Gallery Newsletter

RidgeDancer September 1995
Reproduced from the monthly newsletter.

Contents:

No Mashed Potatoes at Potato Hill
Potato Hill Cross Country Challenge
Maneuvers Madness
The Grant Gamble
Notes From an Ancient Class One
ALOFT Needs Help
Coastal Cleanup Day
New Development at Stables
Dues Are Due!
Monthly Meeting Minutes

No Mashed Potatoes at Potato Hill

Mike Yost

There are September days at Potato Hill that are so perfect that I would not want to be at any other mountain site in America. We had these days during the First annual Potato Hill Cross Country Challenge. The weather was perfect the two days of the event. You could have thermalled from 10 am to 7 pm each day! About 10 BAPA members showed up for the event to try to win a new flight suit and were rewarded with great flying.

John Wilde won the competition with a cross country flight up a canyon after getting 2100' over. Without a radio or water, John sunk out and landed in some manzanita that was up to his neck. He had to crawl for a quarter mile under the manzanita to find a deer trail that eventually got him to the road. This took about 1.5 hours while the rest of us were getting concerned about what happened to John without a radio. Dave Bingham had a marvelous flight that took him to 1850' over launch and placed him in second. Gerald (Penguin) Meyers was in third with a flight 900' over. Chris Jones was 4th with 600' over.

The launch is still rather primitive. If you go flying there please spend a few minutes to clear some brush to improve the launch. There is an ax we left up there for chopping some roots. By next year's event, we will need to improve the launch to accommodate two side-by-side paraglider launching capability. Go enjoy Potato Hill, the camp site is nice, the flying is great in October, you don't need 4 wheel drive to the launch.

Final Standings
1st - John Wilde
2nd - Dave Bingham
3rd - Gerald "Penguin" Meyers
4th - Chris Jones
Honorable Mention: Roger (the South African champion skydiver!), who went cross country to a more interesting LZ: the large field across from the entrance to the valley camp ground. He was eager to get to the next stop on his world adventure (skydiving in Davis), so didn't stay long enough to gloat and didn't have a vario to record his max. altitude.

Potato Hill Cross Country Challenge - Old Age and Treachery Defeat Youth and Skill

Gerald "Penguin" Myers

BAPA Activities Director Mike Yost sure knows how to throw a party. First he ordered up super blue-sky thermal weather with a gentle breeze straight into launch, then provided great prizes from Wings and Things Paragliders for best cross-country or highest altitude gain flights. Saturday was one of those "yesterday you should have been here" kind of days. Then, as a treat for those who stayed over Saturday night, Max showed up. Sunday mellowed a touch, with only one pilot getting 1700 over, but what the heck, we were getting tired. The awards ceremony Sunday afternoon was a senior citizen sweep, with all the old dudes packing off the prizes and themselves to home amid murmurs of "getcha next time" from the kids.

Potato Hill has a reputation of being a bit tricky to fly, with a small launch area surrounded by line-snagging, wing-tearing bushes; a lot of area between launch and LZ mostly covered with more dense brush; sometimes tricky air in front of launch; a thermal-generating LZ; and a tendency to blow out or overdevelop by 11 o'clock or so. This weekend saw the launch area get significantly larger, thanks mostly to the energetic efforts and tools of John Wilde, with Big Mike, Chris Jones and others taking a turn to clear a bit more brush and roots from the upper part of the launch area. Some of us also packed down the brush a bit on the lower end of the launch by energetically running through it on our way out to the sky. But the real deal was the air -- it never even came close to blowing out or overdeveloping on either day, and the area in front of launch was very well behaved indeed. The left spine, and several other areas, provided frequent thermals, and there were enough bumps along the way to the LZ that most of us made it most of the time.

