[Bill Cummings]

Oops! I almost forgot! In the interest of accuracy I did do static and dynamic hang gliding balance work to Gene Stones Fire Fly 2B when I clamped the railroad tie plate to the Fire Fly’s nose plate to offset the added tail float weight.
(HEY! -- NOT YOUR HIGH TECH. TWEAK BUT IT WORKED!)

[SamKellner]

Bill,

You must have been having too much fun.

Yeah right.

Look who.

Users browsing this forum: Nobody, and 6 guests

[Bill Cummings]

Admit it Sam,
You must have tied a longer tail to a string kite when it kept looping due to improper dynamic balance?

[JimC]

Hi, Everybody,

My interest in hang gliders is somewhat indirect. For the last 18 years, I've worked on the functional morphology, biomechanics, and flight mechanics of the late-Cretaceous azdharchid pterosaurs Quetzalcoatlus species and Quetzalcoatlus northropi (photo of northropi attached - you can get an idea of scale from the man standing on the ladder by his head). As a result, I am also quite interested in anything that flaps and/or glides with membrane wings (though pterosaur wings reacted and functioned very differently from hang glider wings).

I am also a Piper J-3 enthusiast (very old photo of me on a sandbar in the Mississippi River south of the bridge at Helena, Arkansas back in my Search & Rescue days - very old - I was actually young at the time).

I joined your group to see if I could locate Bob Rouse -- I lost touch with him a few years back.

I'd like to learn to fly hang gliders, but I live near Memphis so there isn't much opportunity.

All the best,
Jim

[Rick Masters]

[Bob Kuczewski]

1982!!   

Rogollosoarus1of4s.jpg (18.68 KiB) Viewed 6491 times

Isn't that when real dinosaurs roamed (or flew over) the earth??

[JimC]

+1, Rick.
As an aside, most pterosaurs were dynamic soarers (they could of course, thermal too).

Some dinos (birds) were flying then as well. Large soaring birds though, didn't come along till after the pterosaurs were gone.

[Bob Kuczewski]

Hi Jim!!!

Welcome to the US Hawks!!!

We're not the largest hang gliding forum or association, but that just means we try harder!! We also have a variety of aviation experience here. I'm also a private pilot (single engine land and sea) as well as a paraglider pilot, RC pilot, former US Army paratrooper, and an aeronautical engineer (though most of my professional career has been in software development). So please feel free to talk flying any time.

I'd like to learn to fly hang gliders, but I live near Memphis so there isn't much opportunity.

The west side of Tennessee is pretty flat, so towing would be your best bet out there. But if you want a treat some time, drive to the east and visit the Tennessee Tree Toppers or Lookout Mountain. They're both great mountain sites and you can get some first hand experience watching modern "pterodactyls" soaring the skies.

I particularly liked the Tennessee Tree Toppers because they're a flying club, and the hospitality they showed me was fantastic. They're a really great group of pilots. But when it comes to training, Lookout Mountain is an active school, and I believe they teach both foot launch and towing.

I think they're only about an hour or so apart, so if you drive that far east, you should probably visit both. Here are the web sites:

  Tennessee Tree Toppers: http://www.tennesseetreetoppers.org
  Lookout Mountain http://www.hanglide.com

Keep us posted, and welcome again to the US Hawks Hang Gliding Association!!!

[JimC]

Thanks for the info. Only a 10 hour round trip (not counting pit stops). Maybe my wife would drive


P.S. why do we have to log in each time we post (automatic login is checked)?

[Bob Kuczewski]

Thanks for the info. Only a 10 hour round trip (not counting pit stops). Maybe my wife would drive

The spring and fall are the best times. Right now might be nice ... with the leaves changing colors!!

P.S. why do we have to log in each time we post (automatic login is checked)?

I tend to log in each time because I'm not sure if there are security risks associated with remaining logged on (possibly someone hijacking your session?). So I haven't looked into the automatic login aspect. If it's important to you, I can add it to my list of things to look into, but that list is already very long!!