January 2000
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January 2000
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First Flight of the Millenniumby Rob Jacobs In May of 99 - I wanted to order a custom Wills glider all lettered up in good old USA red white and blue colors - during the process I found that given the schedule from WILLS - my glider would end up being one of the last custom Falcons produced in the 1900’s - so I decided to name my boat around toy the "Millennium Falcon". I had no idea at the time that this glider would become the first in the US to become airborne in the new millennium - even if I tried! Knowing hang glider pilots as I do - or at least most of the ones I've bumped into in the short time I've been flying, I felt fairly confident that many of my air loving friends would be less than enthusiastic about getting up at the crack of dawn , setting up a glider in the freezing cold, and running off a hill at first light - especially after a night of likely rabelrousing on New Years Eve. Funny - seems my premonition was correct...it was a lonely scene at 5:30 am at Morningside Flight Park. We managed a last minute reservation at Mt Ascutney Resort in Vermont - a short 10 mile drive from Morningside, only a couple weeks before the Y2K celebrations..rooms were scarce but we found one - lucky! I and my trusty sidekick Mark Vaughn with a league of camera's in tow awoke at about 5:am January 1 and made the trek to Morningside in my new-yet battle worn Jeepmobile - stopping at Dunkins in route for that ever important "jump start". Upon arrival - it was basically still nighttime - and not a soul to be found - Jeff Nicholay - owner of Morningside was kind enough to leave the hanger available and open for the coming out of the Millennium Falcon for it's historic flight... Mark Vaughn was busy setting up his camera gear while I played assistant to the master...then we pulled out the cart - drove the glider to the top of Morningside - and awaited the first sunrise of the new century. Enough light streamed through the overcast morning for Mark to get pictures - so I saddled up, got on launch...and went for it - using my Jeep headlights in the LZ in case it was still a bit too dark. And there it was - the first official flight of the new millennium - flown in a glider justly named - filmed by one of the best, and shortly followed up by the country's first soaring flight by Mr. Scott Leonard!.... where was I when it was soarable ?...probably back in bed! Officers
From the PresidentBy John Arrison Thank you, I think, for electing me for your president last fall. I want to again thank Colin for the fine job that he has done as president. Some of the work is enjoyable some is not. Colin saw the club thru some tough spots and I feel he handled our affairs very responsibly. The 2000 flying season will be here before you know it. Especially if you’re going south this winter or spring. Do not put off repacking you parachute and having your glider inspected. Brush up on those take offs and landings and keep fit so you don’t have a heart attack the first trip into Ascutney. What I heard from the members is that they would like to see the meetings more of a social event with a speaker, clinics, and the like and less of things like an hour discussion on how the road at Rutland should be fixed. It is my intention, as allowed in the bylaws, to have more of the club business conducted by the Board of Directors. If you have any issues please bring them to one of the BODs attention. Anyone wishing an issue or topic discussed at a general membership meeting will of course be given the opportunity. As with most organizations a small group, the BOD, can get more done in 15 minutes than the membership can do the whole meeting. Make sure to check out the new web site at www.vhga.org. Many thanks to Tom Lanning and Rob Jacobs and probably others I don’t know about. This site is evolving nicely. To help get information to members faster and to cut printing and mailing expenses the news letter will be available on line. Please include your email address on your renewal. Members without email will still be mailed a copy via snail mail. Don’t forget most any library has public access to the internet. So check it out. We have had two fairly disappointing cross-country seasons with not very many long flights. I am going out on a limb and predicting a really good year in 2000! Randy Adams New England record of 126 miles has stood since 1991. It is time for somebody to break his record. It is great to see some of the newer pilots venturing out on longer X-C flights. Lets hone up on our thermaling and set some new records this year! From the Vice PresidentBy Dennis Cavagnaro VHGA and HG2K All right, enough with the letter talk! But I have talked with quite a few pilots who are singing the same tune. Let's get it on for the upcoming Hang Gliding season! The Club is moving into a new mode of operation. We want to improve club communication 3 ways: * We are looking to enhance our communication efforts with a greater breadth of the membership. * We hope to have faster response to requests and concerns. We plan to have multiple communication channels, adding to Phone and US mail of the past with email and web based information links. The net communication channels come with many advantages. It's a fast way to spread the word at very low cost to the club. The Web page allows us to post information and provides access to newsletters, applications and waivers that before just wasn't economically viable. On the other hand it can also lend itself to misunderstandings and errors that can happen with the "informal" printed word environment that the Internet has evolved to. If you have a need to broadcast a message on a potential club activity, let me know and I will do so. I see assisting members to organize trips and events as appropriate ways to help the membership. I will guard against spamming the list with subjects that benefit only a few. I hope to see you all at the Club's Meeting and XC dinner on February 26th at Angelos Restaurant in Manchester NH Starting at 6PM. I encourage you all to come, it's a nice activity for people and their mates to meet and talk as well as an important meeting to vote and announce significant club business. Take care and safe (warm?) flying Letter from the EditorBy Gary Trudeau I am encouraging any member of the VHGA to submit articles to the VHGA Newsletter. Any article submitted will be considered for possible publication. The editor reserves the right to publish and edit any articles submitted. The editor will accept classified ads pertaining to hang gliding and paragliding. Classified ads must be resubmitted if you wish them to be published in the next VHGA newsletter. Articles, classified and upcoming events may be submitted to the VHGA Newsletter at Gary B Trudeau Note from the SecretaryBy Gary Trudeau The executive board recently had a meeting on 1/12/00. This is a summary of the minutes of the meeting.
Regionals none planned at the present time.
were not discussed Treasurer ReportBy Jim MacNutt Treasurer’s Recap of Calendar Year 1999 We collected enough in dues to come out about $2000 ahead. This will be after we pay Jake Schwaiger his $1000 for 1999 West Rutland assistance as approved at the last meeting. This will be done poste haste. Deposits - dues $4640 Checks Written
The account balances for the VHGA as of December 31,1999 are as follows
New Web Site for VHGABy Tom Lanning The club has a new web site at http://www.vhga.org. Rob Jacobs purchased the domain name, "vhga.org", and is providing the hosting computer and network connection. Tom Lanning is working with Rob and Dennis Cavagnaro to create and keep the web site current. The first order of business was to publish static information like our bylaws, Vermont State park rules, membership applications, and contact information. The site is also ready for timely information like minutes from out meetings, newsletters and a calendar of events. The crew is currently working on a comprehensive site guide, a photo album, and an online reference library. Tom has tried to design a site that will work with most computers and web browsers, but nothing is perfect. The crew is seeking feedback on the current site, photos for the photo album, ideas for new features, and comments on the current design. Send comments and photos to Tom at tom.lanning@mail.com Region 8 MeetingBy Gary B. Trudeau This Information comes from our web site (vhga.org) Doug Sharpe, our USHGA region 8 director invites you to the annual USHGA Region 8 Meeting, (year 2000). It will be held again at the VFW Hall in Littleton Mass. on Sat. March 4th from 9:30 AM till 4:00 PM. The main agenda will be: Report on the USHGA National Front: Current USHGA Goals & Objectives Reports from the Regional 8 Clubs: Connecticut Club, Vermont Club, Western Mass Club, New England Paragliding & Hang Gliding Club (merger of NEPC & Sky Riders), Maine Club, and Other Groups, Discussion about New England Site issues needing attention, Discussion about club issues, Any other important regional issues. Doug will be sending a card out to the whole Region soon via regular mail through USHGA. In the mean time, please pass the word about this meeting Directions:
VFW Hall Please let Doug know of any topics or issues you would like to be sure to cover at the meeting. I look forward to seeing as many of you there as is possible. Annual XC DinnerBy Gary B. Trudeau I would like to invite you and a guest to the annual XC dinner and also to the first VHGA meeting of the year. The dinner will be held on February 26 starting with a short informational meetings at 6PM, followed by social get together and then dinner will be served at about 7.30PM. Fun was had by all last year. Come and see friends that you haven’t seen since last year. Come and see who was the big winner in the XC contest last season. Thanks to Keith Murray we are having the dinner at the same place as last year. Angelos Restaurant in Manchester NH. The dinner will be an Italian Smorgasbord and I hope it is as good as last year. Keith was able to keep the price to a low $13.00 per person. This includes tax and tip. This year space will be limited. We were not able to have the big hall as last year but they will give us the smaller hall for the evening. We are asking anyone who would like to attend to reserve your spot by contacting Dennis Cavagnaro or John Arrison. You don’t have to pay till you arrive but anyone who makes reservations will be responsible for the fee. You can contact Dennis or John by Dennis Cavagnaro John Arrison (603) 529-2010 (802) 674-2549 dcavagnaro@earthlink.net wattsup@mail.turbont.net Directions to Angelos Restaurant 1037 Hanover St. From the North: Rt. 93 south to the Hookset tollbooth, Take Rt. 93 south/101 west. Exit 6 (Hanover St. /Candia Rd) Turn right off exit onto Hanover St. Go 0.2 miles on left is Angelos Restaurant. From the South: Rt. 93 north to exit 6 (Candia RD/ Hanover St). Off exit go straight to next light. Turn Left on to Hanover St. Go 0.2 miles on left is Angelos Restaurant. From Portsmouth: Rt. 93 north to exit 8 (Bridge St.) Then Rt. 93 south/ 101 west to Boston. Exit 6 (Hanover St /Candia Rd.) Turn right off the exit to Hanover St. Go 0.2 miles on left is Angelos Restaurant Mid Winter GetawayBy Tom Lanning What do our feathered flying friends do when it gets cold and snowy around here? They head south, of course. Aric Paulson, Rob Jacobs, Mark Vaughn and I barely escaped the bitter mid-January storm by sneaking out early one Wednesday morning to Orlando Florida. We discovered that Steve Ardnt, George Ferris, and Allen Ahl were also playing hooky in Florida. We quickly dusted off our aero-towing skills and grabbed some late afternoon soaring that afternoon. Thursday was a good day to soar and experiment with different rental gliders and marvel at Steve's flying ability in his Carbon Dragon. Aric and Rob provided a nice aero-show at sunset to cap the day. Friday was "blown out" big time, so we sought out aerobatics at Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park. Of course, we rode every roller coaster multiple times looking for that quick thrill. At the end of the day, Mark and I wanted more, so we decided to try indoor skydiving. Students "skydive" in a circular room while 5 large engines pull air by you at 120 mph. At first it appeared that Saturday would be a good flying day, but as the day unfolded, it appeared to be too windy to aero-tow. The cloud streets and reasonable XC direction were too much to handle. We knew if there was a mountain around, we would have been flying. Instead, we took a quick drive up to Quest Air to see what was happening there. We met Ron, another snowbird from New England. While we were talking, a pilot in a Saturn tow up over the airport ... and I do mean OVER the airport. The wind was so strong that most of the tow happened right over the runway! A couple of other brave and experienced aero-tow pilots, including a pilot on a Ghostbuster, were yanked up and quickly headed downwind. After seeing a little carnage when a powered hang glider crashed shortly after launch, we decided it wasn't going to be a flying day. Sunday, the day we had to leave, was just spectacular. Rob got towed up early in the morning at the same time his uncle from Daytona took a tandem flight. We all grabbed a quick flight before breakfast to soak up the mellow air. By 11:30 the skies were full of clouds, the tugs were yanking pilots up right and left, and we were all promising to land by 3pm so we might make our airline fights back north. It was a perfect cloudbase day. I released at 1500 feet, quickly climbed to 5500 and never got below 4000 until 2 hours later when I cored sink to land. Figures, the perfect day to race downwind, and we have an airplane to catch. We quickly packed up, raced to the airport, and made our flights with minutes to spare. Needless to say, I think our feathered friends got it figured out. Head south in the winter! Classified SectionWW HPAT Glider 158 $1200.00 or best offer Magic 4 Glider155 $500.00 or best offer WW Supersport 163 in very good condition $1800.00 |
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