By Dave Saffold
     You've driven the Golden spike that "The Mesa Hill Lovers" have been praying for forever!
     Folks were having fun o those hills long before Dave Butz was the first to self-launch (with his "garage bi-plane") in the County, there in 1971.
     My brother Rich and I soon followed, with our bamboo pole, plastic garden sheet "Rogallo wing," Thinking we were first (in 1972), but then hearing about and meeting Dave Butz. Dave continued to stun everyone with a stream of unique, interesting, flyable craft of his design, while proving himself a master of any sort of machine. (He recently shocked the Hendry's Beach locale, skying out everything at Wilcox on his Icarus V rigid wing!)
     When the sports field section of Elings Park was a lonely, abandoned dump lot, Dave Butz helped me launch there into a bucking west wind for the first Hang Gliding soaring flight in Santa Barbara. I did 8-10 passes about 50 feet above launch. Fortunately, Virgil Elings was enjoying these hills too!
     Bob Trampenau, our own Wilbur Wright, chose to move here in 1975. Soon after he arrived, he tested the first double-surfaced, Rogallo wing Hang Glider at this lucky, sunny plot. This led in breath taking leaps of performance, to the stunning, stratospheric level of today's laid back "weekend astronauts" who, starting from our mountain tops, have flown to L.A., Gaviota, and Santa Maria!
     We, including much wildlife, are more grateful than we can say, for this act of kindness, Mr. Elings. I know that I'm very far from alone in wanting your example of "vision" to be "taken in."
     Santa Barbara has received a beautiful gift, and a fabulous treat in Elings Park!