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Whoops! Snapped another tip wand :-O
NMERider - 2012/03/14 04:29:47 UTC
Whoops! Snapped another tip wand :-O
Whoa! Dude. How many are you up to at this point?
Ground skim...
I usually envision something a little different when I hear the term ground skim. Kinda like a Cessna's doing towards the end of final.
Anyone got any ideas on how to keep wings leveled and yaw-free during skim?
No.
Christian Thoreson - 2004/10
Thus wheel landings, the safest and easiest way to consistently land a hang glider...
Not really. And anyway...
http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=23199
Santa Cruz Flats Race Day 1 & 2 - Video
NMERider - 2011/09/21 00:37:09 UTC
I dislike having anything in my field of view when I'm flying other than my instrument pod. That goes for bar mitts as well as wheels. I just don't want them.
No self respecting hang glider pilot would want a nasty pair of wheels in his field of view. Makes my skin crawl just thinking about it.
And the really important things are that you:
- got upright early so there was no dangerous late transition;
- had your hands way up high on the downtubes for excellent roll and flare authority;
- exercised really excellent flare authority;
- stayed on your feet so if you had been coming into a narrow dry riverbed with large rocks strewn all over the place or a field filled with seven foot high corn instead of the Kagel Happy Acres putting green you'd have been fine - 'cept for the tip wand.
Note: The first pilot who nearly whacks is the best pilot in the Sylmar club. In spite of the air in the LZ being weird on this day, it does not excuse dropping a wing and breaking a wand.
Yeah dude, that was some pretty gnarly air you came down in. I think you did pretty well getting it down safely and snapping just one tip wand.
And I wouldn't really worry about the tip wands anyway.
Zack C - 2011/01/22 19:12:14 UTC
A couple of years ago at a Lookout Wills Wing Demo Days QA session with Steve and Mike, I asked what the benefits of curved wing tips were. Steve's response surprised me: "They look good." He said they didn't provide any aerodynamic benefit and they only put them on their gliders because people want them. Either he or Mike (don't remember) then went on to state that they put backup hang loops on their wings for the same reason. I was impressed by their candor, but disappointed that consumer demand could override sensible engineering even in the realm of aircraft design.
It's not like they actually DO anything. And they're only seventy-two bucks a pop. And I'm sure your friendly neighborhood Wills Wing dealership has a big stack of them right next to the downtubes bin. And those are just a hundred and two bucks a pop.
So you just keep landing like you're doing, just like it says in the simple instructions in your Wills Wing T2 owner's manual...
Once established on a straight final approach, with wings level and flying directly into the wind, you should fly the glider down to where the basetube is between three and six feet off the ground. At this altitude, let the control bar out just enough to "round out" so that your descent is arrested and your flight path parallels the ground. The remainder of your approach will consist of bleeding off excess speed while paralleling the ground and keeping the wings level and the nose pointed in your direction of flight until it is time to "flare" for landing.
Prior to the landing flare your body position should be generally upright, but slightly inclined forward, with your head and shoulders forward of your hips and your legs and feet trailing slightly behind. Many pilots make the mistake of trying to get too upright at this stage of the landing, which actually reduces your flare authority and makes it harder to land on your feet. Your hands should be at shoulder width and shoulder height on the uprights. You should be relaxed, with a light grip on the bar, and your weight should be fully supported in your harness and not at all by your arms. (If your harness does not allow you to hang in the proper semi-upright landing position "hands off," without supporting your weight on the control bar, you will have a lot more difficulty making good landings. Talk to your harness manufacturer or your dealer about getting your harness adjusted to allow you to hang properly in the landing position.) There are several options for when to make the transition from prone to this semi upright position.
Some pilots favor going upright and moving both hands to the downtubes while still at altitude prior to the start of the approach. Others transition at the start of the approach to a semi upright position with one hand on a downtube and one hand on the basetube, and complete the transition by moving the other hand to the downtube just a few seconds prior to flare. Still others fly with both hands on the basetube until established on final glide, and then transition one hand at a time to the downtubes prior to flare.
