The Roanoke Valley Hang Gliding Association was another pioneering group of hang glider pilots. By the early 80's they were very active in the Roanoke area, and had a number of sites very close by, including Montvale, Bonsack, 12 O'Clock Knob, Mason's Knob, Tinker Cliffs, and Roanoke Mountain. Tobacco Row was nearby, and RVHGA pilots also flew Big Walker and East River mountains. They were a very closely knit group, and made group decisions as to where to fly each weekend. Membership within the group was not automatic - you first had to fly and spend time with them, then be sponsored by a member, and finally, pass a member vote before you could become a member.
The RVHGA pilots had a defacto leader, William Wayne Richards, who was never called anything but "WW". He was their main instructor, glider repair guy, and a Region 9 USHGA Director.
Like the original Skywackers, they don't seem to have had much of a focus on record keeping. Any records, if they exist, are likely in the attics of pilots who have long since retired from the sport. There was talk that the RVHGA had once been a USHGA Chapter, but by the mid 80's, when your author (Richard Cobb) became a member of the club, there was no current Chapter status with USHPA. At a meeting in 1986 the 1986 Meeting Minutes state that a long lost copy of the Club Bylaws had been located, which allowed for reapplication (and subsequent approval) of USHGA Chapter status. Your author was the Secretary at that time.
In 1988 WW Richards retired from hang gliding and moved to Florida. Within a year nearly all RVHGA flying activity ceased, with only a few active pilots remaining. A retirement party was held for WW combined with a club meeting to change the name to Southwest Virginia Hang Gliding Association (paragliders were not yet flying, at least in SW Virginia), and rewrite the Bylaws. These changes are discussed in the Club Merger portion of this history.
Unless/until someone produces more info on the earlier years, this history will have to be confined to photos and descriptions of some of the sites that were flown regularly.
Locations of six of the sites flown by the RVHGA in the late 70's and early 80's (click to enlarge).
Approximate locations of the launches are in this RVHGA Site Coordinates GPX file which may be downloaded and displayed in Google Earth or other mapping application.
Important Notes:
The Montvale site was located at the head of Goose Creek Valley, near Montvale. It faced SW, which is a common wind direction for the area, and could handle some S cross fairly well, but a W component could provide sudden and unexpected turbulence from the Parkway ridge to the right.
The launch was very close to the Blue Ridge Parkway, but there was no access from the Parkway at the time. Instead access was via a terrifyingly steep road bull dozed up the end of the valley. Very few vehicles and/or drivers were capable of making it up the slope. One of the few vehicles that could make it was WW's Jeep Cherokee(?). It was so steep that your author watched the windshield washer fluid drain through the wiper lines onto the windshield(!). Even fewer people had the courage to drive down a slope that resembled a cliff.
In later years (the 1990's?) an access route was found from the Parkway and the old road abandoned.
If the wind had too much of a westerly component, the higher ridge on the West side of the valley could generate turbulence, often sudden and unexpected. Note the difference in the sail (and slack wires) on the UP Mosquito glider in the photos above and below. That sudden turbulence occurred on an otherwise normal flight.
The NW facing Bonsack site was located on the ridge to the East of the town of Bonsack. Unlike most sites, the launch was not located on the top of the ridge, but partway up, only a few hundred feet above the LZ. When the conditions were right, pilots could launch and climb above the ridge, otherwise, it was a short flight to the LZ.
The East facing launch on Roanoke Mountain was a popular site for many years. The launch was at the edge of the parking lot for a Roanoke Mountain Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which could become filled with spectators on a good flying day. The launch was a steep slope, with a 900 ft vertical 6:1 glide to the LZ, and no alternate closer LZ.
Located in an approach path to the Roanoke Airport, flights were supposed to be limited to 500 ft. In general, East wind conditions are not great for altitude gains, so it normally wasn't a limitation. A decreasing number of hang glider pilots, lack of maintenance, and lack of a suitable paraglider LZ caused the site use to decline. The eventual opening of Eagle Rock, which also takes East winds, but without the flight level or LZ restrictions, became the end of Roanoke Mt as an active site.
Mason's Knob is a peak located SW of Roanoke with a NE facing launch ramp. At 1600 ft it is higher than other sites in the Roanoke area. This is another site lost to development, with the launch ramp area inside of a gated community.
This West facing launch was a ramp in a gas pipeline slot, near Salem, with a 1600 ft vertical descent. It was visible to the East of I-81. Development filled any viable LZ's. The Roanoke Control Tower was supposed to be notified before flying there.
For a great story about opening Tobacco Row to flying, see Bo Frazier's Tobacco Row History (pdf)
Tobacco Row Mountain is an 1800 ft mountain located North of Lynchburg. It is unique in that it is located in a mostly flat area, East of the Blue Ridge range. It was opened in 1981 (see story above) and flown into the 1990's, with SE and NW launch ramps.
The SE site was lost when housing took over all viable LZ's. The NW site had only a couple of viable LZ's amidst wooded land, and these were closed because of landowner relations. Somewhat tenuous permission was revoked when a visiting pilot ignored some site restrictions.
In 1989 John Lane was the motivating person behind a complete rebuild of the ramp on the NW side. With a cast of thousands, this massive project was completed in a single day.
