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Sport Kites/Wills Wing of California

This related topics menu links to material in the main hang gliding pages. The links here are in chronological order.

Late 1960s and early 1970s in color in Hang gliding before 1973 part 2 for a photo of Chris Wills about to launch in a bamboo butterfly at San Clemente in 1972

Hang gliding 1973 part 1 for images of Chris Wills landing on target and Chris Price loading his vehicle

Hang gliding 1973 part 2 for the following:

• Colour image of Bob and Chris Wills
• Bob Wills soaring a standard Rogallo
• Mike Meier’s first appearance on the scene (text)

Swallowtail in Hang gliding 1974 part 2

Rogallo versus Quicksilver in colour in Hang gliding 1974 part 3

Appliance of science in Hang gliding 1974 part 4 for a Wills Wing standard Rogallo carrying four people

Snow bound in Hang gliding 1975 part 1 for images of Chris Price and Bob Wills in Canada

Grandfather Mountain 1975 part 1 for color photos by Hugh Morton of a Swallowtail launching

Hang gliding 1975 part 2 for Chris Wills demonstrating the Swallowtail’s resistance to the luffing dive

More developments in Hang gliding 1975 part 2 for the Superswallowtail in flight

British championship 1975 also in Hang gliding 1975 part 2 for Bob Wills and the black-painted Swallowtails

SST in Hang gliding 1976 part 2 for the Superswallowtail in flight and a note on personnel changes at Wills Wing. (Mike Meier is fired…)

Hang gliding 1977 when tragedy strikes the Wills family for the second time

State of the art in Hang gliding 1978 and 1979 part 1 for Steve Pearson launching in a prototype in early 1978

Vehicle-based testing in Hang gliding 1978 and 1979 part 2 for Mike Meier explaining why rigorous structural testing is required

Back to the future in Hang gliding 1978 and 1979 part 2 for a major improvement in design of flex-wing hang gliders that Wills Wing implemented in the Raven. That section includes Greg DeWolf’s classic photo of Erik Fair flaring a Skyhawk (a successor to the Raven).

Hang gliding 1978 and 1979 part 3 for a photo of Steve Pearson and Mike Meier discussing a new sail pattern

Mega, Harrier, and Sierra in Hang gliding early 1980s part 1 for Wills Wing’s initial response to the appearance of the Ultralight Products Comet

From our house to bunkhaus in Hang gliding early 1980s part 2 for photos of Steve Pearson and Linda Meier at work with early personal computers

It’s a duck… in Hang gliding mid 1980s for Wills Wing’s eventual response to the UP Comet

Arizona also in Hang gliding mid 1980s for the next big step in flex-wing design: The Wills Wing HP

Canada in Hang gliding mid 1980s for a photo of an Attack Duck and its artistic logo

It’s brains you want in Hang gliding late 1980s for the introduction of the stronger 7075 aluminium alloy

Across the U.S.A. by hang glider in Hang gliding late 1980s for a remarkable picture of a Wills Wing HP in flight

SETP in Hang gliding 1990 to 1993 for Mike Meier receiving the Jack Northrop award for the most outstanding technical paper presented at the 45^th Annual West Coast Symposium of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots

Assortment also in Hang gliding 1990 to 1993 for a a Wills Wing Skyhawk and Kari Castle with her HP AT

Hang gliding 1996 to 2014 for an image of Dr. Chris Wills, the first U.S. champion, teaching his daughter to handle a hang glider in 2000

U-2 in Hang gliding 2015 to 2019 including several photos of a Wills Wing U-2 and a Wills Wing Sport 2 in England

Hang gliding 2020 onward for a photo of a Wills Wing Falcon in flight

Other related

Appliance of statistics, the work of Robert V. Wills, first chairman of the USHGA accident review board

Eagles among men, a review of Higher than Eagles, the Tragedy and Triumph of an American Family by Maralys Wills and Chris Wills, 1992

Paint it black, a review of the 20^th Century Fox movie Sky Riders, 1976, featuring the Wills Wing team

Replacing Wills Wing U-2 (Litestream) side flying wires

Rigging a Wills Wing 145 U-2 flat on the ground

Steve Pearson on Wills Wing Innovations in the Oz Report Forum, July 3^rd 2014

Tom Price’s flying machines (Tom worked for Wills Wing starting late 1981 or early 1982*)

Wills Powers in Hang glider names: Wills Wing’s contributions to that desperate lexicology

