Wills Wing
Flytec

Oz Report

topic: school (18 articles)

Choose your hang gliding school

Tue, Dec 28 2021, 6:13:03 pm MST

By the services that they offer

school

https://OzReport.com/hgdealers.php

Check the boxes along the bottom of the page.

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The 2011 British Nationals

Tue, Mar 29 2011, 9:15:21 am EDT

St André les Alpes

BHPA|Christopher Cote|competition|Nigel Bray|Peter Coad|school|site

Nigel Bray «Nigel Bray» writes:

The BHPA Hang Gliding Comps panel are pleased to announce the arrangements for this year's competition to select the 2011 British National Hang Gliding Champion. The competition will welcome Club class and also as an open Cat 2 event will attract a number of international pilots. Held in the superb flying region of St André les Alpes with a base provided by the local school “Aerogliss” situated 100km from the Cote D’Azur on the edge of Le site du Parc régional du Verdon and La réserve géologique de Haute Provence.

Chalvet Open

21-27 August. St André les Alpes, France.

Meet Director: Pete Coad

Contact: «Nigel Bray»

Web: http://bhgc.wikidot.com/2011-nats:info

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Links to schools and flight parks

Thu, Nov 3 2005, 5:00:02 am EST

A nice long list

flight park|school

http://wonderwinds.com/Hang_Gliding/index.php

York Cooper

Tue, Jul 8 2003, 6:00:04 pm EDT

Australia|equipment|Nicholas Franczyk|Rob Cooper|school|sport|Victoria Lee Nelson

Nicholas Palaric, Annandale, NSW, Australia <nicholas.palaric@bigpond.com> writes:

On Sunday 6th July York Cooper passed away after a long slow battle with cancer, aged 78. York was a keen supporter of our sport and until recently an active pilot himself. He purchased the land that enabled the High Adventure Airpark on the Mid North Coast become the premier flight school that it was in the eighties and nineties. It was a place visited by many people from around the world to learn and to fly.

York’s support extended to Entreprise Wings and Airborne Gliders where he would buy gliders and equipment more frequently that he really needed to help sales during their difficult years. A former British Paratrooper, York was enthusiastic about being in the air.

York’s friends are kindly invited to attend his funeral service to be held in its entirety, at the Chapel of Mannings Funeral Home, 87 Victoria Road Rozelle, Friday July 11 2003 commencing at 11 a.m. A wake at the Orange Grove Hotel to follow.

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What’s up with Copper Mountain, Colorado?

Mon, Jun 23 2003, 2:03:05 pm EDT

insurance|Jayne DePanfilis|Kevin Frost|school|site|USHGA

Kevin Frost <kevinfrost@cableone.net> writes:

Speaking of waivers, insurance and USHGA and such. Have you caught wind of the Copper Mt, Colorado situation? Tell Jayne I sent you.

Jayne writes back:

I am working with two paraglider pilots who are in the process of opening a paragliding school at the base of Copper Mountain, but I am unaware of any controversy at this site. Recreational flying at this site was interrupted when the landowners obtained a new insurance company and the new insurance company advised the landowners not to allow the continuation of recreational hang gliding or paragliding. Much has transpired since then and Summit Paragliding is in the process of opening a paragliding school. I've been helping them to obtain the insurance for the site, and the comprehensive commercial general liability insurance for their school.

Is there something I need to know about the flying at this site? Recreational hang gliding and paragliding will also be taking place at Copper once the site insurance is in place.

I don't know what Kevin is alluding to in his note.

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Laminar batten tips

Sat, Jun 14 2003, 2:03:07 pm EDT

equipment|photo|school

Nigel Deacon <Nigel@airwild.fsnet.co.uk> writes:

First: Just took delivery of my new Laminar MR - the intermediate size between the "13" and "14" - actually, the same size as the Talon 150 - and, surprise, surprise, new design batten tips! Similar to the Moyes, Airborne and Avian designs, with easy screw adjustment. Incredibly easy to use, seem very well made. Photo attached.

Second: For your amusement follow the link http://www.a4-hang-gliding.co.uk/shared/handgliding.html to a UK based HANDGLIDING School. Good grief!!! Who needs lessons?

