[CHassan]

I tried it out this past weekend. A good first attempt, but some bugs need fixing.

I'm starting from land, with a fixed length of rope. I had never water skied so starting on skis was not going to happen.

1st attempt resulted in me out running the boat on start. Pinned just in time to plow through the weeds and belly flop into 3' of water.
No big deal. Climbed back ashore and got ready for test 2.

This time the boat accelerated faster, just fast enough to get me flying before I hit the water. Boat had a good speed and I was able to control my altitude with pitch. I let out and climbed hoping to release and take my 1980 Raven over to the shore.

Once I released I realized me, my floats, and the Raven were not well suited for gliding, I decided to settle in to the river.

Splash down was OK. Unhooking was easy. My floats were sub-par and just kept the sail on top of the water. Anyone who has played with a glider in water surely knows what happened next.

We went to lift the control bar onto the boat platform and the tail sunk. You are not going to be man handling a 1/2 sunk glider. We pushed the boat out of the way and the glider flipped onto its back. We spent a good hour swimming the thing around the fallen trees and into shallower water so we could get a foot hold and work it back upright. It was a slow painful process, but we managed without breaking or bending anything.

The boat crew said they had bigger floats back at their private playground, Lake Lottawatta. We headed there and installed bigger floats. Once we had those on I carried it into the water and tried to dunk it. I could get it down, but it always came back up to sit about 99% out of the water. The best part was when you lift the control bar out of the water, the tail doesn't sink, so getting it back on the boat is an option now.

Since they don't have enough room to tow the glider at Lake Lottawatta, they fed me chicken and put me in a pair of skis. I managed to not get up the first 3 times. Just got up the 4th time before I fell backwards and managed a 100 yard dash the 5th time. After that I was all over the place, so long as I was in smooth water

Round 2 to come..........

[CAL]

i remember my first and last boat tow, back in 1979 i could water ski and foot launch a hang glider, boy was it ever difficult to put the 2 together, when you bend your arms getting up water skiing you are done and down you go, yet you need to pull in to get your angle of attack right till the boat picks up speed, i made it up only because the boat driver would compensate for my lack of skill to keep the AOA i needed he would speed up or slow down if i wasn't doing what i needed to do

that memory keeps me at foot launch only

[stevesmithele]

Thats how i got into the sport. These jerkoffs from the Kansas city ski club sold me a bennett delta wing they had set up at a ski show. Gider, release and a 500 foot rope, all they told us was start out slow and be careful (no lessons). We did get a few rides but when the inevitable happened as we grew more confident (and more stoned) my buddy whip stalled it and crunched the glider. He was ok thankfully but to my dismay the glider was not. I went looking for parts and found a local dealer. When i told my story he told me i was lucky to be alive. I walked out with a new moyes mega and harness.

Thats my story and i'mm stickin to it

[red]

Tow pilots,

Okay, I do not tow and never have, so cut me some slack on maybe a dumb question or two. If somebody will be towed up by a boat, why would they risk launching from skis, or feet, rather than use a launch cart? The cart could be set up in a field, not really close to the water, if the tow line was long enough. Starting from a shoreline beach, the cart might need balloon tires and maybe other adaptations, but it seems reasonably possible to me. Old water-skis might work better than wheels with a cart on sand.

If the launch MUST be done from the water, why not use a jon boat, or inflatable dingy as a launch cart? I see new six-person inflatables going for a few hundred US$ (about the cost of a cart). One guy (even a non-pilot) can recline in the boat, just to paddle it back to shore after the launch.

[CHassan]

Launching from skis would just up the ante for "cool factor". At least to me it would. You would need a talented skier/pilot. I don't fit that bill.
If I had to launch from water I either would not do it, or would have made some pontoons for my glider. Maybe a ski cart

We don't have the room for a payout system, so that idea is out.

I could use a cart. If there is enough room to run the launch out there is enough room to use the cart, however fishing the cart out of the river wouldn't be much fun. Add in I would have to borrow the cart and hope they don't need it for aerotowing that weekend.

I learned foot launching on the end of a rope. What the rope attaches to on the other end is not a huge concern, so long as it doesn't take a 100 yards to get up to speed. Conversely, as long as it doesn't rip my wings off on the initial punch.

I've seen a couple ways to foot launch behind a boat. To me the most basic is simply pulling out the slack, having the boat go to speed and running behind it until you are airborne.

The second way I have seen is where the boat picks up speed with the line slack. The pilot leans back and is yanked skyward when the line goes taut. I don't know enough about this method to try it.

[psilyguy]

Pool noodles inside your leading edge.

[CHassan]

[Darbbb]

[blindrodie]

[CHassan]

Lake Lottawatta in Hamilton Ohio. It is an old quarry lake the Lanich family has owned and operated a ski club on for almost 30 years I think.

The towing will actually be on the Great Miami River. Of course as noticed while trying to swim downstream around the sunken trees, you could call it the Great Miami Pond.