October 2000
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October 2000
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From the President:By John Arrison The 2000 flying year is winding down. Fall is a beautiful time to fly, but the long winter is always close behind. I hope everyone has had a successful summer. A couple of items to mention: West Rutland. We have enjoyed a long and cordial relationship with the landing field owner. He has come to expect that if we use his land, we should help him out by pitching hay, picking corn, or whatever. I know the work is a drag, but losing the landing fields at Rutland would not be good. If you fly Rutland, be prepared to help out. Mt. Washington. I attended a meeting of the Mt. Washington Commission on Sept. 22. I hoped to modify the 11: 00 a.m. launch rule and explore other possible launches. Good news-bad news. First the good news. The 11 a.m. launch time is not written in stone. If the auto road is not busy, they do not mind launches all day long. That presents a bit of a problem, though. How do you know if the road is going to be busy if cannot make the 11 a.m. deadline? We should assume that the 11 a.m. rule still stands. The auto road people were not interested in any modification of the time other than on a day by day basis to be decided by them. RESTRICTIONS ON LAUNCH TIMES AND LAUNCH LOCATIONS APPLY TO BOTH HANG GLIDING AND PARAGLIDING. The bad news is that people from NH State Parks and the U.S. Forest Service were present at the meeting. From my description of the existing two launch locations they could not decide which agency owns the sites. If the Forest Service owns the land there is no problem for continued use. If State Parks owns the land we may need a special use permit similar to the one issued for Cannon Mt. Stay tuned, I'll keep you posted. On a lighter note--don't forget the Cross Country Contest. Enter your flight with Gary Trudeau now. I want to write an article for the magazine, so this will be your big chance to see your name in print. Gary is the official keeper of the miles, so if you do not contact him, it's will be your own fault if you left out of the awards. The election of officers is October 22nd. Please try to come. As always, make your opinions known to the Club officers. Folded WingsBy Gary Trudeau I am sorry to report the recent death of Harland Dunbar. He died from injuries sustained from one of his "Unscheduled Landings" at La Salinas Mexico on September 23, 2000. Details are as yet unclear. He was paragliding and believed to be attempting a top landing and struck rocks. These details are only a guess. Any cards or correspondence can be sent to his son Kendal. Kendal Dunbar VHGA Party Time !By Dennis Cavagnaro Summer parties returned to the VHGA as we all gathered at the summer home of Ted & LeeAnn to share stories, burgers and beers on an August evening. Thanks are of course extended to Ted & LeeAnn for allowing the brood to celebrate on their magnificent yard. I came in late to witness Frisbees and balsa gliders flying through the air as pilots and families got reacquainted with each other. It’s been a long time since our last summer picnic. Except for our late winter XC dinner this is the only event the club has hosted to bring us all together for many years. Why the long time is beyond me, gliding has always been unique in developing friendships. Over the past 20 something years I have developed many friends that I see for the most part "only at the hill". If I totaled up the amount of time I have talked, joked, flown with, drove with, exceeds the times I spend with some of my relatives. Hang Gliding Nation is a cloistered community of people who delicate large chucks of their lives to flying simple Dacron wings at altitudes and over miles the outside world cannot comprehend. Heck I just spoke to my friend Steve Arndt a buddy for over 25 years and he is now the proud papa of two soaring children (as well as his prize adopted child the Magic Dragon. There are many second generation pilots entering the ranks. I want to leave you all with an open invitation to come to these events. In the coming months, planning for the winter XC dinner will take place. This an evening for everyone and is a excellent opportunity to get refocused on Hang & Para Gliding, dine with your significant and flying buddies, discuss the logistics for a southern trip and pick the brains of the seasoned pilots on their XC techniques. You are all have contributed your blood, sweat and tears to making this the wonderful sport it is. See you at the hill. Safety NoticeBy Gary Trudeau I am publishing this article again because I still find many pilots have not checked their paraswivels. I have seen paraswivels that belonged to friends of mine. These paraswivels came apart with only minimal pressure trying to pull both halves apart