Posts Tagged ‘hang gliding’

Although the poplular view is that hang gliding was invented in the early 70’s it was in fact invented by John Dickenson of Australia in 1963. However, on 23rd May 1971, the Otto Lilienthal Anniversary Hang Glider meet was held in Southern California. The event attracted enthusiasts from all over the area, about 50 pilots, and really caught the public‘s imagination. It is regarded by many as the starting point of hang gliding as we know it today and as shown here by DeltaGerard.

As an extreme sport, hang gliding has been affected by adverse publicity as, since its inception, it has been considered an unsafe sport. The inherent danger of gliding at the mercy of thermal and wind currents has resulted in numerous fatal accidents and serious injuries over the years – even to experienced pilots.

However, this is misleading in these more modern times. The accident rate from hang glider flying has been dramatically decreased by pilot training. Early hang glider pilots learned their sport through trial and error whereas nowadays, training programs have been developed for today’s pilot, with emphasis on flight within safe limits, as well as the discipline to cease flying when weather conditions are unfavourable, such as excess wind or risk cloud suck.

Which brings me to the essence of this article. How do you learn how to read the winds and thermals?

A glider is continuously descending through nearby air, yet glider pilots can stay airborne for hours by flying in areas of rising air. Once this skill has been mastered, pilots can glide long distances to fly cross country.

There are 4 main types of wind that a hang glider pilot will be looking for: thermals, ridge lift, mountain waves and convergence. Understanding the  presence of wind, the  lift and sink over various types of terrain, is of paramount importance for all pupils.

Wind direction,  wind velocity, terrain shape and obstructions are all obstacles that need to be taken into consideration when making a flight plan.

The most commonly used source of lift are the Thermals. Pilots quickly become aware of land features which can generate thermals and become familiar with visual indications of thermals such as soaring birds, cumulus clouds, cloud streets, dust devils, and haze domes.  Well formed cumulus clouds, with darker bases, suggest active thermals and light winds and in the case of a cloud street pilots learn that they can use a cloud street to fly long straight-line distances by remaining in the row of rising air.

Ridge lift occurs when the wind meets an obstruction such as a mountain, cliff or hill. The air is deflected up the windward face of the mountain, causing lift which gliders can use to gain height by flying along the feature.

The third main type of lift is mountain waves where the pilot uses the lee waves that occur near mountains. The obstruction to the airflow can generate standing waves with alternating areas of lift and sink.

Convergence is, of course, a form of lift which results from the convergence of air masses, such as a sea-breeze front.

It is also important to understand how different wind conditions at the site will affect each and every flight and for this reason it is necessary to lern how to read the windspeed in the air and on the ground. These differing conditions will affect the flight.

Understanding the effects of a crosswind on the ground track will ensure that a pilot will be able to ‘crab’ his glider towards his goal. He must also understand the implications of turning out of the wind and the  relationship between increased bank angle and increased sink rate of the glider.

There’s a lot to learn, but nearly every glider nowadays contains an instrument known as a variometer (a very sensitive vertical speed indicator). That comes back to what we were saying at the beginning of this article – modern technology has made the sport of hang gliding far more safe than it used to be…

A variometer indicates climb rate or sink rate with audio signals (beeps) and/or a visual display. These units are generally electronic, vary in sophistication, and often include an altimeter and an airspeed indicator. The main purpose of a variometer is in helping a pilot find and stay in the ‘core’ of a thermal to maximize height gain, and conversely indicating when he or she is in sinking air and needs to find rising air. Some electronic variometers make the calculations automatically, after allowing for factors such as the glider’s theoretical performance (glide ratio), altitude, hook in weight and wind direction.

As with all things, it is not enough to reply on an instrument. It is absolutely imperative that you, as the pilot, can ‘read’ the wind incase your variometer is faulty. All equipment must always be checked. Wear and tear happens to the best stuff – it’s not worth taking chances…

We normally keep a close eye on the Nissan Extreme Games, but were obviously so busy writing on other things that Interlaken 2009 slipped by with no comment from us for which we apologise. However, it’s never too late to make up for past omissions and show you the high quality of both competitors and film producers… following this teaser from OutdoorGamesTV.

Nissan have been innovative in the extreme sports world and were the first to realise that an original event concept was needed in this growing sector of the market.

Because extreme sports have become more and more fashionable over the past few years, the event organisers came up with a concept like no other - 5 teams, 5 sports and a 5-minute film.

The task for the five teams is challenging: to produce a five-minute short film in seven days including five outdoor sports in the Interlaken region.

Rather than pushing the limits in outdoor sports, the Nissan Outdoor Games again reveals that certain subjects can be addressed within a sports film. The themes represented in the 2009 films go from the meaning of life and death, profound feelings as well as harmony with nature.

Extreme sports challenges have been taking place in Interlaken now for 5 years. The Games are an important event for adventure sports and film making. For a week, the best kayakers, mountain-bikers, climbers, paragliders and base jumpers combine with film makers and photographers to share their adventure in the mountains and to battle it out for prize money of Swiss Francs 70,000.

