Celebrating 40 Years of Wills Wing: 1972–2012
February 7th, 2013 marks forty years since Wills Wing began. These cards share favorite memories from those years.
#1 — 1972
In 1972, inspired by a photograph in National Geographic from the May 1971 Otto Lilienthal meeting, Chris and Bob Wills built bamboo and plastic hang gliders and flew them from the hills above San Clemente, California.
#2 — 1973
Chris Wills (right) won the first US National Championships at Sylmar, California in 1973, with brother Bob Wills placing second. In the second Championship, Bob took first and Chris second. Photo by Clara Holley.
#3 — 1976
March 5th, 1976 — Chris Price flew 62 miles from Mt. Lukens to Thousand Palms, California for a new unofficial distance record — the first time the record was set using thermals instead of ridge lift. Photo: Chris launching his Price on the way to a first place finish in Open Class at the 1975 Grandfather Mountain US Nationals.
#4 — 1976
April 25th, 1976, Guadalupe Dunes, California. Bob Wills tests the structural strength of the Wills Wing SST, flying four, then five, then finally six people.
#5 — 1977
In June of 1977, Bob Wills was killed in a filming accident and Wills Wing almost came to an end. As much as anything else, our collective memory of Bob’s amazing talents and accomplishments inspired us to go on. In the words of Chris Price at the time, “He simply showed the world what could be done with foot-launched flight.” Photo by Stephen McCarroll.
#6 — 1977
In the summer of 1977, against all odds and after several false starts in previous years, the Hang Glider Manufacturers Association began administering the first program for formal hang glider airworthiness testing and certification. Photo: Wills Wing SST undergoes positive structural testing on Tom Peghiny’s innovative test vehicle.
#7 — 1978
In 1978, Wills Wing released the Arrow. Partners Rob Kells, Steve Pearson, and Mike and Linda Meier assumed executive management responsibilities, and the company began to rebuild and move forward again.
#8 — 1979
Released in 1979, the Raven quickly became the most popular glider in Wills Wing history up to that time. Test flights typically involved multiple vehicles landing on top at Marshall Peak, as many as 35 gliders in a day.
#9 — 1980
In February of 1980, representatives from twenty three Wills Wing dealers attended our first Dealer Seminar and participated in programs on maintenance, tuning, test flying and servicing techniques and business practices. Photo: Wills Wing dealers and employees.
#10 — 1981
Making its first appearance in August at the So Cal Regionals, the Harrier was Wills Wing’s first “defined airfoil” flex wing, the start of a generation of designs that opened new performance horizons. Photo by Leroy Grannis: Steve Pearson with Rob Kells in the background, over Vancouver, British Columbia, July 1981.
#11 — 1981
Released in late 1981 and making its debut with a silver medal at the FAI World Championships in Japan, the Duck quickly became a staple of competition and cross country pilots. The Bulletman harness, released in February, anticipated by decades the extremely low drag form factor of today’s competition harnesses. Photo: Steve Pearson pilots Duck 180 in Bulletman harness.
#12 — 1983
In celebration of our 10th anniversary, we commissioned an original work by staff artist Rod Stafford. The airbrush painting, inspired by a line from the Mark Knopfler song “Telegraph Road,” depicts the view westbound on the 91 freeway at the end of a flying day, and was intended to convey our appreciation for the exceptional nature of all of our customers and friends.
#13 — 1984
In 1984, designer Steve Pearson raised the bar on flex wing L/D performance with the innovative no keel pocket / enclosed kingpost 170, prompting US National Champion John Rawlings to observe, “If I can see ’em, I can catch ’em!” Photo: Rob Kells at Grouse Mountain, Vancouver, British Columbia.
#14 — 1985
The Sport 167 at 40 mph in the Negative 150 load test. The use of carbon fiber in the main spars provided twice the ultimate strength with a six pounds lighter airframe compared to the then standard 6061 aluminum. Despite the extreme flexing, there was no permanent deformation of the airframe.
#15 — 1987
By 1987, with continual reductions in weight and drag, high performance flex wings were capable of flying substantially faster than they could be tested to on the test vehicles of the day. After two positive load structure failures that could not be replicated on existing test vehicles, Wills Wing developed a nitrous oxide equipped test truck capable of testing to more than 80 mph at maximum angle of attack.