Saturday morning saw some of the usual suspects gathered at the LZ directly across from the Fout Springs Juvenile Center on Road M10: John and Kathy Wilde, Big Mike and his guest Roger from South Africa, Chris Jones, Rich Hular, and Penguin from the north. This group made the first trip to launch. John packed in a brush pruner and ax and proceeded to make LZ improvements as very gentle and short cycles came through intermittently, allowing most pilots to practice up on their forward launch techniques. Honorable editors Gever Tulley and Julie Spiegler arrived shortly afterward, chasing up the hill in time to catch the last of the first group off: our host big Mike. First flights were sled rides with a few bumps here and there, but by the time we got back to launch at 1 o'clock, things were definitely starting to happen, with the house thermal and numerous other thermals popping up at regular intervals.

The thermals tended to be smallish (especially down low); somewhat ill-defined; and having significant drift "lean" to them -- but they were reasonably abundant. Best of all, the one o'clock to three o'clock Śhot window' never offered up air that was really rowdy. It got a bit bumpy of course, but it was never in the anus-clenching adventure category, and a batch of pilots got some great flights during this period. Treacherous John Wilde wound his way up to 2000 over before practicing his side-hill-landing-in-the-deep-brush trick; I managed 800 over on the house thermal and back level on a lower thermal before catching a third one on my way in and extending my stay in the air; Big Mike and Chris Jones also had excellent sky-out thermal air time. The conditions were perfect for practicing mountain thermaling technique. They were also perfect for practicing landing-on-a-thermal-generator technique. The air down low approaching the LZ was definitely Śpoppy', and coming in with big ears was the standard order of the afternoon. Again, conditions were just strong enough to require ears for landing, but not so strong as to cause any significant problems -- perfect for practicing this valuable and necessary landing technique.

Latecomers Steve Rock and Doug and Teresa Ribordy showed up toward the end of the "hot window" and we got to give them the "You should have been here an hour ago" number. Doug had figured it would be blown out by 11:00, so took his time getting there for when it calmed down in late afternoon. Don't you just hate it when that happens? The four to five o'clock launches offered bumpy sled rides with short ups and a couple of sink holes that caught a few pilots coming up short, then it was time for the campground and tall tales.

Just as we were getting squared away, a rental car with a patina of dust showed up and a fellow inquired as to whether we were the paraglider pilots. Enter Max -- Joakim Gustafsson from Helsingborg, Sweden who's tale of travel that day brought to mind the saying "Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God". Max had flown in from Sweden the day before for a four day business trip, and started that morning from Los Gatos. Using information off the Internet, he drove to Pacifica to find the dumps were too South, nobody flying. Some of the pilots suggested Elk, so after due map consultation Max went to Elk where it was too North, but, he was told, there were a group of pilots at Potato Hill only 42 miles down M10. Two hours plus later of narrow, twisty gravel road and several streams to ford, Max found us. He was still in good humor, and delighted to find out *somebody* got to fly that Saturday. We promised him good flying for his first flight in America the next day, and he joined the party.

First launches Sunday were at 10:30 in light and mild conditions after additional work on the launch area. John and I played in the house thermal for a bit, but it was a fickle and tricky little guy. Max finally got his well-deserved first flight in the U.S., and eventually we all went back up hoping for a hot window similar to the day before. Latecomers Dave Bingham and Eric showed up, and it was one last shot at a monster flight in surprisingly light 0-12 S/SE air. Most of us got 15 to 20 minute sled rides with spotty bumps, but Dave Bingham worked a bump up into a real thermal for a flight on his new Ritmo that was just beautiful to watch as he turned his way up to 1700 over before hitting the inversion that was becoming obvious over the valley. The LZ crowd all stood staring up, wishing him well and gnashing our teeth Ścause we weren't up there with him.

Time for one more sled ride and award ceremony at the LZ, with John Wilde copping the first place Trekking flight suit prize. We all agreed, after looking at his legs that had been through the brush in shorts, that he definitely needed the flight suit. Dave Bingham walked off with a large Trekking wind sock, and Penguin copped a set of quick-out parabiners. Big Mike Yost got a well-deserved hand for this event and for the great job he has been doing this year as BAPA Activities Director, and it was time for us all to head into the sunset and home. You should have been there -- beats sitting at the dumps waiting for the wind to go west.

