It was seeing flying like this on TV in the early 70s that inspired me to make my own glider of scaffold poles and plastic sheeting. Thankfully I never completed it, it probably would have killed me! However in the 80s I did buy and learn to fly my first glider, a Highway Super Scorpion. I last flew an Airwave Magic Kiss until other commitments curtailed my flying.
I am so glad that guys like you showed me a sport that gave me so much pleasure.
Thanks for posting this. My first, and only lesson was back in 75. Back then If you even took a lesson it was only one or two. Then go out and rent or buy, and the practice on your own...At least thats how it was back then in Connecticut. I have since left the sport (in 1998) due to starting a family, but think about it often. And thanks to youtube I can still somewhat enjoy it. Thanks again.
@arthurbissolotti Apologies for taking so long to approve your comment. The main person that deserves thanks for modern hang gliding is John Dickenson. Thank him by signing his Guest Book at JohnDickenson (dot) net. Look around that site to learn of his role in making our sport possible. If you met him you would absolutely love him. He is not only the guy who invented the modern hang glider he is a most likable and charming man and well deserves your enthusiastic appreciation.
Although the descent rate is indeed very high, possibly up to 800fpm, any descent rate eventually brings you down and requires thoughtful planning to assure a margin of safety. Descent rates today are near 150fpm. I am not current enough to say very precisely.
Ironically experience in unpowered flight prepares a powered pilot to ALWAYS remain within a safe gliding angle to the initial point of a conservative landing approach. I am reassured when flying with someone with unpowered experience.
Thanks for posting the older videos. I have many memories as a really young kid of being out on the hill at Point Sal, Lynn Rd., and Mendenhall Peak in those really early days.
I'm sure you might remember my father, Bill Jones. He and Gerry Albiston founded Free Flight.
Somewhere in my basement, I have some old pictures and I know there's a dubbed copy on DVD of 'The New Freedom' there as well.
Far more. Within the sporting community are practitioners of just about every exciting sport or activity know to humans. Nearly all place hang gliding far above just about everything else. Quite simply it is beyond your wildest dreams.
Aw-the good ol' days flying standards..with awesome 4:1 dive ratios
They flew pretty good. I have a friend who has one in his barn in good shape-we are going to take it to the training hill to play. Much better version than my original back in 1972-it had 3/4" 6061-T6 leading edges! Easy to bend back after clipping trees and such. Thanks for the memories.
This video brought back memories. In 1986, I went to kindergarten at Trinity Baptist in SB and I remember seeing handgliders flying overhead. I was amazed and would watch until they were out of sight. Thanks for the post!
Well i,m 37 and in 74 i was three years old. Thanks for being apart of something way back then and keeping it alive for us today.Nice video. HPAC tandem instructor. Sussex Newbrunswick Canada
I remember how shocked I was the day I taught a student who was born after I began flying! Another shock was when an early student brought a grown child to train with me!
i currently live in SB........i like watching the hang gliders soar above my head.......one time a hang glider landed in my 6th grade school (FRANKLIN) and the funny thing was that he said he couldnt find the ocean........WOW was i suprised @ this man
There were a couple of Westmont students, Clyde Parker and Dan Venable, that pioneered a takoff point on the east side of the canyon Gibralter Road climbs up. They also conducted a hang gliding instruction program for Westmont students. Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s there were many landings at Westmont until the administration decided it was not desirable.
Ken: Thanks for posting this video. My first glider in 1973/4 was a 17 foot free flight. Got lessons from Rico Blair in San Bernardino, CA. Have always been so glad to have had the good fortune to have him providing my first hang gliding instruction. His methods worked well, and his words of wisdom on how to make flying safe have stayed with me. I am now in Arkansas, flying a Wills Wing Talon. What a great time it has been.
My grandfather was soaring the peek around this time, Jean Nooney. He still talks about his flyin days. I want to say he has mentioned your name before; a lot of stories! He still has his glider in his garage. Still lives in Goleta. The mountains tease him for another ride every day! Good stuff!
