FOOTLAUNCHNOVEMBER

The new-look logo – hats to follow…

 

Easterlies have been noted!

Next club meeting; was at the Pheasant in Welland on Wednesday 10th October 8pm.  It’s was NOT the AGM… It was an evening of talking about flying sites by WeatherNick. And Foreign sites by Chairman Derek. And an hilarious film supplied by DJH of “f*****’ Idiots” (to coin a phrase shouted out by one of the crowd) ‘taking off’ and ‘landing’ at Oludinez. Why did you not bring along the other half for an evening of top-landables and “Hey that’s our secret site Nick!”  Do come along next time!

I cajoled Nick Collins into sending me some of his previous Skywings musings. Well worth a read. We are getting there!

 

NEXT MONTH!!!!!

Send in a photograph of yourself under 5 years old!!!

We can all have a good laugh at each other and maybe turn it into a quiz at the following club night. I need at least 15 pics so email them to me now!!!  Resize to around 600-1000 pixels wide jpegs please. Free beer for life and date with a posh celebrity bird of your choice for first sender (okay forget the posh bit).

 

Safe flying, Richard

 

 

 

SAFETY MATTERS and other stuff

 

Did you ever wonder?

 

If they squeeze olives to get olive oil, how do they get baby oil?

Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

How do "Keep off the grass" signs get where they are?

Why does your nose run and your feet smell?

Why does an alarm clock "go off' when it begins ringing?

Why are they called "apartments" when they're stuck together?

Why there isn't a shorter word for monosyllabic?

Why are they called "stands" when they're made for sitting?

Why is bra singular and pants plural?

Why does "fat chance" and "slim chance" mean the same?

Why does "slow down" and "slow up" mean the same?

What's the difference between flammable and inflammable?

Why do croutons come in airtight packages when its just stale bread to begin

with ?

Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

If people from Poland are called "poles", why aren't people from Holland

called "Holes"?

 

Dear Doreen,

Do you have a problem? I think you do! C’mon, you know you want to. Ask me anything – yes anything! 

 

 

Dear Doreen,

I’m in love with my paraglider. Do you think it is possible for us to marry? I’m already betrothed to my hang glider.

Yours, Sam Teatowel

 

Dear Sam

Congratulations. So long as you don’t invite any hang gliders (with their petty jealousies) to the reception I think all will be fine.

I hope this helps, Doreen

 

Dear Doreen,

People keep on wanting to change my logo designs! I won the competition! Grrrr!

Yours, Nic O’Theross

 

Dear Nic

I’m glad to see that you are letting your anger surface. Don’t bottle it up lad.

I hope this helps, Doreen.

 

Dear Doreen,

Why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why does this newsletter ever get published?

HHM! Dirk Spindle

 

Dear Dirk

This is another one of life’s great questions and I can only point you towards the words of that great scholar and philosopher, Tina Turner (no, not that one, the other one) who said, “I know the difference between black magic and white magic and Footlaunch has both – black writing on a white background.”

I hope this helps, Doreen.

Dear Doreen,
How about beating these budget airlines at their own game? We could hire out hang gliders by the month and if, say, a businessman wanted to fly from, say, Lords Seat to, say, Northampton he could fly himself there if the wind was a northerly. I think there is a tow syndicate around that area so he could fly himself back given the next available suitable southerly. Beats airport delays! What do you reckon?
Yours, Brian The Third
 
 
Dear Brian
What might be better for a businessman wanting to get from, say, Lords Seat to, say, Northampton would be, say, a car – or even a pushbike – or even shanks’ pony.
I hope this helps, Doreen.






 
The Prophet Nick

A   e   r  o   g   e   n   i   c   s 

      The Inverse 

 

 

On warm summer evenings I have watched the swifts high on the tree-lined hill behind my home. Dark bodies like aerial knives slicing and turning the air. They taunt me, seeming to deride my own skills.

Each year they return to remind me of how far we still have to reach. Could it be that at last their poetry is within my grasp?

