Hang Gliding & Paragliding Vol45/Iss04 Apr2015

1HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

APRIL 2015 Volume 45 Issue 4 $6.95

2 HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

http://flyozone.com

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 [email protected] 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 [email protected], 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, [email protected], (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 [email protected].

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

COPYRIGHT Copyright (c) 2014 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.

Martin Palmaz, [email protected]

Nick Greece, [email protected]

Greg Gillam, Art Director [email protected]

C.J. Sturtevant, Copy Editor [email protected]

Beth Van Eaton, Advertising [email protected]

Staff Writers

Christina Ammon, Dennis Pagen, C.J. Sturtevant

Ryan Voight

Staff PhotographersJohn Heiney, Jeff Shapiro

Hang gliding and paragliding are INHERENTLY DANGEROUS

activities. USHPA recommends pilots complete a pilot training

program under the direct supervision of a USHPA-certified

instructor, using safe equipment suitable for your level of

experience. Many of the articles and photographs in the

magazine depict advanced maneuvers being performed by

experienced, or expert, pilots. These maneuvers should not be

attempted without the prerequisite instruction and experience.WARN

ING

ON THE COVER, Jamie Shelden on the dunes, enjoying her glider. MEANWHILE, Stefan Mitovich captures a

unique cloud moment in Valle De Bravo, Mexico.

http://flyozone.com

FLIGHT PLAN

BRIEFINGS

CENTERFOLD

RATINGS

CALENDAR

CLASSIFIED

THE 1

7

8

34

60

62

64

66

12

14

36

52

56

APRIL 2015

16

28

44

Tennessee Tree Toppers

Team Challenge

by Claudia Mejia

Search and Rescue

Preparing in Colorado

by Rich Jesuroga

Rat Race Super Clinic

THE Grad School for Paragliding

by Kari Castle, Kay Tauscher & Ken Hudonjorgensen

Flying YogaCow, Cat, Tiger

by Sofia Puerta Webber

Ooooooh Idaho!by Nate Scales

Return to DinosaurAfter All These Years...

by Russ Locke

Confessions...of a Broken Pilot

by Brianna Kufa

Think Outside the BlocksPart XV: House Lift Lines

by Dennis Pagen

bags

paraglidersHELMETS

RESERVES

ACCESSORIES

VARIOS

harnesses

801.255.9595w w w.superflyinc.com [email protected]

Our offices are open Monday thru Friday 9-5. Call or stop by for free information or advice.

Our online store is open for business 24-hours a day, seven days a week for all your flying equipment needs

w w w . s u p e r f l y i n c . c o m

http://superflyinc.com

bags

paraglidersHELMETS

RESERVES

ACCESSORIES

VARIOS

harnesses

801.255.9595w w w.superflyinc.com [email protected]

Our offices are open Monday thru Friday 9-5. Call or stop by for free information or advice.

Our online store is open for business 24-hours a day, seven days a week for all your flying equipment needs

w w w . s u p e r f l y i n c . c o m

http://superflyinc.com


FLIGHT PLAN

As we welcome the harbingers of a long awaited spring, the USHPA membership is preparing for another

whirlwind flight-filled summer. This issue includes its usual inspiring stories as well as three articles that focus on issues related to safety. We hope to challenge the USHPA membership to take a long, honest look at the culture of safety that surrounds our local communities.

Free flight sits in an interesting space in relation to our aviator brethren. We are seemingly equal parts sport and aviation. We jump in our cars, drive our aircraft to launch, hike our wings to where we will lay them out, and proceed to assemble and review what few checklists we have in a social environment. It seems that in our socializing at the flying hill, we may be doing a disservice to our pre-flight checklist and our ability to initiate a mental shift toward the serious business of aviation. Consider the serious nature of a pre-flight check conducted by a pilot flying a plane. This checklist functions not only to make sure all mechanical parts are in a good working order, but also to set a tone of seriousness of purpose in the pilot who will succeed in repeatedly defeating a universal principle—gravity.

USHPA is a diverse culture of indi-viduals who generally do not appreciate being told what to do, and an organization whose members fly across the country,

where customs and views drastically change from site to site and region to region. That is why the onus for creating a culture of safety must come from within each pilot and be religiously applied to his or her flying. With discipline, each pilot can create the continuity of a safety system, no matter where and with whom they fly.

We must strive to create our own “pilot-in-command protocols” that focus on pre-fight checks, flying in conditions with which we are comfortable, and fol-lowing a game-plan on every flight that methodically addresses our safe landing when the lift runs out.

Folks often say, “I fly for fun.” Everyone has his or her own interpretation of what this means, from morning sled rides to long cross-country flights, but what we should be thinking is, “I fly safely. And that’s fun.”

As you prepare for the coming season, we hope you will help USHPA, your fellow pilots, and, most importantly, the people who care most about you—your family—by making concerted efforts to focus on what your “pilot-in-command protocols” are and how you can best imple-ment them in your lives.

LEfT James B. over Nantucket | photo by Peter Bysshe.


PILOT BRIEFINGS

· Advanced options available:

FLARM anti-collision, pitot and

FlyLink for connection to additional

Flytec sensors

Early-adoptEr pricing modElConnect 1 initially will be

launched with limited functional-

ity to early adopters at a reduced

price. Over subsequent months,

Flytec will issue free updates to the

early adopters until the Connect 1

reaches full functionality. Timeline of

software releases for early adopters:

· March: Basic instrument with easy

WiFi update capability

· May: Waypoints, airspaces

· July: XC routes

· September: Race routes

· November: Maps

For pilots looking for even more,

later this year Flytec expects to

release the Connect 3, based on the

Connect 1 but geared towards high-

level XC and competition flying. For

more information on the Connect,

please visit www.flytec.com or call

800-662-2449.

FLYTEC CONNECT Flytec is pleased to announce

the new Connect 1 flight instru-

ment, ideally suited for XC pilots

ready to set new personal bests or

take the next step in their competi-

tion flying. Similar to smart phones,

the Connect 1 is the first smart vario

featuring a touch screen, a multitude

of sensors, and a range of connec-

tivity options. With an emphasis

on connectivity, pilots can easily

exchange data with their Connect

1 without a computer. The Connect

1 brings together the latest tech-

nologies with Flytec’s 30+ years of

expertise.

HigHligHts of tHE connEct 1· WiFi and Bluetooth wireless

connections allow for upload and

download of files directly from the

instrument

· Smart software updates inform

the pilot when a software update

is available by merely connecting the

instrument to the Internet periodically

· Multiple thermaling tools, includ-

ing Graphic Thermal Assistant, help

the pilot find the strongest lift in a

thermal and stay there

· Graphic airspace display provides

navigation around airspaces on cross-

country flights

· Map with main features including

roads, rivers, towns

· Easy connection to computers

(Mac, PC, Android, Linux, etc.) with-

out any drivers

· Connectivity to third-party

smart devices such as tablets, smart

phones, Google Glass, etc.

7 NEW FLYING ACCESSORIES by Yoon Kim For those who work for outdoor gear

companies, the month of January

is often referred to as tradeshow

season. At least nine major outdoor

tradeshows happen during the first

month of the year, many of which

overlap in dates. We had the chance

to attend four of these: the Consumer

Electronics Show (CES), Outdoor

Retailer Winter Market (ORWM), Surf

Expo and the Snowsports Industry

Association Snow Show (SIA) in

search of the latest and greatest ac-

cessories for our readers. Here are

some toys that caught our eyes...

GOAL ZERO FLIP 20 AND FLIP 10Where Seen: CES

Price: Flip 20 N/A, Flip 10 $29.99

Date Available: Flip 20 Summer 2015,

Flip 10 is Available Now

Anyone who has ever spent an ex-


Martin Palmaz, Executive [email protected]

Beth Van EatonOperations Manager & Advertising

[email protected]

Ashley Miller, Membership [email protected]

Julie Spiegler, Program [email protected]

USHPA OFFICERS & EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Rich Hass, [email protected]

Paul Murdoch, Vice [email protected]

Steve Rodrigues, Secretary

[email protected]

Mark Forbes, [email protected]

REGION 1: Rich Hass, Mark Forbes. REGION 2: Jugdeep Aggarwal, Josh Cohn, Jon James. REGION 3: Corey Caffrey, Pete Michelmore, Alan Crouse. REGION 4: Bill Belcourt, Ken Grubbs. REGION 5: Josh Pierce. REGION 6: David Glover. REGION 7: Paul Olson. REGION 8: Michael Holmes. REGION 9: Felipe Amunategui, Larry Dennis. REGION 10: Bruce Weaver, Steve Kroop, Matt Taber. REGION 11: David Glover. REGION 12: Paul Voight. DIRECTORS AT LARGE: Ryan Voight, Bill Bolosky, Steve Rodrigues, Dennis Pagen, Jamie Shelden. 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.

for change of address or other USHPA businesscall (719) 632-8300, or email [email protected].

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.

tended amount of time outside knows

about Nomophobia, or the fear of

not having a mobile phone. While the

Flip 20 can’t help you recover a lost

phone, it can help keep it charged.

The Flip 20, available in the fall, can

charge a typical smartphone about

twice while the smaller Flip 10s can

almost fill a full charge.

OUTDOOR TECH CHIPSWhere Seen: SIA

Price: $129.95

When not listening for wind noise

or vario beeps, music in the air can

be a beautiful thing. The Outdoor

Tech Chips are compatible with just

about any helmet on the market (they

slide right into the ear flaps) and are

AWARD WINNER NOTICES & ERRATA It has come to our attention that Bob Reynolds—recently recognized in the

February issue as the recipient of a USHPA 2014 Commendation for his work

with the West Rutland (Vermont) site—has passed. In her article announc-

ing the 2014 award winners, C.J. Sturtevant wrote, “ Bob has been a tireless

and generous friend to free flight in New England. West Rutland, Vermont’s

hang-and-para friendly site has benefited from Bob’s energy and caring spirit

for many years.” Robert Allan Reynolds, 55, died Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015, in

Rutland, Vermont. Memorial contributions may be made to Vermont Hang

Gliding Association, PO Box 1425, West Dover, VT 05356.

Also, in that same issue, we inadvertently misspelled the names of two

2014 Award recipients: Shawn MacDuff and Jack Yount Walters. We apolo-

gize to these pilots for the error.


perhaps the safest option for quickly

turning on/off your tunes. Each

“Chip” is essentially one large button

that can be pressed with a mitten if

need be. One click turns the music on

and one click turns the music off.

THULE LEGEND GOPRO BACKPACKWhere Seen: ORWM

Price: $199.95

Date Available: Fall 2015

GoPros are notorious for jumbling

around at the bottom of packs.

Jumble no more! This 24-liter day

pack is perfect for holding all your

GoPro accessories plus some snacks

and perhaps a post-flight libation.

The pack has a slot for a hydration

reservoir and there are two integrated

mounts on the pack so you can film

from multiple angles.

VAPUR MICROFILTERWhere Seen: Surf Expo

Price: $69.99

Date Available: Now

You never know where or where

you’ll get thirsty. Having one of these

in your pack means as long as you

can find fresh water, you can stay

hydrated. The filtration straw can

remove 99.9% of waterborne bacteria

and protozoa from hundreds of liters

of water. The best part of this “bottle”

is when it’s empty, if compacts down

to 2.7 ounces of flatness.

HELLY HANSEN ACTIVE FLOW BASELAYERWhere Seen: ORWM

Price: $85

Date Available: Now

The Active Flow from Helly Hansen

isn’t as skin-tight as other baselay-

ers that can feel rather awkward if

worn as a shirt. This synthetic layer is

made of moisture-wicking polyester

and because of the way it fits, can be

worn as a performance piece under a

shell or even as casual clothing. Helly

Hansen has steadily built a reputation

for their synthetics (and wool mix).

OSBE MAJIC HELMETWhere Seen: SIA

Price: $549

Date Available: Now

OSBE has been making helmets for

the Italian Air Force for decades and

only recently entered the US, posi-

tioning themselves as a ski-helmet

company. But we know better than

that. The visor on this carbon com-

posite-fiber helmet slides right under

the brow eliminating any gap be-

tween the goggle and the helmet. It’s

EN 1077 certified, 100% made in Italy.

BERGANS AIROJOHKA JACKETWhere Seen: CES

Price: $369.00

Date Available: Now

This windproof, waterproof shell

has a four-way-stretch Nylon fabric

that doesn’t constrict movement.

The hood is helmet compatible for

keeping the drafts off your neck and

the seams all are fully welded leaving

water with no possible way to get in.

At 420 g (14.8 oz.) it weighs just a

little more than a can of soda and rolls

up nicely into the hood when not in

use.

May 15-18, 2015

Hang GlidingSpectacular

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Outer Banks, NC

603.542.4416 · FlyMorningside.comCHARLESTOWN, NH

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Sponsorship Packagesavailable!

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Welcome to Flying Yoga. I hope to help you create a healthy routine that incorporates

endurance, strength, balance and flex-ibility into your flights by sharing with you simple yoga postures, exercises and tips which can become an important part of your flying lifestyle.

When I first arrive at a flying site, I perform my inner “energy ceremony.” I am inspired by my surroundings to take deep yogic breaths: I inhale through the nose, extending my abdo-men, and then exhale through the nose, pulling the abdomen in. This is a rhythmical exercise that gives one prana, or energy, and activates the lowest part of the lungs. By practic-ing belly-breathing, one becomes fully conscious of the action of breathing, facilitating awareness and relaxation. For yogis, breathing is also an expres-sion of gratefulness—a demonstration of gratitude—and a great instrument for meditation. Air is vital, and pure air is crucial for achieving prana.

Prana is the vital energy that gives us fuel to live our lives, like the wind that lifts up our wings. We get energy through the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, our friends, our thoughts, our conversations, places we go, decisions we make and the won-derful flights we get.

In order to have pure air, we need to make a commitment to having smoke-free flying zones. Let’s treat our bodies like our flying equipment. If you have ever heard an inner voice telling you to quit smoking, heed it.

To further prepare yourself to fly, I encourage you to practice Cat/Cow and Tiger Poses.

CAT AND COW SEQUENCE (marjaryasana to bitilasana)Start with your hands and knees on the ground with your spine in neutral posi-tion. Place your knees directly beneath your hips and your hands beneath your shoulders.

Inhale, while gently bringing up your chin and your tailbone. Cow pose.

Exhale and arch your spine, tuck your tailbone in and under and round your back, lifting it in an arc, as you draw your abdomen up and in, like a cat.

Repeat this sequence 10 to 20 times, breathing rhythmically as you move.

BEnEfits: Both of these poses warm up the spine. The combination of the two is beneficial to your nervous system, helping you remove anxiety and increase prana.

