First Hang Glide Video

Here's my first videos, from my first weekend at Hang Gliding School.



That's Gordon, one of the instructors, and a saint of a man if ever there was one.  (I know, because I tried his patience the following week.

This is off the small training hill, it's not too tall, and a shallow slope, the idea being that you aren't going to get high enough or fast enough to manage to get hurt if you mess up.  The idea is that you get the glider balanced on your shoulders, start walking, then jog, then run down the hill while keeping a light grip on the glider.  There is a harness on your back that keeps you attached to the glider, your hands are just to steer with, not grip with.  As you run, the glider builds more and more lift until you just transition into flight. (or so the plan goes).

I REALLY want to do more vids, just haven't remembered to do it when I'm out there, I get focused on the training and watching the others in the class.

Steve

HG Training 29 NOV 09

Well, I made a LOT of improvement over Thanksgiving weekend.  Here's the whole story....

Hey Gang,

Had a great time at LMFP this weekend. Got down Thursday around noon, fixed some dressing, had a HUGE dinner with lots of good folks down there. Now, Off to School....

FRIDAY: Small hill all day, started working on landings. Some were better than others, just had a bit of trouble putting them together. Had 1 that was an almost perfect 1/2 stepper, (0.2 deduction by the Albanian judge). I really thought about the idea of kicking my legs back toward the keel on it, and really powering UP on the flare. Had a few where I flared before it was really ready, but leaned quickly NOT to do that. The benefit of being on the small hill was that I didn't have enough speed to really hurt myself or the bird too badly. For a while we had a very nice wind to work with, but then it got a bit too blustery for us fledglings, so the mama birds (Tim and Gorden) decided we had best tear it down. All in all, an excellent training session.

Some REALLY NEAT folks on the hill today, Jim (a hoot), Mary Dell, who's just a charm and all the rest made it a lot of fun

That evening I wanted to get out for a tandem, but time just ran out. I told Sean, (the guy that keeps things flowing out there for tandems) that "IF I get off tonight, great, if not, that's ok too".

SATURDAY: Got out bright and early, frost on the ground. I decided at that moment I'd nail the landings, since it would be REALLY COLD slding across that stuff. (I was wearing my rain pants just in case, plus they are nice and warm). After 1 flight Jim (who had a string of good landings in a chain the day before) had Gorden tell him "GET OFF MY HILL". I was glad for him, and reallyt wanted to hear that myself. Well, I ran off 4 acceptable landings in a row. After each one I'd ask Gorden "What do you want me to work on" and his answer was the same each time "Just keep doing what you're doing"

After the 4th flight, I was walking the glider over to 4x4, and I hear him yell down "WAGNER... GET OFF MY HILL!" Yipppeeee I was big hill bound

The big hill was a hoot. Lots more flight time, the ability to actually make a planned course correction or intentional turn. I made my landings on the belly, just wanted to get a better feel for the extra speed and height I was carrying into landing. Had 4 good flights off the big hill, and really felt like I had made good progress and learned some stuff.

That evening got out for my second tandem with Eric, and told him that I really wanted to start to learn about speed control and turns. He had me take the bar pretty much once we were about 1/2 way to altitude, had me working on keeping the good position behind the tow. He talked about what to do when we disconnect (pull back to get some speed, let it recover, then ease the bar out). He said that I need to keep that in mind in case the weak link were to break unexpectedly (then he triggerd of the release (i think he did it, I don't think I broke th link), and I got my first release handled. We workind on turning, gettng comfortable with bank angles, getting a feel for the "LEAD and LAG" (my term) that you have turning the bird. He demoed a stall for me, and then had me do one. It was as easy as he said, but I could hear the glider saying "I really don't want to do this, but if you insist I will, but I'll forgive you".

He talked about setting up the landing pattern, I have a lot to learn about how fast / slow the sink rate is, but I see where tandems are going to be huge with that. I flew the approach in, the only problem is that I came in a bit hot, (the air was dead still), and sort of flew it into the ground a bit, rather than let it coast in ground effect. Lesson learned. No damage done, just a good learning expernience.

Sunday I managed to oversleep, so I just headed home. Would have loved one more day of training, but I had two very productive days, got off the small hill, and am much pleased with my progress.

