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Bay Area
Pilot Works to Open Foot-Launched Flying Sites When I
started paragliding in 1995 and was slogging up the training hill at one of our
local flight parks for a two or three minute sledder, I met another new pilot
named Gene Pfeiffer. Gene was kind of quiet, had a great sense of humor and
shared my beginner's enthusiasm for paragliding. Over the
past six years, Gene has not only become one of my best friends, but he has also
become a friend to many of the hang- and paragliding pilots in the Bay Area and
an active member of two of the Bay Area foot-launched flying clubs. Gene is a
native of the area that is now the Silicon Valley. He has been married for more
than 30 years and has three children and a grandchild. He is an avid hiker,
biker, cross country skier and fly-fisherman. Gene's work to open new flying
sites is greatly appreciated by those in our community. I thought that sharing
his story would inspire others to work to open new sites. Luckily, Gene agreed
to let me interview him for this article. Q: When did
you start flying paragliders? A: I took my
first paragliding lesson from Scott Amy in 1992, at the Funston Bowl, near San
Francisco. I took another lesson from Scott in 1993. I skipped 1994, but then I
got serious about paragliding in 1995 when my wife, Joann, gave me a great
Christmas present -- money for paragliding lessons, a paraglider and a harness.
Scott and his brother Steve had moved to Maui, so I went there for twelve days
in February and stayed at their house. It was flyable for eleven of the twelve
days and I returned to the Bay Area with my P2 rating. Q: Where and
how often do you fly? A: I don't
fly as often as I would like to. I usually fly twice a month, during our main
flying season, or about twenty hours a year. I mostly fly our local sites at Ed
Levin Park and Mission Peak near San Jose, California. We have a cabin near
Yosemite, California where we spend a lot of time. I developed a site, called
Anderson Flat, which is about twenty-five minutes from our cabin. I try to fly
there as often as I can. Q: What is
your favorite flying site? A: For
convenience, it is Mission Peak in Fremont, California. For challenge and
beautiful views, it is Anderson Flat. When I get up to about 8,000 feet, I can
see the bottom of Yosemite Valley and Half Dome. I've joined hawks in thermals
and together we soared the mountains. Q: How did
you initially pioneer Anderson Flat? A: Since I
spend so much time at the cabin with our family, I wanted to find a flying site
nearby. After about a year and a half of roaming the back roads near our cabin,
I found a site that looked promising. I was only a P2 at the time, so I wanted
some pilots with more experience to check out the site. I invited a group of
pilots from our local club, the Bay Area Paragliding Association (BAPA), to our
cabin on November 11th, 1997, to check out Anderson Flat. The first potential
launch and LZ that I showed them was not really very good for paragliding, and
some of them were ready to bail out to go flying in the Owens Valley. I talked
them into staying and checking out the other end of the valley, where I knew
there was a big meadow. They liked the meadow, except for the tall pines trees
surrounding it. We got back into our vehicles and started looking for a launch
site. There was a very experienced pilot, Johan Martenson, with me. As we were
driving up the mountain, Johan suggested that we check out a ridge in front of
us. I started hiking up one side of the ridge and Johan started hiking up the
other side. As soon as I reached the top of the ridge, I yelled
"Eureka!" I knew, even with my limited experience, that this was the
launch area. I could see the LZ directly in front of the launch site. (The
elevation is 5,400' MSL at launch and 3,400' MSL in the LZ.) We cleared
some of the scrub brush to make it a debatable P4-level launch. That afternoon,
Johan launched and immediately went up, as the rest of us cheered. Two other
experienced pilots also launched that day. The next day it was too windy to fly,
so we enlarged the launch area by clearing more of the dead wood from the launch
site. The area had a major fire in 1987, and there were many dead oak trees near
the launch area. Late that afternoon, the winds backed off and almost everyone
was able to fly. I had to leave early, but as I drove away I had a great feeling
of satisfaction as I saw many paragliders still in the air. Q: How did
you get permission to develop and maintain the site for foot-launched flying? A: That
winter, I contacted the National Forest Service for the area. I took the rangers
up and showed them what we wanted to do to improve the site. I gave them a
