[JoeF]

Revision date: May 12, 2018 by World Hang Gliding Association (WHGA) in conjunction with Self-Soar Association (S-SA) (ever open for refinement and improvement)

Association Student Recreational Hang-Gliding Pilot Rating of First level (HGRP-1 or H-1 from Association).
-two sorts: non-parachute (-nP or parachute (-P)

H-1-nP, H-1-P
Overview: [E.g., one association's expression: H-1: Hawk 1 - Ability to fly under supervision under nearly ideal conditions at sites like Dockweiler. Supervision Advised!!"
A student pilot has a working knowledge of the risks and skills of launching, gliding, and landing a pilot-carried-launched-glided-and-landed wing. H-1-nP stays practicing in scenes where rescue parachute is superfluous; H-1-nP do not integrate parachutes in their flight systems and do not need parachute training or knowledge. H-1-P practices in scenes where a rescue parachute should be integrated; such a pilot would appreciate when to deploy the parachute, how to deploy the parachute, when not to deploy the parachute, how to conduct oneself under parachuting the system, how to practice deployments, and how to repack and care for the parachute subassembly.
Details:
Each detail may be expanded by pilot study, discussion, and rehearsal with coaches and seasoned mentors.
1. Appreciates the difference between faced ambient wind speed and faced flying airspeed.
2. Appreciates the reasons to avoid tandem or motored or engined or towed flying training at the beginning of one's self-soar hang gliding experience.
3. Appreciates how launching running ground speed affects the airspeed of the wing. Appreciates how flying ground speed is distinct from flying airspeed.
4. Appreciates how airspeed affects control authority and safety of gliding.
5. Appreciates wind gradients in various scenes. And appreciates how to respect wind gradients for having the flying airspeed wanted for landing.
6. Appreciates when a rescue parachute would be donned and used.
7. Appreciates when a rescue parachute would be superfluous equipment.
8. Appreciates the need to respect practice limitations to avoid injury to self, others, wing, and property. Appreciates the value of extensive mentoring from seasoned pilots.
9. Appreciates the difference between wings controlled by shifting of pilot's hung mass and wings controlled by movable aerodynamic surfaces.
10. Appreciates what occurs in making turns during flight.
11. Appreciates flight-control errors. Appreciates texture of launching and landing terrains and textures.
12. Appreciates the potential pitfalls of commercialized instruction, certification, and rating systems. Appreciates the value of methodical study, cautionary training, and mentee immersion. The H-1 pilot has a habit of studying the causes of hang glider accidents and how to avoid the same.
13. Appreciates that landowners are not not liable for your recreational injuries when the recreation takes places without invitation or charges by the landowner. Appreciates how good communications with all parties of the flight environment favors safety and satisfaction. Appreciates how to gain permission to use land for recreational launching and landing of a hang glider. Appreciates that one is 100% responsible for injuries one causes to occur to self, others, or property.
14. Appreciates that severe injury or death may occur from inadequate fitness, preparation, practice, skill check, gear, clothing, weather respect, or judgment.
15. Knows and respects the FARs applicable to ultralight flying and craft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_A ... egulations especially Part 103.
16. Knows enough about aerodynamics to avoid flying paragliders and entering the PDMC.
17. Has studied the writings of Otto Lilienthal.
18. Can regularly demonstrate making and gliding a folded-paper hand-tossed glider that dive recovers and glides smoothly.
19. Has good appreciation of what "reflex" in a wing may provide as to dive recovery.
20. Can unpack, flight check, and pack properly the hang glider being used for training sessions. If the wing and harness are commercial products, then the pilot has thoroughly studied the details of the products' operating manuals.
21. Has had one's skills and knowledge expressions favorably commented upon by at least two seasoned hang glider pilots. Logs such matters in one's flight diary.
22. An H-1 pilot operates within his or her safety zone refined by discussions with observing mentors.

Association places this revision into public domain for any kind of personal or association use, revision, or expansion. Adopt such or similar as your association grants ratings to recreational hang glider pilots. Revisions and expansions may be posted in this topic thread.
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"Association" refers to any association of persons.