Maneuvers Madness!

Bob Clem

At last, after more than a year of contemplating an advanced maneuvers clinic, I finally made the decision to do it. Trouble was, that unless I was willing to wait until October, I would have to travel to an obscure place called Prineville Reservoir in central Oregon. Oh, well, traveling to faraway obscure places is what small planes are for, so I got mine ready for the trip. The Friday morning flight from Concord to Redmond, Oregon was 2 hours and 20 minutes, followed by a 50 minute drive to the reservoir, stopping half way in the quaint town of Prineville for lunch. I joined the other early arrivals that afternoon for the first flights.

The meet was hosted by Phil Pohl of Sky Hook Sports in central Oregon, and John Yates of Pro-Design in Redding. They had a lot of able help (sorry, I don't have all the last names): Danny, driving John's tow boat; Frankie Watson, videotaping and taking care of a lot of important details; Ed Pittman, instructing and doing hook-ups at launch; Steve, driving a second tow boat; Josh, radio-instructing from the LZ while the participants were going through the various maneuvers; Doug, manning the staging/rescue boat; and John (not Yates), helping with miscellaneous duties.

Participants (as far as I remember) were George, Pete, Scott, Mike, Dave, Roy, Wally, Steve, Gary, and myself. The first afternoon consisted of signing forms (the usual ones that require you to write out, "I understand that paragliding is an inherently dangerous activity that may lead to...", etc.), a lot of briefing on the goals and methods of the clinic, then finally over to one of the many launch sites at the lake's edge. Once there, we were briefed on the first new thing for nearly all of us: towing. This new way to get airborne proved easy and exciting, except for one of us who, whether because of his wing and/or inexperience, seemed to go into a lock-out mode quite a lot, sending him to an unwelcome but harmless venture into the water. The only air work for us on this balmy afternoon was initiating, then dampening lateral and fore-aft pendular motion, then big ears.

That night, with a successful start to the clinic behind us, about twelve of us piled into three vehicles and drove to Prineville for some steak dinners and a lot of yakking.

The next day, Saturday, was earmarked for some serious maneuvering. I started with a full frontal collapse, then 50% right and left asymmetrics, first without correction, then using turns with and against the collapse. The second flight was for doing a full stall. There were tiny entanglements of the tips in the outboard lines after recovery, but these came out with a few strokes on the brakes. I had a little altitude left so I repeated a big asymmetric with steering. On the third flight, I did B-line stalls, the first of which was a little aggressive, resulting in a temporary rag-wing configuration. A subsequent one remained clean and recovery was prompt. The following day, I did "search for constant stall", then a spiral dive. At this point, for my next flight, I should have arranged to do a reserve deployment, but I wanted to try some early afternoon thermalling. I got towed to about 1500 ft. above the lake and a little before I would have released, the tow line broke (line tension at this stage in the tow is at its highest), inducing a surprise mini-maneuver - just a minor shock and little surging. Unfortunately, I found hardly any trace of a thermal over the mountainous terrain next to the lake, and upon landing, it was too late in the day to do the reserve deployment.

