Soloed in a new aircraft type!

Bill

Bill

Touchdown! Greaser!
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With five quick steps I soloed yesterday on a Wills Wing Falcon 3, similar to this:

falcon-3_id740p1.jpg


It's quite a thing to run off the side of a mountain and find yourself 1350ft in the air, flying like a bird. I did a second flight this morning, it was peaceful and fun! Conditions have to be ideal for beginner flights, but over time I'll develop the experince to fly more challenging conditions.

This is the ramp I launched from:

http://www.hanglide.com/wp-content/uploads/site-1.jpg

Another pilot launching:

http://www.hanglide.com/photo/Scott034.jpg
 
Good job. Always wanted to check out that place. Flown over it a bunch.
 
Good job,your a better man than I.
 
Dang Bill, what if the wind quits.
Have fun.
 
Welcome to the club! Airplanes are fun, but climbing to cloud base with the wind in your face, and you can actually smell the thermal, is the most amazing experience.
 
Gsxrpilot said:
Welcome to the club! Airplanes are fun, but climbing to cloud base with the wind in your face, and you can actually smell the thermal, is the most amazing experience.
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What does a thermal smell like?
 
ktup-flyer said:
What does a thermal smell like?
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It depends... sometimes it's fresh cut hay, sometimes cows or manure, maybe pine needles. But from a couple of thousand feet, when you all of a sudden get strong smells from the ground, you know the air is rising and you can hook in for the ride. Hang gliding is particularly suited for this because of the pilots position in the rig and exposure to the air.
 
Gsxrpilot said:
It depends... sometimes it's fresh cut hay, sometimes cows or manure, maybe pine needles. But from a couple of thousand feet, when you all of a sudden get strong smells from the ground, you know the air is rising and you can hook in for the ride. Hang gliding is particularly suited for this because of the pilots position in the rig and exposure to the air.
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:lol: Yep, off Torrey Pines when you could smell the fish and kelp, you had lift.
 
Gsxrpilot said:
It depends... sometimes it's fresh cut hay, sometimes cows or manure, maybe pine needles. But from a couple of thousand feet, when you all of a sudden get strong smells from the ground, you know the air is rising and you can hook in for the ride. Hang gliding is particularly suited for this because of the pilots position in the rig and exposure to the air.
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Avoid paper mills and sewage treatment plants
 
:DVERY cool and I envy you...

I loved paragliding and always wondered what hanggliding would be like. Never tried it - too much stuff to haul (:redface:) in comparison to a paraglider and they are far too fast on landing for my taste... :yikes::hairraise:
 
Skywalker said:
:DVERY cool and I envy you...

I loved paragliding and always wondered what hanggliding would be like. Never tried it - too much stuff to haul (:redface:) in comparison to a paraglider and they are far too fast on landing for my taste... :yikes::hairraise:
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That's why you wear the all terrain roller blades. :D
 
You are insane. Man was not meant to fly!
 
EdFred said:
That's why you wear the all terrain roller blades. :D
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Note the big black wheels on the basetube, they allow you to roll it in if it doesn't look good for a foot landing. All training gliders have them, my glider will have them until I'm darned consistent at landing.

JeffGoin-HangGlider-Kankakee-JustLanded.jpg
 
Skywalker said:
Never tried it - too much stuff to haul (:redface:) in comparison to a paraglider and they are far too fast on landing for my taste... :yikes::hairraise:
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Yeah, a glider is a bit of a pain to setup, breakdown, and haul, and they do land faster. I like everything I see about paragliders except youtube vids of PG collapses. That stuff looks scary :yikes:
 
Way to go! I still remember my first mountain solo very well.

I think that in our area, the hang glider is a better choice than the paraglider. Most of our foot launches are ramps and that's not the best situation for a paraglider. Plus, you have the option of aerotowing a hang glider, which a PG can't do.
 
FormerHangie said:
Plus, you have the option of aerotowing a hang glider, which a PG can't do.
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That is true... *sigh* There were some experienced paraglider pilots in Germany who tried aerotowing successfully. It was never offered for 'normal' pilots. I started in the German flatlands on a regular basis with a winch and had to hope for thermals after being towed to the maximum possible height...
 
Not to start a war here ;-) but as someone who is bi-wingual (I have experience flying both paraglider and hang gliders) I've come to the conclusion that paragliders are better in every single way... except in the air.
 
Until landing thwack. I'm biwingual speedwing for the coast, sailplanes for thermals. Winning combination.
 
Well anyone can crash land anything. Personally I don't see any difference in landing a skydiving rig, paraglider, hang glider, sailplane or my Mooney. But those are just what I have experience landing.
 
I've landed all that stuff and hanggliders have an extra level of dodgyness to them. Probably don't cause more injuries then the others but they have less graceful landings more often then most flying machines.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Until landing thwack. I'm biwingual speedwing for the coast, sailplanes for thermals. Winning combination.
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This is a good vid that shows both good and bad. 1st guy has a good no step landing, second guy whacks pretty hard. Note that second guy doesn't have wheels, so the basetube and downtubes dig into the grass and make the whack worse. With wheels, it might not have nosed over.

Unless you can land 100% on your feet, wheels are good!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B4XbeBamKY

Edit: looks like he does have wheels, but they're too small to help in this situation. That is why I'll be using the big wheels I show a few posts above. And it's the same guy. Some days you're the windshield, some days you're the bug.
 
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I got nothing against hangies simply wrong set of compromises for me, just pointing out the ugly but not tragic landing seems more common with them.
 
ClimbnSink said:
I got nothing against hangies simply wrong set of compromises for me,
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Honestly, HG was more the choice of convenience as I have one of the best HG schools in the country 30min from my doorstep. That and I already own an old pickup, so hauling a telephone pole isn't a problem for me.
 
Bill Jennings said:
Honestly, HG was more the choice of convenience as I have one of the best HG schools in the country 30min from my doorstep. That and I already own an old pickup, so hauling a telephone pole isn't a problem for me.
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I met a pilot that flies PG in the northeast where most stuff is hiked and leaves a HG at one of those fl towparks near his house down there. Seems a slick plan. Would love a swift HG(seat and stick) could have all sorts of fun with that.
 
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