HG tether flying
Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2022 10:57 am"HG tether flying" .........................[Of course, take all safety precautions seriously!]
Be up and be tether to the ground or to a ground vehicle or to some kind of ground anchor The result is a kite system with a hang glider pilot flying while being tethered to some grounds anchor system. This occurs when being towed by a ground power winch or moving towing vehicle or other towing device. One may describe many circumstance that result in HG tether flying. The HG pilot may stay gently in trip or perform maneuvers that may well super tension the tether to the ground.
Start with a post by Bill Cummings: https://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php ... 37&#p24937
And we seek other forum notes where he may have added details on his HG tetherflying. He reports that he has done HG tether flying in many states of the US. He did tether flying with the express purpose of dropping the tow line for free-untether gliding and soaring. But he has used upper winds and a ground anchor to settle in for a gentle session of flying while staying tethered to a relatively fixed anchor system. One anchor system has been his wife and her mass and her friction with the ground; some poignant actions and doings have occurred during the session of being tethered with his wife Terry. May we collect all his sharings in one place.
And we aim to go further and explore the whole space of flying a HG while being tethered to some anchor system on the ground, fixed or not. Perhaps the anchor system would be a boat moving down river, maybe harnessed willing set of dolphins pulling the tether, maybe a raft in the ocean, maybe a seabed anchor near a cliff system that gives lift to the HG, etc. Describe special circumstances where one might decide to effect HG tether flying.
Perhaps one is soaring and decides to drop a tether from the HG only to have deliberately the line ground end to catch the ground environment followed by deliberate HG tether flying. Perhaps one could at-altitude payout one's own tether which is anchored to the ground. And maybe reel in some tether at will at the HG station. Use ambient wind to lift the HG; wait for a passing thermal and then payout to climb even further up. Maybe wait for a thermal up there and then release when the thermal arrives; maybe be able to remotely self-soar release the tether from the ground and reel the line into the HG (early description of Jack Lambie described something close to this).
Much to explore on HG tether flying. All that boat towing is HG tether flying, but when ambient wind is adequate, the boat might stop and just be a static anchor. With enough wind, one might sail across an ocean by being in a HG anchored to a raft that get pulled along; perhaps the HG pilot could remotely alter the amount of water drag that occurs in the raft in order to effect a balance to maintain the kite-system flight; be with a HG that is fit to land in the water and recover.
Perhaps the title could be massaged. The "HG tether flying" brings to mind a variation that may have special applications: While flying a HG deliberately drop a line which is at first not anchored to anything at the far end of the line. What could happen next? Suggestions? Perhaps the far end of the line has attached a device, then one is tethering a device; that device could be of one of a myriad designs; the device might do this or that. What are some of those this or thats?
Intend that a device be tethered that grabs ground to continue HG tethered flying; this was rehearsed above a bit.
Intend that the device is a smart camera that guides its own aerodynamic form in order to photograph the HG that is above.
Be up and be tether to the ground or to a ground vehicle or to some kind of ground anchor The result is a kite system with a hang glider pilot flying while being tethered to some grounds anchor system. This occurs when being towed by a ground power winch or moving towing vehicle or other towing device. One may describe many circumstance that result in HG tether flying. The HG pilot may stay gently in trip or perform maneuvers that may well super tension the tether to the ground.
Start with a post by Bill Cummings: https://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php ... 37&#p24937
Bill Cummings wrote:I have done some hang gliding tether flying in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Texas.
And we seek other forum notes where he may have added details on his HG tetherflying. He reports that he has done HG tether flying in many states of the US. He did tether flying with the express purpose of dropping the tow line for free-untether gliding and soaring. But he has used upper winds and a ground anchor to settle in for a gentle session of flying while staying tethered to a relatively fixed anchor system. One anchor system has been his wife and her mass and her friction with the ground; some poignant actions and doings have occurred during the session of being tethered with his wife Terry. May we collect all his sharings in one place.
And we aim to go further and explore the whole space of flying a HG while being tethered to some anchor system on the ground, fixed or not. Perhaps the anchor system would be a boat moving down river, maybe harnessed willing set of dolphins pulling the tether, maybe a raft in the ocean, maybe a seabed anchor near a cliff system that gives lift to the HG, etc. Describe special circumstances where one might decide to effect HG tether flying.
Perhaps one is soaring and decides to drop a tether from the HG only to have deliberately the line ground end to catch the ground environment followed by deliberate HG tether flying. Perhaps one could at-altitude payout one's own tether which is anchored to the ground. And maybe reel in some tether at will at the HG station. Use ambient wind to lift the HG; wait for a passing thermal and then payout to climb even further up. Maybe wait for a thermal up there and then release when the thermal arrives; maybe be able to remotely self-soar release the tether from the ground and reel the line into the HG (early description of Jack Lambie described something close to this).
Much to explore on HG tether flying. All that boat towing is HG tether flying, but when ambient wind is adequate, the boat might stop and just be a static anchor. With enough wind, one might sail across an ocean by being in a HG anchored to a raft that get pulled along; perhaps the HG pilot could remotely alter the amount of water drag that occurs in the raft in order to effect a balance to maintain the kite-system flight; be with a HG that is fit to land in the water and recover.
Perhaps the title could be massaged. The "HG tether flying" brings to mind a variation that may have special applications: While flying a HG deliberately drop a line which is at first not anchored to anything at the far end of the line. What could happen next? Suggestions? Perhaps the far end of the line has attached a device, then one is tethering a device; that device could be of one of a myriad designs; the device might do this or that. What are some of those this or thats?
Intend that a device be tethered that grabs ground to continue HG tethered flying; this was rehearsed above a bit. Intend that the device is a smart camera that guides its own aerodynamic form in order to photograph the HG that is above.