landing
Posted: 2011/01/05 21:37:10 UTC
Skyting
Hang Gliding - 2004/10Don Boardman
1982/12
Saturday, myself and Dan Guido, a Hang IV and instructor from Mohawk, New York, 35 miles from Rome, spent the afternoon in final preparation.
Both Dan and I had received a day of tow training at High Perspective in Toronto on September 21. We used a traditional V-bridle with two releases, one at the heart bolt and the other at the control bar. I was a "hot" Hang I with about seven minutes of airtime. At the end of the day we had both winch towed to two thousand feet and I had gained 35 minutes - moving me close to my Hang II. That's our experience with towing.
Sunday, October 10, at 11:00 we hit the shoreline. Boat, release, towline, bridle, the Bobcat II on a three point float system and us in wet suits. We are starting in the water using a prone harness. The control bar is suspended about four inches above the water by the control bar floats, the tail supported by the keel float.
The landings, by the way, are the greatest. You come in just like a seaplane and touch down gently skimming on the water's surface.
1983/05
Part of what made the learning easy and the towing fun was the control bar floats that High Perspective uses. They developed them over several years and consider them the best design available for deep water starts and landings. The floats allow a prone in-the-water start and a seaplane-like landing ... level off hot about a foot above the water ... hold ... smooth, fun, prone landings.
Hang Gliding - 2004/11Christian Thoreson
Thus wheel landings, the safest and easiest way to consistently land a hang glider (yes, I know many people will have much discussion over that comment)...
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Christian Thoreson has been actively flying hang gliders since 1979 and has been the flight school director at Lookout Mountain Flight Park since 1990.
Executive Director Speaks Out
Wheel Landings: Broadening the Window
Jayne DePanfilis
I learned to fly by tandem aerotowing. This type of training suited me perfectly: I'm 5'3", 100 pounds, I have low bone density and not a lot of physical strength. You probably know other pilots who fit this description and who have benefited from tandem aerotow instruction to obtain their novice rating. It's likely you also know others who perhaps should have chosen this training method but decided to "tough it out" on the training hills where there's a greater likelihood of an injury or a bad training flight as a result of fatigue. There are many excellent training hill programs around the country, but for people like me tandem aerotow instruction makes it possible to experience solo flight.
Once you can launch, fly, tow, set up a conservative approach, and land without input from your tandem instructor, you are ready to fly solo in a glider that's the right size for you. One of the benefits of tandem aerotow training is the opportunity to launch and land on wheels, every flight.
By the time I was cleared to solo aerotow, I was very proficient at rolling in. In fact, for nearly all my landings since that first solo I've rolled in on twelve inch (training) wheels. Yes, I've been to the training hills and invested time in learning how to land on my feet, but only after I already knew how to fly. Still, I trust the technique I learned first: landing on wheels.
For me, rolling in is the right thing to do. It is the safest way for me to end every flight. Christian Thoreson, flight school director at Lookout Mountain Flight Park, points out that landing on wheels is a special skill. It's a technique that requires training and practice, just like flat slope launch or restricted LZ or any of the other recognized special skills.
One of the advantages of flying at a flight park is that often times there are plenty of gliders set up to fly each day. I seldom had to set up or break down the Falcon 140 that fits me so well. It was always set up, already equipped with a pair of twelve inch wheels that facilitated my landings.
I eventually moved to a flying site where the majority of new pilots learned to foot launch and land from a training hill. This school has one of the finest training programs I've ever witnessed or participated in, but I knew my primary launch method would not be foot launching and my preferred landing method would not be landing on my feet. I was scared but I desperately wanted to launch from a cliff. Eventually, with Christian's help, I did do that cliff launch - but I landed on my wheels.
When I moved from a flight park to a mountain/ridge soaring site I learned that I had more airtime than most novice pilots who had trained exclusively on a training hill. I was told my flying skills and my ability to set up an approach were better than average. I had to learn the rules of the ridge and the difference between flying in rotor and lift, and I had great respect for the breadth of knowledge necessary to fly safely at a new site.
