I'll post some highlights, but hope the first timers will post
their impressions as well.
I came in late thursday night and set up camp. As usual, quite a
few folks were already there. Friday had light winds on the north slope,
and I managed to get a few thermalling flights that got me above launch,
but I couldn't stick like a few people did. Still a fun workout.
Later Friday night I met Bill Priday and Danny from Manquin. What
a great couple of guys - on the advice of Tex and Steve Wendt they had
come in early and were staying for an entire week to get the full
experience. They arrived Tuesday afternoon to a welcoming committee of
Rich Donohue, which is quite an experience in itself. But as the days
rolled on more people rolled in, and they had gotten some flights off and
were loving life. Bill is an outstanding classical guitar player, with a
repertoire that ranges from Bach to the Blues, and he became the
background music for many of the campfires. I made a promise to myself to
never leave for bed until Bill called it quits, and found out that several
others had made the same promise to themselves. It turns out Manquin has
a bonfire nearlly every saturday night, and I will start to make my way
down there from time to time, lured by the evocative spanish guitar of Bill
Priday.
But back to Hyner. Wayne Smith was there, who goes back to the
dawn of Hang Gliding and brought his own incredible guitar playing and
a rack of stories from days gone past. Dave Bodner rolled in, and of
course all the Hyner regulars. It was a good night.
More people started showing up saturday (including a PG
contingent from New york and a group of Polish HG pilots, more about them
later), and I was put on flight director/launch nazi duty. Unfortunately it
was one of those LV days where you had to wait for 10 minutes for the flag
above to line up with the streamers below to make sure you didn't launch
into rotor, and keeping the line in order wore me out. Linda Baskerville
got in her first Hyner flight (Whoo Hoo!) and some people climbed out
while most had short thermalling flights before coming back up for more.
Quite a crowd.
The dinner that night was excellent, followed by a raffle.
Shwawn had done an amazing job: not only did he get discount coupons
from many of the dealers that regularly attend Hyner, but he had gone
around Renovo and gotten sizable coupons for many of the local
eateries. He had an assistant, but there's not much to say there.
That night was there was an amazing firework display shot off from
the LZ courtesy of the landowner and supplemented by the fly-in ($1100
worth!) followed by the statue of liberty routine. I think the 'virgins'
did the best job ever on Dave Green's aluminum foil outfit, and he was an
impressive sight slowing rolling in on the back of a pickup followed by a
crowd of chanting followers. It was like some primitive scene from
National Geographic. But when he leaned over to light the fuse the entire
3 coffee cans of bottle rockets dropped into the bonfire in a clump.
There was a moment of awful silence, then sudden mayhem as everyone at
once lit out for the hills in 200 different directions. But the rockets
had landed head first, so didn't shoot out too much. I nearly cried
thinking of what could have been. It would have been spectacular. But we
recruited several new faces (is that the right term?) for the naked fire
jumping, including Dori and Lynn Alexander-Kuhn. Bunkhouse and I did try
to jump all the fires in the LZ, but it's just too stinking big and we
were not in shape to keep up the pace.
Spoons had his "device" out - an old time telephone generater with
spoons connected to the leads. You stand holding hands in a circle, and
as the operator increases the crank speed people hit there threshold and
drop out. People always drop out. But when he hooked up the Polish
contingent nothing he could do would shake a single one of them off.
Gives you an idea of what a crazy bunch of old coots they are. They
really added to the mix around the campfire. Damn but I miss them already.
Sunday was a Jack's day, but many of us chose to stay in camp and
relax. It was a beautiful, cool, breezy day and it felt great to leave
behind the pressures of travel and flight. Mara and I planned the High
Rock menu (more in separate post) and I think everyone will be happy. I
had Steve Krichten and Mara, Hugh and Sally over for a little wine and
cheese in the enchanted forest - as Mara dubbed my campsite in the trees
and ferns lit by tiki torches. Steve, Mara and I wandered around the
campfires, meeting quite a few new faces. As the night wore on the
various groups gradually consolidated around Lynn and Craig's fire. That
night I finally left the campfire at 2 am (breaking my promise not to leave
until Bill stopped playing), but heard later they finally broke up around 4:30
am. It was a wonderful evening.
Monday was travel day, with the possibility of stopping at Jack's.
The Manquin boys had never been there before, and were fired up. When
Bill and I launched there were basically ghost thermals: seemed good until
you turned. But when Danny launched and stayed up Bill and I rushed back
up top. We then spent a great time in the late afternoon air trading
places and pimping off each other. They landed pretty stoked.
