[Neil Larson]

Hang Glider Flight at Torrey Pines
History and Records

Some hang glider/paraglider history at Torrey Pines
Adopted from notes by Don Betts and Gary Fogel



Bill Bennett becomes the first pilot to launch a hang glider from the top of the cliffs at Torrey Pines, to a landing on Black’s Beach.
1970?


Bob Wills becomes the first hang glider pilot to launch from the top of the cliffs at Torrey Pines and land successfully back on the top of the ridge.
July 2, 1972


Taras Kiceniuk, Jr. soared his own design “Icarus” bi-plane rigid wing hang glider at Torrey Pines for 1 hour 11 minutes, breaking the existing world record for hang glider endurance of 1 hour 4 minutes set by Dave Kilbourne at Mission Ridge, California in 1971.
1972


Taras Kiceniuk, Jr. breaks his own world record for hang glider endurance with a flight of 2 hours, 26 minutes at Torrey Pines.
1973


Bob Wills establishes a new world record for hang glider endurance with a flight of 3 hours, 3 minutes at Torrey Pines.
1973


Mike Mitchell establishes a new world record for hang glider endurance with a flight of 3 hours, 45 minutes at Torrey Pines.
1973


Ultralight Flyers Organization (UFO) formed and holds the first meeting at the home of Bob Fronius. Later, the UFO changed its name to the San Diego Hang Gliding Association, Inc., which later became the San Diego Hang Gliding/Paraglider Association, Inc.
1976


The UFO gets a permit from the City of San Diego to regulate hang gliding at Torrey Pines.
1978


The UFO loses insurance policy and relinquishes Torrey Pines permit to the City of San Diego
May 28, 1978


Hang gliding resumes at Torrey Pines under permit granted to the newly formed Torrey Pines Hang Gliding Association (TPHGA incorporated Jan. 25, 1989).
April 21, 1980


Bill Lemon sets the existing endurance soaring record for hang gliding at Torrey Pines with a flight of 12 hours, 12 minutes using an Electra Flyer “Olympus” hang glider.
1980?


Flight Realities, a hang glider concession owned by Steve Hawxhurst receives the first permit by the City to operate a concession at Torrey Pines in exchange for providing an on site flight director.


Mid-1980s
The first paragliders take flight at the Torrey Pines Gliderport.

[WTL]

I'm relatively new to US Hawks and don't mean to nit-pick, however in the spirit of accuracy I will throw my hat into the ring.
The Bill who holds the current duration record at Torrey Pines spells his name Lemen not Lemon.
Also, I am very aware that the common vernacular used in the hang gliding community for lengthy continual flights is "endurance", however, a old friend of my named Bill Armstrong, used to insist that the records weren't endurance, they were duration records.
I tend to agree with him so I've added two dictionary definitions for your consumption.

en·dur·ance.

[enˈd(y)o͝orəns]

NOUN

1.the fact or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way:
"she was close to the limit of her endurance"

synonyms: toleration · tolerance · sufferance · forbearance · patience

On the other hand, I believe the the following describes the extended usage of the glider in flight with a more accurate representation.

du·ra·tion.

[d(y)o͝orˈāSHən]

NOUN

1.the time during which something continues:
"the subway stop has been closed for the duration of the convention"

synonyms: full length · time · time span · time scale · period · term · span

In no way is this post meant to demean or chastise the author of the original post, it's just a suggestion for a couple of slight changes.

[Rick Masters]

Thanks for the spelling correction for Lemen.
The first week of September 1973 had some pretty steady onshore winds on Oahu, Hawaii, and along the southern California coast.
Bob Wills was reported to have flown 5 hours and 6 minutes at Waimanalo on the 1st.
Pat Conniry was reported to have soared a Seagull III for 5 hours and 21 minutes at Buff's Cove in Palos Verdes on the 3rd.
These were both unofficial world's records for endurance, er..., duration.

I've always looked at it as
--duration - when you fly for a long time without landing.
--endurance - when you fly for a long time without landing and have to pee.
--durination - Look! It's raining!

The weather phenomenon of durination condensation may have first been observed at Torrey Pines. I remember Bill Liscomb telling me about guys in the very early days strapping 6-packs of beer to the downtubes of their standard Rogallos and staying up all afternoon. Bill also said he was always able to stay above them in his early Quicksilver -- which was good.

[Bob Kuczewski]

--durination - Look! It's raining!

I'm relatively new to US Hawks and don't mean to nit-pick, however in the spirit of accuracy I will throw my hat into the ring.

We're all about helping each other out, so your corrections are surely welcome!!!

It would be nice if parts of this forum were more of a "wiki", and I'm hoping to add that in the future (Rick's been asking for that for a while now, and I'm sorry I haven't gotten to it yet). If we did have a real wiki, then you could just correct the spelling and anything else you find wrong. If Neil didn't like it, he could correct it back. The history might show a "tug of war" in some cases until a moderator stepped in.

But since we don't have a wiki, corrections like these generally need to be approved by the original author before they can be made. I'll send a PM to Neil to see if he's OK with your suggestions, and then I'll correct them.

Speaking of Bill's, do you know Bill Armstrong? He's been a great friend to the Torrey Hawks for many years now, and he's got a passion to restore the old "Bennett Bunny Hill" to an active training site. I think that would be a huge improvement to the hang gliding community in San Diego, and I appreciate his enthusiasm for it.

Thanks for posting, and please don't be shy about "nit-picking". It's one of the most important things our members can do right now!!!