Flyfunston

!! 40 Years !!

The sport of hang gliding will effectively become 40 years old on May 23rd, 2011. That date will mark 40 years since the original "Otto Lilienthal Birthday Celebration" in Newport Beach back in 1971.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary, there will be a marker donated to the Newport Beach community around noon on May 23rd, 2011. Many of the remaining original participants will be there to tour the site - many for the first time in 40 years. I expect the telling of many stories as those founders of our sport walk the grounds where hang gliding burst onto the national scene.

This project has been underway since October of 2010, but it just became public through an article on the XC Magazine's web site at:

http://www.xcmag.com/2011/05/hang-gliding-turns-40/

Much of the work for this project was carried out by a small team of dedicated pilots. You can follow some of the original "behind the scenes" work on the "Otto Site Marker" forum at US Hawks:

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewforum.php.html?f=18

Thanks to everyone who contributed.

Unfortunately, May 23rd falls on a Monday this year, so it's not the best day for a good turnout. But if anyone is interested in attending, please follow the discussions at the US Hawks forum link listed above. As the date gets closer we'll be posting instructions on where to meet along with potential carpool information. The site is now a mostly residential area so we want to have a low impact footprint for the event. That means we won't be setting up any hang gliders ... or launching off anyone's roof!!

Whatever you do on that day, please remember all the pilots who gave their time, energy, and sometimes their lives to bring us the great sport that we have today!!

Bob Kuczewski
858-204-7499
[email protected]

Joe Faust is collecting stories from anyone who attended the Otto Lilienthal birthday celebration on May 23rd, 1971. You can post your memories of that event at:

http://energykitesystems.net/OttoMeet1971/attendees.html

These stories are being collected as a "Virtual Plaque" to accompany the physical plaque that will be dedicated on May 23rd, 2011.

If you were there, please take the time to tell your story. If you know of anyone else who was there, please let them know about this effort, and please encourage them to share their memories as well.

Thanks,
Bob Kuczewski