[Nibs]

Fingers crossed, for both you and SG! Don't bother crossing any fingers for the rest of the Atlanta folks... NO chance of flying here this weekend

[Todd Currier]

SG,
Have you heard of the Easy Wings Hang Gliding school? It is located in Escondido. http ://members.aol.com/RMitch9949/
Looks closer to SD than any of the other places and the $1250 to get to a novice rating (that's flying solo right?) seems reasonable. Any opinions? thanks for the help-Todd

[sg]

Nope. That link forwards to skydog sports.
Do you have the real link? Confused

[Todd Currier]

Sorry for the confusion. I don't have 5 posts yest so it won't let me post the link.

[Todd Currier]

One more post

[sg]

Post it without the http:// in the front.

[Todd Currier]

members.aol.com/RMitch9949/

or this might work

http://members.aol.com/RMitch9949/

Sorry about that

[sg]

That link, again, takes me to skydog sports. Not a hang gliding school.
What am I missing here?

[Southside]

[Todd Currier]

Hmm. That is very weird. It takes me to the Eagles Wings Hang Gliding School website.
Copied from the website:

Name and Address:
ROD MITCHELL
2175 Rockhoff Road
Escondido, CA. 92026
(760) 747-4247


Business Description: HANG GLIDING SCHOOL


THE EAGLES WINGS
HANG GLIDING SCHOOL
was started in 1989. All of our instructors are USHGA certified. We are open from Wed. through Sunday. From 9:00 to 5:00. (Closed Mon. and Tues.). We are not only a school, we also sell the finest gliders on the market , service and repair for new and used equipment.
Glider and All other equipment needed for flying lessons are supplied by the school, for beginner and novice package lessons. Classes start at 09.30 am, and last till dark. So bring a lunch with you.
USHGA "BEGINNER RATING" PACKAGE$500.00
4 all day lessons. Learn set-up, ground handling, and low altitude flying. On our bunny hill. Pass a written exam and a skills test.


USHGA "NOVICE RATING" PACKAGE $1250.00
10 ALL DAY LESSONS. Lessons include the "beginner rating" Package, PLUS: additional ground and flight school instruction, tandem flight lesson, minimum two mountain solo flights. Pass written exam and skills test. Successful compleation obtains USHGA NOVICE RATING.

[sg]

For Torrey specifically, I have found this marine forecast to be the most accurate:
SD marine forecast

[sg]

A local pilot mentioned Rod M. in this post back in 2003:

Andrew Bett wrote:

Scott Weiner is pretty much right about the current flying culture in San Diego. I'm one of those more recent intermediate pilots who has missed out on the collective spirit of coherence he fondly recalls. Cutting one's teeth, unsupervised for the first time in the unforgiving SoCal mountain air, was for me a highly intimidating challenge and one that would no doubt have been smoother, and more rapidly overcome, in the more integrated environment he describes. I persevered as I was very committed despite my uncertainties, but I could easily understand the more casual participant getting simply scared off the hill, let alone tiring of all the practical inconveniences, in the apprehensive thirst for hours under the belt.

I can't fault my instructor Rod Mitchell, pretty much the only fully operational HG instructor around here, whose stable represents the lion's share of the more recent regular pilots and to whom I and others often return for continuing trusted guidance. But one instructor in a Chevy Blazer is no match for the disparate quality of San Diego hang gliding when it comes to fostering a cultural core from the ground up.

While it's true that the local club is very effective on the technicalities of safeguarding local sites, they have not, at least since I've been around, had a commitment to fostering such a core from the top down (there may be any number of reasons for this and it's not intended as a criticism). Besides which the simple fact is the intake is so low there's almost nobody to do the fostering on - after more than two years on the hill I'm still the newest pilot from Rod's stable to stick around.

I don't count Torrey Pines, as they basically do their own thing on the coast and churn out the PG's for better or worse, which is fine but doesn't, as it stands, seem to embody anything close to the future of the kind of hang gliding being done in the mountains and desert.

Nowadays we have a loosely affiliated mutually supportive network of pilots ranging from the intermediate to the highly experienced, which largely intersects with the group that actually shows up for club meetings (unlike the local USHGA representative). But while we share conviviality and loyalty, in truth our purposes are more pragmatic; even if the broad variety of experience on hand is instructive on many levels, ultimately we coalesce around the simple need for practical support in order to fly.

Scott may be right in suggesting that it's at the local level that hang gliding can ward off extinction. Around here it may be that the group I'm part of will emerge as the predominant local presence and bring with its relative coherence a more fertile ethos, or maybe it already is predominant and this is as good as it gets. But either way you can't foster new pilots if they aren't there.

[tony7kp]

the site works fine for me

[knumbknuts]

Todd,

I just got my hang 2 under Rob McKenzie... take a look at my blog, starting at the oldest date, for the write-up. I highly recommend Rob... it's worth the drive up the 15.

I also have what it cost me (I had a lot of money saved up because I had saved it for GA flying licenses).

Also, based on the 10 or so fixed wing, powered aircraft flights I've taken, your pilot's license will be good for an understanding of aerodynamics and weather, but not a whole lot else. Like with GA, the more frequently you fly, the few lessons it will take to learn.

The good news is you will be hang 2 in about 10 lessons for not much money.

If you do go for lessons up there, PM me, please. I'll keep an eye out for you and help in any way I can.

PS. The Crestline and Marshall launches down to the Andy Jackson flight park are great.... We just got a tractor, so the bunny hills will be improved, not bad as they are.

[sg]

Aaaaaaargh, the wind forecast for tommorrow just went to hell

[gryph]

[knumbknuts]

[sg]

Language is my weakest skill I used up my brain for logic

[PilotGuy]