US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

Hang gliding history:

There is a regular local history podcast titled "Newport Beach in the Rearview Mirror". It is the product of William Lobdell a Newport Beach resident and writer / reporter. The latest podcast, #21, takes us back to that original Lilienthal meet, May 23, 1971 which "kicked off" the worldwide modern sport of hang gliding. It's interesting and entertaining, even if you don't have much interest in HG history. And for those that do have that interest, I think they will greatly enjoy the presentation he gives. It ends with an interview of yours truly.

He did his research to add a lot of information in addition to what I said in the interview.

It's available on Apple and Spotify but here is also a link to the free podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1429225/10838766

Enjoy,
Frank Colver

Frank, found this great German made video, En Otto Lilienthal, "First in Flight", you may have seen it. In retrospect,
I would not compare David Cronk with Otto Lilienthal, but he did design and test his first glider at the Torrance Beach and Dockweiler sand hills, and flew it many times to the delight of all.
To say that Hang Gliding was, "taking off" was an understatement,
but So Cal was the "Perfect Storm" for cranking turns on the streets, in the ocean and the air, and not to say we didn't also "light up" some tires, all to the chagrin of our parents.
(because of real estate A Holes, "turning left there was banned")

He then flew a modified version at Torrey Pines Glider Port. Notice the "tip spoilers".

He came to Telluride for our first fly-in, (1974) and promptly won the contest off the "800 Hill" in a Quicksilver C model, he said, "it was magic".

The next year (1975) he took his glider to Austria and became world champion.


There should be a plaque at TB commemorating him and his wonderful glider, although, "The History of Hang Gliding" shows it all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7leqLcgIMCM


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side notes;
David and I went to middle school right across from TB, and he bought my Chevelle when I left for the Marine Corps and Vietnam in '65, it was one fast street racer.

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We were bums



.

Great, Craig.

What did you think of the podcast?

Frank

Loved the podcast Frank. Did a couple of screen shots of the Otto meet, and like you said, it was a time for the history books. You also noted that most of the gliders, except for that one of Miller's, had no way of pulling the nose down to penetrate. The picture of the bamboo glider at TB also had no way to pull in, so the flights were high angle of attack, but the pictures of Dick's and Dave's gliders which they built very quickly after they watched my friends,
Nick Heflinger and his brother Dan's (RIP), launch their bamboo drop cloth glider.
The engineer mind of Dave quickly saw how to put the geometry and rigging
of CG, Yaw and Pitch and L/ D, into balance for long gliding flights.
You also talked about the guys camping out before the meet with no problem, and being a surfer who camped all along the Calif. coast many times during the 60's, it was never a problem until real estate "popped" up at our favorite surfing sites, starting in the early 70's, it happened in Hawaii too.
Dick's engineer mind seemed to be more into powered flight as he actually strapped a make-shift chain saw engine and propeller to his back and launched himself down the sand hill, very "un-quietly", but that was the start of a totally different kind foot launched flying which "took off" on it's own path.
In June of 71', me and my dog Munch, took off, and happened to find the San Juan Mountains, and got with some crazy skiers who had some early "luff diver" hang gliders, and were actually launching from the high mountain tops, that's me on top.

but they were true gliders and knew not to turn these things to sharply.
I did this picture of a 1972, flight of four, flying down the rainbow off 13,500 Ajax Mountain.

Like David, their engineer minds evolved their gliders so they could do 360's and soar a bit, and so much new stuff was coming out of California. Between 1972 and 1979 I saw the most incredible Hang Gliders in the skies over Telluride, from luff divers to looping Predators, in just 7 years, what an unmatched time that was. You saw the same thing on the costal rising air.







The advent of the "topless" gliders well,.. you might as well buy a Cessna.

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a note;
The premier launch site on Gold Hill (1972 to 2021) has been completely closed down to any foot launched flying, due to the high cost of insurance, and even U$HPA couldn't save it. True Hang Gliding has not been seen in the skies over Telluride for many many years, what a shame.



.

It was a very nice podcast. Good job Frank!         

The podcast mentioned the following nine points about the 1971 Otto Lilienthal Meet:

1. The Otto meet was officially called: "Great Universal Hang Gliding Championships".
2. The Otto Meet was a "miracle" that happened only with great assistance by Joe Faust.
3. The Otto Meet was only able to happen in the far less litigious environment of that time.
4. All gliders were hand made and most were extremely primitive.
5. The gliders were low-flying objects (less than 30 feet), if they flew at all.
6. Many gliders were very fragile, and many were not even airworthy.
7. The Otto Meet "flummoxed" law enforcement officials.
8. The Otto Meet was covered by the Los Angeles Times and National Geographic.
9. The role of Newport Beach in hang gliding history was very brief.

The podcast was a nice review of the events also documented in Big Blue Sky:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hRSUjJFmCc

Thank you, Frank, for giving the interview!


And:
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=125332
and Google sky view of marker in the park: