2018 Mansfield Encampment

In the past I would often try to put together daily reports on our flying in the Columbia Basin, honestly... I'm getting lazy...  Seems I would rather sit out on the lawn chairs with a beer watching amazing sunsets than hash out stories of the last bit of airtime. 

Truth is we fly allot less then in the past. I'm not getting any younger and this place is so industrial its hard (and sometimes not that much fun) to huck yourself at the sky on a daily basis. 

The expression, "Quality over Quantity" seems to have become the goal. We no longer have a big group of pilots, we seldom put more than two gliders into the air at once. Most days its only one glider. Of course this allows for some quality ground support and of course, Class A pampering on the "rig". 

 

This year's 2018 season had been pretty typical. In the early part of July, the PG pilots had a big contest at Chelan Butte. I'm always blown away with how well the Paraglider pilots do in the big air of the Basin.  Nicole McLearn has an excellent blog on much of the activities, well worth the read:

http://www.nicolemclearn.com/2018/07/chelan-nationals-july-14.html?m=1

This years Paragliding Contest saw some interesting lines up the Methow Valley and a pretty cool run up to Orville at the Canadian border.  Once cancelled task saw a small group head off to the Idaho border (200+ kms from the Buttte)

Primarily, we are after the big triangles. The "Big One" is the 300+. Mike Bomstad has the official best from our crew, I've come close but not yet claimed the prize (298 and a 317 non-FAI flat triangle). Mia's goal remains the 200... Or just having fun! Regardless, we no longer bother flying if the wind or forecasts won't allow us to make it home.  Much of this years trip saw triangles confined to the area around Mansfield as forecasts and winds made anything big to the SE unlikely so we stuck close to home, or as we call it, "on top". 

There is one exception to the triangle attempts.. The run to Wilbur WA for a the Classic drive in experience at "Billy Burgers"! We make the goal, Wilbur airport, say hi to some friends at a crop duster facility and head into town for the Billy Burger combo.... of course, anybody sinking out in the area is always a good excuse to at the very least take on a shake for the rest of the retrieval. 

I will followup this post with a couple posts about some special flights from last week but will say that like in many of the past years, smoke has put a damper on this years encampment.  Not too many local fires (been a pretty good year considering how dry it is now), but fires up north in Canada have been drifting their smoke in the light NW winds.  The biggest issue with smoke is it causes the day to start later and end earlier then the soaring models predict.   To break the 300 out here you need a good 7-8 hour day.... especially when you fly as slow as I do!

Cheers

Martin

A.I.R. ATOS “Q” Series Set Up Error….

The “Q” series by A.I.R. represents all of the model ATOS’s that use the “Quick Setup System”.  Typically the set up process includes connecting one wing “half” to the other and connecting a sweep cord that stabilizes the two halves during the setup process.  Recently, posted on the Yahoo Rigid wing forum there was an incident where a set up error was made and miraculously did not have a fatal outcome. For clarity, I thought I would post an example of the mistake and point out a minor change that would greatly reduce the likelihood of this sort of mistake being made.

Here is an example of the correct configuration of the control rigging during the setup process:



Here is an example of the error made during setup:


Ok, for sure this is bad news for the control system. And yes, a proper preflight and control system check would have turned up the fact that something obvious was wrong. Still, the pilot got into the air with the glider rigged incorrectly (and was very fortunate to have maintained enough control to get the glider back onto the ground…. )

Apart from the improperly rigged glider and the poor pre-flight, how did this happen?  I assume one of two possibilities could have resulted in the control system being rigged wrong:

-The Sweep cord fell back into the wing/sail prior to its connection to the keel. The pilot then reached into the sail to the anchor point of the sweep cord and located the cord but was “in front” of the control cable and pulled the cord out of the wing but on the wrong (front) side of the control cable.

-The second possibility was the control cable was accidently pulled through the sail opening during the setup (control bar end of the cable). The cable, now loose inside the sail was incorrectly re routed back through the sail but overtop of the Sweep cord.. (Of course, it could have been a combination of both mistakes?).

For sure, a proper PRE-FLIGHT-INSPECTION would have discovered the problem. Still, even if the the problem was discovered the mistake could have resulted in damage being caused to the sail or cable during the rest of the assembly process.

To avoid/reduce the potential of making this mistake I suggest all Q series owners make the effort to use a small velcro or Neoprene protector on the control bar end of the control cable. Not only will this protect the sail and flaps from damage caused by the hardware on the cable end it will help prevent the control cable from accidently being pulled through the sail opening during the setup.



For those inquiring minds that want to know if this is something that I did…?…. Nope, not me but I do thank the pilot that posted the incident on the Yahoo Rigid Wing forum.  A pilot who I’m sure will be more then happy to do a proper pre-flight the next time out!
Cheers

Barry Bateman, HPAC Member #1

In the month of November 2017, the Canadian hang gliding community lost one of our “old timers”. A true driving force of the early days of the HPAC and flying in Canada, Member #1, Barry Bateman.

After what Barry himself defined as a “full life and can’t complain”, he accepted his fate and lost a short battle with an aggressive cancer. Barry caught his ride to what-ever might be awaiting him on the “other side”.

