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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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Aug 4, 2022
Fire danger in our mountains is elevated.
Keep fire danger in mind on launch and don't park your vehicle where it could catch dry grass on fire.
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 August 10, 2022 8:38 am
Report of a strong day on Tuesday. Highest was 4,200ft but he could have easily gone higher. Late day PG flights didn't find a glass off, just sled rides. TODAY......looks much stronger. The rasp indicated 300-400fpm up yesterday at 2pm, today it's saying 400-500fpm. Forecast of scattered clouds at 25K by 11am. The potential altitude is over 7K and I don't see a reason for it. The inversion is on the low side but much stronger. If it rises high enough I would expect a cap on the altitude. If you get above the inversion you might be going to 7K. SSE winds aloft between 6 and 10kts by 2pm. Max altitude 5,500ft.
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Saturday Night At The Movies
Dr.Strangelove
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Flying the Air or the Location?
When you're on approach to the Sylmar LZ, do you study the wind conditions? When you're circling in the staging area?
While you're on your downwind and base legs, are you adjusting your geometry to arrive at the entry point of your optimal final leg, flying your chosen speed?
It's natural for the human brain to organize around the visual information -- fly down that path, over to there, and then to there. However, we fly in the invisible medium that's in motion, and getting yourself to the top of the ideal final leg for the day requires an approach customized for the conditions you actually encounter.
Shoes
One’s shoes are hidden away inside a pod harness when flying and so it seems like they couldn’t possibly affect safety, but that’s the catch, literally. Some boots have hooks for the laces, and they’re liable to snag on other lines inside the harness. Shoe laces can get caught in the harness zipper, making it hard to zip, or worse, unzip. A last-minute discovery that one’s feet are stuck inside the harness can make for an exciting landing. It is good practice to unzip and get one’s feet out early enough to solve a problem if needed. Failing that, one can land on wheels if equipped with them, or with good flare timing, land no-footed on the tail of the harness and flop down safely.
Pedaling
In the air, a pilot may free his legs from his harness and act like he’s pedaling a bicycle. This is an emergency signal to other pilots to land immediately, and can be used when ham radio communication is not available. Competition pilots will use this to signal when a task is cancelled due to threatening weather. It is also appropriate if pilots need to clear the air for a helicopter rescue, or if a nearby forest fire results in aerial firefighting activity.
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