Wills Wing glider production history; data provided by Steve Pearson

External links

Bob Wills at the first official world championship, Kössen, Austria, 1975: RR7513B AUSTRIA WORLD HANG-GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIP video on YouTube by AP Archive starting at 1 minute 41 seconds

Building Dreams by David Aldrich, about Wills Wing’s Steve Pearson, on YouTube

History of Wills Wing: Where There’s a Wills by Annette O’Neil in Hang Gliding & Paragliding, March-April 2016

Mike Meier talking to some people in 1978 Pico Peak meet by bobbylangs on YouTube, at 14 minutes 5 seconds (although the video contains no sound). It is annotated in places to identify some pilots and their gliders and some helpers. (For a review of another documentary of that competition, see Mid-day lightning in Vermont.)

Super Swallowtail 90: Photo by Roger Middleton of Brian Wood, the first British champion, flying an SST 90 (indicating its 90 degree nose angle) in 1976. I still recall Brian climbing out into light lift in that wing at Mere in Wiltshire at the 1976 British championship competition. After the SST 100 came out, the SST 90 was referred to as the SST Universal.

Super Swallowtail 100: Photo by Martin Brady of Brian Wood at Mill Hill, Shoreham, Sussex, England, on Facebook

Super Swallowtail 100: Photo of Roger Middleton launching at Mere, Wiltshire, England, in 1977

Swallowtail: Photo by Roger Middleton of Bob and Suzette Wills landing in a black-painted Swallowtail at Mere, Wiltshire, England, in August 1975

The Future of Wills Wing on the Wills Wing web site, June 8^th, 2021, about their move from California, where they will be shutting down production, to Mexico

Why Can’t We Get A Handle On This Safety Thing by Mike Meier (on the Wills Wing web site)

World Hang Gliding Championships (1975) on Burke Ewing’s YouTube channel, starting at 2 minutes 51 seconds for Bob wills flying his Swallowtail in the speed task at Escape Country, California

Big Blue Sky video external links

These are links to Big Blue Sky — The history of modern hang gliding – the first extreme sport!, 2008, documentary by Bill Liscomb on YouTube:

• Bill Liscomb and Chris Wills describe the crash that killed Bob Wills: Big Blue Sky starting at 55 minutes 27 seconds. Chris then describes how his younger brother Eric was killed a few years before. (He mis-remembers it, at least according to my information, in that Eric was killed teaching himself 360 degree turns while Bob and Chris were both away, rather than while teaching himself to fly.)
• Bob Wills flies at Coyote Hills in 1973: Big Blue Sky starting at 33 minutes, narrated by Donnita Holland (Donnita Hall)
• Chris Wills: Early dreams of flying turn into reality (starting at 49 minutes 19 seconds, brief clip followed by part of W.A. Roecker interview)
• Chris Wills: Fatalities in early days (starting at 1 hour 13 seconds)
• First National Champion, 1973, Chris Wills in Big Blue Sky starting at 36 minutes 23 seconds, narrated by Bill Liscomb, Tom Peghiny, and Taras Kiceniuk Jr.
• Simply Amazing Bob Wills in Big Blue Sky starting at 41 minutes 23 seconds, narrated by Bill Liscomb, Dave Cronk, Tom Peghiny, Taras Jr, and Dr. Chris Wills
• Wills brothers’ first flights: Big Blue Sky starting at 22 minutes 38 seconds

Hang Ten Hang Gliding World Meet video external links

These are links to Hang Ten Hang Gliding World Meet of 1976 (in three parts, fairly low resolution) on YouTube, with Bob Wills flying a Super Swallowtail:

• Hang Ten Hang Gliding World Meet, Part 2 starting at 2 minutes 59 seconds for the speed task
• Hang Ten Hang Gliding World Meet, Part 3 starting at 4 minutes 40 seconds for the ‘aerial ballet’ task

Playground in the Sky video external links

These links are to are Playground in the Sky, 1977, by Carl Boenish on YouTube (low resolution):

• Bob Wills and others at the 1973 Coyote Hills event: Playground in the Sky starting at 14 minutes 16 seconds (lengthier film than in Big Blue Sky)
• Bob Wills soaring at Palmdale, California: Playground in the Sky starting at 21 minutes 49 seconds. That is followed immediately by film of the Wills brothers’ first glider, a biplane they invented and towed behind a car along their street. Then film of Bob Wills soaring a Rogallo at Torrey Pines, California.

Reference

Tom Price worked for Wills Wing starting late 1981 or early 1982: Glider Rider March 1982