Going up to get my car we saw a couple of Mennonite families
looking over the back to pick out there house. On questioning we found
out that even though they lived over the back, they had never seen a hang
glider launch and fly. I can't resist a Mennonite (looking at you with
those big blue bonnets), so said if their driver would pick me up, with
help from Bill and Danny I'd slap together my falcon and launch before the
sun disappeared entirely. It's awfully nice to have your own setup crew.
So I launched but could only make a few passes on account of the cross,
and the van came down to get me. Had a nice conversation with them on the
way up and felt good.
Until they drove away and I discovered I had lost my keys.
Searched around launch and couldn't find them, then took out the
hide-a-key and drove down with a sick feeling. Searched all over the LZ
and just felt worse. So I packed up the glider while trying to evaluate
my options and was just about to drive somewhere to camp until daylight
when I found my keys.
They were in my harness, where I always put them before launch.
Brian Vant-Hull 301-646-1149
Hyner 4th in detail (long)
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
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Hyner 4th in detail (long)
Brian, of course, is being modest.? He was, in fact, the assistant, and he looked enchanting in his (floral?) dress, blonde wig, and beautifully applied make-up.? Actually, he looked disturbingly good.? Unfortunately for him, he used waterproof eye makeup, and he couldn't get it off the rest of the evening.??
The whole evening reminded me of the twisted rituals of an upper-class secret society.? A combination of silly things young men typically did back in the '70s together with some faux-ancient rites.? I wouldn't want to go into too much detail, because the best part of being a Hyner virgin is the anticipation of knowing something's about to happen but not knowing quite what.? That anticipation is heightened when hearing the question, "Are they doing the Statue of Liberty?" followed by the comment, "I better get some eye protection."
The spoons were quite interesting.? I didn't take part.? I kept thinking of all these now-old men (some had brought grandkids) inducing electricity to travel up one arm, through their chest, and out the other arm.? It was a heart-attack waiting to happen.? Of course, the device might have made a good defibrillator.? Put both spoons on the chest, yell "clear!" and turn the crank really fast.
It looked like a year's worth of preparation went into this event, and I'm only sorry I didn't bring my wife.? There were so many family members, and so many other things to do, Jodie probably would've enjoyed it, too.? Everyone was quite generous, thrusting expensive tequila and vodka onto total strangers.
Oh, and Brian wasn't exagerating about the fireworks.? I truly believe it was better than most medium-sized municipalities' displays.
My flights weren't anything great.? In fact, I think I set the record for the shortest flight at 3 minutes.? After hitting some initial lift that got me to 3 ft above launch, I wandered into massive sink until I crossed the river.? Thirteen minutes was my longest flight.? Hyner is a challenging site to fly, and I would guess that breeds some really good pilots.
I came back on Sunday and flew Jack's for the first time.? Despite the guard rail, I think it's one of the best launches around.? I had a great flight that I shortened by flying out to the valley to see what I could find (sink, apparently).? Then, Mark Cavanaugh convinced me I didn't really want to go home to see Jodie after 3 days away, but that I should launch again.? He took me back to the top, helped me set-up and launch, waited around, then he came back down and got me.? So, Mark, I missed the Fox Sunday night lineup because of you, but I can find forgiveness.? Dinner with Matthew, Karen, and Mark at the only open restaurant in town was the perfect capper for my long weekend.
Dave
On Jul 5, 2005, at 3:02 PM, Vant-Hull - Brian wrote:
The whole evening reminded me of the twisted rituals of an upper-class secret society.? A combination of silly things young men typically did back in the '70s together with some faux-ancient rites.? I wouldn't want to go into too much detail, because the best part of being a Hyner virgin is the anticipation of knowing something's about to happen but not knowing quite what.? That anticipation is heightened when hearing the question, "Are they doing the Statue of Liberty?" followed by the comment, "I better get some eye protection."
The spoons were quite interesting.? I didn't take part.? I kept thinking of all these now-old men (some had brought grandkids) inducing electricity to travel up one arm, through their chest, and out the other arm.? It was a heart-attack waiting to happen.? Of course, the device might have made a good defibrillator.? Put both spoons on the chest, yell "clear!" and turn the crank really fast.
It looked like a year's worth of preparation went into this event, and I'm only sorry I didn't bring my wife.? There were so many family members, and so many other things to do, Jodie probably would've enjoyed it, too.? Everyone was quite generous, thrusting expensive tequila and vodka onto total strangers.
Oh, and Brian wasn't exagerating about the fireworks.? I truly believe it was better than most medium-sized municipalities' displays.
My flights weren't anything great.? In fact, I think I set the record for the shortest flight at 3 minutes.? After hitting some initial lift that got me to 3 ft above launch, I wandered into massive sink until I crossed the river.? Thirteen minutes was my longest flight.? Hyner is a challenging site to fly, and I would guess that breeds some really good pilots.
