The Crestline guys often land out by Hwy. 18 on a round dirt patch that’s behind a chain link fence when they get too low to land elsewhere. Not sure if we’re talking about the same area, but late afternoon yesterday I was headed down Hwy. 18 and saw a PG pilot with his wing bunched up, getting ready to go over the fence. I stopped on the turn-out, would have offered him a ride back up, but I was heading down the hill first. I asked him if he had a ride, and he seemed like he was going to find a way back up, so I left.

Fining people for crossing the line seems unrealistic, since the whole field should be open to anyone who needs to use it (unless it’s a busy afternoon with a lot of incoming traffic). Do we then fine hang gliders who can’t land in their own part of the field? Or just paragliders kiting their wing too close to the line? Who would volunteer to stand there and fine people all day for doing that? Calling the police? No way.

We have hundreds (if not thousands) of landings at AJX every year without incident. Hang gliders and paragliders are able to share the area quite well, especially when two skilled & aware pilots are coming in at the same time. It’s very rare that anyone needs to use the extra space to land whatever they’re flying, and most people with good training are able to have a good landing just in front of mid-field.

Personally I’ve only really seen a couple of visiting pilots needing to go all the way to the SW corner, or overshoot. That was usually in the morning, or at noon when there wasn’t much head wind. When there’s not much wind, the conditions for kiting are poor anyway. I don’t know what goes on during the weekdays, but on weekends when I’m there, it all seems to work out OK.

I’ve had a visiting hang glider pilot walk right in front of me carrying his wing across the PG section without looking around first. I was over the grass making my final approach, and I had a choice; I could either land on top of his glider into the wind, or go land elsewhere and run it out. I ran it out. I didn’t go lose my s**t on him, I figured he made a mistake and someone else already said something to him about it. So everyone, please try to be civil.

We don’t need fines, we don’t need to call the police, we don’t need raging. We need good communication skills. As they say, it takes a village. If you see someone doing something wrong, walk up to them, smile, introduce yourself and say “Hi, how you doin’? Just wanted to let you know that there’s people landing behind/in front of you, so you’ll need to ball up your wing and take it over to the shade structure to clear the landing area as soon as you can. Thanks a bunch and happy flying!” Not only will the person be more likely to comply, but they won’t walk away feeling hurt or angry, more likely to be spiteful. They’ll even want to come back to AJX and maybe pass the info onto their flying friends. Just my $0.02.

Well-said Jonathan, and others. Let’s be considerate of each other and do a better job of sharing our LZ.

I recently put together a paraglider/hang glider approach diagram that I hope will help people stay a little safer. I had guidance from Stephen, Dan & Jordan. Keep in mind that this diagram should not make anyone feel like they’re entitled to the marked space, or that everyone must adhere to it at all times. I know that the wind direction & other conditions can change depending on what time of day people are landing, and (as Jordan mentioned to me) that some paraglider pilots like to make their approach over the parking lot. I also understand that not everyone will have perfect approaches and might need additional landing area, even if that means cutting into the kiting area. We should all keep an eye out and make space when necessary.

Paragliding instructors do ask students to watch for incoming traffic and stay out of the hang glider landing area when kiting. These are brand new people probably on their first or second day lesson, and everything is so new to them. They’re in the process of learning so many new things! Sometimes they are full of adrenaline, preoccupied with a challenging task, and they forget that they should be watching for pilots coming in. The instructors keep an eye out as much as possible and ask their students to put their wings down or move when they see someone setting up an approach overhead, but once in a while a student might get dragged past the cone at the wrong time, or the hang glider needs more space than might be anticipated by those on the ground.

If you see someone in the wrong place at the wrong time, don’t hesitate to go up to them and let them know they need to move. Please be nice about it. Let’s keep a positive, friendly atmosphere for visitors and newcomers whenever possible. We all make mistakes and nobody enjoys getting raged on. It might be a new visiting pilot, or a student practicing kiting without an instructor present who may not be aware, or has forgotten where they’re supposed to be. It happens! Nobody is perfect. 😉 Driving instructors ask us not to speed or tailgate when we’re working on our drivers license, but many of us still end up doing these things (not always on purpose) once we’re out of their sight. Humans! We’re imperfect! 😳😅

Big THANK YOU! to all of you for taking the time to work on this. It’s awesome that we have members who not only know how to do this stuff, but actually volunteer their time & efforts to get it done. 😁💗