- 203
- 60 004
Jon Irlbeck
United States
Приєднався 4 лис 2010
Hang gliding, whitewater kayaking, and anything else exciting in the outdoors.
King Mountain Ripper
Hang gliding King Mountain in July of 2024 for the first time. This flight had one 500' low save. Took additional editing effort and interspersed flight instrument's IGC file with video taken from GoPro. Max altitude 16,673'. 20,931' of climbing with a duration of 1:46. For the sake of video length, many of the individual clips were sped up to keep video length under 3 minutes.
Переглядів: 1 049
Відео
Self Critiquing 3 Challenging Takeoffs
Переглядів 1 тис.День тому
King Mountain Idaho lower launch facing south. Elevation of launch 7,460'. July 2024.
Hang Gliding Fly-By Crawfords launch
Переглядів 2464 місяці тому
Having fun toward the end of a 2 hour flight at Crawfords close to Randolph, UT. Kept a safe distance away from terrain but it did feel a bit closer than it looks on the video.
Battle to climb King Mountain Idaho. From 400' AGL to 16.6K
Переглядів 4834 місяці тому
Day 4 of 4 hang gliding at King Mountain Idaho, after launching lift was not strong. A one hour and 45 minute flight edited down to one minute and 46 seconds. Wind was mostly from the WNW and NW, so we were basically launching in the lee. Attempted to find good lift at all the regular spots but kept getting lower. Down to 400' found a bubble of lift close to the bail-out LZ which finally got me...
Gaggle Flying During Hang Glider Competition
Переглядів 2,1 тис.6 місяців тому
Icarus Cup 2024. Clips over a week of flying. Launching, thermalling in a gaggle, and an attempted low save that resulted in an out-landing.
U2 Shakedown Flight
Переглядів 1,6 тис.7 місяців тому
Purchased another U2. One of the best gliders Wills Wing has ever produced. An hour and 1/2 flight with a max altitude of just under 11K.
Lookout Mountain 2 landings
Переглядів 1,7 тис.Рік тому
2 short flights in one day at Lookout Mountain Colorado. Watching my landings helps me improve my skills. Perhaps valuable for another pilots contemplating flying at Lookout. 2nd landing I landed with a bit of a crosswind from the right and was drifting to the left but got lucky.
2 Scooter Towing flights with Mark
Переглядів 303Рік тому
Fun day practicing landings. Mark Windsheimer teaches hang gliding in the Denver area. His business name is Airtime Above. 4 flights total and one flight almost climbed high enough for a cross country flight.
Hang Gliding Hurricane Ridge Utah
Переглядів 1,3 тис.Рік тому
Beautiful desert flight. Could see in the distance Zion NP to the northeast and Red Cliffs to the northwest. 1:22 flight time, climbed 1,800' over launch. After flying close by was a great spot for dispersed camping.
Hang Gliding Mingus Mountain Arizona
Переглядів 4,3 тис.Рік тому
Classic flying site. Strong lift. Wind switching from east to south. Cross country flight to the fairgrounds. 2:39 flight time. 13,284 max altitude.
Volcanic crater hang glide
Переглядів 774Рік тому
Hang gliding over Merriam Crater in northern Arizona. Launched from 400' up the side of North Sheba Crater a couple of miles away. Camera angle not ideal GoPro 10 had an issue with last video clip leveling properly. 1:09 flight. Climbed 4,393' over launch height.
Go Long Last Day triangle attempt
Переглядів 577Рік тому
Last flight wrapping up a week of hang gliding down at Cowboy Up in Wharton, TX. Made it half way around a 100km triangle course. Failed to notice all the blue in the sky to the south and the wind switching to strong and out of the south early enough. All this equals a sea breeze that cuts out much of the lift. Flight time = 3:28. Flight time total for the week 27:29.
Personal Best 136 mile flight.
Переглядів 826Рік тому
Will end up one of my most memorable flights. Also personal best duration at 6:10 and my lowest save from 600'. For the vast majority of the flight there we very few clouds and the winds at altitude were only 8-9 mph so had to work hard to put down the miles. Also shared some thermals with Robin and Pete.
Gliding over Redfish Bay from Mustang Island, TX
Переглядів 765Рік тому
A flight to remember: A big thank you to all so 4 of us could fly from Mustang Island, TX over Redfish Bay. Robin coordinated, Gregg trailered his trike 6 hours and towed us to 5,000', Yvonne picked me up, Alex and Michael helped with launch and we had a very accommodating airport manager.
Red Rocks Task 2 launch only
Переглядів 405Рік тому
Red Rocks competition Task 2. High clouds shaded the ground and made finding lift more challenging. Flew for 1:47 and landed 23km to the north. Finished in the top 3rd for the day.
Climbing Mt Bierstadt in the winter and Kevin paragliding away
Переглядів 231Рік тому
Climbing Mt Bierstadt in the winter and Kevin paragliding away
Really cool. Did you have O2? ...or not even need it? BTW I once did some ski launch ground skimming (snow-skimming?) up in Idaho outside of Ketchum back in the early 70s. Now 50 years later I'm flying again. Honestly, I don't think I can physically run like you on launch, but at the moment I'm in Arizona learning aero-tow, so I don't have to. Still, nothing beats literally running into the sky. I so-o-o want to do that again!
