Gallery Newsletter

Baja Thermal Clinic

Randy Alflen, Para 3

On November 2 - 4, I attended the 3-day Baja Thermaling Clinic sponsored by Air California Adventures of San Diego. The clinic was geared for pilots with low hours in thermals, but even veteran thermal pilots had great flights. The flying site, La Salina Ridge, is described in detail on page 15 of the Sept./Oct. 1996 issue of Paragliding Magazine.

The flying was better than I expected; in 5 flights over the 3 days, I logged 4.4 hours airtime consisting of thermals with some ridge lift. [My flights were 33, 25, 73, 45 and 90 minutes.] My max. altitude was 500¼ over launch, but a few other pilots skied out on occasion with 2,000¼ over. The thermals there, in my opinion and others, were quite mellow with very little turbulence - not like those encountered at times at Elk Mtn., Potato Hill, Mt. Diablo, Marshall, Rancho Cucamonga, etc. In other words, no skyrocketing, wing-tossing, ground-kissing flights; just very smooth ups & downs - great for the novice pilot wishing to get more experience thermals!

The clinic consisted of a free buffet breakfast at 8:30 every morning, then 2 hours of instruction & discussion, then loading the wings in 2 vehicles (to be driven to the top) and pilots in others. We were then dropped at the LZ and hiked up a nice low-angle switchback trail to the top of the 620¼ mesa. [Those who wished could ride up, but there weren¼t too many takers.] We were usually at the top by 11:00 - 11:30 a.m. and out of the LZ by 5:00 since sunset is early this time of the year. There were 2 - 3 shuttles from the LZ to the top during the day in case people sank out early. In one case, 4 of us were flying the South ridge (away from the group) when a major cloud shadow shut down all thermal activity like a light switch. We all sank out, landed safely in scrub and hiked about 1/4 mile back to the LZ for the shuttle back up.

The resort had villas and cabanas for rent, but they were pricey. Many of the 46 pilots & 15 support staff who attended the clinic camped in the campground for free. The primitive campground was hard dirt and was under construction, but it was only a 30-second walk to hot showers, restrooms, restaurant, bar, and the beach. A couple people camped right on the deserted beach without consequence.

One of the biggest factors in making the entire time a blast was the camaraderie and friendliness of all of the participants. Many of us went down by ourselves (some came from as far as Florida & Boston) but came away with new friends and acquaintances. Since the resort is out in the middle of nowhere (a good thing!), we had no choice but to `hang¼ with each other & bond!

The locals were extremely warm and friendly and several showed up at the LZ and 2 launches. It was obvious that they were fascinated by our craft and sport; one Senor asked me: „What kind of gas do you inflate the wing with?¾

Concerned about expenses?...This was the cheapest trip I¼ve ever taken! I got a $68 round trip fare on Reno Air to San Diego, then paid $25 for the clinic¼s shuttle each way between the resort and airport. [Others from the Bay Area got $29 fares to San Diego.] Once there, everything was cheap! Example1: Dinner of 3 chicken enchiladas, rice, beans & 2 beers: $8 including tip! Example2: 1-liter bottled water & 2 packs of cookies (for lunch on the ridge): 40 cents!

This was the first such clinic at that site; the owner of Air California Adventures, David Jebb, is planning others. Contact David at 619-670-5322 or http://www.imconn.com/paragliding/

I highly recommend this clinic for those who are timid in thermals and want to get more experience without scaring themselves.

RandyA474@aol.com

Dues Are Due

Kim Galvin

Just a reminder that dues for the BAPA fiscal year (October 1-September 30) are now due. You can renew your membership in BAPA by mailing a check to: P.O.Box 1809, Pacifica, CA 94044-9998 or by bringing a check to the December 4 meeting. Dues are $25 a year.

I want to take a moment to give a special „thank you¾ to Al Baldini, Brad Smith and Anne Huffington for their VERY generous donations to the club.

In addition, Ann Sasaki, Richard Hular, Ron Sargent, Ueli Mona, Chuck Boiler, Chuck Clem and Paul Obester gave donations above and beyond.

