler Beach training slopes (5 minutes from LA airport.) Fly winter or summer in gentle coastal winds, soft sand and in a thorough program with one of America’s most prestigious schools for over 25 years. 818-367-2430, www.windsports.com.

COLORADO

GuNNISON GLIDERS – X-C to heavy waterproof HG gliderbags. Accessories, parts, service, serving. Instruction ratings, site-info. Rusty Whitely 1549 CR 17, Gunnison CO 81230. 970-641-9315.

FLORIDA

FLORIDA RIDGE AEROTOW PARK - 18265 E State Road 80, Clewiston, Florida 863-805-0440, www.thefloridaridge.com.

www.ushpa.aero/storeSPOT MESSENGER! $149.95

STAINLESS STEEL! $10www.ushpa.aero/store

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 71

GRAYBIRD AIRSPORTS — Paraglider & hang glider towing & training, Dragonfly aerotow training, XC, thermaling, instruction, equipment. Dunnellon Airport 352-245-8263, email fly@graybirdairsports.com, www.graybirdairsports.com.

LOOKOuT mOuNTAIN FLIGHT PARK - Nearest mountain training center to Orlando. Two training hills, novice mountain launch, aerotowing, great accommodations. hanglide.com, 877-HANGLIDE, 877-426-4543.

mIAmI HANG GLIDING - For year-round training fun in the sun. 305-285-8978, 2550 S Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, Florida 33133, www.miamihanggliding.com.

QuEST AIR HANG GLIDING - We offer the best instruction, friendliest staff, beautiful grounds with swimming pool, private lake and clubhouse, lodging, plus soaring in our super-famous, soft, Sunshine State thermals. Come fly with us! 352- 429- 0213, Groveland, FL, www.questairhanggliding.com

WALLABY RANCH – The original Aerotow flight park. Best tandem instruction worldwide,7-days a week , 6 tugs, and equipment rental. Call:1-800-WALLABY wallaby.com 1805 Deen Still Road, Disney Area FL 33897

GEORGIA

LOOKOuT mOuNTAIN FLIGHT PARK - Discover why 5 times as many pilots earn their wings at LMFP. Enjoy our 110 acre mountain resort. www.hanglide.com, 1-877-HANGLIDE, 1-877-426-4543.

HAWAII

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

INDIANA

CLOuD 9 SPORT AVIATION - See Cloud 9 in Michigan

MARYLAND

HIGHLAND AEROSPORTS - Baltimore and DC’s full-time flight park: tandem instruction, solo aerotows and equipment sales and service. We carry Aeros, Airwave, Flight Design, Moyes, Wills Wing, High Energy Sports, Flytec and more. Two 115-HP Dragonfly tugs. Open fields as far as you can see. Only 1 to 1.5 hours from Rehoboth Beach, Baltimore, Washington DC, Philadelphia. Come Fly with US! 410-634-2700, Fax 410-634-2775, 24038 Race Track Rd, Ridgely, MD 21660, www.aerosports.net, hangglide@aerosports.net.

PARAGLIDE TANDEm – Spring, summer, fall, paragliding instruction in the MD, VA, WV area. Beginner through T-3 training. World-wide tours. Contact Peter 304-596-7442 or pchumes@gmail.com

MICHIGAN

CLOuD 9 SPORT AVIATION (hang gliding equipment), North American Soaring (Alatus ultralight sailplane and e-drive systems), Dragon Fly Soaring Club (hang gliding instruction), at Cloud 9 Field, Webberville, MI.More info: (517) 223-8683, Cloud9sa@aol.com, www.DFSCinc.org.

TRAVERSE CITY HANG GLIDERS/PARAGLIDERS Put your knees in our breeze and soar our 450’ sand dunes. Full-time shop. Certified instruction, beginner to advanced. Sales, service, accessories for ALL major brands. Visa/MasterCard. 1509 E 8th, Traverse City MI 49684. Offering powered paragliding. Call Bill at 231-922-2844, tchangglider@chartermi.net. Your USA & Canada Mosquito distributor. www.mosquitoamerica.com.

NEW YORK

AAA mOuNTAIN WINGS INC. - New location at 77 Hang Glider Road in Ellenville next to the LZ. We service all brands featuring AEROS and North Wing. Contact 845-647-3377, mtnwings@verizon.net, www.mtnwings.com,

FLY HIGH, INC. - Serving New York, Jersey, and Connecticut areas. Area’s exclusive Wills Wing dealer. Also all other brands, accessories. Area’s most INEXPENSIVE prices! Certified instruction/service since 1979. Excellent secondary instruction! Taken some lessons? Advance to mountain flying! www.flyhighhg.com, 845-744-3317.

