Oz Report

Fri, Jun 17 2022, 8:49:44 pm MDT

DelMarVa peninsula

altitude|beer|Charles "Charlie" Baughman|Charles Allen|cloud|collision|competition|equipment|harness|Highland Challenge 2022|Jim Messina|John Simon|Knut Ryerson|landing|Lawrence "Pete" Lehmann|meteorology|Moyes RX|radio|Richard "Ric" Caylor|Robert "Rob" Dallas|software|sport|towing|triangle|weather

(Highland Aerosports, Ridgely, MD, USA) (DelMarVa Peninsula, Church Hill, MD, USA)

Pete Lehmann writes:

Demonstrating both the vitality and decline of hang gliding, Charlie Allen has once again put together a small competition on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. This is the area that for years was host to the much larger aero-towed East Coast Championship at nearby Ridgely, MD. When Highland Aerosports closed their doors, and the airport changed hands, the sport lost an important focal point. Nonetheless, aerotowing has quietly continued on a private basis on the Eastern Shore, and a couple of years ago Charlie decided to put on a small, un-sanctioned meet to encourage competition and xc flying in what is a meteorologically interesting place to fly. The original objective was to hold the competition with ten pilots, but as is too often the case in hang gliding nowadays, he could induce only six pilots to participate. Shame on those who passed on the opportunity for some wonderful flying.

The DelMarVa peninsula over which we are flying is essentially flat, and at this time of year, enjoys ample, enormous landing fields. What distinguishes the flying is, however, the peninsula’s location between three bodies of water, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. The presence of the water bodies greatly influences the meteorology of the land, and consequently the flying conditions experienced. The interaction of the solar heated land with the onshore breezes originating from the three bodies of water creates a marvelously complex variety of convergences that both create and limit soaring opportunities. Flying near the cooler waters can be either terribly difficult, or fabulous if a convergence line sets above the collision of cold and warm air. It’s a place that puts a premium on pilot knowledge of cloud formations, and pilot skill in working crap conditions until getting into the better lift marked by the clouds. Added to that is the caveat that the conditions are dynamic. Conditions vary greatly over the course of the day as winds shift direction and strength with the heating of the land mass.

We are towing from Ben’s, a private farm airstrip near Chestertown, MD. Its location adds to the difficulty by being just 15 miles east of the Chesapeake, while also being much nearer one of its major estuaries. It’s wet nearby. This makes it often necessary to scratch very hard for the first ten miles when while heading inland to the better conditions. Indeed, it is sometimes necessary for the tugs to pull us up towards the inland east in order to contact workable lift. All of this is by way of saying that flying around here is complicated. A pilot has to juggle a number of decision-making balls, keeping a weather eye on the clouds, and using three-dimensional visualization software to imagine how the land and water will interact as one flies the course. It’s fun.

Day One was an epically good day for this region. We under-called the 44-mile dog leg task to the southeast. Conditions were so good that the vastly experienced local pilot Jim Messina experienced his best ever local altitude, getting to 8,100 feet, while Charlie got to 8,300msl. Five of the six competitors made goal including John Simon who won the day, and Knut Ryerson who made goal on his first flight with his new Moyes RX.

Ric / Knut: https://ayvri.com/scene/gdkz603ojz/cl44bjt7m00013b61xozernl6

John / Charlie / Jim: https://ayvri.com/scene/z15yrzn1jx/cl477ukq400032a6m4avh96mj

Day Two’s much weaker forecast had a short 23-mile dogleg task to the north that proved tricky despite its short length. A convergence line set up around the turn point, but it was very hard to climb under it. Two pilots landed while Jim and John fairly easily made goal, with John once again winning. They then turned around and nearly made it back to the field, coming up just short of Ben's. I royally screwed the pooch by loading the wrong task into my instrument. Eventually acknowledging the impossibility of flying the incorrect task, I bagged it and succumbed to beer suck. I scratched back to Ben’s flying an absurd dogleg that included an 850 ft. save with three bald eagles.

Ric / Knut: https://ayvri.com/scene/gdkz603ojz/cl44c4ziz00023b6127x19syj

Charlie / John / Jim: https://ayvri.com/scene/z15yrzn1jx/cl4781sbe00032a6muikfxxl7

Day Three had a low, blue forecast which again proved partially incorrect. Climbs were good, and we climbed to six grand in the blue, much higher than forecast. However, the winds were sufficiently strong that the triangle task proved impossible, and in frustration two of us gave up on the task and flew back to Ben’s. Beer suck is real. Of those who persisted, Jim Messina won the day, with Ric Niehaus in second, but they were still well short of the forty-mile task. In fact, the wind really won the day.

