great flight! 1500 KM in a 304CZ

Great flight, Randy!

Here's a little more firsthand history on soaring flight in that area.
I was an early hang gliding pioneer before entry into sailplanes (and
other a/c classes). During the 1970's, I designed and manufactured
hang gliders and was located in Wichita, KS. As you likely realize,
its flatter than a pancake around Wichita and the closest mountain
sites being flown were in Colorado. I researched the southeast OK area
and planned an exploratory trip after seeing the potential. My first
attempt to fly there in early 1971 was designed to attempt a world
distance record along Mt. Rich, launching in OK and landing near Mena,
AR. We had live radio coverage of the attempt out of Mena, some local
car dealerships got excited and helped us with some rooming, etc.
Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and nearly a week of
cold, wet, socked in conditions nulled the attempt. I also saw the
wave potential back then, which of course scared me to death with a
hang glider.


A month or two later I returned with the simple goal to fly the site.
I did this successfully using an early rogallo (this was so early we
weren't even using kingposts yet- top rigging for negative g's). I
launched off a guardrail on the north side of the highway on top of
Mt. Rich, and flew over the solid trees to the only landing spot that
could be reached with a 4:1 glide ratio- the highway leading to
Poteau. The locals were very helpful and excited, and I was invited to
Mr. Kerr's (Kerr McGee Oil) mountain home for a launch off a deck
overlooking another mountainside. There didn't appear to be adequate
clearance for a safe launch so I ended up declining. He offered to
clear a portion of the mountainside, which seemed to be a terrible
waste for a single flight, so I declined that as well.

I have an old super 8mm film of the first flight there. Maybe some day
I'll get it digitally reproduced, along with other early pioneering
flights in hang gliders on the western slope of Colorado, the upper
pennisula of Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania Appalacians, etc.

There has been steady hang gliding activity in that area since the mid
70's, with a national championship held around '76 or '77. Now local
HG pilot Roy Mahoney- whom you likely already know- is helpful and
experienced.

Once again- congratulations on a great flight!