Whichever method you use, there are a few important principles to observe. The first is that you should not make any change in hand position unless you are flying at or very near trim speed. At speeds faster than trim, you will be holding the bar in pitch against substantial force, and if you let go to move your hand the glider will pitch up and roll towards your remaining hand. The second is that while moving either hand, you have no control over the glider. You should move only one hand at a time. Even so, if you can't make the transition in the position of each hand quickly and reliably, you should transition both hands while at altitude, before you start your approach. Otherwise, if you fail to make a quick transition, you could be out of control close to the ground, and suffer a turbulence-induced change in heading or attitude without sufficient time to recover. Many pilots make the mistake of trying to change position while flying fast and close to the ground, and experience a dangerous loss of control as a result. A third principle to observe is that if you are using a "pod" type harness, you should unzip and confirm that your legs are free to exit the harness at least 500 feet above the ground and before you start your approach. If there is any problem finding the zipper pull, or dealing with a stuck zipper, you don't want to have to try to fix that problem while also flying the approach.
Once established on a wings level short final, into the wind, body semi upright and with both hands on the downtubes, your final concern is the timing and execution of the landing flare. The goal is to arrive on the ground, on your feet, under control with the glider settling on your shoulders. If the wind is 15 mph or more, you will not really execute a flare at all; you will simply slow to minimum flying speed, put a foot down, and step onto the ground. In lighter winds, you will want to use some combination of a final nose up flare, and running out your landing, in order to finish the flight on your feet with the glider settling on your shoulders. The lighter the wind, the stronger should be both your flare and your run.
The traditional method of landing in light or no wind calls for a sharp, aggressive flare at precisely the correct moment. This technique works fine when done correctly, but it's not easy to get the timing just right. Flare too early and you will climb, and then fall with the nose pitching down. Flare too late and you won't get the nose up enough to stop your forward motion, and the glider may nose into the ground as you run into it from behind.
The flare timing process is made much easier by using a combination of a "crescendo flare" and a run out of the landing. As you bleed off speed on final, flying just above the ground, you are at first letting the control bar out towards its trim position. As the glider reaches trim speed, which will normally be one to three mph above stall speed, you begin to gently push the bar out to keep the glider from settling. At this point it is almost time to flare. As the glider enters the "mushing" range of angles of attack, it will begin to settle in spite of your continuing to ease the bar out. This should be happening well before your arms are significantly extended. At this point begin your flare by smoothly accelerating the rate at which you push out on the bar. At the same time, draw one leg forward, put a foot down, and start to run as hard as you can. This run should be very much like an aggressive take off run - your body should be leaning forward into the run and you should be driving with your legs. The difference here is that while you are leaning into your run and driving forward with your legs, your arms are extending fully from your shoulders, pushing out, and what feels like upwards, on the control bar in an accelerating, "crescendo" flare.
Done correctly, this type of flare / run combination will bring the glider quickly to a very nose high attitude, producing a great deal of drag and quickly arresting all of your forward motion. You will feel the glider pulling you from behind, resisting your attempt to run, and as you slow down the glider will settle gently on your shoulders. Even in no wind, you should not have to take more than a few steps. If your timing is a little early, and you feel the glider start to climb, simply stop pushing out and resume the flare when the glider again begins to settle. If your timing is a little late, your feet will touch down a little sooner, but as long as you're running and flaring at the same time, the glider will stay over your head or behind you.
Note: Pilots who have trouble with the flare, and with the glider nosing over during landing, usually do so because of one of the following problems:
a. Harness leg straps too long / hanging too low below the glider, and / or hands too low on the control bar. This reduces pitch authority and prevents an adequate flare.
b. Improper body position - pilot leaning back, (away from the anticipated hard landing), with feet extended in front. This moves the pilot's center of mass forward ahead of his shoulders, effectively shortening the pilot's arms and reducing flare authority. The proper position is with the pilot's body inclined forward, with the shoulders out ahead of the pilot's center of mass. Thinking about pushing "up" instead of "out" when flaring may help you to maintain the proper forward inclined body position.
c. Slowing too much prior to flare, so that your arms are too extended to allow enough flare amplitude.
...don't even THINK about cluttering your precious field of view with a pair of wheels or anything other than your instrument pod...
Gil Dodgen - 1995/01
All of this reminds me of a comment Mike Meier made when he was learning to fly sailplanes. He mentioned how easy it was to land a sailplane (with spoilers for glide-path control and wheels), and then said, "If other aircraft were as difficult to land as hang gliders no one would fly them."
...and everybody will stay safe and happy.
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