https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mnWs_PD6C ... 2R&index=8Whether you have a"surf foil" or an "air foil", choosing your "foil" and then maneuvering it through the sphere is your choice. If only "air foil" pilots could see their "sphere" as easily as surfers see theirs. This video shows "heavy turbulance" in the "wave", but more so, the surfers CHOICE of "foil" and confidence to "take off". Once in, the "pilot" knows his board will "preform" to his every move. He knows his center of gravity C/G, and he immediately is connected (hopefuly) to it on take off. He knows the lift over drag L/D, characteristics of his board and himself, and constantly adjusts "trim", through the control bar, directly connected to the "foil" and C/G. In a way, a hang glider pilot lives by a surfers rule "don't pearl the board", and the schooner sailors adage "we LOVE to be blown off shore. In these instances , the surf board, the schooner boat, and the hang glider,..... their choice of "foils" to do battle with the sphere, only comes from research and knowing what a "sturdy craft" really is. The surfers in this video would "never" choose a 100 pound brick, the schooner captain would "never" choose a 10' plastic dinghy, the hang glider pilot would "never" choose a 10 lb kite.
There have been good attempts to see and hear the atmosphere, and I believe those are going be the things that continue to bring younger pilots to choose "high tec. Sturdy craft" over a foreign made nylon "soft craft".
"Hang Gliding is hard to learn, but easy to master". (Any body know where this quote came from? Maybe Wills?).
Thank you Joe for bringing forth this NOUS sphere, so future pilots (and current pilots) can choose more wisely their "foil to do battle with the sphere".
"The More You Know The More You'll Go", Juan Browne.
I bring this forward in hopes that "the old school" can help the "new school", see the advantages of choosing a good solid "air foil" , over just a soft, sometimes "air spoil".
Craig Muhonen