What were these maneuvers like? In my glider, a ProDesign Compact 35, they were exactly like the yellow manual and other sources say they are, to the extent that upon actually performing them, I felt as if I'd done them many times before. In the frontal collapse and full stall, there is the momentary free-fall sensation, but in a full stall it's a little more prolonged and backwards. In the asymmetric collapses, there is a sideways tilting of the body which must be countered with opposite weight shift and brake steering in order to avoid turning toward the collapse. In my glider, if there is immediate correction, it will hardly change its heading at all, and the collapse can be cleared very quickly. The B-line stall seems to increase the wing's thickness and reduces the chord to about 70% across the entire span. The wing initially moves back a little, then settles into a high sink rate. The search for constant stall is a suspenseful maneuver in that the pilot must be ready to react properly to a full stall should it occur. In my case, the brake handles were down to the seat bottom and the back 1/3 of the wing bowed downward when the instructor said to raise the brakes. I don't recall any buffeting or rapid sink rate. The spiral dive was not quite fully developed, but I did feel the G-forces, saw the leading edge pointed moderately downward, and felt the turns accelerating when I pulled out. A smooth, non-oscillating recovery requires practice. I didn't complete the "constant stall leading to negative spin tendency," the spiral dive with big ears (controversial anyway), one-turn negative spin, and the reserve deployment. These are some things to look forward to next year.

Regarding towing, the first part of it is the best: the boat initially accelerates to full towing speed, freely deploying line without tension. After about 150 yards or so the operator gradually brings up the line tension which the pilot resists with a firmly-planted forward-placed leg. Just as the tension begins to overpower the pilot's resistance, he starts his run. It's exactly like a forward launch, except that only minimal brake inputs should be used, otherwise the wing can rock back and go into a lock-out, which, once established, renders the glider directionally uncontrollable. A lock-out is similar to a kite in a strong wind pulling to one side and arcing over into a dive. There is no need to fear a lock-out, as the tow operator can release the line tension immediately should he see a lock-out starting, and this restores directional control to the pilot. Once airborne, steering the glider takes a bit more brake force than in free flight, I think because of higher wing loading. The harness and pilot are always pulled so as to be facing directly down the tow line, but the wing itself must be constantly monitored visually, as it often changes its heading away from the tow line's direction, requiring correction. When the tow boat hits wakes in the water, the same jolts it feels are transmitted right up to the glider, initially somewhat unnerving to the pilot. As the line tension builds up in the latter part of the tow, I felt and heard little "snaps" or "catches" through the line, as if a connector were coming loose somewhere (!?). My carabiners looked and operated okay, so I don't think it was coming from them.

When the boat is seen and felt to be decelerating, the line tension decreases, and that's the signal to release the tow line, either by pulling on a loop of cord by hand, or alternatively by pushing on a loop that goes around the knee. Altitude gain is in the 1200 to 1800 ft. range, depending on wind conditions, pilot weight, and pilot technique. I took a vario on my last flight and it registered up to 1000 fpm climb rate, and between 1400 and 1500 ft. altitude gain (where the tow line broke, but I was very near the top of the tow).

I cannot say enough about this meet: Phil Pohl was Host Extraordinaire, making everyone feel super-relaxed and welcome. The weather was perfect, the lake area was beautiful and uncrowded, there were numerous large launch and LZ areas, the campsite had all the amenities anyone could want, unlimited liquid refreshments, a lunch and great chicken/steak barbecue courtesy of the hosts, good planning, and steady action with two tow boats running. Best of all, of course, were the people: a veritable summit of some of the most experienced and knowledgeable instructors assembled in one location to teach us about anticipating, avoiding, and correction paragliding malfunctions. Each instructor contributed his unique points of knowledge, which complemented the others'. There was no pressure placed on anyone to complete any maneuvers, just encouragement to do what felt comfortable. There was great emphasis on safety, there were no injuries, and only a few water landings (the water was reported to be "tropical" by those whose feathers got wet). There was a debriefing and an informal test, with discussion of answers.

After the meet, I flew Ed Pittman and Josh from Redmond down to Redding, with Ed in charge of flying from the right seat for most of the 1-1/2 hour trip. It's obvious Ed has some "stick and rudder" time, judging by his altitude and heading control. I continued on from Redding, bound for my home field at Concord, watching the moon come up and the light of towns blink on across the valley, with a little time on my hands to think about our great week-end of Maneuvers Madness.

