US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

Learning To Fly The Easy Riser

I acquired this glider that needed only a few repairs ready to fly. Darrel Robbins from San Fransico built and flew this back in the day and has moved on to the Swift. He "donated" it to me when he hear about my interest in flying the Easy Riser.

Learning to fly intro post

I got one of these kits back in the late 70's and finished the build around 1981 or so. I didn't want to get it full of sand and salt water so decided to take it out for my first flight right off a 400 ft high slope launch. I did this in the spring on a nice fairly warm and reasonably stable day with a very light breeze straight up launch. I had handled it a couple times in a light breeze on the flat but really hadn't gotten any feel for what the rudders would do and certainly had no idea what pitch control would be like. I had it rigged with a hammock harness suspended between the front of the cage and the back of the cage just to make sure I wasn't going to fall out of the thing before I reached an LZ point. The LZ was about 30 square miles of short grass with a few fences here and there so I had no plan to attempt to turn it and was just going to fly it straight until I reached the ground. As well as my memory serves me, the launch was effortless and for a second or two I was flying on a steady glide. But, lo!, was that lift I felt?, what to do, what to do.....I guess I'll just push out a bit. The next few seconds went something like this.....I probably shifted myself back in the cage several inches (as I'd been used to with my Eipper Cumulus VB) and found myself in a sudden whip stall that broke what felt like past vertical as I frantically plunged myself forward in the cage to get my airspeed back and then slam myself back for an abrupt stall/flare before hitting the ground. The slope on this launch profile steepens shortly after takeoff so I had enough air to gain some fairly serious momentum. I hit hard but was lucky in that this grassy hillside had a huge bush of poison oak and blackberries that I came down on and it broke the impact allowing me to walk away "relatively" uninjured.....i.e., I was still alive. The glider, however, was damaged to a point where I broke one leading edge and bent all the panel spars from the cage out to the tips which meant I was going to be completely de-rigging and recovering (a major, major re-build). So, my first lesson: either I did something wrong in building it, or the glider responds to pitch input much differently than my flex wing. I'm guessing the later. The only factor that I could think of that would make the pitch sensitivity unreasonable was the ease with which you can flatten the airfoil shape during the covering process. I don't know squat about aerodynamics (or anything else for that matter....) but am willing to guess that when you do a poor job of covering, one common thing is to pull too much tension on the fabric in the chord wise direction thereby resulting in what can be severe pull down between the ribs. In the extreme this would be like having a flat sheet for the wings which, I can imagine, might have some nasty stall characteristics. OK, so this was my confession. So, now what? I'm ready to try again but am a lot less worried about getting sand and salt water on the glider if I can a) keep from killing myself and b) stay out of the shop this summer. I have watched the training film several times and have gotten all I am likely to from it. I am interested in hearing about what other ER pilots went through in learning to fly these gliders, especially how to keep from damaging them in the process. What I intend to do from what I've learned up to this point is:

    1. give up the inland idea and just go to the beach.
    2. don't practice in anything over a 5mph breeze for the first dozen or so ground skims.
    3. do the first flights on a shallow slope
    4. practice with the rudders on the flat in a breeze before I even attempt to try a ground skim

Basically, common sense stuff I was too stupid to follow the first time around.

OK, time to hear from others.......

First 7 learning sessions

May 21, 2014
Session #1-3
site: across the street hill

It took me most of this spring to find a hill suitable for learning to fly the glider I inherited last fall “Dr. Darrell” at Funston. Got permission to fly the slope across the road from my house which turned out to be an OK shakedown slope. I'm guessing about a 7:1 slope that levels out prior to the pond fence so that in the event I get airborne, I think I can land before that. I made several runs when a 3-4mph breeze would cycle in from the right direction. The longest was about 20 yds or more. I had all I could do to balance the wing and try to keep it level as I ran trying to manage the right angle of attack. Mostly, I just ended up stalling it early in the run because I was afraid to have it get going faster than I could pull it to a stop. I spent a good part of the time fussing with the seat harness. The seat was too wide to fit between the cage tubes and I finally removed the yellow plastic seat using a hacksaw and just used the webbing for a seat. I managed one run in a decent breeze where I pitched up sharply and tail slid back onto the TE. Nothing damaged. As it got toward 6PM, the good cycles went away and were replaced with N and NW cross so I bagged it and went home.





