[Rusty Trombone]

Ok, I see many of you posting that you can fly for 2 and 3 hours?? That sh!t is just nuts.....like my scrotum

So anyway I always thought that you just jumped off a cliff and coasted down to to the bottom a few minutes later.......

This concept of flying for hours amazes me. How far can you fly? Like to another trailer park on the other side of the county? How fast can you fly?

Is this a viable option for my to get to work since gas has gotten so high??

[HangDog]

Hang Gliders can fly for very long distances OR can stay in one small place even within the size of a football field flying back and forth above a ridge where wind is rushing in at the base of this ridge and going in an upward motion because that's the only way it can go so you can fly a ridge for as long as there is the winds or until you finally get tired and decide to land yourself. I personally have a flight that lasted 2 hours and 55 minutes in a very small area known as: *The Point of the Mountain, South Side* in Draper Utah. The winds were perfect that day and it allowed me to fly for hours. I landed after almost 3 hours because I just got tired and a bit hungry.

Now the other form of flying is Thermaling or riding warm columns of rising warm air. If you see a hang glider flying over flat land and he's up for a long time you'll more then likely notice he's making several circles in one general area and then he'll fly a while longer and then do it all over again (circles)... what he's doing is using those warm columns of rising air to rise and stay aloft just like you see birds doing the same thing.

He can do this in one area or actually chase the thermals if he want's if they are heading in a direction he wants to go.

Ridge soaring on the other hand will only allow you to fly that particular ridge or mountain because, well the mountain isn't going to move so you have to fly what you can get with the air rising upward against the face of the mountain and this is alone will keep you airborne as long as the winds are strong enough.

However some people can get very high over mountains adn fly from one set of mountains and if they are high enough they can fly to another mountain, in a totally different place and pick up the winds on that mountain if they are the same. Usually pilots will know in advance what the weather is doing in a certain region where they wan to fly and if they are planning a long distance flight or what is known as an XC flight (Cross Country) then they will have the information they need and make that flight when conditions are favorable to fly these long distances.

I'm not sure of the exact number but I think the longest flight in an HG was something around 450 miles across Texas. It was a very long way and I know I'm close to those numbers but not positive.

But to sum it up... depending on the flight you want to take, sometime you have to know more then a regular pilot flying a plane. That's because hang gliders have no instruments on board like a plane.

Most pilots will use what is known as a Variometer or Vario that tells you your Height, Speed and most important, will detect if your Rising or Falling (sinking) by using a certain tone. One tone will tell you your rising in altitude and the other will tell you your sinking or loosing altitude and we try not to do that.

When you hear the *Rising Tone* that means your in rising air and that's a good thing because then we can stay aloft a lot longer which also means further distances and more airtime.

Hope this helps!

[Rusty Trombone]

Dude that's awesome. Thanks for the reply.

[HangDog]

Watch this video and you'll see what can be done going XC along ridges and working thermals.

Watch this video on YOUTUBE and change the video player quality to 1080p and make it Full Screen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aTKAMFYS67k

During the video you'll see cut shots showing an animation of a glider that looks like it's flying crazy... well that's just the recording feature on most Vario Instrumants. It records the actual flight via GPS that the pilot just made so this is what your seeing here. He can then go back and download this information to computer and add it to his/her videos and this is what your watching. Of course the actual speed of the animation is increased.

[Rusty Trombone]

Man that is awesome. I had no idea it was like that. No wonder it's addictive.

[HangDog]

In case your thinking about learning one day.....

Yes it is the best all time high one can have and it's totally legal.
One thing you MUST NEVER DO is get in a hurry during any point of training, pre-flighting your glider and equipment and especially the flight itself or you can be seriously hurt or worse.

Find a school in your area if possible or plan ahead and make travel arrangements to go to a school and plan on spending about 7 to 12 days to train on average. After you receive your certification then concentrate on getting your own gear to start with.

I'm talking about having a harness, chute (emergency Chute) and helmet fitted for you. You can use the schools gliders to get some airtime built up and then when your instructor/s see you can handle a wing (Beginners wing) then they can help you in purchasing your own wing but only after you gain a good amount of hours.

Some people will purchase a wing before they even start training and use their own wing to train on but guess what? why knock around your own wing taking chances on beating it up when you can use the schools wing's. That's what they are there for and the price you pay for training includes the use of their wings and equipment to get you certified. So get time first on their equipment then you can purchase your own. There are many good used wings out there too which if you purchase from a school, will be checked out and ready to fly so you won't have to worry about it.

If you purchase from an individual then you will have to have the wing checked out and gone over by licensed HG pilots//instructors/technicians who specialize in this area.

However, don't ever try to fly yourself or teach yourself because this can be a very deceiving sport to the untrained eye and you will have a good chance of moving to the next life and leaving everything behind as you as you know it, including your loved ones and those who care about you.


If anytime you have questions then just ask... everyone here are professionals at flying and have a world of experience to help you on your way to becoming a hang gliding pilot and not a fool. So do it right and most of all, practice SAFETY first... it's number one and if you do that then everything else will fall into it's correct place and you'll enjoy flying for the rest of your life.


Good Luck in your quest to soar. Maybe one day I'll see you up there.

~A~

[Rusty Trombone]

Thank you for all your help and advice.

[knumbknuts]

[bsquare]

Don't be diss'n the trailer!

[snowbird]

Rusty Trombone, are you for real or just jerking our chain?

Where are you located? We can be a lot more specific about getting you started (Assuming you are for real)

[Thrill Hunter]

Very cool thread and information. I have never done hang gliding but it looks like it would be awesome. For now I'm just going to read and watch videos.