The Grant Gamble

Ann Sasaki

"Well Ann, it's hailing up here." Bob Ost's voice came reassuringly over the radio to tell me the conditions at launch just moments after I was airborne. "Hmmm...", I thought, "I better see if I can get away from this 11,000 foot mountain with ominous rain clouds over it...probably the sooner, the better."

Mt. Grant in Hawthorne, NV on September 2, 1995. The largest vertical drop (about 7,000 feet) you can fly in the continental U.S. Kind of makes you feel like a gnat as you descend in a sled ride that takes almost 25 minutes.

To start at the beginning, pilots from Reno, the Bay Area, Las Vegas and several other locales, converged on the happening town of Hawthorne, seriously out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere, Nevada. The environment is flat, dry desert stretching for miles with a rugged, high range of mountains to the west of the valley. Walker Lake is an astoundingly large body of water out in the middle of this desert valley. The lake seems to temper conditions from developing into overly rowdy thermals. Mt. Grant is on land controlled by the military and on only one weekend a year, the key to the gated road is available to pilots and others who want to go to the summit. The town of Hawthorne is pretty small and probably has a police force of one, with several police cars strategically planted with dummies in them to keep visitors within the speed limits. There are a surprising number of motels and the hot spot of the town appears to be the El Capitan which has a casino. In fact, Theresa Ribordy made her visit to Hawthorne worthwhile by putting three dollars in the dollar slot machine and getting a $2500 return. Her husband Doug pointed out that this is an amount similar to the price of a new wing. However, Theresa appeared to have other plans for the windfall.

As it turned out, Saturday morning didn't look all that promising for flying so we kind of took our time moseying over to sign the requisite waivers and for some of us, to join the Sierra Skysurfers in order to fly. We all drove to the top (which takes about 45 minutes) to check out the conditions but were pretty much assuming it was OD'd.

From 11,000 feet the view is impressive and the LZ is so far away you can barely see it. After much driving back and forth from one launch to another, we saw some pilots from Las Vegas launch into really gusty conditions. We were pretty skeptical until the gusts died somewhat and Dick Benoit gave an enthusiastic cry, "This is it! It's flyable!"

Everyone made a mad dash to gather equipment and rush to set up on the South facing launch. Bob Ost, Carl and I decided to walk to a point lower on the hillside in order to ensure a quick exit around a spine to head towards the LZ. The conditions were still QUITE up and down and timing turned out to be everything. We saw a very pretty site when Al Baldini, Stan Dempsey and Ron Thompson launched within seconds of each other, followed directly by Dave Bingham. Team Trekking! The three Miuras and the Ritmo swept by us in a flash of color against the darkening sky, off towards the valley.

Various other wings tried to launch, some with success and others not. I decided that it was now or never and with Bob's support, launched uneventfully into fairly smooth air. I was concerned about penetrating out quickly because Bob let me know that it had started raining and then hailing soon after. After getting my ducks in a row, I was eventually able to relax a bit and take a few pictures and marvel at how high I was and how enormous the lake was, how long it was taking to descend and how hot it got when you reached the lower altitudes. Altogether this was quite an impressive experience, and even a ground-skimmer like me realized this kind of flight doesn't happen to you everyday. As it turned out I was the last pilot off the hill until much later in the day after the storm had passed through.

On Sunday we all arrived at launch around 8:00 a.m., being determined to catch the conditions before they got too strong. However this was to no avail as it was blowing around 30 mph at the top. We were treated to the spectacle of the Swift successfully launching into the howling wind. After hanging out for a bit, we all drove down to the LZ.

At this point my story diverges from the Mt. Grant fly-in because Ron and I had decided to leave scenic Hawthorne to go to mundane Mammoth Lakes. There we saw some truly awesome mountains called the Minarets and marveled at the beauty of Tioga Pass and Tuolomne meadows as we crossed over the Sierras on the way home.

From what we heard on our return, Monday was also blown out at Grant so everyone had to amuse themselves hanging out, going to Reno, swimming, gambling and dreaming of next year's trek to the Nevada desert. Oh yes! Tell us what you learned! Well, in case you go next year...