Ric / Knut / Pete: https://ayvri.com/scene/gdkz603ojz/cl44c8o3n00013b61xjcehat3

Charlie / John / Jim: https://ayvri.com/scene/z15yrzn1jx/cl4789fii00032a6mqmhtlzue

Day Four was blown out and we spent it fixing broken stuff. In fact, it seems that every day of the comp has involved one or the other of us trying to sort out equipment problems: blown out harness zippers, broken vario mounts, inaudible varios, and all manner of radio problems. We need a day off. The flying has been great fun, but somewhat stressful. We needed a day off.

Day Five: Task Four

Today’s task was a 40-mile triangle with the final turn being Ridgely’s airport, scene of the past East Coast Championships. It was, as Jim Messina said, good to be flying back in the ‘hood. Five out of six of us made goal, with John Simon and Jim once again being fastest, while we laggards experienced varying degrees of low saves along the way. Once again, the forecast conditions proved to have been pessimistic, and we were grateful to be getting more than a thousand feet higher than the predicted 3,500 feet agl.

The goal was not Ben’s Farm, our starting airstrip. Rather it was nearby at Ben’s Palatial Estate. The place is vast and has the feel of visiting the South Fork Ranch of the old Dallas tv series. Ben wasn’t home, so we made ourselves comfortable drinking beer at his poolside, telling lies, and enjoying life. Hang gliding is hell, but someone’s gotta do it.

Pete / Charlie / Jim: https://ayvri.com/scene/z15yrzn1jx/cl47566i000082a6m7buuitil

John / Knut / Ric: https://ayvri.com/scene/z15yrzn1jx/cl478h4^nd00032a6mxsoi3xqv

Day Six: Blown out, but we should be able to fly again on Friday.

Day Seven: Task 5

By Charles Allen

We opted for a 90.5km dog leg task to Indian Beach. However, we had an 8km turn point at goal so as not to force pilots to race low to the beach as there are limited suitable landing fields for about 4 miles prior to beach and we were concerned about an onshore sea breeze. The day was epic with climbs to almost 6,500 with great looking clouds. I ended up taking the 1:45pm start clock and heading off early. I was ahead until about half way into course when I got down to about 900ft and had to slow down. Jim and Pete who were close behind ended up passed me at this point as I was left of course line by about 5k. I arrived at the beach 12min after them. John took the 2:15pm start clock and arrived at the beach ~20min after me. Knut and Tom made goal but did not make the beach. The day ended with drinks and dinner at a Tiki bar a few minutes from the beach.

Pete / Charlie / Jim: https://ayvri.com/scene/z15yrzn1jx/cl4cv8cyx00032a6mtqv6l34o

John / Knut / Tom (guest): https://ayvri.com/scene/z15yrzn1jx/cl4cvfxt200032a6mcn22xtqw

Discuss "The 2022 Highland Challenge, aka The Charlie Mini-Comp" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Fri, Jan 10 2020, 9:08:08 am EST

Attila and Tomas

beer|food|photo

Mon, Apr 23 2012, 5:34:47 pm EDT

June 7^th-10^th 2012

beer|competition|fire|flight park|food|GPS|HPAC|insurance|music|news|PayPal|Randy Rauck|scoring|triangle

(Cooper's LP, Lumby, BC, Canada) (Freedom Flight Park, Lumby, BC, Canada)

Online Registration Link here.

«Randy Rauck» writes:

The 7^th Lumby Air Races June 7^th-10^th 2012 promises to be a fun and exciting event. Early Bird Discount before May 15.

The Lumby Air Force hopes you can make it. It's been expanded to four days. For accomplished flyers, this is your opportunity to support our flying event, get current on all the latest flying news and win some great cash prizes and trophies for your superior efforts. For newer flyers the education gathered in these social settings will be priceless.

You will need your HPAC number. You can find it here: http://hpac.ca/pub/?pid=145. If you are an international pilot, you will be able to get temporary membership online at www.hpac.ca or@the event.

The format will be closed circuit triangle racing around the town and area of Lumby BC Canada.