TIGER POSE(vyaghrasana)Start on your hand and knees. Lift one arm even with the shoulder and stretch it forward. Raise the opposite leg up behind you at the same level and stretch it out.

Look straight ahead. Take five deep breaths.

Repeat with the other arm and op-posite leg.

BEnEfits: This pose helps you learn to stabilize your center while moving your limbs, thereby improving your pelvic stability and strengthening your gluteal muscles. It will give you balance, not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. It tones spinal nerves, relaxes the sciatic nerve, loosens legs, tones reproductive organs, stretches abdominals, promotes digestion, stimu-lates blood circulation. And it helps you strengthen your willpower.

ONE-HANDED TIGER POSE (eka hasta vyaghrasana)Start with Tiger Pose. If you feel any discomfort, kneel on a blanket.

Shift your weight onto the hand that is on the ground.

Bend the raised knee and reach back for your foot with the opposite raised hand. If you can’t reach your foot, try to grab your leg or your clothing. If this is still is too difficult to achieve while balanced, bring your knee up as high as possible.

Lift up your head, keep your hips parallel to the ground.

Breathe and hold for five breaths. Repeat with the other leg and op-

posite arm.

BEnEfits: Stretches the shoulder and front thigh, strengthens arms and tones kidneys. Stimulates adrenal glands and the prana in the body.

tips: Please breathe! The places we fly are

full of prana. Your bad habits can be replaced by good habits. Yoga helps. Set yourself free. Be the pilot of your life!

Tell me how you feel at [email protected].

Sofia Puerta Webber is a journalist, certified yoga therapist, fitness instructor and pilot in the San Diego area. She conducts Flying Yoga sessions on Fridays at 9:00 a.m. at Torrey Pines Gliderport, La Jolla, CA. www.shiwido.com.

Your bad habits can be replaced by good habits. Yoga helps. Set yourself free.

FLYING YOGA by Sofia Puerta Webber


Central Idaho is known famous-ly—and even infamously—in both hang gliding and para-

gliding for the big-air sites of King Mountain and Sun Valley. These sites have regularly hosted contests for some of the best pilots in the sport and been the site of numerous records. But Central Idaho also has a different side, one that is not so well known yet in flying circles. The Boulder/White Cloud Mountain ranges are some of

the premier hike-and-fly areas in the world.

The Boulder/White Clouds (nice name for a flying range!) are located in the heart of the state, forming the headwaters of the Salmon and Big Wood rivers. This area has recently been in the national news as the heart of the nation’s next possible national monument. It is no wonder people want to protect this area; the mountains are beautiful, the streams

are clear, the wildlife is abundant, and the flying is awesome.

These combined ranges are farther north than Sun Valley and King, making them just a little farther from the desert that causes Sun Valley and King to pump so hard. They get more moisture, making the flying slightly softer. The majority of the south faces are still free of vegetation, allowing for almost unlimited launch and landing possibilities. The ranges are

oooOOOh IDAHO! by Nate Scales


almost entirely surrounded by public land, so landing out is never a problem. Highway 75 runs up the front of both ranges, and well-used dirt roads run regularly into the ranges. This makes retrieve easy, if you are lucky enough to have a driver, and hitchhiking an easy possibility if necessary.

Local pilots have been hiking in and flying from these mountains since the early 1990s, when paragliding first came to the area. The Boulder/White Clouds did then, and still do, provide an ideal place to practice the sports we love. If you get on your computer and examine the area, you will see the possibilities are almost unlimited.

As the proposed Boulder/White Cloud National Monument continues

to be promoted by the Obama administration, it is super important that the powers that be know of our flying history in the ranges. Our awesome executive director Martin Palmaz is on the ball, working with other outdoor recreation industry groups to make sure we don’t lose this valuable flying area. What’s best for us to do is to continue to get out and fly. If you have a desire for a great new flying adventure in a beautiful setting, please consider coming to Central Idaho and checking out the Boulder/White Clouds. For more information on flying in the area, please feel free to contact me, Nate Scales, at [email protected], or the local school/tandem operation, Fly Sun Valley at [email protected].

LEfT Russ Ogden over King Mountain near Arco, Idaho | photo by Nick Greece.

oooOOOh IDAHO! by Nate Scales

http://www.hallwindmeter.com

Tennessee Tree Toppers

Team ChallengebY C l a u di a m e j i a


Team Challenge


The only word I can use to describe the fall of 2014 is FANTASTIC! Towards the end of the summer, my calendar was almost empty, espe-cially between September and November. So

I was surprised to end up participating in two different events that led me to new places where I met old and new friends, flew new sites and learned so much that I was sad when I boarded the plane to go back to Europe at the end of November.

One of the events that provided a wonderful experience for me was the Team Challenge (TC) organized by the Tennessee Tree Toppers, to which I’ll devote this article. In a subsequent article, I will recount the story of how I finally made it all the way to Dunlap, Tennessee.

My adventure began last fall with the decision/oppor-tunity to work with Jamie Shelden and her group of as-sistants at the 8th edition of the Santa Cruz Flats (SCFR) at Casa Grande, Arizona. You probably read about this competition in the January 2015 issue of the magazine; however, more information about it will be revealed in the second part of “Adventures of the Fall.”

I heard about the TTT from Barry Klein, a member, who told me about their location when we met during the Santa Cruz Flats Race 2010. The organization sounded great, especially gathering for the Team Challenge just when the leaves start turning. But only last fall did I see the possibility of being able to go. I realized it could be

difficult to get there, because we had planned to visit the Wills Wing factory as well as some California sites and, since we were already in Arizona, going back and forth seemed like a looooong way to go.

This was the first time I would attend a flying event that was not a competition, and I was interested in having a new experience. The Team Challenge is aimed at encour-aging new or less experienced pilots to start flying more XC, while maintaining or even enhancing their safety. It is hosted by the TTT, the famous flying club founded in September 1974 with 137 paid members (info updated January 2015). The first Team Challenge was held in 1989, organized by Rick Jacob and Dennis Pagen.

It is a unique event. Multi-level teams (six this year) of experienced pilots called the “A” Pilots work closely with two or three “B” and “C” Pilots. They mentor, review flights, clarify doubts, respond to questions, fly with the “B’s” and “C’s,” and probably even share a beer after the flight!

Some years ago, the original format of a single task for all pilots changed. Now on every flying day, three differ-ent tasks are set: one for each level. The tasks overlap and get longer for each level. For instance: All pilots (“A”, “B” and “C”) go to turnpoint 1, which is also goal for the “C” pilots; “B’s” and “A’s” continue to turnpoint 2, which is goal for the “B” pilots, and “C” pilots keep going to turnpoint 3 and, perhaps with another leg, to goal. This way, the more


advanced pilots have the opportunity of working with those pilots flying shorter tasks, by trying to help them fly better, complete their tasks and then fly the rest of the way to goal. This system of three overlapping tasks gives—as Eric Carden says—“…even the less-experienced pilots the thrill of making goal.” And it maintains a level of difficulty for each grade of pilots.

This format also calls for a specific scoring system, including the “Pilot Promotion Bonus,” and set of rules. After the meet I contacted Eric Carden, who has been working on it for some years now, and asked him to give me information about this aspect of the TC.

Eric explains: “While the TTT probably started from scratch when designing the scoring rules, I (personally) didn’t start from scratch when creating the rules docu-ment we used in 2013 and 2014. I started with the 2011 rules document (no rules document was provided in 2012). My first motivation was to simply make sure we HAVE a rules document. As I worked on it, I saw opportunities to clarify and document rules that we had used in years past, but that weren’t documented; then, my thoughts moved on to improving the rules themselves: We made several rule changes, mostly aimed at fairness and clarity.

“The exact scoring formulas/rules and computerized scoring ‘systems’ used for the TC have changed over the years, maintaining two constants: (1) the scoring is done as teams and (2) it encourages helping one’s less-experienced

teammates. Many of the scoring-related changes since TC 2012 made the scoring formulas so complex that it, more or less, demanded software to do the scoring. There was a tug-of-war between the desire for fairness and the desire for a simple scoring solution. I concluded that there isn’t a SIMPLE way to FAIRLY score a team contest in which the makeup of a team may vary widely in pilot skill level and glider type. So, I proposed, the rule changes needed to increase fairness.

“I volunteered to do the programming to create a scoring system that could manage the necessarily-more-complex scoring formulas. I felt that scoring fairness was important enough to warrant this effort. This part of the effort I did start from scratch and created a scoring ‘system’; this system is a Microsoft Excel workbook (i.e. file) containing a lot of code, which Excel calls ‘macros’ and the language is Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). The look and feel of the system is similar to that of an ordinary Windows program, but it has the advantage of not requiring any special software development programs; therefore, code changes can be made within the system on any computer with Excel. This makes it easy to pass the project to the NEXT programmer who volunteers to work on it, allowing code fixes during the contest and on the scorekeeper’s computer. For instance, this year I was just there to help Bruce learn how to do the scoring; he did it all on his own and he did great! I had developed a similar

LEfT Pilot briefing, Ollie speaking; Sequatchie Valley as background | photo by Timothy Cocker.

ABOVE Gliders beautifully set up at the TTT property. PREVIOUS Edwin Ayala running down

that beautiful ramp! Photos by Jamie Shelden.


scoring system using Excel a few years earlier for a golf league in which I played at the time (we played as teams, with individual handicaps), so I applied what I learned in that project to help me develop the TC scoring system a bit more quickly. We’ve made some significant changes over the past two years; some were more meaningful than others, but maybe the MOST significant, in my opinion, is the change to make it so that each team (regardless of its ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ or glider types makeup) has the exact same daily points potential, something that had never been the case in the TC pre-2013.

“We also implemented the ‘Pilot Promotion Bonus’ (PPB) because, almost every year, a ‘B’ or ‘C’ pilot asks: ‘What if I make my goal and want to keep going?’ We’ve wrestled with how to answer this question because, on the one hand, we want to encourage the ‘go for it’ attitude to


some extent, but, on the other hand, we want to minimize landings at places other than goal LZs in the interest of not imposing on our neighbors in the Sequatchie Valley too much. In the past, we’ve gone as far as penalizing pilots just for trying, even if they succeeded, which we felt was going a bit too far. Loiter in the area as long as you want, even fly a few miles past it and then come back if you want, but land at your goal LZ. However, some pilots REALLY want to try to make it to the next-higher goal, so we gave

them a way: the PPB. If they make it, they earn a few extra points (about 25 points for a typical team); each team has the potential to earn 1000 points per day, so this bonus is fairly small (deliberately so) at only 2-3% of the daily potential. The ‘catch’ is that the pilot who succeeds is then ‘promoted’ and will be scored as a next-higher-level pilot for the rest of the contest e.g. a ‘C’ pilot will be scored as a ‘B’ pilot from then on. He’s credited with making this goal if he makes his ‘virtual’ goal first; however, if he lands out with-

TOP LEfT Jamie getting “acquainted” with Charly, her new Falcon4, and loving it | photo by Timothy

Cocker. MIDDLE Mitch about to flare at goal – T3 | photo by Pedro Garcia. BOTTOM Mike Barber

staging on T1, with some spectators under his wings. ABOVE Beautiful “sea of fog” below take off

the morning of Task 2. Photos by Jamie Shelden.


out making it to the attempted next-higher goal, he will get full credit for the original goal minus the ‘Goal-Maker Land-Out Penalty.’ This penalty is fairly small (about the size of the PPB), but its purpose is to minimize our impact on local landowners. We’ve given pilots a CHANCE to earn more points by completing the next task, yet made it risky enough points-wise that the pilot’s team leader would probably be wise to discourage any of his team-mates from trying this—if they care about points, that is!

“The main target of the TC is the mentoring and learn-ing, but the framework of that experience is the contest and, if there’s going to be a contest, I believe that it should be as fair as possible, designed to encourage the things the organizers intend (i.e. mentoring). To some extent, we ‘lure’ pilots to the TC with a nice contest experience and then sneak in a lot of education while they’re there. It isn’t a ‘bait and switch,’ since they get the promised contest, but they get so much MORE than just a contest.”

Eric also commented about his personal experience with the TC, focusing on the editions since 2011, orga-nized by Ollie Gregory, that he has attended: “Seeing

the way Ollie ran the contest/experience in 2011 made me regret not having flown in it EVERY year it was run by him. He’s enthusiastic, positive, and energetic; most importantly, I saw in him two key things I don’t remem-ber seeing NEARLY to this extent in earlier-year’s TCs: (1) large emphasis on safety and (2) large emphasis on learning. He’s careful to consider the least-experienced competitors when considering whether to hold a contest round on a day with questionably safe conditions. And the nightly educational content is AWESOME! Dennis Pagen, Mike Barber, and Mitch Shipley routinely attend and volunteer their services, educating us during any available downtime; there are plenty of other volunteer ‘teachers’ as well, who are willing to give presentations on virtually any flying-related topic. I almost HOPE for a few rain days during the contest so we have enough ‘classroom’ time. Reading an instructional book or magazine article is one thing, but getting to have open discussion with the experts is priceless…”

He summarized all this as: “I’m a big fan of the mentor-ing, fun, and safety-focused spirit that Ollie has brought

ABOVE The only rigid wing (Ollie Gregory) on take off | photo by Timothy Cocker.


to the Team Challenge over the years.” I thought all these inside details about the format,

rules, scoring system were quite interesting, since they are what makes this event different from all others (at least the ones I have attended). Plus, getting all these facts from Eric was a unique opportunity to learn even more.

Let’s now look at the overall event. There was a total of 27 official participants making up six teams (look at chart for teams’ details and enjoy the names) and a couple of pilots just hanging around, plus the awesome support team (HUGE thanks to those helping us out). You could say this year’s TC was really international because, other than pilots from the US, we had Edwin Ayala from Puerto Rico, Vitaly Pogrebnoy, originally from Russia and now living in the US, Pedro García, from Spain and myself, born American, officially flying for Colombia.

There were four tasks called; the first one was cancelled and the other three were flown (check out the table with the tasks’ details). I must admit this worked perfectly for us, since we got there a day late. The flying area, with the given weather conditions, was the Sequatchie Valley. We took off two days from the famous TTT Radial Ramp and once from Whitwell, just across the valley. Some pilots also went there for an early recreational flight before

Task 3; the official goal fields were the main TTT-owned LZ, below the ramp takeoff, and the Galloway Airport down the road.

I really enjoyed the flying and the mentoring experience and sincerely hope I transmitted something (e.g., enthu-siasm, knowledge, motivation, etc.) to the other pilots. Individually, my favorite flight was on Task 3; however, thinking about the essence of the TC, I have to say my fa-vorite task was the last one, the one where I was definitely paying more attention to “my C” pilots than to my own flying: I waited to take off so I could launch with them, but we took off on a weak cycle, and I was so focused on them that we all landed at the “Church’s bomb-out.” I thought it was over, but I was far from correct. When our fantastic driver, helper and, in this case, coach—George Grey— came to pick us up and saw the three of us on the ground so early, he immediately started trying to show us that it was still flyable, encouraging us to “go for another try!”