written letter explaining that we wanted to clear some dead trees, brush and
bear clover. They said that as long as we didn't plan any commercial operations,
no permit would be necessary. The Forest Service sent me a letter approving my
proposal. The next
spring, I invited members of BAPA to come up to our cabin for a work party, site
intro and fly-in at Anderson Flat. We had a good turnout, cleared more of the
launch area and had some good flying. For the next three years, I sent letters
to the Forest Service asking if we could expand the launch area and clear an
alternate LZ. With the help of BAPA members, the launch area is now much larger
and safer than it was originally. Q: Is the
site getting much use? A: We have
BAPA fly-ins each spring and fall, usually with twelve to fourteen pilots. In
between fly-ins, it is usually only flown by me and one other local pilot. I
wish more pilots would fly the site, but it is important to have a site intro to
safely fly there. We've kept the directions to the launch area off the Internet,
to encourage pilots to get a site intro before their first flight at Anderson
Flat. Q: Tell us
about your work for BAPA and Wings of Rogallo (WOR). Are you currently working
to open new sites? A: I enjoyed
opening the site at Anderson Flat, so I volunteered to be the Site Director for
BAPA in hope of opening more sites in the Bay Area. Then, WOR appointed me to be
the Chairperson of Site Acquisition. Since the population of the Bay Area is so
much greater than the Sierra Foothills, where Anderson Flat is located, the
regulations and restrictions regarding the use of pubic land for flying are also
much greater. Many of the county parks and open space districts in our area are
preparing new master plans for public use of their lands. This is good for the
free-flying community, as it give us a chance to give our input for flying in
the appropriate parks. The downside is, that with all of the required studies,
the process can take up to two years. One of our proposals will be to have the
county park district accept paragliding and hang gliding on the same basis as
hiking, biking, horse-back riding, etc. If accepted, this should make it easier
in the future to open new sites in the Santa Clara County Parks. We are
currently working on opening two new sites in Santa Clara County. Q: What
recommendations do you have for those who would like to develop new flying
sites? A: Find out
who owns or controls the flying site that you are interested in developing. If
the National Forest or the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) owns the land, then
the process is relatively simple. Set up a meeting with the superintendent of
the district. Explain where you want to develop your flying site and what you
want to do to develop it. Most likely, he or she will put you in contact with
the recreation officer in their office to work out the details. The National
Forest and the BLM are becoming more and more recreation-oriented. The process
is more-or-less the same for county parks, except that there are many more
regulations to deal with. The attitude that your contact has about paragliding
or hang gliding will have an impact on your success. A formal contract, with
insurance requirements, will usually be necessary. If the county parks are
redoing their master plans, you should plan to attend their public meetings. Q: What are
the biggest obstacles to developing new flying sites? A: Finding
flying sites is the first problem. When I was looking near Yosemite National
Park, I found many good launch areas, but poor landing areas. Or, I found good
landing areas, but poor or inaccessible launch areas. Finding both the launch
and the LZ at the same site is difficult. Working with the bureaucracy,
particularly in a large metropolitan area, can be very time consuming. A launch
site may be in an open space district, but the LZ may be in a county park. Q: Are you
optimistic about the potential to develop new foot launched flying sites in the
future? A: WOR is
the largest foot-launched flying club in the U.S., with 485 current members, and
BAPA has approximately 125 members. We have the resources to have our voices
heard. I am optimistic, but it will take time. Q: If you
could pick a place, anywhere in the world, to fly where would it be and why? A: I would like to fly my paraglider in Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. I have backpacked and hiked in most of the area and I would love to hike up and fly some of the mountains around there. Hopefully, in my lifetime, it will become legal to fly paragliders in Yosemite National Park. |
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