LET'S GO PARAGLIDING LLC - Paragliding flight school offering USHPA-certified instruction for all levels, tandem lessons, tours, and equipment sales. www.letsgoparagliding.com, 917-359-6449.

SuSQuEHANNA FLIGHT PARK Cooperstown, New York. Serving the North East since 1978. We have the best training hill in New York. Dealers for Wills Wing, and others. Trade-ins welcom. www.cooperstownhanggliding.com, 315-867-8011

NORTH CAROLINA

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

OHIO

CLOuD 9 SPORT AVIATION - See Cloud 9 in Michigan

PUERTO RICO

FLY PuERTO RICO WITH TEAm SPIRIT HG! - Flying tours, rentals, tandems, HG and PG classes, H-2 and P-2 intensive Novice courses, full sales. 787-850-0508, tshg@coqui.net.

TENNESSEE

LOOKOuT mOuNTAIN FLIGHT PARK - Just outside Chattanooga. Become a complete pilot -foot launch, aerotow, mountain launch, ridge soar, thermal soar. hanglide.com, 1-877-HANGLIDE, 877-426-4543.

TEXAS

FLYTExAS / JEFF HuNT - training pilots in Central Texas for 25 years. Hangar facilities near Packsaddle Mountain, and Lake LBJ. More info: www.flytexas.com, (512)467-2529

UTAH

CLOuD 9 PARAGLIDING - Come visit us and check out our huge selection of paragliding gear, traction kites, extreme toys, and any other fun things you can think of. If you aren’t near the Point of the Mountain, then head to http://www.paragliders.com for a full list of products and services. We are Utah’s only full time shop and repair facility, Give us a ring at 801-576-6460 if you have any questions.

SuPER FLY PARAGLIDING – Come to world famous Point of the Mountain and learn to fly from one of our distinguished instructors. We teach year round and offer some of the best paragliding equipment available. Get your P2 certification, advanced ratings or tandem ratings here. We have a full shop to assist you with any of your free flight needs. 801-255-9595, info@superflyinc.com , www.superflyinc.com.

WINGS OVER WASATCH HANG GLIDING - Salt Lake / region 4 area. Certified HANG GLIDING instruction, sales, service. World class training hill! Tours of Utah’s awesome mountains for visiting pilots. DISCOUNT glider/equipment prices. Glider rentals. Tandem flights. Ryan Voight, 801-599-2555, www.wingsoverwasatch.com.

VIRGINIA

BLuE SKY - Full-time HG instruction. Daily lessons, scooter, and platform towing. AT towing part time. Custom sewing, powered harnesses, Aeros PG , Flylight and Airborne trikes. More info: (804)241-4324, or www.blueskyhg.com

PARAGLIDE TANDEm – Spring, summer, fall, paragliding instruction in the MD, VA, WV area. Beginner through T-3 training. World-wide tours. Contact Peter 304-596-7442 or pchumes@gmail.com

WASHINGTON

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

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero72

WEST VIRGINIA

PARAGLIDE TANDEm – Spring, summer, fall, paragliding instruction in the MD, VA, WV area. Beginner through T-3 training. World-wide tours. Contact Peter 304-596-7442 or pchumes@gmail.com

INTERNATIONAL

BAJA mExICO - La Salina: PG, HG, PPG www.FLYLASALINA.com. by www.BAJABRENT.com, He’ll hook you up! site intros, tours, & rooms bajabrent@bajabrent.com, 760-203-2658

COSTA RICA - Grampa Ninja's Paragliders' B&B. Rooms, and/or guide service and transportation. Lessons available from USHPA certified instructors. USA: 908-454-3242. Costa Rica: (Country code, 011) House: 506-2664-6833, Cell: 506-8950-8676, www.paraglidecostarica.com

mExICO - VALLE DE BRAVO and beyond for hang gliding and paragliding. Year round availability and special tours. Gear, guiding, instruction, transportation, lodging - all varieties for your needs. www.flymexico.com 1-800-861-7198 USA

PARTS & ACCESSORIES

FOR ALL YOuR FLYING NEEDS - Check out the Aviation Depot at www.mojosgear.com featuring over 1000 items for foot-launched and powered paragliding, hang gliding, stunt and power kiting, and powered parachutes. 24/7 secure online shopping. Books, videos, KITES, gifts, engine parts, harness accessories, electronics, clothing, safety equipment, complete powered paragliding units with training from Hill Country Paragliding Inc. www.hillcountryparagliding.com 1-800-664-1160 for orders only. Office 325-379-1567.

