First 7 learning sessions

May 21, 2014

Session #1-3

site: across the street hill

 It took me most of this spring to find a hill suitable for learning to fly the glider I inherited last fall “Dr. Darrell” at Funston.  Got permission to fly the slope across the road from my house which turned out to be an OK shakedown slope.  I'm guessing about a 7:1 slope that levels out prior to the pond fence so that in the event I get airborne, I think I can land before that. I made several runs when a 3-4mph breeze would cycle in from the right direction. The longest was about 20 yds or more. I had all I could do to balance the wing and try to keep it level as I ran trying to manage the right angle of attack. Mostly, I just ended up stalling it early in the run because I was afraid to have it get going faster than I could pull it to a stop. I spent a good part of the time fussing with the seat harness. The seat was too wide to fit between the cage tubes and I finally removed the yellow plastic seat using a hacksaw and just used the webbing for a seat. I managed one run in a decent breeze where I pitched up sharply and tail slid back onto the TE. Nothing damaged. As it got toward 6PM, the good cycles went away and were replaced with N and NW cross so I bagged it and went home.

I got some runs in at this hill but the conditions were so restricted I never really had more than one session where the breeze was enough to help get the glider get flying itself let alone, launch me in it. After 3 days here (sessions #1-3) and not really doing much beyond running the glider down the hill I started looking for a better site.

The next one I found was almost exactly 10 miles from the house and had a nice short little road right to launch. Here's a shot of the set up area and launch. Notice the launchable directions this site offers as well as the clean, unobstructed fields way out in front. The top was also flanked by trees on both east and west sides offering a nice wind shadow for setup. The short little road right out to the setup area and launch made this a real find! If it were only another 100ft high.....

This next shot is looking back up to the top of the hill and if you look close, you can see the Easy parked in the middle of the due north launch section.

This shows a bit more perspective on the hill(shot from the bottom of the east launch side with the Easy parked at launch on the N through E launch section on top.

June 21

Session #4

site: Hwy 99 hill

Light to moderate breeze anywhere from NW to NE and it did vary throughout the day. Earlier it was stronger, say 8-10 and later dropped to about 3-4. High overcast, no cumulus at all but it did get warm. I spent from about 10:30 until 8:30 in the evening and it was still good when I left although it had begun to swing to the west which would have required me to move over to the west launch face. I made many runs and got the wing up flying but only actually got my feet off the ground a couple times during the day. I had to really stay on top of the roll control using the rudders. Whenever I would relax on this I would find myself rolling over onto a wing. I used the blue neck sling to aid in holding the glider up prior to launch and also to support it while backing up the hill after a run. My neck felt like it was getting tweaked out of joint at the end of the day. I nosed it in on one run where I got my feet up and thought I could pick up a bit more airspeed by lowering the nose and just skidded into the ground rather hard. Banged up my forearm. I gradually raised my hook in cord which made a significant difference in my progress to get airborne although I still don't have enough airspeed to generate enough lift to really be flying more than a couple of yards. I believe I should be able to get some glides off this hill of 20-30 yds long so I think I am just rushing the launch and not committing to a strong enough run at the outset.....or maybe the performance of this machine is not that good?? I was feeling more comfortable with the max breeze I thought I could safely launch in vs making a run in a light cycle since my ground speed was higher in the latter. I got reasonably comfortable making the launch run although, as mentioned above, I needed to really stay on top of the roll control to keep the ship level during the run. This may be easier with a nice, steady, smooth breeze. It was warm and there was a lot of directional variation from one minute to the next especially during the later half of the day.

1. try the Riser Lifters I bought next trip...the blue neck sling is too hard on my neck.
2. Noticed one rudder is canted outboard and the other is canted inboard so I need to somehow adjust them to get them neutral....maybe I need to rig this with a turnbuckle?

June 24

Session #5

site- Hwy 99 hill

The weather was predicted to turn cloudy for the next week with south flow and chances of rain so I expected today and then the entire next week would not produce flyable conditions at the hill. The morning started out with a south breeze at the house so I put my mind on other things although very few clouds in the sky and little cu's forming. Worked on stuff around the house around noon started noticing some west and north in the breeze...no longer south but still variable and very light. Decided to go out and see what was happening after lunch. It was light but flyable when I arrived. Set up and ended up enjoying slightly less velocity than my first day here but still good. Variable as the first day from east all the way over to west. I got maybe 8-10 runs in. This was the first trial of the shoulder harness. It is far superior to the neck sling but could use some nice, cushie shoulder pads. Decided to wrap a towel around the rear spar connection after feeling how sharp it is. I nosed in again when I attempted to lower the nose after I got into the air and felt I had room to speed up a bit. I believe, with better technique I could have pulled it off but I'm still shifting my body forward and backward in the cage to change pitch which results in overcontrol inputs.....I think it would respond to a more subtle movement of my legs or shoulders. This is substantiated on the training film that shows overcontrol in at least a couple of the clips where it's not evident that the pilot is even moving. I am now consistently getting the glider airborne. Nice to feel some progress. It seems fairly easy to flare and stop and catch the glider on my back or legs without ground contact. It still seems like I have to pay a lot of attention to wings level and am constantly deploying the rudders to keep a straight track with wings level. The good news is, even at these slow speeds the rudders are very effective. I realized that I must have re-strained my abductor tendons (more on the right side) with my first session. Today, I began to notice it getting even more painful so I quit early and it was still plenty flyable when I drove away. Could have gone for another couple hours had my body been able to handle it. Figured I better quit short of a real injury however. This will likely take a week to heal as it is.  It'll be about two weeks before I can get out here again. I feel I could safely move on to Cape Kiwanda now provided I maintain discipline regarding conditions to fly in).

