Michael Grisham <<magenta_blue_sky>>
writes:

There is an informal get-together picnic this Monday, May 23,
2011, 12 noon, at San Miguel Park (corner of San Miguel Drive and Sky Glass Hill
Road, Newport Beach, California) in honor of Otto Lilienthal’s 163rd Birthday
and the 40th anniversary of the Otto Lilienthal Hang Glider meet.

I heard about this though Ernest Feher, who was present at the original Otto
Lilienthal Meet. (Ernest will not be able to attend as he will be in China on
business.) He heard it from Frank Colver. The big deal is this is the 40th
anniversary and a plaque has been made up to commemorate the site of the “First
Hang Gliding Meet”. This is the start of getting this site recognized as a
historical place which was the genesis of modern hang gliding on May 23, 1971 as
far as meets and competitions go.

Strangely, the success of that meet was the dichotomy of personalities, age,
experience, and approaches to personal flight. Present that day, representing
the older engineer types were Irv Culver, Paul MacCready, Bruce Carmichael,
along with the experienced soaring pilots of Jack Lambie, Volmer Jensen, Richard
Miller, who were also adapt in mechanical skills in constructing flying craft
verses the presence of youthful exuberant teenagers who were naive enough and
nutty enough to be willing to fly those early contraptions.

Sadly the only one still with us of the older experienced group of that day is
Bruce Carmichael. The ethos of the analytical mind set has passed on to the
likes of Gary Osoba, Bob Trampenau, etc. The then youthful exuberant teenagers
are now reaching retirement age and many may not be with us at the 50th
anniversary of the Otto Lilienthal Meet. Putting personality differences aside,
there is no better time to commemorate this anniversary.

Concerning our previous messages, the following quote out of context seems
apropos:

“The foregoing is intended neither to be idle nor cynical commentary on modern
man; his methods, his morals and his manifestations are so rich in ironies and
contradictions that no contrived observations are necessary to illuminate them.
The material speaks for itself. If the reader doubts this, he need only acquaint
himself with history. Any history will do, his own as well as another’s.”

Richard Miller, Without Visible Means Of Support: “The foregoing is intended
neither to be idle nor cynical commentary on modern man; his methods, his morals
and his manifestations are so rich in ironies and contradictions that no
contrived observations are necessary to illuminate them. The material speaks for
itself. If the reader doubts this, he need only acquaint himself with history.
Any history will do, his own as well as another’s.”