Newcastle Hang Gliding Club

Last week, I was at the Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery with some friends, looking at an exhibition of clothes I think - I didn't really get into it much, but my friends both work in the fashion industry, so they enjoyed it.
There was a three photo piece on one wall which was a bit about the artist, and her influences. One of those photos was taken from somewhere near Merewether Baths, looking north east along the beach with a green Fun prominently in view en-route either to Dicko, or Strezi.

Then, today, I read in the Newcastle Herald that a Da Vinci exhibition is on at the Civic Theatre, including models made from some of his plans, including a model of his hang glider.
The article says:

Genius with a modern mind
By MARTIN DINNEEN

VISITORS to the Newcastle Da Vinci Machines exhibition may see a little bit of the modern in the amazing 500-year-old designs.
Models of machines designed by the famed painter and thinker are on display in Wheeler Place from Saturday till March 28.
Designs that were the genesis for the hang glider, helicopter, parachute, escalator, bicycle, hydraulic saw and an array of war machines, such as tanks, are all on display.
Despite earning a good income from drafting plans for war machines, Da Vinci was always wary of his designs being used for destruction.
"He was a pacifist, humanitarian and even a vegetarian so he sabotaged many of his designs so they wouldn't work," exhibition manager Tom Rizzo said.
A menacing man-powered tank with cannons mounted in a 360-degree array was designed so the gears of its wheels turned in on themselves, rendering it immobile.
"An engineer now would pick that up quickly but there weren't that many in his day," Mr Rizzo said.
The models are the life's work of three generations of Italian family the Niccolais, who take the imaginative designs from paper to three dimensions.
Tickets for the exhibition, which also features hands-on displays, are available from the door or can be booked through Ticketek and the Civic Theatre.

It's interesting to note that hang gliding is mentioned twice in this article. A strong positive perception of what we do is important, I think, if we ever end up in a fight with any governing bodies over the use of our publicly owned launch and landing areas. Here we have an example of two artists, one ancient, and one recent who have positive images of hang gliding in their work. The fact that Martin Dinneen mentioned hang gliding twice in his article about Da Vinci in a Newcastle publication implies that he recognises Hang Gliding as a fundamental aspect of living in Newcastle.

Just some food for thought.

Dawson