Earlier Days
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Photos get older as you go down the page
June, 1994, Carson City, Nevada.
Three out of five Sonoma Wingers at the Wild Wild West Regionals of 1994
capture three out of five silver buckles. From left to right: Wayne Oster
(15th), Ralph Hyde (5th), Todd Robinson (1st), Larry Smith (2nd), Jon James
(7th).
photo © Joan Eisiminger
1990 - Roy Wormington sets a site record.
Roy Wormington, after his flight from Elk Mountain to Santa Rosa on a
Wednesday evening in 1990, just a short walk from where he landed. He
called up Ralph, who drove him all the way back to the top of Elk Mountain
to get his truck.
photo © Ralph Hyde
June, 1989, Carson City, Nevada
Brian Scharp sets up a landing at goal in the 1989 Wild Wild West Regionals
at Carson City.
photo © Ralph Hyde
June, 1989, Carson City, Nevada.
Bill Vogel visits with Stretch and Anne in "the Melon" at Washoe
Campground, during a blown-out day at the Wild Wild West Regionals of 1989.
photo © Ralph Hyde
March, 1989, Elk Mt.
Anne Strachan sets up for a landing at Elk Mountain.
photo © Ralph Hyde
1988, Elk Mt.
Albert Branson sets up a landing on his Comet at Elk Mountain.
photo © Ralph Hyde
1988, Elk Mt.
Wayne Oster launches his Moyes GTR at Elk Mountain.
photo © Ralph Hyde
1988, Elk Mt.
Howard Osterlund, Ralph Hyde, and Rich Sauer after landing across from
Rich's house on a flight from Elk Mountain.
photo © Joan Eisiminger
August, 1987, Rincon Ridge, near Santa Rosa.
Jon James soars over Santa Rosa, 8-8-87
Spring Lake is on the Left, Taylor Mountain at the center, and Santa Rosa to the right. This site was never really open.
photo © Jon James
August, 1987, Rincon Ridge, near Santa Rosa.
Tom Denny launches at Rincon Ridge 8-8-87. Bones and Sharol look on, Jon James at right
photo © Jon James
Summer, 1985, Elk Mt.
Jon James comes in for a landing on Rich Sauer's Magic 4. Notice the "French connection" he is hanging from. This one, called a "Speed Rail", was made by Wayne Ashby, a pilot from the Bay Area.
photo © Ralph Hyde
January, 1984, Hull Mt. / Lake Pillsbury.
Bones and Sharol Strickland, then owners of Bright Star Hang Gliders, hosted an aerotow clinic at Hull Mountain, put on by French champion pilot and owner of La Mouette, Girard Thevenot and Jean-Michel Bernasconi, a principal of Pacific Airwave. This is Girard, manning the Cosmos Trike tug. It was a damp weekend at Hull.
photo © Ralph Hyde
January, 1984, Hull Mt. / Lake Pillsbury.
Another photo from the aerotow clinic. An unidentified pilot (a Sonoma Winger) gets towed aloft from the runway. Most of us got three good tows during the clinic.
photo © Ralph Hyde
Bob Stanley under canopy.
Don't know where. Don't know when. But it IS Bob Stanley, and his glider IS broken. Bob was trying to do a loop in his Magic, but ran out of gas at the top. Luckily, his parachute deployment was more successful than his loop!
photo © Bob Stanley
Summer, 1983, Hull Mt. / Lake Pillsbury.
Joe Baltz, in his early Sensor, passes below Ralph Hyde over the dam at Lake Pillsbury.
photo © Ralph Hyde
March 1983, Usal Creek, Calif.
Bones Strickland waiting his turn to launch his UP Gemini, with a trusty Litek vario on his downtube. Bones and Sharol Strickland started Bright Star Hang Gliders, where he designed and built gliders for several years before selling the business to Brian Robins and Eric Beckman, two of the current principals in the shop responsible for the Swift and Millenium of rigid wing fame.
March 1983, Usal Creek, Calif.
Usal Creek is about 40 miles north of Ft. Bragg on the Mendocino County coast., flyable in a west/southwest postfrontal wind. Mel Smallback is taking wing in his Fledge, an early rigid wing that enjoyed some success, both as a hang glider and as an ultralight (the Pterodactyl)
Oct. 1982, Elk Mt.
Hank Roberts, Jon James, and Mike Kunitani in the breakdown area. Mike's wearing the latest in harnesses, a Flight Designs knee-hanger.
Oct. 1982, Elk Mt.
Ernie coming in to land. The LZ (creek bed and dirtbike circles) and the campground (in the trees by the road) are visible in the background. Ernie is flying a UP Comet, with a knee-hanger harness and a litek vario.
1980, Elk Mt.