I came back on Sunday and flew Jack's for the first time.? Despite the guard rail, I think it's one of the best launches around.? I had a great flight that I shortened by flying out to the valley to see what I could find (sink, apparently).? Then, Mark Cavanaugh convinced me I didn't really want to go home to see Jodie after 3 days away, but that I should launch again.? He took me back to the top, helped me set-up and launch, waited around, then he came back down and got me.? So, Mark, I missed the Fox Sunday night lineup because of you, but I can find forgiveness.? Dinner with Matthew, Karen, and Mark at the only open restaurant in town was the perfect capper for my long weekend.
Dave
On Jul 5, 2005, at 3:02 PM, Vant-Hull - Brian wrote:
He had an assistant, but there's not much to say there.
Hyner Virgin
Hyner: What a beautiful sight to fly - the curve of the susquehana river laid out below, surrounded by mountains on either side. The party is icing on the cake after flying such a beautiful but challenging site.
Had 2 sleds Sat eve and 1 sled Sun morn before the wind picked up in the wrong direction (begged, borrowed and stole radios so that i could fly as a first timer there). Thank You Biran V-H! He loaned out his radio so I would be legal, and between him, JOhn Simon and Sanders the photographer, I had about 3 different contact systems lined up in various pieces, but managed to tie on a radio so I would be legal. I had 3 observers lined up and that still wasn't enought to guarantee I could fly given that the observers wanted to not only fly but eat that roast pig at 6:00 too! (delish, can't blame them!)
John Middleton was fantastic and saw me off the first go round, with much support by Brian in getting me situated in the (long, slow) que and Dave Bodner, whom I believe called the flag for me along with continual moral support the enitre que line. Danny B. was a superstar and made sure I had several more successful launches there (sent me off for flight numbers 2 & 3 ) so that I was getting comfortable with the site.
My launches were all good and strong, my landings somewhat inconsistent ( a little high, a little low, just right), but all on my feet and under control. Watching Bill Pridday land barefoot and superbly well in a popping field in a higher performing glider than mine makes me realize that I still have a long way to go on my landings.
Didn't mind that i didn't get to stay up and thermal there. It is nice to get a handle on a new site, and I was happy to simply make the LZ (1:1 glide to LZ, but hey, I'm conservative, right, right??)
They Hyner Club are a friendly chatty group. -Linda B.
Had 2 sleds Sat eve and 1 sled Sun morn before the wind picked up in the wrong direction (begged, borrowed and stole radios so that i could fly as a first timer there). Thank You Biran V-H! He loaned out his radio so I would be legal, and between him, JOhn Simon and Sanders the photographer, I had about 3 different contact systems lined up in various pieces, but managed to tie on a radio so I would be legal. I had 3 observers lined up and that still wasn't enought to guarantee I could fly given that the observers wanted to not only fly but eat that roast pig at 6:00 too! (delish, can't blame them!)
John Middleton was fantastic and saw me off the first go round, with much support by Brian in getting me situated in the (long, slow) que and Dave Bodner, whom I believe called the flag for me along with continual moral support the enitre que line. Danny B. was a superstar and made sure I had several more successful launches there (sent me off for flight numbers 2 & 3 ) so that I was getting comfortable with the site.
My launches were all good and strong, my landings somewhat inconsistent ( a little high, a little low, just right), but all on my feet and under control. Watching Bill Pridday land barefoot and superbly well in a popping field in a higher performing glider than mine makes me realize that I still have a long way to go on my landings.
Didn't mind that i didn't get to stay up and thermal there. It is nice to get a handle on a new site, and I was happy to simply make the LZ (1:1 glide to LZ, but hey, I'm conservative, right, right??)
They Hyner Club are a friendly chatty group. -Linda B.
Hyner 4th in detail (long)
Before everyone gets the wrong idea, the whole thing was Shawn's idea,
cooked up that morning. Mara and her friend took it upon themselves to
hit the saturday yard sales and dollar stores, and they truly outdid
themselves. I can't believe they found that friggin' wig with half a
day's notice. Mara applied the makeup while we were hiding out in the
bushes waiting for the raffle to begin. What an ordeal: I shall never
wear mascara again.