I got some runs in at this hill but the conditions were so restricted I never really had more than one session where the breeze was enough to help get the glider get flying itself let alone, launch me in it. After 3 days here (sessions #1-3) and not really doing much beyond running the glider down the hill I started looking for a better site.
The next one I found was almost exactly 10 miles from the house and had a nice short little road right to launch. Here's a shot of the set up area and launch. Notice the launchable directions this site offers as well as the clean, unobstructed fields way out in front. The top was also flanked by trees on both east and west sides offering a nice wind shadow for setup. The short little road right out to the setup area and launch made this a real find! If it were only another 100ft high.....





This next shot is looking back up to the top of the hill and if you look close, you can see the Easy parked in the middle of the due north launch section.





This shows a bit more perspective on the hill(shot from the bottom of the east launch side with the Easy parked at launch on the N through E launch section on top.

June 21
Session #4
site: Hwy 99 hill

Light to moderate breeze anywhere from NW to NE and it did vary throughout the day. Earlier it was stronger, say 8-10 and later dropped to about 3-4. High overcast, no cumulus at all but it did get warm. I spent from about 10:30 until 8:30 in the evening and it was still good when I left although it had begun to swing to the west which would have required me to move over to the west launch face. I made many runs and got the wing up flying but only actually got my feet off the ground a couple times during the day. I had to really stay on top of the roll control using the rudders. Whenever I would relax on this I would find myself rolling over onto a wing. I used the blue neck sling to aid in holding the glider up prior to launch and also to support it while backing up the hill after a run. My neck felt like it was getting tweaked out of joint at the end of the day. I nosed it in on one run where I got my feet up and thought I could pick up a bit more airspeed by lowering the nose and just skidded into the ground rather hard. Banged up my forearm. I gradually raised my hook in cord which made a significant difference in my progress to get airborne although I still don't have enough airspeed to generate enough lift to really be flying more than a couple of yards. I believe I should be able to get some glides off this hill of 20-30 yds long so I think I am just rushing the launch and not committing to a strong enough run at the outset.....or maybe the performance of this machine is not that good?? I was feeling more comfortable with the max breeze I thought I could safely launch in vs making a run in a light cycle since my ground speed was higher in the latter. I got reasonably comfortable making the launch run although, as mentioned above, I needed to really stay on top of the roll control to keep the ship level during the run. This may be easier with a nice, steady, smooth breeze. It was warm and there was a lot of directional variation from one minute to the next especially during the later half of the day.

    1. try the Riser Lifters I bought next trip...the blue neck sling is too hard on my neck.
    2. Noticed one rudder is canted outboard and the other is canted inboard so I need to somehow adjust them to get them neutral....maybe I need to rig this with a turnbuckle?


June 24
Session #5
site- Hwy 99 hill

The weather was predicted to turn cloudy for the next week with south flow and chances of rain so I expected today and then the entire next week would not produce flyable conditions at the hill. The morning started out with a south breeze at the house so I put my mind on other things although very few clouds in the sky and little cu's forming. Worked on stuff around the house around noon started noticing some west and north in the breeze...no longer south but still variable and very light. Decided to go out and see what was happening after lunch. It was light but flyable when I arrived. Set up and ended up enjoying slightly less velocity than my first day here but still good. Variable as the first day from east all the way over to west. I got maybe 8-10 runs in. This was the first trial of the shoulder harness. It is far superior to the neck sling but could use some nice, cushie shoulder pads. Decided to wrap a towel around the rear spar connection after feeling how sharp it is. I nosed in again when I attempted to lower the nose after I got into the air and felt I had room to speed up a bit. I believe, with better technique I could have pulled it off but I'm still shifting my body forward and backward in the cage to change pitch which results in overcontrol inputs.....I think it would respond to a more subtle movement of my legs or shoulders. This is substantiated on the training film that shows overcontrol in at least a couple of the clips where it's not evident that the pilot is even moving. I am now consistently getting the glider airborne. Nice to feel some progress. It seems fairly easy to flare and stop and catch the glider on my back or legs without ground contact. It still seems like I have to pay a lot of attention to wings level and am constantly deploying the rudders to keep a straight track with wings level. The good news is, even at these slow speeds the rudders are very effective. I realized that I must have re-strained my abductor tendons (more on the right side) with my first session. Today, I began to notice it getting even more painful so I quit early and it was still plenty flyable when I drove away. Could have gone for another couple hours had my body been able to handle it. Figured I better quit short of a real injury however. This will likely take a week to heal as it is. Fortunately, we have a climb this weekend and then we leave for Chicago on Tuesday so it'll be about two weeks before I can get out here again. Hopefully, Randy Rhodie will not have a chance to plow the hill and I can make a couple more trips here before I'm ready to move to Cape Kiwanda (although I believe I could make the move now as long as I maintain discipline regarding conditions I allow myself to fly in).