Jean was an "old man" of about 42 or so in the summer of 74 or 75 when he signed up for lessons with me. I remember wondering if someone "that" old should be learning to hang glide! I have an awesome photo of him moments after launching La Cumbre. Send me your e-mail address and I will send it to you. And be sure to tell Jean I am still waiting for him to come up here for a visit!
but you must agree, its much more safe than in the 70s. gliders itself are safer, you got a rescue parachute and you must have a license in the most countries. you learn it at flight schools and so on.
it is safer, but only when the pilot isn't an idiot^^
Man! I was 15 that summer......."huh".......we were back here in Connecticut sitting up in our treehouse getting stoned and you guys were doing something sooooooo worth while! Just the haircuts, clothing, etc. from this footage brings back a "longed-for" blast from the past! I'm 48, but I'm buying a glider this summer! Great video!!!!!
Be sure to click on "More From: weflyuniv" and view "Hang Gliding Summer 1974 Rincon Peak CA - Santa Barbara". Read the "About this video" comments and you will see that while you were sitting in your treehouse getting stoned I was crashing into the surf in pretty much the same condition! That helped me realize I needed all my wits and then some to stay alive while hang gliding.
Be sure to get good training BEFORE you buy. Good luck and feel free to contact me for guidance!
Wow! Nice "slam" into the surf dude! Looks like everybody else did a nice beach landing!Love the footage, the bikinis and the memories of youth Ken. Being a 175 lb. 48 year-old asswipe, I was thinking of something safe like a Wills Wing 3-195 for starters. What do you think?
From my experience of trusting my life to the folks at Wills Wing and the products they make I would not consider any but a Wills Wing. The Falcon which I assume is what you refer to is the closest thing to a perfect glider that they have made. You can't go wrong. It is especially ideal for asswipes like my self! Go to their web site WillsWing . com and read the manual and do so frequently. No one writes more articulate and useful manuals.
I suppose so. It did not feel so extraordinarily brave because there were so many others that were doing it. It was also more incremental that most folks suppose although there were actually a very few that made their first flights off places like Torrey Pines (350' above the beach) and even Haleakala Crater in Hawaii which is what, 12'000' down to the beach!
When you are young, as most of us were in the early days of hang gliding, you feel invincible.
You guys got big balls. Something magical yet dangerous and crazy about those gliders. Like when you land you feel like you really got away with something.
It was seeing flying like this on TV in the early 70s that inspired me to make my own glider of scaffold poles and plastic sheeting. Thankfully I never completed it, it probably would have killed me! However in the 80s I did buy and learn to fly my first glider, a Highway Super Scorpion. I last flew an Airwave Magic Kiss until other commitments curtailed my flying.
I am so glad that guys like you showed me a sport that gave me so much pleasure.
(There's two clips of me flying on my channel)
jethou1 10 months ago
Thanks for posting this. My first, and only lesson was back in 75. Back then If you even took a lesson it was only one or two. Then go out and rent or buy, and the practice on your own...At least thats how it was back then in Connecticut. I have since left the sport (in 1998) due to starting a family, but think about it often. And thanks to youtube I can still somewhat enjoy it. Thanks again.
etona212 11 months ago
this guys were crazaaaaaaay back then, but thanks to them, we can fly today, cheers to the pioneers!!!!
arthurbissolotti 1 year ago 3
@arthurbissolotti Apologies for taking so long to approve your comment. The main person that deserves thanks for modern hang gliding is John Dickenson. Thank him by signing his Guest Book at JohnDickenson (dot) net. Look around that site to learn of his role in making our sport possible. If you met him you would absolutely love him. He is not only the guy who invented the modern hang glider he is a most likable and charming man and well deserves your enthusiastic appreciation.
Ken
weflyuniv 1 year ago
OMG I sooo want to have a go at this!
bormuffian 1 year ago
Good for you! Contact Wills Wing (that is their domain name) and DO IT!
Ken
weflyuniv 1 year ago
That first flight seems to be descending fast - do you need to have a definite plan as to where you're going to land and when?
DXWXMX44 2 years ago
Although the descent rate is indeed very high, possibly up to 800fpm, any descent rate eventually brings you down and requires thoughtful planning to assure a margin of safety. Descent rates today are near 150fpm. I am not current enough to say very precisely.