GuNNISON GLIDERS - X-C, Factory, heavy PVC HG gliderbags. Harness packs & zippers. New/used parts, equipment, tubes. 1549 CR 17 Gunnison, CO 81230 970-641-9315

OxYGEN SYSTEmS – MH-XCR-180 operates to 18,000 ft., weighs only 4 lbs. System includes cylinder, harness, regulator, cannula, and remote on/off flowmeter. $450.00. 1-800-468-8185

SPECIALTY WHEELS for airfoil basetubes, round basetubes, or tandem landing gear.(262)473-8800, www.hanggliding.com.

PUBLICATIONS / ORGANIZATIONS

SOARING - Monthly magazine of The Soaring Society of America Inc. Covers all aspects of soaring flight. Full membership $64. SSA, PO Box 2100, Hobbs NM 88241. 505-392-1177, ssa.org.

SERVICE

CLOuD 9 REPAIR DEPARTmENT - We staff and maintain a full service repair shop within Cloud 9 Paragliding; offering annual inspections, line replacement, sail repair of any kind (kites too!), harness repairs and reserve repacks. Our repair technicians are factory trained and certified to work on almost any paraglider or kite. Call today for an estimate 801-576-6460 or visit www.paragliders.com for more information.

GET YOuR ANNuAL INSPECTION, repair or reserve repack done quickly and professionally. Super Fly does more inspections, repairs and repacks than any service center in North America. Call or email for details and more information. 801-255-9595, info@superflyinc.com.

RISING AIR GLIDER REPAIR SERVICES – A full-service shop, specializing in all types of paragliding repairs, annual inspections, reserve repacks, harness repairs. Hang gliding reserve repacks and repair. For information or repair estimate, call (208) 554-2243, pricing and service request form available at www.risingair.biz, billa@atcnet.net.

TOWING

1984 18ft 9in Correctcraft ski nautique 2001 with trailer. set up with elec wench and take off platform for boat tow hang gliding. Contact: 269-979-4356, 269-965-7092, elsablanton@sbcglobal.net, or 269-963-1221

WANTED

WANTED - Used variometers, harnesses, parachutes, helmets, etc. Trade or cash. (262) 473-8800, www.hanggliding.com.

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Big Spring Hang Gliding Nationals � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 29

Flytec - Blueeyes � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 69

Flytec - 6020 � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 69

Flytec � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 80

Foundation for Free Flight � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �11

Hall Brothers � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 25

King Mountain � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 39

Kitty Hawk Kites � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 19

Kootenay Twisted Flyers � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 70

Lonestar Paragliding Nationals � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 55

Lookout Mountain � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 69

North Wing� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 21

Ozone Paragliders � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 2

Rat Race � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 9

Sky Wings Magazine � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 25

Skywalk � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 15

Soaring Society of America � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 73

Sol � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 33

Sport Aviation Publications � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 38

Superfly � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 79

Thermal Tracker Paragliding � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 67

Torrey Pines � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 45

US Parachuting Association� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 57

Wills Wing � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 5

USHPA | Visa � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 31

ADVERTISERS

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero74

F E B R U A R Y | 2 0 1 1 RATINGSHANG GLIDING

PARAGLIDINGRTNG REGN NAmE CITY STATE RATING OFFICIAL

RTNG REGN NAmE CITY STATE RATING OFFICIAL

P-1 1 Kris Miller Haines AK Kevin LeeP-1 1 Ryan Martin Port Alexander AK Rob SporrerP-1 1 Jake Soplanda Anchor Point AK Chris SantacroceP-1 1 Janice Keeley Portland OR Dan CombsP-1 2 Norman (scott) Macleod Walnut Creek CA Wallace AndersonP-1 2 Thanh Nguyen Palo Alto CA Jeffrey GreenbaumP-1 2 Silver Keskkula Palo Alto CA Wallace AndersonP-1 2 Joseph Denicola Los Gatos CA Wallace Anderson

