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Welcome
Sylmar is the world capital of hang gliding and pilots have been flying hang gliders in these mountains since 1969. The first U.S. National Hang Gliding Championships were held here in 1973.
The Flight Park is located just outside of Los Angeles and we enjoy around 300 days of flying a year. Please check out the rules and site information before flying here. The Sylmar Hang Gliding Association is a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organization. Dues and other payments can be sent via PayPal.
Pilots and non-pilots are welcome to enjoy our flight park year 'round! Fly high, fly far, fly safe!
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Chloe Burgis learning to fly, with Baby Lamb as copilot, 6/21/2020
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The Forest is open again!
Sept 23, 2021
After being closed since the beginning of September, the Angeles National Forest is open again. Fire danger is still extreme, so please be careful not to park near dry brush where a catalytic converter could start a fire.
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September 23, 2021
Several SHGA pilots are competing this week in the Santa Cruz Flats race, and they are doing very well. Phill Bloom, Greg Kendall, Jeff Chipman, and Kevin Kernohan are in the Open Class, and Sue Sen and Greg Angsten are in the Sport Class. See the results, and watch them fly in real-time at Airtribune.
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 September 25, 2021 9:20 am
Report of no flights on Friday. TODAY.....hard to say. There's a definite shift in conditions and the potential altitude is up. More chc of thunderstorms this afternoon so probably unstable. The air is much clearer this morning also. SSE winds aloft between 6 and 10kts by 2pm. Max altitude at 5.000ft.
Subscribe to expanded forecasts
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Dahlsten Cup 2021
Dahlsten Cup Competition has been postponed one week to October 9th.
Big Sur
There are still a few spots available for the Big Sur trip that Windsports is running of Sept 23rd - 27th. Call Windsports for details.
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Wire crews
One of the responsibilities of a pilot is to manage his (or her) wire crew. This includes giving clear instructions about what the pilot will ask for, and what the crew members are expected to do. The pilot must also be prepared, no matter what the wire crew actually does. Sometimes a crew member will fail to clear the wing completely, or give instructions rather than taking them, or conversely, save a pilot from his own mistakes.
It should also go without saying that we are grateful for our wire crews, and one should always be courteous and appreciative of these volunteers.
Preflight upgrades
Moving up to a new high-performance glider? It's time to upgrade the preflight as well!
Most of us develop our preflight routine based on a single-surface glider such as a Falcon. When moving up in performance, one may be adding a nose cone, or a VG string, or sprog zippers, or a "dingle-dangle" hang point. I think pilots are particularly likely to overlook those items in their preflights, because they weren't part of the initial routine that they learned.
Avoiding a mid-air collision
It takes two pilots to have a mid-air collision, and one alert pilot can virtually always avoid disaster even when the error primarily lies with the other.
We're taught to clear our turns. What if the other pilot doesn't? Keep an eye out for nearby gliders, and have an escape plan if they do something unexpected.
What if the other pilot enters your thermal improperly? He'll sidle in from the outside, so if you're watching to the outside of your turn as well as the inside, you can dive away.
How about that pilot directly above in the same thermal, who hangs out in your blind spot and fails to yield to your right of way? Often, the shadows on the ground will reveal the situation.
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