On behalf of all the members of BAPA, we thank you. May the wind gods smile upon you!

I Can't Fly Diablo Anymore?

Mahboud Zibetian

It dismayed me to learn that I was no longer welcome to fly at Mt. Diablo. It seems that many of us Para-3s, who regularly fly at Diablo, have now been deemed as not being experienced enough to fly at this site. In the October 31 RidgeDancer, I had read that at a Wings of Rogallo meeting, Dave Bingham announced that he was going to be „recommending¾ the new rating requirement, but I had no idea that BAPA was seriously considering it. In the same issue, there is no mention of this in the minutes of the October 2nd BAPA meeting.

Then I find, only 15 days after reading the first mention of this, that the rating requirement has been changed, the rangers are notified, and I along with others are shut out of the decision, and consequently, flying at Mt. Diablo. I guess I will now have to get a refund on the parking passes I recently bought for Diablo.

I, too, believe that Mt. Diablo is not your typical flying site. It has its own quirks and ideosynchrasies, and I would definitely advocate restricting the site to more experienced pilots. Yet, the way BAPA went about this is incredibly lame. Since when are BAPA club announcements regarding our sites made at other clubs¼ meetings? And how about letting BAPA members have some input on such decisions? Is the BAPA board trying to emulate the USHGA¼s example of forcing decisions down our throats? And what about letting people know a couple of weeks, or a month, ahead of time that changes have been made?

And what about grandfather clauses? 78 of my 253 total flights and 43 of my 103 hours of total airtime have been flown at Mt. Diablo. During the spring and summer I drive up to Diablo at least twice a week to get a chance to fly this marvelous mountain. I have more experience on Mt. Diablo than at any other single site.

You might say that I am making too big a deal about this; that I should just go get my Para4 and be done with it. I don¼t think so. I don¼t want to rush through my training. Besides, I think this change was a bad decision and I shouldn¼t just get my Para4 and shrug it off.

This rating change was done in the guise of safety, yet it is only a means of preserving a flying site. In fact, I maintain that this will have the opposite effect on safety. Unconditional barring of pilots from sites is not the way to make paragliding safer - unless you also think the way to deal with theft is to lock up the entire society. Sure, you have less accidents, but you also have less people flying. Look at some of the accidents, even the ones at Diablo and you will see that they are not limited to para3s. In fact one injury was a para3 who was new to the site, while another accident involved a para4 who was very familiar with the site. I will concede, with this new system, you are not going to have any Para3s getting injured at Mt. Diablo anymore. Congratulations!

Before I got my Class 2 rating (almost the equivalant of the Para3, plus some thermal skills), I was flying at the Dumps, Ed Levin, and anywhere else I could fly without getting arrested. The Dumps and Ed Levin, not being too convenient for me, were a treat when I managed to arrange it to get far enough from work. However, I was flying anywhere where I saw a ridge, a cliff, a hawk, etc., and virtually always I did this alone. There was noone to point out my mistakes, or to discuss the conditions with. I had friends who flew Mt. Diablo, and sometimes I would go up there and watch them fly and listen to them talk, but it was hard to just hang out up there watching everyone else, knowing full well, that if I were off someplace flying, I would be working towards my Class 2 which would then get me flying at Diablo. So, I continued my dangerous, lone paragliding, until which time that I obtained my Class 2.

Armed with my Class2, I was now suddenly, magically had all the knowledge and experience I needed to go fly Diablo, I thought. After all, I had the piece

of paper that said I was good enough to fly sites like Diablo. What I did not know is that few sites around can offer the diverse flying conditions that Diablo offers. All my ridge soaring and thermaling was no match for the conditions that Diablo was going to throw at me.

