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What’s new

See also What’s new in Hang Gliding History, a separate web site to which I moved applicable pages from here in March 2020.

• January 12^th 2021: Added an annotated aerial photo taken in 1953 to Eye in the sky in On the hill part 2: North, east, and west. It hopefully helps illustrate the geography of the airport, Ramsdown Hill, Backwater junction, and St. Catherine’s Hill.
• January 10^th 2021: Split On the hill (St. Catherine’s Hill, Christchurch, Dorset, UK) into On the hill part 1: South and central and On the hill part 2: North, east, and west and I added eight photos in a new sub-section Ramsdown Hill in the latter page
• January 9^th 2021: Added new section Old firing range in On the hill (St. Catherine’s Hill, Christchurch, Dorset, UK) and replaced many of my photos with better ones in New Zealand army engineers on the hill, 1918, which I also restructured
• January 7^th 2021: Made the Plastic models menu more comprehensive and rewrote the Plastic models — miscellaneous land vehicles page
• January 3^rd 2021: New page 1/48^th scale flight test A-4M Skyhawk
• December 25^th 2020:
  • New page Year of the Gryphon: Painting in acrylic on canvas of the Miles Wings Gryphon mark 1 of 1976
  • Added a new photo to Miscellaneous photos, home 2
• December 18^th 2020: Added satellite images to On the hill (St. Catherine’s Hill, Christchurch, Dorset, UK) and New Zealand army engineers on the hill, 1918
• December 14^th 2020: New page New Zealand army engineers on the hill, 1918 (St. Catherine’s Hill, Christchurch, Hampshire/Dorset then and now)
• December 12^th 2020: Added three new photos to Miscellaneous photos, home 2
• November 30^th 2020: Added some photos taken in the early- and mid-1970s to On the hill
• November 29^th 2020: Seventeen photos added to On the hill (some replace earlier photos)
• November 27^th 2020: New page Flight of the Phoenix, my painting of the Bennett Phoenix VI of 1975
• November 20^th 2020: New page Painting the SST 90
• November 15^th 2020: Added a new photo to Christchurch: Convent Walk, priory and grounds
• November 7^th 2020: Added my fourth new painting to Painted history of hang glider design
• October 23^rd 2020, re-organized the virtual tour of Christchurch, Dorset, UK, adding an extra page and adding some new photos:
  • Christchurch: Bargates, High Street, and Castle Street
  • Christchurch: Convent Walk, priory and grounds
  • Christchurch: Quay and Church Street
  • Christchurch: Purewell and Somerford
• October 21^st 2020: Added diagrams and text to help describe the pitch control problem I encountered in my tailed flex-wing under Experimental in Three-sixty degree appraisal (hang gliding 1976)
• October 15^th 2020: Added my third new painting to Painted history of hang glider design along with a sub-page about it: Painting the Eagle III
• October 14^th 2020: Added some new photos to Miscellaneous photos, Christchurch part 1 and part 2
• October 12^th 2020: Added three new photos to Cynthia (one replaces an earlier photo)
• October 11^th 2020: Added two new photos to Miscellaneous photos, home 2
• October 7^th 2020: New page Desert Spitfire, my second Airfix 1/48^th scale Spitfire Mk Vb
• October 5^th 2020:
  • Added a new photo (well, two similar photos) of Rebecca to mark the start of her twentieth year. As far as I know, she is the oldest ‘living’ Realdoll.
  • Added two new photos to Miscellaneous photos, Christchurch part 2
• September 27^th 2020: Added a handful of new photos to Miscellaneous photos, Christchurch part 1 and part 2, some of them replacing earlier photos
• September 25^th 2020: Added another new painting to Painted history of hang glider design
• September 20^th 2020: Added a new painting (my first since 1984 or 85!) to Painted history of hang glider design
• September 19^th 2020: Sea Vixen added to Plastic models contemporary with Vietnam
• September 6^th 2020:
  • Six new photos added to Hang gliding 2020
  • Added new photo to Miscellaneous photos 2
• August 31^st 2020: My fifth rear hub on the Nukeproof Scout seized. See New rear wheel and more broken hubs in MTB.
• August 29^th 2020: Added four new photos to Miscellaneous photos, Christchurch part 1
• August 27^th 2020: Split Miscellaneous photos, home into Miscellaneous photos, home and Miscellaneous photos, home 2, adding three photos to the latter
• August 25^th 2020: Added two new photos to Miscellaneous photos, Christchurch part 1
• August 19^th 2020: New page Vietnam Super Sabre, Esci 1/72^nd scale North American F-100
• August 17^th 2020: Added another photo to War to end all wars part 1 and some external links both to that page and to part 2
• August 15^th 2020: For the 75^th anniversary of VJ Day, I added two new pages in Life-size dolls: War to end all wars part 1 and part 2, each containing mostly photos on other pages, but also some unique photos.
