new faces

A truck full of WW Falcons and Sport 2's




Had the pleasure of heading out to the "Big A" (Alberton) with a truck full of recent and past students for a late evening fly down. Alberton is a launch located 45 miles west of Missoula and overlooks the Alberton Gorge, our local kayakers play zone. It's almost twice as high as the other beginner launches close to town and provides up to a 20 minute fly down. Two of the "boys" had only 3 altitude flights to this point and were both excited and nervous about their first flight from this site. It's a bit of a slot in the trees and a little intimidating in comparison to the open launches they were used to but with good conditions, it's straight forward and offers a chance for the new pilots to overcome their fears and doubts.



Here are some shots that were taken by our driver. The wind was a little strong when we arrived on top but it worked out well because flying down at sunset was both beautiful and memorable.



It's really cool to see new faces in the flying community. The smiles and energy in the LZ while breaking down reminded me of my early days in this sport. Life is good and continues to be so.

Ian's first flight

We have several great flying sites surrounding Missoula but Mt Sentinel is our "local" site. It's distinctively different from the others (and from most other sites around the country) because of the fact that it overlooks town with the designated LZ right in the middle of town. You can arrive on top of Mt Sentinel from most anywhere in Missoula in a matter of 25 minutes. This makes it one of the main reasons why most of the HG and PG pilots live here. There's something great about being able to see the wind sock from your deck.



We have the luxury of breaking down after a good flight in perfectly mowed and manicured grass and can (after loading the gliders up) be home or anywhere else in town in a matter of minutes. The only issue is that the LZ is surrounded by homes, businesses and a tree lined golf course which makes it "sporty" on windy days. It has been decided for years that it is a designated H-4 site because of the restricted nature and high visibility of the LZ. H-3s can fly there accompanied by H-4s or above but we have until recently not allowed H-2s to fly from Sentinel because of the LZ and tenuous nature of the site.



Thankfully, we have recently voted as a club to allow our H-2's to fly on appropriate days accompanied by some of the H-4s or H-5s in town. I think it's great because it increases the newer pilots ability to gain airtime and experience exponentially. One of my students from last year, Ian, got to take his first flight from Mt Sentinel a couple of days ago and I was lucky enough to get to be there with him to watch and fly with him. Ian is a really cool guy and brings a lot of positive energy to the club and to hang gliding in general. Luckily, here in Missoula, most of my students have been college age. Ian is 23 and along with a few others here is the future of our sport. Pretty cool. His smile in the LZ was beaming.

coming soon to a dealer near you

Our second prototype is showing great promise. I'm intent on designing a "first generation" race/xc harness that outperforms the instant you hook in. Soon, Wills WIng will be able to offer a harness that, combined with the T2C, will provide a "top of the stack system" to help you meet all of your hang gliding goals. Stay tuned;-)
Cheers

as clean as it gets

Anyone that has been following my blog is aware of a project that has been occupying my thoughts and dreams over the last 8-12 months. Steven Pearson and I, along with helpful brainstorm sessions between myself, O'Brien and Dustin, have designed an advanced harness for the competition and cross country minded pilot looking for the cleanest, most aerodynamic design to achieve the best polar results and reduction of parasitic drag.

I am what most would refer to as a "Drag Nazi". I love nothing more than cutting all zipper tangs off my new gliders, creating custom carbon components to clean up areas of drag and having all of my flying gear be as efficient and as "sexy" as possible. Rob Kells used to say "non of the little things matter by themselves but when you do it all, by the time you are on final glide at 70+ mph the advantage is, for sure, there".

I believe that the single most important thing to having a "clean" and aerodynamic system, aside from your wing, is your harness and harness position. When we started talking about collaborating on this project, Steve and I decided that we really wanted to achieve 3 things. First we wanted to make an advanced level harness that someone with intermediate skills could land in safely and easily. Second, we wanted it to be safe, comfortable and at the same time, as aerodynamically pleasing as is possible and third, we wanted it to be easily accessible (fast and reliable delivery time for your custom built WW harness).