or by spinning both halves in opposite directions. If these swivels came apart this easy could you imagine what will happen in the minute when you really need it. This is too important to ignore. Your life could depend on it. There is a safety notice of paraswivels manufactured by Willswing before March of 2000. Willswing is the producer of paraswivels for most of the manufactures of back up parachutes for the hang gliding and paragliding community. They are blue in color and have a bolt holding both halves of the paraswivel together. This can identify these paraswivels. They also have a locking bolt or setscrew that can come lose or were not seated properly. This can cause separation of the paraswivel in use. I encourage everyone with a paraswivel on their backup parachute to have it checked out immediately. Marilyn at Nichols sail loft located at Morningside Flight Park has been authorized to check, identify and repair these paraswivels. Marilyn is charging a small fee of $3.00 for this service. Again I would recommend that everyone have this done before it is too late and you need your backup. Besides your backup can not do it job if you are not attached to it. From The South Side Part 2By Mark Vaughn Checking the forecast I find the call is SW at 10. Great! Another chance to try reaching Morningside from the South Side of Ascutney. As is normal for a Sunday, Tons of Stones were over turned in the Morningside parking lot before deciding on which Site to attack. My Goal was set for the South side of Ascutney. (I hate that extra 1.5-hour drive back home) With my decision made, I was off. Driving over to the Mt. I see a few Gliders already in the Air. That's always a good sign. I reach the parking lot unload and race to the set up area to find it empty. Gliders were still bobbing out front and in the West Bowl. I setup and get ready to join them. A few spectators came out behind me and I persuaded then to help wire me off. After a lengthy wiring lesson they both understood and we were ready to go. I button my harness and headed for the launch. The wind was light but thermals were coming through. I waited for a lite cycle and said clear. I started climbing right off launch and was able to reach the West Bowl well above launch altitude. I found a nice Thermal and climbed out in front of the Tower Wires making sure not to fly to far down wind. Once over the towers I was free to work the thermals without worry. The Drift was from SW not South as Forecasted and it was taking me out behind Green Mt. which is not a favorite Direction, especially after hearing of Tom Lannings Retrieval nightmares (Thanks Tom (:->) ) I decided its time to try for Morningside AGAIN!! The pilots that were already in the air stayed at he MT and later landed in Africa. I continued to Climb out over the Parking lot and topped out around 5000' before loosing the thermal. This put me over the old airport along the River where it was time to get small and head south to Morningside. While on course I fly in and out of zero sink noting my GPS ground Speed to be around 12 MPH which gave me about a 10 to 12 mph head wind. Starting to get low, now down to about 3000' I approached the Claremont Airport to find some Zero to light up. I try to follow the lift to its source and find it getting stronger and stronger and determine the Source to be the Factory area or surrounding fields. I fly well passed the Claremont Airport getting lower and lower and fly into a nice 500' fpm thermal which I was more than Happy to play with... Now climbing but drifting back towards the East End of the Airport I start watching for Power Traffic entering the pattern. Lucky for me things were quite at the field. I take that Thermal back over the East End of the airport to 4000 then get small and head south once again. This time on course I fly into my strongest sink of the Flight, 400 to 500 down (Houston, We have a Problem) Below me is Claremont Ahead of me my goal still a few miles away and my only real LZ the Claremont Golf Course. I notice just Southwest of the Golf course was what appeared to be High and Dry Ground so with VG tight I turn into the wind and hope to find my next Thermal there. If I was wrong a fast down wind 180 was going to turn Claremont’s longest Fairway into a Well Groomed LZ (Flying through HAHAHAHA.) Lucky for me the high ground was working and I soon found my myself climbing again to 2500' over RT 12 and heading for my Goal, Morningside. Getting low but with Goal made and now around a 1000' AGL I snag a nice 600fpm Thermal off the Runway area which takes me to Cloud base 7.000' behind the 450 where I Play for the next 2 hours or so until landing at Morningside. Finally, I make Goal for the Season (:->) A 1 hour flight up wind to Morningside and a 2 hour Relaxing Ride above Morningside. YESSSSSSSSSS......... This I've yet to get