 

Great litres of Atlantic air heaved my chest as I broke the crest of Rhossili down, that morning last November.

I saw before me a man reincarnated - held steady against the Atlantic flow. A step and he was gone.

His legs fused with the slender lines of its form, which then rose and fell in arcs and curves of unparallel motion.

Sapped of any remaining breath, my arms lost from control, released my faithful Legend to the ground. Like a sack of discarded bones: A reptile from another age.

 

In that moment I had seen another world. I had reached and now could grasp. A new era had begun.

 

Strange rumours of unusual aircraft spotted over the skies of South Wales during the last few months have turned out to be true. Nick Collins has put together this report of his first tastes of this radical new craft.

 

 

The History

 

It turns out that the fragment of elevon that Chris reported having found on Rhossili a month or two back had been lost by the development team from Aerogenics. They have spent two years developing this new beast, and all the time keeping it a secret from the rest of the world! After much nagging they agreed to allow me to take it away for a few weeks - what fun I’ve had!

 

The Inverse is an offspring of the successful White Light series of footlaunched gliders. Initiated originally by the Swift in the last decade of last century the White Light went a stage further both in construction and portability. An amalgamation of redundant aerospace engineers with leading edge hang-glider designers formed aerogenics UK. Their work resulted in a breathtaking re-evaluation of the footlaunched aircraft. Aeroelastic wings became possible with the production of Lycra/Dyneema sailcloths, providing both lightweight and chord/section transformation whilst in flight. This of course made possible the high aspect ratio wings of today changing their chord for take off and landing. The 30 mile upwind tasks often set in British league events now would have been unthinkable ten years ago

 

 

 

The Design brief.

 

The designers at aerogenics soon realised that the early White Lights although astounding cross-country machines were also quite good when turned upside down! In fact a complete dead stop, inverted, would ninety-nine times out of a hundred results in no structural failure and rapid return to straight and level flight. However, their high aspect ratios did not make them ideal for aerobatics.

 

Make a glider using the current technology that is small, lightweight, very fast and intended only for flight in winds of twenty knots plus, and of course as aerobatic as you can get it. We might just then invent a new sport. This was the exciting farsighted view of John Exe at Aerogenics.

 

What's new

 

First and foremost this glider is not a White Light: There is no low slung, rear extended composite pod and no variable geometry aeroelastics; No wire bracing or conventional stick control.

Pilots still unconverted from their twelve to one rag-wings will find a friend here. The pilot position is prone, enclosed in a carbon fibre central pod. The wings are entirely cantilever and locate directly into the central pod. Wingspan is just twenty-three and a half feet!  With a total wing area of only fifty -five squares! Even by today's standards these proportions are astounding. It certainly took total commitment by the prototype team both with carbon fibre and with initial flights. However their determination seems to have paid off. Regardless of anything else this truly is a beautiful craft.

 

The details

 

Essentially this glider consists of three main parts: the central pod and the two wings (see the prototype sketch that Darren lent me). Each wing weighs a mere twenty-five pounds and the central pod just over twenty-five. The glider comes supplied with its own carrying harness, which takes the two wings strapped across your back. The wings are placed flat across each other and locating pins stop them slipping around. Fifty pounds strapped in the harness makes the wings easy to carry except through gates or in a strong wind! The central pod has to be carried separately (unless you are super human) and straps neatly across your back on the same harness. The two wing tip fins push conveniently inside the pod to aid transport. Overall it's quite wide as it has about a foot of wing base either side, but in the harness it's fairly convenient to carry.

 

You don't rig this glider you simply join the pieces together! Each wing push locks on automatically and is tightened in position by over centre levers each side. The connections for the control surfaces are also automatically locating. The tip fins simply push on and are held on by two over centre levers which are accessed trough a smooth aerodynamic cover right on the end. Through this cover you also have to connect the tip rudder wire, but this is simple enough.

