Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends
Posted: 2017/09/25 18:45:25 UTC
Got this from Aleksey yesterday morning - 2017/09/24 09:19:18 UTC
Title: Khodyko Dmitry 23.09.2017
Uploader: Dmitry Milovsky - 2017/09/23
Towing on a hang glider. Active winch type - "hole".
Lawn
Flight Director: Aleksey Vilkov
Pilot: Dmitry Khodyko
Delta Club "FALCON" Saint-Petersburg
(And 3.28084 to go from meters to feet.)
Breath of fresh air after having dealt with all that Grebloville/Kagel/Ryan crap.
1:12 - Foot launch commences, airborne in two seconds, fully proned out within the following two seconds.
1:50 - Fully proned out, both hands where they're supposed to be, stuffs bar to prevent stall which results from the upcoming increase in the safety of the towing operation.
1:52 - Releases - using one of those releases that doesn't work because if they did everybody would be using them everywhere already - while maintaining full control of the glider. (Using the Blue Sky Scooter Tow method it takes about a week to train pilots how to safely release with one hand while safely flying the glider (upright) with the other.)
3:14 - Prone to partially to fully upright at near skim altitude.
3:20 - Stopped on feet six seconds after coming out of prone.
3:34 - Nice look at release mechanism as wing camera is turned off.
Criticisms...
- Port sidewire and downtube are a bit iffy.
-- I would at least give the wire a substantial stomp test after every setup and before every breakdown.
-- You can see "Baily's Beads" as the downtube reflects direct sunlight at 2:16, 2:39, and 2:49. Best not use that glider for aerobatics until that downtube is replaced. (Other downtube may have seen better days as well but the bend may just be lens distortion).
- No hook-in check. Consequences of a 2007/10/18 foot launched tow flight at Jean Lake sans hook-in check:
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4487/37265287452_a5b422ca34_o.png
Back to the positive stuff...
What are the differences between US and Russian hang gliding culture?
I'm thinking that if you seriously degrade one key aspect of the sport everything else will inevitably follow - the Rotten Apple effect.
Hewett Skyting Theory has gotta be the greatest disaster to strike aviation anywhere in its history - hook up with an "auto-correcting" "center of mass" bridle, use some total crap easily reachable Reliable Release as an afterthought and an Infallible Weak Link as the focal point of your safe towing system. Go up as a total fuckin' dope on a rope - zilch ability to function as pilot - and hope the air stays glassy smooth to fit in with your theory. And you can ALWAYS blame the dead guy when things don't go as planned 'cause he'll never be around to disagree with your findings or legally align himself with all the other dead guys.
Hang gliders first evolved dependent on towlines and towlines are most of what keeps the sport going - particularly when used in conjunction with launch dollies and platforms. The more you take the foot launch out of foot launch aviation the better it gets - astronomically.
In the flatlands launch dollies and platforms naturally dominate and flying upright during and after dolly/platform launches is too insane an idea even for hang gliding - US or anywhere else.
My impression of Russian hang gliding...
- The country is extremely FLAT - 'specially around population centers.
- It gets COLD (as Napoleon and Hitler found out the hard way) and that turns a lot of lakes and rivers into even more really excellent tow sites.
- The pilot population doesn't have the money that Yanks tend to and that tends to neutralize Dragonfly infestation and boost surface towing.
- Dragonfly towing needs big local pilot and tourist / tandem thrill rider population and dedicated runways and hangars to support it and puts hang glider pilots under the thumbs of commercial interests and stick controlled ultralight pilots.
- Surface towing can be run relatively cheaply entirely by hang glider pilots in small communities adapting mainstream road equipment - cars, trucks, trailers, scooters. And:
-- sans anything analogous to a Dragonfly tow mast breakaway protector / hang glider killer
-- it's mostly hang glider pilots towing hang glider pilots and taking turns driving and flying
- I've ALWAYS admired the innovative spirit of the surface crowd (some of it anyway). And note that solid bite controlled releases came out of both US (Paul Farina) and Russian surface tow cultures.
- And the only things mountain launchers have ever innovated are launch ramps and hour long upright student flights.
Thanks again, Aleksey.
Plugging the YouTube text into the translator:Hi Tad!