Jon James heads for the moon on his new Raven 229 in the 1980 Regionals at
Elk Mountain.
photo © Ralph Hyde
1980
Sharol Strickland on her UP Condor.
photo © Ralph Hyde
Nov. 1980 - Thanksgiving Fly-in, Big Sur.
Ernie stretching for the spot at Sand Dollar LZ and failing. He's flying his Highster, an early double-surface design.
This fly-in made the national news that Sunday night.
1980 - Dillon Beach.
Jon James soars his Highster.
photo © Ralph Hyde
1980 - Dillon Beach.
Bones Strickland soars his Scirocco (sp?). The Scirocco (along with the Highster) was one of the early double surfaced gliders which preceeded the Comet.
photo © Ralph Hyde
1980 - Dillon Beach.
Sharol Strickland launches her Wills Wing Alpha.
Notice all the wires. Leading edge de-flexor wires were commonly used to keep the leading edges from bending too much in flight. Since then, manufacturers have eliminated the wires, using stronger, stiffer tubing instead.
photo © Ralph Hyde
1980 - Dillon Beach.
Mary Harrop (the taller one) with her brand new Cirrus 5D (125 square feet) and her certified instructor, Sharol Strickland.
photo © Ralph Hyde
Spring, 1980, Ed Levin, near Milpitas, S.F. Bay.
A glider show at Ed Levin. Can you identify the early topless glider in the foreground?
photo © Ralph Hyde
July 1979, Pitney Ridge.
Hank Roberts after take-off. The town of Upper Lake and Clear Lake are visible in the distance. Hank will turn right and head down to the creek (to the right in this photo) to land.
July 1979, Pitney Ridge.
Here's a "Boom Stratus", a bow-sprit design. This ship was great for aerobatics, so I'm told. I know Dan Racanelli flew one with great skill.
July 1979, Pitney Ridge.
In line for takoff are a Wills Wing Raven, a Delta Wings Lazor and a Stratus.
July 1979, Pitney Ridge, near Elk Mt.
A Marin County Hang Gliding Assn. flying trip. Several pilots got their first taste of altitude on this trip. Some faces that I can remember are:
Rear: ?, ?, Roland Rice, ?, Kurt Bainum, Hank Roberts.
Front: Bill Abright(?), Charlie Carlson and Dick Swensen.
Summer, 1979, Hull Mtn.
Roy Wormington launches his Fledgling from the Ramp launch.
photo © Ralph Hyde
July 7, 1979, Hull Mtn.
Ralph Hyde launches from the Ramp at Hull Mountain in his Electra Flyer Cirrus 5B (175 sqare feet). This was his first flight from the ramp and his third from Hull Mountain.
photo © Mary Harrop.
May, 1978 - Vallejo, another site lost.
Dean Aldinger, of Dingerwings, is on the radio to student pilot Cheri Camacho. The Vallejo site, near the intersection of hwys 80 and 37 (the hill above the rest stop) was a great site for beginning and advancing pilots both. The entire area is now covered in houses.
May, 1978 - Chico, the hang gliding parrot.
Chico was quite the star. He flew in the nationals at Heavoner, and was profiled on "Those Amazing Animals", and the girls always crowded around. Of course since Chico bummed his rides on Steve Perry's glider, Steve usually received a bit of reflected glory too.
May, 1978 - Sacramento club fly-in, near Valley Springs.
Ernie's Dinger Wing Whizzer (the lower glider) took him to second place in this competition. The Sacramento folks did it up right, with a radio announcer, a guy in a beaver suit as a mascot, and a prize of a waterbed for first place (won by Jet Kirby). Unfortunately second place got nothing.
Summer, 1977 - Taking off from the ramp at Hull Mt.
Ernie's flying a Dinger Wing Whizzer with a home-made flask
vario mounted on the down tube. His knee-hanger harness is
home-made too - the first seen in the area (bikini harnesses were
in vogue before). Sanhedrin Mt. in the background
is nice and green - 9 yrs. before the fire.
May, 1977 - Advertising Hang Gliding to the public.
The Sonoma County club puts on a glider display at Coddingtown
mall. Complete with the latest gliders, a flight simulator, and pilots eager
to talk about their sport.
July 1976, Dillon Beach
A view of the parking area and the Pacific Ocean. By '76, glider design had gotten good enough that making it to the parking lot was becoming possible.
This site has been closed since the mid-'80s. Bummer.
January 1976, Pleasanton.
As early as '76 designers were trying to get more out of the basic Rogallo design. Ernie is flying a Dinger Wing 105 - a next-generation standard with a shorter keel and a wider nose angle. It gave him enough of an advantage to out-sink the standard below him.
January 1976, Pleasanton.
Don Riley is flying a Dinger Wing Sting Ray, a copy of the UP Dragonfly (the state of the art at that time). The Pleasanton ridge was a good winter site, but it's been closed since 1978 or so.