The glider is now ready except for the checks: If the control surfaces all move smoothly then it must be correctly assembled. It's been designed that way! Darren Wye at aerogenics tells me that if any misalignment occurs due to wrong assembly or crash damage then the control surfaces would either not connect or be very difficult to operate.

  

 

Now for the awkward bit - getting in! The basic problem is that the glider is on the ground, but you have to get in through the bomb doors underneath. This problem is easily solved by rigging the glider partly crosswind with the into wind wing down. The central pod is held about a metre above the ground by two aluminium poles, which locate fore and aft. This gives you enough height to get your upper body in while still standing on the ground.

Once in a whole new world awaits you! At chest level is a horizontal sculptured carbon bar with two twist grip handholds. Sounds familiar? The controls of this glider have been designed to be as close to a conventional weight shift hang-glider as possible. The pilot’s arms are actually inside the wing stubs as are the handgrips. The control bar moves to a forward limit just level with your nose and backwards to a rearwards limit just forward of your waist. It has a lateral movement of about ten inches. These movements are translated into the appropriate movements of the elevons and linked with the twist grip rudder controls, give a very user-friendly feel to the glider once in the air. Instead of your body weight shifting the control bar moves instead, but it feel the same!

The pilots lightweight harness is clipped to the gliders structure with two snap clips either side of the chest. The next part is most odd. A small pump just to the side of your shoulder is used to pump up inflatable air cells, which completely surround the pilot's chest and back. You can pump these up to your personal preference, but they should be inflated enough to stop you moving about during any unusual attitudes in flight. They also make the flying position extremely comfortable and add greatly to impact absorbency. In front of the pilot is a curved plastic windshield, which has an unusual white reflective, coating, so that from the outside it is difficult to distinguish from the rest of the body. You can fly with it complete or remove the four curved side panels to really feel the elements.

 It’s best to take off as soon as possible as this semi upright position is not very comfortable. By lifting up slightly the support poles fall away (to be left stranded on the hillside!) and you can then rotate to bring the other wing into wind. This manoeuvre is quite easy due to the small size of the wing and the good static balance. Holding steady into a strong smooth wind is almost effortless helped by the excellent aerodynamic controls. In a twenty mph wind a few steps are required to reach flying speed and the glider accelerates smoothly away. The pilot's legs are enclosed by the bomb doors, which are closed by foot pressure on a small stirrup.

The lowest wind speed I have launched in is about 15mph. This is probably the safe limit and still needs a fair run. Test pilots at aerogenics have done it in ten or less, but you need a steep clear slope! The flaps can be set down for take off and have little pitch effect due to their central position.

 

The Flight

 

Flying this glider is like one of those daydreams where your hands effortlessly shift from side to side to spin you around in a ballet of movement. The control bar has similar pressures as my Solar Legend, although smaller inputs are required. The linkage to the elevons is simple and robust helping to transmit every nuance of the air to the pilot. The glider can be flown without using the tip rudders at all, but they are certainly necessary for full aerobatics. My total airtime now amounts to only about ten hours, but loops I have found to be an easy manoeuvre as the energy retention is superb. Even if you stop inverted a tail slide almost instantly drops you nose down. Loops of various diameters are possible and can be repeated in rapid succession

True wingovers I have recently mastered using the drag rudders. In one flight you can master many new tricks.

Currently I am working on a routine to link the various manoeuvres together. This is where the real joy of this glider comes into its own:  Limitless, silent, three-dimensional freedom of the air. Loops, wingovers and spins are as far as I've reached so far, but barrel rolls, and rotating dives are just around the corner.

For those who must have the numbers here are the facts:

 

Top speed- 110mph.   Stall speed-23mph (30 degrees flaps) 27mph(no flaps) best glide speed- 44mph.   Best L/D -20:1

Min sink- 180ft/min

 

Remember this glider was designed as an aerobatic aircraft, but clearly it would complete very favourably with white lights especially in speed tasks. However, inland you may feel a little nervous of the landings!

