Just over a month ago, I broke my carbon speed bar in what probably was the worst 'landing' since I started hang gliding. It looked like this:
Today, I did pretty much the same thing and the pilots on the ground confirmed I made the same mistake as I did then. I was way to high before I started flaring (about 3m off the ground). Worst thing is that I didn't realize I was high. Last time, I thought the misjudgment was caused by the visor, but that doesn't seem to be the case. And I couldn't get it to flare either. Pushing as hard as I could, but the nose went down and I had a major nose-in. So, I'm not at all happy about this and I hope I can regain my landing confidence soon. I always had that, but this way, you loose your confidence quickly.
JZ,
ReplyDeleteI'm Mike Degtoff, been flying over 35 years. Just found your blog on the Oz Report and plowed deeper to find the picture of the hard flare/whack. Hmmm, Aeos gilder? Maybe part of the problem. Visor, might be. I must ask. Do you wear glasses when you fly? I do. However, I learned over 3 decades ago, that if I land with glasses on, I have a hard time with depth definition on final and flare timing. So, I put strings on my glasses and remove them at about 200 feet. Just a thought. Enjoyed your videos and liked the part where you sped up the glides. Maybe a time lapse of the whole flight would be way cool. Hope to meet you in Fl. Will be there crewing Bostik and Zimmerman.
Mike Degtoff
Another thought. Years ago, when I was flying an Aeros, my first landings were VG loose when it should have been perhaps VG half tight as GW Meadows suggested. My first landings were terrible, with hard whacks being predominant. Maybe you had no VG pulled, or is it different with the newer Aeros models. I know the WW Talon like 1/2 VG when landing. Hope this helps. Hard landings SUCK.
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeletethe Aeros glider is not the reason, you can land those beautifully. It is true that I need VG to perform a nice flare, but I guess that's the case with all performance gliders (unless you are really heavy for your glider).
I first thought that the visor/glasses could be influencing factors, but now I think I just was trying to grab the uprights to early. Combine that with my length and you'll understand that I have a hard time holding the glider low in an upright position, while the glider still has a lot of pitch.
Thanks for your thoughts!