I have a tandem rating!!!

[Lauren Tjaden]

What a GREAT friggin' day. It was lightly raining this morning but I drove over to Quest anyhow, hoping the sky would clear. I ended up crewing for Dustin while he taught Nicole for a few flights. Dustin is the top ranked pilot in the US currently; Nicole is the cute little dark haired woman who drove at Highland last year. She nows works the office at Quest. Then Jim Prahl said it was my turn for a few flights.
I have to admit I thought the flying part of the tandem rating would be easy. This is not ego, but I fly a topless decently, and the tandem glider is much more stable, light, and you land on the wheels.
Omigod I learned so much! The first tow I flew the bottom and I just got to know the glider. The second tow I also flew the bottom, but Jim tried to kill me numerous times by flying fast and turning and then climbing with me inside the turn VERY low (on purpose). It was LOTS more interesting than I had anticipated. Usually the tug pilot wants to get your money after the flight so they behave better. This is hard if you are in the mortuary.
Dustin helped me so much. I needed to be much more aggressive than I ever was before, throwing my hips to the bar. When Jim got me locked out to the right, I couldn't keep the pitch of the glider with one hand for more than a second (the pressure was a zillion pounds, more or less), but the F'ing release slid around when I tried to hit it. The barrel release wouldn't work because we had too much pressure on it.
Anyhow, the tandem can indeed perform big wingovers, as I demonstrated when I finally got separated from the tug. Dustin taught me that I should grab the downtube when I release so that the release can't rotate away. Also, I can actually keep flying the glider while I am trying to release.
The fun wasn't over. The next tow Jim wanted me on top. I thought Dustin should at least do the take off since I haven't flown this way for years, but they both voted for me to fly. I asked if Dusty would keep his hands on the basetube so he could save us if I F-ed up too badly.
I did it though! You have to change your grip to fly top on the tandem, so that your hands are on the inside of the downtubes. You also have to lock your elbows on top of the downtubes to have any pitch control. Finally, you have to be able to lock your elbows to get the speed from that position to land the tandem (aka the "Russian Tank.")
We found some lift the last tow and Dustin couldn't resist grabbing the glider from me to try and snag the best lift. It was SO interesting to discuss what streets/clouds we would use if we were going a given direction.
I took my written test afterwards and did okay -- so I am a T-1! Paul Voight is going to give a bunch of us a tandem clinic right after the Wills Wing Fly In, so then I will actually be a T-3 and instructor (unless I really mess up and kill Paul or something).
After the flights Dusty and I took this morning I figured I didn't have time to set up my Litespeed so I dug my neglected Pulse out of storage. I usually leave my Litespeed set up but I flew XC the last time I flew her (and didn't make it home) so she was in the bag. I forgot my release for the Pulse at home and had to change so much shit to fly her I should have probably just stuck to my good glider.
Anyhow I got about an hour on her. The wind got really strong (okay, not terrible, but maybe 14 at altitude) and the lift wasn't more than 350 so I kept having to run for home. What a FUN glider (though she was NOT suitable for the conditions today, unless we had run downwind).
Paul (my husband) flew upwind to the turnpike in his sleek Combat. It took him over an hour and 1/4 to make 10 miles there -- and 12 minutes to make it home!!
I guess me and Rhett will be paired up the next few days. Rhett is a famous tug pilot. We are both doing the tandem thing and need lot of flights. It is SO great to fly with people who are better than I am so I can learn.
Oh, and then my friend Linda left me a message on my phone that she's sorry I only have a week to live. We have a hang gliding friend, Mario, who grew up at the base of Monte Cucco, where the women's world championships are being held this year. He is arranging the accommodations for the women's team in Italy for the World Championships this year in July. Anyhow, he is a bigtime skydiver, and we are going to jump out of a plane together this week! Arrgghhh!
And do any of you want to buy T-shirts to help support the women's team at the WC in Italy this year??? Let me know and I'll ship one to you.
Lauren

[brianvh]

Lauren - this is cool! Now you've got a new way to make gin money!