 

The landing

 

If the wind continues to blow and the hilltop has a good shape there is no problem. On Rhossili for example, it is best to land only a short distance from the front to avoid the separation. Flaps can be set at 30 degrees down and the drag plates raised to reduce penetration. The drag rudders can also be used to speed the descent. The head down attitude with legs out is a little odd to start with but soon becomes quite natural. The belly of the glider contains a retractable skid which also acts as a shock absorber if you should get dropped and land on your chest. I've broken two already, but they're easy to replace and it prevents damage to the rest of the supporting structure of the glider. The air cells are a real success too.

 

If the wind goes light it's best to head for the beach. Nil wind with the skid down it's a bit daunting as you just skim the sand, but it works out smoothly every time. Retrieve at Rhossili is a pain, but Woolacombe, Fairbourne and several others are fine.

Inland sites would be possible. John has flown the Myndd and landed there easily, but landing options have to be carefully considered with any site that is flown.

 

The future?

 

These are early days so far. Truck launching should be possible, but perhaps only viable in the states. It is debatable how well they will perform as cross country machines, but then that is not what they were designed for! Aerogenics will be initiating aerobatic competitions, to be sited at some prime coastal sites such as Rhossili. Perhaps these sites will become the Mecca they were years ago back in the seventies.

On a recent visit to their factory in Swansea I found them developing a chest positioned type of inflatable wheel device that would pack away, but inflate for the crucial landings. Anyway protection designed into the pod would I believe protect you from many quite severe landings, but there might not be much left of your investment!

 

The bottom line

 

Rather than a sport, this glider heralds a new art form. One, which is spectacular to watch and pure emotion to fly. Words cannot convey what this glider can do. You must see it in action. Head for the coast!

 

Canberra Calling

 

As you might surmise from the lack of a Canberra calling last month (sorry) I seem to have been rather short of quality time at home with my PC lately. Prime cause of this was spending most of October away travelling. Visitors from home provided the excuse to tour the Red Centre, so we spent a week under canvas, taking lots of pictures of famous bits of red rock and getting rather bored of driving past miles and miles of the desert vegetation.

By way of contrast we took in a show at the Sydney Opera House (very good) then headed north for my 4th yachting trip to the Whitsunday Islands. If ever you get the chance to visit these islands, grab it, especially if you have a tame yachtie in your party. There aren't that many places in the world where you can get out of bed, jump off the back of your boat, spend half an hour snorkelling in a tropical aquarium, then climb back on board to a breakfast of bacon and egg butties. Anyway, I suppose that with the great British autumn hanging over you, you don't want to hear too much more of what I've been doing on my holidays, so I'll move rapidly on to the flying.

Not too much to report there as I've been gallivanting around the continent without my gliders in tow. Spending a public holiday weekend with my family near Port Maquarie (~500km North of Sydney) did however provide the opportunity to join the local club's fly in weekend at Lauriton. The site that was working on the day I visited has a launch from a clearing on top of a 1500' mountain, with the bomb out field a couple of kilometres away next to the beach. The whole area is heavily wooded, the launch is tiny and there were gaggles of tourists gathered to watch the silly people throwing themselves off the mountain. You can imagine that there is a certain amount of apprehension when you are getting ready to take off in virtually nil-wind! Thankfully I managed to get off the ground without making a spectacle of myself and had a lovely flight over some awesome scenery. To top it off, an acquaintance from the Canberra club was parked in the bottom landing with a fridge full (well going on half empty) of beer.

In the last exciting edition, I promised you thoughts on the absurdly deadly wildlife that inhabits this continent. When some of my friends heard that I was coming to Australia, they seemed convinced that I was going to be dodging venomous beasties every day and with three years to play with, the chances for me surviving to make it home to blighty were not good.