Thinking back about Barry’s contributions to Hang Gliding in Canada I should start by clearing up the story behind Barry’s HPAC #1 membership. No, Barry was not the first member of the HPAC. The truth is, Barry had learned to fly in that far off fog bound little country of proper queues and a stiff upper lip; England.

During the mid 80’s, the HPAC was going through a bit of renewal with many of us, including Barry were participating in the various HPAC/ACVL director positions. Barry insisted, core to a national organization should be a “News Letter” (a method to communicate and bring this vast country together). We also needed reliable membership services that included ratings and a membership cards (Barry brought over from England the values of “Clubs”… very British….). Barry insisted that rather than relying on volunteers, the time had come for the HPAC to have a paid administrator. A few of us argued, but like all things involving discussions with Barry it was futile, so it was agreed, Barry (who was looking for a little part time work…that would, of course allow him lots of flying time!) would take on the first paid position of HPAC Administrator.

The first order of business was to update and create a new database (something super high tech… I think it was a high jacked copy of Lotus 123?). According to Barry, there was no logical way to translate the old numbers into the new database. Trust me… the explanation seemed reasonable as Barry did seem to spend days hunkered down in front of his IBM 386XT working on the data base … or maybe he was just playing pong?

Like all great nations and organizations, rebirth would include “corruption, collusion and opportunity”. Barry made his first entry into the database: Barry Bateman, membership #1 !
I protested… so I received #2 (personally I believed my protest was valid, after all I was the President/Emperor of the HPAC/ACVL at the time….). In the end I gave up and let Barry have his #1. I figured if those pesky members got restless the first lynching would involve #1.

Barry also took on the role of National News Letter Editor. He was a true ink stained wretch of the Fifth Estate. He took the task “full-on”. He hounded every director and member for material and he published on schedule, no exceptions. In the late 80’s, he taught himself to use the cutting-edge software of the day, Aldus PageMaker. I remember on several occasions the newsletter was coming up short on content and I made the big mistake of suggesting, “why not delay the publishing date”? Yikes!... with clenched teeth he responded with “I will publish blank pages before I push off a print schedule”! That was Barry.

I remember one year, Barry booked a vacation to one of his most favorite places on the planet, Australia (I thought I should mention his love of Australia because if there was one place on the planet he could drone on and on about, it was the wonderful land of OZ!). The thing is, the HPAC did not offer any sort of Union labor standards for time off and he still needed somebody to put out the newsletter. Skillfully, he sucked me into learning how to use his Pagemaker template. Somehow, we (the HPAC) survived (I think I can still taste the glue of hundreds of licked stamps and envelopes!).

I must say, with this being my first and albeit short tenure as HPAC editor, Barry did teach me a very important fact regarding the publishing of a periodical. The actual content of an article is unimportant! As long as the number of words filled the allotted space and did not interfere with a nice picture you were as good as gold (More than few times I heard Barry use his favorite phrase “no problem” ! ) Based on what I see in the various periodicals that I read today, “word count” over “content” is king.

Of course, when Barry returned from Oz he offered up his traditional “Bateman appreciation” … he complained I was 2 weeks late getting out the first of my editions… ungrateful little….
For well over a decade, starting in the mid 80’s Barry doggedly pumped out 4 national newsletters and made sure “paid” members got their membership cards.

Along with his major contribution to the early operation of the HPAC Barry was one of our leaders in the flying community on the West Coast of Canada. He contributed as an instructor and dealer of UK gliders like the Magic and Magic Kiss. He was also a competitor and organizer of many of the hang gliding comps that occurred during the 80’s and 90’s. One of the more notable contests, the Cache Creek Team Meet. The contest would often be the seasons wind up bash. It promoted team flying… or at least creative team names!

Well visiting Barry in hospital, we reminisced the “old days” and both agreed that the 90’s (and slipping into the 2000’s ) for Hang Gliding, was the “Golden Age” for the sport.
The contests, the politics, the organizing and the flying, Barry through his heart into to all of it. As a pilot he was always the “little guy” on a “big glider” that would tenaciously out sink, out scratch anybody who tried to climb to the top of the pack. Like I said, everything was done with passion… and a little English “Bull Dog” pride.

I will always remember Barry’s “No problem” attitude toward flying and its community. He worked with great passion to bring this great big country of Canada under the umbrella of one national organization. He could drive people a little nut’s in the process, but after all, deep down…. He was English!

In later years Barry drifted away from hang gliding and onto the new passion of sailing. He married, bought a boat and sailed the “the big blue”. His adventures had him sailing the many distant ports of the Pacific.

Barry would often chastised me for not getting out of my flying rut…. “there is more to flying than just hanging around here, you should get out there and see the world”!

My reply would always be the same, “the dirt in Mansfield Washington is no different than the dirt of the Ozzy outback… and ….of course, without all the infamous Ozzy snakes and spiders” …. he would laugh.

Which brings me to this…..

In sports, a team will often show respect for key players that help define or contribute to the history of the team by retiring a players Jersey and number. I think it would be a fare tribute for the HPAC and its members to at least symbolically recognizing Barry’s #1 “virtual” Jersey up into the rafters. A bunch of us old timers from back in the day would be more than happy to hoist a glass and say “Cheers”.

Martin Henry
HPAC Member #2 😉