Yes I use oxygen. Just in case get high and stay high for a long time. There are plenty of launches that are not so challenging too. Great story about the snow skimming! I'll bet that was a blast! One of my HG comp buddies tows at Sonora Wings. Hope to meet you sometime.
Fantastic Jon
Hey thanks William!
1500m legs off :)
Epic, thanks for posting. What are you flying and where is this site?
A WillsWing U2-160. This flying site is close to Moore, ID. Thanks for watching.
@ great videos. Subscribed. I’m in UT, I need to get some site intros in ID sometime, looks like some great places to fly not too far from me.
@@b7gwap Excellent! Would be great to fly with you!
Thanks for posting, great technique
I have never been able to outclimb you. I only know your wing from the bottom. Jedi level
Ha that's a good one!
What is towing you in this video?
It is somewhat of an illusion that I'm being towed, but actually I'm not. In this video I use the mountain launch technique to get airborne. Since this part of the mountain has a very shallow slope, a smooth, gradual acceleration just by running is required. Thanks for watching.
Gravity
@@b7gwap Ha :). When I first saw the video, I mistook one of the lines in the foreground to be a tow line. :)
@@BruceTGriffiths ah I see now. That’s his side wire. Goes from the corner of the control frame up to the midpoint of the leading edge. Very important, reacts flight loads.
@@b7gwap Simply said. Precisely.
Been there done that many years ago. 12 years until I had kids and no time. Then I started scuba again. lol
Awesome!
DUDE......your biner on that first launch!
The carabiner appears to sort itself out @ 2:27 in the video.
Sweet! Your ears must have been popping ;-)
That's just about right!
still awesome
awesome
I thought, what the heck, these guys are crazy fast, until I saw your head move and realized the video was sped up.
Ha! Good catch. Made the decision to speed that clip up since at Normal speed it felt like watching paint dry. Didn't feel I was misrepresenting the experience of gaggle flying. In the moment it does actually feel like things are happening faster than the video shows right?
Flew off Merriam back in the mid 70s in a basic rogallo wing and swing seat harness. We didn't have no stinkin' ratings ...and damn lucky we didn't get killed. On a good day, we caught a bit of lift and then it was a sled ride down to the base. A few years later people started showing up, flying prone with higher performance wings, and actually soaring. What you did in this video would have made you a god in those days. Magnificent!
Wow! What a perspective! Thank you for sharing your experience and the history of this site. Flying "The Craters" has been on my bucket lister ever since first hearing of the place soon after I learned to fly hang gliders. It has almost been like a mythical place to me and worked out on this day 4 pilot group purely by chance. This particular day the thermals were drifting in with only enough size and strength to really maintain altitude, and then this one just kept building and building, and well it worked out pretty nice.
I think I’m coming to Villa Grove for Labor Day. Where do you keep the oxygen tank in your Rotor, John?
Awesome! Hope the weather cooperates for you. I fly with a big bottle (180) and use my right interior leg pocket and make sure the gauge and valve are pointing towards the outside of the harness. Also what I learned that is very important is to add an 8" (or so) long spacer to the bottom of the bottle which prohibits the bottle from sliding further down towards your feet. First tried using a foam spacer but then changed to a hollow, cylindrical piece of plastic so I could roll up some glider bags and place inside. = adds rigidity to the spacer and utilizes the space inside.
@@jonirlbeck is the gauge/valve fits into a pocket as well, stays on the outside?
@@alexmark1982 Gauge and shut off valve is attached to the top of the bottle, so it's in the leg pocket. Then you run an O2 line from that pocket to your external side pocket just ahead. In the external side pocket is where you keep your EDS / regulator. Then from the external side pocket you run your cannula out the front of your harness.
Coyote saved the day!
5200m!!!!!! Wow!!!
I need to get into this
very cool, enjoyed the thermal action
Looks like a great flight, I used to fly in the 70's and 80's!
Cool, thanks for watching and sharing.
As one of the original 1975 hang glider pilots to fly Mingus, it was great to see this video. Brings back so many great memories of early flying there, fellow HG friends and my first real thermal flights. So happy to see HG pilots still flying there too! Chuck Rhodes Hang IV #214
Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for sharing a bit of history!
No XC - with that sky ? I'd say that's a 250km day easily 😆I flew there in '93 with a paraglider... good times. Thanks for sharing !!
Ha! Sure was a beautiful sky. My excuse = strong south wind was some land-out issues over the back to the north. Thanks for watching and keep flying!!!
@@jonirlbeck funny you should say that. My thoughts were: probably no retrieve driver available and a "one way day" due to strong winds 😆
It was great flying with you Jon!
Oh yeah it was a great week!
What state is this in? There are a lot of lakes there. Is it Minnesota?
Florida. Maybe I should add that information. Thanks for watching.
@@jonirlbeck Ty
Man you make it look so effortless!!
I saw the M for School of Mines and my heart jumped. I used to fly there in the seventies in a W W Super Swallow Tail.
