Pat Denevan: Rogallo Hall of Fame Inductee

Pat Denevan has spent over five decades at the forefront of American hang gliding, shaping not just the equipment and training methods, but the very culture of the sport. Beginning with a homemade plastic-and-bamboo glider inspired by a Popular Mechanics article, Pat quickly transitioned from hobbyist to innovator, founding Northern California Hang Glider Supply in 1973. His early days were filled with building gliders, sourcing parts, and showing friends how to fly. What began as backyard instruction evolved into Super Fly Sky Sails, and eventually, the Mission Soaring Center—one of the most respected hang gliding schools in the country. Pat’s lifelong mission has been to help people fly, and his legacy includes pioneering instruction techniques, opening flying sites across California, and developing gliders and harnesses specifically tailored for safe, beginner-friendly training.

As a founding force behind the USHGA Instructor Certification Program, Pat has trained generations of instructors and advocated relentlessly for better, safer instruction standards. His leadership has been instrumental in the evolution of formal flight training, and his clinics—like his famed Instructor Certification Programs (ICP)—have reached aspiring instructors nationwide. In 2001, he was honored as USHGA’s Instructor of the Year, a fitting recognition for a man whose commitment to quality instruction helped lay the foundation of modern hang gliding education. From aluminum tubing in a garage to shaping national training protocols, Pat’s vision, persistence, and generosity have touched thousands of lives. As he likes to say: “We believe you can fly.” And because of him, so many now do.