All things hang gliding. This is the main forum. New users, introduce yourself.

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By Shammy
#396873
Hello there everyone! It's my first post as I just registered. I've been wanting to check out the hang gliding world for decades, but never seemed to get around to it until now. My name is David and I live in Northeast PA. I gave myself the nickname "Shammy" that was the name of my little cockatiel who passed away in December at 17 years old.

Just to let everybody know, I'm not the brightest crayon in the box. I've been known to need to have some things explained to me a few times. So if you ever feel frustrated that I'm not "getting it," you're not alone. LOL I just am slow with respect to some things (not everything).

Anyway, I'm happy to be here. I hope this is an active group. :)

David
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By jimmygoat
#396874
Hi David, I like you didn't get around to hang gliding until later in life. If you do get in the air you probably will be addicted, I know I am. Welcome.
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By Windlord
#396875
:welcome: David
Great that you'll able to join us. :thumbsup:
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By flybop
#396882
Welcome David. You have a great group of pilots and sites in Pa. Look up the Hyner Group. Hyner is a site near Renovo, Pa.

Pa is also full of great flying sites. I am not sure about instruction near Scranton, but the Hyner guys can help with that. http://www.hynerclub.com/

There is instruction across the river in Ny, but my advice is to learn with the group you will be flying with if possible. One caveat to learning though. You will learn more quickly, more affordably and with less stress if you can devote blocks of time to it.

A good first step would be to contact the Hyner crew and find out where they will be flying next.Offer to be a driver, bring a few beers and soak up as much as you can. (info about hang gliding I mean.) Any group of pilots will welcome a new pilot who is enthusiastic, patient and willing to hang out and drive.

Good luck and keep us posted.
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By jlatorre
#396907
flybop wrote:Offer to be a driver, bring a few beers and soak up as much as you can. (info about hang gliding I mean.) Any group of pilots will welcome a new pilot who is enthusiastic, patient and willing to hang out and drive.
True dat. For mountain flying, being a driver is an almost essential ritual of entry into the sport. You'll make friends, know where the flying is, and be really, really useful. And the most important thing is keeping your eyes and ears open, because you'll learn a lot from watching experienced pilots take off and land. I didn't fly Sandia Crest for almost a year after moving to New Mexico, but when I finally did, I knew what to expect because I had the advantage of watching world-class pilots like Keith Nichols, JC Brown, and Jim Lee flying there and bending their ear about flying conditions.
By highhuber
#396910
Hey David, glad for some new blood in the sport. To get an idea of what it's all about here is a link to my youtube channel for you to peruse. Lots more videos available here on the org also. Welcome aboard.

https://www.youtube.com/user/highhuber
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By DAVE 858
#396912
Scott, you have not posted any videos lately despite accomplishing amazing feats. Your Youtube audience is very disappointed! :(
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By waltspoint
#396915
Welcome, come join the fun! You don't need to be smart to fly, just careful and thoughtful.

Your little bird lived to 17? That's great! My Cockatiel Spike flew off to Heaven when he was about four. He was a good friend. He insisted on being on my shoulder whenever I was in the house. Sometimes he'd notice my ear, and take it to battle thinking it was a dangerous monster. At dinner, he'd run down my arm and grab a piece of pasta off my plate. Tons of personality for his size. He'd do his best to talk to me, and whistle at my wife. Sometimes I think of getting a bigger bird like a Cockatoo, but it's such a commitment.
By highhuber
#396932
[quote="DAVE 858"]Scott, you have not posted any videos lately despite accomplishing amazing feats. Your Youtube audience is very disappointed! :([/quote

Yea Dave I know, my GoPro mount fell from my trike last winter. No safety line and the tripod mount broke in flight from cracks in the plastic tabs. The base was still there when I landed.

I used my Sony RX100 for pics and videos throughout the summer but when I went to transfer the data from my SD cards into my computer the card reader wouldn't recognize them. I took them to a friends house and he transferred the data onto my external hard drive] using a laptop which didn't have the muscle to handle the AVCHD files the sony records in so all I got was the pics.

That's why I haven't posted any videos for awhile. I just bought an external card reader yesterday which I hope will solve the problem. Now I need to get another GoPro, which I will do shortly. Don't want to miss the flight when the Walts Point site record goes down, as it very possibly will this coming year if the stars align in my favor which I feel they are doing. No promises though as with much in life, you don't always get what you want. But you usually get what you need.

hh
By Shammy
#396942
Hello again everyone,

Did you have a good weekend?

Thank you for the information about the Hyner Club. I'm contacting them now. I'm hoping that they'll have information about piloting lessons that'll be closer to me, as their site is located a good two hours away from me at the present.

Does anyone here also go paragliding? How about other forms of gliding? :) I've seen a number of videos about single-occupant gliders such as the SG-38. That's actually what got me inquiring now about hang gliding. All of these things look really cool! When I first saw the video, I thought, that's pretty awesome, but where would you keep it because it's so big? It didn't occur to me that it might be disassembled and reassembled. :) Same for hang gliders, then! So thinking about all that, and having so much time on my hands (I broke my ankle in November and have been laid up ever since) got me thinking about hang gliding, so... this, I think, is the year I'll do something about it.

Oh, one more question... how important is membership in the USHPA?

Thank you

David ^_^
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By DAVE 858
#396943
Depends. How important is it to have insurance? Insurance is like condoms, you don't need it until you need it. USHPA membership is not required or mandated by law to do anything. Many sites around the country request that you be a member of USHPA to use their facilities. That being said, most instructors will not provide instruction unless you buy into the USHPA. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
By blindrodie
#396947
as their site is located a good two hours away from me at the present.
Consider yourself lucky!!!!

8)
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By TomGalvin
#396950
Shammy wrote:I'm hoping that they'll have information about piloting lessons that'll be closer to me, as their site is located a good two hours away from me at the present.
Here is the list of Instructors in your state.

https://www.ushpa.org/legacy/instructor ... p?state=pa

Keep in mind that not all of them are taking new students.

At about an hour and a half of driving, Ellenville, NY will probably be the closest site with active instruction.
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By flybop
#396959
David, as you will see, a 2 hour drive is not that bad. There are many other sites in Pa other than Hyner. Do you like to hike, camp or fish? If so you can combine them into a weekend hg trip.

Your next step should be to go hang out with the guys you will be flying with. Look at the Hyner site and map out their sites. The day before, even the morning of, can be a scramble to ascertain which site is best suited for the day's conditions.
By Shammy
#397011
flybop wrote:David, as you will see, a 2 hour drive is not that bad. There are many other sites in Pa other than Hyner. Do you like to hike, camp or fish? If so you can combine them into a weekend hg trip.
Actually, this may sound a bit ridiculous, but truthfully I'm not a fan of any of those things. I'm definitely not a fan of hiking or camping, but I can certainly see the serenity that comes from spending an early morning out on a lake in a boat, thinking about the beauty of nature and solving all of life's complexities before noon.... and then forgetting them before you get home. ^_^
flybop wrote:Your next step should be to go hang out with the guys you will be flying with. Look at the Hyner site and map out their sites. The day before, even the morning of, can be a scramble to ascertain which site is best suited for the day's conditions.
That's really good advice. Considering that it is common for people to drive very far like that, how often do most people do it?

Thanks again!

David
By Shammy
#397012
TomGalvin wrote:At about an hour and a half of driving, Ellenville, NY will probably be the closest site with active instruction.
What about the guy in Union Dale? His is the first on the list and he's actually only 40 minutes from me. :-) I haven't contacted him yet, but since you said "active instruction," you probably know something I don't about the Union Dale guy. ^_^

Anyway, to make matters more complicated, I may be needing to move soon, as the owner of my apartment has been having some mortgage problems. I'm trying to consider the proximity to the only remaining family I have left as well as what will be down the road as my new hobby of hang gliding.

Thank you so much once again!

David
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By flybop
#397027
David, there is a fairly active group of pilots in Pa. I spent some time there in the fall and managed to fly 5 sites. I am originally from Pa.

As far as how often goes, that depends first on the weather. Once you get to know the group you will be in the loop so you will get info on who is going where and when. Basically there will be pilots flying every weekend and often during the week.

So, with spring fast approaching this is a great time to get started. One thing that has not been mentioned here yet is: If you are not in very good shape start getting there. The training hill will be physical. Once you are soaring hg is much less physically demanding. Don't worry about gear yet. That will be provided with your training.

Ellenville may be a good bet for training. If you can plan on spending a few days to a week there to get as much training in as short a time as possible.

Good luck.
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By dayhead
#397030
Radio controlled gliders can provide a lot of fun and also allow you to pick up some aeronautical knowledge with little risk to life and limb. It's a dirt cheap hobby nowadays, compared to when I first took it up in '75.

Go to RCGroups.com and scroll down to the sailplane forums for a wealth of good info and advice.

While there is a world of difference between being in the glider and standing still watching it, you can learn very quickly why turning into the wind is advised versus turning downwind, and why airspeed control is so important for efficiency.
Gliding and soaring well requires more aeronautical knowledge than does motorized flight.

That said, now that I'm officially an old fart I do appreciate motor-gliders.

I got my first hang glider in '76, traded all my RC gliders for it. There was no instruction available, so I had to teach myself, and the model glider flying was helpful to me in that endeavor, I believe.
By Shammy
#397039
flybop wrote:So, with spring fast approaching this is a great time to get started. One thing that has not been mentioned here yet is: If you are not in very good shape start getting there. The training hill will be physical. Once you are soaring hg is much less physically demanding. Don't worry about gear yet. That will be provided with your training.
Thank you for alerting me to this. As it happens, I'm currently in pretty rotten shape. Well, unless you count "round," in which case I'm in perfect shape. :lol: but seriously, ever since I broke my ankle back before Thanksgiving, I've been laid up and not only are all my muscles atrophied, but my ankle is now in need of physical therapy. Considering that I broke it in two places, and the way it healed, it's safe to say I won't be taking up running in my future. I'll have to take advantage of all the low-impact workout, while laying off the pizza. I'm 5'11" and currently 239 pounds where I'd been 235 for the past 13 years or so. Except there were plenty of years where I was physically active.

I guess I will have to wear some kind of ankle support while gliding in the future!
By JackieB
#397041
Welcome, Shammy! And what a wonderful tribute to your beloved cockatiel. My name, JackieB, comes from a Cocker Spaniel that I chose to honor similarly. I've been using his name now for over 10 years.

I also came to hang gliding later and just got serious about it at age 52 (4 years ago). I am really low-time, but love flying my Falcon 4 (one of the most docile designs).

I am a sailplane pilot and am just getting started learning how to fly paragliders. I'm at your service if you have any questions from the perspective of a fellow beginner. I fly almost all aerotow now, but initially learned by foot launching at Lookout in Georgia.