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In 1928 a glider pilot, Peter Hesselback, stood atop Corn Hill in North Truro on Cape Cod. Before a large crowd he readied himself to launch into the ocean breezes, excited by the fact that he could break the Wright Brothers' duration record of 9 minutes and 45 seconds set in 1911. |
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Little did he realize that his historic attempt was taking place from a ridge that would be the future hang gliding flying site for our Annual Halloween Fly-In which began in 1974. This site had also played a significant role in American history in the year 1620. In 1620 the Mayflower left England filled with Pilgrims bound for the Virginias. The ship was blown off course by a vigorous storm and found shelter in the harbor of a peninsula shaped like a fishhook. This peninsula stretched out into the ocean 40 miles from mainland Massachusetts and was called Cape Cod. Finally, anchored in the safety of the harbor, the captain announced that the ship was damaged and would be unable to continue to the Virginias.
The Pilgrims went ashore to search the new land for food and water. Plenty of fresh water was found, but as winter approached their rations diminished. In late November, during their search for food, they climbed to the top of a hill on the shore in north Truro. This much is fact. What followed depends on who is telling the story. Most accounts tell of the Pilgrims finding a large cornfield on a hilltop in Truro that they harvested to supply them through the winter months. But further research revealed another story. The Pilgrims discovered sand mounds on top of the hill. The mounds were on top of graves in a native Indian burial ground. The Indians believed that giving a portion of the harvest to their ancestors would guarantee a plentifully harvest the following year. Buried in the sand mounds on top of each grave were large pots that were filled with corn at the end of each harvest and covered with sand. The Pilgrims uncovered the large pots, finding the corn. Since that day the Pilgrims called the site Corn Hill. It was recorded at a later date that the Pilgrims admitted taking the corn. They stated that because of the food shortage they were desperately in need of seed for the following year and that they vowed to make restitution. In part, that restitution came in the autumn of 1621, the following spring. The corn they had taken from the graves was used for seed the following spring and produced a huge, flourishing crop. The Pilgrims and the Indians, sitting side by side, celebrated with a week-long feast. We still celebrate this feast in November - Thanksgiving. There is a plaque on Corn Hill commemorating the historical event of the Pilgrims finding the corn. For 25 years, Chuck Nyhan, owner of the Seascape Motel (commonly referred to as Chuck's), has been hosting the Halloween Fly-In. The fly-in was given this name because it is held the last week of October into the Halloween weekend. The hang gliding community owes a debt of gratitude to Chuck. Chuck welcomes all hang glider pilots with open arms at his motel, and has made flying on Cape Cod what it is today.
According to Chuck, Jeff Nicolay, who now runs Morningside Flight Park in New Hampshire, was the first pilot to approach him about flying at the Seascape. I conducted a brief interview with Chuck for this article. George: Chuck, when were you first contacted about flying
at the Seascape?
The Seascape couldn't be located in a better place on the Cape for hang gliding. It is on the bay side of the Cape in North Truro which borders Provincetown, which is located on the very end of the Cape. The Seascape sits on the north end of a south-west-facing dune that runs south five miles and ends at Corn Hill. North of the Seascape the shoreline is close to sea level. Those of you who have been to Funston or, Torrey and can imagine a single-story motel running parallel to and 75 feet from the edge of the cliff can somewhat picture the Seascape. Launch is 75 feet from the door of your motel room. While sitting in your room you can watch pilots flying and launching. After an hour or two of flying you can land for a sandwich and then return to the air. For families it's a short walk down to the beach or a short drive into Provincetown. North of the Seascape the Cape resembles a fishhook, and the remaining 15 miles of land hooks directly back at Chuck's, offering a spectacular view of the Provincetown harbor, the end of the Cape Cod peninsula. The sunsets viewed from Chuck's are some of the most beautiful you will ever see. In the evening the lights of Provincetown glitter over the water and light up the harbor. During a full moon the beach lights up like a beacon since the moon acts like a spotlight beaming across the water. During the day the colors of the land and cottages contrasting with the water are a sight to behold, especially from