[Bob Kuczewski]

I visited Wallaby Ranch yesterday, and it's a fantastic site. The wind was pretty strong when I arrived in the afternoon, so they weren't towing. But I took the opportunity to set up Little Hawk for the pilots. Here are a few photos (in no particular order) ...

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[Free]

The last picture is of a guy that wouldn't mind putting his feet on your coffee table.
Maybe a non pilot that just needed to rest a bit?

Nonetheless, good work, it looks to fly pretty nice.

Good luck if you choose to fly there with a bent pin release.
I would definately check it out.

A clued in tandem passenger with a ready hook knife could be the third hand that your instructor doesn't have when you get that rare 'loaded chamber' lock out.
Raising this proposition on the flight line, or elsewhere, could be quite entertaining.

I would gladly donate to the cause if you could get someone to video tape such an exchange.
You might also get a separate audio recording to make sure you get it all.

Nice work with the Little Hawk.
It looks to fly sweet.

Warren

[Bob Kuczewski]

The last picture is of a guy that wouldn't mind putting his feet on your coffee table.
Maybe a non pilot that just needed to rest a bit?

Hi Warren,

If you look closely, you'll see that the "glider leaner" was also in the 6th and 10th photos running with it. I'm pretty sure he's a pilot, and the pose was no problem. There were a few pilots who "whacked" it, but that wasn't a problem either. Little Hawk is pretty tough!!

Good luck if you choose to fly there with a bent pin release.
I would definately check it out.

I think that Tad's assessment is accurate. There may be a greater chance of release problems, but it is a numbers game. The probability of failure for me is the probability of a failure on any flight times the number of flights I take. For tomorrow, that will most likely be one, so I'm not too concerned. Tad's concern is for everyone who flys, and that's a lot of people. So the number of likely failures is far more significant when looking at the entire population than looking at one flight.

Nice work with the Little Hawk.
It looks to fly sweet.

Warren

It has been a very cool project with help from some very cool people. I'm hoping that I can get more people to build them and show them in their own locality. That's how we can grow hang gliding - one pilot at a time.

[Free]

I would certainly ask why a bent pin release is used, if that still is the case, instead of a straight pin release.
There should at least be some kind of justification for it even if it is wrong.
One loaded chamber and how many empty ones?

Have fun and don't lock out!

[Bob Kuczewski]

Have fun and don't lock out!

I did have fun ( ), and I didn't lock out ( ).

It was a great experience. I flew tandem with Malcolm (expecting to be a "passenger") ... but he made me do most of the flying!!

I was a little nervous at first, but I figured he knew what he was doing ... and he did. He gave me a good briefing and then we were off (literally). It was about 8:30 in the morning and the air was smooth. I followed his instructions to keep the tug on the horizon, and everything went very smoothly. I should add that Kenny and Megret had also given me a briefing that helped me know what to expect. Thanks Ken and Megret!!

After we pinned off, Malcolm requested a few manuevers (like 360's and linked 180's). The tandem was heavy, but I did pretty well pushing it around. It was amazing to me (as a foot launch pilot) how quickly - and easily - we could make a flight. I think he got tired of hearing me say "this is really really cool" ... but it was really really cool.

Malcolm took over for the landing because he wanted to get us down close to the tugs for a quick turn around. It was a busy day, so I was happy with that. The landing was smooth and on the wheels.

Regarding the bent/straight pin issue, I didn't even check. As I said before, a small sample (like a single flight) is very unlikely to uncover any statistical differences between those choices. It may take thousands of flights for a difference to show up (if there is one), so I was fine just going with their standard procedures. Now if I start making many many flights, then those statistics will begin to matter and I'll be asking questions as I progress. But overall, I was very happy with the flight and the park and the staff. I hope I can get my aero tow rating there in the coming weeks or months. It's about a two hour drive, and it was well worth it.

Thanks Malcolm!!

[SamKellner]

Good BobK,

Glad you are getting around there in Fla. That's great that you took Little Hawk, too.

Soon I expect we'll be hearing about your 4hr, 100mi, XC flight.

You know how I feel,

Na, really,

[Bob Kuczewski]

Soon I expect we'll be hearing about your 4hr, 100mi, XC flight.

Not me. I'm a whimpy "hang out over the LZ" kind of pilot. I'm happy enough just staying in the air as long as possible. I don't usually feel the need to go anywhere ... other than up.

So I'll leave the long XC flights to you Texans ... who know how to do it right!!

[SamKellner]

I'm a whimpy "hang out over the LZ" kind of pilot. I'm happy enough just staying in the air as long as possible. I don't usually feel the need to go anywhere ... other than up. :

Spoken like a true Torrey pilot, Bob. Forget that notion or You'll end up like me with no XC sign-off.

Oh, uh, Texas pilots? I have a couple of friends who are Texas pilots.

Good read and pics from Wallaby. Thanks Bob.

[Bob Kuczewski]

Good read and pics from Wallaby. Thanks Bob.

WOW Wallaby!!!

It was fantastic!!!

Here are a few pictures from Friday ...

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Ryan taught a great landing clinic, and DxD was doing interviews. The place was a beehive of activity with pilots and gliders everywhere. I met some very cool people and continued to work on building the US Hawks!!

My stay in Florida is looking .... up!

[Bob Kuczewski]

Fun day at Wallaby!!

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