I am finding that even if I let the nose pop beginning my run, it is no problem to apply pressure with my hands to the front of the cage and bring it right down as I accelerate my takeoff run. I think shortening the hang strap so that my leg straps go tight when the cage comes level with the bottom of my rib cage has made a positive difference in getting airborne. It seems to allow me good access to the rudder controls I would otherwise not have by hanging lower and also pulls my feet off the ground sooner.

I am getting better at sensing the wind direction independent of the flags which are often not lined up with the breeze the glider is in....basically yaw the rig using your weight and body torque on the struts toward the high wing...when it starts to bounce evenly, it's headed into the relative breeze direction and I'm good to begin the launch run.

Session #6

Tuesday July 8, 2014

site: Hwy 99 hill

I think it was blowing strong (15+ NW) and I set up in the lee of the bushes, walked it out into the wind and stood there having all I could do to maintain control. Backed off behind the bushes and took it down and left

Session #7

Site – Hwy 99 hill

Thursday July 10, 2014

Hot by 11 when I arrived but there was a breeze so I set up. Got in a few runs as the thermals cycled through. None were big enough to be a problem and I never hit any during a run which could have been trouble. Got my first honest flight on one of the runs. The trick seems to be making sure I get as much airspeed as I can and then PUT MY LEGS down if I start getting close to the ground......you cannot belly this glider in!!!! Had to go through that again today as I flew it into the ground again. A lot of waiting and VERY hot. I went through 2 liters of water. First trial of my D-ring clip points on the hang tubes for my Riser Lifter set up. Work OK but the one D-ring was more like 1 ¾ or 2 inches and it kept rotating to a corner. Need to get another that measures 1 ½ inch base to fit the velcro I used. I got a real sense of adjusting my pitch in the air today and it doesn't seem to be as sensitive as I had thought. Wonder how I managed a whip stall????. The day ended as I realized I was getting very tired and hot and the west flow started in. I was too tired to walk the glider around to the west face so I just packed up. I've accumulated multiple holes in the sail now, some from Darrell and several from me that would be good to patch with Aerothane soon. Also need to replace at least one frayed cable and maybe one more that was rigged too close and will not rotate which pokes a hole in the sail when I fold the panels together.

Some things I've concluded so far:

1. I'm convinced that taking the time to find a REALLY EXCELLENT site to learn is time worth spending.

2. I wasn't running fast enough given my own restriction in how much of a breeze I was willing to practice in to get launched.

3. It was easy to fly the glider without enough speed to lift me and stop it on the hill by gently letting it pitch up into a soft flare. This gave me plenty of time to get used to controlling roll with the rudders.

4. All my hard stops (crashes) were a result of me trying to keep my feet from touching the ground thinking I could glide back up by picking up a bit more speed.

5. Once I decided to stop in a soft flare, I had to remember to rock the nose down a bit to avoid having the wing tail slide back and hit the trailing edges and rudders. In a flared position the glider is balance tail heavy and will come down hard unless you rotate the nose level and catch the glider.

6. I used shoulder straps and a loop around each hang tube to support the glider at about hip-height during my practice sessions. This made it much more comfortable to hang out, strapped in, while waiting for the right moment. I also am using a leg harness I made by taking an old swing seat harness and cutting off the plastic seat. My hang loop is off the top trailing edge and my feet come off the ground with the cage about level with the bottom of my ribs. I started out with it much higher, closer to my armpits, and it was too much of an effort to work the rudders like I felt I needed.

7. My best runs happened when I had a nice breeze, I'm guessing about 10mph. Just enough so that I still had complete control. Getting out there in 12-15 was sketchy. I weight about 140 so 170 sq ft of wing is a lot to keep under control.

8. Once in the air, pitch control did not seem to be difficult but I've only really got one, single flight to date.

9. Directional control seems to be very easy even at slow speeds.

10. I find it essential to stay completely on top of the rudders to keep the wings level and maintain a controlled ground track parallel with the wind direction.

11. If I find the direction has changed as I'm launching, I have been successful in using the rudders to bring the nose into the wind to adjust my ground track to the direction of flight even while just barely carrying my weight while striding down the hill.

I have yet to get someone out there to take photos/videos of launches or flying but will try to get that accomplished soon.