[LittleWing]

Yeah! Here is footage from this weekend at Lookout Mountain, Georgia. I think it was mostly sled runs for all. Saturday was my 39th flight and Sunday was my 40th.

Saturday was especially fun. There were about 7 pilots setting up in the late morning ready to go. We are all Hang 2 pilots, with the exception of one Hang 4. The staff from the shop come out to launch to warn us that there is a storm cell headed toward our flying site. However, there seemed to be enough time for all to launch and land safely, ahead of the storm as long as you were not trying to soar. The landing zone seemed to have ideal conditions with a little bit of head wind. We had great foot landings. For me it was the second one in a row!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuiLiJvMRtc

Enjoy the music by Earth, Wind & Fire, Shining Star. Oh, and some of you may notice at the beginning the silhouette of a stick bug trying to take a flight with me.

Thanks for watching, and providing your commentary.

[day dreamer]

Very nice. Your getting better. The more you fly, the better you get, the more you fly, the better you get, the more you fly, the better you get. You should have seen my flair, I was about to throw my chute I climbed up so high Whew! Talk about no stepper.
I subcribed. The music reminded me of Roller King the skate rink.

[fly,surf,&ski]

nice landing

[knumbknuts]

very nice and relaxing to watch.

Thanks... makes me wanna fly lookout.

[noman3]

that was a great flight and your landing rocked,i like how you kept your speed up on approach.

[gasdive]

It was really great to watch, congratulations.

You didn't ask for advice, so simply ignore this if you want.

At the takeoff you want your nose about 20 degrees up from the airflow, yours was about 20 degrees up from the horizon. I'd try to run down the ramp, and I'd sack the keel grabber. At 18 seconds in you were pretty much a passenger. You put in a cut at that point but when you cut the video your arms were fully extended. The glider would have been in a full stall and completely out of your control.

Have a look at HangDiver's avatar post number 18 in the thread below.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=14984

He's taking off into airflow that is perfectly vertical so it's an extreme case, but it makes the point. His angle of attack is 20 degrees up from that. Perfect.

Looking at the photos it seems LMFP isn't that vertical, but you should still be aiming the nose well below the horizon.

Cheers Jason =:)

[Rcpilot]

Or to put it another way . IF YOU KEEP LAUNCHING LIKE THAT SOONER OR LATER YOUR GOING TO CRASH !

Sorry to be so harsh , but I don't want to see you get hurt.

[Jongo]

Nice scream of delight at the end after a top landing on your feet.

[Skyhighwoman]

Way to come back!!!

The biggest thing that I noticed from this video to the last one is in this video you were eyeing your spot the whole time. The 1st video you are not looking at 'spot'. Pick a spot and maintain coursw but also be ready to be flexible.

Now that launch...


Carm

[Bobfly]

Good job, Theresa. Now you gotta start aiming for the cone.

[Windlord]

Sweet ! 40 flights and counting.

[DanTuck]

Very nice, Theresa! I hope to make it down there this summer some time but I will say, if anyone touches my keel...

[FormerFF]

Way to go!. I like that you had a longer straight final, I always find it helps me.

I'm sorry I missed you guys. I got there around 11:30 on Saturday, just as the storm was approaching. Ian and I ducked into town to get a sandwich, then came back and set up. It was launchable from about 2:45 until dark.

[LittleWing]

Thanks all for your feedback. I do agree with you (GasDive, RCPilot, and SkyHighWoman) . . . my launch does need some work, especially in light winds. More often than not, I am able to fly my glider fairly quickly maybe because I am light on my glider. However, days like these, when it is lighter wind, I think I stop running a bit. I am conscientious of that, so I will continue to make an effort in perfecting my launch skills so I do not continue these marginal behaviors.

Anyhow, here is the full launch footage. Inspite of my marginal launch, that I got away with, I do respond fairly quickly by pulling in the control frame.

Thanks again.

[gasdive]

Don't be down about it... I've done worse that that! I posted photos here and got lots of help that really fixed my launches.

Band of ... Siblings (brothers doesn't seem right somehow). Everyone worries about everyone else and wants to help.

Cheers Jason =:)

[Rcpilot]

Cool I'm glad your not mad at me .
The best suggestion I can make is for you to find a mentor. ( notice I didn't say instructor ) No I'm talking about a mentor that will take an interest in your flying.
I'm sure there are some great pilots out there that would love to help . A lot of times tho they wont try to help unless you ask . Keep on rockin sister.

Oh yea, Like my mentor always says to me " Keep your nose down "

PS. I hope you realize that goofy curved ramp isn't helping none.

[tige_matt]

I agree that your AoA is high to start. I too would lose the keel pusher!

My biggest concern is you are dropping to the base tube before you have complete control of the glider and have flown away from launch. Remember, separation occurs because you have achieved enough airspeed by continuing to keep the AoA low through the launch run.

In light conditions with your light wing loading yes, you can "get away" with the launch shown in the video. However, launching near the end of a thermal cycle with precious little airspeed will eventually bite you.

Very nice landing indeed!

Matt

[blindrodie]

I use to count to 10 before I went for the harness boot. Matt is right on. Fly away and assure you have control in the upright position, then rotate and FLY!

[Mrsposer]

[Nicos]