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Setting up a Hang Glider
- Text and Video Contributions by Bill Cummings, David D., and Bob Kuczewski, January 15th, 2012
Most modern hang gliders are designed to be collapsed into a fairly small and streamlined package for storage and transportation. This means that the hang glider must be uncollapsed or "set up" before flying. It must also be re-collapsed or "folded down" after flying. This chapter discusses the general procedures for setting up and folding down a hang glider. As always, this material is intended to be used in conjunction with proper instruction from a certified hang gliding instructor.
In this lesson we're going to use two videos showing how to set up a Falcon and one additional video showing how to rotate the glider onto and off of its control frame with minimal strain on your back. That's a total of three videos. Watch each video first then read the material below. Feel free to watch the videos again and again until everything makes sense.
Here's the first half of how to set up a Wills Wing Falcon:
This video started by advising you to seek professional instruction. This is very important because it's easy to overlook or misunderstand something when you just read about it or watch a video. Imagine learning to drive a car or fly an airplane without an instructor!! The instructor is there to ensure that you don't do anything dangerous and to provide feedback on what you're doing. That's a function that cannot be performed by books or videos.
The next step was to orient the bag with the wind. Remember that a hang glider has enough sail area to lift you into the air. You must always respect that amount of sail area and never expose it to sufficient wind to let it get out of control. So the first step of orienting the bag must account for the direction of the wind.
There are generally two situations you'll find at most hang gliding sites: tie downs and no tie downs. The orientation may be different in these conditions. With tie downs, it is possible to set the glider up with the nose pointed into the the wind. This is common, for example, at the Torrey Pines Gliderport in San Diego. If the site does not have tie downs, then the preferred orientation is with a side or rear quartering wind as shown in the demonstration. In fact, the side/quartering wind orientation can also be used at a site with tie downs (commonly done at Crestline).
Opening the bag seems like a pretty simple task - just unzip the zipper. But as with everything in aviation, a little care can go a long way. I've seen many bags with broken zippers from students yanking on them or forcing them when jammed. So take a little care when you unzip the bag and that care will set the tone for your entire flight.
Once you've unzipped the bag, you'll find several loose items inside. You should find a batten bag (full of battens) and a base bar. You may even find a nose cone or other items. Remove everything that isn't directly attached to the glider. Note that sometimes the base bar is already attached on one side or may be attached on both sides (folding models). Also note that the nose cone may be attached to the glider with a cord. These are all variations that your instructor can help you with. For this discussion, we'll assume that the base bar and nose cone (if equipped) are loose inside the glider bag.
Now it's time to assemble the control bar. The video is somewhat brief about this, but it's an important step. The control bar consists of two uprights (also known as "down tubes") and a base bar at the bottom. The down tubes usually remain fastened to the keel when the glider is packed or flown. They are fastened at the upper end of the tubes - where "upper end" means "upper" when in normal flight orientation. Remember that you're starting with the glider on its back so the "upper end" of the down tubes will be the lower end as you assemble the glider.
The lower end of the down tubes must be fastened to the base bar. This can be done with a bolt and nut, a special pin, or even a hinge for folding base bars. Whatever method is used, you must be sure that the connection is solid because this connection is critical to the glider's structure. For example, some gliders use machined fittings that might appear to be assembled correctly even when they're not. So be sure to check and double check the assembly of the control bar.
As shown in the video, the glider is assembled with wheels on the base tube. Wheels are an important safety feature and are especially important when learning. You may find that some advanced pilots fly without wheels, but you'll also find advanced pilots who intentionally land on the wheels with every flight. For beginning students, wheels are a must.
Once the control frame is assembled the glider must be flipped up onto the control bar. This is one of the few assembly steps that requires significant physical effort. While many pilots don't think twice about grabbing the glider and flipping it upright, if you anticipate any problems, the following video might be helpful (and humorous):
OK, returning to the earlier video, once the glider is upright, the next step is to remove the bag and spread the wings. Before spreading the wings, be sure that any ties are removed from the glider. When you spread the wings, you have tremendous leverage because of the long leading edges. If you're pulling against a tie near the nose, it's possible to bend or damage the leading edge tubes. So be sure to remove the ties. This brings up another general rule about setting up a glider. In most cases, if anything is resisting you, then you must remove that resistance rather than forcing it. Gliders are built and certified to withstand lots of force when they are set up. But during the setup process there are many stages where the glider is somewhat fragile. So always take care when setting up or folding down your glider.
In most cases, spreading the wings takes place in two steps (not mentioned in the video). The first step is to spread the wings just far enough so that the long battens with the long curves can be inserted easily. If the wings are spread fully, these long curved battens would have trouble sliding through a tight sail. So most gliders are designed to have the first few battens (3 or 4) inserted while the wings are only partially spread. A rough rule of thumb is to insert the battens which are inboard of the outermost luff lines before fully tensioning the wing. The video also mentions attaching the nose wire first. This isn't a bad idea, but some gliders are designed so that it's difficult to tension them with the nose wire attached. But attaching the nose wire does help strengthen the glider during setup - especially when setting up into the wind. So there's no harm in attaching it as shown as long as you remember that you might have to remove it to tension the glider and then re-attach it afterward.
The last part of the first video mentions reorienting the glider to ensure that it doesn't flip over. This again depends on whether tie downs are available or not. But the main point is to remember that the glider must always be positioned and/or tied in a manner that keeps it from being blown over or away by any expected winds.
OK, let's watch the next half of the video:
The second half starts out with inserting the battens. This was described a little bit in the earlier section. Remember that you start with the longest battens first (the ones nearest the center or keel), and you insert them while the wings are only partially spread. When you've inserted the proper number of battens (differs with each glider), then you tension the glider. There are generally two main ways to tension a glider. The Wills Wing Falcon (shown in the video) uses the "haul back" method where a cable is pulled rearward which pulls the crossbars backward and pushes the leading edges outward and foreward. The other method (used by the "Dream" for example) requires that the crossbars be pushed back directly and held back by a bolt through the keel. Again, your instructor can help you with whatever glider you are using. But however your glider is tensioned, it's important to perform the tensioning step only after the longer curved battens have been inserted.
There are two important things to remember when inserting battens to minimize damage to the sail. As mentioned in the video, it's important to be sure the battens are clean so that no dirt or abrasive material gets into the batten pockets. The second important thing to remember is to angle the battens to minimize the tip wear as shown in this diagram:
- InsertingBattens_s.png (46.46 KiB) Viewed 13270 times
As the diagram shows, if you just push the battens into the sail, the curved tip can cause a sharp bend in the sail material. As this batten tip is forced into the sail, that sharp bend causes lots of wear and also heats up the batten tip. Both effects can cause additional damage to the sail. So try to keep the rearward part of the batten low and the curved part high to make the battens slide into the pockets with less friction.
Once all of the battens are in place and the glider has been tensioned, then you can attach the batten strings or batten sail clips to keep the battens in place.
Once the sail has been tensioned, you might need to reattach the nose wire if it was removed to allow tensioning. Then you can attach the luff lines (reflex bridle) as shown in the video. The final assembly step is usually adjusting the nose batten and installing the nose cone (if equipped).
Once the glider is assembled, it is important to perform a preflight check of the entire glider. This is what airplane pilots do before they fly an airplane. Just as an airplane pilot wouldn't trust that the plane was assembled correctly, neither should a hang glider pilot - even though they did the assembling!! I am fairly confident that most hang glider pilots - somewhere in their flying career - have spotted something in preflight that they missed in assembly. So always preflight carefully as if someone you didn't trust had just assembled the glider.