I am finding that even if I let the nose pop beginning my run, it is no problem to apply pressure with my hands to the front of the cage and bring it right down as I accelerate my takeoff run. I think shortening the hang strap so that my leg straps go tight when the cage comes level with the bottom of my rib cage has made a positive difference in getting airborne. It seems to allow me good access to the rudder controls I would otherwise not have by hanging lower and also pulls my feet off the ground sooner.
I am getting better at sensing the wind direction independent of the flags which are often not lined up with the breeze the glider is in....basically yaw the rig using your weight and body torque on the struts toward the high wing...when it starts to bounce evenly, it's headed into the relative breeze direction and I'm good to begin the launch run.


Session #6
Tuesday July 8, 2014
site: Hwy 99 hill

I think it was blowing strong (15+ NW) and I set up in the lee of the bushes, walked it out into the wind and stood there having all I could do to maintain control. Backed off behind the bushes and took it down and left

Session #7
Site – Hwy 99 hill
Thursday July 10, 2014

Hot by 11 when I arrived but there was a breeze so I set up. Got in a few runs as the thermals cycled through. None were big enough to be a problem and I never hit any during a run which could have been trouble. Got my first honest flight on one of the runs. The trick seems to be making sure I get as much airspeed as I can and then PUT MY LEGS down if I start getting close to the ground......you cannot belly this glider in!!!! Had to go through that again today as I flew it into the ground again. A lot of waiting and VERY hot. I went through 2 liters of water. First trial of my D-ring clip points on the hang tubes for my Riser Lifter set up. Work OK but the one D-ring was more like 1 ¾ or 2 inches and it kept rotating to a corner. Need to get another that measures 1 ½ inch base to fit the velcro I used. I got a real sense of adjusting my pitch in the air today and it doesn't seem to be as sensitive as I had thought. Wonder how I managed a whip stall????. The day ended as I realized I was getting very tired and hot and the west flow started in. I was too tired to walk the glider around to the west face so I just packed up. I've accumulated multiple holes in the sail now, some from Darrell and several from me that would be good to patch with Aerothane soon. Also need to replace at least one frayed cable and maybe one more that was rigged too close and will not rotate which pokes a hole in the sail when I fold the panels together.
Some things I've concluded so far:
1. I'm convinced that taking the time to find a REALLY EXCELLENT site to learn is time worth spending.
2. I wasn't running fast enough given my own restriction in how much of a breeze I was willing to practice in to get launched.
3. It was easy to fly the glider without enough speed to lift me and stop it on the hill by gently letting it pitch up into a soft flare. This gave me plenty of time to get used to controlling roll with the rudders.
4. All my hard stops (crashes) were a result of me trying to keep my feet from touching the ground thinking I could glide back up by picking up a bit more speed.
5. Once I decided to stop in a soft flare, I had to remember to rock the nose down a bit to avoid having the wing tail slide back and hit the trailing edges and rudders. In a flared position the glider is balance tail heavy and will come down hard unless you rotate the nose level and catch the glider.
6. I used shoulder straps and a loop around each hang tube to support the glider at about hip-height during my practice sessions. This made it much more comfortable to hang out, strapped in, while waiting for the right moment. I also am using a leg harness I made by taking an old swing seat harness and cutting off the plastic seat. My hang loop is off the top trailing edge and my feet come off the ground with the cage about level with the bottom of my ribs. I started out with it much higher, closer to my armpits, and it was too much of an effort to work the rudders like I felt I needed.
7. My best runs happened when I had a nice breeze, I'm guessing about 10mph. Just enough so that I still had complete control. Getting out there in 12-15 was sketchy. I weight about 140 so 170 sq ft of wing is a lot to keep under control.
8. Once in the air, pitch control did not seem to be difficult but I've only really got one, single flight to date.
9. Directional control seems to be very easy even at slow speeds.
10. I find it essential to stay completely on top of the rudders to keep the wings level and maintain a controlled ground track parallel with the wind direction.
11. If I find the direction has changed as I'm launching, I have been successful in using the rudders to bring the nose into the wind to adjust my ground track to the direction of flight even while just barely carrying my weight while striding down the hill.