We were not easy to convince, because we had given up. But he insisted until we finally “saw the light”; moreover, he also helped us carry our gear, drove us up the hill (a really interesting drive during which time we were all asking questions about flying), helped us get ready and cheered us off the ramp! The three of us flew together, while I tried to

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TOP James Dean & Erik Grabowski on their “karaoke encore.” MIDDLE Prize-giving ceremony's audience.

BOTTOM “Blind Squirrels” 3rd place overall. Photos by Marie Gónzalez.

help Leigh Sheridan and David Fynn find the thermals; unfortunately, David’s radio was not working well, so he could not hear my cues, but Leigh did. She was able to thermal up and got high enough to make a glide to her goal. She was happy and David, George and I were proud of her.

Despite being late, I decided to fly to our first turn-point, which was also the goal field, where I knew the rest of my team (plus a nice cold beer) would be waiting. Once I arrived, I thought twice about whether to try to make the task. But the truth is that it was late, and I decided the wisest move was to ensure a good landing at a nice, long field with a windsock in it. So I called it a day and landed

there. It was a tough decision, because our team had won the two previous tasks, but without many points, so our lead was not huge. Not making goal, while many others did, meant sacrificing the team score, but I am sure we (the “A” pilots on my team) all agreed that staying back to help the “C” pilots was a good decision. We still held second place and had two happy and motivated “C” pilots!

Our retrieve driver, George Grey, was another surprise of the event. He is a fairly new pilot who learned to fly in upstate New York and wanted to fly in this TC but, at the last minute, felt he wasn’t ready for it, so decided to stay and enjoy the event while driving for a team. And he was not just any driver; he was devoted, happy, supportive and

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I had heard references to the TTT and their Team Challenge, but after being there, I realize that what I’d been told was just the tip of the iceberg.

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TEAMS

altitude deficit disorderEric Carden – A

Timo Conover – B

Pedro García – A

Bruno Schnedl – C

David Tilinghast – C

Blind SquirrelsEdwin Ayala – B

Linda Salamone – A

Mitch Shipley – A

Richard Van Zyl – B

Clowns & jokersJames Dean – B

Erik Grabowski – C

Ollie Gregory – A

Jamie Shelden – A

Critical massJJ Cote – C

Jeff Curtis – A

Max Kotchouro – C

Tom Lanning – A

Vitaly Pogrebnoy – B

Sky HighGriffin Hochstetter – B

Ian Hochstetter – B

Al Sasser – A

Bill Snyder – A

Wind dumbyZDavid Fynn – C

Maria Gónzalez – A

Dennis Pagen – A

Aaron Rinn – A

Leigh Sheridan –C

participated at most of the talks given. He definitely had a great time and learned quite a lot; I hope he comes back next year as a competi-tor. However, the best part of this story to me is that he has been living in the state of New York for many years but is actually Colombian. A Colombian pilot we did not know about—what a great surprise!

Besides the flying, there were informative, interesting talks, amazing meals and the care of those “behind the scenes” cooks Wayne and Sandy Collins, who fed us beautiful warm, home-made food in the evenings, and Aldona Johnson, who prepared our hearty breakfasts. Board of directors members Buddy Cutts and James Anderson were there to hold our wires during take-off; we also appreciated all the retrieve drivers/supporters, and Bruce Perry who did the scoring. For some additional fun, there was a karaoke night. (To be honest, our initial plan was to sneak out, unnoticed, because we do not like karaoke.) This “TTT Karaoke” was mostly about hang gliding; go figure! Despite numerous participants, the majority agreed that the best act was James Dean and Erik Grabowski; they were so good that a couple of days later, during the prize giving ceremony, we all asked for an encore, which they gave. The two songs were: “The Wait” (to the tune of “The Weight” by The Band) and “Gimme Three Turns” (to the tune of “Gimme Three Steps” by Lynyrd Skynyrd; I wish this magazine had a way to play the songs back to you, so you could understand how funny they were. Thanks, James and Erik (and all the rest), for the best karaoke performance ever.

I did not have any expectations when driving towards Dunlap; I never imagined that place would be so great or that I would grow so fond of it. I feel the TC could be described as a “place and time” that unfolds new realities for the different pilots who visit, helping us make new or stronger friendships, grow and become better pilots (and people). I don’t think I am just speaking for myself because, for instance, I found out that this was the scenario where Matt Barker first went XC; Frances went on her first retrieve-adventures with him and Cory Barnwell (who I later met in California and who said he missed the TTT) learned many tricks that have helped him climb the ladder to the top of the WPRS Sport-Class list.

I had heard references to the TTT and their Team Challenge, but after being there, I realize that what I’d been told was just the tip of the iceberg. My time there was so special that I would love to see it grow and develop, giving the chance to many more pilots to live such a wonderful experience.

I wish to thank the Tennessee Tree Toppers for their warmth, their enthusiasm, their support and their help with this article (especially Eric, Ollie and Tim), to congratulate them for their efforts and their achievements, and to wish them the best of luck for coming events.

Next edition: August 16th – 22nd 2015. Don’t miss it!

WINNERS

TaSK 1

Overall tie: day cancelled ;-)

TaSK 2

1st – Wind DumbyZ

2nd – Blind Squirrels

3rd – Clowns & Jokers

TaSK 3

1st – Wind DumbyZ


3rd – All other 4 teams tied

TaSK 4

1st – Clowns & Jokers


3rd – Wind DumbyZ

OVeRall

1st – Clowns & Jokers (844pts)

2nd – Wind DumbyZ (635 pts)

3rd – Blind Squirrels (610pts)

4th – ADD (385pts)

5th – Critical Mass (382pts)

6th – Sky High (223pts)

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Search and rescue is a bit like insurance. We don’t think about it much but when we need it we’re glad we have it. In preparation for Colorado Fly Week 2014 at Villa Grove it became obvious to event

organizer Larry that we needed a more formal and closer relationship with local area search-and-rescue (SAR) organi-zations. Over the previous year there were several pilots who were caught in strong conditions and carried up and over the back of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. One pilot suf-fered injuries and a SAR helicopter was called to help locate the downed pilot. There were difficulties communicating with the helicopter pilot about where to look for the injured party that frustrated Larry. Fortunately the downed pilot man-aged to walk out on his own. Other pilots looking for him rushed him to the hospital and the search was called off. That incident underscored how unprepared we were to work with our SAR agencies.

Larry felt that it was imperative that we introduce the SAR community to our Villa Grove flight activities. We needed to share information such as where we fly, altitudes we reach, distances we cover, and to familiarize SAR personnel with our gliders, harnesses and equipment should they ever respond to a crash site. Likewise, we needed to better under-stand how to communicate to them where a given emergency rescue is needed and also learn how they mobilize. I agreed to help coordinate our SAR response training to support Colorado Fly Week.

We started meeting with Wesley Moores, chief of the Northern Saguache County Fire Protection District, and his staff in May of 2014. We described in detail how and where we fly and the potential risks associated with soaring above

the Sangre de Cristos, and we included our plans for the upcoming fly-in. This group, many of whom had never seen a hang glider before, showed great interest in free flight through the questions they asked, both about hang gliding and para-gliding. When they learned that we might have 150 to 200 pilots attend the fly-in, they saw this as a training opportunity for their paid staff and volunteers. Together, we made plans to conduct on the mountain simulated search and rescues of downed pilots.

introducing rescuers to our equipmentTo start, we arranged an evening to conduct a show-and-tell of our flying gear for about 20 SAR personnel at the Villa Grove firehouse. To represent the type of aircraft we fly, Jeff Bevan brought his paraglider, harness and helmet; Ken Grubbs brought his T2; and Larry brought his ESC rigid wing. Eyes were wide open and jaws dropped as our wings were set up, particularly among those personnel enamored with Larry’s ESC. After showing them a professionally produced 20-minute video of flying Villa Grove, Jeff spread out his wing, harnessed up and spoke briefly about how he launches, flies and lands his paraglider. Ken did the same thing with his T2. There were several private pilots in at-tendance who were particularly impressed with Larry’s glider, the spoilerons, tail assembly, etc. Following the introduction to our wings, I put on my harness and demonstrated how a pilot is secured via leg straps and chest buckles; how we store food, water and radios; and how a reserve parachute can be deployed.

The equipment demonstration provided an opportunity to discuss how to treat our flying gear should a responder come

Preparing for

SEARCH and RESCUEbY R iC H j e S u ROG a

LEfT Rescuers preparing to move Tony to the rescue vehicle.


upon a crash site. Through discussion the due order of safety of the pilot and respect for our equipment was determined so that equipment would not be destroyed as long as the pilot’s life, limb, and overall safety were not in danger. We were asked and answered many questions and at one point we even passed around Ken’s Flytec 6030 for our newly interested friends to examine. By evening’s end we had established a good rapport with our local partnering SAR agency. We agreed to conduct an all-day simulated rescue of a paraglider pilot and a hang glider pilot the following weekend.

On-the-mountain RescuesThe following Saturday morning local pilots, plus about a dozen SAR staff from the San Luis Valley, met in the Villa Grove landing area. For our simulations to be realistic both Larry and I felt that it was important to have the rescu-ers on the steep rocky mountainside wrestling through the scrub oak that covered the terrain, as most responders had never been up to our launch before. I had thought a lot about various scenarios of what might happen during fly week. The thought of a paraglider pilot or hang glider pilot coming

down into the thick ponderosa pine forest that blankets either side of the Sangre de Cristos kept me awake at night, and I wondered if we should attempt to simulate a tree extraction and rescue. We decided against that for fear that the risk of injury to a rescuer or would-be pilot was too great. Instead, we would conduct a simulated rescue of a paraglider pilot 100 feet below launch, and a simulated rescue of a hang glider pilot near the landing area. With that determined, we all drove up to launch.

Members of the Rocky Mountain Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (RMHPA) donated an old hang glider and an old paraglider, each with their respective har-nesses, for us to conduct our exercise*. The hang glider and paraglider were no longer airworthy and could be destroyed. We asked the rescuers to spare the harnesses.

Paraglider Pilot RescueJeff Bevan and I hiked down below launch and spread out the old wing amongst the scrub oak, lines tangled everywhere. I dutifully wedged my good friend Jeff between rocks, scrub oak and bear excrement. I called Larry on the radio and told

ABOVE Search-and-rescue personnel responding to the site of a simulated hang gliding crash near the

Villa Grove landing area. Tony Sitts was our crash pilot. INSET An EMT tending to Tony.


him of our emergency. Larry was equipped with a radio that included the frequency for the Sauguache County 911 dis-patch center. The dispatcher contacted the rescuers who were already on launch and described the emergency to them.

Soon (but not soon enough for Jeff) rescuers led by Dan Wheeler, an experienced mountaineer and emergency medi-

cal technician (EMT), arrived with a litter rescue basket and first-aid equipment. The steep and difficult-to-navigate terrain required that they take a side path down the mountain below Jeff, then cross sideways and back up to where he was located. Good practice! They stabilized Jeff, transferred him into the litter and then carried him back up the steep terrain to an


awaiting emergency vehicle. When he was safely in the vehicle we took some time to talk through the whole event, exchang-ing ideas about Jeff ’s rescue and what could have happened differently. Larry and I couldn’t have been happier. And Jeff was just happy to be out of there.

We all broke for lunch with a BBQ at the firehouse.

Hang Glider Pilot Rescue

Larry and I ate lunch quickly and left the firehouse early and set up our crashed hang glider in a field near the LZ. Local pilots Greig Ballantine and Tony Sitts joined us. We hooked Tony into the upside-down Airwave Eclipse with an old harness, and laid him down on the underside of the double surface. Larry called 911 dispatch once again and within minutes SAR fire trucks arrived. Tony played the consum-mate crash victim and rescuers tended to him accordingly.

Here in the US the hang gliding and paragliding population is relatively small, which means building relationships with partnering agencies means everything to the survival of our community.

LEfT Rescuers moving Jeff in the litter rescue basket up the hill to a rescue vehicle. RIGHT Search-and-

rescue personnel responding to a hang glider pilot who tumbled his glider on the last day of the Villa Grove

Fly-in. The pilot was seriously hurt with a severely fractured leg and a head injury requiring immediate

evacuation to the hospital.


Larry answered Tony’s cries for “please call my wife” with “we talked to her and she said to tell the son-of-a-bitch not to come home”.

When Tony was secured in the litter rescue basket we fol-lowed up with a summary of the day’s activities. I know Larry felt a lot better about our preparations for Fly Week. So did I.

Colorado Fly WeekThe event began on August 23, 2014 and it was evident that Larry and his wife Tiffany took meticulous care planning all the flying and entertainment festivities. There were soar-able windows every day accommodating the 167 pilots who showed up to fly that week. There were two paraglider pilots who were carried aloft in strong conditions; one threw his chute, both landed safely on the backside of the Sangre de Cristos and only needed a retrieve.

Pilots attending the event saw the ambulance parked near the main LZ with EMTs staffed each day. What they didn’t see was the Flight For Life helicopter parked close by. In preparation for Fly Week, Wes Moores arranged for a heli-copter to be located nearby, and also notified nearby Chaffee County and Fremont County emergency management of our event in case pilots flying cross country needed their emer-gency response services. Everything went smoothly right up until the last day of the fly-in.

The CrashI had just finished my shift as launch director and started set-ting up my glider to take an afternoon flight. A visiting pilot flying his topless glider close to the hill began flying errati-cally, diving at the ground and then pushing out and climbing into a stall. It was mid day at a big-air site and this occurred very near launch, catching the attention of all of us nearby. Suddenly, the pilot pulled the glider into a steep high-speed dive, pushed out hard and climbed vertically into a whipstall. The glider stopped climbing with the nose pointing straight up, tail slid and to our horror, it tucked and tumbled. The control bar was ripped out of the pilot’s hands and he was flung backwards over the trailing edge. Someone on launch yelled, “Throw your chute!” but it appeared the pilot became incapacitated during the tumble. After several tumbles the glider stabilized upside down with the pilot underneath. The glider descended rapidly and the pilot hit the ground hard with a crushing sound I’ll never forget. There was no move-ment by the downed pilot. The crash site was in a small clear-ing less than 100 feet from the road up to launch, making access relatively easy.