Needless to say the locals are rather more laid back about their problem wildlife, most of the time you have to try hard to find the nasties and just need a little dose of caution when you are investigating the less well-kept corners of the garden. Of course doing the flying thing brings me into contact with a bit more wildlife than if I stayed home and played chess. Unlike some in the Canberra Club, I can't claim to have been chased off the local landing field by a tiger snake but I have got quite sufficiently close to an eastern brown snake in a landing field. Thankfully, even the second most deadly snake in the world hasn't figured out how to open car doors yet.

Obviously living with the ever-present threat has had an effect on me. When I joined the above-mentioned friends in New Zealand (where the nastiest thing around is the weather) they had the opportunity to take the piss severely when I was exercising extreme caution before sitting on a log at a campsite. However I did get some measure of revenge by recommending that they spent some time in tropical North Queensland. They did this and contrived to feed themselves to some very hungry leeches, then had dinner on a veranda where the resident 6 inch diameter spider was doing its best to keep the insect population in check. Their previous paranoia about the creatures around my house seemed to have disappeared when they returned to Canberra after that trip.

I have had one encounter which caused me some mild concern, I returned home one evening to discover that a mummy red back spider and several hundred of her newly hatched offspring had taken up residence in the air conditioner in my bedroom. I'm very brave around spiders when I'm armed with a squirty bottle of insecticide, so there was no inappropriate squealing on my part.

Simon Dillworth

I put this in again and again to fill in space…

Low Air Time Malvern Members At Kettle Sings

 

At the committee it was raised how we often do not get to see new low airtime members. And consequently they do not get involved with the Club. A problem that arises because of the 15 hr minimum limit that applies to Kettle Sings. So just when they could do with some help, we leave them to their own devices at not a particularly easy site, Castle Morton.

 

So we have decided that on selected days, under certain conditions, they can fly from KS. Apart from a couple of reasons; spine back and houses underneath, a much better site. It has a much better take off, a reasonable top to bottom, and huge bottom landing.

 

How will the days be selected? Well this will pretty much be up to you. If you want to fly, even mid week, give me a call.

 

01684 572723

 

But I will also flag up days that I think will be good on the mail list.

 

If you need any more information, or are not sure about something, give me a call.

 

Conditions:

 

1    A Malvern club coach must be on site.

2   You must be a full member.

3   You should have some airtime achieved recently, say 5 or 6 hrs

4   You should have a working 2 meter radio.

5    A reasonably modern glider, good glide angle, with speed system.

6    And on the day you must report to the coach before flying.

 

See you there, Bryan.

Oiyitsmytubesobuggeroff

 (Editor’s selections from Youtube – Send in your own favourites)

Bandits at six o’clock – and backward flying too!

 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qAlDoyCrteE

Okay okay you’ve all seen it before – but watch it again if you feel a bit jaded or have forgotten why we fly.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NVJEm4_d94Q

Live fast, Die young! Yeh!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb3giU8nEnM







Live faster, die younger!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=17PyzpgRMl4
 
 






 
 
Name the glider (technogeeks only) (see Nick)
I don’t know why but I always wanted one of these. Anybody flown one? But what is it?






 
Go4IT

WIN WIN WIN!
 


READ THIS AND DON’T                                                                  anything of monetary value

Entries to Tim Crow to be in within one month of the flight.

GO4IT Rules

 

1.    UK flights only.
2.    No infringement of airspace, club or local site rules.
3.    Must have Pilot rating or be under instruction from one on the day.

4.    Flights between 01Dec to 30Nov.
5.    Co-ordinates for T/O and landing required plus distance from point to point in Km as a

       check. Flights will be scored to nearest 100m.
6.    Defined flights score extra, see BHPA rules below.
7.    Stone's throw award for smallest flight submitted (or known about) provided
       distance 5km or greater.

 

Flight Types and Scoring (see http://www.pgcomps.org.uk/ for complete rules)

 

Standard Flights:

 

Loop Flights:

 

Declared Flights:

 

Rules at http://www.pgcomps.org.uk/