US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

I've been flying at Funston for the past few days and it's becoming my favorite site. Great club, great people, and great flying ... what's not to like?

I drove up from San Diego for the Fellow Feathers meeting on the 10th and didn't fly that day. But I had a short flight (maybe 20-30 minutes) on the following day (11th) with an intentional beach landing (low altitude and low airtime at the site). Here are a few photos from the 11th:





I flew again on the 12th and had 2 fantastic flights. The first one was just a little over 2 hours (from about 2:14pm until about 4:17pm). The first flight had the same low ceiling as on the 11th, but I watched enough other pilots land that I felt comfortable landing on top. Here are some photos from my first flight on the 12th:









My second flight on the 12th was from about 6pm until the park closed around 8:30pm. The sky had cleared and I was able to go all the way to Westlake and back!! Unfortunately, my camera ran out of space only 9 minutes into the flight, but here are some photos from that first 9 minutes:







Fort Funston ... what a great site!!!

I had another great visit to Fort Funston this week. I drove up Monday and got a couple short flights on Tuesday (maybe 15 minutes total) before the club meeting. But the big flying day was Wednesday (August 15th, 2012) when I flew for over 5 hours in 3 flights (11:01-12:01, 12:47-2:49, and 4:15-6:19). I'll update this post with pictures ... after I get some sleep!!

OK, here are some of my favorites ...

These are from Tuesday, August 14th, 2012:

First Short Flight:



Second Short Flight:



The rest of these are from Wednesday, August 15th, 2012:

First Flight (11:01 to 12:01), right wing camera mount - no bar mitts



Second Flight (12:47 to 2:49), right wing camera mount - with bar mitts (it was cold!!)



Third Flight (4:15-6:19), left wing camera mount - with bar mitts (although it had warmed up and I didn't use them much)



Fabulous Funston!!

I met another long time pilot while at Fort Funston, and I'd like to welcome John ("jcoyier") to the US Hawks!!   

Here are some pictures of John at Fort Funston:



Here's one of John's great landing sequences:



Very    S M O O T H ! ! !

Funston is a great flying site and a national treasure.

Unfortunately, USHPA currently controls who can fly there.

It's time to fix that.

By the way, here's some recently posted Funston video by Big Bird.



He mentioned that the jerkiness was from the conversion.

You know, when the lift on a ridge is that good, that smooth, and you're are not going cross country, you really don't need anything other than a "standard Rogollo"!

Ah, yes, and seated!

Frank