Keep up the controversy - very healthy!

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Personal marketing of hang gliding

Wed, Jun 11 2003, 2:03:04 pm EDT

culture|death|John Matylonek|school|site|sport|students|USHGA

John Matylonek <john@oregonhanggliding.com> writes:

There has been some discussion of hang gliding promotion on this ezine and the yahoo list. There has been much speculation on the cause of decline in number of hang glider pilots in the USA. Some blame has been cast in various directions including the lack of proper promotion by USHGA, the general apathy of veteran hang pilots, and even amount the of distracting influences in the popular culture. None of this matters to me as an instructor and promoter of the sport. I want to concentrate on what brings results now, not concentrate on the past.

Many hang pilots in Oregon are aware of the problem and with good intentions refer prospective students to me. Oftentimes, this referral is simply a phone number or even a request for me to call the prospect. Rarely, does this bring a student to me. Here is my reasoning why.

We all know that becoming a successful hang glider pilot takes desire, presistence and action on part of the student. By and large, most students really do have a desire to fly. Its easy for anyone to say, "I'd like to try that". Rarely do they follow-through on this impulsive feeling. Do not be fooled by this impulsive reaction. The sport no longer has the peer pressure and fascination as result of the fad that it was in the 1970's for prospects to commit. Also, there is no general knowledge or media exposure to familiarize people to the sport. Hang gliding, at best, is basically an unknown quantity to the uninitiated or at worse, one of those death sport activities mom always warned about. The unknown is very easy to drop off of anyone's priority list. A death sport doesn't even get on the list.

The best way for you, as an active promoter of the sport, to solve this, is to offer any prospective student a chance to see your glider on flat ground and provide a mini-demonstration of flat ground launch skills (perhaps with some wind to make the glider alive) Or, to have them drive of the retrieval vehicle at a lower stress recreational flying site or some other low risk participation. Hang gliding becomes real then, and prospect can better gauge their personal interest in flight. Of course, after your demonstration, you can then forward the student to a certified active and enthusiastic instructor or school. You will have done the sport a great service by this small donation of your time and real promotion.

(editor’s note: In the sales world this is known as qualifying the prospect, and very simply you are testing the person to find out their real level of interest before you pass him or her up the line to the more qualified sales person.)

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Bailey-Moyes German certification – not quite there yet

Sat, May 24 2003, 2:03:04 pm EDT

certification|Dragonfly|job|school|tow

I ask Bill if he had received the final final certification in Germany for the Bailey-Moyes Dragonfly. He <moyes@zip.com.au> wrote back:

Not yet, but will be. Juergen is doing final flight test measurements now. He's done certification on floats. Has done 912S, 914 Rotax engines and doing 3 Cylinder Hirth engine also now.

Certification is an on going never ending job. We are not rushing him. We don't need it till our summer. Juergen spent a month in Spain to set up a new tow school and delayed his tests.

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Terry Spencer

Mon, May 12 2003, 5:00:08 pm EDT

accident|Christine Nidd|Cliff Whitney|Emily Mistick|Joseph Andrew "Terry" Spencer|Kathryn O'Riordan|Orlando Stephenson|Oz Report|Regina Glas|school|site

https://OzReport.com/toc.php?Ozv7n113.shtml#5

Susanna Spencer <sspencer@summit.net> writes:

I saw a message in the earlier Oz Report about my brother, indicating information about the memorial service would be forthcoming. Since I did not see that it appeared, I am attaching the piece we put in the papers.

The support of the hang gliding community has been wonderful

Joseph Andrew Spencer--known as Terry to his friends and Andy to his family--of Linden, Virginia, died April 24, 2003, following a hang-gliding accident in Orlando, Fla.

Mr. Spencer was 42 and was born in Kinetra, Morocco, on August 26, 1960, and grew up in several states and countries as the son of an Air Force officer. He worked as a farrier, shoeing horses at the Middleburg training track and the surrounding area. He attended James Monroe h.S. in Fredericksburg, VA, and the Eastern School of Farrier in Martinsville, VA.

