LEARNING TO FOOT LAUNCH BACKWARDS!
Sara wrote:
"Sometimes that will be a mistake they made or a particular tip that helped them past an obstacle in their progress."
I’ve taught a lot of people to water ski. The best tip that helped them past an obstacle in their progress which proved to be just getting up on the damn things was to train them how to ski first and train them how to start last. It made the student not give up as quickly if they were having trouble getting up on the skis.
I attached an inch and a quarter pipe that extended out over the water to the port (left) side of the boat by ten feet.
With the student using two water skis they hung onto the pipe and with the solid support of the pipe they were able to easily get up on skis. I told them if they fell to just hang onto the pipe and we would stop the boat and let them climb the ladder into the boat and go back to get the water skis.
No falling no fear. Soon they weren’t losing their skis any more so I ran a ski tow rope through the eye bolt on the far end of the pipe from the boat then wrapped it around the pipe for friction to make it easier to feed out the rope.
The student would get up using the pipe and then grab the handle on the ski tow rope that was only one foot away from the bar/pipe. When they were steady with only one foot of tow rope out I would slowly give them more line until eventually they had 75 feet of rope out behind the boat.
All the students now knew how to water ski so they were determined to learn how to get up on the surface. I never again had anyone give up learning just because they were having difficulty getting up on water skis.
They would say, “Darn it I already know how to ski so I’m not going quit until I learn to get up.”
Foot launching hang gliders was much the same for me. I learned behind the boat (not a typo) by using wide trick skis and a swing seat hung from a hang glider. I did deep water starts and after I learned how to taxi on the surface of the lake up wind, cross wind, and down wind that was proof that I knew how to steer good enough to keep the wingtips out of the water. If the tips touched the water the pin man would release.
I had the weight shift figured out before ever leaving the water. Next my instructor Richard (Kite-man) Johnson sped up the boat and I was flying 30’ above the lake following the boat up wind, down wind and crosswind. Then slowing down to ski out the landing.
Much later we taught ourselves how to flare to a zero forward speed stop and plunge straight into the lake’s surface inches below our feet.
Now we knew how to land on the beach before ever having done it.
During the winter we went to a training hill to learn how to foot launch since we already knew how to fly and land.
As far as foot launching went we learned how to do it in steps.
Flying first.
Landing second.
Launching third (last).
It proved to be the most forgiving way to ease us into being foot launch pilots.
Home