GPS will be used for scoring.

This is an International event and is open to Hang Glider and Paraglider Pilots. Registration 8 AM Thursday June 7^th@the Raven Aviation hanger on the Freedom Flight Park. Pilots meetings daily@the hanger 9AM sharp.

Landings will be@the Freedom Flight Park, just 1 mile north of the village of Lumby BC on the Mabel Lake Road. Late starts for pilots who can't make it Thursday morning will be allowed on Friday only. Limit - first 75 paid up Pilots.

HPAC insurance mandatory and available@registration if necessary. Please do your best to renew yours or get it in advance at http://hpac.ca/pub/?pid=96. International pilots only require a $40.00 temp policy available@the same web address. Minimum experience - 20 hours logged airtime and 20 high foot launches.

Expect $2000.00 - $3000.00 in cash prize money and trophies and prizes. Plenty of Extraordinary food for Saturday Eve celebration

Big Fire of Life

Live dance music Saturday Eve after dinner for pilots and friends and support personal. Flyers Music Performances/Jam starting around 10pm Saturday Bring your instruments and rhythm makers Ongoing Lumby Days festivities including concerts, beer gardens, amusement park and fun and games for kids.

Competition, Dinner and Dance - $75.00 before May 1^st. - $100.00 after.

Registration available online soon or send a cheque payable to: Lumby Air Force #754 Eastwood Road, Lumby BC Canada, V0E2G7, Send PayPal or interac fees to Oz Report forum   link»  

The first day is the day to rouse the press.

Sat, Oct 24 2009, 11:58:55 pm MDT

aerotow|beer|Canoa Open 2009|government|Jamie Shelden|Jeff O'Brien|Red Bull|trike|TV|Wills Wing T2

(Guayaquil, Ecuador)

On Saturday after most of the international pilots put their gliders together they headed over to the newly created official LZ to get interviewed by the assembled media and to get up the hill for the official opening of the launch and the new Guayaquil Center for Free Flight, just a few minutes from downtown Guayaquil. The opening was be presided over by the Minister of Tourism.

All the television networks were at the LZ and there were photographers snapping pictures from every corner of the field. I couldn't move without hitting one.

Raul wanted us to split up with half the pilots going up to the launch and the other half or so aerotowing behind his trike. I was borrowing Raul's Wills Wing T2 144 (actually renting it) and I set it up right away and got ready to be towed up. No reason not to go first.

The sky was overcast, as it is apparently almost all the time here. We are on the Pacific coast after all. Cloud base was a little over 2,000' with thin black cu's underneath the dark grey overcast skies. We had been told that this didn't matter, there would be thermals without direct sunlight.

With television cameras spread out all along the runway. Raul towed me up first long before the pilots up on launch took off. I pinned off at 1,800' and going over to the hillside next to the launch found that there was indeed plenty of light but sustained lift. The hills were covered with broad leaf trees that reminded me off Australia hillsides. A few trees stood out, the big bare open ones that are almost ready to release their "cotton" like balls of seeds.

After about half an hour Jeff O'Brien was pulled up and started wingovers above the launch to the delight (or at least attention) of the camera operators there. It looks like we'll have pictures spread out over all the newspapers and TV stations over the weekend (before the soccer starts on Sunday).

The sky filled up with pilots and given the fluffy conditions we all played around charging the launch and twirling about like guys who actually enjoyed playing in the air and playing for the cameras. Jeff O'Brien could just not be held back. No ridge lift, no winds, just thermals up and down the ridge as we played just above the trees and then circled up to cloud base.

After a couple of hours Jamie was high and went out front toward the Mangrove swamps. The river inlet was just a few hundred yards from the LZ and across the first bit of the river low lying fields spread out throughout the Mangroves. A dark cloud under the overcast was forming just over the LZ. When Jamie got there she started climbing. We glided away from the hill to join her away and sure enough there was 200 fpm back up to cloud base.

The LZ was filled with onlookers who had responded to the insistent TV ads, eating local food, sitting under the Red Bull tent, drinking Red Bull or beer. An enjoyable (media filled) day was had by all.

More on Sunday and then the Guayaquil cross country contest begins (and lasts for two days). On Wednesday we head for Canoa and the Canoa Open.