Brian Vant-Hull
301-646-1149
On Tue, 5 Jul 2005, David Bodner wrote:
> Brian, of course, is being modest.=A0 He was, in fact, the assistant, and=
he looked enchanting in his (floral?) dress, blonde wig, and beautifully a=
pplied make-up.=A0 Actually, he looked disturbingly good.=A0 Unfortunately =
for him, he used waterproof eye makeup, and he couldn't get it off the rest=
of the evening.=A0=A0
> The whole evening reminded me of the twisted rituals of an upper-class se=
cret society.=A0 A combination of silly things young men typically did back=
in the '70s together with some faux-ancient rites.=A0 I wouldn't want to g=
o into too much detail, because the best part of being a Hyner virgin is th=
e anticipation of knowing something's about to happen but not knowing quite=
what.=A0 That anticipation is heightened when hearing the question, "Are t=
hey doing the Statue of Liberty?" followed by the comment, "I better get so=
me eye protection."
>
cooked up that morning. Mara and her friend took it upon themselves to
hit the saturday yard sales and dollar stores, and they truly outdid
themselves. I can't believe they found that friggin' wig with half a
day's notice. Mara applied the makeup while we were hiding out in the
bushes waiting for the raffle to begin. What an ordeal: I shall never
wear mascara again.
Brian Vant-Hull
301-646-1149
On Tue, 5 Jul 2005, David Bodner wrote:
> Brian, of course, is being modest.=A0 He was, in fact, the assistant, and=
he looked enchanting in his (floral?) dress, blonde wig, and beautifully a=
pplied make-up.=A0 Actually, he looked disturbingly good.=A0 Unfortunately =
for him, he used waterproof eye makeup, and he couldn't get it off the rest=
of the evening.=A0=A0
> The whole evening reminded me of the twisted rituals of an upper-class se=
cret society.=A0 A combination of silly things young men typically did back=
in the '70s together with some faux-ancient rites.=A0 I wouldn't want to g=
o into too much detail, because the best part of being a Hyner virgin is th=
e anticipation of knowing something's about to happen but not knowing quite=
what.=A0 That anticipation is heightened when hearing the question, "Are t=
hey doing the Statue of Liberty?" followed by the comment, "I better get so=
me eye protection."
>
eye make-up
I left out the best part about the eye makeup. The night before I dropped
off a machete with one of these mountain man types who had a plank of wood
out front of his cabin saying "knife sharpening" in crude lettering. He
made knives too: bowie knives, crocodile dundee knives, all bloodthirsty
manly things. He told me to come back saturday night to pick it up.
Well, saturday night was the raffle. After dinner I splashed and scrubbed
for 10 minutes but my eyes still made me look like boy george. Couldn't
convince myself to go pick up the machete. The next morning someone
loaned me some makeup remover and I got most of it out, but the lashes
were still dark. So I went over the mountain man and he invited me in to
look at his knives, and as he rambled on about graduated tempering and
blood channels I stood in the room surrounded by pig stickers trying hard
not to flutter my lashes.
But no-one's gonna make any smart comments about my lashes now : I've got
a nice sharp machete.
Brian Vant-Hull
301-646-1149
>
> On Tue, 5 Jul 2005, David Bodner wrote:
>
>=A0 Unfortunately for him, he used waterproof eye makeup, and he couldn't =
get it off the rest of the evening.=A0=A0
off a machete with one of these mountain man types who had a plank of wood
out front of his cabin saying "knife sharpening" in crude lettering. He
made knives too: bowie knives, crocodile dundee knives, all bloodthirsty
manly things. He told me to come back saturday night to pick it up.
Well, saturday night was the raffle. After dinner I splashed and scrubbed
for 10 minutes but my eyes still made me look like boy george. Couldn't
convince myself to go pick up the machete. The next morning someone
loaned me some makeup remover and I got most of it out, but the lashes
were still dark. So I went over the mountain man and he invited me in to
look at his knives, and as he rambled on about graduated tempering and
blood channels I stood in the room surrounded by pig stickers trying hard
not to flutter my lashes.
But no-one's gonna make any smart comments about my lashes now : I've got
a nice sharp machete.
Brian Vant-Hull
301-646-1149
>
> On Tue, 5 Jul 2005, David Bodner wrote:
>
>=A0 Unfortunately for him, he used waterproof eye makeup, and he couldn't =
get it off the rest of the evening.=A0=A0
Hyner 4th in detail (long)
Nay-nay, picklenose! By popular demand, you must officiate in drag at
the High Rock raffle. We'll have Lauren take you to her tattoo guy to
have permanent eyeliner installed... - Hugh
P.S. I understand they used to have "drag races" with flats and heels
divisions. If this no longer exists at Hyner, perhaps we need to take
up the slack. Any takers?