Wow! There's a classic. Thanks for watching and thanks for sharing.
Way to go dad!
Nice place to fly! But where are your buddies? Gotta multiply
Ha, yes and I agree. Good noticing no one else on launch. Thankfully, I did have a buddy down in the LZ keeping an eye on me.
@@jonirlbeck make more of us! One day this beautiful experience will grow again :)
Where is that?
Golden, Colorado.
@@jonirlbeck Thank you mate, i flew at "Lookout mountain" in NY, that place in Co is new to me!
@@stefanmargraf7878 Awesome!
woot! Nice approach/landing. JJ's colors? :)
Good observation. More precisely JJ's old glider.
Hey Jon, Those long arms came in handy ;-)
Hey Mark you are right!
Thanks for the awesome vid!
any guess on the water level that day?
I checked my notes from my 2013 kayaking logbook and wrote down 1,200 cfs. I did not write down the (foot) level for that day. Thanks for watching have a good run.
@@jonirlbeck cool Thanks for the info. I just needed a general reference point.
Please consider unhooking immediately after landing. If an errant gust of wind tumbles the glider you are going with it.
Good point, thanks for watching.
Always wanted to fly from Mingus but never did when hang gliding.
I’m sure you had some other amazing experiences though! Thanks for watching.
That is one of the coolest launch ramps.
Yes it sure is. Also durable, sturdy, and with a good length and non-slip texture. Thanks for watching.
I came to Arizona in 1993 from England, as a novice Paraglider pilot. At my first AZHPA meeting an item came up for discussion to improve the Mingus launch. The general consensus was that it was a conspiracy by paraglider pilots to convert the launch from HG to PG launch, ruining it for HG pilots. I tried to blend into the background as the majority (HG) looked around suspicious of the small minority of PG pilots in the room. Someone said it couldn't be done without removing hundreds of trees, until it was reported that only 1 tree needed to go and the US Forest service had already said "sure. Take it out. We have several million more". In the end, it got done. It got done great and everyone pretty much got what they wanted. There have been upgrades to other launch sites around the state that also look good. Only going to show that we shouldn't give up at the first opposition. I've retired from flying now. But Mingus is still great to hike up to and reminisce.
Very interesting to read. Looking back you must you must be considered a paragliding trailblazer! Thank you sharing all the background about the Mingus. If you didn't know it already, the paragliding launch is just left of the hang glider launch.@@healingenso7923
Looked a bit bumpy -but you nailed the landing
Good observation, it was bumpy coming in but a bit of wind helped out my landing. Thanks for watching.
Nice launces! Good job on tow, release, free flight.
I hate it when the harness catches on the wire like that.
I know....
Nice. Brings back memories of my flight there back on '08. Funny, I just checked my log and my flight time was also 1:22.
Hi Rick! That's pretty neat, thanks for sharing. Hope to see you in the air in '24.
I flew there all the time back in the mid 80's. Got my H-3 there. Great memories, thanks for sharing!
Awesome thanks for sharing!
Great to see people still flying Sheba & Merriam Crater! I was one of first 4 pilots to fly both Sheba and Merriam back in Aug- Oct 1974 while a student at NAU. Went on to open Adventure Sports School of Hang Gliding in Flagstaff 1974-76. Your video brought back so many great memories of the early days out at Merriam every weekend and many, many great flights, thermal soaring and evening glass offs on SW slopes of Merriam & Sheba. Glad to see its still not overdeveloped too!!! Chuck Rhodes - USHGA Hang IV # 214
Wow, thanks for sharing your memories! You made my day, and number 214!
Not overdeveloped? Damn, did you see the gravel quarry? Anyway, Chuck do you still fly? I quit in '77 after mangling my leg in a skiing accident. Still walk funny, but I've been watching people tow launch and wonder if maybe I could do that ...even at age at 69. So, I'm thinking about trying it again, with some real, good quality instruction this time!
Im telling you, Sonora Wings will get you in the air.@@VTSifuSteve
Going to try a sheba flight tomorrow, just saying.
Landing at lookout is always fun! Nice work, been a while since i did a twofer
Brad Kogee (spell) would fly from look out to Colorado Springs, more than once, out standing pilot, RIP
People used to fly from Look out to Senyor Frogs for hang glider meetings (spell) good times.
That's pretty neat thanks for sharing.
I use to fly look over a 10 year period, after the power lines were baired, sometimes a very difficult lz. When you smell hopps, lock & load!
Ha! Yes it can get tricky. Thanks for watching.
Looked like a great day! What time of year was this? I fly in the North East but have been looking for an excuse to go back to NM ever since I fell in love with the place a few years ago. Thanks for posting these great videos!
September. Come out and visit. Thanks for watching.
@@jonirlbeck Are you based in NM?
No, Colorado but NM is pretty close.@@josephstearn3393
Looks like Miriam Crater Arizona. I flew there once in 1991😊
That's it! You got it. Enjoyable and unique. Thanks for watching.
We use to call it molly's nipple.
Ah ha, and I can see why... Thanks for watching.
Excellent. Next - 200 miles 😎
Oh yeah!