Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 2: February 2014 | Page 32

My wife and I have been married 37 years, and, from
day one, she has been driving for me. Both of our kids are
in their 30s now, and it is good to see our granddaughter
Haylee on the mountain with “Pa,” enjoying the sport as
well. She swings on the glider as if it’s playground equipment, and that’s OK, too. I say it’s kid-tested and wifeapproved.

Dan Poynter, USHPA #1103 (Lifetime)
In 1965, I designed, tow-tested, and jumped numerous gliding parachutes, such as the Barish Sailwing. In 1967, I tested

limp wings by foot launching them from very steep hills. I
also wrote the first book on the sport HANG GLIDING:
The Basic Handbook of Skysurfing in 1973. Both words were
included in the title because hang gliding was used on the
West Coast and skysurfing was the East Coast term. Bill
Allen, other early writers on hang gliding, and I all agreed
to use aviation terms for the sport. Nautical terms were
being used at the time, because the wings were made by sail
makers. But hang gliders are flying devices, and we wanted
to be part of the aviation community.
For 13 years, I was on the board of directors of the US
Parachute Association, serving as chairman of the board.
During that time, I observed that we were getting more
accomplished on the board because we had broken the
discussion subjects down into committees. So I set up the
committee system for the Hang Gliding Association. This

is why many of the committees in each association have the
same names. I helped USHGA apply for membership in the
National Aeronautic Association, the aeroclub of the United
States.
In 1974 and 1975, I judged the Cypress Gardens
Tow-launch Kite Championships. In 1975, I served on
the competition jury at the first Alpine Hang Gliding
Championships in Austria.
Then I was sent to Paris to take part in the inaugural meeting of the CIVL, part of FAI (now relocated to
Switzerland). Because everybody knew me through my
books and because I represented the United States, I was
elected president of the CIVL. I knew everyone internationally, and more important, every international hang glider
pilot knew me. I went to competitions in Austria, the UK,
South Africa, and other exotic places.
Back in the US, at a board meeting, I made a motion to
establish lifetime memberships. The board voted approval
and came up with a figure, probably $250. (That was a lot of
money at the time.) At that point, I wrote out a check and
handed it to the Executive Director, making me USHPA
Lifetime Member number 1.
So far, I have written 133 books. The hang gliding books
came along at the right time, sold well, and enabled me to
move back to California and buy a house on a hill in Santa
Barbara. In addition, the books are credited with helping the
sport grow and guiding it in the right direction. As a pilot
and skydiver, it has been an honor to be in on the ground
floor of hang gliding and to help with its initial growth.

Ken de Russy USHPA #5114 (Lifetime)
Growing up, I was unremarkable athletically and academically. In 1973, age 25 and fresh out of Vietnam, I saw hang
gliding for the first time. I had zero on my resume and
nothing at all in my life that gave me a sense of self-worth.
My brother, a notorious liar, told me people were jumping off
cliffs while holding a big kite. I didn’t believe him, but I had
to see for myself.
When I saw those guys hang gliding, I thought it was
breathtaking, otherworldly and exciting. I’d never heard or
seen anything about it before that day, and I immediately
wanted to try it. A few weeks later, I did get to try. I kept
having a good flight and then another good flight and another. It’s as if I had been given a magic carpet. I was utterly
infatuated, and nothing else mattered more or was more life

ABOVE Dan Poynter on a foot-launched Barish Sailwing. RIGHT Miles Fagerlie in 1975 at Merriam Crater
near Flagstaff, Arizona, on a 17-foot standard Papillion made in 1974 by the long-defunct company, US Hang
Gliders Inc. The purchase price at that time was $395 including the swing-seat harness and a day of lessons.

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HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE