320 mile round trip...Tennessee Tree Toppers Ride

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Beautiful day in The Great State Of Tennessee today with sunshine and temp's in the mid 70's ( perfect ridin' weather ) . We had ( 3 ) Valkyrie's....Smokin'joe , Gordon ( Lucky 13 ) and Paul ( Wimp ) Larry on his Yamaha Warrior and Jack on his Connie.We took some great less traveled roads many none of us had ever rode just hitting rural backroads that seemed to be going the direction we wanted to go.






The Tennessee Tree Toppers is located outside Dunlap,TN up on the mountain its a very cool place to check out.

Below is a story about the ramp before this was built several folks was killed while leaving the old one.
It all started with a tumble over the end of the old launch by the soon to be master-ramp-revamper, Dennis VanDam. Somewhere in this tumble mode a vision came to him: "THERE'S GOT TO BE AN EASIER WAY TO JUMP OFF THAT MOUNTAIN." And, Vandamit, he was right. The new ramp has change the personality of the place by making launches an enjoyable rather than dreadful experience.

Dennis designed a model with streamers on it and mounted it on his car. Moving down the highway, photos were taken from another car recording the streamer patterns at various angles of attack and wind speeds. Dennis also designed a flow angle indicator and experimented with it on launch to determine the best slope for the new ramp. Smoke bomb videos were recorded by Dennis and Chuck at cliff's edge to further determine the air flow we had to deal with. Dennis also spent multitudinous hours designing the new structure and the unique radial trusses necessary to obtain our laminar flow.










Very nice place to hang out the folks that worked there was cool and took time to talk with us and even shared some stories with us. Check out the view  













It cost $150.00 and you sign a form before you tandem jump with a instructor or if you have your own glider and a member of The Tennessee Tree Toppers I reckon you just bring it and jump.













" The Money Shot "   Lucky 13 and Larry ....Dream on men we all know you would never jump  

[alph]

when i was about 15, my brother bought a hang glider.  it was a piece of junk.  a pure waiste of money too cause one of the main tubes was broken and it cost more to buy that one tube then he paid for the whole thing!! 

all in all, it's probably one of the things to put in the old bucket list......  i'd love to try it!!

BTW, thanks once again for the photo's Joe!!!

you're like the candy stripe nurse, bringing candy to the patients stuck in the hospital, that have to wait for warmer weather before they can get out and ride!!   

[hubcapsc]

" The Money Shot "   Lucky 13 and Larry ....Dream on men we all know you would never jump

Yeah, I'll bet Wimp would do it 

-Mike

[fon1961]

Great pic's Joe, thanks for posting 

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

" The Money Shot "   Lucky 13 and Larry ....Dream on men we all know you would never jump

Yeah, I'll bet Wimp would do it 

-Mike

Wimp was with us the ride was his idea I did'nt see him diggin' for $150.00 to make the leap 

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

when i was about 15, my brother bought a hang glider.  it was a piece of junk.  a pure waiste of money too cause one of the main tubes was broken and it cost more to buy that one tube then he paid for the whole thing!! 

all in all, it's probably one of the things to put in the old bucket list......  i'd love to try it!!

BTW, thanks once again for the photo's Joe!!!

you're like the candy stripe nurse, bringing candy to the patients stuck in the hospital, that have to wait for warmer weather before they can get out and ride!!   

I appreciate the comment I enjoy sharin' the ride and its good to know folks like you are checking it out 

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Great pic's Joe, thanks for posting 

Thanks Paul ....I hope to see y'all next friday on the scoutin' ride for " Return To Hillbilly Highway " .

[rainman]

joe did you even think about jumping?
thanks for the pictures looks like you all had a good time
 

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

joe did you even think about jumping?
 

The thought NEVER crossed my mind 

[T-Bird]

joe did you even think about jumping?
 

The thought NEVER crossed my mind 

    Thumper would have made that jump

[HayHauler]

Thanks for sharing Joe.  Always enjoy your reports.  You always seem to ride somewhere new and exciting.