Mr. Spencer is survived by his wife, Kathryn (Katy) of Linden; his mother Regina Spencer of Fredericksburg; sister Susanna Spencer of Fredericksburg and Culpeper; sister Melissa Spencer of Fairmont, NC; as well as a niece, Christine Barrow of Hutto, Texas; a niece, Charlotte Kelly of Camp Lajeune, North Carolina; and a nephew, Matthew Barrow of Lubbock, Texas. He was predeceased by his father, Joseph Whitney Spencer, and niece Emily Barrow.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, May 17 at 2:30 New Hope Bible Church, 80 N. Lake Ave., Front Royal.

The family asks those interested in making a donation in Mr. Spencer's name to please send them to The Nature Conservancy of Virginia, 490 Westfield Road; Charlottesville, VA 22901. Phone: (434) 295-6106. Web site: http://nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/virginia.

For more information, call Katy Spencer at 540-636-1187.

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2003 Canungra Classic »

Fri, May 9 2003, 2:00:05 pm EDT

aerotow|Australia|camping|competition|school|Steve Chesters

http://www.triptera.com.au/canungra

Steven Chesters <thechesters@optusnet.com.au> writes:

The Canungra Classic dates have been confirmed from the 27th September to the 4th October 2003. These dates coincide with the Oz school holidays of the east coast and South Australia.

Last year we had great conditions with seven days flyable out of eight.

Canungra is situated in the beautiful Gold Caost hinterland in Queensland. International pilots can take advantage of the close proximity to Queensland’s awesome and world renowned beaches and all manner of non flying activities making this a great comp for the whole family.

There are plenty of cheap accommodation options including camping, motels and at the pub (probably the best option).

Shortly following the Classic, there will be an aerotow competition at the recently formed Dalby Hangliding facility a couple of hours from Canungra. Two comps in two weeks, what more could a pilot ask for.

For more details contact Steve Chesters at <thechesters@optusnet.com.au> or visit our website where online registration can be completed for both comps: http://www.triptera.com.au/canungra just follow the links to 2003 St Bernards Hang Gliding Classic.

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Midwest regionals

Tue, Apr 29 2003, 12:00:07 pm EDT

aerotow|book|Brad Kushner|CIVL|competition|David "Dave" Glover|David Glover|Dragonfly|flight park|Garmin GPS|GPS|landing|magazine|NTSS|photo|Raven Sky Sports|safety|school|site|Swift|tandem|tow|USHGA|weather

Here is the official announcement that went to Hang Gliding Magazine. Brad Kushner at Raven Sky Sports <brad@hanggliding.com> writes:

June 7-14, 2003: 2003 Midwest Regional Hang Gliding Competition at Raven Sky Sports.

Purpose: to have a safe, fun and fair competition. Our focus is to have a relaxing and affordable meet that is a great time for everyone involved.

Dates: June 7 (Saturday) - June 14 (Saturday), 2003. Potentially an 8-day meet, weather permitting.

Sanction: USHGA Class B and CIVL / NTSS points Flex, Rigid, and Swift class.

Location: Raven Sky Sports Flight Park at Twin Oaks Airport. N463 County Road N, Whitewater, Wisconsin 53190.

Facility: World's first dedicated aerotow flight park. 4 Dragonfly tow planes are planned for this event. Additional aerotow vehicles may be added. We have 3 grass runways for launches in up to 6 possible directions. Days are 15 hours long with sunset around 8:30pm in June.

Meet format: cross-country race to goal with or without turnpoints.

Rules: 2003 USHGA Competition Rulebook, latest edition.

Registration: Begins March 12, 2003. Limit ~30-40 competitors (to be determined).

Entry Fee: $300, 50% deposit required to validate registration (add $50 after May 7).

To Enter: email: <comp@hanggliding.com> or by phone: (262)473-8800 or by fax: (262)473-8801.

Meet Organizer: Brad Kushner and Team Raven

Meet Director: David Glover

Safety Director: Bob Linebaugh

Score Keeper: To be determined.

Awards and Prizes: To be determined. Minimum will equal (# of contestants) times ($50), fairly distributed.

Mandatory Pilot Briefing: 5:15 pm - Friday, June 6, 2003.

Contingency Plans: No official rest days are planned. The meet will be up to 8 days in length, weather permitting. Sunday, June 15 will be a contingency day, to be added in the event that flight tasks are cancelled by the meet director on 4 or more days due to weather or other causes.

