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By USHPA7
#405372
I was boating the Owens River this week and floated over a hang glider submerged in the river. The bent control bar and the undamaged end of the keel were above water, everything else was submerged.

Does anyone know the story behind this?

Frank
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By Mrobin604
#405374
Sadly, yes. I flew from Walt’s on Sunday of Labor Day weekend, and had made it about 3 miles shy of Bishop airport. I was landing on the road next to that river, probably 20-30 feet up, when I got hit by a thermal under one wing that turned me into the drink. Fortunately the area I landed was only waist high and in a still part of the river. I unhooked and after some bushwhacking and dumping my gear onshore, I went back to get the glider, which had drifted a little and flipped over from the current, so the king post had hung up on something on the bottom. Unfortunately as I pulled it to shore, the king post freed and the glider was swept away from me, the crossbar folded up, and it went under.

Fortunately I was unhurt, the only casualties that day were the glider, my vario, and a little of my pride.

If you happen to be boating there again, I would love to get a waypoint of the location. I doubt it drifted far from where I went in, as it sounds like it got hung up on the king post again. You didn’t happen to see the vario on it, did you?

Marshall
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By USHPA7
#405375
Hi Marshall,

As I drifted on down river I was kicking myself for not getting a waypoint even though my GPS was right next to me. I'll try to describe its location as best I can. If you know any kayakers or someone who is close and can paddle the river (unfortunately I'm back home in Newport Beach) it is easy to spot before you get to it since the control bar is sticking up well above the water. I went past so fast that I didn't get a good look as to what was attached. My boating buddy yelled did i want to stop and I replied that it was too late because there was no eddy near the glider location. I would have had to grab the control bar and I didn't think fast enough to do that.

It's in the stretch of river downstream of Polenta Rd (Line Rd in Bishop) and above Warm Springs Rd and much closer to Warm Springs Rd than Polenta Rd. A guess on my part would put it about 3/4 of the way down that stretch of river by river miles, not straight line miles (the river twists and turns constantly). It is up against the left bank and the river has been running very high lately but the sail looked to be only a couple of feet under the surface. If LADWP cuts the release from Pleasant Valley reservoir soon it may be possible for the sail to be at the surface. The day I floated over it, the flow was almost 6oo cfs. Here's a link to the current flow data: http://wsoweb.ladwp.com/Aqueduct/realti ... altime.htm

It's below the Bishop Creek confluence so the flow is a little above what is being released from Pleasant Valley res.

If you can get someone to boat down and get the waypoint you may be able to spot an access road nearby on Google Earth. The fishermen have created a number of those points along the river. Remember it is next to the east shore.

Good luck, I wish I could be there to help with the recovery (and get another beautiful day on the river).

Frank Colver
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By Mrobin604
#405376
Yeah, that's very close to where I went in. I guess it didn't go that far. When my retrieve showed up, we looked for it again and couldn't find it. Ah well, thanks for the info!
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By USHPA7
#405380
The only local I know, who kayaks the river, works for Inyo County as their resource manager. He would have been with me that day but he was busy with work. If he is looking for an excuse to float the river maybe he would go down and get the GPS location. I'll email him and see if he might do that.

Frank
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By USHPA7
#405391
Marshall, I sent you a PM. Have you checked your inbox lately?

Frank