Shawn MacDuff <<macduff202>>
writes:

The Hyner Hang
Gliding Club, which merged with the Wind Riders HG Club a few years ago, is
celebrating their 35th anniversary this year. On a cold, February day back in
1975, Dennis Pagen and two other local pilots positioned picnic tables up to the
wall at Hyner View State Park for a makeshift runaway. Dennis opted to launch
first, thus making Hyner one of the oldest, continually flown sites on the East
Coast. We are having a low key fly-in over the 4th of July weekend to celebrate
this special occasion and everybody is invited to stop by and experience Mother
Hyner in all her glory.

Hyner View State Park, located in a sleepy part of central Pennsylvania (outside
State College) has become one of the most popular sites around. The Hyner Club
hosts five fly-ins every year (Easter, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day and
Ox Roast) and as far as we know, we are the only club that holds this many
events each year for the past 30+ years. Hyner is not only the highest site in
PA, it’s also one of the most accessible with hundreds of spectators getting as
close as they can to us during the weekend fly-ins.

With the west branch of the Susquehanna carving through the valley to provide a
beautiful backdrop to the site, Hyner’s topography challenges pilots to seek
altitude mostly through thermals with little ridge lift to fall back on. Simply
put, you have to be a good thermaling pilot to see the top of launch. However,
Hyner often magic later in the day providing mellow soaring conditions for those
patient enough to wait. The launch is about as easy as it gets and the LZ is
capable of handling a Cessna. A quick turnaround with paved roads makes it easy
to do multiply flights a day. The round shape of the mountain allows us to
launch in anything from a south to a north wind.

Besides the great flying and spectacular view, Hyner has become more famous for
what happens when the soaring has ended and the sun goes down. The
nearly 1,900’
long LZ is not only a great place to land, it provides thirty four acres of
tree-lined, shaded camping with very few neighbors, which allow us to celebrate
our post flight activities with very little restraint. It’s not uncommon for
pilots to come to Hyner simply for the nightlife and social scene and never even
take their glider off the roof.

So, bring your HG/PG, tent, kayak, bike, guitar, family or whatever else you’ll
need and we’ll take care of the rest. For more info, you can contact me at
<shawn>.