Neatest part of the weekend, around the campfire Friday nite, somebody said, Hey, don't you teach Computer Programming? It was a former student of mine (who also skates with the "Nashville Roller Girls" roller derby). She recognized my voice, so it was another of those 'small world' moments. She was out there reclearing so she could go off the mountain.

Well, I'm done, thanks for reading my ramblings, 

It was a very good weekend, Great food, great folks, great weather, great training.  I learned a bunch, really starting to get some feel for how this works, now I just need to not mess it up next time.  (yea, thats a good positive attitude).  I can feel that mountain now starting to whisper to me... come fly me.   I'll be there only when I'm ready, but I have a feeling that it's sooner than later now.

Steve

HG Training 16 NOV 09

A MUCH BETTER WEEKEND!!!!   I finally started to make some real progress, and I was excited about it.  I do know that I have to do a better job of keeping loose and stretching while training, since it's a whole different set of muscles than what I use cycling.

Hey Gang, As part of my series on "Wuffo to Birdman" I have to relate this weeks training at LMFP. Last week was a bit of a let down http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=14318 but this week was MUCH Better. One of the things I did last week was to really watch the other students as they made their practice flights. Not just watch to go "OH GOOD JOB" but concentrate on what they were doing, what the glider was doing, how things worked. Had a few AH-HA moments. The first one is that the big old condor gliders we use on the little hill REALLY REALLY want to fly. As soon as somebody took just a couple of steps, the side wires came tight, the wing took shape and it wanted to lift. Gripping it tight just killed it, but if you simply used your hands to 'guide' it, it would just fly nicely as can be. Second thing is that the short bunny hill REALLY forces you to have a good launch, since there isn't really enough altitude or time to do much if you didn't launch well. All but one of my launches were acceptable, and most were pretty good. The one really bad one, I stepped into a small hole on the run, then a bigger one, than the glider and I went sliding down the hill together. Lesson, look carefully at your chosen path for problems BEFORE you start to run. One problem I have to work in is that I was pulling in a bit too much after launch, carrying too much speed, but am about ready to start working on landings I think. My legs just got too tight on Sunday to do more than about 6 good runs, I figured that it was better to do fewer but really concentrate on each one, have a plan on what I wanted to focus on rather than just go thru the motions and not learn anything (or worse, learn bad habits). Really stoked now, I've upgraded from the weekend package to the VIP one, (lots of tandem rides as has been suggested by many here). At some point, the mountain is in my future, but it's been there for a couple of million years, it will be there for a few more months... but I'll get there. The quality of the training has been first rate. The instructors (Gorden, Dan, Scott) have all done a great job of explaining what a student did right / wrong, keeping the attitude light, helping us learn.

Explanations... the weekend package that I started with wasn't designed to get you certified, it was just an intro, included a couple of tandem rides, the VIP package that I upgraded to gives me all the time on the training hills I want / need, a ton of tandem rides, the equipment rental for my first 5 mountain flights, a years membership in the parent organization for hang gliding (for the insurance and things like that).  They gave me a very good deal, I've been quite impressed with how they have treated me.

Steve

HG Training 9 NOV 09

Well, not everything is Skittles and Beer as the Brits would say.   Sometimes we don't make progress we move backwards.   This trip was one of those experiences.

A big part of making this whole hang gliding thing work is that you have to trust that the glider wants to fly, and will do it if you let it.  I just couldn't do that this trip, I was gripping the tubes with a death grip, as a result I'd run down the hill, dive into the ground, bounce, generally look like anything BUT a hang glider.

Poor Gordon tried everything he could to try and get me to keep a lighter grip on the down tubes, but I just wasn't getting it that day.   Here's the post

Hey Gang,

Well, I'm back from LMFP this weekend, only was able to get out on Sunday for the training hills, and had a bit of regression in my training.

A couple of weeks ago when I took my first lessons I was doing "OK" on not gripping too tight as I ran, and would feel the wing lift, and then that feeling of a big hand just lifting me up into the air. I was getting pretty good consistent launches and felt pretty confident with what my progress.

This weekend was a total disaster. I simply COULDN'T make myself keep a light grip, stay upright, look forward. (I know, FORCING a light grip is counter productive). I'd start to run, grip so hard that I'd put finger grooves into the down tubes, start to pull in. That of course would pull me forward and off balance, I'd look down and you know the rest. I had 1 launch that was even close to being acceptable for me. The rest were a true horror show, Launch Downward with a lurch, bounce the wheels off the hill, and then then glide on down. Sorry I don't have any video, I should have somebody shoot some so I could post it, but I was doing so bad that I didn't want anybody to see it. (I know, counter-productive)

Poor Gordon (who is a hell of a good instructor) was trying every trick he knew to get me out of the habit. Finally I 'rolled' my ankle and was grateful for a reason to simply watch and learn from the others out there that day. (it wasn't really hurt, but it was just twingy enough that I didn't want to push it).

I know that my training will be a progress marked with some starts and fits,but it was a bit of a downer to do so poorly. I am confident that I will do better in the future, but I just needed to vent a bit, I have the typical "trainer complex", that is that since I teach for a lving, I should be able to learn anything easily.

On the other hand, I had one of the best dinners I've had in years at Chattannoga Saturday night. My mouth still smiles when I think about it 'cuz it's so happy.

See ya on the boards and slopes,

Steve

  As for that dinner, it was a beautiful rack of lamb with an olive crust at at place called 212 Market. in Chattanooga.  A FULL rack of ribs, spinach and mushroom risotto, a nice appetizer, and a cup of espresso to wash it down, all for under 40 bucks.   My mouth still gets happy thinking about it, wants to know when we are going back.  Always something good.

Steve

First Hang Glide Training. 26 OCT 09

This is a repost of my first lessons and training.  The posting date was 26 OCT 09

Hey Gang,

Well I went and got my first lessons this weekend at LMFC. I have to say that Dan is a great instructor, and I got to spend some time listening to Gordon also. (And I can't forget Diana) who also was helping out with the class of fledgling chicks out there.

Saturday the winds were too high and swirly to let us even go off on the bunny hill, so we spent a lot of time running down the field (very very gentle incline) to get the feel for "LIGHT HANDS... JUST KEEP RUNNING". I actually got to get my first air time (about 3 steps worth) when a gust came up and Dan said "GO GO GO!!!". (Thanks Dan). Dan and Diana were GREAT about running with us, and then carrying the glider back for the next person, so that we would have more energy for running. I kept wanting to stop short so they wouldn't have so far to walk, but they told me that they wanted me to learn.

That evening I got a tandem ride up to 2000 ft. and had a great time. (Once I got it into my head that the harness WOULD hold me, that the glider WASN'T going to break in half, and that every little 'bump' in the air would not lead to my imminent and screaming demise). Got some time on the controls, and had a great time.

Sunday we got out to the practice field bright and early, and learned how to put the glider together. Then off to the bunny hill for some flights. Osama (a visiting pilot who was waiting for condtions to go off the mountain) joined us. We got a bunch in, I probably got 8 or 9 flights in, and got some glide out of all of them. By noon I was pretty much done in, I thought all that bicycling and walking I do put me in good shape, but it didn't prepare me for balancing a glider on my shoulders and running down hill. Thank GOD for the ATV's to pull them up to the top... With out them, our class would never have gotten so many flights in. MANY KUDOS and THANKS to Osama for driving the ATV most of the morning, so Dan could focus on getting us off the hill.

Great group of folks, lots of fun, lots of good odd-ball types, so I felt like I fit right in.

I will be back.... the saga WILL continue.....

Steve 

My first weekend hooked me.  Even though I was only flying about 5 foot off the ground at most, it was the greatest feeling I've had sober with my pants on.  I got some video of those flights I'll post in a later blog entry.

Steve

The Hang Gliding Saga

Or why I'm learning to run off the side of a perfectly good mountain with just a bunch of rags and sticks over my head.  

humm.....

ahhhhh......

well....

you see......

OK, I don't have a good answer to that.  Lets just say that it seemed like fun when I saw it, gave it a try, and was hooked like a meth head from the first experience.   What I'm going to do is to post a series of posts that I did on HangGliding.org (a great forum dedicated to Hang Gliding), so you can get an idea what my training has been like.  I haven't launched off the mountain yet, but I'm getting closer and closer, should be a couple more weekend training trips to get cleared.  


I'll post other updates, videos and news under the Hang Gliding Category as they occur.  I'm hoping right now to make my next trip down right after Christmas, so I can get SOME training in before the year ends.

Hope you enjoy

First Posting

Well, I've decided that it's about time that have a blog, all the cool kids have one, and I don't want to be too left out.   This is going to be where I rant, rage, reflect and occasionally say something that somebody may consider of value.