To start, we built a form study with no place for chutes, no pockets, no frills at all. The purpose was to test shape only. After getting the form study done and making needed adjustments to the patterns, back plate and boot shape, I started on the first "mock up" prototype harness. This version would be used to test the refined shape, to try what I had in mind for a distinctly Wills Wing graphic, to try the functionality of my parachute deployment system and to try out a newly designed slider mechanism which will hopefully make for easier landing.

It wasn't until I got into the "meat" of the project that I realized how many components go into a harness of this type. I've gained respect for the harness designers from around the world because before designing one myself, I had no idea how thoughtful some of the solutions on other harnesses were. I have tried very hard to come up with my own solutions and have gained perspective on how difficult (yet rewarding) it is to attempt to live up to our 3 major goals.

As you can see, this is the first flyable prototype of the Wills Wing "Covert". I want to call it the "Covert" because the feathers on falcons and hawks that help to blend in the legs and wings to the body of the bird are called "covert feathers". If we are trying to blend into our wings in the most aerodynamically advantageous way possible, I figured it was a fitting name for a harness that does just that.

We still have a few things to work out and refine before going to production but I wanted to share with those of you that are interested how our prototype looks and will follow up with a flight report (hopefully) sooner than later. If you are interested in a custom built harness and can wait for the solutions necessary for a production level product, I will be happy to work with you and/or your local Wills Wing dealer to take measurements and ensure a good fit. I'm REALLY motivated because, more than anything else, I can't wait to race in one myself;-)


Coming soon. Please comment on the blog if your interested and I will get back to you with more details. Soon you will be able to purchase the proven T2C and the Wills Wing Covert and have the most efficient flying system offered in hang gliding today!

Last Day

When the forecast for the last day called for a greater chance of overdevelopment and higher winds, I knew that day 6 was going to be important. I blew my final glide and landed a couple of k's short and thought my comp was over. Luckily, when we woke for the last day, the sky looked a bit more promising and by the time the spot landing contest was over, it was blue and looking as though we would indeed get to race one last task. I knew O'Brien wanted a "real" task for the last day and was psyched when he told me that they came up with a 90+ mile dog leg (shaped like a "7") that would hopefully keep us away from overdevelopment.

Jeff O'Brien getting "race ready"


The group gaggled up over the airport with most of the field trying to gain height to work toward the edge of the start circle. I felt most were thinking that we should go earlier than later because of the chance that the sky would blow up and stop the task. The clouds were getting thick and the lift was getting stronger. The first 110 k's of the course were almost directly down wind and with a stiff tail wind, would prove to be fast.

Me and Zippy getting yanked out of the cart- photos by Karen Johnson



My team was a bit quicker to get to the best cloud at the edge of the start cylinder and were much higher than myself along with Derrik Turner and Chris Zimmerman. They called over the radio that they were going when the first clock turned over but we (Derrik, Chris and I) were still 800-1000' below them and were forced to take a few more turns, leaving after them by over a minute.

Luckily for me, by the time we got to the next cloud, Jeff, Zippy, Glen, Davis and others were climbing in 350 fpm on the far side of the cloud, still 1000' higher but I found 800 that turned into 1000+ fpm which allowed me to catch up quickly. We were getting higher than previous days, topping out at over 10,000' MSL.

James Stinnet proving that he can still fly a flex wing very well


Mark Stump- one of the nicest and most helpful guys on the circuit


The group was gliding with airspeeds between 55-60 mph and climbs of 7-900 fpm. It was classic Texas racing. As we approached the Turn point however, the ground was getting darker caused by the shade from quickly growing cu nims. We got social and grouped up with OB coming in higher from the left and Davis, Glen, Terry, Zippy and I finding a climb just before the t-point. It was only 200 fpm (which at this point, we were thankful for) and we gained just enough altitude while drifting away from the turn point to dive in and tag it. Most kept going but I flew through 50 up and Glen, Terry and I stopped, thermalling at 3/4 VG trying to squeeze the max lift out of every turn. I could see Davis and Zippy trying to dig themselves out from low a half glide ahead and watched OB and several others land. The red dust form the gust fronts were approaching and there was lightning on 3 sides of our position. It was quite surreal to be climbing in smooth, light lift with three guys while surrounded by what felt like a group of hungry lions. I left our climb right after Davis decked and flew toward Zippy who was in zero to 50 up. I came in 100' over his head and Glen followed (I think Terry had just landed behind us). We were the last ones in the air at this point and I got the feeling that Glen wasn't going to go unless Zippy did, to hold onto his position in the comp (which was winning;-). In the end, the potential danger proved too great a motivator and we left on glide to the ground. Because of altitude, the placing for the day was where we were in the last thermal. Glen was first, I finished second for the day with Zippy just a couple hundred meters behind me.

