A COLLECTION OF CLIFF LAUNCHES
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- Опубліковано 15 жов 2019
- A collection of mainly no wind cliff launches. And a landing. Norway 2016-2019.
John Heiney (legendary American hang glider pilot) wrote:
Cliff Launching in No Wind
The procedure for launching a cliff is to start no more than 3 steps back from the edge(in very light, preferably no wind) and build some momentum while keeping the wing level. The momentum is just to get a little clearance away from the cliff. We need to essentially throw our self and the glider off the cliff and quickly pull in to dive for flying speed. The run is not for building airspeed. No human is strong enough to run fast enough on level ground (while carrying a glider) to achieve flying airspeed. We just need to get off the cliff cleanly and pull the nose down to dive for airspeed. It is essentially the same as a balloon-drop launch. We start with effectively zero airspeed and dive to get the glider flying. The glider is not flying at all at the moment we exit the cliff. The glider begins flying during the dive as we reach sufficient airspeed.
Keeping your wing level is the big problem if there is any wind at all. Since the glider is not flying until you are off the cliff and diving, there is no weight-shift control. Your only roll control is through your stance on the ground and your “muscling” of the control frame.
Yaw control is also essential. If one wing gets over the edge slightly before the other(in any wind), that wing can go up and the other down in a self-aggravating manner. It is impossible to overcome this with the inadequate leverage of the relatively short control frame as compared to the span of the glider. This is why it is essential to go off with the roll and yaw perfect.
It is a dangerous mistake to start too far back from the edge. You should take a maximum of three steps with your last step pushing off the edge. If you leave yourself a longer run, you will be giving the wing more time to roll before you get to the edge. The big danger is to let a wing tip touch the ground before you get off. That is why you get very close to the edge before you start.
If there is wind (even straight-in) at a cliff site, it will be a completely different and dangerous situation. Unless you are prepared to accept increased risk, stick to windy-cliff sites that have been proven safe by lots of use over the decades (such as Torrey Pines, Stanwell Park and Fort Funston). The overall shape of the cliff and cliff edge makes the difference between safe and dangerous. Of course wind velocity is always a factor.
Here is an excellent demonstration of how easy it is to launch a sheer cliff if there is absolutely no wind. But if one thing goes wrong, it can end tragically.
• aile delta falaise
Totally skilled pilot. Not many hangie pilots this capable. Great filming too and stunningly tough landing at the end
Thanks. Not sure about the "skilled pilot", but the rest of it is OK ;-)
Of course as a pilot myself it’s not easy to say I’m skilled either. 30 years of flying I’m still alive still love to be in the air despite the times I’ve screwed up and somehow not killed myself. Those launches you’ve shown sure take a lot of skill. Happy landings to you🤩
@@paraworth Thanks. Happy landings and safe launches to you too.
An experimented pilot once told me that taking off from a cliff is easy. Impressive for sure, but easy. So beginners don't dare to do this. I would say this requires less skill than taking off by running on a slope with low wind conditions, where you need to take care of the incidence all the way.
@@David-po7ot that’s correct because when you launch from a cliff gravity assists in airspeed whereas on foot launch you need to build airspeed. Nevertheless, cliff launches to the new and sometimes old pilots much harder because it requires that added level of commitment :)
These launches are a great way to get your pulse racing... and that's just watching them! I imagine myself as you just before take-off and can feel myself begin to sweat! It makes me chuckle how you always cover your face - even when it's warm enough for T shirts. You look like a hang-gliding Ninja!! ;-) Great videos, stunning scenery and balls of steel.
Many thanks Mr Brown. Yeah, those launches makes your adrenalin rush. I'm glad I have the sites to perform them. But honestly, they are the easiest launches you could ever do. Belive me.
And the ninja thing, I'm too ugly to expose my face. And now it's become a trade mark ;-) Cheers :-)
This was a pleasant video. Light music, no talking.
Also, great example of how when you first drop in, your wing is totally stalled and not flying until you get speed. The last step has to be a good one with positive control of the frame.
Excellent.
Thanks 👍 yes, you are correct 😊
Thanks for sharing your launches. You definitely have it mastered. It still looks scary, I would be afraid of a gust knocking me off and getting turned. But I guess it's all about conditions and keeping the nose down until you have airspeed. Still looks intense!
Thanks. Yes it is intense. i love it. Just don’t do it in much wind. Prefer early morning when it’s calm👌cheers.
Wow, that is a sweet launching glider. Some unique and beautiful flying
Thanks 🤘😁
YeeHaw! Great landing! I gotta get back to Norway :)
Hi Steve. Yes, you should come back again 😀 Cheers.
Красивые старты съёмка завораживает!
Thank you my friend :-)
Fantastic flying site/s - Definitely put Norway down for where I want to fly! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks. Just a pleasure 😊
Superb, great landing 👏👏👏 not that I would know 😂
Thanks Mr Lester 👍 cheers 😃
Amazing!
Thanks :-)
This is amazing... I have never done it with my Atlas hang glider but I would love to!!!
Maybe you should give it a try. It's awesome. But please read the text below the video written by John Heiney first ;-)
Awesome, always wondered if HG guys did cliff launches. Been wanting to get into the sport and am looking at a near by school to do my training. Northern CA U.S.A. so plenty of potential to find some out here when I become a good enough pilot. Thanks for sharing these amazing launches and Tha beautiful approach and landing at the end.
Thanks for your comment 👍 good luck with your training. You should do fine ✌️🙂
Hope you get into it. I'm in Norcali, feel free to ping me if questions.
Base Jumping without the commitment!
And a better glide ratio ;-)
Base Jumping with a better glide ratio. That's it.
So cool 😁😁😮😮👍👍
Thank you 👍👍👍👍👍🙂
Excellent job Bro 🙏👍👍
Thanks Bro 👍🤟🙂
Good idea to clip up the foot restraint so that you do not trip over it 1 m before the cliff and go tumbling down, but heart stop moment (for me) when at 3:31 you touched the reserve handle (?) alongside the foot restraint clip!
Yes,I did touch the reserve handle for a moment feeling for the boot buckle. No danger as I would never have pulled it. And it takes some effort and force to pull it out. Even with two hands 👌cheers
I fly paragliders and whatching this gives me fear of heights!
You shouldn't. You have wings 😉👍
Great video, beautiful shots. How often do you fly? Curious what the flying season is like in Norway...
Thanks Mr Kelly. I feel that this year has been really crappy, with lots of rain. So less flying than the previous years. The soaring season starts around March in my area, and last until October. For the rest of the country it's different. My flying season last whole 12 months, since I do a lot of sled runs, also in the winter time. Did one yesterday in fact :-)
I miss hang gliding so much. Had to get out for medical reasons.
That's sad. If you can't get back in, I do hope you have many great memories at least. Cheers.
Amazing pilot, I just hate your harness, you struggle to fit your feet in. But man your take offs are awesome!!!
Thanks. That's a cocoon harness. Sometimes it can be a little bit of struggle to get into. But getting out quicly is easy. And no zippers to struggle with. So I still prefer it over "conventional" harnesses ;-) Cheers.
👍👍👍
Thank you :-)
thx for uploading nice video! i want to know "how to carry glider to the top of the cliff" !! with car? or hiking?
Helicopter :-)
a very good narrative by our very own John Heiney, the pushing out thing while cliff launching is a very bad habit that'll catch up to anyone doing it and, producing a very bad result. fly safe.
Thanks man.👍
Muy bueno. Parece que es fácil de lo bien qué lo haces
Thanks Jacobo. It is easy, at least after the first one ;-)
Great video. I am definitely thinking of getting into hang gliding somewhere in the next 3 years, however i have fear of heights which reveals itself in the cases of, for example, standing by the cliff like you do. So, it is a safety issue for the most part for me. I need to feel safe. My question is how is the feeling of hang gliding? Does it trigger fear of heights once you take off? How safe is the thing you are hanged through ropes? Thanks
Thanks for your comment. I'm scared of heights too. Dont like standing in a ladder, or walking close to a cliff edge. Except when I'm connected to my wings. Then I feel perfectly safe. Some of the launches in the video, I would not like to get even close to without my glider.
HG is as safe as you make it. Some good training from an approved instructor,and certified gear would get you far.
The hang loop in wich I'm connected is probably the strongest part of the whole HG, if maintained and inspected.
In training you start gradually from almost flat terrain to steeper hills, and become custom to hights.
You will feel free as a bird.
If you feel strongly for trying, go for it :-)
Good luck.
@@TheFjordflier thanks man . Appreciated
I too am afraid of heights, don’t like going up ladders and near the edge of roofs. However once you can fly a Hang glider that all disappears, I have stood on 300 ft high cliffs in south Devon, clipped in my hang glider waiting for the wind to pickup, butterfly’s in my stomach, watching the seagulls soar the cliffs, after the wind picks up, I do my checks and run off the cliffs, as soon as you feel the lift and your feet leave the ground, all my fears evaporate, the buzz is amazing, to fly like a bird. Phil
Yeeee haaa 👌😎🇦🇺
Exactly 👍😎🇳🇴
Omg that landing looks like the left wing tip came so close to the tree!
It did!
@@TheFjordflier Sick!
What a landing in the end!:)
Thanks :-)
J'ai eu du vertige sur mon lit de sommeil ..........😉
Yes 👍👍👍😉
impressive how fast the start is
Not as impressive as the BASE jumpers's starts ;-)
But I do get a better glide 🙂
BaseJumping just looks hard. If you progress slowly and leave suits away the first years its a safe sport to do.
Hope to meet you next year there !!