Larry was driving down the mountain when the call went out that there’d been an accident and help was needed. A

group of pilots near launch jumped into a truck and headed down the hill to the crash site. I went back and closed launch—there were too many distractions and it was not known if a helicopter rescue would be needed. As fast as it could possibly happen EMT rescue staff that were already in the landing area arrived at the crash site. The pilot had suf-fered a head injury and a severely broken leg. The parachute pins were in place indicating that there was no attempt to throw the reserve. After being stabilized and transferred into the litter rescue basket he was evacuated off the hill by vehicle and transported by ambulance to the Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center in nearby Salida. From there he was air lifted to St. Anthony’s hospital in Denver for an extended stay that included surgery to rebuild his leg.

We were glad to hear that he would recover from his injuries but are unsure if he is even aware of how lucky he was. Had his accident occurred somewhere else along the 155 miles of the very sparsely populated Sangre de Cristo mountain range, the outcome would likely have been much different.

Here in the US the hang gliding and paragliding popula-tion is relatively small, which means building relationships with partnering agencies means everything to the survival of our community.

On that day, when that hang glider pilot who crashed hard near launch arrived at the hospital, he would not know that the activities that led to his rescue actually started several months earlier.

The author would like to thank Mark Windsheimer from Airtime Above Hang Gliding for the hang glider and harness donation that was used during our simulated rescue of Tony. I’d also like to thank Ross Robinson for his donation of the paraglider that was used during Jeff ’s simulated rescue. Our search-and-rescue training would not have been possible without their help.

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Hang gliding competition returns this summer to Dinosaur, Colorado, from Sunday, August 30, through Saturday, September 5, encompassing Labor Day weekend. This is great news for many

of us “old timers” who have flown in past competitions at this site. Once again, Terry and Chris Reynolds are the organiz-ers, and GW Meadows will be the meet director. As a bonus,

add to that illustrious group Bubba Goodman as safety director, Rick Jacob as launch director, Tim Ettridge as score-keeper, Davis Straub as technical advisor and Amy Zeiset as driver meet director (more on that following). This meet will have one of the most experienced and quality groups of of-ficials ever assembled. The latest information can be found at the Dinosaur 2015 website, rockymountainglider.com.

bY R uS S l OC K e pHo To S bY Te R R y Re y nOl dS

Return to Dinosaur


For those not familiar with Dinosaur: The town is located on US 40, three miles east of the Colorado-Utah border, approximately midway between Denver and Salt Lake City, with the Dinosaur National Monument to the north and the Rangely oil basin to the south. The town’s prosperity fluctuates with the boom-and-bust cycles of the oil-and-gas industry. Currently in a bust cycle, the town council is seeking to diversify the community’s economy, and promotion of the area’s hang gliding potential is a popular and important item on the council’s agenda.

Commercial services include two small motels, three restaurants (one with a bar), two gas stations, a liquor store

and a Loaf ‘n’Jug convenience store. There is also a library, post office, and Colorado Tourism office. Wireless Internet is available in numerous locations. AT&T is installing an LTE 4G tower on Blue Mountain and Verizon is expected to follow suit. The nearby larger communities of Rangely, Colorado (18 miles), and Vernal, Utah (30 miles), offer the services of small cities, including municipal recreation centers, airports, hospitals, large supermarkets and a variety of restau-rants and lodging.

Pilots from anywhere in the US can easily reach the area via the Interstate Highway System, before transitioning to the major artery of US 40. Pilots wishing to travel by air can

Dinosaur is normally launchable in almost any wind direction, because the cliff creates its own micro-weather pattern.


take commuter airlines from Denver or Salt Lake City to nearby Vernal. They may ship their gliders in care of the meet organizers in Dinosaur.

Pilots will foot launch from Cliff Ridge on the Blue Mountain Plateau, slightly west of the Colorado/Utah border, just north of Dinosaur. There are several launches facing south to southwest at 8100’ msl, 2100’ above the near-est landing area at an approximate 4.6-to-1 glide. Driving time from that landing area to launch is 45 minutes (2-wheel drive). Driving time from Dinosaur on the paved US Park Service road, followed by a good 2-wheel drive gravel road through BLM grazing land, is 50 minutes.

Light, straight-in thermal cycles are the usual summer condition throughout most of the day. The launches are 150 and 200 yards apart, allowing several pilots to safely take off simultaneously. The area behind the launches is clear and perfectly level, with space to set up several thousand glid-ers. Pilots will be able to drive close to their favorite setup spot, unload their equipment and park nearby. Unlimited parking with a level walk to any takeoff is available on top. A clearly marked, convenient parking plan, with a separate area for spectators’ vehicles, will be overseen by staff. Spectators will be cordially, but definitely, restricted from moving into cordoned-off areas surrounding the actual launches.

Dinosaur has traditionally been a premier foot-launch site. Ryan Voight will teach an on-site foot-launch and big-air clinic before the competition, free to those registered for the meet.

Recognizing that many pilots prefer aerotowing, the organizers, the landowner, the town of Dinosaur and Moffat County have built a runway (1800’ x 75’ at 5922’ msl) specifi-cally for this contest. Tim Collard, hang glider pilot and by far the most experienced aerotow pilot in Colorado, super-vised the initial construction. Both Dinosaur International and the foot launches from Cliff Ridge are within the same 10-kilometer-diameter start circle. A 2250’ tow will place the towed pilot at the same altitude as the pilot foot launching at 8140’ from Cliff Ridge. (At this time, the meet organiz-ers are not providing tow pilots or tugs. Pilots should make their own arrangements. The organizers will help coordinate a meeting of pilots and tow operators. Contact [email protected].)

As for flying conditions, Dinosaur is normally launchable in almost any wind direction, because the cliff creates its own micro-weather pattern. It is primarily a thermal site with some ridge soaring opportunity and great XC potential. The area is high desert, averaging 6000’ msl, punctuated with numerous peaks at approximately 8000’ and river valleys at 5000’. The terrain in the contest area varies from spectacular rocky cliffs to river-valley pastures. There are expanses of level desert and various-sized hills. Ranch and oilfield service roads

form a network for easy pilot retrieval. Vegetation includes ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and aspen at the highest eleva-tions and irrigated grassland and cottonwood trees at the lowest. In between are juniper, cedar, and pinyon pine trees.

For safe landing, open fields of desert grasses and sage-brush are plentiful at all elevations. Wildlife is abundant, particularly soaring birds. Everyone will see deer, elk, and antelope. Pilots can count on flying with eagles. The bail-out LZ, called the Snake Pit, is an easy glide about a mile from the base of the mountain. The Corral LZ is another mile far-ther from ridge. Mornings usually bring light winds, suitable for experienced Hang-2s. Midday finds very strong thermal activity, and climbs above 17,000’ msl are common.

During the post-monsoon period of this meet, pilots can expect a weather pattern dominated by high pressure, with light westerly winds aloft and blue thermals/small cumulus. Unlike a high mountain site that might have unflyable condi-

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ABOVE TOP Looking east on launch. BOTTOM To the west on launch.


tions for a week, it is anticipated that during the time of year for this meet, a safe, valid task will be called every day. Safe landing fields and roads are plentiful. Fences, power lines, and other hazards are sparse (except in the oilfield near the town of Rangely, an area that will be avoided in task calls).

With several thousand competitions and free-flying foot launches having been completed over 29 years, an excellent safety record has been established at Dinosaur. In an effort to make this competition even safer, the rules will allow Open Class pilots to drop their lowest score and Sport Class pilots to drop their two lowest scores. This gives pilots more flexibility when making flying decisions, all designed to make the meet as safe as possible. Those wanting to come fly the area ahead of time are encouraged to do so. Terry Reynolds is personally committed to facilitate this pre-comp flying as much as he can.

During the meet, prearrangements for search and rescue, ambulance, and medical facilities will be made and coordi-nated by the safety director for all potential routes of flight.

The Dinosaur 2015 Hang Driving Championships also will be held during this meet. This contest awards points to retrieval drivers for a variety of tasks, including: number of pilots retrieved, observing pilot’s landing, helping other crews (partial retrieval), providing cold beverages, making sure pilots get back to Dinosaur at a reasonable hour, insuring no pilot has to spend the night away from his/her camp, etc. Besides promoting safety, this contest makes retrieval duties more fun for both drivers and pilots. Additionally, it means a pilot without retrieval can show up at the meet and likely be “drafted” by retrieval drivers looking to add pilots to their team.

Prizes? We don’t need no stinkin’ prizes. Nevertheless, we have them, and significant cash prizes will be awarded. Besides cash prizes and certificates for retrieval drivers, Terry and Chris Reynolds have guaranteed $10,000 for the winner of the Open Class. Jim Zeiset has pledged an additional

$5000 to be awarded to the Sport Class. More prizes are being worked on. Check the website for the latest informa-tion.

In the past, accommodations in this area have been plenti-ful and inexpensive. It’s even better this year. In addition to the two motels in Dinosaur, there are numerous motels available in Rangely and Vernal. Pilots are welcome to camp for free on the grass in the fenced town park. There are bath-rooms and a large covered area with picnic tables and chairs.

A discount has been arranged at the Blue Mountain RV Park, a 100-unit RV park set up by an oil company to house its employees during an earlier boom. Located a short walk from the town park, it has electricity, water, and sewer hookups for RVs, plus large men’s and women’s shower and bathroom facilities. Camping is also free at launch and por-table toilets will be provided. Again, check the website for the latest information.

The meet is planned to accommodate 150 competi-tors. Slots for US and internationally-ranked pilots will be reserved per the USHPA Competition Rulebook and CIVL to maximize meet validity/NTSS and WPRS point values. Before June 1, 75 slots will be allocated for Open Class and 75 for Sport Class. Beginning June 1, any remaining slots may be filled on a first-come, first-served basis, regardless of


class. Entry fees: before March 1, $275; until May 1, $325; until July 1, $350; until August 1, $375; until August 28, $400; beginning August 28, and on site, $450 (cash or money order). The significantly lower early-entry fees facilitate much better planning, which benefits everyone. The meet organiz-ers anticipate that all of the slots will be filled. Enter early to avoid disappointment.

Booklets containing aerial photos and written descriptions of most likely turnpoints and goals will be provided to each pilot. A five-pilot task selection committee, chosen by the competitors, will be used in setting each day’s task. The meet director and the safety director will have the power to over-rule the task selection committee. Friendly owners of grassy fields located from 10 to exactly 100 miles from launch have given their permission to use their land for goals.

The number of goals and turnpoints available will provide a considerable range of task options to the task-selection committee after they have reviewed the day’s weather fore-cast. The rules will be available by July 1, 2015, and may be amended up until the first launch in competition. Once the competition begins, alterations to the rules will only be made

in the case of extreme and obvious necessity. For the latest information on this meet, including pilot

lists, definition of Sport Class pilots, official meet rules, oxygen refill availability, tow providers, camping information, cash and other awards, check the Dinosaur 2015 website.

If you fit into any of the following loose categories…* Active cross-country pilot;* Pilot who enjoys the challenge of competition;* Pilot with good basic skills who wants to learn XC skills

in a controlled environment;* Pilot who enjoys seeing, learning and flying with the top

pilots in the US and the world;* Pilot from the eastern part of the US who is curious

about this “big western air”;* Person (pilot or not) who enjoys being around/involved

with large organized competitions …you should consider attending this event. Flying or not, I’ve already made plans to be at Dinosaur for

this meet. It is a magic place where I know I’ll find a ton of people I enjoy being around. Join me.

ABOVE Looking south on launch.


bY IN S T RU C ToR S K a R i C a S T leK a y Ta uS C H e R

A N D K e n H u dOnjORG e n Se n

Rat Race

THe Grad School of ParaglidingSUPER CLINIC


ABOVE The class talking on luanch.

Rat Race

The Mission of the Rat Race Super Clinic is to provide an enjoyable, rich, learning environment for paragliding pilots to advance their skills and understanding of how to fly thermals, compete and fly cross-country, with instruction from some of the best mentors in the sport.

When Mike Haley approached us about running the Super Clinic, we LOVED the idea, opportunity and vision. Mike and his wife Gail are renowned for starting one of the best and biggest paragliding com-

petitions in the world, especially for pilots who want to learn to compete or improve their competition skills—The RAT RACE (RR) and SPRINT. These competitions are held in June of each year at Woodrat Mountain in Jacksonville,

Oregon. Mike’s passion for the sport results in his continually developing ideas and improvements primarily geared toward teaching and making our sport safer.

As he described his latest vision to us, Mike’s eyes twinkled. We could tell this was a topic near and dear to his heart, and ours. He focused on the fact that once paragliding instructors sign off pilots with their Novice (P-2) licenses, a huge gap in education occurs. As a result, many pilots get discouraged by not being able to make longer flights, or get injured and decide to leave the sport. Mike proposed to alleviate these problems by developing a weeklong SUPER CLINIC to be taught by a few of the best instructors in the country. He then invited the three


of us to join his endeavor. Each of us has shared a similar passion, so Mike’s program felt like a quantum leap for us and for our sport.

Thus, the RR SUPER CLINIC was hatched—a virtual graduate school of paragliding extending over an eight-day period, occurring concurrently with the Rat Race and Sprint competitions. We have held two successful clinics in 2013 and 2014, with between 30 and 40 pilots attend-ing each clinic. On June 14th through the 20th of 2015, we will once again conduct the Super Clinic. We instructors are challenged to create a meaningful educational environ-ment in the field, while tag-team teaching, and give the pilots plenty of opportunities to practice what they are learning as well as the opportunity to watch some of the competitions. This is a big order for us to deliver.

But there are many benefits of combining these events simultaneously.

The amount of information shared among three instruc-tors and the give-and-take of students is more than we can cover in this article. But below we provide a flavor of the

topics we attempt to cover during the seven-day course. The night before the course officially begins, we hold a

“meet and greet” social gathering to become better ac-quainted with each other. The first day the instructors begin to get a feel for the pilots’ experience levels and learn their goals for the week. This year we will be providing handouts in digital format prior to the course, so students can begin to read and print them before they begin if they so choose. The instructors review logistics and schedule for the week, the where, when, what and how. We visit the landing zones and review important site details, including where NOT to land, what to do when you land out or how to report an emergency. We explain the staggered launch times for the separate groups (Super Clinic, Sprint and Rat Race) and how this alleviates crowding at and near launch.

A sequence in skill development fosters safety and longevity in the sport: Launching in lighter conditions for newer pilots is one of these factors. Therefore, we start the day early and get to launch in time for early-morning flights in light conditions. As the morning progresses and condi-


tions pick up, more experienced pilots launch. We typically launch, land, and have time to return to launch before the races begin, in order to watch the race events. Those com-fortable in bigger conditions usually get an opportunity to launch midday and/or later in the afternoon as the condi-tions mellow. Transportation can be tricky for such a large event; each year we do our best to improve the availability of retrieves and opportunities to re-launch. We generally fly most of the days that weather allows. Non-flying days are usually filled with classes.