Jean-Pierre Diernaz, General Manager of Nissan’s Marketing Communications in Europe, says “The Nissan Outdoor Games allow athletes to express themselves in the most awe-inspiring way, whilst thrilling the public by capturing their exploits in a five minute film. Nissan is once again proud to be supporting the Outdoor Games and together we are working to increase participation in an active outdoor lifestyle and a sustainable engagement with the natural environment.“

Enjoy these incredible hang gliding sequences filmed by Austrian film team ‘Argon’ (orleyflo)

Marvel at Anthony Green’s 10-second death defying misting by the falls (acrotwinz).

Enjoy Swiss Team, NBFlyer’s, film for which they received the Jury’s Special Award as well as the Best Sports Sequence for its climbing scene with Cyril Albasini. (OutdoorGamesTV)

And we end with the winning film from Team Golgoht of Finland who received the Golden Peak Award.

The Finn, Petri Kovalainen from the Golgoht team, won the Best Photographer award as well as the Game of Light Award by Julbo.

OK so your hang glider is ready to fly – the next lesson from expertvillage demonstrates where the centre of gravity is and what this means when you shift your weight from right to left and therefore what it does to the angle or flight direction of the hang glider. We are still not in the air in this video but it is important to understand the theory.

Right now for control of the hang glider before take off – again from expertvillage – and don’t think you can skip out on this lesson – as we are told until you can demonstarte control of the hang glider which is supported on your shoulders whilst standing, walking, jogging and finally running, without looking at the ground and without tripping over, being blown over and losing you balance you ain’t going nowhere.

We think that is enough to absorb for one day Nick as we presume you have some lines to learn and dare we say it – you are not really Superman!!

This is the incredible story of a young man, Dan Buchanan, who was paralyzed in a hang gliding accident but with sheer grit and determination found the resolve to fly again.

In 1981 Buchanan, of Dayton, Nevada, was a young hang glider trying to fly during dangerous weather conditions and thought he could handle the winds. He was wrong and in a shattering crash landing Buchanan was left paralyzed from the waist downward, unable to walk. But he was determined to go hang gliding again, the sport he loved and so after only six months of ‘mending’ he had enough strength in his upper body to get back into the harness of his hanglider. The only adjustment he needed to make was adding wheels at the bottom of the glider in order to land.

“I missed six months of it — that was all,” Buchanan said. “Everyone said, ‘What are you, nuts? It hurt you once, so you’re going to do that again?’ It wasn’t the sport that hurt me; it was the weather I chose to fly in. No one else would have done what I did.”

Since the accident, he won’t go in the air if the winds are stronger than 20 mph but we at xtremesport4u salute the bravery and courage of Dan as a fabulous example of what people can do with their lives even in the moment of crisis – well done Dan.

Dan Buchanan, right, is shuttled to the end of the runway at the Manitowoc County Airport on Saturday while Ray Leonard rides in the launch trailer. Buchanan’s legs were paralyzed after a hang gliding accident in 1981, but that hasn’t stopped him from returning to the skies. Photo by Eric Young/HTR

By Christina Savvas

“‘SUPERGRAN Barbara Rawlings won’t be settling down for a quiet birthday tea party when she turns 80.

Instead, the daredevil pensioner from Coventry will be hang-gliding from a mile above the ground.

Barbara, who lives in Middlecotes, Tile Hill South, and has two sons and a grandson, said keeping active has always been the way of life for her.

She said: “All my life I have kept active playing netball, tennis, I have travelled the world and now I play golf and do yoga.

“I have been in a helicopter but I have always wanted to try hang-gliding and never had the chance before. I don’t need any presents at my age, I have everything I need in life, so I have asked friends and family and anyone else who can to sponsor me to do the flight and the money will be donated to Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.”

Barbara, who moved to the area 10 years ago to look after her sick mother, worked as a medical laboratory scientific officer and spent 10 years in the Middle East.

She was involved in setting up the first women’s hospital in the United Arab Emirates 20 years ago.

She needs to raise £299 to complete the flight at Sywell airfield in Northamptonshire.

On her birthday on July 26, following a lunch with family and friends Mrs Rawlings will be taken up in a microlite and then complete her tandem hang-glide.

Mrs Rawlings says she has never felt scared about trying something new.

She said: “People think I’m mad to do something like this at my age. My family were very surprised, especially my grandson who is 21-years-old this year.

“I am not scared at all. The organisers at Sywell have asked me if want to take out extra insurance but I have said no. It doesn’t bother me.”

Mrs Rawlings has set up a bank account in the charity’s name at Coventry Building Society for anyone who wishes to donate.’”

What a wonderful story. My grandfather was just like Barbara Rawlings – his zest for life could shame us. And he never saw the bad side to anything – he always looked for the good in everything and everyone. What a gift.

Perhaps not the most usual subject to talk about on an extreme sport blog but did you know that the sci-fi authority Arthur C. Clark, who died last week in his adopted home in Sri Lanka, was also an extreme sports enthusiast. I quote ‘The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible’.

Clarke’s vision of a time when people, subconsciously feeling their own impending obsolescence, devote their lives to such self-gratifications as hang gliding, eco-tourism, and recreational mountain climbing has unfortunately already dawned: consider Mount Everest, where trash left by tourists who climb it each year has become a problem.

Clarke, who had battled debilitating post-polio syndrome since the 1960s and sometimes used a wheelchair, discovered that scuba-diving approximated the feeling of weightlessness that astronauts experience in space. He remained a diving enthusiast, running his own scuba venture into old age.

Another sad loss for those of us who are prepared to go the extra mile although i’m not sure we extremists could be equated with self gratification????