Fri, May 16 2008, 5:52:40 pm EDT

Spectacular

A different kind of beer

(Kitty Hawk Kites HG School, Nags Head, NC, USA)

beer|beer|Jim Prahl|Jim Prahl

https://OzReport.com/12.089#3

Jim Prahl writes:

We are all here with the Kitty Hawk Kites gang celebrating the addition of a new beer at The Brewing Station: Golden Rogallo Ale.

Discuss "Spectacular - Francis Rogallo beer" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Wed, Mar 21 2007, 10:12:10 am EDT

Spectacular

The really big reunion.

(Kitty Hawk Kites HG School, Nags Head, NC, USA)

beer|Bo Hagewood|David Glover|Jim Prahl|John Ryan|Kitty Hawk Kites Spectacular 2007|Paris Williams|William Vaughn

William Vaughn «billyfly» writes:

Thanks for plugging the 35^th annual Hang Gliding Spectacular at Kitty Hawk Kites this May 18-21. As usual, the Fun Zone will be in full swing, and we’ll commit low and slow aviation that is the root of all hang gliding. It’s always a kick-in-the-pants good time, but this year will be a bigger deal than usual: We’re putting together what promises to be the biggest instructor reunion ever.

We’ve contacted over 120 current and former KHK instructors, and most of them are making plans to attend. Former KHK instructors include such luminaries as Jim Johns (formerly of Western Hang Gliding in Marina, CA), John Ryan (formerly of the Hang Gliding Center of San Diego), Matt Tabor of Lookout Mountain, Steve Wendt of BlueSky, as well as past national champions Tom Haddon, Paris Williams and Bo Hagewood. Even famous meet-head David Glover was a KHK instructor. The instructor alumni web site is http://www.khkalumni.com/. Hopefully the word will spread and your readers will help us locate more of the 200 or so former instructors still listed as “missing.”

Discuss "Spectacular - looking for former instructors" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Mon, Jun 30 2003, 10:00:01 pm GMT

altitude|beer|Bill Soderquist|boating|Colin Rathbun|food|Glen Salmon|GPS|John Woiwode|landing|scoring|Shannon Allen|sport|Stephen Rudy|Steve Benn|Tim King|triangle|weather|XC

Jon Woiwode <Woiwodejon@cs.com> writes:

Yesterday's great flying got the buzz going, and we all hoped for another big day to finish the meet. We were not disappointed. Winds aloft were forecasted to be 190 through 9000', with 250 and more westerlies clocking around at the higher altitudes. Route 1 is in its prime element with stacked winds at 220 from surface to 18000'. That maximizes the lift component along the range, and provides a nice quartering tailwind. Also, at about the 45 mile mark en route, the winds aloft on Route 1 always shift about 20-30° more westerly, providing an even nicer tailwind component for the dogleg across the gaping canyons to Salmon, the lofty goal of 100 miles.

But 190 low with 250 aloft is a bit tricky. The lift component on the range would be minimal, and often it goes easterly, rotoring those on the range and sliding the pilots out into the valley. Something to watch for. And where is the shear, and how strong? It is what it is when we get there.

The task committee calls Route 1, the proper call, and everyone is excited. The winds are surprisingly strong on launch, and pretty much straight in. Two Falcons launch from upper at 1300, and boat up in the very buoyant air. There is a mad rush to get on course.

I get off at 1330 and after dodging boating launch traffic, I hook a snarly thermal on a rock point and take it straight up at 900 fpm. Montana pilot Will Lanier joins with me at altitude, and we take that to 13000'. Looking good. I note the strong and distinct shear from the south to the west at 11,500'; this would remain throughout the flight.

My flying partner Steve "Bigfoot" Rathbun got behind some pilots in the queue, and got off about 20 minutes behind me. Too bad, as we really wanted to fly this one together. We did stay in touch the whole flight, though, and compared conditions along the range continually.

Will and I shot across Rams Horn Canyon to Mr. Nasty, but he only offered turbulence, so we continued along Sunset Ridge at 10,500'. At the high point of the ridge I hook a broken core to 12,700'; Will caught a part of this, but I leave him behind there, telling my self to move as fast as possible.

I cross the broad area in front of Pass Creek at the 13 mile mark, note the strength of the venturi in the pass as significant, then drive into Red Rocks. No lift. Hmm. Now down to 8100' (valley floor at 5500' or so) I polish the rocks on the corner of the venturi, with limited effect. I've caught up to Frank Gillette in his Falcon, and he and I are trying to sort out the lift component on the range. Pilots are finding that the 190 offers no lift component on the range, and the valley is starting to litter with gliders. I hug the range, no easterlies yet, and pull a thermal off the rocks that is moving directly along, not uphill, on the range to 13,000'.