Days 2–8 we conduct early morning class sessions, typi-cally between 7 and 8 a.m., then head to launch (if flyable), while continuing our discussions, watching conditions, and, finally, launching. Most of the pilots return to launch in time to watch the competitions begin. Then many

launch and fly again. We provide lunches for the partici-pants, including vegetarian and gluten-free when requested. The days are FULL and long, and the week is jam-packed with learning and activities. Sometimes you have an option to listen to a mentor speak or attend a class. You will likely not be able to do everything on the agenda. We advise accepting your role as a student and honoring your own personal energy level throughout the week and in your decision-making to fly.

The focus of the week’s learning is on skill development in the areas of increasing your comfort in the air, thermal flying, cross-country flight and competition flying.

Some of the topics covered include adjusting equipment, understanding the input from your glider, and thermaling techniques and efficiency. We will also give an introduc-

LEfT Practicing thermalling in a gaggle on the ground is a safe alternative to learning to gaggle in a

competition.. ABOVE The launch from above.


tion to XC flying, information about restricted landing fields, competition strategy, and maneuver review, as well as an overview of the rulebook, weather to fly, general safety topics, flight instruments (GPS/SPOT/varios), kiting, using speed bar, gaggle flying, and right-of-way rules.

With each year we find ways to improve the SUPER CLINIC, but we seem to have hit our stride by combin-ing classes, field, and in-air teaching that help our pilots develop wherever they are in the learning process. With feedback from participants, our ability to work together effectively as a team of instructors has grown and changed for the better.

Kari Castle is a three-time world hang gliding champion and a national champion in both hang gliding and paragliding. She lives and teaches primarily in the Owens Valley, renowned for massive XC flights, and travels the world as a guide. Kari may have more competition experience than any pilot in the US. She is a thoughtful and thorough instructor, but her strength lies in her vast competition experience and XC flying experience all over the world. She holds two Women’s Hang Gliding World Records along with a long list of other titles.

Kay Tauscher owns Peak-to-Peak Paragliding in Boulder, Colorado. She is a Nova Team Pilot, specializing in high-alpine flight. Kay has a reputation for excellence in instruction and safety. Her hands-on approach to teaching adds to her focus on strong flying technique and form, kiting and maneuvers, gear, high-altitude flight and thermals. She guides trips abroad in the Alps, Alaska, Mexico, Ecuador and other international locations annually.

Ken Hudonjorgensen is presently the senior paragliding instructor at The Point of the Mountain in Draper, Utah. Understanding, reading, and mapping thermals has been a prime focus for Ken, and incorporating this knowledge into XC flying adventures has resulted in a powerful mix of experience and knowledge. Currently, he has over 14,000 flights and 4000 hours. He was the first pilot to receive the highest safety award in the US and has been a Master-rated and Tandem and Instructor Administrator longer than any other paraglider pilot. He has hosted 14 paragliding competitions, four of which were US Nationals, and has been teaching people to fly since 1989. Ken is the owner of Two Can Fly Paragliding.

FEEbACK from participants

Chuck moore These words describe my first Rat

Race Super-clinic experience: safety first, impressive,

friendly, caring, memorable, a place to return, organized,

tiring, and great wine tasting. I originally planned to fly

competition in the Sprint Class. But I soon realized after

a practice day that the SUPER CLINIC was the place for

me. Everyone enjoyed themselves, built great memo-

ries, and expanded their experience. If someone was

not around, people were asking why and if they were

OK. It was a nice feeling of community. I walked away

with new friends, improved skills, new goals, and most

importantly, an improved mental awareness. All those

good feelings come pouring back when I browse the

RRPG Facebook site. Each photo and comment makes

me stop and appreciate that week. I plan to do it again

next year!

Brian Clark The Super Clinic is a great learning op-

portunity. It’s hard not to learn a lot being immersed

in paragliding for a week! With multiple instructors we

pilots were able to pick and choose what we needed

to work on the most. A typical day would start off with

morning classes and continued with a provided lunch,

flying, afternoon recaps of our flights with questions

and answers. Each evening we were encouraged to

attend optional talks on a number of different topics.

Here is a short list of a few things learned at the Super

Clinic: thermaling techniques, help with technology

(radios, SPOT, varios, setting waypoints), weather, safety,

keeping your wing open, launching, landing techniques,

descent techniques, tree rescue, emergency procedures,

local flying conditions including convergence flying,

equipment adjustments, race strategy and more.

Bill Beninati In 2011 I had a great start to my thermal

soaring career as a new P-2 but pushed too far too fast.

While I was awaiting delivery of my dynamic C wing I

took my B wing into savage spring lift in the mountains

and was lucky to survive. Then I started feeling every

ripple on my new wing, which set me way back. I even-

tually got comfortable in thermals again, but I still hadn’t

put it all together in the air. This Super Clinic I had a

chance to get my equipment dialed in, learn about my

vario, get my launch sequence efficient, and get physi-

cally comfortable while actively flying. Thermal soaring

has gone from a negative emotional experience to an

intellectual and spiritual experience.

LEfT Thermaling over Ruch, Oregon. NEXT PAGE Last year's class.


http://flytorrey.com


by Brianna Kufa

Like most paragliding accidents, mine was a combination of a riskier-than-normal decision and

some bad luck. Long story short, I was trying to land midday, before it got too turbulent, and hit a dust devil 20 feet-

or-so up and full-stalled. Four months, two broken vertebrae, a broken wrist, and two surgeries later, here I am. They say I’ll make a full recovery, eventually.

But this story isn’t about what led to the accident or how to prevent it. It’s about what happened after impact. For

as common as back injuries are in para-gliding, I knew surprisingly little about what the recovery would entail.

I knew I did serious damage the moment I hit. I did not bounce. It was a bone-jarring, screeching halt. The world seemed to stop for an instant, as if my impact had been so powerful

CONFESSIONS of a Broken Pilot

CONFESSIONS of a Broken Pilot

that I briefly altered the earth’s course.I tried moving my arms and legs

immediately, careful to not move my spine in the process. Everything moved OK. I didn’t feel much pain. I yelled at a pilot in the LZ to call 911.

I managed to stay surprisingly calm as I awaited rescue. Fortunately, I had crashed in an LZ that was easily ac-cessible and close to a hospital. While awaiting my rescue, the pilot offered to help me remove my wing from my harness. Frequently, rescue personnel don’t know what to do with gliders and cut the lines on the glider or the straps on the harness, rather than release the carabiners. Fortunately, my position allowed my harness to be removed without agitating my back.

In the 20-or-so minutes that I awaited the ambulance, I sincerely doubted that my back was broken. It was certainly sore, but I registered only a 2 or 3 out of 10 on the pain scale. I figured I would play it safe, just in case. I had heard far too many bad stories of friends and acquaintances to risk moving.

The discomfort gradually increased until it was almost unbearable. What I remember most was the heat. It was a hot day, late in the summer, near-ing the hundreds. I was wearing my thick down jacket, along with a flight suit and winter gloves. I asked for help removing the gloves and, while remov-ing the left one, I felt an excruciating pain. The effort to undress me stopped there.

The ambulance arrived shortly after. They loaded me onto the back-board and began to cut off all of my clothes, including gloves and flightsuit. I slipped into a morphine-induced haze that would last for weeks.

Shortly after I was admitted to the hospital, I learned that my left wrist had been badly broken. The doctor said it was as close as possible to a compound fracture, without actually being one.

They reported that my spine was fractured, but nobody could tell me how severely until the next morn-ing, when the neurosurgeon visited me. I had two broken vertebrae. He described my fracture as “triply un-stable,” meaning I had cracks travers-ing vertebrae in three places. He added that multiple fragments of bone had broken off. He said it was highly likely I would have been paralyzed if I had tried to get up. When I learned the details of my condition, I was devastated and distraught.

I resolved to make my story known to prevent anyone from making the mistake I had almost made. Let me reiterate: I had NO IDEA my back was broken as I lay in that field. I thought I was playing it safe. If you even remotely suspect back injury, the best thing to do is call an ambulance or get to the hospital ASAP and, as carefully as possible, be sure you are OK. The consequences are too dire to take a risk.

I needed surgery on both my back and arm. The surgeons fused four of my vertebrae, the T9-T12 vertebrae, and placed two large titanium plates in my left wrist.

The eight days I spent in the hospital were a special kind of hell. I had just moved to the area, so I didn’t have many close friends nearby. Fortunately, one good friend came that night and visited often and, eventually, my mom flew in to help me. I can’t describe how indebted I feel to both

LEfT Flying in Valle under a classic sky | photo by Stefan Mitrovich.

http://www.flymaster-usa.com


of them. Most of the time it didn’t matter

who was there, just that I had company. The long hours alone were among the darkest I’ve had. I got lost in self-pity, began sobbing uncontrol-lably, and started pushing the magic morphine button in hopes of retreat-ing back to that comfortable haze. But it never quite did the trick.

As soon as I was able to fly to my parents’ home to San Diego, good friends began calling and visiting, which boosted my spirits. Those visits carried me through the long days of lying on the couch, stoned out of my gourd. (In the past, I knew a few pilots who had been injured, but I hadn’t visited anyone at the hospital. I will never skip visiting again. Those visits meant the world to me.)

For better or for worse, I decided to return to school at Cal Poly, four weeks after my accident. At 23 years of age, I couldn’t imagine postponing my education any longer. I was still very weak and a complete mess emo-tionally, but it felt like the right thing to do. I figured: worst-case scenario, I could drop my classes and return home. Turns out, I was ready.

The university HOOKED me up. With the permission of my profes-sors, I was excused from the first week of classes. When I arrived, the school provided me with golf-cart rides to class, personal note-takers in all of my classes (even though I didn’t break my good hand), and time-and-a-half on exams. I didn’t use the golf carts, but I took full advantage of everything else.

The next hurdle to clear, around week five or six, was getting off the morphine and Percocet. My primary motivation arose from my desire to drive again. My doctors said I couldn’t drive while taking the drugs: If I were pulled over while on narcot-ics, I would get a DUI. They made it

sound as if many of their patients had faced this problem. My secondary motivation was that I was concerned about my craving for the pills and my counting the minutes until my allot-ted “wait time” was up. I really came to love the relaxed, numb feeling they gave me and knew that wasn’t healthy. I still crave the pills and expect I always will.

As I started to withdraw from the medications, I found the pain was manageable with Arnica Cream, some herbal “pain management” tea, and Advil. I also had good success with Kratom powder (look it up). These substitutes made quitting the pills less painful, but it was still far from easy. I had become, at least to some degree, physically dependent on the narcotics. I slowly weaned myself off them, and when I got down to only a few pills per day, I stopped taking them all together. Looking back, I should have gotten down to only one per day before quitting, because the week after I stopped was pure hell. It may have been worse than the week in the hospital.

The first and perhaps worst withdrawal symptom was insomnia. I hardly slept for five or six nights in a row; I spent a lot of time tossing and turning and crying.

The other obvious symptom was being even more emotional that I had been during the rest of my convales-cence. I sobbed for hours without reason. It was incoherent, nose-running, screaming-at-anyone-that-talked-to-me, ugly crying. I had heard about becoming emotional while quitting, but I didn’t think it would be anywhere near that bad.

Since getting off the narcotics, I’ve been gradually regaining strength and returning to my normal, cheerful self. It took me a while—at least six or eight weeks after my accident—

before I felt genuinely happy again. I still feel blue occasionally, but overall, I’m optimistic and genuinely excited about the future. I have begun to fly again, although only in the most gentle of conditions. I’ve also returned to my other favorite hobbies—rock climbing and working on my old Mercedes.

In spite of my complaints, the recovery time was quicker than I could have asked for. I was able to stop wearing my wrist brace at ten weeks and the back brace at twelve weeks. Through physical therapy, I’ve regained most of the flexibility and strength in my wrist and back. Life is pretty damn close to how it was before. I just always hurt a little, am considerably weaker at the spots where I was injured and require more rest.

Many folks have asked if I’ve learned my lesson. What possible lesson is there to learn from this? That paragliding is dangerous? That I should be careful about when I fly? That I’m not invincible? I was by no means a newbie or risky pilot before the accident. Those are all things I knew before I crashed.

If anything, the lesson I will take away from this is that we are all more fragile than we think. My world was rocked to its core by the final three seconds of that flight. I was broken physically, mentally, and spiritu-ally. I completely lost control of my emotions for a long time. I lost the capability to do most of what I loved for many months.

I could have lost so much more. If I had trusted the cocktail of adrena-line and shock I felt right after impact that told me my that back was fine, and I had tried to stand up, I could have lost use of my legs. Forever.

But I didn’t. I survived. Life goes on. I lived to fly another day.

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I was flying back from the USHPA board meeting last October, heading for Cleveland with Felipe

Amunategui, the Region 9 director. We got to talking about flying—sur-prise—and he was telling me about flying around his local tow park. He related how he often finds lift lines located in the same place, over the same stretch of terrain. This is flatland flying, folks. Remember, last month we delved into house thermals. At the end of the article we looked at house ther-mals in flat lands. Now we’ll go a step further and look at what we will term house lift lines. Just as house thermals are spots of lift that tend to reside in the same areas, we can think of house lift lines as pathways of lift that tend to show up on a more or less regular basis.

Most often we would encounter reli-able lift lines when going cross country, since that is the flying that takes us in relatively straight lines. However, there are some situations where knowing where reliable lift lines occur around your favorite site is helpful. We’ll ex-plore both of these matters.

LIFT LINE REVIEWTo start, here is a little review of lift lines. Lift lines are any area where the lift extends in a line. The line of lift can be parallel to the wind (as it is most often) or at any other orientation, including perpendicular. The lift can be weak or strong and can be continuous unvaryingly, continuous in changeable strength, or intermittent. The line of lift can be wide or very narrow. Finally, the line can be short or very long—extend-ing 10 miles or more in extreme cases.

The known sources of lift lines are: 1. Thermals in wind. A thermal

lifting off on a windy day will get strung out parallel to the wind. If the ther-mal feed is continuous or long-term in supply, the thermal lift can last for miles. For example, if the thermal feed lasts 15 minutes and the thermal tops out in a 20mph wind, it is possible it stretches for five miles in the upwind/downwind direction. Typically a lift line created by a single thermal will only be a mile or so long at the most in the East (greener, less heated air on the ground) and three miles or so in the West (bigger thermals and lots more supply of heated surface air, although there tends to be less upper-wind strength).

2. Cloud streets. When the sky is streeting—producing long lines of thermals—the pathway underneath the clouds is obviously a lift line. The lift (and clouds) may be solid in the line or it may be strong under the cloud, weaker or non-existent between the clouds. In either case, we can often fly beneath the street—along the lift line—without turning and remain aloft, gain height or only lose a little as we cover ground. The lift line in this case generally is parallel to the lower winds. Of course, thermals can be lined up parallel to the wind when there are no clouds (we call them “blue streets”). Cloud streets and their associated lift lines can extend for hundreds of miles as shown on satellite photos.

