If a wheel landing is the safest and easiest way to consistently land a hang glider what's the most dangerous and difficult way to land a hang glider with the most uncertain outcome?Christian Thoreson - 2004/10
Thus wheel landings, the safest and easiest way to consistently land a hang glider...
(Rhetorical question.)Jim Rooney - 2011/06/12 13:57:58 UTC
Most common HG injury... spiral fracture of the humerus.
Translation...Richard Saffold - 2011/02/17 23:36:21 UTC
He is too low and slow for both LZs. The gradient there can be so strong that being upright and flying by the down tubes will only get you stalled and, as in this case, the pilot flare carries him over lip of the LZ with no flying speed left to correct for the being turned or get the nose up.
These are common mistakes for this LZ. If you were to watch all the seasoned locals land here, they would all be on the base tube until flaring.
...swap in a foot landing at the last possible moment.Steve Pearson - 2012/03/28 23:26:05 UTC
I can't control the glider in strong air with my hands at shoulder or ear height and I'd rather land on my belly with my hands on the basetube than get turned downwind.
They're not having "bad landings" because of trying to change hands at the last minute, Robert. They're having "bad landings" because they're prioritizing stopping on their feet above all other considerations - particularly control/safety.Robert Seckold - 2011/02/16 02:41:25 UTC
It just saddens me over the years seeing so many bad landings mainly because of trying to change hands at the last minute.
(List some sites at which the case is otherwise, Andy.)Andy Long - 2011/02/15 23:50:33 UTC
I think all hand transition timing arguments can't really be applied to Upper Parma. Priority #1 for landing there is getting the plateau under you first, no matter what it takes.
Loose approaches / Long finals are STUPID.Andy Long - 2011/02/18 16:01:27 UTC
But I have to tell you that your final approach into this benched LZ is very similar to the videos you see of pilots landing on aircraft carriers. It's very much a mind over matter type of thing. You have to force yourself to ignore the water, the nasty stern edge of the aircraft carrier, the churning wake and focus on that third wire.
Probably not but thanks anyway.airjunkieadam - 2010/11/04
I hate posting this but hopefully it will also prevent someone from making the same mistake of a crappy approach.
YES. So who was your instructor and how come he didn't have your thinking thus wired prior to signing you off for environments like this?If I could do it over I would turn on final sooner and stuff the bar in. I'm also going to work on? starting my approach a little lower and fly my pattern tighter around the LZ with good speed. I think that would give unstable air less chance to affect my approach.
If air is moving up there's some air moving down somewhere to fill the void - usually close by.I foolishly flew my base leg longer than usual because it was so buoyant setting up to land (I almost? started to climb back out just before the video started).
You were way the fuck out. It's damn near always a helluva lot easier to lose altitude over a field than it is to maintain it en route to one.Just before my turn to final I was already pretty far out and low, then felt some sink which made things worse.
Yeah, that leaves you in a good position to be able to rotate to upright. Hard to understate the importance of stopping on your feet in a field like that - especially when you're so good that it would be just plain stupid to fly with wheels.I barely had enough energy to clear the treeline, only to find one more tree in my way. I like one hand up, one hand down...
Which you might not have done if you had given up on the field, pulled in to the extent that you just brushed the last treetop, and flared hard to stop on the slope....but this time I barely had enough to squeak it in... er, pound it in.
1. LOTS of people break arms and tear up shoulders in very friendly primary LZs after experiencing very minor problems.Holding on both downtubes is how some people break an arm...
Well I certainly am happy you learned your lesson cheaply on this one and will let go of the downtubes just before impact on your next crash....and I was probably lucky I only broke my downtube.
Tad Eareckson - 2009/11/09 13:56:11 UTCChristian Thoreson - 2005/10
With the advent of many aerotow parks around the country, people from many walks of life are learning to fly. People who previously could not fly hang gliders because of bad knees, bad hips, inability to use their legs, or other sorts of limiting physical problems that will not allow foot launching or landing, are now flying, and flying safely. 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), are a viable option that allows pilots with physical disabilities to safely land their hang gliders.
Yeah, Jack Asshole, flying hang glider dune skimming, three or four hours, up thousands of feet, a hundred miles, through aerobatics... and finishing the day with a sailplane style landing in a sane and safe field or strip...Jack Axaopoulos - 2009/11/09 16:27:17 UTC
Although technically correct, its similar to saying:
"Driving 10mph, the safest and easiest way to consistently not lose control of your automobile"
Only problem is, who cares. I dont care to land my hang glider on a smooth grassy field of grass on the wheels every time, for the same reason I dont care to drive my car 10mph. Thats not why im in this sport or why I want to drive a car.
I think youre in the wrong sport if you have this attitude. Go take up knitting.
But notice.... Christian's comment is in the context of a disability. No issue with this. But if youre a fully able HG pilot, there is no reason to think you should only land on smooth grass on the wheels. Theres far more to this sport than that.
...trying to stop in switchy air in a narrow dry riverbed with large rocks strewn all over the place.NMERider - 2012/08/10 17:09:10 UTC
Be glad you don't fly XC where I do. It really sucks here in the LA Basin and I'm tired of all the hazards.
But I'm really hoping you do all YOUR landings in environments which demand standup spot landings every time to keep you from breaking an arm, ripping a shoulder apart, or snapping your fuckin' neck. That way you can get to enjoy the adrenaline rush that allows you to truly enjoy the sport and I can get immense pleasure from reading about the one time you don't pull one off as well as you needed to.NMERider - 2012/10/24 21:47:05 UTC
I have to say that landing on the wheels is so much fun it's not funny.