  1. Dick Benoit from Reno and Al and Stan all attest to the fact that weather conditions change quickly at Mt. Grant. Therefore it is wise to drive up early and be ready to go if it is flyable. Also, you obviously want to be with pilots who are familiar with Grant and can help you judge the conditions.
  2. You may get skunked at Grant. There is certainly no guarantee that it will be flyable, but you'll probably have a good time nonetheless.
  3. It seems like a good idea to have your para-phernalia organized such as your vario set, your radio on the right frequency, and all your other gear in good working order. If you are not prepared, the time that it takes you at launch to get organized may mean the window is closed, or you launch with those squirrelly little ducks in disarray.
  4. The road to launch is a fairly good one but taking a four-wheel drive may be preferable. Watch out for those "pyramid-shaped rocks" which cause many flat tires. Julie Spiegler had to assist two vehicles with flat tires as she drove down with a bruised foot on Sunday.
  5. The drive up takes about 45 minutes to an hour from the LZ.
  6. Where is the LZ? This is a problem Gever Tulley and I had while in the air because everyone else had already landed. At thousands of feet up it's hard to spot your truck in the LZ, let alone spot the LZ. Well, the LZ is the second most-Northern set of buildings along the lake's edge.
  7. There are plenty of places to land out BUT be careful because some huge open fields have boulder size rocks which would make very treacherous landing.
  8. There are several launches so that varying wind directions can be accommodated. Once again, let the locals decide which one is the spot for the day.
  9. Apparently it is often gusty and somewhat turbulent at launch. Be prepared for this, including for lightweights like me having some assistance standing by in case you get nailed. I know that philosophies on this vary, but I feel that it's safer to have some extra weight there to keep you down if you don't want to launch into a what turns out to be too big of a cycle.
  10. Once you move away from the hill the air is usually extremely smooth and you kind of float for what seems like a really long time with no feeling of ground reference. As I said before, the way a gnat probably feels.
  11. It is hot down at valley level (about 4000 feet ASL) but of course, quite cool at the summit. Be prepared with the right kinds of clothes to put on and take off.
  12. Bring your camera so you can take foot pictures as you descend.

So next Labor Day, plan to visit exciting Hawthorne where culinary delights abound and fly from Mt. Grant where you respect how insignificant you are in comparison to nature's grandeur. Seriously, it's a ride you won't forget.

Lessons from an ancient Class One Pilot

Julie Spiegler

This may be my last article from the perspective of a Class I pilot. Yesterday I had another 30 minute thermal flight at Potato Hill, so I have all the required thermal flights for my Class II signoff (without counting any glass-off flights!).

Since the Bay Area has few thermal flying opportunities for Class I pilots (as evidenced by the five years it's taken me to accumulate the requisite five 30 minute flights!), I thought I might share some tips in getting past this hurdle and on to access to the rest of the local sites. Many pilots have lamented the lack of Class I sites in the area, particularly citing the Class II rating requirement of the Stables site. I've expressed my opinion about the Stables situation previously, but keep in mind that flying thermals is usually the big hurdle we have in getting our Class IIs, not ridge soaring (even with the few small unregulated ridges around, it's not hard to get five 15 minute soaring flights)! How do you get the needed thermal flights? Basically, you've got to leave town. You don't really have to go all that far, though! There's Potato Hill (my favorite thermal site!), Elk Mountain, the Redding/Shasta area, and even towing in the various flatlands.

But what's REALLY important for getting those all-important thermal flights? Launching and landing! Flying at the coast for five years doesn't really prepare you for the typical conditions encountered at thermal sites: forward launches and no wind landings!