3. Along a ridge. It should be obvi-ous to any soaring pilot that the ridge lift along a ridge or wide mountain is a lift line. Often we can soar along it without turning. If the wind is per-

pendicular to the mountain, then this lift line is perpendicular to the wind. A different form of this type of lift line occurs when a small ridge or rise triggers thermals in a line so that there is essentially a street oriented perpen-dicular to the wind. This effect may be significant but subtle. More on this matter later.

4. Waves. Terrain effects or impulses in the atmosphere can form undula-tions in the flow: waves. The upward flowing part of the wave is a line of lift generally orientated perpendicular to the airflow. Of course, the downward flowing “backside” of the wave is a line of sink. Wave lift lines can extend for tens of miles if the terrain feature initi-ating them is long enough, but judging from the clouds they produce, they are typically less than 10 miles long.

5. Convergence. Anywhere the airflow comes together will produce convergence, which is an upwelling of the air. Often this upwelling is in a line. Look at a stream flowing around rocks or other obstructions and you will see some lines of higher water indicating a convergence area. The air does the same thing when disturbed by mountains in the flow. In addition, the air some-times meanders, even over flat country, perhaps due to pressure impulses from distant disturbances. These meanders create convergent and divergent areas, usually in lines. These are lift lines and sink lines, respectively.

6. Thunderstorms. A thunderstorm's overdeveloped thermal mass can pres-ent a line of lift under its “bench”—the flat feeding area on the upwind side of an advancing storm. I once flew straight

Part XV: House Lift Lines

Thinking Outside the Blocks by Dennis Pagen

15 miles at high speed under such a bench as I escaped the storm to the side. Thunderstorms are too dangerous and unpredictable to have bearing on our theme here (reliable sources of lift lines). But it should be noted that there are places where thunderstorms de-velop most readily when thunderstorm conditions are present. For example at Greifenburg in Austria during the 2005 Europeans, thunderstorms always built up first about 12 miles to the west of launch when they did develop.

7. Also, an advancing cold front and specifically an advancing sea breeze (which can act like a small cold front when it is strong enough to advance quickly) will produce a line of lift per-pendicular to its advance. This lift line is normally perpendicular to the wind as well. Pilots in England and elsewhere have used the border of a sea-breeze front to fly long distances. If a sea-

breeze front is present a good percent-age of the time in a given area, it can be used reliably as a house lift line.

We will be looking at these sources of linear lift a bit more when we de-scribe how they can set up regularly in the next section.

REGULAR SOURCESHopefully all readers are convinced about the importance of house thermals to our successful soaring, especially right after launch or when trying to stay up on a weak day (see last month’s article). We note that they are very common (almost every site has one or more) and vary in frequency of produc-tion as well as duration (depending on the wind factors, the instability of the day and ground cover). One reason we know about house thermals is because hundreds of flights (thousands for a popular site) take place covering the

same small area, so eventually the specific location of lift builds up in the collective lore of the locals. What helps this lore develop is that generally we fly local sites in winds of fairly similar velocity (strength and direction). At most sites winds from zero to perhaps 15 mph and not more than 20 degrees off straight-in may be the norm. Such restricted conditions usually produce similar thermal conditions and loca-tions, although there may be a differ-ence from the extremes of direction.

On the other hand, with flat-land flying around a tow park the wind may come from any quarter, so lift lines may have a greater variety of orienta-tion, location and extent. Even so, when launching from a mountain site and even a tow park there is often only a handful of directions that pilots typi-cally fly, so the awareness and knowl-edge of common lift-line locations can be acquired.

For example, at a site I fly there is a solid ridge about five miles upwind, broken by a gap that goes all the way through the mountain. The wind converges in that gap because it flows in from the side and wells up, as shown in figure 1. This effect is similar to that when water rushes between two rocks or logs. This convergence tends to promote thermal development and release, and the lift carries downwind because unlike the thermals that form up against the ridge, there is no down-flowing air on the backside to suppress the thermal. Typically, when we follow a thermal over the back it is attenuated or completely dissolved in the leeside downward air behind the long ridge, as the figure illustrates. But this thermal line through the gap is usually there extending part or all the way across the valley. When I practice flying upwind I use this line in my attempts to fly to the ridge in front. This is one of my


known house lift lines.As another example, in Florida

around the areas of the Wallaby Ranch and Quest Air, there is a convergence that sets up as sea breeze comes in from both coasts. In the many competition flights and thousands of free flights that have taken place there over the years, we have learned the location and frequency of this extremely long line of lift. It doesn’t happen every day, and it isn’t always in the same place, but its visibility (usually a line of clouds) and frequency make it a house lift line.

In Felipe’s account, he notes that his house lift lines are often present in weak conditions or at the end of the day. His flight park is just south of Lake Erie so I suspect some of what he is experiencing comes from sea-breeze effects, just as with the lines in Florida. Another place where we have experi-enced sea-breeze convergence lift lines is along the Delmarva peninsula (made up of parts of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean). We should expect these breeze effects to occur anytime we are flying near the sea. And if our local site is in such an area the smart money will be put on those who pay attention and try to figure out the patterns of the lift lines. Repeatability makes them house lift lines.

Other convergences may be caused by obstructions (hills, mountains) far upwind making the flow meander from side to side. The reader may remember a recent photo I had in this series that I took last winter, demonstrating how meanders cause lines of convergence and divergence parallel to the wind’s flow. You can see the long lines of snow ridges where the convergence occurs and the valleys where there is diver-gence. You can see such meandering in water flow on wide rivers, and no doubt it happens in the air on a much larger scale than in the field of snow I photographed, and it should continue for long distances judging by other

oscillation effects in the atmosphere (waves and horizontal impulses). If meandering convergence is caused by a terrain formation, it should be repeat-able in similar wind conditions. An approaching front or storm can also cause such meandering or impulses that create convergence, but these factors are not around all the time and tend to move, so they don’t qualify as house lift line sources.

Above I mentioned the area in Greifenburg that tends to blow up first with thunderstorms. As explained by the weatherman for the meet—a very experienced meteorologist and local pilot—the area is a point where three valley flows come together. So it is a lo-calized convergence zone. While no one smart is going to fly towards a thunder-storm to get up, it should be noted that this general area is known to be a good thermal producer even without thun-derstorm buildup or even clouds. The point to take away from this discussion is that an area where you frequently see a line of clouds, either as a street of cumulus or a more spread-out mass in-dicating convergence, suspect that there may be lift lines in the same locale, even without clouds. By exploring these areas you just may discover a reliable lift line for at-once and future use.

FLYING HOUSE LINESFlying lift lines, whether reliable, repeated house lines or not requires being sensitive to the lift and sink you are in as you float along. Sometimes the line is obvious because clouds mark its position, but often we are using them between thermal cumuli, on cloudless days or on weak days. The main trick is to pay attention to the lift-and-sink feeling and feedback from your vario and make little heading adjustments as necessary to remain on the line of the best lift. Sometimes, of course, a line peters out, but often if the lift diminishes or disappears it only takes a little side adjustment to find it again.

How do you know which side to adjust towards? Paying attention to your instrument and seeing if there is an increase or drop off of lift as you move to one side or the other usually lets you know which the lift is on. However, you must catch the changes fast or you will be too late and may feel sink in either direction. Part of the trick to flying lift lines is being on top of things and con-stantly making necessary adjustments or being ready to do so. With practice you can learn to stay in, and ride to the fullest, lift lines almost automatically, just as we do with thermals after many thermaling hours.

We listed ridgelines above (source 3) as an obviously reliable source of lift lines. But such a terrain feature as a very low ridge (too low to soar), or berm, or escarpment can be a thermal trigger for multiple thermals in a line parallel to the ridge (and perpendicu-lar to the wind if it is blowing into the ridge). The thermal line will be some-what downwind of the ridge—the further back the higher you are in significant wind. This concept is shown in figure 2. It is possible that general up-sloping terrain perpendicular to the wind can trigger thermals in a line, especially where such a slope meets a tree line or changes its angle of slope. Even if the wind isn’t perpendicular to such a low ridgeline, a thermal trigger-ing along it may induce others to trigger simply because the break of the ground disturbs the airflow.

Besides flying similar routes in an area, one of the best ways to discern possible house lift lines is to look at an accumulation of track logs, just as we suggested with house thermals. With color-coded displays we can see when we are rising or falling and any line that reduces our sink or provides a climb is probably a lift line. By comparing multiple track logs along the same gen-eral corridors, you can see if any lines are repeated and if so, how frequently. Clearly, if you have a community of


track logs from the same area you will have many more comparisons and find house lift lines more readily. Sounds like a good club project to me.

As we mentioned earlier, lift lines are most often important for XC flying, but there are many times when they are helpful while flying locally. When you top out a thermal and have to fly back upwind to position in front of the hill or locate the next bloom of lift, it’s nice to follow a lift line. Often such a line will be strung out upwind of the core you leave, but since the line depends on where the thermal is located, it cannot be considered a house lift line. However, anywhere there is a house thermal the lift line it creates in wind can be somewhat depended upon. One site near me has quarries that tend to put out thermals that linger longer than the surrounding thermals, so the lift trains out. I go to them for the house thermal effects, but also expect to get repeated cores or at least help flying

back upwind when I top their thermals out.

Other local house lift lines may be caused by convergences due to terrain. Again, if we are trolling for thermals at a given site it is good practice to note where we have the best glide perfor-mance. After years of flying a given site it is the smart pilot who notes all of the patterns of the area. Recurring lift lines are an important part of the site’s lore. Of course, part of the mountain or ridge extending perpendicular to the wind will produce a lift line, but many times there are spines or protrusions extending upwind or partially upwind. These are excellent terrain features to explore for lift lines.

House lift lines are perhaps more difficult to discover than house thermals, mainly because there

is much more ground to cover and we do it less often. But for flying cross-country, or even going on short ventures

within a few miles of launch, such as my jaunts across the valley, you can see how valuable they are. Once we have found house lift lines in our local area and on our normal routes, the next step—just as with house thermals—is to note their probable cause and then try to find the resident lift lines further along our routes, or at other sites entirely.

We start by becoming aware of the possibility and presence of such natural factors in our flying, then we learn more about their behavior, then we learn to anticipate and predict their pres-ence and behavior. This is the process most of us went through in relation to thermals in general. We didn’t even know they existed before we began to fly. Then we learned their nature and how to exploit them. Then we learned to predict them to better locate and master them. The same process should take place with house thermals and then, house lift lines.

Happy hunting.


RTG RGN NAME STATE RATING OFFICIAL

P-2 4 Kerry Smeester CO Granger BanksP-2 6 Nilson Araujo Steven YanceyP-2 6 Jing Xiao Cen Steven YanceyP-2 6 Eric Yam Ma Chiu KitP-2 6 Lau Ka Yee Ma Chiu KitP-2 6 Chiu Ho Nam Ma Chiu KitP-2 6 Bernardo Vasquez Miguel GutierrezP-2 7 Gary Jagodzinski MN Steve SirrineP-2 11 Max Bennett Jr TX Hadley RobinsonP-3 1 Donneta Grizzell OR Kevin LeeP-3 1 Jeff Rafuse WA Marc ChiricoP-3 2 Mark Playsted CA Jesse MeyerP-3 4 Andrew Hodge UT Stephen MayerP-3 5 Chad Jakubowski WY Scott HarrisP-3 8 Erik Webb MA Luis RosenkjerP-3 8 Michael Fredericks MA John GallagherP-3 8 Kristin Rokos MA Benoit BruneauP-3 10 Ed Hunsinger Sr NC Jeffrey GreenbaumP-4 1 Owen Shoemaker WA Matt SeniorP-4 2 Dave Kornberg CA Patrick EavesP-4 3 Zahra Panahi CA Hadi GolianP-4 4 Jeff Slotta AZ Matt SeniorP-4 4 Mitchell Lemieur UT Steve SirrineP-4 4 Eric Townsend UT Stephen MayerP-4 6 Mosum Mujawar David HanningP-4 6 Balasaheb Kudle David HanningP-4 6 Vitthal Shete David HanningP-4 6 Yagya Bhul David HanningP-4 6 Lok Bhul David Hanning

HANG GLIDING

PARAGLIDING

RTG RGN NAME STATE RATING OFFICIALRTG RGN NAME STATE RATING OFFICIAL

RTG RGN NAME STATE RATING OFFICIAL

H-1 2 Daley Kutzman CA Barry LevineH-1 2 Matthew Pearson CA Barry LevineH-1 2 Jennifer Hu CA Barry LevineH-1 2 Christopher Blume CA Barry LevineH-1 2 Rainer Hessmer CA Eric HinrichsH-1 10 Fred Minix FL James TindleH-1 12 Andrew Drossman NY Matthew MastersH-2 2 Mark Larsen CA Patrick DenevanH-2 2 Jim Sillars CA Robert BoothH-2 2 Parul Gujral CA Robert BoothH-2 4 Douglas Hale AZ Richard WatersH-2 10 John Blank GA Julie JulianH-2 10 Lamar Burnham GA Joe BedinghausH-2 10 Tim Burnham GA Joe BedinghausH-2 10 Fred Minix FL James TindleH-2 10 John Aubrey FL Eric WilliamsH-2 12 Andrew Drossman NY Matthew MastersH-3 1 Paige Ollikainen WA Rob NicholsH-3 2 Good Dog Test - Director CA Paul VoightH-3 3 Charles Bether CA Rob MckenzieH-3 10 Antonio Mercado FL Jon Thompson

P-1 3 Major Bryant CA Rob SporrerP-1 4 Wilfrid Thibault NM T Lee KortschP-1 6 Rena Brown OK Ron KohnP-1 6 Lau Ka Yee Ma Chiu Kit

P-1 6 Chiu Ho Nam Ma Chiu KitP-1 6 James Lewis Steven YanceyP-1 6 Samantha Liddelow Steven YanceyP-1 6 Aaron Liddelow Steven YanceyP-1 7 Hamed Taghikhani IL Sam PashaP-2 1 Allison Wibby OR Maren LudwigP-2 1 G. Mark Griffith WA Marc ChiricoP-2 1 James Scott Jr OR Justin BoerP-2 1 Stephen Karney WA Ross JacobsonP-2 1 Rod Ragsdale OR Steve RotiP-2 1 Elena Ursachii WA Jerome DaoustP-2 1 Hattie Schmidtkunz AK Scott AmyP-2 1 Jesse Mayo AK Scott AmyP-2 1 John Casey AK Frank SihlerP-2 2 Junichi Nakamura CA Jeffrey GreenbaumP-2 2 Solomon Lee CA Chien (charlie) DinhP-2 2 Michael Petragallo CA Christopher GranthamP-2 2 Ulysse Voyer-bolduc CA Christopher LanganP-2 2 Daniel Shabtai CA Jesse MeyerP-2 3 Peter Pivka CA Marcello DebarrosP-2 3 Major Bryant CA Rob SporrerP-2 4 David Eubank NM Charles (chuck) WoodsP-2 4 Max Montgomery NM Charles (chuck) WoodsP-2 4 Wilfrid Thibault NM T Lee KortschP-2 4 Erik Niklason UT Chris Santacroce

RATINGS ISSUED IN DECEMBER

P-1 1 John Casey AK Frank SihlerP-1 2 Michael Petragallo CA Christopher GranthamP-1 2 Ulysse Voyer-bolduc CA Christopher LanganP-1 3 Peter Pivka CA Marcello Debarros

United States Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association2015United States Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

2015

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CALENDAR PHOTOS.