The shear is sharp and turbulent as I go through 11,500', and the westerly headwind component strong at altitude, so I plan my course along the range to stay within 10,500 and 11,500'. I am able to move fast, though am surprised at the infrequency of lift; each real thermal is a long ways from the last.

Lofty and big shouldered, Mt. McCaleb (11,330') at the 25 mile mark offered only rough turbulence, so I skate over to the Three Sisters (11, 720-11,989'), 10,500' at the 30 mile mark. Holy smokes there was something here, but violent. The conditions made my instruments make unnatural sounds, only to loft me weightless in an uncontrollable spiral. Where was it??

I would alternate between trying to find the thermal and trying to fly out, using faulty logic such as "if I can just find the core, I can get through this and everything would be ok." Finally I said forget this, radioed to Bigfoot the bad spot on the range, and pushed further along, past Leatherman Peak (12,228') at 9500', gunning for Corner Mountain, the 35 mile mark, with the south tailwind.

When crossing a few canyons relatively low, I was able to note easterlies sliding out with my GPS. I am sure this affected many pilots, as I was seeing more and more pilots on the ground in the valley. Almost to Corner, down to 9,000', I definitely was getting an east flow driving me away from the range. The turbulence was terrible, and I called for landing winds. I also said this is the place, if I can get up anywhere in these conditions, it would be at Corner.

I found a sharp thermal that drifted with the easterlies, but I was unquestionably right at the shear point of east, south and westerlies. It was gut wrenching to hold onto and track this rocket, but I held it and she paid off: once I got the Aeros wrapped on a wingtip, she took me through all shears; it is not often that one sees 2000 fpm on the averager, but there it was and I rode this Atlas Rocket straight up. She bent back nicely to the west over the peak. I pulled out at 14,500' with plenty of altitude for the next crossing.

The next move is to bypass Mt Borah (12, 662', highest point in Idaho) to the west and glide the 10 miles across the broad valley to intersect with the range again at Dickey Peak (11,141'). Dickey is always a great thermal source; I hit it at 10,500' and was astounded to not have a trace of lift on the peak. Part of the problem was the 190 below 11,500'; Dickey is best with more west, and was just not producing.

I slid out in front of the peak and about two miles in front, I centered on a nice thermal that pushed me NE toward Victory Ridge. I topped at 14,000' and headed north on this beautiful 12 mile long knife edge ridge. This is normally our "free ride", as it usually faces into dominant westerlies and one hardly has to turn to zip along this leg of the flight. But with the 190 there was no lift component on the ridge, it overcast and shadowed for 20 miles in front of me, and even from 14,000' I had a sick feeling that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I glided for the next 15 miles without a peep out of the instruments, and flared and landed five miles short of Challis, 64.1 miles. Nuts. Shannon Raby landed three miles past me for 67, a few others in the area.

In retrospect, maybe I was moving too fast, but the day was a series of windows that opened and closed, and I got stuck in a closed window. I radioed to Bigfoot, who then slowed his flying accordingly, and 25 minutes later he over flew me at 11,500', in clear sunshine. It’s kinda like that sometimes.

Bigfoot played the cards perfectly for the next move: almost to Challis (70 mile mark), he hooked and drifted with a thermal over the piddly end of the Lost Rivers (here called the Pahsimerois). The drift had him right on course, making the dogleg in textbook style, climbing to over 17,000' drifting above Ellis. Perfect crossing.

He then glided along the deep and intimidating Salmon River canyon, holding altitude well, getting to the end of the canyon and looking at Salmon with 12,000' and a thermal. I was all encouragement: "Take any drift and get over the Continental Divide into Montana. Go go go!"; it was still early (1800) and he had a shot at a really big flight. But a rain cell formed to the NW and then moved in front of him closing his route, so he circled down to land east of Salmon for 101 miles. Nice flight!!

We got back to the awards ceremony being held at Sally's Ramshorn Cafe and Bar in Darlington, 10 miles north of Moore, at 2300. Everybody was there, telling great stories of their flights over flowing beer and Mexican food.