Yesterday we have had A training again. It was scooter-winch towing for beginners. Guys are started be towed since June 2017. Here is one of students.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVwcZGoE5iA
Winch is instolled close to take-off and rope comes thru pulley installed in field. Overal lenght of rope is 1000 meters. The higest attempt was about 120 meters. Unfortunately small ridge you can see in back plan was totally occupated with paraplaners and it was almost impossibme to fly that side to soar a little bit.
But generally training day purpose has been reached. All pilots are alive, all gliders are not damaged.
Cheers!
Aleksey
Title: Khodyko Dmitry 23.09.2017
Uploader: Dmitry Milovsky - 2017/09/23
Towing on a hang glider. Active winch type - "hole".
Lawn
Flight Director: Aleksey Vilkov
Pilot: Dmitry Khodyko
Delta Club "FALCON" Saint-Petersburg
(And 3.28084 to go from meters to feet.)
Breath of fresh air after having dealt with all that Grebloville/Kagel/Ryan crap.
1:12 - Foot launch commences, airborne in two seconds, fully proned out within the following two seconds.
1:50 - Fully proned out, both hands where they're supposed to be, stuffs bar to prevent stall which results from the upcoming increase in the safety of the towing operation.
1:52 - Releases - using one of those releases that doesn't work because if they did everybody would be using them everywhere already - while maintaining full control of the glider. (Using the Blue Sky Scooter Tow method it takes about a week to train pilots how to safely release with one hand while safely flying the glider (upright) with the other.)
3:14 - Prone to partially to fully upright at near skim altitude.
3:20 - Stopped on feet six seconds after coming out of prone.
3:34 - Nice look at release mechanism as wing camera is turned off.
Criticisms...
- Port sidewire and downtube are a bit iffy.
-- I would at least give the wire a substantial stomp test after every setup and before every breakdown.
-- You can see "Baily's Beads" as the downtube reflects direct sunlight at 2:16, 2:39, and 2:49. Best not use that glider for aerobatics until that downtube is replaced. (Other downtube may have seen better days as well but the bend may just be lens distortion).
- No hook-in check. Consequences of a 2007/10/18 foot launched tow flight at Jean Lake sans hook-in check:
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4487/37265287452_a5b422ca34_o.png
Back to the positive stuff...
What are the differences between US and Russian hang gliding culture?
I'm thinking that if you seriously degrade one key aspect of the sport everything else will inevitably follow - the Rotten Apple effect.
Hewett Skyting Theory has gotta be the greatest disaster to strike aviation anywhere in its history - hook up with an "auto-correcting" "center of mass" bridle, use some total crap easily reachable Reliable Release as an afterthought and an Infallible Weak Link as the focal point of your safe towing system. Go up as a total fuckin' dope on a rope - zilch ability to function as pilot - and hope the air stays glassy smooth to fit in with your theory. And you can ALWAYS blame the dead guy when things don't go as planned 'cause he'll never be around to disagree with your findings or legally align himself with all the other dead guys.
Hang gliders first evolved dependent on towlines and towlines are most of what keeps the sport going - particularly when used in conjunction with launch dollies and platforms. The more you take the foot launch out of foot launch aviation the better it gets - astronomically.
In the flatlands launch dollies and platforms naturally dominate and flying upright during and after dolly/platform launches is too insane an idea even for hang gliding - US or anywhere else.
My impression of Russian hang gliding...
- The country is extremely FLAT - 'specially around population centers.
- It gets COLD (as Napoleon and Hitler found out the hard way) and that turns a lot of lakes and rivers into even more really excellent tow sites.
- The pilot population doesn't have the money that Yanks tend to and that tends to neutralize Dragonfly infestation and boost surface towing.
- Dragonfly towing needs big local pilot and tourist / tandem thrill rider population and dedicated runways and hangars to support it and puts hang glider pilots under the thumbs of commercial interests and stick controlled ultralight pilots.
- Surface towing can be run relatively cheaply entirely by hang glider pilots in small communities adapting mainstream road equipment - cars, trucks, trailers, scooters. And:
-- sans anything analogous to a Dragonfly tow mast breakaway protector / hang glider killer
-- it's mostly hang glider pilots towing hang glider pilots and taking turns driving and flying
- I've ALWAYS admired the innovative spirit of the surface crowd (some of it anyway). And note that solid bite controlled releases came out of both US (Paul Farina) and Russian surface tow cultures.
- And the only things mountain launchers have ever innovated are launch ramps and hour long upright student flights.
Thanks again, Aleksey.