USFS inquiry regarding Woodstock launch

[Dan T]

I received an email from Tyler Williamson of the USFS regarding our initiative to improve the launch at Woodstock. Tyler is standing in for Cameron while he is away and has offered to try to move the improvement initiative ahead if he can obtain enough background information to do so. Tyler knows John McAllister well, and spoke with him just a couple weeks ago. I wrote Tyler the following response:
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Tyler,

Thanks for getting in touch with me. Our club, the Capital Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association is pursuing two initiatives in that forest. One is the launch at Woodstock and the other is near Luray at an old abandoned site we call Edith's Gap. Cameron told me he found the Edith's Gap site in your "approved recreation uses" maps, or whatever he called the document. I assume you are just asking about the Woodstock site but I'll be glad to answer questions on the other as well if you like.

When the Woodstock site was first opened roughly 20 years ago Hang gliding was the only foot launched sport in existence. Paragliding didn't exist as a sport until much more recently. Hang gliders are the triangular shaped "kites" that you see with metal frames. Paragliders are the wide rectangular looking parachutes. Modern paragliders all have a number of very thin lines that enable the wing to fly 15 feet or so above the pilots head. Both Hang Glider and Paraglider pilots benefit from a relatively smooth launch area that does not have trip hazards.

When a hang glider is sitting on the ground it is only sitting on three points, two points along the metal cross bar, or the wheels if the glider has wheels, and at the tip of the keel. Paragliders, on the other hand, have these long skinny lines that are prone to get hung up in the rocks. The entire length of their lines are laying on the ground until it gets airborne.

A paraglider doesn't fall out of the sky with a broken line or two, but frayed or broken lines require immediate and often relatively expensive repairs before the glider can or should be flown again. The recent initiative to improve the launch site at Woodstock is largely driven by the Paragliding community's desire to reduce the risk of damaging their wings.

Both the hang gliding and paragliding community are trying to make the site safer by eliminating the hazards that the rocks at the launch site create. Recently a few of the paraglider pilots attempted to reduce the risk of damaging their wings by laying out some old carpet in the launch area. The thinking was that the lines would not be at risk of getting hung up or damaged by the rocks. The idea, while well intended, was a disaster. If for no other reason it made that beautiful site look like a dump.

After much debate and consternation our club finally acted and rolled up the carpet and moved it out of the way. It's the club's intention to take the carpet to the community dump and dispose of it. We had planned to do it last Sunday, only to learn that the dump is closed on Sundays. It should be completed in the next week or two at most.

Anyway the initiative to improve the slot is fundamentally driven by the desire to make it safer for both the Hang Gliding and Paragliding pilots. The versions of the initiative range from very ambitious plans to create a site that would rival the quality of the groomed launch sites that are common in Europe, to the more modest plan that John McAllister has offered to accomplish. If you've seen a set of very detailed planning drawings they are probably reflective of the earlier more ambitious plan.

I met John on Sunday. He has offered to take some measurements and lay out a plan for filling in the area around the rocks with soil, then planting some type of grass covering that would be acceptable to the USFS and likely to survive the conditions on that slope. The great majority of our club members favor the more modest John McAllister version. That is the plan that the club wants to put forward to the USFS for its approval. We want to be good stewards of the property and make sure that we remain welcome to fly there.

Woodstock is one of the finest flying sites in the country. In an era of encroaching development foot launch sites are becoming scarcer every year. We do not want to lose this one.

I hope I answered your questions. Please let me know if there is any other way that I can assist.

Dan Tomlinson

[lbunner]

Excellent response Dan. I appreciate you taking the time to clarify our position. Hopefully this will bear fruit soon.