[jimrooney]

Woo hoo!
Go girl!

Yup, it's all fun and easy... until it's not
Have fun flying the dumptruck!

Jim

[Flying Lobster]

Congrats L-girl--the sport can definitely use some enthusiastic female tandem pilots.
Tandems are pretty easy and major fun--easy to forget sometimes that you are now responsible for someone else's life.

marc

[Batman]

As a Tandem Instructor, do you prefer being on top or on the bottom? Its big ... the glider I mean.

[kcarra]

Hey Lauren

Major congrats! Hope Paul behaves as a passenger!

Karen

[Lauren Tjaden]

Thanks you guys! Chris, I'm groovin' on it whether I'm bottom or top. Karen, one of the things Dusty was laughing about was that I would have to go over the transfer of command (whose glider it is) VERY carefully before I flew with Paul.
Me: "Now, WHAT will you do if I say let go? Paul, repeat after me, I WILL grab the handles and let go of the glider." Paul actually grabbed the steering wheel of the car once when I was driving because I didn't turn when he wanted -- so we'll see how it works out!
I flew the Russian Tank again this morning in lots more wind than I have before from the top a couple of times. On one hand it's easy but it takes some tricep strength. I should be really pumped up the next time I see you, with big old muscles like Popeye. Nice, huh?
After our tandems Dusty and I flew Jim's Cessna over to Osborne to buy a Coke. Paul and Bruce Engen are headed with the troops down to Wallaby for a while. It's too windy to fly so I'll stay here and do some work -- which I actually need to do....
Lauren

[jimrooney]

Discussion is all well and good... but when the sh*t hits the fan, no one wants to let go... esp H4's.

My "discussion" with a H4 usually goes like this... "I will say 'I have it'... I will use those exact words"... "I want your hands completely off the bar, OK?"... "If you do not let go, the next thing you will feel will be my fist on the back of your head. Are we clear?". At first, people think I'm kidding... then it sinks in a bit

I haven't had to hit anyone... yet. A calm "let go" usually works if they don't let go with "I got it". I've gotten as far as... "let go... L-E-T GO... please let go, or we are going to die" (that sunk in... fortunately we had time for this lengthy conversation).

BTW, I wouldn't hit them in the head (that just makes the point in the discussion), I'd hit them in the back of the elbows (inside of the arm)... breaks their grip instantly. Adam prefers to knee them in the back.


Jim

[Batman]

Lauren, If I ever fly with you, I prefer to be on top. As long as Paul doesn't mind ... he can even watch.

[Paul Tjaden]

Damn, Chris, you've discovered my fantasy!

Paul

[Batman]

Well get your tandem rating and you & I can fly together .... I'll even let you be on top Big Boy! Maybe even share my tent if you show up with Gin!

[Tad Eareckson]

Lauren,

Few questions based on 2008/03/23 Flight 02...

Wouldn't it be a lot easier/safer to have a release actuator properly mounted on the basetube - in accordance with the recommendations in the USHGA AT Guidelines (2004/07/30) - instead of flopping around on a downtube? So's you don't have to interrupt the business of flying the glider at a really bad time to do a modified Rose Mary Stretch?

If you had been able to hammer one of the Baileys open and the bridle had wrapped, what do you think would've happened next? (Your tug driver can help you with the answer to that one.) I'm guessing you were high enough for there to have been some hope for your parachute to slow the descent of what would have been left of the glider?

Given what you now know about how a Bailey is gonna perform when you really need it to, what's your plan for dumping tow tension from when the tug is heading east and your Litespeed (or the Tank with a wrapped bridle) is going beyond SSE? Start digging out the hook knife while you're waiting/hoping for Jim Prahl to transfer ownership of the tow line?

Corollary to that last one...

The aforementioned Guidelines REQUIRE that a release be operable at twice weak link strength. Assuming that you were using double loops of Greenspot on your primary and secondary bridles that means your Bailey shoulda worked under a direct loading of 400 pounds. Yours was out to lunch at something under an eighth of that.