#16 — 1989
One of the most popular gliders in Wills Wing history, the HP AT was favored by pilots for its performance and its extraordinarily friendly handling. Among many innovative features introduced on the HP AT was the stepped leading edge — where a stiff, 46mm diameter front section of the leading edge transitioned via a set of crescent tubes to a more flexible 50mm rear. Photo: Rob Kells launches an HP AT 158 at Marshall Peak.
#17 — 1990
On July 3rd, 1990, in what is arguably the greatest individual achievement in the history of hang gliding, Larry Tudor broke the 300 mile barrier and set both world open distance and declared goal records with an incredible 303 mile flight from Hobbs, New Mexico to Elkhart, Kansas. It would be ten years before another hang glider pilot would fly farther.
#18 — 1992
Nineteen years after Chris and Bob Wills swept the top two places at the first US National Championships, Brad Koji, Chris Arai, and Larry Tudor took 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the 20th US Nationals, and Wills Wing pilots took five of the top six places.
#19 — 1992
In September of 1992, Marine Corps test pilot Mark Stucky and Mike Meier presented a paper to the Society Of Experimental Test Pilots on applying classical flight testing methods to a high performance hang glider. Despite initial skepticism from the society members, the paper was well received, and was awarded runner up in the voting for the most outstanding paper of the symposium.
#20 — 1992
In November, 1992, after nearly 20 years in its original facility in Santa Ana, Wills Wing moved 15 miles north to a new, 16,000 square foot facility in Orange. With a lot of pre-planning, months of hard work, we kept production going through Friday at the old shop, completed the move over a weekend, and began building gliders in the new facility on Monday.
#21 — 1993
In February of 1993, we celebrated our 20th anniversary with two weeks of dealer seminars and events, the culmination of which was a formal dinner and party with more than 100 dealers and friends in attendance. Photo: Wills Wing owners Steve Pearson, Mike Meier, Chris Wills, Rob Kells and Mike’s wife Linda, with the glider on which Chris won the first US National Championships in 1973.
#22 — 1993
In the 1993 Owens Valley FAI World Championships the US team took team gold medal, and Chris Arai, Mark Gibson, flying Wills Wing HP ATs, took individual silver and bronze. Photo: Team members Tony Barton, team leader Pete Lehman, Jim Lee, Nelson Howe, Brad Koji, Mark Gibson and Chris Arai.
#23 — 1993
Flying the new Wills Wing Ram Air, just weeks after its initial release, pilots Jim Lee, Chris Arai, Joe Bostik and Brad Koji swept the top four places in the 1993 US National Championships.
#24 — 1994
Released in May of 1994, the Falcon helped energize the entry level of hang gliding, while also becoming a favorite of experienced pilots looking for the easiest access to relaxed, soaring performance. Now in its fourth generation, with more than 4,200 sold and in production for nearly half of the company’s lifetime, the Falcon has become the most widely sold and successful glider in Wills Wing history.
#25 — 1995
In 1996, flying a Wills Wing XC 155, Kari Castle took the gold medal at the Women’s World Championships in Australia. A multiple world record holder and one of the most accomplished hang glider and paraglider pilots in history, Kari would go on to win two more hang gliding World Championships in 2000 and 2002.
#26 — 1997
1997 saw the release of Wills Wing’s first “topless” glider — the Fusion. The combination of a composite crossbar cantilevered for negative loads and an innovative, effective luff stability system allowed for the elimination of all structural and rigging components from the top of the wing, yielding significant gains in performance.
#27 — 1998
In 1998, Wills Wing celebrated our 25th anniversary in business with a demo fly-in event and party at Wallaby Ranch in Florida. The Wallaby event would become an annual affair and has now been held 15 consecutive years, culminating in our 40th anniversary celebration this past year.
#28 — 1998
Beginning in 1998 and extending through 1999, Wills Wing collaborated with Bright Star Gliders on the development of a control bar equipped Millennium rigid wing hang glider. The project involved extensive flight and structural testing of two prototypes, and although the project never saw production, the development process was extremely interesting, educational and at times downright exciting.
#29 — 2000
In September of 2000, at the invitation of Dennis Greblo, we gathered at Dockweiler Beach with possibly the largest group of hang gliding’s founding pioneers and luminaries ever assembled, to celebrate the 34th anniversary of Richard Miller’s pioneering flights and the opening of the site after a 14 year hiatus. Photo: Linda Meier gets a flight on the Bamboo Butterfly 330 with an assist from Pat Denevan.
