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mfrese

Hang Gliders? and what to do about them?

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Are there any other DZs that have hang glider operations in their vicinity? If so, do you have any special rules of operation you use to prevent any incursion issues?

I ask this because Hollister happens to share their LZ with a hang gliding operation. I've never come close to any of them in the air until last Saturday, when I was flying above and around a hang glider who was trying to land close to the fence where our jumpers normally land. No real problem, but it did give me a little extra stress (in the middle of my 10th jump on a 2.1:1 loaded Velocity) in the pattern. I'm just wondering how this is addressed anywhere else (if at all). Thanks,

Mike
Doctor I ain't gonna die,
Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

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we have gliders at our DZ (got a tandem glider ride for Valentines day...fun!)..

however, I dont know that I'm the best person to tell you how we deal with the...just to say that I've not see it be an issue..
we know they are there, they know we are there...we look out for each other...(and part of spotting does include "where are the gliders?")

I think someone who works at the DZ would be a better person to answer you...

--------------------------------------------
Elfanie
My Skydiving Page
Fly Safe - Soft Landings

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I think someone who works at the DZ would be a better person to answer you...



He does work at the DZ :)
Mike, that's a pretty random occurance isn't it? I suppose you could talk to the Hanggliding operations about that particular choice of landing zones.

I think that unless you wish to take it upon yourself, it really isn't a problem. There will always be some traffic back near the water trough so just educate the jumpers. Leave the hanglider pilots alone unless they begin to use the common skydiving landing area more often, while jumpers are in the air.
My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

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I think someone who works at the DZ would be a better person to answer you...



He does work at the DZ :)



Not at MY DZ...
I meant that I thought someone who works at MY dz would be a better person to tell him how they deal with it at my DZ...

Not that he should ask someone at HIS dz..;)

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Elfanie
My Skydiving Page
Fly Safe - Soft Landings

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Skydiving is a VFR activity, and you have more downward visibility than hanggliders or paragliders have above them. It's up to skydivers to avoid hang gliders and paragliders when they jump. Hopefully PG/HG pilots will avoid the area near a DZ, but separation during jump run and the jump itself is the responsibility of the skydiver.

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Actually, I talked to several people at MY DZ ;)

Seriously, it is pretty rare, and the hang glider pilots who land close to the fence are generally the more experienced pilots of the guys that fly here. My only concern is that they seem to be getting more people in the air all the time, and (as hookitt pointed out) they seem to be spending more time flying around the water trough in the middle of our LZ that students and low-timers use as a marker to line up base and final approach legs. AFF students are probably going to be a little freaked to see ANYTHING below them beside parachutes, and it just opens up possibilities for problems that we haven't had here yet.

I may talk to the DZO and get him to discuss a few things with the hang glider operation just to make sure we don't run into any problems. Thanks everyone for their feedback.

Mike
Doctor I ain't gonna die,
Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

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