Given that you will soon be responsible for lives other than your own, wouldn't now be a good time to get serious about being more concerned about what you SHOULD be doing even if everybody else is getting away with this crap just about all the time?

Brian,

I don't know if you ever got around to dragging your harness out of the closet but by now it should be pretty obvious that the Stan and Ollie Effect is not just a paper or bench phenomenon.

[Batman]

Tad -

How about at least issuing a Congratulations to Lauren before starting another Thesis thread? Geesh ...some people never learn.

[jimrooney]

Hahaha... a friend of mine called this perfectly... (paraphrasing) "Tad's lecture in 3... 2.. 1..."
This was a few days ago.
BWA HAHAHAHAHA

Fortunately, since he's blocked from me, I have no idea what he's blathering on about (though I can guess), nor do I care to.
Jim

[Lauren Tjaden]

Hi Tad and Everybody,
I am still having way too good a time, BTW. It's WW Demo Days and a zillion of our best friends are here. I'm flying tandems at Quest this morning and then heading to Wallaby to launch the Litespeed (where I'll hopefully fly home). Pete and JR and John Middleton are here. Bruce is staying with us, Kari is coming today and Linda tomorrow. Cool beans!
About the release. Good questions! As far as the release being on the basetube, it doesn't work for being on top tandem -- I can't reach it at all (I'm kinda short). I also worry lots about having anything on the basetube -- because it is a real danger bashing your face on it if you botch a landing.
I bought some velcro already to make make sure the release stays put better, and have been practicing flying the glider with one hand on the basetube and one right over the release so that I don't have to choose between flying the glider and releasing if the tow forces have built up. Also, I chatted with Paul Voight for a long time yesterday and he can help me with lots of the concerns you bring up.
When I mention being in a bad place behind the tug, this is being done very deliberately at high altitude to make me be able to cope with difficult scenarios that might never come up for years otherwise, and to make sure my reactions are the correct ones -- for instance, NEVER pushing out to stay behind the tug. Dustin is up there with me, too, and he won't let things get too crazy. We all want to live to see dinner.
Anyhow, I am in a huge split to go fly right now but I'll check this all out and read it more carefully later and ask the sky Gods here what they think.
Lauren

[Lauren Tjaden]

I should add that if I feel I do not become 300% capable I will not fly tandems with passengers, or other pilots without tandem ratings, for that matter. Chad told me once I could not fly us into anything that he could not fly us out of. I want that kind of confidence. I take the safety issue VERY seriously. I spend much of my time through my work trying to promote hang gliding. Every accident has a negative effect on that. Gotta bolt out the door.
lauren

[Flying Lobster]

I got my T3 from Paul--he's definitely great to listen to. Like Paul, I do the side-by-side thing with conventional pilot-in-command release attachment. This presents a bit of a problem when rolling out on uneven fields, but has never been a big deal. A bit more of a hassle when giving the control bar to your passenger because of the awkward reach-through, but much easier to, as Jim says, bash the unwilling passenger to regain control. Don't worry, it's not a matter of if--but when! : ) The best thing about side by side is that you get used to the same control that you would be using if doing foot-launch and landings tandem--something to think about considering the not-so-certain future of tandem aerotowing.

Hard to imagine a successful tandem aerotow without pushing out at some point--the real problem is pushing WAY out like you might on a regular solo. In fact, all tandem pilots must sign a special agreement to specifically not do that on the USHPA site. At some point you should probably try to go high with one of the Questie bad-boys and actually try a stall--not a full one, because that could actually result in an unrecoverable dive (and the reason for the new regulation), but enough of one to get the glider to stop regular flight. I've done it a couple of times, and the roll-in and dive can be disconcerting, to say the least. Most of all--you can get several hundred pounds or more weight off-center--you're going to need those bulging biceps to regain control! ; )

marc