Old Hang Gliding Photos

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The photographs on these pages (see links below) were taken in the years after I first got into Hang Gliding.  In 1974 a syndicate of us (Alan MacKeller, Alf Beckett, Maurice ?, John Miller and myself) bought a second hand, home made Skyhook IIIA Rogallo with a very tired sail (2oz rip-stop nylon!).  This effectively wouldn't fly (see first photos from 1975 taken at Coxley).  After eventually repairing the sail we made some successful, ground-skimming flights on it.  After that we made ourselves another Skyhook IIIA, this time with decent 4 oz polyester sailcloth.  I had my first soaring flight on this in Feb 1976.  However basic Rogallo design was soon overtaken by 2GL wing technology, and so in mid 1976 John Burgesss and I bought a proper Geoff McBroom factory-made Cobra, second hand from Ray Willis (later to become the Variometer guy).  This was followed by a McBroom Lynx.

In parallel to this I jwas a founder member of the Avon Rogallo Club.  This quickly expanded and soon transmogrified into the Avon Hang Gliding Club.  I also joined one of the two national organisations, the British Kite Soaring Association (BKSA).  This was subsumed into the British Hang Gliding Association at a meeting of flyers held at at the NEC, Birmingham.

Photographs

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