Other info: Welcome to our first-ever Regional/Points Meet, we aim to make it great. Volunteers will be greatly appreciated. Applications will be accepted in the order received until capacity is reached. Pilots who have not competed before must have approval of meet organizer, meet director and/or safety director. Prior experience in a USHGA aerotow competition is helpful, but not required. Pilots must have current USHGA Advanced ratings (or foreign equivalent) with aerotow and turbulence signoffs. Additional signoffs for restricted landing field and cross-country will be weighed favorably.

Intermediate rated pilots (with appropriate experience and skills) may be allowed at the discretion of the meet director. Foreign pilots will be required to have USHGA 90-day competition membership (available on site at time of contest). Approved Garmin GPS units may be required (to be determined). Aerotows for recreational flying and tandem lessons will be available every day, but will shut down (in favor of the competitors' needs) during the competition launch window.

Photo of airport (looking southeast) was one that you published last summer, showing our main runway N/S, and our shorter E/W runway (at bottom of photo), and our newest NE/SW runway, then under development…we seeded that runway in the autumn, and it's greening up nicely this spring.

Competitors can book reservations at the local AmeriHost Inn, only two miles from the flight park, at special discounted rates. There are also two other motels in Whitewater, but they have neither a swimming pool, nor a hang glider with mannequin to hang over it (photo). Purple and White are the school colors at UW-Whitewater.

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The USHGA on marketing hang gliding

Sat, Apr 26 2003, 1:00:04 pm EDT

aerotow|Dan Nelson|environment|equipment|FAA|Jayne DePanfilis|magazine|Oz Report|picture|power|PPG|school|sport|Sport Pilot|students|tandem|USHGA|Wills Wing

Jayne DePanfilis <jayne@ushga.org> writes:

Thank you for the wonderful suggestions regarding marketing you made in the recent “Oz Report.” The USHGA staff thinks along the same lines as you, believe it or not. During my 12 years in the industry, before I joined the USHGA, I managed the single largest marketing budgets for hang gliding in the industry. I learned a great deal from these experiences, including the fact that we must conduct effective marketing on the regional level. Schools must be marketing in their own back yards. The marketing plan must be a long term one. We won't really have an effective national marketing medium or venue until we have a way of connecting national campaigns with schools in specific regions. We don't have a way to translate national exposure into more students and tandems at the school level or regional level. We need this mechanism.

I've also learned that there is no effective substitute for public relations. None of us have a large enough marketing budget that would enable us to wage an effective national campaign the way we are organized now. I am not disheartened, though. I don't have a gloom and doom view of these things. I've just become more realistic over time.

The strategy that I proposed to the USHGA board was to facilitate the development of more aerotow flight parks around the country. These aerotow flight parks might conduct towed hang gliding, towed paragliding, and PPG operations. Imagine what it would mean to Wills Wing or to the other manufacturers and schools if we were able to open a new school that taught and certified 100 new h2s and P2s this year. In my opinion, this is the way to grow the sport. We don't have schools strategically located throughout the country. Imagine 100 new pilots spending money in our industry and living the flying lifestyle.

I completely agree that we should be marketing our sports to these “niche” markets. Indeed, we are talking about reaching out to compatible markets and not just to the “world at large.” No doubt that no one has enough resources to reach out to the world at large.

Hang gliding and paragliding could benefit from a major motion picture like skydiving did. Our sports would benefit if a very well known personality went flying and learned. The media would have to be interested in covering the story or experience. It wasn't long ago that I watched a famous female actress talk about her hang gliding experiences in Rio on a popular late night talk show and the host didn't ask her a single question about hang gliding. He simply wasn't interested.

Dan Nelson, the USHGA's Communications Director and Editor, had meetings recently with a well-known magazine publishing company about coverage for free flight in their publications. We are going to be conducting “brand” seminars and focus groups to identify our market position and needs. We conducted the first one at the recent board meeting. We talked about our sports as lifestyle sports and we spoke of market segments. We had a great time. We plan to attend the largest outdoor retailer trade show in the country this year, Outdoor Retailer. We need to create a unified identity for our chapters. We have about 100 chapters and they could be carrying and exemplifying our message. We need a way to extend our identity through these chapters as logical extensions of the national association and our sports.

I think we should stop and consider for one moment what we would do if suddenly 500 people wanted to learn to hang glide or paraglide, where would they go to do it and how long would it take them to complete a training program? It is not “easy” to learn to hang glide or paraglide. And Paul, you are right, most of the people we know personally don't think like us. Hang gliding and paragliding are “dangerous” sports. We have found ways to significantly improve the way we teach, the equipment, the all-around pilot knowledge and skill, improved written tests and practical tests too. There has never been a better time to be in our sports than today.

The USHGA does not have a marketing budget yet I am working on a new budget now and we are hoping for $8,000 for the first year. The USHGA's budget is tight, very tight: a $4,000 initiative is 0.5 percent of our budget. I've been able to keep expenses down by significantly cutting the overhead in the office and by providing continuous diligent business management but any single line item initiative can be difficult to manage.

This year we are going to incur a significant expense for moving folks around the country to address the Sport Pilot Rule, the FAA's desire to adopt the USHGA's tandem standard as their industry standard, the development of the tandem PPG standard. The USHGA needs to seriously consider changing our articles of incorporation to facilitate our association with power, even aerotowing. Just these initiatives alone will stretch our resources within the USHGA's $950,000 operating budget. I would hate to see our cash flow position erode but it may slip just a bit this year due to the management of these important initiatives.

I agree with most of what I have read on the Oz Report about marketing our sports. Most of it is just good common sense. We have no shortage of great ideas, but we do have a shortage of folks to implement them. As I said, we have no budget for marketing at the USHGA and I hope we can change this. Dan and I are both proven marketers to the outdoor industry. I plan to continue to try to focus on marketing even in light of budgetary and manpower constraints even in light of the challenging regulatory environment we are faced with today. We really need to implement some creative strategies and I think Dan has ideas for some of these strategies. Feel free to send your thought and ideas directly to him at <Dan@ushga.org> or to me at <Jayne@ushga.org>.

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Homeland Security

Wed, Apr 16 2003, 3:00:07 pm EDT

gear|Peter Kelley|school|Wallaby Ranch

A couple of weeks ago subscriber/donator Kelley, Peter P (PVTC) <peter.p.kelley@smithbarney.com> flew cross country from Wallaby Ranch but had to land at a middle school while the kids were outside playing. He writes:

You asked about my surprising welcome at the Centennial Middle School over in Dade City. Actually, the kids loved it and by the end even the Gendarmes, principal and ass't principal were won over. Tho' the sheriff said, "It's a good thing you weren't wearing camouflage gear, 'cause it would have been an easy shot, flying so slow and all.”

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Chad Elchin »

Fri, Apr 11 2003, 12:00:04 pm EDT

accident|aerotow|Chad Elchin|Dragonfly|fatality|flight park|Highland Aerosports Flight Park|instruction|record|school|sport|tandem|tow|towing|ultralite|USHGA|world record

https://OzReport.com/Ozv5n135.htm

G W Meadows «gw» writes:

I would like to take a moment to introduce you to a great person who died today. Chad Elchin started hang gliding at Kitty Hawk Kites about 12 years ago. He was originally from Pennsylvania. During his time at Kitty Hawk Kites, Chad became quite the hang glider pilot. He could often be seen out soaring the dunes or towing up from the flight park. During his tenure there, Chad achieved his instructor rating as well as his tandem instructor rating and managed the flight park for a year.

It was at KHK, that Chad met Sunny, another tandem instructor and fellow Pennsylvanian. The two of them together, decided to start a flight park. After much searching for the right location, they settled outside of Baltimore - on the 'eastern shore' of Maryland. Ridgely Maryland became the home for "Highland Aerosports". This was about 5 years ago.

Since starting the business and living on a 'shoestring' due to the nature of hang gliding schools in general, the guys grew the business until they had two Draggonfly's and had just purchased a FlightStar for 'side by side' ultralight instruction. These guys tried very hard to reinvest into the hang gliding community every way they could. They produced dozens of hang glider pilots and supplied not only product but friendship to the pilots in the area.