Some photographers are talented.Some are lucky.

Talented, lucky, or both, we want your

best shots for the 2016 calendar.

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TIPS & TRICkS #1 contributed by Bill Bredehoft

Wind noise on your radio making it

difficult for others to understand you?

Rather than putting a foam boot over the

entire mic, making it bulky and difficult

to use in flight, cut out a small donut of

adhesive-backed fuzzy Velcro and center

it on the microphone hole. A piece about

.75 inch in diameter with a small hole in

the center seems to work well.


to Support your Sport3 NEW Ways

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CALENDAR, CLINIC & TOUR LISTINGS can be submitted online at http://www.ush-pa.aero/email _ events.asp. A minimum 3-MONTh LEAD TIME is required on all submissions and tentative events will not be published. For more details on submis-sions, as well as complete information on the events listed, see our Calendar of Events at www.ushpa.aero

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RATES - The rate for classified advertising is $10.00 for 25 words and $1.00 per word after 25. MINIMUM AD CHARGE $10.00. AD DEADLINES: All ad copy, instructions, changes, additions & cancellations must be re-ceived in writing 2 months preceding the cover date, i.e. September 15th is the deadline for the November issue. ALL CLASSIFIEDS ARE pRE-pAID. If paying by check, please include the fol-lowing with your payment: name, address, phone, category, how many months you want the ad to run and the classified ad. Please make checks payable to USHPA, P.O. Box 1330, Colorado Springs, CO 80901-1330. If paying with credit card, you may email the previous information and classified to [email protected]. For security rea-sons, please call your Visa/MC or Amex info to the office. No refunds will be given on ads can-celled that are scheduled to run multiple months. (719) 632-8300. Fax (719) 632-6417

hANG GLIDING ADVISORY: Used hang glid-ers should always be disassembled before flying for the first time and inspected carefully for fa-tigued, bent or dented downtubes, ruined bush-ings, bent bolts (especially the heart bolt), re-used Nyloc nuts, loose thimbles, frayed or rusted cables, tangs with non-circular holes, and on flex wings, sails badly torn or torn loose from their an-chor points front and back on the keel and lead-ing edges.

pARAGLIDING ADVISORY: Used paragliders should always be thoroughly inspected before fly-ing for the first time. Annual inspections on para-gliders should include sailcloth strength tests. Simply performing a porosity check isn’t suffi-cient. Some gliders pass porosity yet have very weak sailcloth.

If in doubt, many hang gliding and paraglid-ing businesses will be happy to give an objec-tive opinion on the condition of equipment you bring them to inspect. BUYERS ShOULD SE-LECT EQUIpMENT ThAT IS AppROpRIATE FOR ThEIR SKILL LEVEL OR RATING. NEW pILOTS ShOULD SEEK pROFESSIONAL INSTRUCTION FROM A UShpA CERTIFIED INSTRUCTOR.

may 31 - JUnE 6 > Ridgley, Maryland. East Coast Hang Gliding Championship. More info: Highland Aerosports, http://www.aerosports.net/ecc.html., [email protected], or 410-634-2700.

JUnE 14-20 > Rat Race/Sprint Paragliding Com-petitions Woodrat Mt. Ruch, OR. Thirteenth annu-al Rat Race/Sprint Paragliding Competition 2015. Practice day June 13th. Two parties, daily lunch-es, retrieve and mentoring provided. Join the ex-perience, travel southern Oregon, bring your family and see why the Rat Race is more than the larg-est paragliding festival in the USA. Go here to see what southern Oregon has to offer: http://souther-noregon.org Registration opens February 15, 2015 $495.00 until April 15th, 2015. More info: mphs-ports.com, and 541-702-2111. Sign up at MPHS-ports.com.

JUnE 28 - JUly 3 > Chelan Butte, Chelan, WA. 2015 Chelan Cross-Country Classic and National Open-Distance Championships, Pilots will choose their own tasks to get the most our of each day and points will be awarded based on the distance they fly. This will be a sanctioned event this year so pilots can earn points for national rankings. Go straight out on days with tail winds or complete a triangle on light winds. Then go for a swim in the lake and hit the town for dinner to finish the day. This competition is also for new cross-country pi-lots as a great way to learn the art of cross-country flying. Evening seminars and on-launch/LZ coach-ing programs are in planning. Individual scoring as well as team scoring and a para vs. hang rematch. Bring the family too! Chelan is great vacation des-tination and the meet dates are before the 4th of July to avoid the crowds. More Info: Lennard Baron, [email protected], 425 275-2162.

aUgUst 2-8 > Big Spring Nationals. The Big Spring Nationals is the premier hang gliding com-petition in the US with the best and most consis-tent racing conditions.Tasks average 100 miles. Many days we are able to come back to the air-port and your glider can rest the night in the hangar. We usually fly every day. No other city supports a hang gliding competition like Big Spring, with use of their air-conditioned terminal, hangar, free water and ice cream, golf carts, runway, welcome dinner, prize money, and much more. As a national com-petition, it will again be a high NTSS points meet and count toward the National Championship. More info: Belinda Boulter and Davis Straub, http://ozre-port.com/2015BigSpringNationals.php, [email protected], and 863-206-7707.

aUgUst 30 - sEptEmBEr 5 > DINOSAUR 2015 More info: Terry, and Chris Reynolds, rocky-mountainglider.com, [email protected], 970-245-7315.

sEptEmBEr 13-19 > Santa Cruz Flats Race - Mark Knight Memorial Competition . The Francisco Grande Resort is once again welcoming us back for another week of great flying. If you're up for 7 out of 7 days of awesome technical flying conditions, come join us for the 9th Annual Santa Cruz Flats Race. Registration opens at noon eastern time on April 11th. More info: Jamie Shelden, www.santa-cruzflatsrace.blogspot.com, [email protected], or 831-261-5444.

CALENDARSANCTIONED COMPETITION

april 5-11 > Groveland, Florida. The Green Swamp Sport Klassic at Quest Air Hang Gliding. Come be a part of the growing Sport-class com-petition scene. Experience our huge LZ, full fleet of tugs and park-like facilities. Come early and brush up on your XC and aero tow skills or just to have fun. This will be a race-to-goal format for Sport Class pilots only. Technical support for instrument-re-lated questions will be available prior to and dur-ing the competition. In addition to the excellent fly-ing conditions this time of year, take advantage of this opportunity and go for a discovery flight in the Dragonfly, Flyboard or Hoverboard on Lake Carl or visit any of the Orlando attractions. More informa-tion: Mark Frutiger, 352-429-0213, or email [email protected].

may 3-9 > NeverLand flight park, La Belle, Flor-ida. East Coast Paragliding Championships: The only east-coast sanctioned PG event. Come race the world-class flats of Florida at the NeverLand flight park. We average 6 out of 7 tasks flown, with potential 100-mile tasks. Epic cloud streets and strong, smooth lift are what Florida is world re-nowned for. P3 with ST sign-off required limit of 60 pilots. More info: David Prentice, [email protected], www.earthcog.com, or 505-720-5436.

may 9-15 > 2015 Quest Air Open National Championships. "National competition comes back to Florida and to Quest Air. We'll be flying in the best time of the year for big cross-country triangle and out-and-return tasks up, down, and across the state. Quest provides full flight-park services with plenty of Dragonflies on site, camping, clubhouse, kitchen, rental rooms, flyboarding, swimming, sun bathing, huge field for launching in any direction. More info: Belinda Boulter and Davis Straub, http://ozreport.com/2014QuestAirOpen.php, or [email protected], or 836-206-7707.

may 17-23 > Flytec Race & Rally. The Flytec Race & Rally is back! We will follow the Quest Air Open, starting at Quest and flying (hopefully) north toward some of our favorite airfields in Georgia and South Carolina including Moultrie, Americus and Vidalia. Late spring in the southeast gener-ally brings southerly winds driving us toward the north and we plan on aggressive tasks between 80-200km each day. We have arranged to have goal and tow out of dozens of beautiful small airfields as well as a whole fleet of Dragonflies following pilots on course each day and then towing them all up again the following day. If you missed out on our last Rally in 2012, now's your chance to come join the traveling flying circus once again. More info: Jamie Shelden, www.flytecraceandrally.wordpress.com, or [email protected], or 831-261-5444.

HOW TO USE

CalENDaR & ClaSSIfIED


6030sEptEmBEr 20-26 > OVXCC - Owen's Valley Cross Country Classic 2015. More info: KARICAS-TLE.COM, Jugdeep Aggarwal, [email protected], or 7600-920-0748 .

NON-SANCTIONED COMPETITION

april 26 - may 1 > La Belle, FL. Spring Fling: XC clinic, fun comp and Rivalry of the Regions for intermediate pilots. Improve your thermal and XC skills in world-class conditions through training, coaching and clinics by David Prentice. Most pi-lots fly new personal bests, distances flown are be-tween 40 to 60 miles. Register your region for team points to claim the traveling trophy and regional infamy! Entry fee: $300, and tow fee: $150 which includes T-shirt, scoring, XC retrieval, XC clinics, awards dinner, and prize money. Register at www.earthcog.com.

aUgUst 16-22 > Dunlap, TN. Tennessee Tree Toppers Team Challenge is an instructional com-petition pioneered by the TTT for the cultivation of cross-country and competition skills. The unique scoring format awards more points to less expe-rienced team members for the same distance, en-couraging their more experienced team members to assist them along course. Teams are led by some of the finest XC and comp pilots in the country! Nightly seminars explore the finer points in greater detail, covering topics from forecasts to landings. More info: www.tennesseetreetoppers.org

fLY-INS

april 3-5 > Lake Alamo, AZ. The Sling Ma-chine Easter Fly-in is a new tow event near Lake Alamo, AZ. $75 covers T-shirts, Saturday dinner, and close retrieves. $10 per tow for the drivers/tow operators. Come witness an attempted tow altitude record! Surface-tow clinic on Friday for those who have never towed, and bridles can be rented or pur-chased during the event. Contact Arizona Paraglid-ing at 480-294-1887 to schedule your training ses-sion. Register for the fly-in at azhpa.org. XC, spot landing, bomb-drop contests! More info: azhpa.org.

april 25-26 > Oceanside, Oregon. 29th An-nual Oceanside Open. Fun comp events for both HG and PG. Banquet, awards and raffle Saturday night at the Elk’s lodge. More details and online registration at www.oceansideopen.com Hosted by the Cascade Paragliding Club.

april 29 - may 4 > La Salina Flyng Ridge, Baja California Norte . 9th ANNUAL FlyLaSalina.com Luna Llena Fiesta Del Cielo FLY- IN! Deemed “The Perfect Ridge” by ‘70s HG pilots, La Salina is known worldwide as Baja’s best air-sport venue. Launch from 700’ ridge less than a mile east of Pa-cific Ocean. Soar for hours, climb to above 3000 ft. in desert thermals, then land on big/beautiful sandy beach, OR XC into Baja’s world-class wine country. Fly PG, HG, PPG, and trikes. Sponsored by TEAM FlyLaSalina.com; Ejido La Mision; and BajaBrent (who handles accommodations at his beachfront B&B complete with beachfront astro-turf LZ). More Info: [email protected]; 760-203-2658 (US); 646-155-8194 MX.

JUly 4> Lakeview, Oregon. Lake County Ump-teenth Annual Festival of Free Flight. Save by Pre-Registering by June 18th 2015 for $30.00 after June 18th it’s $35.00 at our website: www.lake-countychamber.org 877-947-6040. We have been welcoming both Hang Glider and Paraglide Pilots since the early 1980’s. Please visit our website and click the FFF tab for info and registra-tion.

JUnE 20-28> King Mountain Glider Park Safa-ri. Free Annual Idaho event. Fly the longest days of the year just east of famous Sun Valley. Paraglid-ers, hang gliders, sailplanes, and self-launching sailplanes are all welcome. Awesome glass off and cloud bases up to 18,000’. Fly to Montana or Yel-lowstone. Wave Window. Campfire, Potlucks, Star Gazing, Hiking, Mountain Biking and Fish-ing. Free camping at the Glider Park. Big Air and Big Country! For an outtake about King from Dave Aldrich’s awesome movie production see vimeo.com/104771241 Explore kingmountaingliderpark.com for directions and more info. Spot Locator with tracking function or equivalent required. Call John at 208- 407-7174.

sEptEmBEr 4-7 > Ellenville, NY. THE USH-PA NATIONAL FLY-IN! Calling all hang gliders and paragliders. Come one, come all–let's gather and fly and celebrate the sky! More info: at www.SNY-HGPA.org.

CLINICS & TOURS

marcH 30 - april 2 > Owens Valley. Torrey Pines Gliderport Cross Country (XC) Clinic. Tor-rey Pines Gliderport is offering advanced Cross Country flying in the Owens Valley. Hosted by Gabriel Jebb and XC SkyGod (to be announced), this clinic will offer four (4) days of basic and ad-vanced XC flying. Start the morning with in depth weather briefings for the Owens Valley, then plan a basic flight route for the day. Learn how to use GPS and flight instruments to maximize your dis-tance flying. More info at www.flytorrey.com

april 3-5, 10-12, 17-19, 23-24 > Sebring, FL. Over-the-water maneuvers training (SIV) from beginner to advanced maneuvers training. Gain priceless and valuable knowledge and experience under your wing with radio guidance from David Prentice. Each pilot progresses at his or her own pace. Sebring offers a world-class SIV destination with white-sand beaches, crystal-clear water just seconds from main street Sebring. More info: Da-vid Prentice, [email protected], or 505-720-5436.

april 25-27 > Instructor Training. With Ken Hudonjorgensen in Utah. More info: Phone 801-971-3414, email [email protected], or www.twocanfly.com.

april 26 > Instructor Re-certification with Ken Hudonjorgensen in Utah. More info: Phone 801- 971-3414, email [email protected], or www.twocanfly.com.

http://www.flytec.com

http://flytec.com

http://parasupply.com


CALIfORNIA

AIRJUNKIES pARAGLIDING - Year-round excellent instruction, Southern California & Baja. Powered paragliding, clinics, tours, tandem, towing. Ken Baier 760-213-0063, 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 Santa Barbara & Ojai from the 2012 US Instructor of the Year! More students flying safely after 10 years than any other school in the nation. flyaboveall.com

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, [email protected], Mission Soaring Center LLC, leading the way since 1973. www.hang-gliding.com

WINDSpORTS - Train in sunny southern Cal. 325 flyable days each year. Learn modern flying skills safely and quickly. Train on sand with profession-als at Dockweiler Beach training slopes (5 minutes from LA airport.) Fly any season in gentle coastal winds, soft sand and in a thorough program with 1 of the largest schools for over 40 years. 818-367-2430, www.windsports.com

COLORADO

GUNNISON GLIDERS - X-C to heavy waterproof HG gliderbags. Accessories, parts, service, sew-ing. Instruction ratings, site-info. Rusty Whitley 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.