Scott Huber flew the farthest in his tailed ATOS, the only one to cross the Divide for 138 miles. Four other pilots landed at Salmon, landing at the Salmon rodeo grounds (106 miles) for the bonus LZ points. Salt Lake pilot Jeff O’brien did that flight in a king posted Predator. Montana pilot Karl Hallerman logged his first 100 miler! Great flights by all, really well done!!

I don't have the final placings at this writing, though my impression from the scene at Sally's is that placements were not all that important. It was another great day of big air flying, and the stories abounded.

Many pilots opted to land at the bonus LZ of the May airport, 65 miles, in order to secure those points. The open distance format is really great in this day and age of triangle contests. If we could just get rid of those disincentives to flying real open distance, the "bonus LZs", the scoring would reflect more of the true XC efforts.

An example of hundreds I could draw from, Teammate Salt Lake pilot K.C. Benn got to May at 15,500' and said, oh what the heck, the bonus points are probably more than I can get by continuing on, then circled down 10,000' to land at the airport! The idea is open distance XC, and disincentives should not be placed en route to dissuade one from doing his or her best. KC' s best was less than 75 miles to this point; he surely would have exceeded it if given the nudge in the right direction.

It was a great gathering of pilots from all over the country, and everyone had a great time in the big air. No injuries that I heard of, just a fair rash of broken downtubes, all related to misreading of winds on landing. There were fourteen 100+ mile flights, all flown during the last two days, and many personal bests: three of the 100 milers were first timers. They'll be telling those stories for years to come, with wide eyed gesticulations, and somewhere in the mix of words, a phrase like "there I was, no shit, thought I was going to die…" will surface, appropriately.

Rudy.Stephen.R <Stephen.Rudy@IGT.com> writes:

I was happy to see Jon Woiwode send in a write up about the King Mtn. meet. It did seem a little too negative about the call to go upwind on Friday the 20^th. I think part of the task committee's thinking is that there were a lot of pilots there that just don't have the XC experience to be comfortable going over the back at King.

More than half the competitors didn't go downwind on Thursday when the mostly downwind route was called, so calling a task to push into the headwind it least got some of the recreation class pilots some miles.

I also don't know why Jon ignored my flights - he mentions Bill Soderquist and Zach Majors on day 2 making the bonus LZ at 89.3 miles as the best flights of the day when I flew 104 miles. On day 3 he mentions Bill, Zach and Shannon Raby making the bonus LZ at May airport - I was also there for the longest flights of the day.

In any case, the weather was great, the scenery is magnificent, the organizers put a huge amount of effort into making it a fantastic meet and they do it purely for the love of the sport.

Discuss "2003 King Mountain Meet" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Fri, May 16 2003, 12:00:08 pm EDT

aerotow|beer|Charles "Charlie" Baughman|job|PG|Ron Richardson|TV|weather|XC

Mark <mark@areotow.com> writes:

I am delighted to report www.aerotow.com is now fully operational with many hundreds of tows being safely completed in our opening week.

As you know we had some fairly ambitious objectives, the weather did its worst, yet the team delivered!

1. To take four PG pilots and convert them to HG All pilots solo'd and progressed to soaring flight. Bob Drury and Daniel Crespo progressed to mini XC's aboard their ATOS wings. See Daniel pictures and story at http://www.ojovolador.com/eng/look/gallery/aerotow_2003/index.htm

2. To train 10 low airtime pilots in aerotowing. Mission accomplished

3. To go XC with the Masters. The weather did not play ball here. Believe it or not we lost 3 days to snow, wind and rain!!! Ron Richardson did a stunning job of running his classes. I lost count of the people that told me how much they had learned. A few even went XC.

4. To secure valuable industry PR Charlie Jost and Matt Taggart and the team have captured over 6 hours + of TV quality footage and will be making some films for use by TV and ourselves. Very many rolls of slide film were also taken by pro Photographers. The PR and Media boys are hard at work getting this ready for distribution. Please email me if you need this.

4. To thoroughly test facilities and resources. This was done with buttons on!!!

A huge thanks to all involved!!! A cracking crowd!

The partying in the club house this week will take some beating by future guests!!!! The largest bar bill was a shade over 300 EURO! and the latest night saw people going to bed at 06:30am! We did over 1,000 cans of beer and 150 bottles of wine… NICE ONE!

