Sylmar Hang Gliding Association

Evidently, the gate to the Hang 4 Towers Launch is in need of maintenance and is at times quite difficult to impossible to open and close. On Monday, Jonathan and Erwin themselves unable to lock the gate during mid afternoon and were forced to bring it to our attention and the attention of the Forest Service. A Ranger provided night time access to Jonathan to go back up there and properly lock later that same evening.

A report of the problem has been sent to the District Ranger and he's having it looked at.

Jonathan feels that the problems are accentuated during the hottest periods of the day when the steel gate expands. This causes it to lose its alignment so the pins won't fit and the locks won't work properly. This also causes the gate to be very hard to swing open and closed.

This notice should act as a warning to any SHGA Hang 4 wishing to fly Towers Launch. Please don't use the gate if you feel it can't be properly operated by your driver. Leaving the gate open or getting accidently locked in up there would be problematic.

I expect word back from the District Ranger shortly.

Thank you Jonathan for all the time you spent trying to remedy this problem for the club.

Here's the deal. Erwin & I barely got the gate opened around 1:30 PM yesterday. We were both on radio and so I asked Erwin to drive out and try to get the gate closed and locked behind him before I launched. He radioed me that it was stuck and would not lock. I unbuckled from my harness and walked out to the gate at 2:10 PM. Sure enough, the tang on the arm was too far inside the post and so the pin would not line up. I placed out lock in my car and Erwin waited on radio until he heard from me that I had launched safely. I gave him a heads up as I approached the ramp and waited until he acknowledged my position. Then I launched and radioed back that I was safely airborne and proceeded to have a good flight.

After I landed I called Greblo and left a voice message regarding the problem. Afterward I spoke w/ Mike about it. It had been very hot up on Towers upward of 100F and I reasoned that the arm merely expanded and decided to go up in the cool of the night and secure the gate with our lock. I swung by the Forestry Service station at the foot of the access road and a young man named Derrick volunteered to let me in and secure the gate.

Derrick was intrigued by our sport and expressed interest in getting lessons. Hopefully, he follows through and has a great time of it.

Meanwhile, in the cool night, the gate swung freely and the pin aligned with no effort. I recall that the gate was installed last Fall and I don't recall ever accessing it in this much heat and after the hinge had settled and sagged already. Hopefully, this gets resolved as I really enjoy this launch site.

Anyhow, if anyone intends to launch Towers, please be certain to you and your driver coordinate so that your driver gets out and is able to lock the gate behind him or her. Otherwise I suggest you do as me and Erwin did and launched after your driver is outside the locked gate. Be sure you both have radios or some means to communicate whether you have launched safely.

Thanks, Jonathan

Months ago a few of us launched towers and I remember the internal gate mechanism jamming for a few minutes. We might have had to tap it with a rock to get it into position to lock. I remember we opened a car hood to get some oil from the dip stick then try to lube the mechanism.