a long XC ride I missed this Spring Super Tue,*(&%^&%$^&$*^%$^ but just the same I feel I’ve learned a lot to aide me in my next attempt down wind...... I'm finding more and more that flying up wind is a vital tool in my bag of tricks in staying up. Many times at Ascutney I’ve practice flying up wind in light lift and get rewarded with stronger climbs. I encourage you to give it a try, You could find your self at 7'000' and not yet over the Towers (:->) Next Years Goal, SAND IN MY SHOES Wait a min. that was this and last years goal HAHAHAHAHA Some Day, Some Day Letter from the EditorBy Gary Trudeau I am encouraging any member of the VHGA to submit articles to the VHGA Newsletter. Any article submitted will be considered for possible publication. The editor reserves the right to publish and edit any articles submitted. The editor will accept classified ads pertaining to hang gliding and paragliding. Classified ads must be resubmitted if you wish them to be published in the next VHGA newsletter. Articles, classified and upcoming events may be submitted to the VHGA Newsletter at Gary B Trudeau There I was thinking I was going to dieBy Rob "whackthegrass" Jacobs. These are going to be regular stories from hang glider and paraglider pilots about some experiences that they have had. The officers of the VHGA hope that by sharing these experiences, other pilots will learn how to handle these without having to experience it themselves. All pilots are welcome to submit their stories with a brief explanation. You don’t have to include your name if you don’t want but please submit the stories. You may help save another pilots life by letting them know how to handle similar situations. And there I was - doing what I wasn't supposed too! I and every other pilot flew West Rutland on Saturday in June, wind was light, slightly cross from the west, and not a whole lot of thermal activity - most everyone sunk out and landed in either the dome field, or the main LZ.....I chose the main LZ as I was searching for thermals and managed to get a nice one from there before the venturi sucked it apart from under me. I was about 350ft over the downwind end of the field, not getting any other bubble to ride up, so I began my base leg approach, I was using a standard aircraft approach as I had plenty of altitude and plenty of field in case I hit come sink or turbulence.... On my final leg, I was 30 to 60 ft over the trees on the downwind end of the field - I got some speed, dropped out of my harness, and skimmed in ground effect for about 100 feet - the field was half mowed, and half 5' hay - which I was heading straight for! Still having plenty of field, speed, and know how - I thought I'd be fine - but then it hit! I got popped up by some rapidly rising warm air which I was unfortunately on top of....I re-stuffed the bar, had about 50 feet of field left, but now going way to fast to flare....I thought I might lose some speed before the tall grass, and I did, but just slightly too much to flare my PIG before the tall stuff. and not quite enough speed to get up and over....so in I went...the tall grass immediately wrapped around my base bar, whipping me in the face in the process - it yanked me to the ground nose first - allowing both my downtubes to explode. CHA CHING! I was thankfully uninjured, but my brand new glider was not only covered in icky muck from the wet field, but blew out both downtubes and other various parts. I've landed in tall grass before, and the trick has always been to treat the top of the grass as if it's the ground, in this case, I was going too fast, and I was skimming the field lower than the top of the grass - getting popped, adding another 15 feet to my altitude didn't help - but I should have expected that given the heat blowing off that field. LESSONS LEARNED! I'll always allow for getting popped on final by leaving plenty of run out room on hot sunny days! I now know that nice looking hay fields can be as dangerous as rocks! Tall grass in NOT forgiving and you CAN"T just blow through it! My Excellent Adventure to King MountainBy Lee Minardi This summer I took a Hang Gliding Safari. I drove by myself to the King Mt. 2000 Hang Gliding Meet in Idaho. Along the way I did some hiking in the Rockies near Boulder, Colorado and almost got to fly in Dinosaur National Monument. I did get to fly at Point-of-the-Mountain and Inspiration Point near Salt Lake City, and "competed" in the King Mountain Meet in Idaho. I’m planning on writing a detailed account of my trip and posting it on the web. What follows are some recollections from the first day of the King meet. King Mountain is located in the Lost River Range in Southeastern Idaho about 25 miles from Craters of the Moon National Park. The range runs primarily North-South and includes King Mt (10,200) and Borah Peak (12,662 ft) the highest peak in