Up and coming pilot, Eric Donaldson.


Ben Dunn, smiling as usual


Luckily, it was enough to make up a little for the previous day's final glide mishap and to slip past Larry Bunner (who flew really good this comp) for 5th overall. OB finished 4th, Derrik (who landed just short of the turn point) held onto 3rd. Zippy was 2nd and Glen Volk won the comp showing that his experience and skill is a benchmark for the rest of the US pilots to try to beat. It was a great comp with 7 tasks over 7 days and brilliant task selection by Davis, Jeff and Glen which kept us mostly away from overdevelopment and allowed for long, challenging tasks each day. We raced hard and in the end it was how a good comp should be. The best pilot for that particular race was on top of the podium. Well done, Glen.

Glen Volk, Winner of the Big Spring US Hang Gliding Championship


After landing, ZIppy and I broke down as quickly as possible to beat the gust front that was quickly approaching. I knelt down to unzip my sprog door and put my hand in the grass and onto what felt like a spider web. I felt something move and looked down. Under my palm was a black shiny spider with a red hour glass. Sometimes the most dangerous point of a flight is just after landing;-) I pulled out my camera to take a photo and some more video (I had my camera out for several memorable moments during the flight) only to realize that my SD card was still in my card reader from the night before;-( Bummer!
Who says that all lessons learned during a comp are flying related;-)
Cheers

Bit of a heart breaker

Jeff under the building cu nim at the start


The task committee called for a 160+ kilometer dog leg today, made interesting by the fact that there was significant wind and cloud development at the start of the day. Russell Brown rolled in front of me as I laid in the launch cart dreaming of having a good fly with my friends. It got a bit sporty out of the cart as a thermal ripped off to my right and kicked me way out of wack. I am psyched to have the guys that are towing us up here (Russell Brown, Johnny Thompson and Whiley) because they really know how to use the airplane to straighten us out and keep us in line when turbulence gets the best of us. I saw him turn around in his seat to make sure all was good. I gave him the thumbs up and off we went to a cloud. He dropped me off in lift and up I went right to base. It feels a little like I would imagine a big wave surfer feels when a jet ski pulls him into a big wave. I pulled the release when Russell waved me off and banked it up in 600 fpm. Good times!

I played the start game a bit but in the end, decided to take the first clock with the rest of my team. We were having a little trouble staying out of the cloud we were under as it was towering and approaching cu nim status. I figured overdevelopment was immanent and if we got on course, we would have a good shot at making it furthest toward goal before the day was stopped.

We had a few good glides straight down wind, finding 600 fpm up at each cloud. I saw 71 mph on the ground speed and was stoked that the course seemed to be literally flying by. After one long glide, the cloud cover took over and shade dominated. We all shifted down from high gear to scratching, taking anything over 250 fpm. Our group was strong with Glen, OB, Zippy and Terry Reynnolds. We had managed to get pretty far off course line by staying under clouds and now had to grovel our way back to the turn point.

Jeff and Zippy climbing on course


We did just that. After Glen took another route and Terry went closer to the turn point (he accidentally marked the t-point as a 400 meter cylinder as opposed to the designated 1 k), Jeff, Zippy and I hooked up and made pretty good time toward goal. We were finding 5-600 up and now had a tail wind that seemed to be getting stronger because of a quickly developing cu nim behind us. At 30 k's out we climbed to 9100'. As we were leaving, Jeff wrapped up in something that got him above 10,000'. I thought about staying as I was still in 450 fpm but pushed on with Zipp thinking that we would get the "one more climb that we needed" and that "over 9 grand was high". I flew toward a cloud and was starting to get a bad feeling as my glider began to fall out of the sky. I really hoped that it was just the leading edge of the lift I was to fly into but it wasn't there. The cloud fell apart and I was getting a 4-1 glide. Instincts took over and I was now switching from nervous to desperate. I couldn't believe that after 90 miles of going well, I was now struggling to stay off the ground 4-5 k's out from goal. Zippy was low with me and he said on the radio that he had zero's but that "it wasn't worth coming back for". He was right and I pressed on, hoping for a low save to drift me into goal. He did just that as I landed 2-3 k's short.

