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How to Launch in Hang Gliding

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Part of the video series: Hang Gliding Basics for Beginners

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Summary: Learn how to launch and get off the ground when piloting a hang glider in this free hang gliding video lesson from an expert professional hang-glider pilot.

Views: 1,966 | Tags: sports, gliding, instruction, hang, skydiving, extreme, extremesports, hanggliding, hang-gliding, parasailing

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About the Expert

David Duke David Duke is rated as an advanced hang gliding pilot by the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association. David has also served several years as a ... read more

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by ravenprints

appreciate the videos...BUT you transition to the base tube before you have even stopped running / left the hill! Pilot needs to stay in semi upright position and fly the glider using the uprights UNTIL takeoff ruin and safe launch are completed. ONLY when the glider is safely AWAY from the hill do we transition to the basetube. Head down and hands on the basetube is a dangerous place to be when assumed before that time. A beginner ESPECIALLY would not ignore this precaution. The fully prone position is useless and downright dangerous to assume before one is safely away from the hill. Does Lookout teach the launch style you show?. Yikes!!!!

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by ravenprints

all in all however, these are great videos and the work you have done to create and post them is ,again, appreciated. Aside from the point I previously made(and it is a VERY important one)you have made many good and important to recognize points. I am SURE that due to these videos, that one or more than one person will be spared great harm or death. HG is definitely NOT a 'DIY'sport. Amazing how many people think that hang gliders just 'easily or automatically' fly, and 'all you gotta do' is just hang on!? The gracefulness of a glider in smooth flight belies the knowledge and many; subtle control factors that go into correct and stable flight. Your information will NO DOUBT rescue somebody from any fantasies they might otherwise have toward HG. So BIG thanks go to you and those who worked with you to get this info out there. BTW you have a GREAT personality for an instructor! NOT all are so instructive or patient. Putting a student at ease and yet being informative is important to anything... so anybody who is learning to leave the ground will appreciate that even more! I do.

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Video Transcript

How to Launch in Hang Gliding

Hi, this is David Duke. Welcome to Expert Village. In this clip I am going to talk about the launch sequence. When I am launching I want to get my nose angle just right. Remember that is step number two in hawk. Whipped in, nose angle. It is very much like if you are learning to drive a manual car. The nose angle is very much like your clutch and as you engage it the glider will want to take off, but if you pop the clutch or you pop the nose suddenly the glider will stall just like your engine will stall if you popped it at the wrong speed. You have to match your foot speed with the nose angle to get it to come off with the correct amount of energy. If you do not get off with enough energy you will get off weakly. You will not have much control and if you have a little bit of a small amount of turbulence come through it can push you into something that you do not want to be pushed into. When the nose angle is right you begin your walk, jog, run and you adjust your nose angle just like you would adjust the clutch until you engage and then start flying. The harness starts to tightened, the glider comes off your shoulders, and then suddenly your feet are lifted off the ground. If this glider is not picking you up off the ground it is not ready to fly. You need to continue to run or you are doing something wrong. Your instructor will go over this. But just like a helium balloon if it is flying with its own weight you cannot possibly jump onto a little helium balloon and jump on it and expect it to hold your weight. If the glider is not actually pulling you off the ground and you just pick up your feet, stop running, and jump into the glider it is only ready to carry forty-five pounds. It is not ready to carry the rest of you and your whole body and the glider will go crashing into the ground because it is not ready to fly yet. AS you run you go from the launch landing position with your hands on the down tubes or also called the uprights depending on what part of the country you are coming from. Your hand position will switch to where you need to now switch to a hand position with both hands on the bar which is where we do most of our flying from.

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