P-1 2 Greg Lasalle San Mateo CA Jeffrey GreenbaumP-1 3 Elena Portnaya San Diego CA Steve StackableP-1 3 Mher Sarkissian Garden Grove CA Rob MckenzieP-1 3 Adnan Reguieg West Hills CA Bruce KirkP-1 3 Casey Kringlen Los Angeles CA Jonathan LeggP-1 4 John Harlow Vail CO Thomas KeoughP-1 5 Miles Daisher Twin Falls ID Chris SantacroceP-1 8 Alex Sander De Souza Watertown MA Luiz Fernando CostaP-1 9 Dwight Scarborough Dublin OH Nick CraneP-1 12 Peter Tast Northport NY Rob SporrerP-2 1 Kris Miller Haines AK Kevin LeeP-2 1 Ryan Martin Port Alexander AK Rob SporrerP-2 1 Jake Soplanda Anchor Point AK Chris SantacroceP-2 2 Timo Ertz Walnut Creek CA Jeffrey GreenbaumP-2 2 Thanh Nguyen Palo Alto CA Jeffrey GreenbaumP-2 2 Silver Keskkula Palo Alto CA Wallace AndersonP-2 3 Elena Portnaya San Diego CA Steve StackableP-2 3 Mher Sarkissian Garden Grove CA Rob MckenzieP-2 3 Greg Mills San Diego CA Bradley GearyP-2 3 Adnan Reguieg West Hills CA Bruce KirkP-2 4 Kirk Shastid Glendale AZ Carlos MadureiraP-2 5 Miles Daisher Twin Falls ID Chris SantacroceP-2 8 Alex Sander De Souza Watertown MA Luiz Fernando CostaP-2 9 Dwight Scarborough Dublin OH Nick CraneP-2 12 Peter Tast Northport NY Rob SporrerP-3 2 Patrick Shanahan San Francisco CA Jeffrey GreenbaumP-3 2 Pierre-jean Beney Henderson NV Chad BastianP-3 2 Matt Egidio Petaluma CA Rob SporrerP-3 2 David Mcmillan San Francisco CA Kim GalvinP-3 2 Silver Keskkula Palo Alto CA Wallace AndersonP-3 3 Mike Branger San Diego CA Robin MarienP-3 3 Christian Spannhoff Woodland Hills CA Rob SporrerP-3 3 Elena Portnaya San Diego CA Steve StackableP-3 3 Mark Meyers San Diego CA Bob Hammond JrP-3 4 Michael Haberstock Cottonwood Hts UT Kevin HintzeP-3 4 Todd Sherman Logan UT Jonathan JefferiesP-3 4 Jamie Kulju Salt Lake City UT Jeffrey FarrellP-3 4 Carlos Cox Albuquerque NM T Lee KortschP-3 4 Jeff Peo Draper UT Jonathan JefferiesP-3 5 Mark Mol Wilson WY Scott HarrisP-3 5 Miles Daisher Twin Falls ID Chris SantacroceP-3 8 Jan Passion Jericho VT Jeffrey GreenbaumP-3 9 Dan Tomlinson Woodbridge VA Elisabeth (ellis) KimP-3 9 Dwight Scarborough Dublin OH Nick CraneP-3 13 Guy Herrington Vancouver, Bc Dion VukP-4 1 Theodore Sopher Renton WA Mark ChiricoP-4 2 Stewart (kevin) Hester-chow Belmont CA Kim GalvinP-4 3 Dietrich Schuhl Los Angeles CA Stephen McgarvaP-4 8 Roberto Cardoso Everett MA Marcello De Barros