the air. There are basically two good wind directions for flying the Cape, east and southwest. The bay-side dunes face southwest. They start at a height of 75 feet at the Seascape and run south about four miles to Corn Hill at 100 feet. The ocean side, facing east, starts out at Race Point with 10-foot dunes and runs south about 15 miles, varying in height up to 200 feet in some areas. Southwest winds are common on Cape Cod and generally pilots staying for several days set up their gliders at the Seascape when they arrive and never break them down until they leave. There is plenty of beach to land on, especially at low tide, and it's a short hike up the 50 foot stairway back to takeoff. Cape Cod is a magical place of beauty and history. Provincetown at its tip became a township in 1727. The little village that was once sustained by fishing has become one of the many tourist towns, and has many shops, restaurants and bars along its quaint, narrow streets. During the summer months its streets and shops are filled with people. Provincetown is a home for many artists, since the town and its surroundings are art themselves. Nestled at the tip of the Cape, on a strip of land at its end not even a city block wide, it is a sight to behold when flying the bluffs at the Seascape. There is so much history associated with Cape Cod that I doubt anyone could put it down on paper in a lifetime. |
The sport of soaring is part of Cape Cod's history, but sadly,
this is unknown to Cape Cod residents except for a few historians.
When the Wright Brothers attached an engine to their glider, further
research into soaring aircraft almost came to a standstill. Following
World War I the Versailles Treaty prohibited the Germans from training
more than a small number of powered aircraft pilots. The Treaty,
like many contracts, had its loopholes, and the Germans used one
of those loopholes to begin training pilots in unpowered aircraft.
Gliding was reborn, but this time its evolution was backed with
money and resources from the German Government. Picking up where
the Wright Brothers left off but with superior materials and new
technology developed building motorized aircraft during World War
I, gliding advanced rapidly in Germany. In 1927, J.C. Penney Jr.
(of the now-famous Penney retail chain), while visiting Germany,
was amazed at the advancements the Germans had made with powerless
aircraft. When he learned that the gliders could be launched from
mountains or hills, stay aloft for hours and travel significant
distances, he was committed to bringing this knowledge back to the
U.S. He returned to New York City and formed the American Motorless
Aviation Corporation, or MAC for short. MAC provided funds for a
handful of German pilots and instructors to come to America and
teach gliding. Walking as he talked he led me into the officers' bathhouse which
is almost untouched to this day. In the bathhouse there are two
main rooms, one of which has the toilets and sinks. The other room,
a shower about 12 by 15 feet, is laid with ceramic tile except for
the cedar vaulted ceiling and has 10 or so shower heads. "Peter was very nervous that day. Even though he had soared many times for over an hour in Germany he said that the first few minutes were the most nerve-racking he had experienced since his first solo flight. Peter told me there was a possibility the lift could disappear because of a change in the wind. He knew if this happened before he beat the Wright Brothers' record, in the presence of the large crowd (many of them socialites from New York and Boston) he would be a failure, and that caused him to burst into a sweat. He told me that all his nervousness disappeared at the ten-minute mark when the crowd let out a roar. Champaign bottles were opened in celebration and when Peter landed 55 minutes and 9 seconds later he joined the celebration. I remember that Mr. Penney and his friends were jubilant and declared Peter a hero. The very next day he broke the record again, soaring for 4 hours and 55 minutes." |
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J.C. summered at Cape Cod, and his familiarity with the dunes and
consistent winds, as well as the relatively close proximity of the
Cape to New York City, prompted MAC to establish two sites for gliding.
The first was atop Corn Hill (the south end of the same dune on
which the Seascape is located) which faced the prevailing south-
westerly winds and that would be the main site for soaring and breaking
records. The fact that this was the same hill where the Pilgrims
had found the corn, which led to the birth of Thanksgiving, was
strictly a coincidence. The other site was home to a training school
set up in Wellfleet at a place now called Cook's Camps. Both of
these areas have been flown by hang glider pilots for 18 years,
with no knowledge of glider pilots trying to break the Wright Brothers'
record in 1928, or a school dedicated to gliding in Wellfleet.
