THE HISTORY OF BODØ HANGGLIDER Back in 1975 a wing sergeant at the 334 squadron at Bodø Main Air Station brought a funny looking thing with him from Sweden - a hangglider. Local air sports enthusiast Odd Johnsen bought the glider, and BHPGC was formed on the 23. of October 1975, as one of the two first in Norway. After learning the hard way for a while, Odd went off to England for proper training, and when he came back he even brought with him New Zealander Jeff Lowery and his super swallowtail, a remarkable glider those years. Odd and Jeff are together with Thor Solø today the clubs three members of honour.
In 1978 the club got its own instructors. Unfortunately this year also brought the
first In 1979 Bodø HG pilot Alv Eriksen set a distance record which in 1999 still stands: 25 km's from Keiservarden, across a fjord, and landing on Kjerringøy. The Midnight Sun Cup was a bit reduced now, mainly because someone had thought of thermalling, and found better places for this. In 1982 someone, somewhere, figured out that they could act like the Wright brothers, and naturally put an engine on the hangglider. Odd was ready for it, and later this year he flew his microlight from London to Paris, not unlike more famous pilots before him. Odd also gets a mountain in Sweden named after him, Odd's Hill. Bodø pilot Thor Solø participates in writing the first instructor's handbook on hanggliding in Norway, and together with Stein Fossum also the first student handbook. The weather gave a great Midnight Sun Cup this year. In 1986 Bodo pilot Stig Kilvik becomes Norwegian champion. Targeted training has given results, and he repeats the achievement in 1987, and receives the "royal price".
In 1989 the club finally gets its own club house, beautifully situated on a camping by a white beach at the foot of Keiservarden. The place is Løp, and the surroundings are as good as can be.
In 1990 the first paraglider arrives in Bodø. The first to fly are of course Odd Johnsen and Thor Solø. During the next three years paragliding activity explodes. The Midnight Sun Cup is now more focused on beginners and friendly competition with a social stroke, and hanggliders and paragliders fly side by side in harmony. In 1993 the club changes name from Bodø Hang Glider Club to Bodø Hang- and Paraglider Club. In 1996 Bodø pilot Petter Strand goes to Scotland for a weeks work. Since he has brought his paraglider, he just as well wanders off and wins the Scottish Open. In 1999 the Midnight Sun Cup is expanded with one week of flying in the Lofoten Islands - no competition, just for fun. The club also buy a tandem paraglider, while two members buy a tandem hangglider. Both very popular among members and the people of Bodø. In 2000 we celebrate the club's 25th anniversary with a great party in November. 10 minutes on national TV is recorded as PR of high class. A new way of testing and training emergency parachute deployment is also developed. In 2001 our club joines the official test programme for legalizing powered paragliding in Norway. Petter makes 3. in the Norwegian paragliding nationals and participates in Norways first aerobatics course. In 2002 we have the first certificates for powered paragliding issued. Pilots from the courses in 2001 and 2002 gives an all times high in paragliding activity. In 2003 we have club pilots in Mexico for the third year in a row. We also start work with financing a pay out winch in the club. Saturday of the Midnight Sun Cup was exeptionally good! In 2004 the main events are new paint on the club house, artificial grass on the main launch, 4 new instructors in paragliding and winch training. In 2005 a new highlight in paragliding - 2 pilots made it from Bratten to Kjerringoy, last time this flight was done was in 1979 with hangglider..... |
In 1977 the first Midnight Sun Cup was arranged, with
great success. The soaring conditions at Keiservarden were perfect for top level
competition those days. 69 pilots from all over the world participated, with many more
just watching or flying for fun.