HGFA Skysailor Magazine

12 SKY SAILOR September | October 2018 L ongfei has advanced hang gliding in China a long way in just a few short years. He has been competing at the Forbes Flatlands competition since 2012, and was excited to organise a com- petition at his new flight park in Guyuan county. After discussion with Longfei in January, after the Forbes comp, we mutually agreed to start small. Longfei would have 10 local competitors and Moyes would invite five Australian pilots to tread this new ground. Longfei has two Dragonflys at his flight park, on-site accommodation and he kindly organised five new Geckos for our pilots to fly during their visit. Read on to hear about Longfei’s introduction to hang gliding and some of the guys’ thoughts on their experience of flying this amazing country, the hospitality and the breath-taking landscapes. Longfei Yang I come from a small village in Guyuan county, Hebei province, China. I had seen hang gliding on TV when I was just a boy. I always dreamed of becoming a hang glider pilot. I bought my first hang glider, a Fun 190, in Guangzhou in 2009. At that time there were no hang gliding instructors in China. The only way to learn to hang glide was to teach myself. I found some videos and bought the ‘Hang Gliding Training Manual’ on the internet. I struggled, never having read or spoken English before, reading an English book was very difficult for me, the only way I could translate it was to input words on the computer and use translation software to check, that’s also the reasons why I can speak a little English now! In 2011, I saw the Dragonfly towing a hang glider on video. At that time, I already had some ideas about starting the first hang gliding club in China. I found Bill Moyes’ contact information and sent him the first email by my poor English. After a few days, I got an email back from Bill, he was very interested in the hang gliding development in China. After several contacts, he and Molly came to Guyuan, China, to check out our sites. Then Bill invited me to Australia to see the Forbes HG competition and to learn to fly the Dragonfly with Bob Bailey. I then became the Moyes Chinese dealer, and started the ‘I’m flying’ club, the first hang gliding club in China. I love the sentence, “Successful is a person who spends their whole life doing what they like.” I think Bill is a true reflection of this sentence. Now, I fly a Dragonfly every day for towing and to teach hang gliding. I like my life! Thanks to the two teachers in my life, Bill and Bob, not only for flying, and also a big ‘Thank you very much’, to Molly, you are a good mother to every Moyes pilot! Rohan Taylor How would I describe our trip to China and the Moyes Invitational Tournament in a few words? Laughter, landscapes and hospitality. In collaboration with our local Moyes dealer, Longfei Yang, we organised the first hang gliding competition in China. by Vicki Cain Delicious BBQ meals prepared by the organisers