• August 13^th 2020:
  • Added a photo of the pilot of a World War 2 Short Stirling bomber to Hang gliding 2018 part 2
  • Added two photos to Viva Protar, my Protar 1/9^th scale Montesa Cota 247 trials bike
  • Added two new photos to Miscellaneous photos, Christchurch part 1
  • Added a new photo to Defying Newton, powered ultralight operations at Newton Peveril in Dorset, England
• August 7^th 2020: Added a photo of a 1/24^th scale model to help illustrate Cruising for a bruising in Hang gliding 1975
• July 23^rd 2020: Split Selected hang gliding photographs into part 1 and part 2, adding some from June 2020 to the latter
• July 22^nd 2020: Added new photos to Miscellaneous photos, Christchurch part 1 and part 2, some of them replacing earlier photos
• July 19^th 2020: Added two photos to Miscellaneous photos, home
• July 18^th 2020: Two new photos added to Early Corsair: Tamiya 1/48^th scale Chance Vought F4U Corsair
• July 17^th 2020: Four new photos added to Hang gliding 2020
• July 13^th 2020: New page Early Corsair: Tamiya 1/48^th scale Chance Vought F4U Corsair
• July 9^th 2020: Added two photos to Miscellaneous photos, home
• July 1^st 2020: Added two photos and associated info to About the author
• June 29^th 2020: New page Miscellaneous photos, Christchurch part 3; Purewell
• June 26^th 2020: Added photos from 1996 to Miscellaneous photos, Christchurch part 1 and Miscellaneous photos, Christchurch part 2
• June 25^th 2020: Added photos, some new and some from 2018 and 2019, to Miscellaneous photos, Christchurch part 1 and Miscellaneous photos, Christchurch part 2
• June 22^nd 2020: Split Miscellaneous photos, Christchurch into part 1 and part 2, adding new photos to both
• June 21^st 2020: Three photos added to Miscellaneous photos, Christchurch part 1
• June 15^th 2020: New page Hang gliding 2020
• June 13^th 2020: Photo of Sharon from 2016 added to Eleanor and Sharon
• June 11^th 2020:
  • New photo of Eleanor in Eleanor and Sharon
  • New photo of Angela in Angela, Greta, and Karen
• June 7^th 2020: Four photos added to Miscellaneous photos, Christchurch including one of my new camera (taken with my old camera)
• May 30^th 2020: More photos added to On the hill, (some replace earlier photos)
• May 21^st 2020: New page On the hill
• May 9^th 2020: Added more to UP is where it’s at, 1/24^th scale scratch built standard Rogallo hang gliders
• May 4^th 2020: New page UP is where it’s at, 1/24^th scale scratch built standard Rogallo hang gliders. Contains some photos moved from Doing the Samba.
• May 3^rd 2020: Added a second scratch-built hang glider to the Revell 1/24^th scale Volkswagen Samba bus in Doing the Samba. Subsequently moved to new page UP is where it’s at, 1/24^th scale scratch built standard Rogallo hang gliders.
• May 2^nd 2020: New page Miscellaneous photos, home
• May 1^st 2020: New page Miscellaneous photos 4, Christchurch
• April 23^rd 2020: Added the first scratch-built hang glider to the Revell 1/24^th scale Volkswagen Samba bus in Doing the Samba. Subsequently moved to new page UP is where it’s at, 1/24^th scale scratch built standard Rogallo hang gliders.
• April 21^st 2020: Added roof bars to the Revell 1/24^th scale Volkswagen Samba bus in Doing the Samba
• April 19^th 2020: New page Doing the Samba — Revell 1/24^th scale Volkswagen Samba bus with Hasegawa and Masterbox people and scratch-built hang glider
• April 3^rd 2020: New page Moose Jaw Hawk: Airfix 1/48^th scale BAe Hawk 100
• March 29^th 2020: Copied the hang gliding history pages to a new web site: History of hang gliding. Updates will be announced on its own What’s new page.
