[Bob Kuczewski]

Christmas at Torrey (December 25th, 2011)

Paraglider pilot has a fun time running with Little Hawk:

[SamKellner]

Fantastic, Bob.

Great job of continually being the good will ambassador for the sport of Hang Gliding

[miguel]

It needs a abbreviated harness so the pilots can experience control with a tight strap. ( not a joke)

[Bob Kuczewski]

It needs a abbreviated harness so the pilots can experience control with a tight strap. ( not a joke)

Great observation. That's been on the back burner for a little while now, and I may start to make a more serious effort.

However, there are safety and convenience reasons for not using a harness in most situations. Remember that Little Hawk is an outreach tool. It's designed to allow people to walk up and try it with the fewest barriers. Putting on a harness can be a turn-off to people and keep them from giving it a try. There are also increased safety problems with having people physically attached to the glider.

Right now I compromise by having people run with the glider without hooking in at all, and then I also have them hang from the glider (hang check style) in a full harness to give them a feeling of comfort and safety. That's when I show them how we steer with weight shift. But I would like to have something in between. I've been thinking of a quick velcro harness (mostly just a few straps) and including a weak link in the suspension (maybe 50 lbs?) in case they get in trouble.

Any ideas?

Thanks!!

[miguel]

The old TRX had a very small control frame which made the strap tight as soon as the base tube was a foot or so of the ground. You could stand up and comfortably hold the glider at flying trim with a tight strap. It was nothing like a standard glider where you have to strain to tighten the strap. You could actually launch with the downtubes on your shoulders. The glider would be much more controllable and give a more realistic sensation than having to hold the glider up and run behind it.

[Bob Kuczewski]

The glider would be much more controllable and give a more realistic sensation than having to hold the glider up and run behind it.

I'm not sure if you're referring to Little Hawk, but if there's any wind, then you don't have to hold the glider up. It will fly itself and carry its own weight. But I still agree that attaching to the hang loops would be more realistic. I'm thinking about a velcro attachment system (maybe with a weak link) so the "pilot" can pull with their weight, but still break free if needed.

But again, the purpose of Little Hawk isn't for training or a realistic flight experience. The purpose is exposure of the sport to more people.

[Bob Kuczewski]

I recently brought "Little Hawk" to Dockweiler again, and I tried running with it while hooked in. It had a very "unnatural" feeling to it. I tried varying the length of my hang strap, but nothing seemed to help. It flies fine when I run with it and allow it to lift itself, but as soon as I run hooked-in, it just feels wrong. Any thoughts?

[SamKellner]

from oz forum

A small WW race bird? Sun Feb 19, 2012 8:16 am
https

Bob, I couldn't get the url to paste from oz forum, but this topic is suggesting Wills Wing has some type of really small glider on the drawing board. Not a lot of discussion yet.

Little Hawk probably won't feel like your Falcon. I still say it would fly better than a squirrel suit, a lot better. Is Little Hawk "supposed" to be an airworthy design?

What does John H. say about advancing the sport in this direction.

,
Sam

[Neil Larson]

[Neil Larson]

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