Local Boy Makes Good
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Local Boy Makes Good
Hang-glider Brian Hardwick of Rockville, Md., prepares to launch off High
Rock with the help of two spectators.
The Record Herald
Hang gliders plan fly-in to mark 30 years of soaring
PEN MAR - On a sunny summer day, a crowd gathers at High Rock, a large stone
formation on a mountainside overlooking the peaceful Cumberland Valley.
Far below, a patchwork of green fields stretches all the way to another hazy
mountain range more than 20 miles away.
The view is beautiful, to be sure, but also a little intimidating. After
all, it's an awfully long way down.
But one visitor doesn't seem to mind the drop.
He has wings.
30 years of flying
For 30 years, High Rock has been one of the premiere hang-gliding sites on
the East Coast.
"High Rock is a really pretty place to fly. It's just fun," says Matthew
Graham, vice president of the Capital Hang Gliding and Paragliding
Association.
It also can be a little scary.
"The first time you go off that cliff, you are just hoping everything works.
It's very intimidating," Graham says.
In fact, even some experienced hang gliders won't venture onto High Rock
without their glider for fear of falling off, Graham said.
The capital association and the Maryland Hang Gliding Association jointly
lease the launch site from Washington County, Md.
They will host a fly-in from Aug. 19 to 21 to celebrate 30 years of hang
gliding at High Rock, one of the oldest launch sites in the nation and
perhaps the oldest on the East Coast.
About 50 pilots will gather at the fly-in. If the weather cooperates, there
could be 30 gliders in the air at one time.
There even will be opportunities to ride tandem with experienced pilots.
Cliff launch
As the only true cliff launch between Vermont and Georgia, High Rock also is
one of the most popular.
When the wind blows right, as many as 20 or 30 hang gliders gather there.
Brian Hardwick of Rockville, Md., is usually one of them.
He has jumped off High Rock so many times that his wife now declines to
accompany him.
On that sunny Saturday afternoon in late July, Hardwick is the only hang
glider at High Rock.
He says he has been hooked on hang gliding for eight years, ever since
trying it on a vacation in North Carolina.
"That's what I'd been looking for all my life. It just filled that void,"
Hardwick says.
The cold front that blew through the night before hasn't produced quite the
right conditions for flying but that doesn't deter Hardwick.
Neither does the fact that, as the only hang glider out, he has to abandon
his glider in a field, hike back up the mountain for his car and drive back
down the hill to retrieve his glider.
Usually, pilots take turns picking each other up at the bottom of the
mountain after a ride.
Hardwick has already been out once this morning, but the 15-minute ride only
whetted his appetite for more.
On a good day, he likes to go out for about two hours at a time. The record
flight at High Rock lasted seven hours and 38 minutes.
The right breeze
As Hardwick prepares his equipment, the wind starts to shift from north to
northwest, the proper direction for a good ride at High Rock.
Gliders can expect to find good northwesterly or westerly winds at High Rock
about 20 to 25 percent of the time, according to Graham.
From that direction, the wind hits the mountainside at a 45-degree angle,
creating a so-called ridge lift.
Pilots can ride ridge lifts and thermal lifts, columns of heated air rising
from the valley below to form cumulus clouds. Birds often ride thermal
lifts.
"A lot of times when we're there, we'll be watching the birds. We try to
join the birds," Graham says.
With winds above 10 mph, pilots need someone to help them onto the launch
pad.
That's the case today, and, since there are no other pilots around, Hardwick
enlists the help of two onlookers.
As dangerous as sailing
In his bright green glider, Hardwick poises on the edge of the precipice.
Two men hold him in place, but nevertheless, his wings dip in the breeze as
he waits for the perfect moment.
Hardwick's wife has just recently admitted that she worries about him when
he flies, but Graham insists the sport is no more dangerous than sailing.
"It's not really an extreme sport like skydiving because you are not going
that fast. It's a lot like sailing in three dimensions," Graham says.
As with all aviation, the most dangerous parts are launching and landing.
"Once you are in the air and you've got altitude and nothing to run into,
it's pretty safe," Graham says.
There is an accident at High Rock about once every two years, but the site
hasn't seen a serious hang gliding injury in 15 years.
"Every other year, someone ends up in the trees," Graham says.
Pilots must have extensive training before jumping from High Rock.
They must be members of the United States Hang Gliding Association with
ratings of at least novice or intermediate.
Most people will do at least a dozen high altitude launches before tackling
High Rock.
A way of life
It's easy to see why you would want lots of practice before taking a leap
from the rock into nothingness.
After a few minutes of dancing with the wind, Hardwick signals his helpers
and races off the edge of the cliff.
Applause rings out as his glider lifts him high into the air, and he circles
around, waving to the crowd below.
"Hang gliding," Hardwick says before taking off, "is a way of life. It can
make a pilot miserable on a beautiful day, when he should be happy just be
to be alive, because he wants to fly."
http://www.therecordherald.com/articles ... news01.txt
-----Original Message-----
From: hang_pilot [mailto:daniel.broxterman@suntrust.com]
Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 11:01 a.m.
To: hg_forum@chgpa.org
Subject: Local Boy Makes Good
Site is down, would you elaborate? ~Thanks!
Daniel
Rock with the help of two spectators.
The Record Herald
Hang gliders plan fly-in to mark 30 years of soaring
PEN MAR - On a sunny summer day, a crowd gathers at High Rock, a large stone
formation on a mountainside overlooking the peaceful Cumberland Valley.
Far below, a patchwork of green fields stretches all the way to another hazy
mountain range more than 20 miles away.
The view is beautiful, to be sure, but also a little intimidating. After
all, it's an awfully long way down.
But one visitor doesn't seem to mind the drop.
He has wings.
30 years of flying
For 30 years, High Rock has been one of the premiere hang-gliding sites on
the East Coast.
"High Rock is a really pretty place to fly. It's just fun," says Matthew
Graham, vice president of the Capital Hang Gliding and Paragliding
Association.
It also can be a little scary.
"The first time you go off that cliff, you are just hoping everything works.
It's very intimidating," Graham says.
In fact, even some experienced hang gliders won't venture onto High Rock
without their glider for fear of falling off, Graham said.
The capital association and the Maryland Hang Gliding Association jointly
lease the launch site from Washington County, Md.
They will host a fly-in from Aug. 19 to 21 to celebrate 30 years of hang
gliding at High Rock, one of the oldest launch sites in the nation and
perhaps the oldest on the East Coast.
About 50 pilots will gather at the fly-in. If the weather cooperates, there
could be 30 gliders in the air at one time.
There even will be opportunities to ride tandem with experienced pilots.
Cliff launch
As the only true cliff launch between Vermont and Georgia, High Rock also is
one of the most popular.
When the wind blows right, as many as 20 or 30 hang gliders gather there.
Brian Hardwick of Rockville, Md., is usually one of them.
He has jumped off High Rock so many times that his wife now declines to
accompany him.
On that sunny Saturday afternoon in late July, Hardwick is the only hang
glider at High Rock.
He says he has been hooked on hang gliding for eight years, ever since
trying it on a vacation in North Carolina.
"That's what I'd been looking for all my life. It just filled that void,"
Hardwick says.
The cold front that blew through the night before hasn't produced quite the
right conditions for flying but that doesn't deter Hardwick.
Neither does the fact that, as the only hang glider out, he has to abandon
his glider in a field, hike back up the mountain for his car and drive back
down the hill to retrieve his glider.
Usually, pilots take turns picking each other up at the bottom of the
mountain after a ride.
Hardwick has already been out once this morning, but the 15-minute ride only
whetted his appetite for more.
On a good day, he likes to go out for about two hours at a time. The record
flight at High Rock lasted seven hours and 38 minutes.
The right breeze
As Hardwick prepares his equipment, the wind starts to shift from north to
northwest, the proper direction for a good ride at High Rock.
Gliders can expect to find good northwesterly or westerly winds at High Rock
about 20 to 25 percent of the time, according to Graham.
From that direction, the wind hits the mountainside at a 45-degree angle,
creating a so-called ridge lift.
Pilots can ride ridge lifts and thermal lifts, columns of heated air rising
from the valley below to form cumulus clouds. Birds often ride thermal
lifts.
"A lot of times when we're there, we'll be watching the birds. We try to
join the birds," Graham says.
With winds above 10 mph, pilots need someone to help them onto the launch
pad.
That's the case today, and, since there are no other pilots around, Hardwick
enlists the help of two onlookers.
As dangerous as sailing
In his bright green glider, Hardwick poises on the edge of the precipice.
Two men hold him in place, but nevertheless, his wings dip in the breeze as
he waits for the perfect moment.
Hardwick's wife has just recently admitted that she worries about him when
he flies, but Graham insists the sport is no more dangerous than sailing.
"It's not really an extreme sport like skydiving because you are not going
that fast. It's a lot like sailing in three dimensions," Graham says.
As with all aviation, the most dangerous parts are launching and landing.
"Once you are in the air and you've got altitude and nothing to run into,
it's pretty safe," Graham says.
There is an accident at High Rock about once every two years, but the site
hasn't seen a serious hang gliding injury in 15 years.
"Every other year, someone ends up in the trees," Graham says.
Pilots must have extensive training before jumping from High Rock.
They must be members of the United States Hang Gliding Association with
ratings of at least novice or intermediate.
Most people will do at least a dozen high altitude launches before tackling
High Rock.
A way of life
It's easy to see why you would want lots of practice before taking a leap
from the rock into nothingness.
After a few minutes of dancing with the wind, Hardwick signals his helpers
and races off the edge of the cliff.
Applause rings out as his glider lifts him high into the air, and he circles
around, waving to the crowd below.
"Hang gliding," Hardwick says before taking off, "is a way of life. It can
make a pilot miserable on a beautiful day, when he should be happy just be
to be alive, because he wants to fly."
http://www.therecordherald.com/articles ... news01.txt
-----Original Message-----
From: hang_pilot [mailto:daniel.broxterman@suntrust.com]
Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 11:01 a.m.
To: hg_forum@chgpa.org
Subject: Local Boy Makes Good
Site is down, would you elaborate? ~Thanks!
Daniel