Good questions, Shawn,
Landing takes one of two forms.? With pontoons mounted (similar to a float plane but smaller) you can land fast, upwind or downwind and prone.?? You just skid in as you might?with wheels on land.??On the other hand, if you're using floats as you see being mounted on my glider you are destined to land upwind and with a standard?flair technique.? Those floats don't skid and doing it wrong has the same result as on land -- WHACK!!? The pontoons are heavier so most pilots opt for the floats.? Frankly, the pro's and con's are such that I'm uncertain which I like better.
The boat is initially steered into the wind.?? Boat towing on a lake has an advantage over other towing techniques since the driver is not limited to a run-way or road as in aerotow or truck tow (scooter tow, notwithstanding, Marc
).? Once the glider is airborne it is very similar to aerotow in which the boat can make very large gentle turns and the pilot just follows him around -- just a LOT higher!
If the lake surface is not too rough, getting the glider is easy from any water depth.? The boat operator just leans over and picks the glider up by the control bar, which he then places on ski platform on the back of the boat.? From there it's an easy lift back into the launch rack.? If the surface is rough, we land in the shallows near an island.? That way the pilot can stand and easily assist in re-mounting the glider.
And yes, that is a BIG smile on my face.? It's just really good to be back in the air.
Chuck
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>Big smile on your face!- pic #3! Wow, that looks pretty neat. So how is landing on water? Do you flare any?Kind of like a truck tow huh? He can steer the boat right into the wind? How do they get it out of the drink? Would like to see that sometime... thanks, Shawn.