#30 — 2001
Released in April 2001, the Wills Wing Talon set numerous competition wins and three world records within its first two seasons, one of which stood for 10 years, and two of which still stand today. The Talon 150 on which Pete Lehmann set the Declared Distance To Goal record in 2002 now hangs in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum annex at the Washington Dulles International Airport.
#31 — 2002
In December of 2002, Wills Wing produced its 20,000th glider — a Falcon 2 195. Steve Pearson made a special commemorative paint scheme for both the 20,000th glider and number 20,001 — a Falcon 150, and both were used for demo flights at our 2003 30th Anniversary Wallaby Event. Today the count of total gliders produced by Wills Wing stands at 25,897.
#32 — 2003
February 2013 also marks the 10th anniversary of the release of the U2 in 2003. There was a time in competition when new glider models had a life expectancy of six months to a year before they were superseded by the next great thing. Drawing on technology inherited from the Talon, and with its light weight, excellent performance, and pleasant handling, the U2 remained a favorite for ten years among pilots looking for solid cross country performance without the higher cost and complexity of a topless glider.
#33 — 2004
Released in 2004, the Sport 2 was targeted at the recreational soaring pilot with at least intermediate level skills who was looking for legitimate high performance without complexity or demanding handling characteristics. Over the years, it has lived up to that promise, and at times has been the most popular model in our entire line.
#34 — 2005
In 2005 we purchased a Haas Vertical Machining Center, giving us the ability to produce complex CNC machined parts in house. The resulting improvement in vertical integration and rapid prototyping capability, along with the ability to balance and control inventory of fittings and parts, has been of significant value in bringing new products to market in a timely manner and at reasonable costs. Photo: Machinist Gary Smith produces T2C leading edge brackets in the Haas.
#35 — 2006
On July 29th, 2006, Davis Straub flew 222 miles from Zapata, Texas on a Falcon 3 170 for a new Single-Surface HG Open Distance record. Davis wrote: “The glider was a joy to fly. I felt confident in all the thermals no matter how rough. I could whip it around without a problem.” The record still stands today.
#36 — 2008
Released early in 2008, the T2C in its first year immediately began notching competition wins, including the Gold Coast Championships, the Colombian Open, US National Championships, and the Brazilian Championship Series. Favored for its extraordinarily pleasant handling, unsurpassed performance, and exceptional value, the T2C has become an overwhelming favorite among competition and serious recreational pilots.
#37 — 2008
In 1977, Rob Kells showed up at Wills Wing with an enormous supply of energy, enthusiasm and talent. We lost Rob in August of 2008 to prostate cancer. In the 31 years in between those bookends, Rob and his other talents left an indelible mark on Wills Wing and on the hang gliding community as a whole. Photo: Rob at Torrey Pines — 1977.
#38 — 2009
Starting in 2008 and culminating in the installation in March of 2009, local pilot Owen Morse negotiated with Jeffrey Frisco, the arts exhibit curator at John Wayne Airport, for the installation of a comprehensive exhibit on hang gliding and its history, which included four Wills Wing gliders above the two baggage claim areas. Although the bulk of the exhibit was removed, as is customary, the airport liked the gliders so much they’re still there four years later. Photo: Falcon 3 is hauled to the ceiling of the terminal at John Wayne — Orange County Airport.
#39 — 2010
In June of 2010, Wills Wing was contracted by Scaled Composites to design and manufacture a tow and release system with a high working load for taxi testing of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo. Steve Pearson and Mike Meier collaborated on design and fabrication of the system, and Mike traveled to Mojave Airport on June 14th to install the equipment and support the tests. Well known hang glider and paraglider author and pilot Mark “Forger” Stucky was one of the test pilots participating in the testing.
#40 — 2012
On July 3rd, 2012, Dustin Martin launched his Wills Wing T2C 144 from Zapata, Texas. Eleven hours later he landed near Lubbock, 475 miles away, having smashed the World Open Distance Record. His friend and fellow Wills Wing team pilot Jonny Durand, Jr. had been with him for much of the way, but at the end, Dustin worked a last, weak thermal for an extra few hundred feet of altitude, and claimed sole possession of the greatest record in the sport of hang gliding. In Dustin’s words, it was simply, “Farther than anyone … ever.”