I was introduced to Diablo by David Clark. Having spent as much time as he has on Diablo, I would say that David could be considered a native of Mt. Diablo. He took me under his wing and taught me many things about this mountain. I have flown 75% of my flights at Diablo under his supervision. We flew when conditions were weak, great and sometimes a bit too strong. He has reprimanded me when I thought the conditions were OK to fly when they were too strong, and he has also encouraged me to fly when I was unsure of the conditions. I would watch him fly, and ask questions and he was always there to answer me or explain things. I learned more with his mentoring than I had with my previous instructors or other pilots. Why? Because this was not a relationship based on, „Ok, teach me till I get my rating, thanks!¾.

Were I not able to fly Diablo, this relationship would never have developed. And with the current rating requirement, future up and coming pilots will not have the opportunity that I had. The better pilots will have their own exclusive sites to fly. And everyone else flies the bunny slopes until, magically, they become naive new Mt. Diablo pilots, get their sponsored flight - and watch out! Or you could try to convince pilots to spend their time at novice sites.

I implore the powers to be to rethink this rushed decision. There are ways to preserve sites and save lives at the same time, without such access limits to sites. We all need more participants in this sport so we don¼t come across as this fringe group with no rights, and we want the newcomers to have access to our current sites in addition to new sites.

I suggest that rating requirements be coupled with a mentor/trainee program. Not just at Diablo, but everywhere. Open sites to pilots with lower ratings with the provision that they fly the site with a mentor with the appropriate rating. Limit the conditions that they can fly in, but give them the chance to experience, with the mentor¼s supervision. This mentor must be actively supervising the trainee, i.e. in radio and visual contact, not just a ceremonial signoff or sponsorship. Let this relationship continue (and strengthen) to the point the trainee has received his or her higher rating and beyond. What better experience for flying at Diablo, than actually having flown at Diablo?

A rating system is not going to make people make better judgements, education will. I quote Kitty Goursolle, „...a higher rating doesn¼t make someone immune to bad judgement or accidents. Fly safe...¾

And please, next time you are considering limiting my flying, give me some advance notice. It¼s not nice having my local flying site regulated out from under me.

-mahboud

You Missed It, So Did We

Ann Sasaki

Well, you missed the great flying at Elk Mountain. Actually, so did we, even though we were THERE! Yes, it was blown out all weekend, much to our chagrin. I guess one really shouldn¼t write about a fly-in where no one physically left the ground. But I just wanted to mention that a nice group of regulars showed up, to honor Stan Dempsey¼s birthday and Al¼s beans. Various plant matter was consumed, people thought they saw things that others didn¼t and the most awesome Evil Log ever was hauled and put on the fire that lasted all night. Although the temperatures were probably in the low 40s at night, the hearty outdoorsmen (yes, it was all men) seemed to feel no pain. (Ron and I stayed in warm luxury at the Super 8 motel in Upper Lake along with a large number of dirt bikers.)

Despite repeated trips to the top, each group that reached launch after surviving the roots, the ruts, and the wretched Heartbreak Hill found that it was simply too windy.

Anyway, the view from the top of Elk is spectacular although this year the landscape is somewhat marred by signs of the big forest fire that closed the Mendocino National Forest during the summer. Still Clear Lake shines off in the distance and the hills and valleys spread out below you in a panoramic view.

Experienced pilots, many of them Para 4s, were reduced to throwing rocks at pinecones trying to demonstrate their superior hand-to-eye coordination. A wood gathering party ensued withmuch grumbling and people nearly injuring others as they got out of the car or threw gliders at each other. Many pilots never realized that the road going down is scarier than going up because they never drove down before! At least Chris Keenan and Chris Northcutt were able to debate whether the United States participates in deposing world leaders regularly without being distracted by flying concerns.

So the fire was built up with Billy B. adding more and more wood to it until you had to sit at considerable distance in order to survive. Paul, the pyromaniac, melted bottles in the fire as well as torched his dinner. Brad entertained on the awesome digeree (excuse the spelling) with some accompaniment from Chris Northcutt. Al mixed up some more famous beans while Chris Keenan prepared the „snakes¾ and Penguin, Jeff Spangler, Warren and Steve shot the breeze around the fire. Doctor Bob and Juan took off for the culinary delights of Upper Lake. Ann and Ron ate cold teriyaki steak and were the usual serious partyers that they always are. (We managed to stay up past 9:00 p.m.!) The birthday boy toured around on Bill¼s little mini-motorcycle and contemplated setting off his cannon for some excitement.

