Narrative:

Location: rno, 6.0 mi south. On departure out of rno we encountered at least 15 pwred hang gliders ranging in altitude from 8000 ft to nearly 18000 ft. We turned directly into them and rno departure called numerous targets at our twelve O'clock, altitude unknown. We missed several by 1000 ft and one by only 500 ft. The hang-glider had no idea we were there because we approached him at high closure rate from his 6 O'clock. There were multiple gliders, at least ten of them well above the 13000 foot floor to have an operable transponder and several well above us at least several thousand ft above us. These ultralights were hanging out right below a cloud deck, if we had been in a descent we would have no chance of avoiding them at all. As it was on departure we were climbing into them and with their small size had a hard time dodging. TCAS of course showed nothing. We did make a left turn to avoid the largest group of these guys, but they had no business being up there to begin with.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLC OF A SUPER MD80 TOOK EVASIVE ACTION TO AVOID ULTRALIGHT VEHICLES IN THE MAIN DEP RTE FROM CLASS C AIRSPACE RNO ARPT.

Narrative: LOCATION: RNO, 6.0 MI S. ON DEP OUT OF RNO WE ENCOUNTERED AT LEAST 15 PWRED HANG GLIDERS RANGING IN ALT FROM 8000 FT TO NEARLY 18000 FT. WE TURNED DIRECTLY INTO THEM AND RNO DEP CALLED NUMEROUS TARGETS AT OUR TWELVE O'CLOCK, ALT UNKNOWN. WE MISSED SEVERAL BY 1000 FT AND ONE BY ONLY 500 FT. THE HANG-GLIDER HAD NO IDEA WE WERE THERE BECAUSE WE APCHED HIM AT HIGH CLOSURE RATE FROM HIS 6 O'CLOCK. THERE WERE MULTIPLE GLIDERS, AT LEAST TEN OF THEM WELL ABOVE THE 13000 FOOT FLOOR TO HAVE AN OPERABLE TRANSPONDER AND SEVERAL WELL ABOVE US AT LEAST SEVERAL THOUSAND FT ABOVE US. THESE ULTRALIGHTS WERE HANGING OUT RIGHT BELOW A CLOUD DECK, IF WE HAD BEEN IN A DESCENT WE WOULD HAVE NO CHANCE OF AVOIDING THEM AT ALL. AS IT WAS ON DEP WE WERE CLBING INTO THEM AND WITH THEIR SMALL SIZE HAD A HARD TIME DODGING. TCAS OF COURSE SHOWED NOTHING. WE DID MAKE A LEFT TURN TO AVOID THE LARGEST GROUP OF THESE GUYS, BUT THEY HAD NO BUSINESS BEING UP THERE TO BEGIN WITH.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.