At this moment, Sunny must truly be wondering how he can go on without his partner. I can tell you that running a hang gliding business is a 'high wire act' of cash flow management.

It is for this reason, that I have opened a 'Chad Elchin Fund' for the hang gliding community to donate to this much needed flight park. Today, a great guy passed. Chad was a fellow who you could always depend on to be there for you. No questions asked - you needed him - he was there for you. During his accident, a $40,000 tow plane - specifically purchased for towing up tandem instructional flights was destroyed, so now not only has a major partner in the business died, but also one of the most important tools of the trade has also been rendered unusable.

We have way too few people teaching hang gliding as it is in the U.S. I am asking that we rally around Highland Aerosports and Sunny, Adam (Chad's brother) as well as the other people who have dedicated their recent lives to show the masses the beauty of our sport.

Sunny does not know that I have decided to do this and he is not asking for money. I am just intimately familiar with this (and other) hang gliding schools and I know that catastrophes like this can put them under. We need this hang gliding school to survive.

Please donate what you can to:

The Chad Elchin Fund

This paypal account: «chadfund» or

By Mail: Chad Elchin Fund attn: June Livesay BB&T (Branch Bank and Trust) North Croatan Highway Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina 27948

100% of the money raised here will go to paying the bills directly associated with this flight park. Please donate what you can.

We have lost a truly great person today.

Chad Elchin has been teaching for 10 years. He holds USHGA Advanced Pilot, Advanced Instructor & Tandem Instructor ratings along with the United States Ultralight Association Basic Flight Instructor rating. Chad is also a Tandem Administrator and Aerotow administrator for the USHGA. He has taught over 3,000 tandem lessons and towed more than 5,000 gliders in the Dragonfly. Chad is the world record holder for consecutive loops in a hang glider - 95 loops from 16,000 feet!

(editor's note: By passing the hat we raised $2,400 here at the meet.)

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Put flight parks on the sectionals?

Mon, Apr 7 2003, 2:00:05 pm EDT

airspace|altitude|EAA|FAA|flight park|Florida|general aviation|Geoff May|maps|Miles Fagerlie|Orlando Stephenson|photo|radio|Richard Heckman|safety|sailplane|school|tandem|towing|USHGA

Geoff May <GMay@MarathonOil.com> writes:

A couple of years ago I came out to Florida, visiting the Ranch for a couple of weeks before moving on to one of the flying schools at Kissimmee to train for my pilot license. None of the instructors at the flying school were aware of Wallaby and were certainly unaware of how busy the air above it could be. Indeed, Wallaby's location just clear of the Orlando airspace meant that this region was frequently used by the school aircraft for practicing various maneuvers. I don't recall seeing Wallaby marked on any of the FAA charts I flew with at that time.

It seems ridiculous, maybe reckless, that somewhere as busy as Wallaby is not marked on the FAA air maps and has not been widely publicized among the many flying schools in the area.

Richard Heckman <hekdic@worldnet.att.net> writes:

On the marking of Quest and Wallaby on sectionals, there should still be the procedure to do this through the USHGA. I set it up when I was the interface to the FAA. A request should go first to the Regional Director who would forward it to the National Coordinating Committee. The NCC Chairman, if the request is approved, then forwards it to the relevant FAA Office that handles sectionals. I forget which it is since we set it up in the early '80s. We got a number of busy sites marked back then. The FAA then decided to use the sailplane symbol to mark them rather than use a new symbol.

Bill Berle <auster5@earthlink.net> writes:

You can contact the NOAA, which I believe publishes the sectional charts for general aviation. Although not specifically required, you might get a designation put on the charts a little faster by doing the following (doing their work for them):

Submit an identical "package" to NOAA charts division and the FAA local FSDO office containing;

Well done aerial photo of the flight park, marked with North line and the runway headings, and ID'ing the local streets and highways

A "sample" piece of a current sectional chart marked with the designators you want to have on there. The proper designator for a non-tower grass runway is a plain red outline circle (not solid) with the name, field altitude, runway length, and CTAF or common radio frequency.

The most important part is to have them add their little hang glider icon in a couple of places around this "airport" designator… one right next to the airport and another one at the "house thermal" if there is one.

