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Grouse Mountain invitational 1984
Photographs by Jan Kulhavy at the 1984 World Invitational Hang Gliding Championships, Grouse Mountain, British Columbia
This page documents the 1984 World Invitational Hang Gliding Championships with photographs by Jan Kulhavy digitized at about the turn of the century. The event was held on July 18th to 22nd over a two-mile course at Grouse Mountain on the outskirts of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was sponsored by the photographic film manufacturer Kodak, who put up $10,000 in prize money.
The clutter at the center of the glider — where the pilot’s harness is attached — is a double French Connection. (The clutter in front of the glider’s nose is the chair lift up the mountain!) For more about that technology, see under From our house to bunkhaus in Hang gliding early 1980s part 2. Fortunately, hang glider design evolved sufficiently so that, about a year later, the need for such complex additions went away.
The strong lift and low cloudbase, combined with a moment’s loss of concentration resulted in a spectacular midair collision between John Duffy and Ian Huss.
— Rob Kells and Mike Meier (1)
I still remember one of the pilots asking the other to use his parachute.
— Jan Kulhavy (2)
The asymmetric combination of wreckage and parachutes caused it all to spin.
The gliders fell together under the two canopies, missing the tram cables by only 10 feet, and snagged in the top of a 100-foot pine tree. Fortunately, both pilots were unhurt.
— Rob Kells and Mike Meier (1)
The mountain tram was used in the rescue of the pilots.
Ian Huss was soon to become a member of a team that completed an extraordinary hang gliding adventure that gained positive publicity and resulted in a some historic and spectacular photographs. See Across the U.S.A. by hang glider in Hang gliding late 1980s.
See also Collisions in Dangers of hang gliding.
Pilots were launched one-on-one, had two pylons to race around, lift permitting, and then tried to stay in the air for a maximum of 70 minutes duration; normally not an easy task in the marginal lift typical of Grouse.
— Rob Kells and Mike Meier (1)
The glider on the right appears to be fitted with a speed rail to which the harness riser is attached near the control frame apex. Its purpose was to lighten pitch control forces. It was a simpler equivalent of the French connection mentioned earlier on this page.
In addition, the ‘flight deck’ mounted on the right control frame down-tube is fitted with an impeller that protrudes into the air-flow on a stalk to register airspeed. See Total energy compensation in Variometers for more.
This sequence of Barry Batman launching in an Airwave (UK) Magic demonstrates how the pilot gets into a cocoon harness, which was a refinement of the 1970s stirrup harness. Some pilots still (in 2020) use them because of their light weight and compactness when stored compared to modern pod harnesses.
The postage stamp field, bordered by tall trees, small trees, houses and a fence and backstop, and graced by typically shifting winds struck its usual chord of terror into the hearts of approching pilots.
— Rob Kells and Mike Meier (1)
The 1980 UP Comet was the first really successful double surface (enclosed cross-tubes) flex-wing hang glider and all modern flex-wings inherit its metaphoric DNA. See the Ultralight Products of California and Utah related topics menu.
…the remaining pilots packed their gear in the warm late afternoon sunlight. The city of Vancouver was shining, the ships in the bay swinging into the seabreeze.
— W.A. ‘Pork’ Roecker writing about an earlier year’s event (3)
Photographer
Jan Kulhavy, a tool and die maker by trade, was always interested in fine mechanics and optics and at the same time felt that life events should be recorded and preserved. At the age of 40 he started skydiving and shared his experiences with friend and co-worker Barry Batman, who is the subject of several photos on this page.
Related
Canada in Hang gliding mid 1980s, featuring another of Jan’s photos as well as one taken from the air at the same event by Rob Kells, and an external link to early hang gliders and powered ultralights in Canada
Photographers of early hang gliding
External link
Six years earlier… Grouse Mountain competition 1978: Names to Faces. The Challenge. Posted by Fred Wilson in 2014 on the Hanggliding.org forum, it attempts to identify the individuals in a group photo of about 70 top pilots from around the world. (Updated by this author in October 2020.)
References
1. Rob Kells and Mike Meier, Hang Gliding, September 1984
2. Photographer Jan Kulhavy describing the collision of John Duffy and Ian Huss via e-mail, July 2020
3. W.A. ‘Pork’ Roecker, Hang Gliding, September 1979
Hang Gliding History 
A great place to fly.
I flew there in the world championships back in the 70s.
Those photos remind me of those great flying days and the folks I was lucky enough to meet..
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