US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

Maybe someone can help me brainstorm a refinement to an idea that just flashed through my brain.

What if we had a bungee cord that raised our hang strap and at the same time lowered a red ball in front of us to indicate that we were not hooked in.

This would be a redundant back up reminder that should never be used as a primary hook in check.

The weight of the carabineer would stretch the bungee and raise the red ball from eye level.

Can someone take this idea farther toward a good idea?

At least I hope to inspire someone to yell eureka, I now see the answer!

Hey Bill, My old pac-air had an elastic bungy cord, very light, from the hang loop to a red plastic flag, hanging in front of your face. When hooked in, it was pulled out of the way by the carabiner in the loop pulling the thin elastic cord. My Hang check procedures precluded the need for further redundancies, allowing removal of the extra complexity, I never missed it. tjm

When I first learned that launching unhooked was such a big problem, I began thinking of an electronic solution. You would mount a bright LED light at the nose of the glider facing the pilot with the two wires taped along the keel to the hang loop area. The wires would be terminated with two pins like the small jumpers that used to be common on circuit boards. You would have the jumper itself and a small battery (maybe a watch battery) attached to the harness. When you hook in, you attach the jumper and that turns on the light. You could even rig it so that the jumper supports the weight of the harness mains until you're in flight. So launching would pull the jumper from the pins and turn off the light (saving the battery). Having the battery separate from the light makes it very unlikely that the light could be lit without being hooked in.

But even this system has its failure modes. For example, if the LED isn't properly shielded from back light, it could appear to be lit by light from the sun or other reflective sources.

Suggestion to all Hang Glider Pilots -
Upon setting forth to go Hang Gliding in your vehicle -it is best to tie your
shoelaces together, in the vehicle before leaving the driveway---
- I have discovered that it is easy to do this while seated -
also the control pedals of the vehicle will indeed be easily access with laces tied-
So driving will be done with ease...

As one arrives at a launch site - the shoe laces will REMAIN tied !
This will bring a stumbling moment to your otherwise proud gate ...
And this is a Good Thing! All the while one assembles his unit , keep laces tied...

When the time comes to launch you will not be able to lunge forth off the cliff
because your shoe laces will be tied ! This like we said earlier is a Good Thing...
Now then...after you have clipped into the rig- after your harness is secure -
Then & Only Then do you untie your cross tied shoelaces - unlace & Launch !
Problem solved !
have a nice day

FromDayOne wrote:Now then...after you have clipped into the rig- after your harness is secure -
Then & Only Then do you untie your cross tied shoelaces - unlace & Launch !

Just when you think you've imagined every possible way to solve a problem ... someone comes up with another creative solution!!

Thanks Neil!!!       

Alternate to tying the pilots shoe laces together-

Electronic battery powered device -
which senses forward motion & aspect of wing-

This device would send a very smart shock of electricity through the control bar-
Whenever the craft was lifted into a upright flying position & moved forward -
The only way this device would be able to be de-activated ...
Only when the pilot's harness was positively CLIPPED in-
any attempt to fly with out being Hooked In -
would result in a blinding electic shock to the pilots hands -
...."I love the smell of flesh in the morning"

Hi Bill,

Tad also had some ideas he's posted at:

  http://kitestrings.prophpbb.com/topic9-60.html#p999

Okay I'll go look at Tads post but first consider this.

Notice of proposed rule making for the U. S. Hawks:
Policy for launch ramps.

Any pilot carrying a glider and putting a foot onto the ramp without being hooked into the glider must buy a one year club membership for the first person that spots and calls out the infraction.

billcummings wrote:Any pilot carrying a glider and putting a foot onto the ramp without being hooked into the glider must buy a one year club membership for the first person that spots and calls out the infraction.

I love it!!   

That's what we should be trying to do with an organization. We should try to craft "rules" and/or "customs" which promote both flying and safety. Your suggestion rewards people for looking out for each other, and I like that idea.

I just had an idea for a hook in check system that I thought might be new ... until I searched the U.S. Hawks site and found Bill's post from December 11th, 2011 and Terry Mason's post from December 12th, 2011.

My idea was some means of making part of the harness suspension visible when launching. There are lots of ways to do this, but my current thought was a simple elastic band permanently attached to the harness that would be routed to an attachment point on the keel within the pilot's view (the routing might go around the king post to keep it streamlined with the keel). The procedure is to hook in and then attach the elastic band. The attached elastic band is visible while launching.

But when I searched the U.S. Hawks forum, I found it to be very similar to Bill's idea and Terry's report ... from seven years ago. Thanks Bill and Terry!!!

As with any system, there are failure modes. The most obvious are:

• Attaching the elastic band without actually hooking in.
• Not noticing the unattached status right in front of you.

There are surely other failure modes as well, but I think these are the most likely. The second mode could be reduced by using a dangling ball or flag (as Bill and Terry suggested) as part of the attachment point. When it's not attached it would be dangling loose right in front of the pilot's eyes.

As mentioned, any system has failure modes. One can, for example, simply forget to "lift and tug" (when using the "lift and tug" method) or forget to "always launch with a tight hang strap" (when using the "always launch with a tight hang strap" method). Bill's and Terry's suggestions are more foolproof since the dangling red ball/flag is less likely to be forgotten than something that's essentially invisible. I will try to experiment with this system at Dockweiler ... if I don't forget.

Footnote: Terry Mason left us in an accident nearly 6 months after his post in this topic. The legacy of his gifts to hang gliding are still with us in this forum. Thanks Terry.