[Bill Cummings]

I had a short, befuddled, mild, stationary, panic attack when I read. Re: H-1 of two sorts: H-1-nP and H-1-P
“-two sorts: non-parachute (-nP or parachute (-P)”
Would you be alright with [-two sorts: non-reserve (-nR or reserve (-R)] ?
(Sorry but I’m caught in a paradigm.) I notice grinding my teeth typing the first half of PARAdigm.
If we're stripping any reference of tandem, motor, towing, and PG, to drive the point home, we could spell words differently like #arachute, #aradigm, #anic attack, S#ell. (Just a thought)

[JoeF]

Excellent revision, Bill !

H-1,non-reserve or H-1-nR
H-1, reserve or H-1-R FOLLOWING FRANK's post, this sort is most always not needed. See next posts.

[Frank Colver]

I don't understand. When would a beginning hang glider student ever need to fly with a reserve chute? They should only be using low training hills.

Frank

[JoeF]

Good revision quest, Frank . Agree: one H-1 sort: H-1-nR
The highly most probable H-1 would be the H-1-nR and therein an emphasis is made towards understanding that the H-1-nR would not be placing himself or herself at sites/altitudes/weather or tandem circumstance where reserve would be proper.

Having the "-nR" gives emphasis also that the H-1 herein is not tandem student; the dark org has H-0 tandem student being involved with reserve knowledge/awareness because the tandem captain pilot would be operating with the reserve.

[JoeF]

Continuing:

23. Appreciates safe and effective vehicle racking of the packed glider; appreciates need for redundancy in stays for vehicle racking of glider; appreciates the need to avoid over-cinching stay webbing. Respects over-length red-flagging requirements for roading a long over-hang pack. Appreciates the need to storage a packed glider in a cool, dry, and dark situation.
24. Appreciates the need to thoroughly inspect parts of a glider for damage whenever unpacking and deploying the glider. Knows the importance of dents, cracks, wear, corrosion, tears.
25. Has demonstrated planned straight glides and very-slight-S glides.
26. Has demonstrated habits of just-before-launch checks of harness parts donning, helmet, flight area clearance of people and obstacles, and hook-in to glider.
27. Has demonstrated post-landing good habits.
28. Has demonstrated skilled handling of wing during carrying glider after landing clear of the landing area to respect the potential use of the area by other pilots.
29. Does not operate the glider beyond the conservative limits appropriate to the conditions and skills attained. Stays at practice sites where one stays flying under 100 feet above ground level.
30. Establishes an accurate method to measure the ambient wind speed and the gustiness of the present wind. Operates only if the wind is less than that recommended by Dr. Paul McCready for hang gliding flight: 12 mph. Refuses to launch in winds having gusts to 15 mph. Appreciates that gustiness is to be respected for what it can imply for launching and landing.
31. Appreciates slope crosswinds where the wind is not straight up the slope. Avoids practicing flights when the wind veers more than 15 degrees away from straight up the slope.
32. Demonstrates how to measure the pitch of a slope.
33. Knows the approximate pitch of the gliding path of one's glider.
34. Discusses accurately how wind up a slope may alter the effective glide pitch experienced.
35. Discusses accurately how a glide may result in short ground-distance achieved in higher wind and long ground-distance achieved in low wind or calm.
36. Demonstrates confident landing on one's feet or wheels or adequate skids or skis or pontoons.
37. Discusses accurately how basebar ground gouging is to be avoided.
38. Discusses accurately whether or not a cable-stayed triangular control frame beam member is in compression or tension during normal glide.
39. Does not fly a defective glider.
40. Shows willingness not to fly when conditions are beyond one's well-understood safe zone.
41. Demonstrates confident relaxation during trimmed glide.
42. Demonstrates confident pitch control during launching, gliding, and landing.
43. Demonstrates speeding up through the wind gradient to keep airspeed appropriate for good control authority for landing. Discusses this matter accurately with a mentor or coach.
44. Demonstrates run-out landing technique, if such is physically appropriate. Discusses accurately how to run in landing to keep the wing level before coming to wing-set-down.
45. Demonstrates gliding for some moments when the hands are circled about the control frame tubes but have no grip whatsoever on the tubes. Demonstrates also light-pressure hold of the control frame down tubes and also of the basebar.
46. Shows courtesy, watchfulness, and helpfulness to other pilots and people at the gliding site.

