[Jason]

When you fly a new glider or step up in the performance ladder.....do you actually go to the training hill

[Jason]

since my very first glider(eagle) which i got when i was still on the training hill i have never gone back to it.

when i started flying the K2 I started on the 600 ft hill at ed levin as I didn't yet have my H3 spots to go off the top
when i started with the sensor...it was off the 1750 at ed levin, as well as my first flight on a litesport
my first flight on a litespeed was soaring off the ramp at marina
my first flight on my t2c was off of marshall


when i fly a new glider i want time to actually see how it flies not go straight from to to landing

[Sky_Walker]

I voted yes but probably shouldn't count as I've only bought one wing - eagle 164. Yeah I went back to the training hills but I hadn't been gone for long. I've only gone back since to buy breakfast for all the instructors on the hill.




Might be time for breakfast on the hill again ...

[FlyBig]

I generally believe the training hill isn't a place for high performance gliders. I suppose it depends on how large the hill is but most I don't think I'd get off the ground in my T2.

[el_loco]

Static tow for my three first gliders(Moyes XT, SX and Litespeed), because I got them in wintertime, and the frozen lake makes for a great take-off and landing.

[tom emery]

I'm going back until I can land with my eyes closed. By the look of some of the landings last weekend, well, let's just say Ryan Voight's Landing Clinic should be booked solid.

[Bobfly]

I flew my Freedom twice as many flights off the training hills as I did the Falcons. Wanted to be very comfortable with the launch and able to stick the landings time after time. I would do it again with a Sport2 but a blade wing, maybe not. My little legs can't run that fast. A cliff launch would be better but by the time you're looking at that kind of wing, launches and landings should be 2nd nature.

[BBJCaptain]

I haven't been to the T-hill since 1983, I took my new Streak there for the first flight. The only reason I was on the T-hill was the top was blown
out.

I recently returned to HG from a 8yr break (work). When I came back I bought a Exxtacy Rigid Wing. That was the first rigid wing I have
ever owned or flown before. My first flight in 8 yrs and first Rigid Wing flight was off the top in 25 mph winds.

I just bought a Millennium ( stick and rudder glider) a few months ago. My first flight on the Mill was off the top in 25-30 mph winds.

I feel much safer with air under my butt than running my ass off with a 100lb glider and bending my knees to keep from dragging the ground.

Rolla

[pjwings]

I guess it depends in part on the training hills you have access to. When I think training hill I think the Big Hill at Lookout Mountain. It's 150' high and has a grade at the top that could be considered a FSL, but start your launch 4 steps further and it steepens to a really nice slope launch. It's not high enough to do much beyond launch, take a breath, and land... but it's certainly launchable with whatever wing you've got.

IMHO The real benefit of going to the training hill is that you can do a multitude of launches and landings in quick succession. There's a huge benefit to doing 5 launches & landings back to back on one morning as opposed to doing 5 in a week... or a month So if you're starting on a wing, it makes a certain amount of sense to bang out a few flights to get the feeling for flare timing, launch handling,etc. You might spend a morning on the hill doing half a dozen flights working on the critical phase aspects of the wing. Those flights would likely be as effective twice as many flights (or more) off of the mountain, assuming those flights would be spread out over time. Plus if you're on the training hill for that purpose alone your focus is going to be more precise, which will enhance the learning curve even more.

With that said, I'm a total hypocrite. I test flew a Sport2 the first time off the mountain. I flew it a second time that same evening in a light glass off which got me about 30 minutes on the ridge. In truth I planned to hit the hills with my wing when it arrived except that I immediately felt more at ease with the Sport2 155 on launch and landing than I had with my Eagle 164. I don't know why... that's just how it went down for me.

[FormerFF]

[J Fritsche]

A day at the training hill at least once/year is a very wise idea for every pilot. It either restores confidence or makes it clear that more time should be spent there. The biggest obstacle is the availability of decent training hills. I spent WAY more time than the average pilot on training hills 20+ years ago, not because I sucked, but because that's all I had remotely close by. Flights of a few seconds were a thrill because that's all I could get at the time. The payoff was the development of very solid launching and landing skills. But if too much time goes by without regular flying, I still want to get back to the little hill to get my confidence back.

[jjcote]

1st glider (Falcon): lots of time at the training hill before I was ready to make my first mountain flight.
2nd glider (Vision Mark IV): one training hill flight from about 100 feet up the hill in cross conditions, and I intended to go back for more, but I had an opportunity to go to a mountain site that I had never flown, and took the new wing (questionable move?). Then one more training hill flight from the top (450 feet), and then off to the mountains.
3rd glider (Ultrasport): three training hill flights from 250 feet with some annoying complications going on, at which point I packed up and left. Next flight was three hours at Ellenville.
4th glider (Ultrasport): I had already had one of these, so I just flew mountains, starting with Ellenville, and I've never taken it to the training hill.

I did spend a day at the training hill on my Falcon when I came back three months after my glider-destroying incident.

[CAL]

i use the rule not to do more than two new things at once

if i have flown a site before i would fly a new glider at that site, if i thought the site was not suited for the type of glider i was flying, for example if was going to fly a topless the site would need a big enough lz until i got a good feel for the glider to hit tighter lzs or any other glide with a better glide than the on i am current with

or if i was going to fly a falcon after being current with a double surface, make sure the lz is a bit closer to make sure i could make it to the lz

now if i was on a brand new glider that was the same as the one i am flying, i would still mantain caution, but feel confident i could handle a new site with it

i am not above using the training hill if i need to practice launches or landings

[Avnav8r]

[pjwings]

Thanks John. I don't know where I got that number from... Probably my best guess during training or something. Wow, 80'. That's not much.

[slimchance]

[jjcote]

Similarly, Morningside has three launches, called "the 150", "the 250", and "the 450". Both Google Earth and USGS put the "450" at 360 feet AGL. Curiously, though, the one GPS track that I have does show it as 450 feet. Next time I'm there, I should check it with a vario.

[Mavi Gogun]

If my flying options include challenges, I'm back to the hill with new equipment or when not current. And when I wanna just hang out. Or watch and learn. Or all of the that.

[jjcote]

[Mavi Gogun]