But those are skills you CAN practice extensively right here in the Bay Area. Ed Levin park in Milpitis is the perfect training ground for those skills. No wind days at our unregulated coastal sites can also offer excellent opportunities (assuming there is plenty of beach to land on). If you're prepared for your mountain trips, with the skills required to take off and land in the conditions you are likely to encounter, you can focus on the new skills you need to learn: detecting and turning in thermals.

Of course there are other skills you will want to acquire, like efficient 360s, which are difficult to practice unless you're pretty high (like in the mountains), and landing with big ears. But preparing yourself for the next skill you want to learn, and applying things you know to each new situation, will keep you moving toward your goal: plenty of safe, fun flying at a multitude of sites.

ALOFT needs help staying UP!

Julie Spiegler (with help from Scott MacDonald and Steve Roti)

Is the United States Paragliding community big enough to support two full-color paragliding publications? It certainly seems so, from the support ALOFT has been receiving from the public. But it needs help from you TODAY to keep going.

There are only two ways to keep a publication in business: A. Through subscriptions (which are hard to muster when there's a free rag in town), or B. Through advertisements.

Advertising is a great (commercial) tradition: people give you money to "rent" space, which they are happy to have interspersed with articles, photographs, and stories. The amount they pay, and frequency with which they will place ads, however, is directly tied to how many people receive your publication. In the case of ALOFT, the magazine could support itself solely through advertising as long as the audience is about the size of the U.S. paragliding community - as defined by the number of Paragliding USHGA members!

USHGA decided that ALOFT could not use the USHGA member list to distribute their magazine. So the number of recipients was reduced to those who were enthusiastic enough to send in their addresses, plus whatever other contacts the publishers could collect for their mailing list. Advertisers weren't happy with the reduced numbers, and have reduced their support.

A portion of your USHGA dues goes to support Paragliding, The Magazine (owned by Fred and Claudia Stockwell, US paragliding instructors). USHGA maintains the mailing list of paragliding members and the Stockwells mail their magazine to all pilots on the USHGA mailing list. Paragliding, The Magazine publishes six issues a year, and includes a section covering official USHGA business.

At the beginning of 1995 three US paragliding pilots (Steve Roti, Ancil Nance, and Jon Goldberg-Hiller) started publishing ALOFT magazine. ALOFT is advertiser-supported, which means that revenue must come from ad sales to pay for printing and mailing costs.

The ALOFT publishers have asked to be considered an "official" USHGA paragliding magazine, so that they can use the USHGA mailing list. A variety of proposals have been made, including: both magazines publish six issues a year, in alternating months; provide USHGA members a choice between the two magazines; provide USHGA both magazines; or, replace Paragliding, The Magazine with ALOFT. Why another US paragliding magazine? Why not?! Every editor will have a slightly different perspective, so the contents will be different. More flying stories, more technical advice, more reviews, more photographs, more paragliding fixes for those long, cold, winter days when the wind is from the wrong direction and it's raining anyway!

Why another USHGA-affiliated paragliding magazine? Why not?! Both magazines can reach the full USHGA paragliding membership, and advertisers are happy. Both magazines will be delivered to the doorstep of every paragliding USHGA member, and pilots are happy. There will be two different editorial staffs, so contributors will be happy. Not only that, we'll receive an USHGA paragliding magazine every month (just like the hang glider pilots do - why should they get twice as many magazines as we do?!).

How you can you make sure that the paragliding community wins? 1. Write your USHGA Regional Directors TODAY! They need to hear how you feel before the next BOD meeting in October (just a few short weeks away!). Our Regional Directors are:

2. Buy a beautiful ALOFT t-shirt! Not only is it one of the best paragliding designs around on a shirt, but your purchase will help defray the mounting costs of putting together this quality publication. Just think of the $25 cost as a subscription fee with the added benefit of a great t-shirt! (Gever and I can model them for you, if you need to see how beautiful they are!) If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Steve Roti directly at:
Aloft Publishing
P.O. Box 8989
Portland, OR 97207-8989
phone: 503-284-0998
email: 70323.3614@compuserve.com

Coastal Cleanup Day

Dave Sondergeld

On Saturday, September 23rd we had our fifth annual beach cleanup. The number of participants went down this year, but luckily so did the amount of trash. We picked up an estimated 700 lb. of junk, mainly consisting of bottles, cans & paper. We did pull up a couch and a few other larger items.

