Fancies in flight

Deirdre Newman

Every morning, gliders grace the air above the coastal plants of

Fairview Park. As the clouds drift by aimlessly, they provide a

picturesque backdrop for planes of various colors and sizes.

Members of the Harbor Soaring Society have been launching gliders

at the Costa Mesa park since 1972. Currently, there are about 100

members.

While the reasons for getting attached to the hobby are as varied

as the planes themselves, a common thread is the tranquil appeal of

the hobby.

“The nice thing about electric planes and gliders -- it’s a nice,

relaxing, peaceful thing to do,” said Troy Peterson, 27, who flies in

the morning and at sunset.

Society members are flying high these days after the City Council

agreed in December to allow them to continue using Fairview Park and

set aside a specific portion for them near Estancia High School.

LOVE FOR GLIDING

Karl Hawley, 59, has been flying gliders for nine years. His

interest evolved from the simple, but often overlooked pleasure of

looking up at the sky.

When he went to visit a nephew who worked in a hobby store, Hawley

spontaneously picked up a glider and decided to check out Fairview

Park.

“There was, geez, a whole field of just glider people,” Hawley

said. “There were 50 people out there.”

From interest and experience, he has become one of the licensed

club trainers.

“If people walk by, I ask them, ‘Do you want to learn how to

fly?’” Hawley said. “I have a buddy box -- a cable that hooks up to

my radio.”

For Ron DePinto, 72, an interest in gliders was a natural

progression from flying real airplanes after he lost sight in his

right eye. DePinto flew P-51 Mustang fighters during World War II. He

has eight planes varying from one motor to four, including a smaller

scale version of a de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth, which he flew in

England in the late ‘40s as a trainer for the Royal Air Force. He

also enjoys the bonding among his fellow gliders.

“It’s relaxing for me,” DePinto said. “It’s a great way to start

the day and [enjoy the] camaraderie of the other 12 to 14 people out

here.”

And Herb Hamber, 45, got hooked on the sport by accident.

He wanted to get his 14-year-old son off his video game console

and out into the fresh air, so he got some gliders for them.

After the first day of flying, his son was not enthused.

“He said, ‘Dad, you spend three minutes flying and then a week

repairing it. You don’t know how to fly. You crash it. It may be a

good sport for you,’” Hamber said.

So Hamber’s son went back to his video games and Hamber forged

ahead with his gliders.

“I think it’s fun,” Hamber said. “You spend time outside in a

park, a nice environment, with good people.”

THE ART OF FLYING

Two kinds of gliders are acceptable to fly at Fairview Park --

electric and sailplane gliders.

Hawley is partial to the sailplane gliders. These pose more of a

challenge since they require more control, he said.

“The electric [gliders] just go up, punch a hole in the sky and do

some aerobatics,” Hawley said. “It’s boring.”

Society members use a winch that the society owns to launch their

motorless gliders. The winch is made up of two 12-volt batteries

running to a 12-volt Ford starter motor with a spool attached. The

cord runs out 750 feet to a turnaround, then snakes back and hooks on

the bottom of the plane, like a kite. A foot pedal activates the

winch.

To launch, Hawley put his left arm back, shouted the word

“launching,” put his foot on the pedal and let his glider fly. It

quickly catapulted about 300 feet into the air. He kept control of it

with a radio transmitter.

Sailplane glider operators are constantly on the lookout for

thermals -- bursts of warm air that provide lift to airborne objects

-- even when they’re not flying their gliders.

Don Ramsay recounted the story of when he and another glider

operator were sitting in lawn chairs with their planes on the ground.

All of a sudden, a plastic bag that had been lying on the ground

started floating upward.

“We immediately launched our planes and followed the bag around,”

Ramsay said.

Peterson is partial to electric gliders.

“I like electric because they’re quiet, convenient, a clean way to

fly, sort of a friendly-neighborhood thing,” Peterson said.

On a recent weekend, Peterson was flying one of his electric

gliders, working on aerobatics

“It’s obviously challenging, but fun to show off and sometimes

people egg you on,” Peterson said. “And the peanut gallery of the

other pilots who’ll tell you when you didn’t do something so smooth.”

PASSERS-BY AND NOVICES

Since the glider operators fly in such an accessible part of the

park, it is easy to attract attention from passersby.

When Peterson was flying his glider on a Saturday afternoon, a

family on their way to a Mayfair celebration at the school next door

was entranced by the plane.

As Peterson’s glider rested on the grass, 2 1/2-year-old Kaveh

Moaddeli kept asking him when he was going to turn it on.

After waiting for some pedestrians to pass, Peterson obliged and

turned his plane on. As the propeller whirred into motion, a startled

Kaveh jumped into his mother’s arms. He watched excitedly as Peterson

executed loops and turns with his glider. Soon, he and his sister

were sitting in their mother’s arms, watching the red plane streak

across the cloudy sky.

“I had a hard time getting him in [to the Mayfair],” mom Kathleen

said of her son. “I would have had a much easier time if he had

stayed out here. This is a beautiful plane.”

While many of the society members try to help out newcomers, their

help is not always appreciated.

“My favorite story,” Ramsay said. “Someone came out with a slow

plane, never seen him before. Club members tried to be helpful. He

puffed himself up and said, ‘I’m a TWA pilot. I know how to fly.’ Ten

minutes later, he came back, his plane in pieces and we never saw him

again.”

RELATIONSHIPS

Many of the more experienced fliers take newcomers under their

wings. As one of the senior members of the society at the time,

Ramsay helped train Hawley, who is now the president.

Ramsay suffered kidney problems and after flying for several

years, his health problems kept him away from the hobby he loved for

a decade. Recently, he returned to the park and now Hawley helps him

with flying.

“Karl’s come a long way, I can’t tell him what to do,” Ramsay

joked.

Peterson’s mentor flew competitively and encouraged him to test

his mettle by trying out for one of the U.S. teams. He flies an F-5D

electric glider in pylon racing. He got onto a national team in 1995

and a year later landed in Prague to compete. His team won third

place.

“It was amazing,” Peterson said. “It was one of the most

incredible experiences. I got to travel all over the world with what

started out as an innocent hobby.”

Peterson’s involvement with the society has also provided a few

jobs, most recently with MacGregor Yachts. After seeing Peterson make

a presentation to the City Council to urge continued use of the park,

Roger MacGregor offered Peterson a job as a manager.

“It’s great,” Peterson said. “I’m guessing [it’s because] you have

a common interest and you can see how people work and their work

ethic and how they interact with the other people around and their

accomplishments.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].