Finally: Has two or more mentors or coaches witness by signature on the Association checklist form that they believe you have the above skills, knowledge points, appreciations, and judgments. You write a statement about yourself on the same form for the same matters; sign the form. Enter by digital image or mailed paper the signed form to the Association.

[wingspan33]

Joe,

I was just looking at another version of Beginner hang glider pilot rating description. With 14 spaces between otherwise single spaced lines and with Arial font size set to 10, the description is about 3/4th of a page long. As a mere observation, your Beginner rating description, completely single spaced, with Arial font size also set to 10 is 1 and 3/4 pages long. Were I to add spaces between lines totaling to 14 your description is about 2 and 1/4 pages long.

Another observation - Your Beginner HG qualification text is in no way a copy of the U$hPa's Beginner Rating description. So that's good.

But if I were a hang gliding instructor (and I was) and wanted to use your requirements or the U$hPa's, I'd use the U$hPa's. It's simple and concise. Your version, . . . not so much.

Your focus on with or without parachute at the Beginner level also doesn't fit since, as Frank has mentioned, Beginner HG pilots don't fly high enough to need or use a chute. Also, every training harness I've seen or used as owned by the school, did not include a parachute.

The early teaching stages toward achieving a Novice rating also do not put you high enough to need or use a parachute. However, to finally achieve a Novice rating with the U$hPa, knowledge of the proper use of an emergency chute is included. For an equivalent Novice rating it can simply be assumed that use of an emergency chute is included in the skill set. So including a "P" or "No P" with the rating seems an over complication.

As always, my critical comments are meant in the most positive way.

[Bill Cummings]

Recommended revisions:
# 17 (REMOVE)
# 33 Knows the approximate glide path of one's hang glider.
________________________________________
"Pitch," is a word choice that gives me pause.
I would recommend other more frequently used synonyms that appear in
other hang gliding publications IE flight path, glide slope, angle of slope,
angle of glide,----?

[JoeF]

Bill, good progress.
Scott, keep it going.
My stream of consciousness drafts are intended for adding, subtracting, revising, editing, deleting, rephrasing, sectioning, sifting, enhancing, etc.
May we form clear simple expressions for each essential aspect of what would make up a first level hang glider pilot rating: H-1 titled. What we come up with should be in tune with the first level H rating found in scores of nations: Australia, Russia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, etc.

The H-1 expression may find its publication in several ways:

1. An online fully enhanced (links to enhancement studies) creative description of H-1 essentials; link related studies, videos, accidents, variations, original illustrations, etc.
2. A starkly skeletonized one page sheet of paper (and PDF) that is a skill checklist to be signed by the pilot and at least two seasoned HG mentors/coaches. The three sign the checklist after checking all the check boxes: Sign: we affirm that John Doe meets H-1 level of experience and judgement as checked above. (Treat this as draft; compose as a team.) The form is either postal mailed or faxed or emailed to USHawks; upon review by seasoned HG masters, the H-1 may be published in a file of names; after each name are placed the rating: H-1 or other rating notes for the names; the names would be alphabetized. Anyone in the world could look up the name and find the rating notes on the pilot. Since the ratings would not expire, maintenance of the list could be easy.
3. The World Hang Gliding Association could duplicate the ratings list.

[Bill Cummings]

I have alerted Bob that we have two seperate threads going:
H-1 of two sorts: H-1-nP and H-1-P
US Hawks Rating System Proposal.
These two threads if not merged into one should be brought closer together.
_______________________________________________________________
In the draft by Joe on #1:

1. Appreciates the difference between faced ambient wind speed and faced flying airspeed.

While I would word it as:
1. Appreciates the difference between wind speed and airspeed.
I also realize that my wording of the sentence may be guided from memories of study material from my student days
that may closely resemble USHGA - associated reading material and publications.
Within our midst Joe's syntax wizardry is the blessing we are looking for. It will be an absolute defense against charges of plagiarism or copyright violation from any direction. I'm thinking now that any word or phrase suggestions
that I might make may possibly get the Hawks into trouble.