Hang gliders

I'm seriously considering getting into hang gliding early next year. Anyone on here with experience?

 

Lou,

I have no experience but live in Utah and drive past a major gliding spot on my way home from work every day.

The paragliders and hangliders look like such pure fun. I watched footage of a high performance hang glider on some show like Tech Toys recently and while the company was in Cali, most all of the footage was shot here in Utah at the point of the mountain. It looks like a riot.

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eHzJbRQb9k[/ame]

 

I wonder how many flights it would take to get an airline guy off and running. I'd like to think it wouldn't be that hard. I'm guessing they teach a lot of guys with absolutely no flying experience.

 

I flew a tandem once. It's pretty straight forward. Pull/push the bar to control pitch, move your body left and right to turn.

 

I am friends with a guy with whom I worked at the Kite Factory that is a champion hang glider pilot. In fact there are two of them who fly hang gliders. They "hang out" at Wenatchee, Wa. and some of their flights have been amazing, like flying from Wenatchee to Spokane and back. Summer thermals over Wa. State are beautiful and I experienced them flying in a sailplane with a a pro. It is a great sport.

 

This is the response I got from a local company:

Our average hang glider pilot is 45 yrs. old, married, with a job. This limits their ability to quickly learn to fly any aircraft, let alone a hang glider. Nevertheless, our average student will need about 12 - 15 lessons on our sand dune training hill in Manhattan Beach, as well as about 5 tandem or dual flight lessons and an additional 8 mountain solo flight lessons.

Our teaching syllabus is available for you to look at on our website at http://www.windsports.com/pilot_resources.html

Click on "WINDSPORTS TRAINING MANUAL / RED BOOK.pdf" under TRAINING FILES.

Prices for lessons vary with the number and type purchased, but expect to spend between $2,000 - $3,000 in training costs and $2500. - $5,500. in a hang glider, reserve parachute system and all related equipment.

I'm not certain that your airline experience will be very helpful, but some of our fastest learners were RC glider pilots. Helicopter pilots and military pilots also tend to progress rapidly.

There's also a frequently asked questions page on our website that might help.

Call me anytime with questions or to discuss the pro's and cons of hang gliding.

All the best,

 

I guess I was expecting a lower cost along with something like...with your flying experience, you should catch on quickly.

Anyways, I'm definitely going to give it a go early next year. I may start a thread about it.

I do have lots of RC glider time. Maybe that is worth more than the 74 time.

 

Lou, if you are 44 or older, I doubt that you will be sharp enough to learn about flying. That's pretty techinul , you know.

 

Yeah Bob,

I'm 47 now. Maybe too late for me.

 

No recent experience and the learning back then was > buy glider > find dune > assemble > run off. Imagine liability has killed that likelihood now.

The R/C glider pilots do seem to pick it up very quick I must say, there were several 74 and assorted heavy jet guys flying back then. One in his last year with the big Q broke his leg or ankle, which didn't go down too well, typically not as relaxed in the air either.

My father took it up in his late 50s a few years after I gave it away and was still going in his 80s - so age no barrier.

Here's one of the most natural flyers I witnessed, L/D a bit different now though!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mcp8gKNOZ5w]Australian Hang Gliding. Tim Travers Tribute - YouTube[/ame]

 

I almost wish it was still that way. I'm sure I'd impose greater restrictions on myself. I looked over their training manual and written test. I'm sure I could pass the written test right now. I'm hoping to start this in Feb/March. I'll "GoPro" it so you can all laugh at me during the training.

 

I taught myself to fly hang gliders back in the 80s on a single fabric Rogalo wing. There's a lot you can learn from just strapping in, and floating down a few times. It's all real hard to put into words like stall, weathervane, flutter, etc.

The safest way to go is to is going to Mexico and take a flight off the dunes. No, I'm not kidding. About 35 miles south of Tijuana on the Pacific coast is a district called Ejido Primo Tapia, with a small tapered length of dunes leading to the shore.

Panoramio - Photo of view on the dunes

The sand is very forgiving and the prevailing wind is almost always from the west, giving a nice soft lift as you take off from the peak of the dune toward the shoreline. Further, it's not steep enough for you to get hurt(much). I've taught three people to hang glide there and seen many others. You have to compete with some bikers and such but it's not a real problem. You can start mid-way down the dune, and work your way up as you get better.

A couple of tips that will keep you from messing up from the start:

1. When you are ready, and the wind is right, pick up the glider and go, don't stand there holding the glider on your shoulders, as it gets heavy and awkward and your muscles will weaken.

2. Keep running. One of the worst mistakes is to take a few quick steps, then try to hang off the lanyard and let the wind do all the work. Keep running until you are lifted off the ground by the harness. If you stop running after a few steps, it's a good bet you'll wind up skidding into the ground. I've even seen one guy manage to pitch-pole by not running enough.

3. When you feel the wing start to pick you up, your shoulders and hands will be on the A frame of the trapeze. Transition to the bottom cross/steering bar with both hands at once. Don't try to fly it using the A frame!

4. Gentle turns at first! Turns reduce lift, and on a modern wing it's not as bad as the old style but I would say no more than 30deg left or right until you get plenty of altitude where you can do a course reversal.

5. Landing is tricky. A wing that you had such a hard time getting up and getting going, is very different in ground effect. It's going to float more than you expect. Remember, you have no thrust to manage, just lift. Transition your hands all at once to the outside of the A frame. Don't put your hands above your shoulders, keep them far out so you have more control, but still protect your hands from the crossbar. You may be on a trainer that has those big flotation wheels out at the end of the crossbar. If so, just leave your hands on the crossbar. Make small forward and back motions of the crossbar and feel the lift degrading as you slow. Don't let it balloon. Just keep it near the ground as the speed bleeds off.

Whew - that's more than I thought I remember from way back in the good ole days. When you are ready to go off the serious mountain, don't hesitate, really go for it. Stay plenty far away from the hill/mtn/cliff until you have FULL control in all axis. Don't try to be a lift hero on your first few flights, just get in, get control, and get down safe. After that, you can work your way closer to the lift and begin to manage air currents. Good luck.
Once you get comfy down on the sand in Mexico, you can move to something steeper, but it's like a baby bird being fledged. You can't do it half way. Get out there, keep plenty of reserve speed above stall, and if you have to land and make another trek back up don't try to salvage a low lift situation by going slower, and slower, and slower. If you get in a stall, it will almost always be the away wing(furthest from the cliff). If the away wing stalls, you're in deep doo doo, the away wing can be salvaged the same as a plane, but remember, pull back on the bar, and don't fly into the stalling wing, which means you'll have to turn toward the cliff. Best bet is to try to keep it perfectly straight.

<edit: look at that tribute video above at 0:42 in. He touched his tip on the ground, and tumbled in. This happens regularly to novices who get too close.>

 

Thanks for all the tips and advice. Yeah, you won't find me flying near stall speed unless my feet are near the ground! I've watched hundreds of youtube videos, read quite a bit online, and feel ready to go. Planning Feb or March. Again, I'll video some of it for some laughs.

 

I will be following this closely. This is one of my dreams.

My airtime sofar is limited to skydive,33 jumps and to one tandem flight with paraglider in France, close to Nice. I got lucky and we got really nice lift's and he gave me some speeds as he wanted to show how capable the wing is to compared to skydive gear.

Been quietly dreaming of doing this and it will be great to follow all the ups and downs on the way to fly like a eagle.

Cheers and have fun
Samuli