Hang Gliding w/ Soarmaster - Powered flying, Benton Airpark 1979

[@vince8457]

I like very much your old hanglider movies. Thank you 🙏

[@davidnoland4216]

Still have my soarmaster and what's left of the original prop. When it hit the ground, about six inches shattered off both ends. Still have the eledtradiver C5 too.

[@penrynbigbird]

How'd you manage to hit the prop on the ground? They have/had that large J-shaped protector to keep that from happening.

[@stanleyheggs6654]

I owned an mj5 hang glider with a sore Master Motor in 1982 it still runs like a dream although it's a little hard to start

[@huffpappy]

I saw a Soarmaster back in 1980 in S. Cal while I was training. My instructor told me their nickname was "Sawmaster" because pilots had cut their feet up in the keel mounted prop. Don't know if he was kidding or not, but it sure looked like it could happen.

[@penrynbigbird]

I'm 6' 5" tall so that was a concern of mine for sure. However, with a couple of people holding the nose of the glider I pushed back as far as I could and couldn't get to the the prop. I suppose a tumble or something that force the pilot's hands of the control bar might put your feet back in the chop, chop zone.

[@xortig5415]

A color recorder in 79 would've been expensive.

[@penrynbigbird]

I don't remember it being too expensive, I think we had a low-end model. I'm just glad it was capture on film :). It was a long time ago but it seems like only yesterday...

[@GlideLA]

Funny. I flew my friend's Soarmaster powered Phoenix 8 in 1979 near Dixon, IL. Small world. Later I bought it off him and adapted i to my Moyes Mega II

[@penrynbigbird]

Wow, small world indeed. I was quoted in the newspaper associated with this airshow as saying; "If I had to choose between my Soarmaster and free flight, I'd throw the motor off the nearest cliff." I had a total of 35 flights with the soarmaster before I gave it up. I was never comfortable carrying fuel and having that spinning prop so far behind my CG...plus, as you can see, on a warm/hot day it would barely get my 193lbs off the ground...