Sylmar Hang Gliding Association

My friend Robert from NorCal asked me the following questions about glider storage that are beyond me. Can anyone here with experience answer these?
Thanks, Jonathan

I've got a question about the Sylmar club storage locker. It's made from a steel storage container,which has gotta get incredibly hot in the summer - unless it's insulated or cooled somehow. Does all that heat cause any damage to the gliders stored there? Decreased life-span, perhaps? I've got a couple of them at my Mountain House,but have never seriously considered storing a glider there because of the heat buildup. Also, has it ever been broken into and gliders stolen?

I've had my glider on the top row for 5 years and never noticed any heat. It actually acts as a refrigerator. The container has a spinning ventilation fan on top. What I did notice a few weeks ago was after driving up the mountain mounted on top of a truck the aluminum has almost too hot to touch when I went to set it up. My conclusion is that your glider will last longer stored at Sylmar than being transported around everywhere on top of a car. Don't forget all that extra movement and banging around. When you fly you pull it out of the tube, walk 10 feet put it on a truck. When you've landed(depending on the spot) you break down, walk 30 yards, put it in the tube. The containers are double locked(2 separate locks), one for your tube, and a security guard watching over them. I have no knowledge of anyone ever stealing a hang glider ever. The stuff that goes with it - yes, hang gliders left forgotten to be broken down and left outside, maybe, paragliders - yes.

Doug

There has been only one glider that was temporally lost/stolen. It was missing for about 3 months because the pilot was drunk and mistakenly locked it in the wrong slot!

I am more worried about water than heat...
I found my glider soaking wet one day.
When the storage doors are left open and the sprinklers are on, the gliders get wet (middle section and below).

M@rkus wrote:I am more worried about water than heat...
I found my glider soaking wet one day.
When the storage doors are left open and the sprinklers are on, the gliders get wet (middle section and below).

Thank your fellow pilots for that one! The doors should be closed by the last pilot. If you aren't sure you are last, then close them anyway. Anyone who is supposed to get in, knows how.

As for the heat, I don't have my glider there, but I do know this:

The boxes are on a big concrete slab. That adds to the thermal mass, helping to keep it cool. The boxes are painted a light color. There are lots of gliders inside, also contributing to thermal mass. The new box (and I think the old one) has a nice cooling heat-driven fan. The description of how hot your glider gets sitting on the roof of your car is spot on. Also the description of the wear and tear on the sail from driving all over the place. I just bough a new sail for my Litespeed. There were two main reasons. One of them is irrelevant to this discussion. The other was the wear created by tying the glider to the roof of a car. I could verify from the location of the wear spots that this was the cause. That doesn't happen when the glider is in the storage container.

Would it be better inside a nice air-conditioned house? Probably. But my garage is probably just as hot as the storage containder, so I wouldn't worry about it. (And the guy from N. Ca, would have less of an issue, since it is at least somewhat less hot there, yes?)

I sure hope I can fly soon. I've had my new sail for two weeks and cannot fly because of other commitments. I need airtime!