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Mark G. Forbes Corvallis, Oregon writes:

I wanted to get the word out to folks about the Hang-On HG competition coming up in Lakeview this summer, at the end of July. At present, there are only seventeen pilots signed up for it, and that's pathetic!

We hear whining about how we ought to have regional competitions. I heard complaints from hang glider pilots about how they weren't allowed to enter the Rat Race. (Guys, it's a *paragliding* competition. Get a clue!) So this year Mike and Gail Haley organized a Rat Race-style competition in Lakeview, just for hang glider pilots. And so far, hardly anybody's bothered to sign up.

It's time to put up or shut up, people. I'm signed up, and I'm not a comp guy. In fact, I'm going to have to get down to Lakeview a couple days early to get my cross country and Turbulence special skills signed off, because I don't have them yet. I'm just a weekend H3/P2 pilot with a Discus, and it sounds like fun to fly with some big dogs and maybe go farther than I've ever gone before. (Which is a whole twelve miles.) If I can do this, as an engineer/desk jockey, surely some hot-shot hang glider pilots could come out and show me how it's done! Heck, if the turnout doesn't get any better than this, I could go home with a trophy! There's something fundamentally wrong with that.

I agree that we need more regional competitions. If pilots won't bother to show up for them, there's no chance that meet organizers will risk the money and time investment to put them on. Mike and Gail have a good turnout for the Rat Race and the VIP paraglider comp in Lakeview, so it's not them or the location. If HG pilots want to have regional comps, then they need to get off their butts and show up.

It's your choice. Show Mike and Gail this is worth doing, or let it die. You decide.

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