As sport flying has become more popular and the home building aspect of aviation has kept the keen interest of flight in the minds of many an aviator, the spawning of another type of flight has occurred. Hang gliders and ultra-light aircraft, as the names imply, are light weight airframes that enable the operator to fly with a minimum of both expense and training. A hang glider is simply a flying wing, under which the operator grasps a bar when suspended in a horizontal position and by shifting weight soars through the air at the mercy of the air currents. Later versions allow the operator to lie prone in a pouch but with the same control techniques. Take off is achieved by running off a hill top or ridge line, thus enabling sufficient wind to pass over the airfoil to achieve lift.
Several local enthusiasts have undertaken this sport. As the Cumberland Soaring Group has for years taken advantage of the air currents over the nearby Knobley Mountain range, so too have these hang gliders. At some key points on the mountain top, a small clear area is maintained that enables the operator to make a brief downhill run aiming west into the prevailing wind, thereby becoming airborne. On good soaring days a hang glider can maintain aloft for extended periods. Employing the buddy system, and sometimes with continuous radio contact, the operator at the end of his flight will terminate in the lower valley fields where a pickup and retrieval of his ultra-light can be made. Most of these airframes can be easily folded in a relatively small package for convenient transport.
Two brothers, Harold and Fred Wieneke, were instrumental in hang gliding becoming popular in our area. In the early 1980’s they conducted a flight training school for fledgling operators in this unique method of non-powered flight.
This has led to later designs, termed ultra-light aircraft, which were made into a more traditional frame, with better directional control and with the addition of a small engine. The engine is normally mounted to the rear of the pilot in a pusher type arrangement. The obvious advantage is that an operator can take off and land in the same manner as any other aircraft. A large number of commercial kit designs have become available for home builders. Two-place versions have become popular and, of course, can then be used for training a new pilot. Many have a fully, or a nearly full, enclosed cockpit.
Ultra-light flying and hang gliding has largely been left to self-policing and self-regulation in so far as being excluded from the oversight of the Federal Aviation Administration. Later, however, there have been guiding rules and regulations established that pertain to maximum weight, speed and engine horsepower limitations, and other criteria. There continues to be no requirement for a physical examination and medical certificate as applies to the pilot population at large. This, coupled with the rather small cost compared to the investment in other aircraft, continues to make this flying activity attractive to many.
The co-author’s nephew, Clem Armstrong, seated in his open air ultra-light at Mexico Farms in the early 1980’s. Note the abundance of support cables and the slender tube mainframe with the small pusher engine in the rear.
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Wings Over Cumberland 