RTNG REGN NAmE CITY STATE RATING OFFICIAL

H-1 2 Rolla Manning Jr Las Vegas NV Allen SparksH-1 2 Dirk Chubbic San Jose CA David YountH-1 2 Diosdadd (don) Macasaet Mountain House CA George HamiltonH-1 2 Terry Strahl Modesto CA George HamiltonH-1 3 Kevin Lamkin Santa Barbara CA Zac MajorsH-1 3 Colin (roland) Sykes San Diego CA John HeineyH-1 3 Michael Soultanian Long Beach CA Greg DewolfH-1 7 Laura Heft Bloomington IN Daniel HartowiczH-1 9 Eric Surber Richmond VA Steve WendtH-1 10 Charles Matthews Lookout Mtn GA Daniel ZinkH-1 11 Mike Atkinson San Antonio TX James TindleH-1 13 Camille Girard Montreal, Qc Steve BernierH-2 2 Rolla Manning Jr Las Vegas NV Allen SparksH-2 2 A J Dinger San Francisco CA Harold JohnsonH-2 2 Ali Rawaf Berkeley CA Barry LevineH-2 3 Alvin Fernandez Lakewood CA Greg DewolfH-2 3 Kevin Lamkin Santa Barbara CA Zac MajorsH-2 3 Colin (roland) Sykes San Diego CA John HeineyH-2 7 Laura Heft Bloomington IN Daniel HartowiczH-2 8 David Kano West Lebanon NH Daniel ZinkH-2 9 Eric Surber Richmond VA Steve WendtH-2 10 Charles Matthews Lookout Mtn GA Daniel ZinkH-2 11 Mike Atkinson San Antonio TX James TindleH-2 13 Camille Girard Montreal, Qc Steve BernierH-3 2 Rolla Manning Jr Las Vegas NV Allen SparksH-3 2 Debbie Vosevich Miranda CA Joe WeethH-3 2 Ronald Den Heyer Eureka CA Joe WeethH-3 2 Jessica Williamson Stateline NV Harold JohnsonH-3 2 Ananth Vikram Bommireddipalli Fremont CA Eric HinrichsH-3 3 Colin (roland) Sykes San Diego CA John HeineyH-3 6 Kelley Brow Ozark MO Melton HairH-3 11 Mike Atkinson San Antonio TX James TindleH-3 11 Christopher (kit) Martin Grapevine TX Joel FroehlichH-4 2 Rolla Manning Jr Las Vegas NV Allen SparksH-4 2 James Zender Lompoc CA Tammy BurcarH-4 3 Colin (roland) Sykes San Diego CA John Heiney

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero 75Russel Ogden on his way to taking second at the PWC Colombia. | photo by Nick Greece

1971 - 1973 Low & Slow1972 - 1976 Ground Skimmer1976 - 2003 Hang Gliding1993 - 2003 Paragliding2003 - 2008 Hang Gliding & Paragliding

CompleteMAGAZINE

COLLECTION

1971-2008

You hold the history of our sport, from the earliest days of bamboo and plastic to the present. Within these pages you’ll fi nd the evolution

of foot-launched fl ight from the fi rst days of bamboo dune-skimmers to the modern variety of hang gliders, paragliders and rigid wings. Each PDF fi le is one complete magazine, just

as originally published. Pages with color have produced as color scans,

the rest scanned as black and white images. Blemishes or imperfections are present in the original source magazines, some of which were the only known copies remaining.

MA

GA

ZIN

E C

OL

LE

CT

ION

19

71-

20

08

Future issues will be available on an update disk. Compilation copyright. 1974-2008, US Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association. All rights reserved. Other material republished by permission of copyright holders. Please don’t dupli-cate or reproduce this work without permission. For limited reprint permission (club newsletters, etc.) contact the USHPA offi ce at 1-800-616-6888 or E-mail: info@ushpa.aero Pages scanned and indexed by Scandoc, Inc. of Aracata, CA. www.scandoc.com. Cover design by Gregory Gillam, greg@gillamdesign.com.

Each disk includes Adobe Acrobat Reader Version 7 for Windows, Macintosh and Linux systems.

1972 - 1976 Ground Skimmer

2003 - 2008 Hang Gliding & Paragliding

1971-20081971-20081971-2008

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RED BULL X-ALPS 2009 DVD | $42.95LIFTING AIR | $39.95

RED BULL X-ALPS 2007 DVD | $45.95WEATHER TO FLY DVD | $39.95

PERFORMANCE FLYING DVD | $42.95

THE ART OF PARAGLIDING | $34.95 !

Excellent illustrations and a

companion DVD make this

paragliding tome a must-

have in any pilot's library.

As an introduction or a

refresher reference you'll

find what you're looking for.

You'll read Dennis Pagen's

ultimate weather book again

and again as your brain at-

tempts to wrap itself around

one of the most complex

topics in the history of

topics. A must have–period.

Thermal Flying is a compre-

hensive guide to the art of

thermaling and XC flying. This

260 page book is packed with

clear diagrams, photos and the

knowledge you need to make

the most of each flying day.

It's here! The latest edition

has cool extras including

athlete profiles and a Team

Camera featurette. You

can't live without this DVD.

This DVD features great footage

of soaring flight over the rolling

hills of Washington. Dixon White

talks you through climbing and

taking that first cross country

leap. An excellent refresher or

introduction.

Americans Nate Scales and

Honza Rejmanek tested

themselves at last year's

edition of the Alpine torture

device known as X-Alps.