Later, the high point of the evening as we understood it was when Liz Hern arrived and raised the decibel level several notches. At this point, pilots with hundreds of hours of airtime were challenging their skills by climbing on hay bales in the LZ.

Anyway, as I said, you missed it. So be sure to come next time when there may be no opportunity for fun because we¼ll all be busy flying!

BAPA NETWORKING SUCCESS

It was brought to my attention that BAPA member Ken Davis put member Al Baldini in touch with someone looking to buy a home. Al successfully brokered a home for the person, then gifted part of his commission to theBAPA General Fund. And you thought Christmas only came once a year! Thanks,Al!!

Recommended Reading.

The Simple Science of Flight by Henk Tennekes

Well, the winds are out of the northeast, my wing inspected and packed with care for a long winters rest. What to do ?? Perhaps a little light reading might be in order.

A recent visit to Keplars and I stumbled into a really neat book that I highly recommend. The Simple Science of Flight by Henk Tennekes is all of 137 pages, appendices and indexes included! This is highly readable for anyone. The author takes a fairly complex topic and presents it in consumable bits. All topics start out with an example of flight dynamics presented through something we all relate to. Aerodynamic forces of a flapping wing are first described as an ice skaters blade for example. Once the basic concept is described, Henk exploits the understanding by taking the reader into the physical relationships, design considerations, and tradeoffs that occur in natural and man-made flight. Once these mathematical relationships are explained (usually in 3-4 pages), Henk brings it all back together with interesting comparisons of various flying (and in many instances, non-flying) mechanisms. A chart that displays the relationship of aspect ratio to finesse (the relation between lift and drag) includes everything from house sparrow, to albatross, to hang glider, to parawing, to Boeing 747 !

Having listened to the „lore¾ that runs around the internet and your favorite LZ, I highly recommend this book as a place you can get some straight facts about the „simple¾ science of flight. It certainly helped me to separate the facts from the fiction.

sf-ba-pg@aggroup.com

Greetings, and apologies for the intrusion. I have set up a mailing-list to serve the purposes of our local flying community. If you are not too psyched about joining this list, do nothing. Otherwise, see the bottom of this page for details on how to join the list. If you know of others who would like to join, please forward this message to them.

The purpose of this list is to allow discussions of a local nature concerningour sport of Paragliding. This list is not intended to replace other lists such as hang-gliding or nwpglide, but to give us a smaller forum for topics not of general interest to those pilots living outside the SF Bay Area. In other words:

Examples of what this mailing list is NOT for:

* discussion of the USHGA Waiver

* jokes and Internet scams and hoaxes (The Good Times Virus is a hoax)

* international and National Politics

* how to make money fast or slow, unless it involves Paragliding

* arguing the pros and cons of PGs vs. HGs

(Many of the above are more suitable for a larger audience, such as the hang-gliding list or nwpglide provide - in fact, cross posting to this list and other is a big no-no. Presumably, anyone on this list already gets one or more of the „global¾ lists.)

Examples of what this mailing list IS for:

* how to save Pacifica¼s Dumps from becoming a golf course

* „Hey I¼m going to {Elk,Diablo,Potato Hill...} this weekend, anyone wannago?¾

* „I want to fly the Stables today, but need a sponsor...¾

* accounts of problems at local sites with pilots, sightseers, rangers,raccoons...

* new sites within the Bay Area

* „I am at the Dumps with my PDA and cellular modem and the conditions are awesome! Join me! (Ed Stein just flew all the way to San Deigo)¾

* Bay Area pilots¼ flying stories and experiences

If you don¼t know where the San Francisco Bay Area is, then this list is not for you (We are located on the West coast of USA, around the city of San Francisco, in the Northern part of the state of California, on the third planet...).

