Flytec
Wills Wing

Oz Report

Volume 9, Number 144
10 pm, Sunday, July 10 2005

https://OzReport.com
"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."
Sat, Jul 9 2005, 5:00:00 am EDT

to Table of Contentsto next topic Flying from Kansas to Iowa

190 (189.4) miles from Ottawa, Kansas to north of Griswold, Iowa

Belinda Boulter|sailplane|USHGA

Belinda Boulter|Ryan Glover|sailplane|USHGA

Belinda Boulter|Ryan Glover|sailplane|USHGA

The flight

It was easy.  It was really really easy and lots of fun.  Just the way flying should be.

The reward/risk ratio of this flight was off the chart.  It is so much fun to be going over the ground at 60+ mph, not going down and flying in the sweetest air you can possibly imagine.  Below farms and small towns slipped by quickly as I followed cloud streets and rural highways doing my best to stay on a good track.

Saturday was a busy day for Adventure Airsports here at the airfield at Ottawa, Kansas.  In fact, according to Tony, the airport manager, this has been the busiest two weeks at the airport in years.  It can be awfully quiet out here in the heartland.

Len Smith, instructor and USHGA Regional director, was out early giving tandem lessons.  In the morning there was half a sky of strato cumulus on the west side and the forecasted clear skies on the eastern half.  It didn't look like there would be any cu's during the day.

We set up by the airport office on the newly mown lawn.  There are grass runways here in addition to the concrete taxiway and the asphalt north/south runway.

I got off at 12:55 with cu's forming over the airport.  It sure was nice to see them at about 5,000' MSL (it's 1,000' here). Getting off at 1,400' AGL it was a light lift climb to 4,600'.

The first hour of the flight consisted of making sure that I stayed up so I would run from wispy cloud to wispy cloud, further north to be sure, but first northeast and then northwest, so that I ended up going over Lawrence on its west side.

I wanted to be sure to stay away from the Kansas City airspace to the north northeast, and fortunately the wind was straight out of the south, so as long as I hung with the clouds near highway 59, I would be clear of the red areas.  The cu's were very sparse and mere wisps at the inversion, so it was hard to get an idea of the lift streets that must be there given the strong (17-25 mph) winds.

Even though the winds were strong, there was no turbulence over the flat lands below.  The thermals were weak (average climb rate over the flight was 170 fpm), but well formed, if quite small.  I found the lift upwind a bit of the cu's, and spent a good deal of time searching going east or west upwind of the cu's to find the best cores.

The air was full of moisture and quite hazy with visibility limited to 5 to 10 miles.  This was much different than last Thursday, a day with many more cu's and clear skies.  It was muggy.

At eighty miles out, the inversion level had risen up to the point (about 6,000') that the cu's, sparse as they were, disappeared completely.  I had to totally change my lift finding tactics as I approached the Missouri river and valley west of Atchison (as in the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe).

I searched for bare ground below scattered amidst the corn and soybean green fields.  Working a sand pit, I topped out at 4,000' in light lift drifting over the river and then raced for the bluffs on the other side of the valley spying a wisp at 105 miles out.  It was gone before I got there, but I found light lift again at 1,800' AGL and worked my way north.

A few very sparse cu's started to appear again, and I found one over brown harvested fields and climbed back to 5,500'. The day was on again.  I was so happy that I held on and didn't give up when the going got slow.  It was so great to be going downwind.

Soon the cu's stopped forming again, but I was able to find lift and the sink rates were light, to match the slow climb rates.  Down to 1,500' AGL at 5:30 PM, I drifted in light lift for seven miles, gaining 1,900' in twenty minutes.  The winds down low were the fastest at 25 mph.

I found plenty of light lift low over the farm lands watching for the soy beans waving in the winds (and hopefully in the thermals) and for bare fields and possible thermals sources.  At 6:15 PM at 2,200' AGL I went on glide and noticed that the lift really had turned off.  I came over the small town of Griswold at 700' AGL and there was a parade down the main street.  I turned around to land a few miles to the north, when I couldn't see anything but corn fields (no soy bean fields) for the next two miles along the highway.

It was midnight before Belinda and I got back to Ottawa.

Kansas has some of the most enjoyable cross country flying that I have found anywhere.  Green fields, strong winds, cu's, lots of open lands and landing areas, and minimal controlled airspaces.  There is a great club here at Adventure Airsports.  I sure hope that they can continue to grow the community.

The history of hang gliding didn't take place in Kansas, but hopefully the future will (as well in lots of other places). I can't imagine a better place to fly.

The next day as we drove to Oklahoma City, the sky was full of beautiful cu's. Best looking day up here so far, by far.  Ryan Glover, sailplane pilot in Oklahoma City, said it was a no brainer.

Discuss Kansas flying at the Oz Report forum

Discuss "Flying from Kansas to Iowa" at the Oz Report forum   link»

to Table of Contentsto next topic Aeros Demo Tour Change

Sat, Jul 9 2005, 9:00:01 am GMT
Back to Wyoming
CXCC

Aeros Ltd|Chelan XC Classic 2005|Demo Days 2004|Michael Daly|Paris Williams|XC

Paris Williams «pariswanders» writes:

I had originally planned on holding an advanced XC clinic and Aeros demos near Bozeman, Montana for the dates of July 13-17, but we lost use of the airport at the last minute.  So we've moved to a beautiful little valley in Alpine, Wyoming (about an hour south of Jackson). The dates will be the same, and depending on the interest for flying the demos (I have Combats and Discuses), I can hang around for a few extra days.  You can contact Paris Williams at (386)366-3620 for more info.

Chelan Cross Country Classic.  We've got a rain day today and tomorrow is the final day.  I'm currently in the lead in the Topless division and Michael Daly is currently in the lead in the rigid division.

Discuss "Aeros Demo Tour Change" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sat, Jul 9 2005, 5:00:02 am EDT

to Table of Contentsto next topic Paragliding and hang gliding

The inevitable conflict.

PG|Rodger Hoyt|USHGA

Rodger Hoyt «miraclepieco» writes:

Many conclusions can potentially be deduced from Mark Forbes Oz Report graph charting the comparative growth rates of Paragliding and Hang Gliding memberships in the USHGA.  It seems more than coincidental however, that the decline in hang gliding membership so closely synchronizes with the increase in paragliding membership.

I would postulate that many persons interested in unpowered personal flight who would otherwise have taken up hang gliding have instead pursued paragliding.  In a prospective flier's naiveté, the inherent lack of airworthiness of a paragliders (collaspes, blowbacks etc) would be unknown.  Assuming the two flying disciplines to be equal, a potential student would choose the easier to learn.  Hence the otherwise inexplicable growth of a clearly inferior and more dangerous form of flying.

To illustrate: I recently anonymously telephoned a supposedly biwingual instructor in a major west coast city, posing as a prospective student.  After a brief interview in which I truthfully answered his questions, he concluded that I, a 30-year hang gliding pilot, was a perfect candidate for - you guessed it - paragliding!  Who knows what his motivations were - perhaps the expense of replacing downtubes?  Regardless, it is obvious that he is steering students toward paragliding and, by default, away from hang gliding.

Whatever the causes, paragliding clearly is siphoning away prospective students whom otherwise would very likely have chosen hang gliding instead.  What does this mean for current HG pilots?  Fewer glider sales, less funds available for R & D, fewer manufacturers from which to choose, a possible stagnation in hang glider development.  What do you suppose the chances will be of obtaining a state-of-the-art hang glider will be when there are 1000 of us left?  How about 500?

Historically, whenever it has been combined with other pursuits, hang gliding has been eclipsed.  Remember when Whole Air magazine was sold and combined with Ultralights in "Sport Flier?" It wasn't long before hang gliding content disappeared completely from its pages.  Fortunately the USHGA made the right decision in regard to UL's; unfortunately they blew it with paragliders.

Think about it: is there anywhere one can go anymore to read exclusively about hang gliding without being inundated with tripe about "big ears," "kiting" or "asymmetrical collapses?" We may as well be reading about model railroading for all the relevance it has to our flying (in fact, model railroading would be preferable; at least I liketrains  ;-)

My conclusion from this is that the single largest threat to hang gliding as we know it comes in the form of a Trojan horse we allowed in the USHGA and which is now in the process of taking over: paragliding.  This being the case, would it not behoove those who love hang gliding and want to assure its perpetual existence to begin actively opposing this interloper?  This could include opposition to the proposed USHGA name change and, if it is accepted, possible campaign to encourage the formation of a new hang gliding-only organization to assure our interests are paramount.

Dissatisfaction with the predominant governing body has led to successful formation of competing organizations in other sports.  One which immediately comes to mind is the American Hot Rod Association, created in response to disenchantment with the National Hot Rod Association some decades ago.

If you love hang gliding like I do, and have witnessed paragliders grow to outnumber hang gliders three-to-one in your area as I have in mine, I urge you to consider the threat of paragliding with the gravest concern.

Discuss "Paragliding and hang gliding" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sat, Jul 9 2005, 5:00:03 am EDT

to Table of Contentsto next topic Photo/Caption contest

Standards

photo

tommy thompson «soar8hours» sends:

Being a devoted Oz Report subscriber and addicted to the photo / caption contest pictures, I just wanted to share this oldie shot with other pioneers and readers of our fabulous sport.  This is a shot me flying a 19 X 17 cut keel standard in on final approach in the fall of 1973.

This was the was the first hang glider flight from a 2200' vertical site in Virginia called "Fishers Peak". I landed in Low Gap, NC. This may be one of the earliest interstate flight in a hang glider in the US? It was impossible to takeoff until I topped about 20 feet out of a tree just below the rocky slope.  Yes, I carried a saw in the truck back them :)

Note the bikini harness and belly bar for supine flying.  The small bag tied on the right cross tube held my wrenches for assembly.  I'm hanging from one hang strap, no reserve parachute and a spring loaded quick disconnect hardware store device and was lucky it never ejected my butt accidentally!

I get chills every time I see a photo of me in this glider.  I did get my first hour soaring flight at this site though.  What do they mean by the "good old days?" Sounds more like the good old dangerous days to me now.

Discuss "Photo/Caption contest" at the Oz Report forum   link»

The Oz Report, a near-daily, world wide hang gliding news ezine, with reports on competitions, pilot rankings, political issues, fly-ins, the latest technology, ultralight sailplanes, reader feedback and anything else from within the global HG community worthy of coverage. Hang gliding, paragliding, hang gliders, paragliders, aerotowing, hang glide, paraglide, platform towing, competitions, fly-ins. Hang gliding and paragliding news from around the world, by Davis Straub.

The Oz Report is being read from (approximately) these locations:
Locations of visitors to this page