Ironically experience in unpowered flight prepares a powered pilot to ALWAYS remain within a safe gliding angle to the initial point of a conservative landing approach. I am reassured when flying with someone with unpowered experience.
weflyuniv 2 years ago
Hi Ken,
Thanks for posting the older videos. I have many memories as a really young kid of being out on the hill at Point Sal, Lynn Rd., and Mendenhall Peak in those really early days.
I'm sure you might remember my father, Bill Jones. He and Gerry Albiston founded Free Flight.
Somewhere in my basement, I have some old pictures and I know there's a dubbed copy on DVD of 'The New Freedom' there as well.
Randy
airportbum 2 years ago
You simply cannot imagine how great it is. Sorry. You will just have to do it to understand.
Ken
weflyuniv 2 years ago
Is that as much fun as it looks?!!
DXWXMX44 2 years ago
Is that as much fun as it looks?!!
DXWXMX44 2 years ago
Far more. Within the sporting community are practitioners of just about every exciting sport or activity know to humans. Nearly all place hang gliding far above just about everything else. Quite simply it is beyond your wildest dreams.
weflyuniv 2 years ago
Wow....This video is totally COOL 5*****
coolgeorgiaboy 2 years ago
omg these guys are gnarly! those things look so primitive compared to the ones today, but what would i know.
Miggles805 2 years ago
I'm from SB too.
jabobock 2 years ago
Wow! Small world, eh? That is almost hard to believe! ;-)
Ken
weflyuniv 2 years ago
Aw-the good ol' days flying standards..with awesome 4:1 dive ratios
They flew pretty good. I have a friend who has one in his barn in good shape-we are going to take it to the training hill to play. Much better version than my original back in 1972-it had 3/4" 6061-T6 leading edges! Easy to bend back after clipping trees and such. Thanks for the memories.
vondeliusc 2 years ago
Cool video.
Buddha2707 3 years ago
a asa tem buzina fom-fom !!!!
spikedeivis 3 years ago
Comment removed
spikedeivis 3 years ago
I was very proud of my horn! It was a great attention getter. I am pleased you spotted it!
Eu era muito orgulhoso de meu chifre! Era um grande getter da atenção. Eu sou satisfeito você manchei-o!
I used a Babel Fish translator to translate my text to Portuguese. I hope got the language right!
Ken
weflyuniv 3 years ago
This video brought back memories. In 1986, I went to kindergarten at Trinity Baptist in SB and I remember seeing handgliders flying overhead. I was amazed and would watch until they were out of sight. Thanks for the post!
calibarbara 3 years ago
I bet. Been a long road and many flights since then i bet.Happy and safe flying.
flyguy4fun 3 years ago
Well i,m 37 and in 74 i was three years old. Thanks for being apart of something way back then and keeping it alive for us today.Nice video. HPAC tandem instructor. Sussex Newbrunswick Canada
flyguy4fun 3 years ago
I remember how shocked I was the day I taught a student who was born after I began flying! Another shock was when an early student brought a grown child to train with me!
Ken de Russy
Anacortes, WA
weflyuniv 3 years ago
i currently live in SB........i like watching the hang gliders soar above my head.......one time a hang glider landed in my 6th grade school (FRANKLIN) and the funny thing was that he said he couldnt find the ocean........WOW was i suprised @ this man
805levas 3 years ago
I attended Westmont College (in Montecito) in 1974. We used to stop everything, stand and just watch your whole flight.
Didn't you guys sometimes land at Westmont's soccer field?
Oh, the good old days before Los Angeles moved up to SB.
BarbaraO 3 years ago
There were a couple of Westmont students, Clyde Parker and Dan Venable, that pioneered a takoff point on the east side of the canyon Gibralter Road climbs up. They also conducted a hang gliding instruction program for Westmont students. Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s there were many landings at Westmont until the administration decided it was not desirable.
It is nice to know you enjoyed watching!
