smithsburg landings - Friday 11/25

Post by **breezyk1d** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 7:54 pm

Wind was blowing 12.5 max, 8 avg, out of the west predominantly, but also NW and some SW. It was a touch cool until I started dragging the glider up the hill. Then it was hot!

I had two very successful flights off of Smithsburg today. Both decent launches, and TADA! Magic landings on my feet, with a comfortable flare, and an easy setdown. The second flight shot me most of the way across the corn stalks so I exited out the back of the field. In between, I sat and rested on the hillside, enjoying the sunshine, the serenity, and just giving thanks for the opportunity to enjoy life. Mistake! I got cold sitting there!

Cornstalks - do NOT talk to me about corn stalks. Jeesh! Kneehigh, and sticking out of the earth like homeland security pilons. It wasn't even the getting the bar over them that was the worst -( I developed a method of using the bar like a plow )- it was the snagging of the side wires!

I wish I could do more at the training hill with the Sport 2, but it is simply too heavy for me to lug out of the corn and fly back up more than twice. As it was, I was lucky to be able to get the wand tips out. They have not been a problem for me in general after the first attempt at removing them. But today, they refused to come out. Maybe because the fiberglass was so cold it wouldn't bend enough. I even attempted to extract it by bending it using my foot. But I was unable to get the cup off the tip.

Thank god for Mike - Mike from nowhere, Mike from out of the blue, Mike the Magnificent and the kind hearted, who stopped his truck after driving past and thinking the pilot laying on the ground under the glider was hurt (I was just having a tantrum), but who quickly grasped the nature of the problem and was able to assist me with extracting the !@(*$&)@(*$^@)*&^ wand tip!

A good day in all. -Linda

Flying Lobster · Post by **Flying Lobster** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 6:50 am

Use the Kinsley technique--Steve's greatest contribution to hang gliding!

From behind the tip (trailing edge) detension the cam lever. Reach into the sail and with your left hand grasp the wand at about the middle, and while pushing slightly forward tension the cam lever without actually closing it all the way. Then, while holding/leveraging the bend in the wand with your left hand, simply slide the lever and cam cup off the end of the wand. The key is to maintain outward pressure with your left hand so that the wand bends enough to slip the cam cup off. Done properly--this makes it much easier than any other technique I know of.

Perhaps Steve will be willing to set up his glider and demonstrate at the next meeting.

marc

Paul Tjaden · Post by **Paul Tjaden** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 6:54 am

In a message dated 11/25/2005 7:56:17 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, lbaskerville@wba-arch.com writes:

But I was unable to get the cup off the tip.

Linda (this is Lauren, using Paul's email),
I had the same problem with one of my tip wands on my Sport 2. First of all, if you ever have a wand get totally stuck again, you can remove the cup by unscrewing it (the cup will then come off with the wand, and you will have to reinstall it, but it is better than being stuck somewhere unable to pack up your glider). Kevin did this for me last year picking me up from an XC.
The better, permanent?solution is to sand a little of the thickness off the wand where it is inserted into the cup. It takes about 2 minutes.
PS. Good for you with your landings!
Lauren

Flying Lobster · Post by **Flying Lobster** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 7:07 am

I took 1/8" off of my Talon's tip wands, which eased handling a little bit but seemed to make it harder to aerotow and fly bar stuffed/full vg. Dunno, could be lack of airtime and age creeping up on me. But the wand tip ends have a steel sleeve insert, you will likely need a grinder of some sort. It goes without saying that they need to be absolutely symetric in any trim.

marc

Flying Lobster · Post by **Flying Lobster** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 7:15 am

Forgot to mention--make sure the wands are always positioned with the "back" sticker facing towards the trailing edge. Also--I think Wills advises changing wands annually (!). They had some cracking problems on the early fiberglass wands, but I don't know of any problems with the ones made in the past couple of years. Preflight the wands looking for whiteish irregularities, especially near the end which inserts into the rear leading edge.

marc

Post by **silverwings** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 8:16 am

No corn stalks at Taylors. Come join us today (Saturday).

Danny Brotto · Post by **Danny Brotto** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 9:06 am

I don't think shaving 1/8" off the tip wand will make removal much easier; it "should" positively alter handling. Taking 1/8? off the wands was one of the things Kells did when he ?tuned? my U2. (Don?t understand why they just don?t build them that way from the start.)

If you want to try and ?tune? your U2/S2/T2 and if the tip wand is like the one on the U2, you'll want to take 1/8" off the end that plugs into the LE. There is a metal insert within the wand at the sail tip cup end. It would be easier and cleaner to cut through fiberglass than to try and hack through the metal inserts.

Danny Brotto

Paul Tjaden · Post by **Paul Tjaden** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 10:41 am

In a message dated 11/26/2005 9:08:37 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, dbrotto@comcast.net writes:

I don't think shaving 1/8" off the tip wand will make removal much easier; it "should" positively alter handling.

I didn't mean making?them shorter. Mine were not too long; they were too FAT -- as in diameter. They simply were too big around and would get jammed in the cup. You could have the cup and wand out in your hand with no tension and it was hard to remove the wand.
I should have been clearer; my apologies. But I am glad that Danny says even if you shave some length off, it probably won't kill you!
Lauren

Flying Lobster · Post by **Flying Lobster** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 10:56 am

Danny Brotto wrote:I don't think shaving 1/8" off the tip wand will make removal much easier; it "should" positively alter handling. Taking 1/8? off the wands was one of the things Kells did when he ?tuned? my U2. (Don?t understand why they just don?t build them that way from the start.)

If you want to try and ?tune? your U2/S2/T2 and if the tip wand is like the one on the U2, you'll want to take 1/8" off the end that plugs into the LE. There is a metal insert within the wand at the sail tip cup end. It would be easier and cleaner to cut through fiberglass than to try and hack through the metal inserts.

Danny Brotto

I misunderstood Lauren--I think she means simply rounding the edges off a bit so the tip slides easily into the cup.

But if you're going to be shaving off any length of the wand--best to do it at the thicker end that slides into the RLE. If you find you don't like the change in handling, you can slip a spacer/insert into the LE slot, plus that end is stronger.

marc

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