• March 25^th 2020:
  • New page Cronk works, about hang glider designer and test pilot Dave Cronk, who was also the first ever world champion (1975)
  • Added more to Torrance Beach
• March 23^rd 2020: New page Revell 1/12^th scale 250cc Yamaha MX bike
• March 19^th 2020: New page Torrance Beach
• March 18^th 2020: Added a photo (long overdue) of a Sky Sports LARK to Flying squad, a short history of the east coast U.S. hang glider manufacturer Sky Sports
• March 17^th 2020: New related topics menu Seagull Aircraft of Santa Monica, California. In addition, over the preceding several weeks I added more images to many 1970s pages. See Hang gliding (menu).
• March 15^th 2020: New page Rogallo wing definitions and diagrams
• March 12^th 2020: Updated Hang gliding preparation with a new CANP procedure (an online form) — see under Additional things to do the day before you fly on weekdays
• March 8^th 2020: New page Phantom over Vietnam: John Trotti’s F-4 in 1/48^th scale
• March 6^th 2020: Added a photo of my model Vanguard rocket with a painting of an early hang glider behind it to both Space flight and hang gliding and to Rocket science (about the kit)
• March 3^rd & 4^th, 2020: Added more old photos to Early powered ultralights in Powered flight
• February 29^th, 2020: Added section Lace hooks in Dangers of hang gliding
• February 25^th, 2020: Added annotated version of the group photo in Annie Green Springs 1973 briefing photo key
• February 23^rd, 2020:
  • Split Hang gliding 1973 into Hang gliding 1973 part 1 and Hang gliding 1973 part 2
  • Moved School for perfection, about the Icarus 2 and 5, from Hang gliding 1974 part 3 to Hang gliding 1973 part 2
• February 18^th, 2020: Added a picture of the prototype Phoenix 8 of 1976 to For your eyes only in Three-sixty degree appraisal (hang gliding 1976)
• February 16^th, 2020: New section For your eyes only (it follows The man with the golden gun) in Three-sixty degree appraisal (hang gliding 1976)
• February 15^th, 2020: After learning of the death of Len Gabriels at age 93 on February 10^th, I added a couple of images of his 1983 Orion ultralight sailplane to Skyhook Sailwings.
• February 14^th, 2020: Added some images to Hang gliding mid 1980s
• February 12^th, 2020: New sub-section titled Provisional notes on the people in the photo in Annie Green Springs 1973 briefing photo key
• February 10^th, 2020 (my late mother’s 103^rd birthday): New picture under High-performance in Hang gliding 1974 part 2
• February 9^th, 2020: Moved yesterday’s Thermals close to the ground in wind from Hang gliding 1990 to 1993 to a separate page and I added more to it
• February 8^th, 2020:
  • Added more pictures to Hang gliding 1978 and 1979 part 3
  • Added an image under new section Sierra in Hang gliding early 1980s part 1
  • New related topics menu Hang glider sail painting
  • New section Thermals close to the ground in wind in Hang gliding 1990 to 1993
• February 7^th, 2020:
  • Hang gliding 1978 and 1979 part 1 is now followed by a new page, Hang gliding 1978 and 1979 part 2. The original part 2 is now Hang gliding 1978 and 1979 part 3. Added more pictures to each of those pages.
  • Added historical images to Emergency parachute in Hang gliding equipment
  • New related topics menu Photographers of early hang gliding
  • New page Copyright of early hang gliding photos about how and why I obtained them
• February 5^th & 6^th, 2020, added more pictures to the following:
  • Hang gliding before 1973
  • Hang gliding 1973 and new section Fun in the sun about the VJ-24
  • New page Annie Green Springs 1973 briefing photo key
  • Hang gliding 1974 part 1
  • Hang gliding 1974 part 2
  • Hang gliding 1974 part 3
  • Hang gliding 1975 part 1
  • Hang gliding 1975 part 2
  • New sections Variometer and Torrey Pines 1976 in Hang gliding 1976 part 1
  • Hang gliding 1976 part 2
  • Hang gliding 1977
  • Hang gliding 1978 and 1979 part 2
  • Flying squad, a short history of the east coast U.S. hang glider manufacturer Sky Sports
• February 4^th, 2020, added the following:
  • New section Quicksilver in Hang gliding before 1973
  • More pictures in Hang gliding 1973
  • More pictures in Hang gliding 1974 part 1
  • More pictures in Hang gliding 1974 part 2
  • More pictures in Hang gliding 1974 part 3
  • Hang gliding 1975 part 1
  • One more picture in Luff in the time of cholera
  • One more picture in Flying squad, a short history of the east coast U.S. hang glider manufacturer Sky Sports
• February 3^rd, 2020, added images to the following:
  • Hang gliding 1973
  • Hang gliding 1974 part 1
  • Hang gliding 1974 part 2
  • Hang gliding 1975 part 1
  • Hang gliding 1975 part 2
  • Hang gliding 1976 part 1
  • Hang gliding 1990 to 1993
  • Flying squad, a short history of the east coast U.S. hang glider manufacturer Sky Sports
• February 1^st, 2020:
  • Split Hang gliding 1973 and before into Hang gliding before 1973 and Hang gliding 1973, images having been added to both pages
  • Hang gliding 1974 part 1 is now followed by a new page, Hang gliding 1974 part 2. The original Hang gliding 1974 part 2 is now Hang gliding 1974 part 3.
