Hang Gliding!

[CurSedVoyce]

 

[treetx]

You have to know some airspace rules, but other than knowing the physical boundaries, it is also just a common sense thing. Airspace is there to keep you away from fast moving metal.

In the case of the last vid, White Sands and the whole basin west of me there is restricted airspace and higher than the normal 18,000ft restriction as it is a missile range.

Historically, some folks have flown by tow in Louisiana. I think now all pilots from Louisiana go north to Buffalo in Oklahoma or Magazine and Nebo in Arkansas.

Nate

 

[treetx]

I've had a ton of flying this summer. Several flights over 70 miles, one over 80 miles.

Still, one of the greatest thrills is landing. 2 views.

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[MasterBlaster]

Too cool for school!

 

[rskybiz]

Awesome in all aspects! I'm guessing the cones were your target, if so you nailed that landing

 

[treetx]

Yours truly taking a tow for what ended up being a 64 mile flight with a max altitude of 12,300ft

 

[MasterBlaster]

What does a tow cost?

 

[woodworkingboy]

That is incredible, Nate. Do they take you up in a straight line, or circle around? I used to go to Nance's hot springs in Calistoga, California, an old classic spa hotel that sits next to a glider port. It was a an hour away and a nice inexpensive getaway for my wife and myself. Sitting out on the upstairs balcony from your room with a beer on a peaceful afternoon, and watching the gliders get towed up and then lazily floating about, is a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. I highly recommend it, and the hot pool is great. The tow planes they use look like some kind of special muscle plane, not regular looking ones. Towing gliders, not hang gliders. They loop around and around gaining altitude before releasing the cable. You can hear the pistons defeating gravity as they go up.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Is there always an ambulance around?

 

[treetx]

It is $20 a tow. That was a competition so tow fees were bundled into the comp. The ambulance was there since we had 40+ pilots towing (National Championship near Midland) plus I think the ambulance guys wanna watch the action.

Usually when I tow there are only 2-3 of us towing. Pay you $20 and sky out. Cheap entertainment..... of course a lot of front end investment in learning.

They tow you so you can get back to the field and re-light if you sink out (don't find lift). If they hit lift on tow they'll circle in it for a better climb rate. Of course if you're a true gentleman, you'll just get off tow and let the lift do it's thing. I got off tow in lift at 530 ft the other week and circled up to 6700ft, flew 4.5hrs and covered 79 miles.

Just like the thrill of throwing a big top, it is a blast and hard to explain to those who stay on the ground.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I found that going up in a regular glider, though it made me sick to my stomach, the power you feel in a strong updraft is really quite a thrill. In a hang glider maybe it is even more some. My buddy is the national glider distance record holder here. I felt safe with him. The winch takeoff had a few Gs resulting too. We didn't go up in his high tech glider because it is a single seater, instead an old wooden one.that they use for training that seats two. Quite rigid regs about inspections and such, you never hear of accidents.

 

[ClimbMIT]

I used to be a licensed skydiver when I was younger. I was getting pretty good at freeflying. I miss it so much. I always wanted to glide and really would love to get good enough to fly high performance gliders close to terrain! I love watching wingsuit proximity/terrain flying. Nice videos!

 

[Steve Mack]

From a bike forum here, just east of Perth. His first video.

Lake Leschenaultia, Western Australia


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[MasterBlaster]

It's cool, slowed down like that.

 

[treetx]

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[MasterBlaster]

Dang! Why such a short flight???

 

[treetx]

Ha, yeah, no joke, it was only 2.5hrs going 20 miles out before turning around and flying back 20 miles.

I flew 80 miles this weekend.

National Competition starts next week. Gotta be in shape.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I didn't think about an edit, duh...

 

[treetx]

I just trim it to a few highlights because I think it can be rather boring. I figure including too much of the task and strategy at hand is a bit like adding plot to a porn.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I agree. What a wild and crazy hobby!

 

[treetx]

it is pretty wild.

It is fun to fly to destination unknown after cloud surfing mile after mile.

Just like trees have a life that is unknown to those who don't climb them, the same goes for the sky. It is full of creatures. Sunday, I has at cloud base at 7200ft in 800ft per minute lift, and there were a dozen or so little swallows darting around. I had never imagined little birds go so high.

 

[MasterBlaster]

What can be better than flying? That's the ultimate thrill!

 

[woodworkingboy]

Looks quite amazing. Hard to imagine what it must be like cruising around exposed like that.

 

[SoonerFan]

Smooth landing. Cool.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Cool. Is it significantly dangerous? You have any mid-air collisions with little birds, like those swallows, or do they stay way clear, generally? I mean, it can happen to Fabio on a roller coaster.