[Bill Cummings]

Hi Sam!!!

I'm thinking that we can work from the top down by sketching out chapters and then volunteering to take a crack at them.

But I'm also thinking that we can work from the bottom up by finding videos that illustrate particular topics and then start filling in words around them.

So one fairly easy (but very important!!) job would be to just surf the web looking for videos that illustrate topics of interest:

• How to set up a hang glider
• Launching - Good Examples
• Launching - Things that can go wrong
• Towing - Proper equipment
• Towing - Proper form
• Towing - Things that can go wrong
• Towing - Water Towing
• Flight - Proper technique for control
• Flight - Examples of Cross-Controlling
• Landing - Proper flare technique (foot landing)
• Landing - Proper run-out technique (foot landing)
• Landing - Proper wheel landing technique

I really think with the videos in place, the words will come very naturally. So if you've got some spare time to surf for videos, that would be a big help ... and somewhat fun as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ0CyHNEOrE&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW5ZNfn5yLU&feature=plcp&context=C3f87b50UDOEgsToPDskLQfdeOSBbgw2m_lepY8pzq

[Bob Kuczewski]

Thanks Bill!!!

I've added some steps following the video...

How to set up a Falcon:
First half:

• Seek Professional Instruction
• Orient bag with wind
• Open bag
• Assemble Control Frame with wheels
• Flip Glider onto Control Frame (see alternates below)
• Spread wings
• Attach Nose Wire (I'm not sure about this step on a Falcon)
• Orient wing with wind over the back to keep from flipping over

Second half:

• Start putting in battens
• Description of wires and king post
• Insert battens from longest to shortest
• Dust off battens before inserting to reduce wear
• Attach strings to battens
• Tension the wing (pulls crossbar back)
• Attach luff lines / reflex bridle
• Insert washout struts
• Set nose batten into place
• Preflight the glider

How to roll a glider onto the control frame:



Bill, that's a funny and instructive video. It suddenly reminded me of the one where you were driving a tractor. I had watched it several times before meeting you, and I didn't make the connection until seeing you in this one.

I think we've found the US Hawks cinematographer!!

Good Job!!!   

P.S. I integrated your videos with some descriptive text and posted it as a draft in the Training Manual forum. Here's the link:

http://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=939

Please let me know what you think. If we can do a page like that every few days, we might just get somewhere with this project. Thanks for all the help!!!   

[Bill Cummings]

Setting up a glider, Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoB0S9aJl6A

[Bob Kuczewski]

Excellent find Bill!!!



That's why it's important to gather up all the best videos before doing the writing ... the videos can change everything!!!

On the other hand, I did the writing around the other three videos as an experiment/demonstration on the project. I think it will work pretty well. Eventually, however, I think the limitations of the forum format will limit the final product, so we'll probably produce the final version in HTML outside of the forum.

Either way, please keep those videos coming!! I think launching and landing should be rich topics with lots of good video content available!!

P.S. I noticed that the "Red Bull" cap was facing backwards during some portions of the video. I guess artistic license was used to flip those sections of video.

[terryJm]

The recent posts on landing tech. by Jim Rooney are the best I've seen, we should have them in the Manual, as well as recruiting Jim as a contributor to this effort. Also Ryan Voit's article in the Hang gliding mag. was excellent in reference to takeoffs, I'm not sure what Dennis Pagen will say to a request for help, however He is the one I learned from, in His hang gliding instruction booklets. Later, Terry

[Bob Kuczewski]

Hi Terry,

You might contact Jim Rooney and ask him about this.

I don't know where you might have found his information, but you might be able to contact him through either the Oz Report forum or hanggliding.org's forum.

Thanks in advance!!

Bob Kuczewski

[Bill Cummings]

Three links, two about landing found on the OZ report and another about a pending law that we may be caught up in.
Bob Consider moving the Rooney (sp?) links to the training manual. It is the best I've see.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26437

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26436

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26379

[Bill Cummings]

When we start the landing part of the training manual here is the right stuff.
Here is a synopsis of the landing methods found on the OZ report and brought to the Wiki on HG.org
http://www.hanggliding.org/wiki/How_to_land_a_hang_glider
I believe Jim Rooney made the original post on the OZ report.

[Bill Cummings]

Hawks,

My 2004 Sport II still has it’s original down tubes so I would say that my landings are all mostly very good. With thousands of flights I had figured out along the way how to land but years back I stupidly read some articles about how to land. I immediately employed this new technique and started a long series of crash landings.

I said the heck with this and decided to quit thinking about it and just flare when it felt right like I had been doing before reading the landing article.
Once again I was landing like I knew what I was doing.

With this latest tutorial from Jim Rooney on the web I decided to try his strongest suggested method the “Trim + 1” (Let speed bleed off until trim, wait one second and then flare like you mean it.)

Remembering how things went the last time I read up on landing techniques I was a little concerned since nothing was broke so why try and fix how I land. I put my faith in Jim and said to myself, “Okay, I’ll try this and maybe I’ll find that his way of thinking about landing is what I’ve been doing just from muscle memory all along.” I thought about the “Trim + 1” as I was landing yesterday and it worked like a champ.

Thanks to Jim I can now put into words for other pilots what it is that I was doing all along to make it work. During turbulent days in the LZ you can expect to look a little sloppy even though you did everything right except wait for a better day.

[SamKellner]

Thanks Bill,

I'm gonna work on trim +1, also.

Where did you fly.