After the obligatory tantrum (lots of cussing and pulling my hair out;-), I broke down dissapointed but thrilled to be able to take part in this sport on a day like today. We had unbelievably fast moments, groveling in soft conditions, strategy and risk. I landed short and lost a place in the overall but I learned a lot and felt like we flew well as a team today. We are getting better, more consistent at staying together and becoming more efficient as a group. I said more than once today on the radio "man, I love flying with you guys". Tomorrow is another day.
Cheers

This is a video that I took right after landing short

day 5, Big Spring

Glen Volk gave advice at the pilots meeting before day 5 that as my flight began, rang in my ears. He had found himself very low within the start circle while the rest of us were grouped up. As we all left on course, he had to go all the way back to the airport to find lift, ending up low and alone again. When he did eventually get on course, he smoked it (finding much stronger conditions than the rest of us had) and won the day. During the pilots meeting, he reminded us all to never count yourself out. Just enjoy your flight, do the best you can and it's never over until it's over.

Today, we again launched in soft conditions with a few pilots having to take re-lights (when you sink out in the airport and have to take a second tow to try to stay up). I managed to find light lift low and was able to stay in the air with a few others, feeling lucky. When the conditions got a tad better, the group was climbing together and I went out a bit to search for something better. I didn't find anything and looked back to see the group still climbing well but when I got to them, the "rope had been pulled up" and there was nothing under them but sink. I made a long, lonely glide back to the airport where there were only 2 or three gliders left. I found something on the far side of the airport under a cloud and climbed to 6000'. When the lift died off, I committed to another long glide back to the only cloud (about 7 miles away) where I could see the gaggle at it's base. I was sweating it as I arrived about 1000' over the ground but found 700 fpm right to cloud base. Back in the game;-)
driving around base at the start


A group left for the second start time but Zippy, Jeff and I were keen to drive up wind and wait for a later start because the day was definitely turning on. It was a little bit of a challenge to stay out of the clouds and we all played the start game, tread milling under the clouds. We ended up taking the 4th (last) start with Jeff, Zipp and I on top of the stack. Derrik turner, Chris Zimmerman and several other good pilots were with us as we connected clouds and good climbs toward the t-point.
A few gliders climbing below on course


I was familiar with the course line because we had flown the same task the day before. Zippy and I ended up working together to get through the section between the 2 turn points that had become pretty blue (just like the day before). After getting the last before heading to goal, I looked down to see Derrik Turner really low and scratching. Turns out he had to land and broke his glider (putting a fence post through his sail) and rung his bell pretty good. I'm glad to know now that he is OK and has a spare glider to race on;-)

Zippy and I went on some smooth glides, both spreading out to look for lift to make good time on the last leg into goal. He stopped in 200' fpm and quickly left, thinking there was a better value to find. I searched a little and found 500 and decided to stay in it until I had an 11-1 L/d into goal. I was a little gun shy from my final glide on the day before. When I got the value that I wanted, I stood on it at 65-68 mph all the way in. Unfortunately, I was pretty conservative because I misjudged and ended up at goal with 500'. I guess that's what a lack of confidence will do.

On my way in, I blazed past a glider turning in lift. I knew it was Zippy and wondered what he was doing. I was a little confused as to why he was not racing me in. Turns out that he had not heard that the task was changed (it was announced an hour before we flew) and thought there was another leg. He was topping out before what he thought was the turn point and made it to goal with 8000'! It sucks because he is flying lights out and would have made up some time and points if he knew about the change and had raced in to goal.
Goal feild


As we drove back to down load our instruments, there were a few massive cells developing around the town of BIg Spring. It was both massive and beautiful.