GRAYBIRD AIRSpORTS — Paraglider & hang glider towing & training, Dragonfly aerotow training, XC, thermaling, instruction, equipment. Dunnellon Airport 352-245-8263, email [email protected], 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.

sEptEmBEr 19-20 > Site Pioneering. Utah sites with Ken Hudonjorgensen. More info: Phone 801- 971-3414, email [email protected], or www.twocanfly.com.

sEptEmBEr 28 - octoBEr 3 > Red Rocks Fall Fly-in, Richfield Utah with Ken Hudonjor-gensen and Stacy Whitmore. More info: Phone 801- 971-3414, email [email protected], or www.twocanfly.com.

noVEmBEr > Iquique Chili paragliding tour: This year we have divided the tour into four differ-ent segments: Instructional Days, Iquique Days # 1, 2 and 3. Our Tour leaders are Todd Weigand, Luis Rosenkjer and Ken Hudonjorgensen. The entire tour will be packed with instruction for all levels of para-gliding (including P-2 thru P-4). Check the web site for more details. For anyone wanting to fly, fly, fly... this is the tour to join. The last tour will focus more on XC. More info: Phone 801- 971-3414, email [email protected], or www.twocanfly.com.

dEcEmBEr 7-16> Brazil. Paraglide Brazil with Paracrane Tour. We’ll start in magical Rio de Ja-neiro, flying over the tropical forest surrounded by granite domes and landing on the beach, or try a flight to the world-famous Christ statue! Af-ter 3 days we head to Governador Valadares, for incredible XC opportunities. Depending on condi-tions other sites we may visit include Pancas, Cas-telo and Alfredo Chavez in Espirito Santo. Brazil is a unique paragliding and cultural experience! Open to strong P-2’s and up. Please note, you will need a Brazilian Visa. More info: 541-840-8587, or [email protected].

CLASSIFIEDfLEX WINGS

A GREAT SELECTION OF hG&pG GLIDERS (ss, ds, pg) -HARNESSES (trainer, cocoon, pod) -PARACHUTES (hg&pg) -WHEELS (new & used). Phone for latest inventory 262-473-8800, www.hanggliding.com

HARNESSES

FLY CENTER OF GRAVITY CG-1000 - The most affordable single line suspension harness available. Individually designed for a precise fit. Fly in comfort. www.flycenterofgravity.com; [email protected]; 315-256-1522

SCHOOLS & INSTRUCTORS

ALABAMA

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FLIGhT pARK - The best facilities, largest inventory, camping, swimming, volleyball, more. Wide range of accommodations. 877-HANGLIDE, 877-426-4543, hanglide.com.

may 1-3 > Thermal Clinic. Utah flying sites with Ken Hudonjorgensen. Learn your wing’s language and what it is telling you about the parcel of air it is in. More info: Phone 801- 971-3414, email [email protected], or www.twocanfly.com.

may 23-24 > Tandem Clinic with Ken Hudonjor-gensen in Utah. More info: Phone 801-971-3414, email [email protected], or www.twocanfly.com.

may 23-25 > Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Tandem Instructor Certification Clinic at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort presented by Scott Harris and Jackson Hole Paragliding. More info at www.jh-paragliding.com

may 29-31 > Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Instruc-tor Certification Clinic presented by Scott Harris and JH Paragliding. More info at www.jhparaglid-ing.com

JUnE 3-13, sEptEmBEr 21 - octoBEr 1 & octoBEr 1-12> Paracrane European Tour. Austria, Slovenia, and Italy. "The Sound of Music" meets the X-Alps! Early summer and early fall are perfect times for flying in Austria, Slovenia and Ita-ly. We’ll base in Zell am See, Austria, with tram ac-cess to excellent flying. Other great sites are close by. On to the Alps of Slovenia, plus a stop in Ven-ice. After classic Meduno, we shift north to some of the most spectacular flying in the world, the Dolo-mites. More info: [email protected], 541-840-8587, or http://www.costaricaparagliding.com/eu-rope.html.

JUnE 6-7 > Site Pioneering in Utah with Ken Hudonjorgensen. More info: Phone 801-971-3414, email [email protected], or www.twocanfly.com.

JUnE 14-20 > Rat Race Super Clinic : Kari Cas-tle, Kay Taucher and Ken Hudonjorgensen will be helping Mike Haley at the Rat Race, training new-er pilots with thermaling, launch-sequence profi-ciency, and restricted landing approaches, etc. All necessary skills for XC and competition. Contact: [email protected].

JUly 3-5 > Thermal Clinic. Utah sites with Ken Hudonjorgensen. Learn your wing’s language and what it is telling you about the parcel of air it is in. More info: Phone 801-971-3414, email [email protected], or www.twocanfly.com.

aUgUst 29, 30, 31 > Thermal Clinic. Utah sites with Ken Hudonjorgensen. Learn your wing’s lan-guage and what it is telling you about the parcel of air it is in. More info: Phone 801- 971-3414, email [email protected], or www.twocanfly.com.

sEptEmBEr 5-9 > Cross-country and open-distance competition clinic with mentoring. Para-gliding Intensive with Ken Hudonjorgensen and other mentors. Inspiration Point, Jupiter, West Mt. and Monroe, Utah, wherever the weather tells us to go. More info: Phone 801- 971-3414, email [email protected], or www.twocanfly.com.





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

WALLABY 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.

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, [email protected].

MICHIGAN

TRAVERSE CITY pARAGLIDERS - Soar our 450’ sand dunes. Full time shop. Certified instruction, all levels. Sales, service and accessories for all major brands. Call Bill at 231-922-2844 or email at [email protected] Your USA & Canada Mosquito distributor, www.mosquitoamerica.com

NEW HAMPSHIRE

MORNINGSIDE - A Kitty Hawk Kites flight park. The Northeast's premier hang gliding and paragliding training center, teaching since 1974. Hang gliding foot launch and tandem aerowtow training. Paragliding foot launch and tandem training. Powered Paragliding instruction. Dealer for all major manufacturers. Located in Charlestown, NH. Also visit our North Carolina location, Kitty Hawk Kites Flight School. 603-542-4416, www.flymorningside.com

NEW YORK

AAA MOUNTAIN WINGS INC - New location at 77 Hang Glider Rd in Ellenville next to the LZ. We service all brands featuring AEROS and North Wing. 845-647-3377 [email protected], www.mtnwings.com

NORTH CAROLINA

KITTY hAWK KITES - The largest hang gliding school in the world, teaching since 1974. Learn to hang glide and paraglide on the East Coast's largest sand dune. Year-round instruction, foot launch and tandem aerotow. Powered paragliding instruction. Dealer for all major manufacturers. Learn to fly where the Wright Brothers flew, located at the beach on NC's historic Outer Banks. Also visit our New Hampshire location, Morningside Flight Park. 252-441-2426, 1-877-FLY-THIS, www.kittyhawk.com

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, [email protected]

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 TEAM - training pilots in Central Texas for 25 years. Hang Gliding, Paragliding, Trikes. Hangar facilities Lake LBJ, Luling, Smithville www.flytexas.com 512-467-2529

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.

VIRGINIA

BLUE SKY - Virginia's full time, year round HG School. Scooter, Platform and Aero Tow. Custom sewing, paragliding, powered harnesses, trikes, representing most major brands. 804-241-4324, www.blueskyhg.com

INTERNATIONAL

BAJA MEXICO - La Salina Baja's BEST BEACHFRONT Airsport Venue: PG, HG, PPG: FlyLaSalina.com. by BajaBrent.com, He’ll hook you up! Site intros, tours, & rooms. [email protected], 760-203-2658

EXOTIC ThAILAND X/C CLINIC - Phu Thap Boek,Thailand's most awesome,highest flying site 5,200ASL.Open to P-2 and above.Come learn how to fly high and far! Very inexpensive! More info: [email protected]

FLYMEXICO - VALLE DE BRAVO and beyond for HANG GLIDING and PARAGLIDING. Gear, guiding, instruction, transportation, lodging - www.flymexico.com 512-467-2529 / 1-800-861-7198 USA

CLINICS & TOURS

COSTA RICA - Grampa Ninja's Paragliders' B&B. Affordable rates include breakfast, pool, free wifi. Guide service and/or transportation to all popular paragliding sites. Lessons available from USHPA certified instructors. Call USA: Mid April thru Dec: 908-454-3242. Call Costa Rica Jan thru mid April: (Country code, 011) House: 506-2200-4824, Cell: 506-8950-8676, or email [email protected] Website: www.paraglidecostarica.com

ITALY - Fantastico! Great flying! Great food! Great weather! ALL inclusive service suitable for all levels of pilots. Round topped grassy mountains and large flatlands. Flying with culture! www.flytaly.com

PARTS & ACCESSORIES

SpECIALTY WhEELS for airfoil basetubes, round basetubes, or tandem landing gear. 262-473-8800, www.hanggliding.com.

GUNNISON GLIDERS - X-C, Factory, heavy PVC HG gliderbags $149. Harness packs & zippers. New/used parts, equipment, tubes. 1549 CR 17 Gunnison, CO 81230 970-641-9315

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.

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, [email protected].


WHAT ON EARTH IS THAT SMELL?That, replied the monkey in his usual condescending tone, is salvation.

But what do an ungodly smell and a random primate have to do with my favorite flight? Both were key, but a story has to have a beginning, middle and end. The end is easy: It was at a skydiving school airfield somewhere in Delaware that was the farthest I had ever flown. The beginning—well, as a low-airtime H-3 trying to get the hang of thermal-ing and hopefully XC flying, I’d have to say that was the 2013 Tennessee Tree Toppers Team Challenge. Under expert guidance and mentoring, Cory Barnwell and I built on our learning experience from Lookout Mountain Flight Park and finally fledged the nest, so to speak.

And now to the middle.The final day of the East Coast

Challenge (ECC), the longest task called so far—a good result could push me into the top 10, but that would require blending all my past flights and new knowledge from earlier in the week into this one flight. Cory and I plotted and planned. We would fly together, for as long as we were able to. We consulted with more experienced pilots, as the day looked challenging. And then we were in the gaggle in the start cylinder.

The sheer exuberance of working together with a good buddy on a shared goal—talking, strategizing and then executing the plan, and having it work, was just incredible! It was all going so well—right up until it wasn’t.

I heard nothing, not a beep, yet Cory was climbing above me—admittedly

quite a lot above me, but there must be something here. There was, little bubbles enough to sustain but nothing very organized. I widened my search area, found a few more bubbles. Things that should have been working weren’t, I was just burbling around at 2000’, not going up, not going down. Sunny’s advice (from Highland Aerosports) earlier in the week boomed loud in my head—avoid sink, be patient and make it to goal—was interrupted by Cory.

“Hey, Rich, I am at 5000 feet and going on glide. Where are you?”

“1950 feet, in 20fpm.” I think the radio accurately transmitted my stress; after a longer-than-normal delay there was a subdued, “Hang in there, buddy,” in reply.

By now I had got the area of lift, or non-sink, worked out and was widening my search, still finding nothing, really, yet there was a broad area of consistent bubbly lift I kept coming back to. I would lose altitude on search, then come back and claw my way back up to around 2000’.

Then it happened, on my farthest foray away from the safe zone. What on earth is that smell? I thought.

That, replied the monkey, is salva-tion. Chicken poo, and lots of it, at 1800 feet. It had gotten up here somehow, although the chicken sheds were up/crosswind, off task line and a reason-able distance away. Back to the comfort of the safe zone I went—it might have turned on by now, but if not, I’d gain as much height as possible, and then go for those chicken sheds.

That glide was the tensest I had ever experienced. If there was nothing there I would land way short of goal and lose places, if it was the same burbly lift as I had just left, well, I would be no better off, possibly worse off, as I was heading away from goal and I wasn’t sure I would make it back to the safe zone if I had to search over the chicken sheds.

Then, Boom! Right over the sheds, broad, consistent 400fpm rising to 600fpm, a vertical column of salvation that took me to cloudbase. Again Cory interrupted. “Hey, Rich, where are you?”

“I’m at 5000 feet going on glide—you?”

“I’m at goal—see you soon?” “Hell, yes!”

That was my last flight of the ECC. It was my longest in distance, one of my longest in duration, and I moved

up into 9th spot. Flying with Cory, and making it work, was very special. Watching the distance to goal count down, monitoring speed and altitude, scanning ahead for the goal and spotting it, realizing that I was actually going to make it (a huge 53km!) was just magical. Having enough altitude over goal to beat up the airfield and burn it in to land to show the jump students the error of their ways was just icing on the cake. Best of all, though, were the huge grins and hugs from the other pilots at goal. This was easily my favorite flight!

Oh, about that monkey: It’s a good-luck charm my wife gave me, that lives on my instrument pod. But that’s another story…

by Richard Elder

The 1We know there was a day when it all worked for you. When your training clicked, the conditions were perfect, the stars

aligned, and you soared to new heights (real or imagined.) Send in your tale of “The 1” flight you'll never forget, and we'll

print it right here. You'll be entered into the annual drawing for USHPA soft shell jacket.

http://moyes.com.au

http://moyes.com.au

flytec.com • [email protected]

Cross country flights become child’s play with the new Flytec Element. This instrument's highly advanced vario guides you high into the air, its GPS points you in the right direction and shows you the way the wind blows, and the airspace warnings increase safety. In-flight usability is exceptional, featuring a redesigned high-contrast display and new keypad that gives better tactile feedback – even with gloves. After landing, records of your adventures are immediately available for Google Earth and online contests.

For those who want to fly beyond

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Hang Gliding & Paragliding Vol45/Iss04 Apr2015

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Transcript of Hang Gliding & Paragliding Vol45/Iss04 Apr2015