Sail cleaning

Sailcloth may get dirty, but don't panic. Most stains and dust may look bad, but they really do not harm the structural strength of the sail. Do not weaken the sail material, just trying to make it look new again. You prefer that sailcloth to be strong, rather than pretty. Keeping a sail clean is a much better strategy than ever trying to clean it, later. Wingtip cover-bags are a great help in keeping a sail clean, during set-up and dis-assembly. An old pair of blue jeans will provide two good wingtip covers; just cut off each leg at the thigh, and sew the cuff closed. You needed a "new" pair of old cut-off jeans anyway, right? :-)

So, You Want To Buy a Glider?

Author: Red

Source: http://www.xmission.com/~red/

Okay, now you have almost completed flying lessons. You know a bit about the air, and have some good experience on novice-rated gliders. You really want to buy your own glider, and you are READY. If everybody knows the seller, and all the local experts are saying that you are getting a great deal on exactly the glider to match your skills, maybe you should listen up. If only the people who have a money interest in the deal are in favor of it, maybe you need to ignore the flacks, and listen to your friends instead. The pilot who sells you a glider should be expecting you to be a friend for life.

Can I build my own hang glider?

 Article from:  http://www.xmission.com/~red/

Author: Red

This article is not very relevant to regular Hang Gliding these days, but if you are the rugged individualist, or financially challenged, or maybe half a bubble out of plumb, then you might want to build the first glider you ever try to fly. It’s basically a Bad Plan.

Trucks

by Peter Bowle Evans

This story was originally written for pilots familiar with the Mt 7 flying site at Golden, British Columbia, Canada. To appreciate the piece, all you really need to know is that the access road has enjoyed a certain reputation. Think of sliding backwards down an incline steep enough for the vehicle to flip end over end (it happened), being buried to the differentials in mud with a bush 4 x4 (happened to me) or almost anything else to do with driving that you would NOT want to happen while going flying - we could probably challenge you to come up with one that did not happen on our road!

Clouds

Clouds are unpredictable: friends and foes. When I am coring quickly, I'm always sizing what's up, wishing for a window in the sail above me; and a glimpse into the future... ("What the hay am I getting into?")

Termikk Tips

Lag et mentalt bilde over termikkboblen. Termikken er svært likt bilde i læreboken. Observer røyken som stig opp fra en skorstein, eller se en hurtigfilm av skyer som utvikler seg for å se bevegelsene i den stigende luften. Termikken kan variere svært mye, fra svake til sterke, og fra smale til tjukke. Noen kan deformere seg etter vinden. Prøv å sammenlikn bildet ditt med erfaring.
 Når du nærmer deg en termikk, kan du forvente å finne ganske sterkt synk. Du kan finne vekslende løft og synk et par sekunder, deretter vil du finne løft.

Wakeup Calls

A wakeup call is where you are sound asleep and perhaps dreaming and a pesky buzzer keeps going off in your dream calling you back to reality. Well, we as hang glider pilots have been in a dream where we think we have this sport in hand, and it no longer offers the dangers it once did.

World Record Flight - 700 km !

On July 17^th I set an Open Distance World Record in Hang Gliding flying 700.8 km (435 miles) from Zapata to Lamesa in Texas, USA. The FAI has not officially recognized this record yet; but we are working on it. I already submitted all the necessary information and documentation.

Why Flying Sucks

Flying sucks. Before I was a pilot. I worked. I ate. I slept. Now I fly. Flying cannot be described. You simply do it. Once you have, you are never satisfied with ground based activities. You constantly look to the sky.

Why Can't We Get a Handle on This Safety Thing

If I were to ask you to characterize the view that the "uninformed public" has of hang gliding, what might you say? You might say that they think of hang gliding as a "death sport," or, at the very least, an "unreasonably unsafe activity." You might say that they think hang glider pilots are "thrill seekers" who recklessly disregard the inherent risks in what they do. You might say that they are under the mistaken impression that hang gliders are fragile, unstable flying contraptions blown about by the winds and only partially, and inadequately under the control of the occupant.

Troubleshooting Your Harness Parachute System

In the early 80’s during my very limited dabbling in competition, I would hear Rich Pfeiffer psyche-out the competition by declaring "I have a parachute and I am not afraid to use it so you had better not get in my way!" With over 1000 skydives and several skydiving championships under his belt, everyone knew he was serious.

