HR Sun: First Bonehead Launch

[wesleycomerer]

On my second flight of the day, which was also my second flight at High
Rock, and after thoroughly buying-in to the light-wind HR procedure--start
launch run like normal, trade strides for altitude when off the rock--and
after being properly briefed by my observer, I tried to cram a full launch
run into two strides and popped the nose, dropped a wing, waffled out, etc.
Ralph took pictures and won't be bribed into not posting them. I got away
cleanly for my second extendo and performed my best ever
approach-setup-landing, which Ralph did not photograph.
--Wesley

[hang_pilot]

The pictures are on-line at sickinger.net

The nose does look high (compare the angle the keel makes with the block in 10599 vs 10601) and your right wing looks low (10600), but neither to an extreme degree from what can I see as a remote observer or know as an inexperienced pilot.

That said, I'm not writing so much to analyze your launch as to soften your self-criticism. It wasn?t a perfect launch, not many are, but I wouldn?t call it bonehead. Looks like you got on the high wing right away and flew away straight and in control.

Congratulations on your first flights at High Rock!!!! It's a special place and part of that magic now belongs to you. You can also add 2 cliff launches to your log book and Ralph's pictures to your scrap book.

Best,
~Daniel

[rs54263]

>> The pictures are on-line at sickinger.net

Now how did you figure that out already? They only just went up a few
hours ago! The full address is:

http://photos.sickinger.net/20050213_highrock

>> (compare the angle the keel makes with the block in 10599 vs 10601)

Remember what "angle-of-attack" is and is not... it is NOT the angle
of the wing relative to the horizon, to the ground, or even to your
motion vector; it is the angle of the wing relative to the *airflow*.
This is rather nicely depicted in 10601 and 10602 by the orange
tell-tale on the front flying wires; the angle between the tell-tale
and the keel is actually very large. Also, if you look at the stream
in the background, you can see that it lies at a shallower angle than
the tell-tale; a result of the glider's movement off of launch and some
deflected airflow coming up the face of the cliff.

This brings up a personal request: would you more experienced pilots
who don't use tell-tales on your gliders consider putting them on? I
know you don't need them, but they would be helpful to other pilots
when I take pictures of launch sequences by showing the direction of
the airflow to the wing.

~Ralph


================================================================
from: hang_pilot (02/14/2005 15:12)
================================================================

The pictures are on-line at sickinger.net The nose does look high
(compare the angle the keel makes with the block in 10599 vs 10601) and
your right wing looks low (10600), but neither to an extreme degree
from what can I see as a remote observer or know as an inexperienced
pilot. That said, I'm not writing so much to analyze your launch as to
soften your self-criticism. It wasn?t a perfect launch, not many are,
but I wouldn?t call it bonehead. Looks like you got on the high wing
right away and flew away straight and in control. Congratulations on
your first flights at High Rock!!!! It's a special place and part of
that magic now belongs to you. You can also add 2 cliff launches to
your log book and Ralph's pictures to your scrap book. Best, ~Daniel

[Spark]

Ralph said "This brings up a personal request: would you more experienced
pilots who don't use tell-tales on your gliders consider putting them on?"

I would not want to be at launch on the Rock without a streamer on my
nosewires. It is very difficult to read the streamers on the sides of the
block. In fact, I don't like to launch from any site without a streamer
(on my nosewires) pointed right back at me. I feel 'naked' without one,
and I'm not too worried about the extra drag it generates

'Spark
(h) 301.766.0485
(c) 301.462.8320

http://community.webshots.com/user/sparkozoid



>From: "Ralph Sickinger (R2)" <r2@sickinger.net>
>Reply-To: hg_forum@chgpa.org
>To: hg_forum@chgpa.org
>Subject: Re: HR Sun: First Bonehead Launch
>Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2005 16:03:29 -0500
>
> >> The pictures are on-line at sickinger.net
>
>Now how did you figure that out already? They only just went up a few
>hours ago! The full address is:
>
>http://photos.sickinger.net/20050213_highrock
>
> >> (compare the angle the keel makes with the block in 10599 vs 10601)
>
>Remember what "angle-of-attack" is and is not... it is NOT the angle
>of the wing relative to the horizon, to the ground, or even to your
>motion vector; it is the angle of the wing relative to the *airflow*.
>This is rather nicely depicted in 10601 and 10602 by the orange
>tell-tale on the front flying wires; the angle between the tell-tale
>and the keel is actually very large. Also, if you look at the stream
>in the background, you can see that it lies at a shallower angle than
>the tell-tale; a result of the glider's movement off of launch and some
>deflected airflow coming up the face of the cliff.
>
>This brings up a personal request: would you more experienced pilots
>who don't use tell-tales on your gliders consider putting them on? I
>know you don't need them, but they would be helpful to other pilots
>when I take pictures of launch sequences by showing the direction of
>the airflow to the wing.
>
>~Ralph
>
>
>================================================================
>from: hang_pilot (02/14/2005 15:12)
>================================================================
>
>The pictures are on-line at sickinger.net The nose does look high
>(compare the angle the keel makes with the block in 10599 vs 10601) and
>your right wing looks low (10600), but neither to an extreme degree
>from what can I see as a remote observer or know as an inexperienced
>pilot. That said, I'm not writing so much to analyze your launch as to
>soften your self-criticism. It wasn?t a perfect launch, not many are,
>but I wouldn?t call it bonehead. Looks like you got on the high wing
>right away and flew away straight and in control. Congratulations on
>your first flights at High Rock!!!! It's a special place and part of
>that magic now belongs to you. You can also add 2 cliff launches to
>your log book and Ralph's pictures to your scrap book. Best, ~Daniel
>
>
>
>
>