@@2sogar thanks 👍 that would be nice 🤟
Thats soooo awesome!! I wanna smash all of these with my speedwing! 😍
Thanks. You're welcomed, with or without your speedwing ;-)
@@TheFjordflier added on my to go list!! 🤘😍🙌
@@AddictionHappiness Here's a speedwing video (Brithish guy) from one of the same launches I did with my HG: vimeo.com/224121057
Filmé sur tous les angles propables ............. 👍🔦🎓🌷💨
Hey I was going through your old videos and saw you used to gets 1000s of views. What happened to the new videos?
Hi. Not sure what is going on. I'm either doing something wrong with the editing, or people are just not interested in that kind of flying. Maybe they prefer to see blade wings soaring high, fast and far. Wish I knew. Makes me question myself if releasing videos at all anymore is worth it.
I still have over a 1000 subscribers, but get only 50 views. Don't add up. If I had only 10 subscribers, got 10 views and 10 likes on my videos, that would be much better. But I do have a few faithful ones still around. Thanks 👍
😀
@@TheFjordflier I see your subscribers count and previous video views too that's why found it surprising and asked.
@@TheFjordflier I have lost nearly 400 subscribers and that baffles me LoL
@@BariFPV I wonder what is going on. Andrea Ghidini get at lot of well deserved views on his amazing videos. He has almost 1500 subscribers, but just a very few percent likes. I don't get it.
@@TheFjordflier check your analytics. I hardly get views from my subscribers :)
3:30 Oi, oi , oi, hva holdt du på å gjøre her?
Ser forresten ut som du har en veldig god og sikker stupstartteknikk.
Jeg tok alltid løpefart ved stupstart, men så fløy jeg jo en panservogn av en Manta Fledge 3.
Er ikke sikker på hva du mener med spørsmålet. Foretrekker minst mulig løpefart, og minst mulig vind. Vingen er utrolig snill, og perfekt for slike stupstarter. Se forøvrig John Heiney sin kommentar om stupstart i teksten under videoen.
@@TheFjordflier Ser ut som du holder på ta håndtaket til reserveskjermen?
@@bjofuruh det er nok heller litt fumling med å treffe låsen som holder selen oppe 😉🤞👍 cheers
@@TheFjordflier He, he, skjønner det. Det bare ga et lite flashback til noe som hendte en gang på 70-tallet.
Ved en av våre fjystasjoner var det en skvadronsjef som hadde et lite uhell. Under downwind med en F5 Freedom Fighter kom han i skade for å dra i håndtaket for bremseskjermen da han skulle felle ut hjulene. Normalt kan en kutte skjermen ved å vri på håndtaket, men det låser seg ved høy belastning, så majoren fikk teste Martin Baker setet i stedet. Det gikk bra med ham, og den Russiske tråleren som lå lengre uti havgapet fikk en riktig godbit å rapportere hjem om.
@@bjofuruh Fin historie. Ja, det er best å trekke i rett håndtak ;-) Jobbet selv som crewchief på F5, 718 skv, Sola. Du kan finne en bildefolder på linken :
www.flickr.com/photos/chcmech/albums/72157611487130859
Love it! How long are your flights typically?
These are just sled runs, so in no wind they last between 5 and 12 min. In wind, witch is not recomended on these launches, I managed 20 min once. I have to use other "normal" sites for soaring.
@@TheFjordflier You live in sled run paridise.
Don't forget to hook in man. We all need to be hooked in, but you sir, really need to be hooked in. No second chances with the stuff your jumping off.
I love all your vids bro.
@@deanfitzgerald8063 Thanks man. Yes, we all need to hook in, and verify it just a few seconds before launching. That is my biggest fear, launching unhooked. So for me the only method that works is seen clearly at 5:10 in this video. A final hook-in check just prior to launch. Lifting the glider enough to feel the leg loops verify my connection to the glider, and I'm good to go :-) Easy and simple. Cheers.
you need much trust in yourself and your Equipment to start at this cliff. one day maybe i will visit this place. Do you need a special permit to fly there?
Yes, I do trust my Airborne Fun 190. It's perfect for these kind of launches. And you are more than welcomed to fly here. You don't need any special permission, just a standard temporary Norwegian license and verification of your insurance i think.
@@TheFjordflier thats good to hear :) it seems norway is a liberal land!
Boring!! It all seems the same! Do you have something without magnificient rocky mountains, deep blue lakes and huge waterfalls?? :P :))
Ha ha, ;-) Sorry, that's what you have to expect from my channel. By the look of the thumbnails on your own channel, you don't seem far off either :-) Cheers.
@@TheFjordflier Yeah I see, you have to deal with what lays around you :) Spectacular, in this case! :) Seems I am wasting my time in the flatlands, yes we have some hills around, but nothing like that.. The only certainty is paramotor, but vibrations, noise, reliability of two-stroke..that´s a different story. Well I am just a bit jealous :D Safe flights bro!:)
@@SemiFlyingPharmacist Thanks again, and safe flights to you too !