• January 30^th, 2020:
  • New related topics page Lejair (Tony and Rona Webb) prompted by the shocking news of Rona’s death
  • Added images and text to Hang gliding 1976 part 2
• January 27^th, 2020, added images and text to the following:
  • Hang gliding 1973 and before
  • Powered flight
• January 25^th, 2020, added the following:
  • Cruising for a bruising in Hang gliding 1975, an anecdote about transporting a hang glider
  • High-performance in Hang gliding 1974 part 2 about Dick Eipper and the manufacturer Eipper-Formance
  • And I am in the bag flight in Paragliding, an example result of an early translation computer program stretched beyond its capability
• January 24^th, 2020: New hang gliding history related topics page Telluride, Colorado, linking to several newly uploaded images
• January 20^th, 2020: New page Document maintainability, a sub-page of Technical Writing and Programming
• January 10^th, 2020: Added section Hang gliding related topics pages to the Hang gliding menu, but I did not add any new material, although some is better arranged
• January 5^th, 2020: Added the story of the manufacturer Wills Wing to the following pages:
  • Hang gliding 1973 and before
  • Hang gliding 1976 part 2
  • Hang gliding 1977
  • Hang gliding 1990 to 1993
• December 24^th, 2019:
  • Added newly digitized photos to Hang gliding 1994 and 1995
  • Moved the info about Donnita Holland’s own design wing from Hang gliding 1974 part 2 to Hang gliding 1975 part 2. These dates are uncertain, but I make a comparison with the wing tips of the UP Dragonfly, so it goes well there.
• December 21^st, 2019: New page Miscellaneous photos 3, the 1960s
• December 19^th, 2019: Added more newly digitized slide transparencies to the following pages:
  • New page Hang gliding 1974, to which I also moved several photos from Hang gliding 1974 part 2
  • New page Hang gliding 1975, to which I moved several photos from Hang gliding 1975 part 1 (but no new photos added)
  • Kimmeridge Khmer Rouge
  • Three-sixty degree appraisal (hang gliding 1976)
  • Hang gliding 1996 and 1997
  • Hang gliding 2000 to 2003
• December 18^th, 2019: Added newly digitized slide transparencies to the following pages:
  • My return to hang gliding, 1989
  • Hang gliding 1990 to 1993
  • Hang gliding 1994 and 1995
• December 17^th, 2019: New page Paragliding continued, to which I moved paragliding photos previously included with my hang gliding pages
• December 16^th, 2019: In pursuance of the separation of church and state, I partly separated out my own photos from those taken by others. That change entailed expanding the Hang gliding main menu so it includes three sections instead of two. Now, you can read the history of hang gliding in general or my involvement in it, separately. (There is necessarily some overlap and duplication.)
• December 15^th, 2019: Added a photo of Tom Peghiny’s Eagle to Hang gliding 1978 and 1979 part 1
• December 14^th, 2019: Moved About the author to Miscellaneous
• December 11^th, 2019:
  • Added ATA girl Ann Welch
  • Added a safety warning, photo, and a link to a frightening video under Harness in Hang gliding equipment
  • Split Hang gliding 1976 into Hang gliding 1976 part 1 and Hang gliding 1976 part 2
  • Added two more images and some text to Hang gliding 1977
  • Added more advice under Hang waiting in Hang gliding preparation
• December 9^th, 2019: Added the following items:
  • More developments in Britain about the Miles Wings Gryphon in Hang gliding 1976 part 2 along with several links to contemporary photos by Roger Middleton
  • Appendix: Soar and surrender, a brief overview of a romantic novel by Maralys Wills (of Wills Wing) to Eagles among men
• December 7^th, 2019: Added two images to each of the following pages:
  • Hang gliding 1974 part 1
  • Hang gliding 1976 part 2
• December 2^nd, 2019: Added a photo of Dave Meyers in a Seagull 3 to Hang gliding 1973 and before. It is surely one of the clearest color hang gliding photos of the time.