[Bob Kuczewski]

May 23rd will mark 40 years since the original Otto Lilienthal birthday celebration that effectively launched the sport of hang gliding.

To celebrate that event and hopefully establish a permanent remembrance for it, a small team has been working behind the scenes since October 2010 on the project. On May 23rd, 2011, that team will have the following marker ready to present to the Newport Beach community on the 40th anniversary of that event:

marker_text_small.jpg (86.13 KiB) Viewed 11140 times

This project has been mostly "under wraps" since October, but it has just gone public. One of the first articles published on this project just appeared on the XC magazine's web site at:

http://www.xcmag.com/2011/05/hang-gliding-turns-40/

For more information on the history of the project, please visit the "Otto Site Marker" forum at:

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=18

Thanks to all members of the Torrey Hawks, US Hawks, and other volunteers who helped make this happen!!

[Bob Kuczewski]

Here are a few forums where I've been posting about this event:

http://www.crestlinesoaring.org/forum/20110513/4832
http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2532
http://flyfunston.org/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1143

Please add other links as you make your own posts to spread the word.

Thanks to a great team!!

[Bob Kuczewski]

Please note that there's an excellent history of the attendees and their stories being created at:

http://energykitesystems.net/OttoMeet1971/attendees.html

If you attended the original Otto Lilienthal meet in 1971, you are strongly encouraged to visit that site and contribute your own story. If you know of anyone else who attended, please encourage them to visit that site and tell their story as well.

Thanks.

[Bob Kuczewski]

On May 13th, I sent a message to USHPA about the celebration. I just got a message back today that they've posted it to their calendar. Here's the link:

http://ushpa.aero/calendar.asp

And here's the post to the calendar:

40th Birthday Party for Hang Gliding
5/23/2011 through 5/23/2011

Location: Newport Beach, CA
The sport of hang gliding will become 40 years old on May 23rd. That date will mark 40 years since the original "Otto Lilienthal Birthday Celebration" in Newport Beach back in 1971. To celebrate the 40th anniversary, there will be a marker donated to the Newport Beach community around noon on May 23rd. Many of the remaining original participants will be there to tour the site - many for the first time in 40 years. I expect the telling of many stories as those founders of our sport walk the grounds where hang gliding burst onto the national scene.
Unfortunately, May 23rd falls on a Monday, but if anyone is interested in attending, please follow the discussions at the US Hawks forum link listed below.

More Info: http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=18

[Bob Kuczewski]

After some good recommendations from the engraver, here's a model of the final marker:

marker_text_final_small.jpg (101.25 KiB) Viewed 11074 times

I liked their suggestion of a larger font for the date and the sport, so I ran it past the committee. So far there have been no objections, so I've given approval to go with their recommendation.

[Bob Kuczewski]

There's an excellent account of the history of the committee's work at:

http://www.energykitesystems.net/OttoMeet1971/actionlog.html

I'd like to offer my special thanks to Joe and Neil for caring about the history of our sport.

Now that I think about it, I'm surprised that USHPA doesn't have a "Historical Committee" to work on retaining and promoting the history of hang gliding. Maybe that's another area where the US Hawks could lead the way.

P.S. Frank just sent a link to a story about the event at The Daily Pilot:

http://www.dailypilot.com/news/tn-dpt-0524-hanggliding-20110523,0,37880.story

Good Press!!

[Bob Kuczewski]

Here's a photo of Margie and Joe with the marker at the reunion site on May 23rd, 2011:



Margie did much of the work getting the granite donated and prepared for the project. She also worked with the engravers to get the committee's words committed to stone.