Club History Compiled by Shannon Suzuki, Dec. 3rd, 2005



Past Presidents:
Douglas R. Madeley 1982-83
Jacques TeRiele 1983-1985
Philippe Jeans 1986
Kevin Caldwell 1987
Ian Ewens 1988-89
Andre Girard 1990
Vance Millman 1991-1994
Joseph Messmer 1995
Andre Nadeau 1996-2000
Andre Girard 2001
Paul Morris 2002-2004
Shannon Suzuki 2005-2007




The history of foot launched gliding in the National Capital Region dates back to 1909, when a Dr. McElwhenney of Ottawa is reported to have built a foot-launched glider with the expectations of gliding over the Gatineau Hills. The plans were reported in a reprinted version of Wings, which was available in the early 80's.

More recent use of the Gatineau Park started in the early 1970's with skiers at Camp Fortune taking to the air in the winter, and others flying from King Mountain in the summer.

The Outaouais Hang Gliding Club was formed in 1972, went into limbo, resurfaced again in 1974-75 and has been operating effectively since then. Early fliers from Ottawa include: Bernard Arsenault, Stewart Midwinter, and Michael Lush.

Through the years, the club found and established training hills facing each wind direction. The advanced flying was done at King Mountain. Intermediate flights required driving to St. Veronique (90 miles) or Elmira, New York (300 miles).

In 1980 two pilots studied the Champlain Lookout site and decided it would be suitable. They were successful in finding the trail to the present launch point and were able to report that the site was suitable not only for intermediate training on low-wind days, but also for soaring on days when the wind was stronger. After the National Capital Commission implemented an impact study, it was determined that King Mountain was not to be used as a launching point, flying at Champlain began. Courses in hang gliding were given in Ottawa in 1980-82. There were 5 certified instructors in the region.

In the spring of 1982, Jim Lamont took off from Champlain, caught a thermal, and climbed to 9000 feet above launch. He decided to fly away from the hill, and succeeded in reaching a village close to Cornwall, Ontario, a straight-line distance of 54 miles! The flight was the longest and highest hang gliding flight east of Alberta within Canada. With the success of this flight, pilots from all around rushed over to Champlain to try to replicate Jim's tremendous flight.

In 1982, the Ontario Hang Gliding Association received recognition from the province of Ontario and began to receive annual grants to support training, communications, publicity, administration and planning. That same year, the Ontario Championships were held in the national capital region where some 30-40 pilots competed. At this time, there was a strong flying scene; the OHGA had 30 full time members.

On October 6th, 1983, a proposal to the National Capital Commission (the caretaker of the Gatineau Hill area where the Champlain and King Mountain launch sites are found, also known as the Eardley Escarpment) for the development of the Champlain launch was written by Albert Prisner, Bill Jenkins, Doug Madeley, Gilles Ladouceur, Ian Ewens and Jacques TeRiele. It was a sizable piece of work. As a result of their efforts, a 5-year deal between OHGA and the NCC was struck for the use of Champlain.

Over the years, other sanctioned Ontario championships would be held at Champlain.

In about 1996 or '97 Don Herres started the club website.

In 1998-1999 the National Capital Commission (NCC) decided to sell the landing zone at the base of the Champlain launch. With the land on the auction block the club put together a bid. At the time, the NCC was owner of both the launch and the landing zone, which the club paid a fee for the use of. Without a landing zone within glide of launch, no one would be able to fly from the hill anymore. Three days before the closing date, the NCC decided to pull offer off the shelf and the auction never occurred. However , in 2003 the land was up for sale again. In the end the land was purchased by Air Sensation, allowing for foot launching to continue from the hill.

In 2003 the club was at risk of losing Champlain as a launching area. At the time, the National Capital Commission was owner of both the launch and the landing zone, which the club paid a fee for use of. The NCC put the landing area up for sale and without a landing zone within glide of launch, no one would be able to fly from the hill anymore. In the end the land was purchased by Air Sensation, allowing for foot launching to continue from the hill.

In 2005, the OHPC continues to operate in an environment rich in flying diversity; from different schools to different towing clubs with various towing methods, foot launching and powered paragliding. Siamak Mardini continues to operate his hang gliding school Sky Adventure while Antoine Chabot runs his school Air Sensation, a paragliding and paramotoring school. Jim Scoles also tows a group of pilots with his ATOL. The tradition of our annual general meeting continues at the National Aviation Museum, as does our annual Christmas party.

In 2005 Jim Scoles was the only local to make it out to the Canadian National Hang gliding Championships held in Lumby, B.C. during the first week of June. He placed 14th. In 2001 he placed 6th!

One noteworthy flight from this year was logged by Martin Laroche on June 2, who flew his U2 hang glider from Champlain to Grand Remous; a distance of 125km (78miles)! This was the winning flight for the 2005 OHPC contest. Martin generously donated his prize money ($90) to the United Way. Thanks Martin!


NCC/OHPC agreements
April 4, 1993 – March 31, 1998
September 1, 1997 – August 31, 2000
October 1, 1998 – September 30, 2003
April 1, 2004 – March 31, 2005