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"Flex Wing" Hang gliders
Flex wing hang gliders are designed to be foot launched from a hill or mountain. Most or all of hang gliding was originally done in mountainous terrain. Of course it was first practiced and tested from smaller hills but, as hang glider development progressed the gliders were eventually flown from high mountain slopes and cliffs.
Unfortunately , a foot launch aircraft has it's limitations.. People that live in the areas in the country with no mountains were not able to be involved in the sport. Trying out hang gliding in Wisconsin is one example. Because of this, various types of towing was developed. At first towing was considered quite dangerous but, it too went through its developmental stages and it is now , in many areas, a preferred method getting aloft.
Aero towing and payout winch towing are probably the most two common types of towing. Now powered harnesses are becoming popular in the hang gliding and ultralight community. They are a very versatile unit. They can be used solely for the purpose of getting aloft and then can be shut down for soaring. Or they can be used as a very versatile ultralight that can be packed up and taken anywhere with a car or pickup.
One thing all hang glider pilots have in common is no matter what type of method they use to get high...once there, they all want to achieve hours of powerless soaring.
Foot Launching
Foot launching is the final sub link on "Getting High" but
it is definitely not the least on the instructional program. There
are schools in the country (in flat regions) that
teach aerotowing only but this limits the options of the hang glider
pilot.
Foot launching should be at least part of the beginning of the
instructional program. Learning to ground handle and
ground skimming is essential in learning the feel of a hang
glider in the earlier stages.
The process of learning to foot launch a
hang glider begins with some short runs on flat ground. Eventually when
the student gets comfortable with getting the glider to float off their
shoulders they start to learn the flare. The flare is what
happens at the end of the flight when a pilot is getting ready to land. It
is a prgrogressive nose high attitude that slows the glider to the point
of landing. A student can actually learn this process on flat ground
before actually getting airborne. The next step is to slowly work their
way up a bunny hill. The hill can be anything from a 30 bump to a
300 foot hill. Unfortunately Wisconsin is not blessed with 300 foot
training hills but the higher hill is not neccesary to learn the
fundamentals of foot launching.
You can see the progress of a launch
to landing on the background gifs to the left. This demonstration was
performed on a thirty foot man made hill at Twin Oaks airport in
Whitewater Wisconsin.
Although towing and powered harnesses are the
predominant methods of getting the elevations neccesary to find updrafts
here in Wisconsin, there are a few small ridges that are used for
ridge soaring in the state. Platteville WI has a ridge that is used mainly
in the summer when the winds are strong out of the SW. Blue river is
another site that requires a north wind. It is thought of as a winter site
since brisk winds from the north are most common in the winter. Also if
you venture out to the western part of the state in the La Crosse region
you will find some ridges there that are commonly flown in the summer when
the winds blow regualrly from the west.
Ridge Soaring at the
"M" (Platteville Wisconsin) on a hot summer day.
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