Trash thermal flying

So there I was at 600 feet circling in a sort of flying trash dump. I knew that the thermal was pretty healthy by the grass and weeds whirling around in it. My greatest fear at this point was not that I would lose the thermal, but that I would get some of the trash under a contact lens. Flying blind is not one of my strong points.

Transport and Storage of Your Wings

Hang gliders usually fold up into a long skinny bag. The packed glider will be about 17 to 21 feet (5m to 6.5m) long, depending on the glider type and how much you weigh. Some gliders can be "short-packed", but this is a level of hassle that you usually will do only to get it on an airplane. Some airlines won't handle it even then; I would never give MY wings to the average baggage-smasher, and it's worth more than the carrier will pay, for loss or damage. So, we car-top it, usually.

Training With Scooter Tow

or

The Portable Variable Height Training Hill

Many hang gliding schools in the US have found it very difficult to secure training sites which are usable in all of the various wind directions which are common where they teach. While hang waiting is a skill which all pilots need to become accomplished hang glider pilots, there are few schools which have had much financial success in teaching it.

Tow Release Wars

There was a strongly worded discussion on the hang glider discussion list about tow releases. I've watched this thread with some interest. I train quite a lot with tow, and at various points in the training, I have used many types of release. 

Thermals

Thermalling Without Instruments

Okay, you paid for lessons, bought a decent glider, a parachute with a para-swivel, a comfortable harness, and a helmet. Now, you fly well enough, but somehow thermalling is just not coming together for you. A variometer would really help, but the wallet is kinda tapped out for now. Is there some kind of trick that you can learn to judge altitude well enough to "do without" instruments? Okay, maybe not altitude precisely, but rather "rate of climb"? You may have already discovered that air going up can feel about like still air, or even sink, after the first few seconds. This "rate of climb" is very hard to judge when looking straight down, right? Put your wallet away; this won't cost a cent. This trick is called the "Hill Variometer"; the secret is to use more than one hill.

Thermalling Hints

Thermalling is an advanced flying skill that most pilots will encounter late in their Hang 2 skill level, and really concentrate on as they enter their Hang 3 rating.  I think from personal experience and from observation, that there are many styles of thermalling.  Mine have changed over the years and especially since I began flying an Exxtacy rigid wing.  Any of the advice and techniques I list below may be heavily influenced by what I’m flying, so take that into account when you try and translate it for your equipment.

The tale of Daedalus and Icarus as described in Greek Mythology

Back in the ancient years Daedalus was the son of Metion who was a descendant of the craftsman God Hephaestos. He lived in Athens with his wife Nausicrates and his son Icarus. He was a great architect, artist and inventor. As a sculptor became famous because he was the first who curved the wooden statues with the left foot forward, thus giving them motion.In brief he was a Leonardo da Vinci of his age.

The pilot's athmosphere

Many of today's home built aircraft capable of transporting man to high altitudes in near record time, with the average age of the pilot base at well over 50 years old, a practical knowledge of physiological human principals and atmospheric physics are not only desirable, but necessary in order to sustain safe operating parameters. Therefore, the pilot should have a firm understanding of the relationships between oxygen, altitude and the body.

The First Annual Scooter Tow Spot Landing and XC Contest

The wind in Texas had been so bad, that I was afraid to let the dogs or cats out the door unless I kept them tied down. We had the worst spring we have had for many years. So when I proposed a club spot landing contest, I had faint hope of actually having good conditions.

Scooter Mania

Scooter Mania. What a dumb name for an article. Next thing you know, people will be picking it up to read it, thinking that it will be a continuation of the old controversy between Mods and Rockers moved to the USA. Well, no such luck.

Safe landings

Any landing involves a wide range of problems. In order to reduce the probability of an accident, all these problems should be taken into consideration every time, and particularly when landing out.

Rigid wings and flex wings

 For many years, rigid wings were seen only rarely at the popular hang-gliding areas. But today they are gradually shouldering in amongst the flex wings, introducing new and interesting ideas into the world of hang-gliding. Over two decades have gone by since the appearance of the Manta Fledge, a rigid wing that offered excellent performance and optimum strength, in the 1970s. The Fledge was used a great deal for acrobatics, as a result of its robust structure.