What ever happened to.....?

[mchevalier]

Probably most of you reading this don’t know me. I started hang gliding in 1983 with Sport Flight in Gaithersburg MD. By ’89 I had my hang 4 and was flying almost every weekend and getting lots of air time. I was often flying XC and later became a regular at The Tow Farm and then Highland Aerosports.

I was living in Takoma Park and moved to Salida CO in 2003. The 60 to 100 hrs yearly declined a lot after moving. After Ann Dunlap’s death from cancer in 2018, there was hardly anybody to fly with and it just wasn’t fun anymore. Then in early 2021, one of my few remaining flying buddies was badly injured, so I hung it up and haven’t flown since. The decline in hang gliding has been steep and I seldom see hang gliders flying, just a few paragliders. I still have 3 gliders and all the gear to which there is no market for.

Recently I attended an old timers meet at Villa Grove, the local flying site. Only a couple paragliders flew that day but there were many old hang pilots I hadn’t seen in a long time. Including Pete Lehman (It’s Layman, damnit!). We were talking about the decline of the sport and he told me of the big decline in the MD, DC, VA and PA area. Which got me to wondering, what happened to the people and places? I was back there in 2015 for Karen Cara’s memorial. Her death seemed to be a tipping point for many who stopped flying.

There’s a lot of other things to do here. I still fly radio control gliders, fpv planes and quads. I raft, duckie, mtn bike, dirt bike, ride motorcycles, snow board, hike and explore. I rode in a trike last year, the wing being an Ultrasport. Didn’t like that much as the wing must have been loaded beyond spec.

What ever happened to these people?
Joe Clements, my first instructor.
Eric Logan
Santos Mendoza
Mike Norman
Mike Maxson
Cindy Black
Eddy Hyder
Lester Billings
Rob Tedder
Brad Hayes
Fred and Raeann Permenter
Matthew Graham
Joe and Janet Gregor
Roger Rittenour
Tom McGowan
John Middleton
Marc Fink
John Pesch
Steve Kinsley
Danny Brotto
Carlos Weil
Jim Strube
Brian Vant Hull

I occasionally lurk on the CHGA forum and it looks like Mark Cavanaugh and Bacil still fly but most of the names I don’t know.

What about the sites?
Bill’s Hill
Fisher Road
High Rock
The Pulpit
Woodstock
The Sac
Daniel’s Mountain
Zirk’s
Jack’s Mountain