I have yet to get someone out there to take photos/videos of launches or flying but will try to get that accomplished soon.

Session #8
July 17, 2014
Thursday

Conditions – light to moderate <10mph on the beach and about 12 at launch
Cape Kiwanda

Arrived around 10:30AM, light NW just enough to lift the wing half as I was setting up. Another hot day in the valley and I expected fog but it was clear. Signs of a good breeze on the way. Decided to take the trailer to the dune vs. leaving it in the parking area and car topping the glider. Good thing I did because I had not taken the Thule cross bar to mount the rear rack on. Low tide was 6AM or something and high tide was forecast at 8 ft (very high) by 5PM. Did everything I could to keep her out of the sand and did OK for the most part. Only one other glider there which was a beginner that never got on the main dune. Went 2/3 to the top and attempted a launch on the north side of the trough. Didn't get enough speed but got into the air and couldn't keep it level. Ended up stalling the left wing and came down about 10 yds down the hill to a soft stop not even touching the cage, but just the left wing tip I think. Walked it back up and took it to the top. Launched again and got a good, solid flight, well controlled right down to the tarp I had laid out. Got a feel for the pitch and the gradient near the ground, compensated and ran it on in a nice controlled landing with wings level. #2 Went to the top again and did another solid flight, no problem. Trying to maintain awareness of my pitch inputs and also getting into auto mode on the rudders. Still have work to do on both but observers say I looked smooth during my flights. #3 Went to the top again and had another solid flight and landing. Decided the tide was looking threatening and made this my last flight. #4 Another solid flight and landing. The wind velocity on top was light, I'm guessing about 10mph since I had no trouble controlling the wing but only could get in maybe 3 strides before it pulled me off the hill. Very successful day but I don't want to come back here because of the difficult road down, the saltwater on the trailer, the tide pressure and the people. There was a circus at the road access to the beach and I nearly got stuck trying to pull the trailer (with it's narrow wheels) through the soft sand because of the mass of cars parked on the solid sand.


http://youtu.be/9CZsbgipPrc

The video link above was from a clip taken by one of the onlookers that day. The still photos that follow were taken of the second or third flight.

Tim Weaver, a hang pilot I met at the beach sent a CD of still shots he took of those first flights I made.



This shot shows a little of the shoulder straps that allow me to take all the weight of the glider onto my shoulders which frees both hands to either control the rudders, balance the wings level using body torque or keep the nose down when launching.



Here I am ready to start my launch and you can see that I've got both hands up on the diagonals to steady the wings and keep them level. As soon as I'm ready to go, I dropped both hands onto the hang tubes well toward the leading edge to keep the nose from coming up which it wants to do (and it will stall if you let this happen with no downward pressure).



I have just left the ground in this shot and where you see me hanging is about where I set the hang strap length. My forearms are just about parallel to the hang tubes which may seem high but that's where I felt I had the most control.



Notice I've deployed the right rudder, probably to counter a heading just after launch that was taking me too far off the wind to the left just after launching.



Here you see the result of that rudder control move. The rudders are really effective, even at low air speeds.



In this shot I've leveled out again and am trying to manage a smooth turn toward a final glide path to the beach.



Sweet flying glider! Starting to think about a gradient in the breeze as I glide out of the gentle lift band against the dune.







Gliding on in I get ready to run it on and stall the root. The glider was amazingly easy to stop. The tips kept flying as I stalled the root and had no problem catching the glider as I touched down.

Session #9
September 10,2014

Site – Cape Kiwanda, Oregon coastal training hill approximately 150ft high.
Conditions – solid 10 on the beach with gusts to 13 or 14mph NNW


