(This article was written last week.)

First of all it is great to see that Terry and Chris were willing to put on a
competition and guarantee $10,000 prize money in open class. Then Terry got JZ
to put up $5,000 for sport class and I thought that that was great. Terry and I
had many many discussions about running a competition last year before he made
the final decision and Terry was in contact with me repeatedly since last
October when the submission went to the USHPA competition committee right up to
the start of the competition. He very much wanted me to come to competition.

In addition, I mentored Timothy Ettridge on scoring with the FS system (I've
used it a number of times previously) and then I helped him throughout the
competition as issues arose.

What I want to make perfectly clear is that I have done everything that I could
to help Terry with this competition.

When Terry first proposed the competition at Dinosaur I was skeptical. I had
flown there at the Nationals in 1990 (http:/ozreport.com/docs/Cloudsuck2.pdf)
and 1993 and knew that the monsoonal season brought cu-nimbs, lightning, rain,
and 18,000'+ cloudbases. Terry was proposing to do it later in the summer,
assuming that the monsoons had passed.

Still while Terry very much liked Dinosaur, I did not. I didn't like the right
most launch. I didn't like the iffy launch conditions that often happen at
hill-side launches. I didn't like having to bundle up for the very cold
temperatures at 18,000'. I didn't like having to carry oxygen (although I love
the stuff and would even start it at 8,000'). I did not like the long drive to
launch. The town completely sucked.

Since the late 90's starting with the competitions in Hearne, Texas I had seen
the great advantages of having major competitions in lower elevations over flat
lands. Texas has the best and most consistent summer flying weather in the
country. While aerotowing is required to get pilots high enough to start
competing, the rewards after the tow can't be matched any where else.

With the advent of major competitions in Texas, Florida, then Georgia, Maryland,
and Arizona, the US hang gliding competitions had definitely changed, in my
estimation for the better. By far the better. Less drastic temperature
differences between launch and cloud base. Smoother air. Easier retrieval. Safer
conditions. More comfortable clothing in the harness. No need for oxygen. Nicer
feel for the control bar with thin gloves. Safer and more consistent launch
conditions. The ability to launch in any direction. Many more flying days per
competition. Just an overall better flying experience. (Should I add my
specialty, flying barefoot.)

Of course, we gave up some of the spectacular western scenery. The sense of
daring do that comes from foot launching in iffy situations. The search for
appropriate landing areas near passable roads. And the excitement of landing in
extreme conditions. We were real cowboys then.

Despite my significant misgivings I completely supported Terry in his efforts
running at no cost his ad in the Oz Report. Publishing his many articles.
Mentoring him time after time with my advice on issues too numerous to count. I
also helped Tim with the scoring.

Perhaps I have done a disservice to the competition hang gliding community by
keeping my misgivings to myself and not trying to discourage Terry (it seemed
like that would have not done any good, anyway). I feel that we have evolved and
what Terry was trying to do was a throwback to an era that we needed to get
over. I felt that it was absolutely the wrong thing to do, but was more than
willing to let pilots prove me wrong by signing up in droves to attend and
support the type of competition that they wanted. They didn't.

This year we had relatively poor weather in Big Spring. We flew eight out of
eight days. Next week we'll fly in Casa Grande, a site with weak to moderate
lift conditions (unless we make it to the mountains). We fly in Maryland, a site
with weak to moderate lift conditions (and poor conditions this year) and we fly
there because it is fun and Highland Aerosports has a flight park there and they
put on the competition. We have moderate to good conditions in Florida and
Georgia. We expect great conditions again in Big Spring in 2016. We should have
more competitions in Texas, that is where the flying is by far the best.

Thanks again to Terry, Chris and JZ for your contributions to the sport. We need
all the enthusiasm that we can muster.