However, I also learned that my choosing to land on wheels was seen as a negative thing when I was surrounded by mountain pilots at some flying sites. I heard a new term to describe my landing skill: belly landings. I envisioned belly flops, the kind we did in the pool when we were learning how to dive. Those comments hurt.
Many pilots (who had not learned how to land on wheels properly, who had not refined this special skill) made me feel like I hadn't learned a legitimate landing technique. I knew differently. I seldom dragged my belly. The front of my harness was pretty clean for a pilot who lands on wheels. Pilots who watched me land on the wheels time and time again should have been able to see that this was a skill and not just the "sissy" way out. After all, I had learned to land on my feet, and on a rare occasion or two I demonstrated this skill as well.
But on these occasions I walked off the field with this thought: I have more control over the glider when I remain prone during the approach and landing than I do attempting to fly from the downtubes in an upright position.
Well-intentioned pilots have advised me not to land on the wheels because it's dangerous. Their thought is that it is much worse to remain prone with my head close to the ground - but in control - than it is to be in an upright position, with considerably less control. This just didn't make sense to me considering where and when I choose to fly. Clearly we were considering the concept of landing on wheels from two different perspectives.
For me, landing on wheels is second nature; it is a skill I've learned and practiced over and over again. But to the pilots who were concerned about me, it appeared that I was relying on a landing technique that was supposed to be reserved for potentially bad situations, like downwind landings. Theirs was a heartfelt concern - they didn't want to see me injure my head or neck doing one of these wheel landings.
It was difficult to resist the pressure to land on my feet, so every once in a while I landed this way just to prove to them (or myself) that I wasn't deficient in my training. But a pilot who intentionally rolls in should not be disqualified from being considered a "real' pilot. Some well-respected comp and long-time pilots have to land on wheels because they've experienced too many hard landings on their feet. It's OK for them to land on their wheels, and it should be OK for anyone.
There are some very good lessons to be learned from my experiences:
Pilots who learn to launch and land on wheels are generally much more comfortable and proficient at doing so than pilots who rely on wheels for emergency purposes only.
Pilots may have more control over the glider when they don't transition from prone position to the uprights during the approach and landing. Some pilots maintain better airspeed this way because they can "pull in" farther than they can when flying from the downtubes. A pilot who doesn't need to transition to the downtubes during approach won't stall the glider during that moment of transition.
Pilots who intentionally land on wheels after almost every flight have in most cases decided this is the safest landing technique for them. They know their head is closer to the ground. They also know that there are other more important factors influencing their choice.
Pilots who roll in aren't doing what is commonly referred to as a "belly" landing if they are executing the landing correctly. Landing on the wheels properly is a special skill and one that many long-time pilots have not been trained to do. Many of these are mountain pilots and it simply isn't practical or safe to roll in at most of their flying sites. The introduction of the flight park and flatland flying changed this.
Pilots with special needs may consider landing on wheels safer than landing on their feet. We aren't sissies. We're smart, and we're implementing good risk management, unless the site is not suited to wheel landings.
Pilots who intentionally land on their wheels should never feel badly about using big wheels. Bigger is better. These pilots aren't usually concerned about drag or performance, but peer pressure is a powerful motivator. Ridicule could sway a pilot who's made the choice to land safely on wheels decide to opt instead for a potentially less-safe foot landing.
Landing on wheels makes it difficult or impossible to land safely at many mountain sites. Landing on bumpy or uneven terrain can be unsafe too. Don't forget why you made this choice. Go to the training hill and learn to land on your feet or don't fly sites where wheel landings are not a safe option.
Landing on wheels in tall grass can be done without incident if the pilot understands that the glider must quickly roll to a stop and not turn or spin 180 degrees. If the glider turns or spins after the landing, it was landed with too much airspeed. This is unacceptable if you need to land in tall grass.
Aerotow tandem training and flight parks make it possible for people to learn to hang glide or try it one time. I don't fly a lot, but when I do I fly a small glider with big wheels. No need to switch to a higher performing glider unless I plan to fly more and want to expand my options. I fly at sites in conditions that fit my flying style. I make decisions based on what feels safest for me.
Isn't that what we all should do, every time we fly?