Discuss PGer’s on HG’s at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Turning PGer’s into HGer’s" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Mon, May 5 2003, 2:00:07 pm EDT

beer|Greg Cole|Jim Page|SPAM

https://OzReport.com/toc.php?Ozv6n202.shtml#3

www.emailfiltering.com

Jim Page <jim@ironchicken.org> writes:

I just thought I'd remind you that you and your readers can get rid of their email-bound spam and viruses and support fellow hangglider pilots (namely me, Neil Hammerton, Rob Fox, Andy Palmer, Dan Burton and Adam Cole) by signing up with our service!

www.emailfiltering.com is the gateway to our single user mail service: we screen your mail for spam and viruses before it gets to your mailbox - and our Enterprise (domain-wide) service is documented on www.emf-services.com

EMF Enterprise is currently screening 200k commercial and education sector users in the UK and growing fast. We integrate the best of all the commercial services, plus a few of our own. All operated from the world wide web.

We are still running our month's free trial offer, and it's still cheaper than 1 pint of beer (in a London pub … :) ) per month, though probably not for long. Business is going really well - though I'd rather be flying than slogging my guts out in front of a PC all day and all night! I am currently commissioning the ISP version of the product.

Discuss "Let hang gliders stop SPAM and viruses" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sun, Apr 20 2003, 5:00:04 pm EDT

beer|cart|golf|landing|Lisa Kain|students|tow|tug|tumble

Lisa Kain <Girlpilot1@aol.com> writes:

You probably know Chad, he was around hang gliding for a long time. Maybe you met him at Ridgely or Kitty Hawk or Quest or a dozen other sites. Maybe he taught you to fly, or towed you up, or fixed your glider when it had that little turn in it. Maybe he passed you a wrench or a beer or gave you that crooked wiseass smile when you made a great landing. These days he was looking like a badboy, huge muscles, huge motorcycle, hair cut down to nearly bald, and he was afraid of absolutely nothing. He drove it and rode it and flew it like he stole it.

He loved to scare the crap out of passengers on the bike, hauling down the runway at 110 mph, knowing he couldn't see the end (he'd counted the centerline stripes and knew precisely where he was). I always hated to hear people talk about his sight because the fact that his vision was compromised annoyed the living hell out of him. He refused to let it slow him down, but it really pissed him off that he wasn't allowed to fly jets and every other aircraft ever built. To tell the truth, I never could figure out exactly what he couldn't see, although I got pretty good at making a face at him without getting caught.

When we flew, he saw targets I'd missed, and he always knew what was going on down on the ground. I never once saw him get close to anything else in the air, unless he was chasing birds and buddies in GA planes. In the evenings he would fly the field down low, banked 80° with the wing a foot off the ground, then buzz the golf cart by inches. He never missed, he never screwed up, he just flew beautifully, right on the edge, with intelligence and confidence and the skill to make anyone jealous. That boy was hungry to fly, it was nearly all he needed to live and he was uncompromising in his precision. He was like that with just about everything, it was either right or it wasn't, and you can see the difference in his students.

To the group of friends living in Ridgely, Chad was our Alpha Dog, that's what we called him. He led, never ever followed, and we all became better for it, even when it did aggravate us. We often referred to "The Chad Enigma", because for all his toughness we also knew his heart. If you met him, even years ago, I can tell you that he did remember you, and most likely cared about you more than he let on.

I listened to his stories about you guys for the last three years, and I was amazed how easily he was touched, or hurt, or worried for you. Showing you that part of him was pretty rare, but if he hugged you hello he meant it and a whole lot more. He worried that when you said hi, he might not recognize your voice and he might be too far away to see you, and you might think he was snubbing you. If he saw you fly too slow on final, he searched for the right way to bring it up without making you mad, because he'd feel so awful if you ended up getting hurt.

At the end of the day he stayed in the office past midnight to talk with you about your flight, or answer your question for the 5^th time, or just to hang out with you. This wasn't because you spent $20 on a tow, it was because he cared deeply about you and your flying, and you were more important to him than eating dinner or getting enough sleep. And boy, he was fun to be with, wasn't he?

I often told Chad he was unkillable, he'd been through so many windshields (when he was thinking he'd mindlessly rub his fingers across the bits of glass still in his forehead), he'd smashed into so many dunes, walked away from a tug wreck, flew out of a tumble and continued looping his Stealth (in typical form his reaction was purely logical: the glider flew straight and turned fine in both directions, uniform bilateral structural damage was nearly impossible, so the only conclusion was to keep on flying). It's so hard to believe he didn't walk away from this one.

