[reluctantsparrow]

[Bob Kuczewski]

That's some very clear thinking RS!!!!  

The idea of absorbing the energy in the stinger is thinking "outside of the box".

That got me thinking about lightweight energy absorbers since the far aft stinger location has a long lever arm. Velcro might work well. You can imagine one sode of a velcro strip (maybe the hooks side) attached firmly and smoothly to the inside of the tube. The other side (loops side) would be "pleated" to it with little pleats so that each section can be released to allow more payout of the line. As each pleated section is torn free, it eats up a bit of energy. Eventually all the little "pleat bonds" are broken and the loops side would be fully extended. The aft end of that strip could be attached directly to the tail cap of the keel for a fully extended hard limit or it could be attached with a bungee for a soft limit.

The nice thing about velcro is that it's lightweight, commonly available, and cheap.

RS, you've got some creative thinking going on!!!

[reluctantsparrow]

he, he, your thinking outside the box yourself there Bob....I LIKE the velcro idea....lightweight, would not alter the Balance of the glider hardly at all....yes....and being farther rearward does decrease the angle of the bridle, decreasing the rate the pilots body may tend to swing upward......
I love the fact a stinger mounted device would be totally aftermarket.....a bolt on device....without invading the structural integrity of the glider.
All the other factors remain the same as the original idea:
a predetermined shock absorbtion rate, a predetermined amount of travel, etc. etc...

[reluctantsparrow]

Actually, since we have now moved any device into the ONLY non-structural area of the hang glider, the sky is the limit on devices used......and since the farther back we mount the bridle the better it will work.....how about mounting the bridle all the way back to the rear Area of the stinger and simply build a shock absorbing hinge device into the stinger near the flying wire/landing wire junction.
when force is applied to the bridle near the rear of the stinger, the stinger hinges downward with the hinge itself absorbing the force.
limited travel could still be predetermined. amount of travel could still be predetermined. Rate of shock absorption could still be predetermined as well......and...
As an added bonus....as the stinger swings downward so does the rear of the bridle.....drastically decreasing, if not eliminating any tendency to swing the pilot up into the keel since at that point ALL the pilots weight will have shifted from his mains to the bridle itself.....
I think we are getting close.

[Bill Cummings]

I'm thinking about attaching to me right near the main harness strap since there are times I like to kick my legs far left or right to aid steering.
Edit: also that would tend to not tip the pilots head down once the shock harness went under tension. (As compared to hooking the shock harness to the tails end of the pod harness.)

[reluctantsparrow]

yes Bill, when I talk about the rear of the harness I am actually thinking of where the main suspension meets the harness, leaving the legs free to move around for yaw control, etc.
When this idea is built and tested successfully a structurally integrated loop of Webbing will probably start being sewn into our harness in that area to attach the bridle to

[Bill Cummings]

Yes--- posting while you were --- we are on the same page.

[reluctantsparrow]

a short re-cap:

[JoeF]

Much thanks, RS, for the continued exploration!
While watching and listening, a flash in me: bowing flex stinger that is pulled forward while bowing down lower.
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Just a photo tease on huge skid:

[Bob Kuczewski]

a short re-cap:

Super video RS!!!