Friday’s heavy rains did little to put a damper on what organizers are calling the most successful world championship hang gliding event ever.

The 16th FAI World Hang Gliding Championships may have seen its last flight out at McMahon-Wrinkle Airport — depending on whether rains continue Saturday — but didn’t keep the event from getting rave reviews, officials said.

“We’re going to try to get some (flying) tasks in Saturday ... but it’s looking only about 50-50 right now,” said David Glover, event director. “But this has been the best world championships ever. The flying over the past seven days couldn’t have been better.”

Weekend rains will have “zero” effects on actual competition, he added.

“We’ve already had more competitions and performed more tasks than at any other world championship,” he said.

Glover said that the 110 pilots from 26 countries who descended on Big Spring during the past two weeks had been unanimous in their praise for both the flying conditions and the support facilities at the airport.

The biennial event will be held in 2009 in France, but Glover hopes Big Spring will continue to host hang gliding competitions in the coming years.

“The airport is getting busier and the use of the big hangar here will be a question in the future ... but the people and weather out here are great,” he said. “We’d love to come back, but it depends on a lot of factors.”

Closing ceremonies for the world championships was scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.

Contact Staff Writer Steve Reagan at 263-7331, ext. 234 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it