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PETE:
I have some excellent original Super 8 footage (crudely digitized as well) of
my own design "Flapjack" ( a modified Bamboo
Butterfly) flying circa 1974; both ground perspective and on-board footage.
PETE: Included are random
shots from Ant Hill (Bakersfield) flying.
I also have great rare footage of early Gossamer Condor and
the Gossamer Albatross flying here at Shafter. Also I've
some rare footage of Taras Kiceniuk's HPA-1 Ground Effect Pedal
Plane flying with both Bryan ______ and myself at the controls.
LARRY: That sounds interesting.
Let me know if you upload it to YouTube.
PETE Back to hang
gliding here in Bakersfield in the early 70s...
I was one of a handful of people doing regular flying here, but since I was
fairly reclusive up here in Bakersfield, I never got into the Los Angeles
hang gliding scene and I remained a virtual unknown. I put hundreds of
successful flights on the Flapjack and even flew it from "the 500" in
the 4th Montgomery meet at Escape Country. Like I said,
I still have it
and it is still [somewhat] airworthy and is a great attraction at vintage
meets. The picture of it on the Windsports page is at "Library" then
"Dockweiler reunion", then "Black Batso".
[See:
The Black Batso" photo of Pete with a glider he made c. 1974 but flew again
in 2000 at the Windsports reunion.]
PETE I don't think I
know Keith but of course I knew Jack Lambie from the Gossamer Condor
project. Then I met Mark a few years ago while giving O-rides for the CAP
in their 2-33. He came up for a "senior ride day". He was a lot
different than his late brother.
LARRY: I never met Mark.
I understand he is/was an FAA controller.
PETE Well, please feel
free to call me or have Bill call if my footage can be included.
PETE Thanks Larry,
PETE Pete Plumb
PETE 661-391-9464
PS: I've attached a bit of
history for you.
Larry Dighera
wrote:
LARRY: Dear Pete,
Thank you for your note.
My comments in-line below:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 08:18:39 -0800 (PST), you wrote
PETE: I stumbled on to your
footage yesterday through a hang gliding group.
I just want to THANK YOU very much for posting it. Is this your
personal home movie?
LARRY: The footage was
taken by my father, and digitized by Bill Liscomb
(Bill and his Hang Loose are in one scene too) for his nearly
completed hang gliding documentary production. I'm the mustachioed
pilot in the orange and navy polo tee shirt. The blond haired pilot
of the same "Stars and Stripes" Hang Loose glider, was my CFI at the
time, Keith Lindsay who went on as an occasional tow pilot at El Mirage...
There's a good description of the meet here:
PETE: The National Geograghic article
about this meet was my first
exposure to hang gliding
LARRY: In the first scene you'll
see me with a shutter release taped to my
hand, and the National Geographic photographer taking exposure
readings, but the shots didn't make the NG story.
PETE: and was ultimately
responsible for shaping my life! I was 14 and
had just soloed in sailplanes at Holiday Haven in Tehachapi when
the article came out.
LARRY: That's interesting.
I received my Airman's Certificate (Private ASEL)
on October 31, 1970, and was soaring with the Southern California
Soaring Society about the same time the film was taken. It was
Leonard Sharp, then SCSA president, who introduced me to soaring by
sparking my interest in Jack and Mark Lambie's Hang Loose plans
available very reasonably. Keith and I built is over a few weekends
and evenings; I was able to get an eight second flight that day, and
Keith did 12 seconds.
While Taras and Batso were the stars of the meet, the true wizard was
the late former editor of
Soaring magazine, Richard
Miller (Author of
Without Visible Means of Support)
and his Conduit Condor
monoplane,
(and his co-builder/designer Bruce Carmichael). You can see him
flying it in one or two scenes. There's a photo here:
http://energykitesystems.net/hgh/images/RichardMillerConduitCondor1971May23.jpg
PETE: This form of flying really
excited me because now I could
fly cheap and didn't need my mom to take me all the way to
Tehachapi to fly. Taras became a "rock star" hero to me
LARRY: Taras' follow-on flying
wing designs were inspiring, and along with
the late Bob Lovejoy's design did much to propel the hang gliding
movement forward in the early '70s.
PETE: and soon ordered a set of "Bat
Glider" plans from a guy in Texas
(turns out this was a rip-off of the Bamboo Butterfly).
As I recall, the original designer was Francis Rogallo under a NASA
contract.
PETE: A couple of buddies and I
built one in High School shop class.
That glider eventually evolved into my own design and I still
have it today (and is still airworthy..see 2000 Dockweiler
Reunion on Windsports' web.
LARRY: Would that be this
page:
http://windsports.com/reunion_picts/index.htm I've
got a lot of 35mm slides I took at that site over the years. Some day
I'll have to dig them out and make them available to the public.
PETE: Gotta go, but
thanks again, Larry!
Pete Plumb
Wood
Wing Specialty
661-391-9464
LARRY: Thank you for sharing your
experiences.
Best regards,
Larry
Dighera
CC: Will Liscomb
[and now Larry sent a copy to
editor@hanggliderhistory.com for use in HangGliderHistory.com ]
Copyright © 2008 by
Larry Dighera and Pete Plumb |