Epic flights. Monster hikes.

Determination. Inspiration.

Dixon White left a powerful

legacy and this is part of

it. He explains weather

concepts in an approach-

able way. If you take your

weather seriously, you'll

want a copy of this DVD.

Join Jocky Sanderson

for one of the best master

classes out there. Learn to

thermal smarter, have more

fun and sample French

wingovers. "Light in zee

seat, heavy in zee brake..."

This thorough guide by Dennis

Pagen is a must have for any

paraglider's library. Get started,

keep flying, or go back and

review. An excellent reference.

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BROKEN TOE ACRO DVD | $44.95

Join Enleau O'Connor and

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Get out your airsick bag and

call the attendant because

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hours and 20 minutes!

Connections78 |

Hang Gliding & Paragliding | www.USHPA.aero78

by Steve Messman

I’ve said before that I really don’t be-lieve things happen for any particu-lar reason or with any supernatural

intent. Sometimes, though, things happen that cause me to rethink that belief.

“Connections” is one of those things. My dad and mom met each other in

1948. They lived and grew up about 40 miles from each other during a time and in a place when no one drove 40 miles to anywhere except to buy seed for crops. They didn’t shop at the same stores. They didn’t attend the same schools. They didn’t even worship at the same church. But as it happens, they did, as young adults, work for the same people. That’s how they met. A perfectly improbable connection that resulted in me.

I met my wife-to-be in 1958. We did grow up in the same town. We went to the same public school. We shopped in the same stores. Our families even spent weekends together at the lake. I hated her back then. She was rude. She was a know-it-all. She was bossy. And, she couldn’t play cards worth a darn! As we grew older, we avoided each other to the best of our abilities. In 1971, after we had not seen each other for a number of years, I was walking in the alley behind her house: a direct path that I followed to meet my dad at a job site. Carol was sitting in the swing on her back porch and said, “Hi.” What follows is history; what remains is yet to be written. A strange connection that hap-pened…by accident?

In 1974 or thereabouts, I was sta-tioned at a military training facility that was cradled in southern Germany’s Rhön Mountains. Those mountains housed one of the largest glider facilities in the repub-lic of Germany. It was also right there

that two American “hippie types” literally walked into my office and offered a new type of recreation to American soldiers: hang gliding. Connections.

In 2000, my wife and I (the same woman I hated way back when) were driving a motorcycle across the United States and back from Washington state. Somewhere during that ride, we were sit-ting at a restaurant overlooking a beach, and the coolest thing I had ever seen swooped right past our balcony table. I

discovered that it was a paraglider, came home, got on the internet, and found Tiger Mountain. Beautiful connections.

I can’t possibly count the number of connections that have happened in life just to bring me to this place and this point in time. It’s difficult to imagine how things would be different if any particular connection had not been made. What if I had not met Carol in the alley that after-noon? What if my sons had decided to go to different colleges and what if they met different women? What if those unions had not resulted in the grandchildren I enjoy today?

Likewise, I can’t imagine how life would be different if two long-haired Americans had not walked into my very military office. How strong was the con-nection that day Kim decided to start the flying club? What if Mike had not joined, and what if he had not so actively recruit-ed others? How would life be different if I had never met or never had the op-portunity to fly with Ken, or Joe, or Jim, or Wayne, or Paul, or………….? How wonderful that those hundreds of con-nections that “just happened,” got me out of Indiana and brought me to this state and it’s glorious mountains, gave me the special gift of flight, introduced me to my circle of flying friends, kept me in the air on weekends, and maybe even on week-days. How wonderful that each and every one of these connections happened at all.

If any single connection had not been made, the odds of my existence are infi-nitely small. If I did exist in some alter-nate life, the chances of my meeting two hippie pilots, of learning to fly, of seeing that paraglider, of finding an instructor at Tiger Mountain are even smaller, prob-ably somewhere between infinitesimal and nonexistent. Truthfully, the odds of making any such connection are so small that it is easy to believe they happen on purpose, by someone’s intent. I don’t know if they do or not. I only know that regardless of how they happen, by intent or by random accident, an understated fact is that connections make life interest-ing. Connections surprise us with all of life’s gifts: love, family, hobbies, friends. In my case, and probably in yours, con-nections introduced us to the thrill of flight, to the greatness of flying friends, to the damp mist of clouds, to the depth of personal challenges, and to the eventual truth of dreams.

Coco Santacroce | Photo by Chris Santacroce

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