I would jump as long as I could drag my feet on the ground.

Hay 
JImmyt

[eric in md]

   dude  i will do it man cant be scared .. i dont have any idea what there made of .    come on joe lets do it man maybe tandem   sissy    i love your reports dude mean it . just wish i had the time and money to ride like you guys do looks like you all had a great ride .heck joe i will even pay to send you over the hill ... dont worry pal the mails got to roll

[Tim H]

Great ride report.  Fun as always.  Eric, thanks for delivering the mail. 

[eric in md]

Great ride report.  Fun as always.  Eric, thanks for delivering the mail. 

[Oss]

and I thought you only didnt like flying cause YOU werent driving the plane

 

wouldnt get me on one of them things either

[KY,Dave (AKA Misunderstood)]

joe did you even think about jumping?
 

The thought NEVER crossed my mind 

    Thumper would have made that jump

Was thinking the same thing. Thanks for taking time to share Joe. Dave 

[gordorad]

Thanks for the idea!!  I'm going to be in Tennessee in a week or two....might have to do it!!

[Jess from VA]

Cool report.  Pretty neat ramp.

As far as jumping, I'd think about it...... then after awhile, I'd stop thinking about it. 

I like flying, but prefer motorized transport to avoid the pitfalls of gravity. 

We have a (somewhat) local gliding spot called High Rock over in MD.  It's right next to Camp David, and the regulations are somewhat more stringent.  On the wrong day, F-16s will shoot you down.
 




http://mcbealer.smugmug.com/Outdoor-photography/Maryland/High-Rock-overlook/7693755_Bdqp2R/1/496127869_7wZMg/Large

[Spirited-6]

Neat as hell, thanks Joe. 

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

Very cool pics and ride report Joe. As always man, thanks for sharing. I was thinking hard about buying an ultralight several years ago, then my co-worker who had one broke his spine in a bad landing on his. Was only a few weeks after he retired.  I know, it coulda' happened on a bike or in a cage too but it changed my mind.

[Detn8er]

You should never allow Gordon to stand so close to the edge.......Everybody knows it takes less wind to make midgets fly and when they fly they are not very aerodynamic......   It's also good to see Wimp out and about.  

[thumper]

joe did you even think about jumping?
 

The thought NEVER crossed my mind 

    Thumper would have made that jump

I've been thinking about it.  We ride up to the hangliding place in Chattanooga all the time to watch them take off and fly. 

You should check out their take off ramp Joe.  It's concrete and an engineering marvel!

Great pics as usual. 

I'll call you to tell you about me ride weekend...

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

joe did you even think about jumping?
 

The thought NEVER crossed my mind 

    Thumper would have made that jump

I've been thinking about it.  We ride up to the hangliding place in Chattanooga all the time to watch them take off and fly. 

You should check out their take off ramp Joe.  It's concrete and an engineering marvel!

Great pics as usual. 

I'll call you to tell you about me ride weekend...

Weather as of now is looking great for the scoutin' ride next weekend ....You coming to Wimp's on thursday ? Don't eat supper on the road we'll all hook up that evening.....See you then 

[thumper]

Can't do it.

PET scan tomorrow and chemo on Thursday will make for an already short week and I am slammed at work.

I have to take a trailer up to Asheville tomorrow to get my bike which I had to leave with a flat tire.  Getting the work done at MR Motorcycles.

Do you know anything about them?

Wish I could join you guys but I can't.  Going to take some time when these two projects are done....we'll ride then.

[Gary]

What a great view, thanks for the write up and post.

I still recall when Raymond, the Black Pearl's Captain, shared his experience's while we were out out around Mt Nebo in AR, also a popular place for hang gliding (in the general vacinity of the upcoming InZane). Listening to him share his tales, catching the thermals to take you higher, it was almost like being there. 

 

[hubcapsc]

I have to take a trailer up to Asheville tomorrow to get my bike which I had to leave with a flat tire.  Getting the work done at MR Motorcycles.

Do you know anything about them?

I heard it was a good shop, let us know how it turns out...

-Mike