Also, mark on there in small red type "Caution: Intense Hang Gliding and Air-Towing Activity Within 3 Miles of (airport name) sfc to 5000 msl (or whatever) between 0800 and 1800 local time daily (or whatever)"

If you can follow the pattern and style that is used at other major HG or sailplane fields, and do their work for them, you should get the results much sooner than if you just called the local FAA and asked them to do something.

If you are really in the mood to save lives, you can make up a flyer that has all this information, and post it on the bulletin boards at as many nearby GA airports as possible, next to their airport restaurants, on the door to the rest room, etc. You can also combine this with marketing efforts by offering to have someone make a presentation to local EAA chapters, pilot groups, airpark association meetings, at the local FAA safety seminars, etc etc. Offer a 20 minute or an hour presentation about "hang gliding today", give out a discount coupon for a tandem ride or something, have a "fly-in day" where the local GA airplanes can fly in for a breakfast and spend the day watching the HG operations, etc.

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Mid airs

Mon, Apr 7 2003, 2:00:03 pm EDT

accident|Bart Doets|book|collision|FAA|Gary Osoba|job|Jules Gilpatrick|Ken Ward|NTSB|Oz Report|Richard Heckman|safety|sailplane|school|site|Steve Kroop|tow

Ken Ward <kenward1000@mac.com> writes:

Typically in a mid-air they cite both pilots for "inadequate lookout". Check NTSB records for IAD99FA041B and MIA99LA051B at http://www.ntsb.gov/NTSB/query.asp

In each case you would think that they would fault only the sailplane pilot, but they end up blaming both pilots. It's also possible that unless something gross was done by the sailplane pilot, that 103.13(a) will be cited and the HG pilot faulted.

You can find the FAR’s that are applicable to hang gliders here:

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfrhtml_00/Title_14/14cfr103_00.html

§ 103.13 Operation near aircraft; right-of-way rules.

(a) Each person operating an ultralight vehicle shall maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid aircraft and shall yield the right-of-way to all aircraft.

(b) No person may operate an ultralight vehicle in a manner that creates a collision hazard with respect to any aircraft.

Jules Gilpatrick <freeflite@centurytel.net> writes:

Steve Kroop hit it right on the head. I can tell you from first-hand acquaintance with a number of FAA guys,.attempting to hide accidents from them only pisses them off and causes them to redouble their efforts to get to the truth. And if they think they've been diddled, you can book microscopic scrutiny with a regulatory noose at the bitter end.

There are reams of articles regarding the harshness with which the FAA deals with miscreants and they almost always get backed up at the highest authority when they go after someone. Like any hierarchical bureaucracy they have their share of "never-got-any-respect-in-high-school" d…kheads, but overall they are few in number. I have been a licensed pilot for over 50 years and every FAA guy I have ever encountered has been a serious, true-blue, safety oriented, sincerely "I'm-here-to-help" kind of guy. All they want is cooperation in helping them do their job. A little respect doesn't hurt, either.

It has been well established that the rapport that the free flight community has with the FAA is excellent. Much of that rapport is based on mutual trust Misguided attitudes like Mike Williams' do nothing more than destroy part of a very carefully constructed respect for each other's integrity and responsibility. The primary aim of an accident investigation is to learn what can be done to prevent it from happening again. If the accident ends up being blamed on someone's lack of responsibility for their actions, as they say in Russia, “Too bad” (I’m getting filters stopping the Oz Report because of bad language). The "perp" has a number of avenues to discharge any penalties laid, and their severity will depend very much on the amount of cooperation the FAA gets. None of us should ever lose sight of the fact that the primary aim of accident investigation is prevention, not punishment, but if the FAA thinks you are hampering an attempt at the former, you can be 100% sure that the latter will ensue!

Part 830 of the NTSB regulations specifically requires immediate notification of the NTSB of an in-flight collision (Sec. 830.5 {5)) All pilots should be familiar with AIM Section 6, 7-6-1 which provides for the waiver of certain disciplinary actions in exchange for timely reporting of aircraft accidents. Hiding behind the definition of an "aircraft" as opposed to an "ultralight vehicle" will avail you nothing.