He lived a large life in 30 years, with large plans and ability and intelligence and caring. I watched him run a business that took every bit of him and the others to keep it going, and I admired every one of his decisions. I listened to him waffle night after night about how to handle the tough problems, I saw him get tired and frustrated and finally come up with the right solution. His business acumen was phenomenal, and every single thing he did at Highland Aerosports was so that you could fly safely and affordably, even if it was at his expense.

Here at Quest I'm flying a tug in the first comp I've ever attended, and now I get it. I see the vision he had for Highland. I hope Adam and Sunny know how important they are, how many people love them, how many will give anything and everything to help if they decide to continue.

Adam and Sunny and the people closest to Chad may not believe it, but I lost my soul mate last week and I, like them, can't stand that he's gone. Chad taught me to fly a hang glider, then the tug. We dated and lived together and worked together and fought and broke up and got back together and argued, and most days the planet wasn't big enough for both of us because we were too competitive and stubborn and retarded to care for each other well. We talked about everything with one exception: I never told him I love him so much because he is the brightest light with the biggest heart I've ever known.

I'll bet you caught a glimpse of that, too.

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Thu, Mar 27 2003, 9:00:06 pm GMT

beer|Chris Wills|Mitchell "Mitch" McAleer|Rob Kells|weather|Wills Wing Demo Days 2003

Rob Kells writes:

Looks like we’ll have good demo weather Friday and through the weekend.

Remaining schedule:

Friday

Demos 8am – 6pm

6:30pm – Mitch McAleer Aerobatic Demonstration

7:00pm – Chris Wills presents Bamboo & Plastic Glider footage from 1971

8:00pm – BBQ Dinner & Beer

Saturday

Demos 8am – 6pm

7:30pm – 30^th Anniversary Dinner

8:30pm – 30^th Slide Show (short)

Band – Dancing until late

Sunday

Demos 8am – 6pm

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Mon, Mar 24 2003, 8:00:07 pm GMT

beer|flight park|Matt Taber|Quest Air|Robert "Bob" Lane|XC

Bob Lane at Quest Air <questair@mpinet.com> writes:

Here is a list of the gliders we currently have on hand for demo.

Aeros has supplied us with a Combat 2, a Discus, Stalker and a Target 180.

Matt Taber from Lookout Mountain (the US Airborne distributor) personally delivered a Climax 13 and a Sting XC 154.

Icaro Master 14 and 12, Laminar MR 14 and 13, two full race MR 14s, and the single surface Relax.

Moyes confirmed that our brand new Litesport should be arriving today or tomorrow and we also now have a Litespeed 4.

We owe many thanks to all the wonderful people for helping us provide to the hang gliding public the opportunity fly the hottest machines available.

The Big Party Friday Night (April 28)!

Now you can enjoy 2 great parties in one weekend! Quest Air has arranged for live entertainment like no flight park has never seen, WESZT a Cell records recording artist will be performing around 8:00 on Friday evening. Their CD goes out for nationwide distribution in less than one week, now starting to get airplay all over the US and there is a hang glider pilot in the band, to hear a sample from WESZT go to www.weszt.com, there will also be FREE BEER AND BURGERS (and veggie burgers).

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Wed, Mar 19 2003, 9:00:05 pm GMT

beer|Chris Wills|Florida|history|landing|Pat Denevan|Rob Kells|spin|Steve Pearson|Wills Wing

Rob Kells <Rob@WillsWing.com> writes:

Mitch should be arriving in Florida with the truck and trailer sometime Monday (the 24^th). Based on the strong response, we have upped the ante a bit. Mitch and I will be setting up twenty two demo gliders on Tuesday morning, including two of each size of the U2.

My partners, Steve Pearson, and Mike and Linda Meier will arrive mid week.

Chris Wills will arrive Friday night to spin yarns about the very early days of bamboo and plastic. Pat Denevan (https://OzReport.com/Ozv6n210.shtml) will do a free Launch/Landing clinic lecture from 9:00 to 10:00 on Saturday morning.

Saturday night we may have a surprise demo flight, beer, followed by some dinner in the big top, a brief 30 year history slide show, more beer, and a hopping band.

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