Ken
weflyuniv 3 years ago
Ken: Thanks for posting this video. My first glider in 1973/4 was a 17 foot free flight. Got lessons from Rico Blair in San Bernardino, CA. Have always been so glad to have had the good fortune to have him providing my first hang gliding instruction. His methods worked well, and his words of wisdom on how to make flying safe have stayed with me. I am now in Arkansas, flying a Wills Wing Talon. What a great time it has been.
menamiketrx 3 years ago
My grandfather was soaring the peek around this time, Jean Nooney. He still talks about his flyin days. I want to say he has mentioned your name before; a lot of stories! He still has his glider in his garage. Still lives in Goleta. The mountains tease him for another ride every day! Good stuff!
noondog80 3 years ago
Jean was an "old man" of about 42 or so in the summer of 74 or 75 when he signed up for lessons with me. I remember wondering if someone "that" old should be learning to hang glide! I have an awesome photo of him moments after launching La Cumbre. Send me your e-mail address and I will send it to you. And be sure to tell Jean I am still waiting for him to come up here for a visit!
Ken
weflyuniv 3 years ago
Wow! That's when hang gliding was dangerous!
onlygunter 4 years ago
It has never stopped being dangerous.
Ken
weflyuniv 4 years ago
but you must agree, its much more safe than in the 70s. gliders itself are safer, you got a rescue parachute and you must have a license in the most countries. you learn it at flight schools and so on.
it is safer, but only when the pilot isn't an idiot^^
chuckfuss 3 years ago
Man! I was 15 that summer......."huh".......we were back here in Connecticut sitting up in our treehouse getting stoned and you guys were doing something sooooooo worth while! Just the haircuts, clothing, etc. from this footage brings back a "longed-for" blast from the past! I'm 48, but I'm buying a glider this summer! Great video!!!!!
trevlex 4 years ago
Be sure to click on "More From: weflyuniv" and view "Hang Gliding Summer 1974 Rincon Peak CA - Santa Barbara". Read the "About this video" comments and you will see that while you were sitting in your treehouse getting stoned I was crashing into the surf in pretty much the same condition! That helped me realize I needed all my wits and then some to stay alive while hang gliding.
Be sure to get good training BEFORE you buy. Good luck and feel free to contact me for guidance!
Ken
weflyuniv 4 years ago
How the heck old were you in '74?
trevlex 4 years ago
I turned 26 in Oct. 1974.
If I'm lucky I'll hit 60 this fall!
Wahoo!
Ken
weflyuniv 4 years ago
Wow! Nice "slam" into the surf dude! Looks like everybody else did a nice beach landing!Love the footage, the bikinis and the memories of youth Ken. Being a 175 lb. 48 year-old asswipe, I was thinking of something safe like a Wills Wing 3-195 for starters. What do you think?
trevlex 4 years ago
From my experience of trusting my life to the folks at Wills Wing and the products they make I would not consider any but a Wills Wing. The Falcon which I assume is what you refer to is the closest thing to a perfect glider that they have made. You can't go wrong. It is especially ideal for asswipes like my self! Go to their web site WillsWing . com and read the manual and do so frequently. No one writes more articulate and useful manuals.
Ken
weflyuniv 4 years ago
brave
herpescrabman 4 years ago
I suppose so. It did not feel so extraordinarily brave because there were so many others that were doing it. It was also more incremental that most folks suppose although there were actually a very few that made their first flights off places like Torrey Pines (350' above the beach) and even Haleakala Crater in Hawaii which is what, 12'000' down to the beach!
When you are young, as most of us were in the early days of hang gliding, you feel invincible.
Ken
weflyuniv 4 years ago
You guys got big balls. Something magical yet dangerous and crazy about those gliders. Like when you land you feel like you really got away with something.
StratosphereDweller 4 years ago
I'm thinking of moving to Santa Barbara...is this site still in use?
GaijinNH 4 years ago
Both the launch and LZ shown are no longer used but the replacement launch is higher and the LZ is bigger and easier.
For reliable info contact;
Chad Bastian
PO Box 3588
Santa Barbara, CA 93130
805-965-3733
FlyAboveAll dot com
weflyuniv 4 years ago
Exelente video!
Um classico!
netosnaproll 4 years ago
THANKS AGAIN KEN!
brings back some great memory's of my first time in 1976 teaching myself to 'fly' on my manta wing...and the text/story/info
acrazedmaniac 4 years ago