Every year HPAC/ACVL honors pilot members, landowners, long-term volunteers to our sport and others who have contributed to the sport of hang gliding and paragliding. The awards can be found here (PDF).
Please help HPAC/ACVL recognize the major contributions of service to our sport. Please send your nominations together with a short blurb outlining the contributions of your nominee to the Office no later than March 1, 2022.
In 2020, the H3/P3 rating prerequisites were changed to require H3/P3 pilots to have passed the HAGAR exam. This requirement was added to recognize that as pilots move into this stage their XC flying becomes more ambitious, with increasing responsibility to stay both safe and legal. Even at well- established sites, knowing and understanding the relevant airspace limitations, as well as being able to access Class E airspace, can be critical.
Read MoreRandy Rauck has been appointed as the newest Senior Instructor of HPAC/ACVL by the Board of Directors at its recent December 2021 virtual meeting. Randy has a long history in the sport and is the owner/operator of the Lumby Flight Park in Lumby BC, which offers instruction in both hang gliding and paragliding.
By Will Gadd
Many of our members have at one time or another been to the legendary flying site Point of the Mountain. Here is an update on a new development going in at the base of the mountain and how the flying community and developers are working together to maintain the best of what is the Point of the Mountain Flight Park.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8qfGRUw_sM
By Will Gadd, Paraglider Pilot, Red Bull Athlete;
and introduction by Randy Parkin, HPAC/ACVL Alberta Director and Vice-President HPAC/ACVL
By Bastien Dufour, Quebec Director, HPAC Board.
Recipients of the 2021 Safety Award and the Domagoj Juretic Leadership Award have been presented their awards by Bastien Dufour, Quebec Director of HPAC.
Mark Dowsett in Ontario and Kevin Fischer in Alberta have both achieved their TII status.
Mark Dowsett is a Senior Hang Gliding Instructor in Kitchener, Ontario, and Kevin Fischer is a Hang Gliding Instructor just west of Red Deer, Alberta. Congratulations to both of these veteran instructors.
Jacqualyn Pichette of Lumby BC has been named the new Chair of the HPAC Safety Committee by the Board of Directors. She will be joined by a number of pilots from across Canada. More information about the Committee, its members and its work will be published in the next newsletter.
By Robert Vandenbegine, Chair of HPAC Competition Committee
In the previous article (Has competition changed the way I fly cross-country?), I mentioned the advantages of flying in a group, so here I’ll talk about instruments and show how through competition, I was forced to learn and master certain features. A good pilot with a good wing will be less efficient in flight if he does not master his instruments.
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