Idaho. The very small town of Moore is the official host town for the competition. The competition is an open distance challenge along one of three routes. Each route is several miles wide and at least a 100 miles long! The mountain has two launch sites that are accessed via a dirt road that requires a 4-wheel drive vehicle. I used the lower launch on all three days 7400 ft (1800 AGL). The setup area easily accommodates 30 gliders. Looking West from launch you can see the valley 2500 feet below with the town of Moore barely distinguishable from other clumps of trees and building five miles away. The Upper Launch is another 700 feet higher. From there the mountain rises much more steeply to its apex of 10,200 feet. On the first day of the meet the winds were strong at launch and reportedly 20 to 30 mph from the West at altitude. Most of the competitors were very accomplished pilots. As a hang 3 with limited big-air experience (and no oxygen system) my plan was to be conservative, fly safely, have fun and try not to come in last. I typically launched in the late afternoon when the conditions were more mellow. Most pilots would try to climb the spine to above the King peak and then head North or East along the assigned route. After playing around over the mountain and limiting my climbs to less than 13,000 ft I would head out into the valley and head down wind and try to maximize my glide. At four to five thousand feet above the valley floor the ground appears to be a mesh of choice LZ’s. The dark green fields are probably mature crops. Some have operating irrigation systems. Rectangular patches of light green mixed with dirt brown looked the most appealing. They were probably flat and clear of brush, debris and crops. As I slowly flew up the valley I was constantly assessing landing options. I really enjoyed having so many choices and tried not to be too fussy in my selection. The field I selected on the first day for my LZ had a road on its South side and power lines along the West and North side. My downwind landing leg was just West of the field. The wind was from the South. After I turned 90 degrees to my right as I passed the end of the field I took another 90 degree turn to face into the wind for my final approach. At 300 feet I still needed to clear the power lines before settling in my chosen LZ. Surprise! The headwind was stronger than I thought and I had difficulty penetrating the air to make it over the power lines. My flight path had me on a direct trajectory for an encounter of the worst kind. I quickly decided to turn right and head to the adjacent field which was cultivated but reachable. I landed with a gentle no-step flair. I wasn’t sure what I had landed in but I wasn’t too far from the edge of the field and was able to leave without any damage to me, my glider or the crop. Although thirsty and winded, I felt great and was ready to fly again. The King Mountain 2000 Meet was a fantastic experience. I met a lot of great people and had some excellent flights. I plan to return next year. Anyone interested in joining me? If you’d like to see a streaming video of one of my launches at King (and have Real Player installed) go to: http://shiva.tcs.tufts.edu/lminardi/king.ram For more information on King Mountain check out: http://northwestoutdoors.com/idaho/king_mtn.html Note from the SecretaryBy Gary Trudeau The General Membership had a meeting on 8/26/00. This is a summary of the minutes. Officer Attendance - John Arrison, Dennis Cavagnaro, Gary Trudeau, Colin Fay Membership Attendance - 12 members Meeting called to order - 8.00 PM Former minutes - Former minutes read and vote to be accepted Site Report: Rutland- There has been a problem with pilots either spreading out their hang gliders or laying out their paragliders and ruining a lot of hay or blocking the homeowners from getting in their garage or driveways. Pilots should try to breakdown their gliders off to the edge of the field trying to minimize the damage to the hay and also stay out of the way. Break down your gliders right away and get out of there. This will let others have room to put their gliders away and minimize us being a problem. Work party on August 26 went well. Most of the water bars got cleaned out and gravel was delivered to the bottom of the road. Club members are asked to bring up a pail of stone from the bottom every time you go up the road and spread it out where you think it needs to be. We are going to try to get pails to the pile of stone at the bottom. Please bring the pails back down to the pile when you bring your vehicles down. If you have any pails you don’t mind donating? Please leave them behind the pile. Ascutney- John Arrison talked to the rangers and they mentioned that the club did not have a work party this spring to help with the road clean up. They also said the attendance is low in this park and asked if we could do something to help draw more people to the park. We discussed about maybe having the VHGA party there next year. Ranger Jan would also like to take a tandem off of the mountain. Gary will talk to try to arrange this as soon as possible. XC pilots, Try to avoid the forbidden fields if possible. They recently complained to one of our pilots about us going in there and ruining their hay. If you must go in there try to land as close to the road as possible and get out of the field to break down. We had a helicopter flying around the ski area doing work and the pilot complained about us flying too close to the area where he was working. Please stay away both for your safety and to eliminate problems. Landing in field we call Africa. We can land there and break down your glider but you must carry your glider out to the road. Do not drive into the driveway to pick up your glider. The reason for this is pilots are still parking on Dave’s lawn and blocking up his driveway. If you can carry you glider into launch to fly, you can carry it out to the street. This will help ease things out with the landowner before they jeopardize the landing site. The club to investigate the possibility of trail improvements to the trail out to the NW launch. Our goal is to make it more like the main trail. Burke- Gate is locked. Niece Miller to check on access for us. For now pilots must contact Carl Morin (603-752-7154) to find out whom to contact to get through the gate. Hawk- The landowners made it know that they might be open to launch improvements. This to be followed up on by the club. Sugarbush- Nothing new discussed. Cushman- Nothing new discussed Washington- The VHGA needs to make a presentation to the State near the end of September to straighten out the rules for flying this site. We also have to address the problem with launch, the set up area, and possibly try to open up weekend flying time except for the maybe the July 4 and Labor Day weekend. Also to try to open up a western launch. John Arrison to meet with the State. Club Vote- To buy everything for the Party. Another vote was passed to offer the LZ owner at West Rutland $300.00. This would pay for any hay that the club members ruin by landing there and breaking down their gliders. We have to take better step to try to protect our launches and landing Zones. Old business- Weather Station needs more investigation. Incorporation is complete and we have a tax ID #. Pilot Training – A discussion about pilots taking risk while flying. Recently we had a pilot go into the trees because his glider went into a spin. Rigid wings are known to have a problem with going into spins. This pilot looked to be flying fast back to the ridge and appeared to try a sharp turn or a wingover when he got close to the ridge near launch. The glider went into a spin and spun three or four times before causing him to crash into the trees. This pilot is very experienced and has many hours on this glider. I am sure he has done this many times before. The pilot was ok but the glider was damaged pretty badly. You might be able to get away with taking risk 9 out of 10 times but sooner or later it is going to come back to haunt you. If you are going to take risk do it as safe as possible. Don’t do it close to the ground or anywhere you might danger others. Meeting called to a close - 9.40 PM ClassifiedsThis will be the last time items will appear in the classifieds unless the sellers contact me and request that it stays. Thank you Hang Glider: Wills Wing HPAT 158, $1200 or best offer Magic 4 155, $500 or best offer, Cliff Lull, (978) 544-3223, thermal_up_cliff@hotmail.com Harness: Center of Gravity 1000, blue, large-size pod harness, $250 Hang Glider: Moyes SuperXtraLite 153 (SX5) all white, heavy 'PX20' leading
and 'Powerrib' trailing edge material with centered bottom blue panel. Only one
year old, in immaculate physical and excellent flying condition. Glider has the
latest spring-tensioned battens, a spare down tube and control bar. It is
perhaps the nicest handling and best performing glider I have had the pleasure
of flying. $3000 Harness: Moyes Contour harness, with all the 'bells and whistles', brand new.
Originally fabricated for 6', 180# pilot. $700 or consider a package deal with
above SX5. Hang Glider: Wills Wing Fusion 150, low hours, new hang straps, extra nose
cone, camera mount and Y2K calendar all included. Asking $3500 Hang Glider: Wills Wing American Sport 16, $600; 3 downtubes, $45 each; Wills
Wing HPAT 158 $400; Wills Wing glider bag (new) $95 Helmet: Perche' full face Helmet, $45, (new, pink, small) Accessories: Hall wheels, 6", $20; Snap on wheels, 8", $45 Accessories: Drogue chute, $25 Accessories: Sentex Vario/Altimeter, $100, digital readouts, downtube clamp
included (fared and round) |
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