I will make every effort to keep this list up and running reliably. However, as we are a Network Management company, and we periodically radically alter our network for test purposes, I make no gaurantees, and will not be liable for any problems. If you¼d like, you can sign a waiver and send it back to me ;-)

Hope this list is useful to all of you,

mahboud@aggroup.com

ps. This list is dedicated to the memory of Michael Van Keulen.

ããããã-Directions to use the listããããããããã

To subscribe or unsubscribe to the SF-BA-PARAGLIDING list, you must send an e-mail command to the address . Leave the subject line blank or put a nonsense word in it ã anything in the subject will be ignored.

Here are the commands to subscribe to this mailing list:

SUBSCRIBE sf-ba-paragliding

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UNSUBSCRIBE sf-ba-paragliding

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MEETING MINUTES-November 6, 1996

The meeting was brought to order by the new president Anne Huffington at 7:05 PM

Notable Flights

- Kim and Mike Galvin flew down Mexico way at La Salina.

- Dave Bingham reported a problem he had 4 consecutive times at the maneuversclinic with B-Line stalls. It seems as if his wing was determined to get him, going intonegative mode each time he exited the B-Line in spite of Dave*s various

corrective actions. It turns out that after he ballasted up 20 lbs the problem went away, which may indicate that flying close to the bottom of the weight range in the Pro-Feel may not be the best idea.

- Jody Lucas reported 20-30 gliders in the air enjoying a rare soarable day at Ed Levinon Sunday, November 3rd. 1-2 hour flights were had by some.

Old Business

** Motion to accept last month's minutes seconded by The People

- Dave Bingham reported that Cheetah Ridge is for sale for the bargain price of $250,000. Here is your chance to own a flying site if you have some extra cash lying around.

Officers Reports

Vice President*s Report

- Vice President Brad Smith is researching the San Francisco Garter snake, which is an endangered species that may be living at the Dump. If this is true, the pending construction of golf links at the Dump could affect the continued existence of this snake. Brad has contacted the Dept. of Fish and Game and will be contacting a biologist to get more information on the snake*s habitat. This may help us in the effort to preserve the Dump as open space.

Treasurer's Report

- Treasurer Kim Galvin reported that the club has $2096 in the checking account,which is being moved to B of A for cost reasons. She reminded members to please pay dues, which are overdue at this point.

Site Director*s Report

- Site Director Dave Bingham reported that Dave Sondergeld is going to pursue obtaining flying privileges at the Fort Funston hang gliding site. The proposal is for limited PG access. Some members felt that this was not the best idea in the world, since we are now getting along quite well with the hang gliders and both sides are staying pretty much on their respected sides of the fence. Other members feel that most other flying sites support both types of craft without antagonism and animosity.

The main topic for this evening was the changing of Diablo from a P3 to P4 site.Because of the three paragliding accidents where the pilots were helicoptered out since the site opened, relations with the Park officials have suffered. This could lead to the loss of the site. In order to head this off, BAPA have decided to change the site to P4 only, which would equal the HG rating required for the site ã a move favored by WOR and the BAPA site administrators. There was some discussion about the lack of mountain flying sites for P3*s in the Bay Area, but most members favored the change because Diablo is such a difficult spot to fly safely. This change goes into effect immediately.

Dave finished up by reminding people to be aware of the differing flight envelopes between HG and PG. Do not 'Park' in one spot and block the HG's from launching,and always be sure to clear your turns with a clearly indicated head turn and eyecontact. Also, do not land in the path of the hangglider landing pattern because hanggliders need much more room to land than paragliders.

Safety Director*s Report

- Safety Director Ann Sasaki warned us about oil on the beach from the recent oilspill. Do not land on the beach if you value your wing. One pilot had this unpleasant experience at the Dump last week.

Ann would like members to write letters about their history of flying at the Dump to be used in the fight against the proposed Golf Course if Daly City decides to proceed with construction. The Coastal Commission has advised us that we need to be prepared with documentation of our use of the site if the golf course idea becomes an actual project. Please read Ann's article in the last newsletter describing the nature of the letters we will write to the City of Daly City.

** Motion to end the meeting was seconded at 7:57 PM.