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Morning traffic at the Chilhowee Gliderport in Benton, Tennessee (http://www.chilhowee.com/) |
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The cockpit of a LET L-13 Blaník glider, a two-seat training glider from Czechoslovakia, at the Silvercreek Glider Club
http://www.silvercreekgliderclub.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LET_L-13 |
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The cockpit of a Schweizer 1-23 glider (H-15 model), a single-seat competition glider from the 1960s, at the Silvercreek Glider Club.
http://www.silvercreekgliderclub.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schweizer_SGS_1-23 |
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A strong south-easterly onshore breeze means the hang gliders come out and fly from the bare hilltop overlooking Stanwell Park. Lawrence Hargrave was a pioneer of flight from the beach below, flying man-size kites, the forbear of the hang glider. |
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This little airport is where they launch gliders mostly although small powered airplanes also take off here. The way they launch them is by attaching a cable to the front of the glider. The other end is attached to a high powered winch run by a truck motor, way down at the end of the runway. The pull is started and the gliders are instantly in the air, being pulled until they are maybe 500 feet in the air. The cable is released and falls back down slowly thanks to a little parachute while the glider soars away. |
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This is the summer/normal launch at Elsinore, CA, for hang gliders and paragliders.
Everyday Mike's LZ is the clearing down to the right with the Oak Tree in it. |
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The day begins at the Silvercreek Glider Club. The gliders are pulled out of the hangar and preflighted. Alas, variable lighting and a stitcher hiccup make this gigapan less than perfect. |
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The Santa Ana winds launch overlooking the Marina LZ |
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The closest LZ to the E... bring your "A" game to land a HG here, it's a little tight. |