On 6 Jul 2005, at 10:49, Vant-Hull - Brian wrote:
>
>
> Before everyone gets the wrong idea, the whole thing was Shawn's idea,
> cooked up that morning. Mara and her friend took it upon themselves to
> hit the saturday yard sales and dollar stores, and they truly outdid
> themselves. I can't believe they found that friggin' wig with half a
> day's notice. Mara applied the makeup while we were hiding out in the
> bushes waiting for the raffle to begin. What an ordeal: I shall never
> wear mascara again.
>
> Brian Vant-Hull
> 301-646-1149
>
> On Tue, 5 Jul 2005, David Bodner wrote:
>
>> Brian, of course, is being modest.=A0 He was, in fact, the assistant,
>> and=
> he looked enchanting in his (floral?) dress, blonde wig, and
> beautifully a=
> pplied make-up.=A0 Actually, he looked disturbingly good.=A0
> Unfortunately =
> for him, he used waterproof eye makeup, and he couldn't get it off the
> rest=
> of the evening.=A0=A0
>> The whole evening reminded me of the twisted rituals of an
>> upper-class se=
> cret society.=A0 A combination of silly things young men typically did
> back=
> in the '70s together with some faux-ancient rites.=A0 I wouldn't want
> to g=
> o into too much detail, because the best part of being a Hyner virgin
> is th=
> e anticipation of knowing something's about to happen but not knowing
> quite=
> what.=A0 That anticipation is heightened when hearing the question,
> "Are t=
> hey doing the Statue of Liberty?" followed by the comment, "I better
> get so=
> me eye protection."
>>
>
>
the High Rock raffle. We'll have Lauren take you to her tattoo guy to
have permanent eyeliner installed... - Hugh
P.S. I understand they used to have "drag races" with flats and heels
divisions. If this no longer exists at Hyner, perhaps we need to take
up the slack. Any takers?
On 6 Jul 2005, at 10:49, Vant-Hull - Brian wrote:
>
>
> Before everyone gets the wrong idea, the whole thing was Shawn's idea,
> cooked up that morning. Mara and her friend took it upon themselves to
> hit the saturday yard sales and dollar stores, and they truly outdid
> themselves. I can't believe they found that friggin' wig with half a
> day's notice. Mara applied the makeup while we were hiding out in the
> bushes waiting for the raffle to begin. What an ordeal: I shall never
> wear mascara again.
>
> Brian Vant-Hull
> 301-646-1149
>
> On Tue, 5 Jul 2005, David Bodner wrote:
>
>> Brian, of course, is being modest.=A0 He was, in fact, the assistant,
>> and=
> he looked enchanting in his (floral?) dress, blonde wig, and
> beautifully a=
> pplied make-up.=A0 Actually, he looked disturbingly good.=A0
> Unfortunately =
> for him, he used waterproof eye makeup, and he couldn't get it off the
> rest=
> of the evening.=A0=A0
>> The whole evening reminded me of the twisted rituals of an
>> upper-class se=
> cret society.=A0 A combination of silly things young men typically did
> back=
> in the '70s together with some faux-ancient rites.=A0 I wouldn't want
> to g=
> o into too much detail, because the best part of being a Hyner virgin
> is th=
> e anticipation of knowing something's about to happen but not knowing
> quite=
> what.=A0 That anticipation is heightened when hearing the question,
> "Are t=
> hey doing the Statue of Liberty?" followed by the comment, "I better
> get so=
> me eye protection."
>>
>
>
Hyner 4th in detail (long)
Doing something silly because you came up with it is cool. Doing
something silly by imitation is kinda lame. Maybe once the drag races are
a distant memory we can bring them back for nostalgia, sort of like
Klezmer music.
Brian Vant-Hull
301-646-1149
On Wed, 6 Jul 2005 mcelrah@verizon.net wrote:
>
> Nay-nay, picklenose! By popular demand, you must officiate in drag at
> the High Rock raffle. We'll have Lauren take you to her tattoo guy to
> have permanent eyeliner installed... - Hugh
> P.S. I understand they used to have "drag races" with flats and heels
> divisions. If this no longer exists at Hyner, perhaps we need to take
> up the slack. Any takers?
>
something silly by imitation is kinda lame. Maybe once the drag races are
a distant memory we can bring them back for nostalgia, sort of like
Klezmer music.
Brian Vant-Hull
301-646-1149
On Wed, 6 Jul 2005 mcelrah@verizon.net wrote:
>
> Nay-nay, picklenose! By popular demand, you must officiate in drag at
> the High Rock raffle. We'll have Lauren take you to her tattoo guy to
> have permanent eyeliner installed... - Hugh
> P.S. I understand they used to have "drag races" with flats and heels
> divisions. If this no longer exists at Hyner, perhaps we need to take
> up the slack. Any takers?
>