[Matthew]

Pete and Danny also looked like they popped their noses. But that could've been camera angle. A couple of things. As to Linda and running, if there's a good steady breeze, you need to be at the front of the block and have the glider in the air flow. If you try to run from the back, the nose we'll be pushed upwards from the deflected wind hitting the cliff. If it's calm to light air, you want to do your standard walk to run launch from partway back on the cube to add as much air speed as possible and help prevent a huge dive out.

Also, for the 2s: wire crew, wire crew, wire crew. And pay attention to what works and doesn't. I've wire crewed about a billion times and it really helps. One bad habit I still notice from both new and very experienced pilots is the hunch. If winds are squirrely, even a little, people tend to hunch down as a natural response. This allows the glider to slip forward on the shoulders and then there's less control. Less control equals a squirrelier glider and even more of a hunch. I've seen gliders drop onto pilot's necks as this situation gets worse. Remember, stand tall with your shoulders back and the glider planted firmly on your triceps. Just the act of standing tall will create confidence and bring control back to a difficult situation.

Matthew

[rs54263]

>> Pete and Danny also looked like they popped their noses. But that
could've been camera angle.

And Bob too. No, I don't think it's the camera angle, but that's where
tell-tales on the nose wires would help. By comparison, look at
Kelvin's launch, where the keel remains parallel to the ground all the
way through his launch. Ok, it pops up a little in img10652, but
that's in the middle of transitioning to the basetube, and in the next
frame the nose is right back down again. Bear in mind that each frame
represents only 1/3 of a second.

~Ralph


================================================================
from: Matthew (02/14/2005 17:35)
================================================================

Pete and Danny also looked like they popped their noses. But that
could've been camera angle. A couple of things. As to Linda and
running, if there's a good steady breeze, you need to be at the front
of the block and have the glider in the air flow. If you try to run
from the back, the nose we'll be pushed upwards from the deflected wind
hitting the cliff. If it's calm to light air, you want to do your
standard walk to run launch from partway back on the cube to add as
much air speed as possible and help prevent a huge dive out. Also, for
the 2s: wire crew, wire crew, wire crew. And pay attention to what
works and doesn't. I've wire crewed about a billion times and it really
helps. One bad habit I still notice from both new and very experienced
pilots is the hunch. If winds are squirrely, even a little, people tend
to hunch down as a natural response. This allows the glider to slip
forward on the shoulders and then there's less control. Less control
equals a squirrelier glider and even more of a hunch. I've seen gliders
drop onto pilot's necks as this situation gets worse. Remember, stand
tall with your shoulders back and the glider planted firmly on your
triceps. Just the act of standing tall will create confidence and bring
control back to a difficult situation. Matthew

[XCanytime]

Here's some food for thought on Hang IIs launching at High Rock in near zero wind.? A near zero wind launch at High Rock is one of the most risky and difficult launches there is at High Rock.? You only get a few steps in before you run out of cube, the nose angle must be maintained at the optimum AOA throughout the short takeoff run, and there is a tendency to jackrabbit start when faced with only a few steps of runway length.? Jackrabbit starts usually pop noses, making the takeoff less than optimal.? The glider sometimes banks, almost always dives, and usually scares the inexperienced pilot with the view of the trees rushing up.? If anything, I would think that an 8 to 12 MPH straight in wind would be the optimum conditions for newbies at High Rock to launch in.

??????????????????????????????????????????????????? Bacil

[Bunkhouse]

Thanks for the pictures Ralph.? I had no idea you were doing this.? What a great learning tool.
?
--
Bob Buchanan
rnb@comcast.net
?

-------------- Original message --------------

>
> >> The pictures are on-line at sickinger.net
>
> Now how did you figure that out already? They only just went up a few
> hours ago! The full address is:
>
> http://photos.sickinger.net/20050213_highrock
>
>
>
>

[jimrooney]

Sparky's request to fly with tell tails reminds me of an other tell tail trick... Stick one on your downtube near your corner bracket. It will show you your glideslope so you can match it with your body (esp on glide).