First flight was from the north side of the trough that has formed halfway up the dune. I launched just short of the very top in about 12-15 at launch. Realized that I'd need to move my body back in order to kick my feet up onto the front of the cage and as I tried that, also realized I'd need to move back at the same time as I swung my feet up otherwise I would go through a big pitch change and possibly stall the glider. I gave up on that after I realized this as I started to move back in the cage. I did not try any more attempts at this. I believe I really need to lower or eliminate my leg strap harness hang point and just launch it hanging from my arms. The rest of the day saw 4 more flights for a total of 5 for the day. The remaining 4 were from the bowl side of the trough and about ¾ of the way to the top. At that height launch wind was a solid 15 with gust to 20 and I had all I could do to manage the glider. I did one parachute landing from about 10 ft up and it came down softly enough for me to have no trouble catching the glider. It seems to have a higher flying speed than the Comet below which penetration really deteriorates even with me flying completely upright for the entire flight. Got a fair amount of practice doing minor flight path corrections and having a bit of trouble keeping the rudders in neutral. I find that I'll have one deployed and have to bring it back to neutral. I think my natural tendency is to deploy them when I tense up. I will need to really work on this. Maybe the handles will help (something Brian Porter suggested I do for fatigue but also help to keep them in neutral when I don't intend to deploy them). These two shots were taken where I had to park, unload, setup and then carry the glider (backwards) all the way to the base of the dune. I took these after the first two flights I made after which I took a quick lunch break.




The top photo was taken right from the car where I unloaded and set up. You can hardly make out the Easy parked against a camp stool at the base of the dune.

The bottom photo was just a telephoto of the same shot where you can actually see the glider.


I had the place completely to myself the entire day which was a real treat....total focus, no distractions. The wind was at the top of my self-imposed limit of 15 and really over what I should have been flying in once I got to near the top where I know there were gusts to 20. Overall, even in those conditions at launch, the glider was remarkably easy to maintain control of although I guess you feel that right up to the point you lose it. Although I'm still flying it using the leg strap harness tied into the trailing edge top wing joiner and hanging vertically, I'm still learning stuff on handling, launching, landing, stalls, roll response and minor flight path corrections. I'll need a day with less wind to make my first attempts at launching without the harness and getting my legs up onto the front of the cage.

Thanks for posting the pictures and video.

It's been quite a treat to follow your restoration and now flight of this unusual glider.   

Fly Safe!!!!     

Sorry I had missed this. Beyond a few soaring passes at Dylon Beach, we're about at the same level with the Riser. I only flew mine with a swing seat/small spreader bar. The shoulder straps would have been my first recommendation - I never had them, but will if I fly it again. I'd try to get the shoulder straps to hold the glider a little higher. I can't see your's, but cross them behind your neck and open wide towards the front, so they don't choke. The Riser is light, but I found it awkward to lean forward and balance the rear of the cage on your lower back. I know many Old Schoolers flew without seats, but I enjoyed the security and the conventional feel of pitch control with a harness - even with it being sensitive. I also thought I'd add a foot stirrup from the front of the cage or nose so you could straighten your legs a bit as opposed to the bunched up manner in the normal position.

I'll need a day with less wind to make my first attempts at launching without the harness and getting my legs up onto the front of the cage.

I'm sure you're a better runner than I am. Providing it was smooth, I'd be looking for 15mph plus. I'm lazy.

Beautiful glider

Trailer looks nice also.

Good job.

Outstanding. Congratulations!

In my rush to add my 2 cents I failed to acknowledge your craftsmanship and progress learning to fly the Easy Riser. Well done on all of it. I like the curved top on the trailer too.

That is beautiful craftsmanship on the airfoil. The harness is a good idea. The Easy Riser and the Icaras V were very robust ships that never achieved, as far as I know, the extreme XC distances they were capable of. There were so few skilled purists at the time, they were gobbled up by the motorhead segment. I look forward to your reports of thermal flights and distance attempts.

I know of three in-flight failures of free-flight Easy Risers. Here are the ones I am aware of.

April 1978, Dog Mt., WA Flying in heavy turbulence with an ER that had been damaged on a recent flight. Following a spin at 1500 feet, a recovery, then another spin, the ship tumbled and the pilot was thrown out at 100 feet.

January 1979 Point Sal, CA Structural failure.

In 1980 a pilot re-covered his ER with zero-porosity fabric but failed to glue or stitch the fabric to the ribs. On his first high test flight, the ER sped up, inverted and failed structurally.

Brian Porter wrote of the 1979 incident. [Brian Porter, "Ultralight Conversation,” USHGA Hang Gliding, May 1979, 6.]






I do not think that it is possible to compare the behavior of motorized vs. free-flight models and come to accurate conclusions. I doubt there is an inherent defect in the design of the ER. I do encourage pilots to explore the characteristics, particularly any divergent tendencies, of their prototype or homebuilt free-flight gliders and to properly adjust the sails or modify the airfoils BEFORE encountering turbulent air. If I had an ER, I would definitely seek out Brian Porter and discuss this with him.