Special thanks to those BAPA members who participated:

New Development at the Stables

Dave Sondergeld

The Olympic Club has started grading a new 9 hole golf course. The grading begins at the Stables parking lot and continues along the upper grade all the way down and into the Bowl just south of Fort Funston. I talked with one of the workers last Saturday, who informed me that it was a 6 month project. So, by next summer we will be flying in front of a new golf course.

There is a new trail which has been opened up which leads from the stables to the lower trail. The horses are already using this since they can no longer ride north through the area which is being graded. I have taken a dozen pictures of the site from the air and will bring them to the next BAPA meeting.

Dues Are Due!

The Editors

It's that time of year again: the start of the BAPA New Year. True, it's only just barely October, but the coastal flying season is wrapping up and it's time to get administrative.

BAPA's "year" starts October 1, which is when our newly elected officers get started on their jobs, and all of us members pay our meager $25 to support publication of the RidgeDancer, paying for our site insurance, and whatever other expenses the club incurs. It's a bit confusing, but hopefully members who've joined since last October understood our new Member Applications and paid only for the months left before October.

In Summary: PAY UP. To make life easier for our newly elected Treasurer, it would be great if you'd take a minute to fill out the member renewal form on the back page of this newsletter. It is cleverly located on the opposite side of the paper from your address label, so you don't have to fill out your name and address, unless there's something to be changed! Please be sure to include the numbers of any BAPA stickers you have, so we can make sure our records are up-to-date and you are notified about those sites as needed!

So, get out your stamps, pens, and envelopes: there are dues to be paid, letters to write (in support of ALOFT), and wouldn't your grandma like to hear from you?

Meeting Minutes - Sept. 6, 1995

Ann Sasaki

Ken Davis called the meeting to order at 8:00 pm.

New Members
There was one new member attending: Rod Eshelman who is a Class I pilot, flying for about one year.

Notable Flights
Gloat IIIs were awarded to:
Larry Friend who flew 45 minutes at Hurd Peak, 45 minutes at Whaleback and 1-1/2 hours at Spread Eagle all in one weekend!
Brad Lowe who got a good glass-off at Hat Creek and checked out the Lava Tubes.
Jeff Greenbaum who flew with Honza for 1-1/2 hours way over Spud Hill (aka Potato Hill).
Brad Smith and Al Baldini who got two flights in one day at Tam.
Ann Sasaki who gloated for a number of BAPA pilots who went to Mt. Grant over Labor Day weekend.

Old Biz
Ken Davis made a motion to accept the minutes from the August 2, 1995 meeting.
***Motion passed.

Site Director Report
Dave Sondergeld reported that the sign for the Stables which has pilot info, a map, and info for non-pilots is finally being made after a long delay.
Dave also reported that Thom Switzer, site administrator for Tam, says that Fall conditions are good at Tam. There may be a BAPA site intro day organized some time in October.

Activities Director Report
Mike Yost reminded everyone of upcoming events including a San Diego trip at Thanksgiving and thermalling clinics in the Owens.

New Business
John Wilde made a motion to pass the hat for donations to Harry Harris, whose restaurant in Pacific Valley burned down in late August. Harry is well-known for his hill in back of the restaurant with its tortuous road to the top from which many paragliders have flown.
***Motion passed.

Ken Davis reminded BAPA members that dues are due by October 1. The annual BAPA dues are $25.

Dave Sondergeld announced that the beach cleanup is on Saturday, September 23, 1995. Meet in the Stables parking lot between 9:00 am - 2:00 pm.

Meeting adjourned at 8:50 pm.

Last modified 3 September 1995