Photography

The first day of winter. It’s dark, cold, and raining outside. As a short escape from the weather, I’ve been going through some soaring photos from last summer.
I'm reminded again of the power photographs have. It’s a history that seems to me more immediate and intimate than the written word. They seem to leap the fence of linguistic description, bring me closer to the experience than any words could possibly do. The memories are both bitter and sweet this year.

Rampart Ridge continued to produce some of the best flights and photographs
in 2005. I experimented with mounting my Canon s60 digital point and shoot to the wing tip. It worked well, with no noticeable effect on the glider's flight characteristics. The camera is triggered by an IR remote attached to my basetube. The camera allows for a 2- or 10-second delay, which is nice if you don't want a bunch of shots of yourself pointing the remote at the camera. I ended up using the 10-second delay the most. It allows enough time to put the remote away and then maneuver the glider for the perspective I wanted. I also experimented with mounting a small video camera at different locations on the wing which I'll post more about later.

Unfortunately, Rampart also brought tragedy to us this year. We lost a dear friend as a result of a bad launch. A tragic reminder of how unforgiving our sport can be. Hang gliding is so wondrous and amazing, it’s unfortunate that it is tempered all too often by such loss.

He will be missed.

Specked Out

Only a week left until Christmas. Oy, I hope you’ve taken care of all your shopping because it’s a madhouse out there. If, however, you're still looking for a great gift for the special hang gliding/flight fanatic in your life, check out Liftworx. These little hand-launched gliders are really cool. Ultra lightweight, amazing performance, and tons of fun to fly when you're waiting around on launch for the conditions to improve. Be sure to check out the video of the Swyft being hand launched. The height to which you can launch these little gliders is truly amazing.
The picture is of me doing some light-air ridge soaring at Gasworks Park in Seattle. One of the nice things about these R/C gliders is that you don't need a lot of room to fly them. Most any parking lot, city park, or backyard will do. I've thermaled this one up so high here that the thermal turns had to be done purely by muscle memory since it was so far away I had no visual cues. It was merely a speck in the sky.

Year in Review – Prototypes

The Delrin aero basebar skids that I made for my U2 are working out great. I had been using the Wills Wing aero basebar wheels for a short time on my U2 and found them to be well made but was annoyed that the design allows the base bar to rest on the ground when the glider is tilted back on its keel during setup. The base bar was getting scratched up and it made it harder to keep the pit pins and side wire attachment points clean and free of grit. That--combined with the fact that I didn’t feel the 4” wheels were big enough to be at all useful unless I was landing on a flat putting green--led me to experiment with the skids. I’ve been flying with the skids for an entire season now and I like them a lot. They are probably not going to slide any better than 4” wheels would roll on tough terrain, but they keep my base bar out of the dirt, cause very little drag, and were inexpensive and easy to make.

These custom Delrin wheels Albrecht Buchner had made are quite nice too; I may have to try to make a pair for my next project.

The other prototype I made this year, with help and inspiration from my friend Scobie, was a simple lightweight instrument pod. It’s made out of PETG plastic. You can buy the plastic in sheets of various thicknesses that then can be heated and formed over a mold. (This is the same material 2 liter soda bottles are made of.) This pod was easy to make and has proven to be very durable. This is version 2.0, which has a space in the front for an airspeed indicator.

Bye Bye 2005

I always look forward to the winter solstice. The thought that each day from then on will be longer than the last gives me some comfort. The soaring days of summer are on the long march back.

I did manage to get a couple of short soaring flights on November 12th at Blanchard (near Bellingham, WA). It wasn't too spectacular, but I managed to get above launch for a little bit and, well, any soaring flight this time of year is pretty special. I noticed the next day that I was a bit sore though. I've been slacking on the winter exercise routines. But, like the rest of the nation, I'm re-devoting myself to fitness with the new year. I've been doing CrossFit off and on for the last year or so and I've found it to be great general conditioning for whatever your athletic pursuit is. It certainly was the foundation that got me through my first XC competition last year—6 days of big-air flying at the Chelan XC Classic. If you're not familiar with CrossFit, do yourself a favor and check it out. CrossFit Eastside in Redmond, WA, is the place if you live in the Seattle area, or check out CrossFit.com for the meat and potatoes of it all. Well ok, maybe not the potatoes—too many carbs. ;)