Winter flying in 1977

Back in the day, We were young and very keen. Winter was a good time to practice Take-offs and landings on small training Hills in the Ottawa area. These were often in the range of 10-20 m high. To keep warm, we kept moving, and I remember that one day I made a record 32 flights off a hill in Gatineau. Well, the last few I cheated and put my glider on the back of a Skidoo to climb up.

Anyway, one time there was a reporter out from the Ottawa Citizen and we got some coverage in the newspaper. Here it is.

Stewart on Sky Sports Kestrel

Bernie Arsenault (seated), Stewart (prone)

Manitoba - 1977

Flying at Russel, Manitoba in 1977

The glider is an Eipper Flexi 2. Pilot is Doug Keller.

Georgian Peaks 1977

Chris Mills was my instructor in 1974, at which time I learn to fly hang gliders in the Gatineau Hills north of Ottawa Ontario. Chris and I both went to the same high school. Later, he moved to the area near Guelph Area and continued to fly hang gliders for a number of years. Here is a shot of him launching his Delta Wings Phoenix 8 off the top of the Georgian peaks ski hill, overlooking Georgian Bay in Lake Huron, in 1977.

As the aspect ratio of hang gliders increased from the basic standard rogallo design, gradually the length of the leading-edge tubes also increased and it became harder to keep them straight and not flex with slight loads. At that time, manufacturers used fairly small diameter tubes, perhaps 1.5-1.75 inches. Little stays and bracing cables were installed along the leading edges, called deflexors. If you knew what you were doing, you could actually tune cable tension differentially on each one of the deflexors in order to get rid of a turn in the glider.