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of a lot of free flight pilots, we have a good thing going with the FAA. Let's not screw it up with immature and sophomoric attitudes towards the serious responsibilities we take on when navigating through the air, regardless of the craft we choose to do it in.

You did the right thing!

Bart Doets <bart.doets@hetnet.nl> writes:

I remember a report from France, in the eighties, where near the launch of St. Hilaire du Touvet (today a site overpopulated by paragliders) a hang glider got hit by a sailplane passing under him. The rudder of the sailplane hit the control bar of the hang glider and broke it in two, apparently injuring the hands of the pilot in the process. The glider did not fold up immediately which gave the pilot a chance to grab the downtubes and hold on for some time, to get more ground clearance, after which he threw his chute. The sailplane had only slight damage.

If that bar had been fitted with a cable, as was already custom back then in German gliders, the two might well have joined together with much more serious consequences.

Richard Heckman <hekdic@worldnet.att.net> writes:

No ultra lights have right of way over any aircraft. We are required to give way in all instances. It doesn't matter who was in the thermal first. We should hope the there would be some courtesy shown between all soaring types but legally speaking I think that we have the short end of the stick.

Gary Osoba <wosoba@cox.net> writes:

What Mike Williams needs to understand is that if a sailplane, or any other registered aircraft moves into his area or thermal, he either needs to be able get out of their way quickly if they decide to fly into him, or he needs to leave the area before they arrive.

I thought your "tone" was quite neutral.

I'm not trying to be a jerk about this, or unsympathetic, simply point out something that most ultralight pilots seem completely unaware of even though they are supposed to have studied the pertinent FAR to be rated by private orgs. Someone is going to get burned financially, legally, or worst of all corporally if they continue to operate under ignorant supposition.

Same thing applies to the tow plane incident

Discuss mid airs, the FAA, sailplanes colliding with hang gliders at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2/.

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I suck (was originally you suck)

Sun, Apr 6 2003, 6:00:04 pm EDT

collision|FAA|Jules Gilpatrick|Michael Williams|Mike Barber|radio|sailplane|school

https://OzReport.com/Ozv7n92.shtml

Michael Williams <michaelj@mail.ev1.net> writes:

I heard that someone may have been on our radio frequency while I was on the way down and may have heard of my predicament. There are issues. No one has agreed to pay for anything. I was concerned that something may have gotten published prematurely, and it did.

Mikey called you trying to get you to tone it down or hold off for a little bit, but no!!! You had to be a dickhead. Give me my ten dollar donation back. And if anything you have published influences any recourse on my part, I'll want to speak to you later. Publish that you inconsiderate bastard!

(editor’s note: Ah, the joys of publishing. The story I wrote was the story I got from Mike Barber. I used the tone he used. I interviewed Mike Barber as reported. I think that only “fact” in dispute here is whether Nathan committed to replacing Michael’s hang glider.

I’m sure that Mike Williams has a lot of feelings after just being almost killed. I’m of the school of thought that says, “give ‘em enough rope.”)

Jules Gilpatrick <freeflite@centurytel.net> writes:

What's the FAA going to say (about the collision of the HG and the sailplane)? How about FAR 91.13 (careless and reckless operation) or FAR 91.111? My bet is that somebody is going to be in deep doo-doo over this if the FAA is apprised of the incident.

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Grommets

Wed, Dec 4 2002, 7:00:08 pm GMT

school|Tascha "Tish the Flying Fish" McLellan

Kids who surf are called grommets, well at least that’s what Conrad and Tish call them. They are every where along the Merewether and Red Head beach surfing after school and on the weekends.

Think about this. When you are little you learn to swim. Play in the surf. Get a belly board and learn to ride the waves. Get a small, appropriately sized surf board for a small amount of money and learn to surf. Surf your brains out. Grow up. Find bigger and longer waves.

Can you think of a similar sequence for hang gliding?

Doesn’t it look like fun playing with the winds down at the beach? Aren’t waves and winds similar? Doesn’t the hang glider look a bit more fragile than the surf board? Doesn’t it cost a lot more? Can’t you have a lot longer ride on a hang glider at the beach on a four foot high ridge than you can on a wave (the last question has a positive answer)?

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