fuzzybabybunny Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 I think I just had my most miserable day. I've been having some pretty good flights recently. Today the weather looked good at this one sports field I've never been to about 10km by the coast. I didn't want to launch on the beach because the sand there is very fine and I didn't want to get sand in everything. Anyway, my full Backbone ROS 125 is 28kg empty. With 10L fuel it is 35.5kg. With reserve is 37kg. And it's a high hang point. I tried and failed to forward launch in nil wind literally six times. My Ozone Spyder would just hang back even with hands up or one side would go higher than the other and of course with each successive failure I got more tired and less fast at running. I had to unbuckle all five buckles and get the unit off my back at least five times because it would frequently lose its prime and I had to reprime it and put it back on my back again. A few times lines fell on me and got tangled on the cage and all the little knobby bits of the frame, requiring taking off the entire unit. Sometimes the wind would come and I would try reverse launching but with always the same result. Finally after three hours I stopped everything, thoroughly frustrated. I got out my PG harness just to ground handle and see what was up and I was able to get the wing up with minimal problem but keeping it up was difficult because it was an inland site and the wind wasn't very consistent and the direction would change. Still, if I had been under power I probably could have launched just fine. I wasn't even able to get it up with the motor unit, much less have it track straight on a run. Anyway, I have much much much less feel for the wing with my motor unit. I wonder if the high hang point contributes to this numb feeling. The 37kg weight probably didn't help matters much. Really makes me want to get a Miniplane with low hang points that's 28kg all up including 10L fuel. Anyone else have days like this, where you feel like you're back to being a clueless student? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_k Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 Sometimes, particularly with nil wind. I usually give up after the third attempt thinking it is not meant to be today. Six tries is impressive but you are a lot younger than me. Do you really need 10 litres? When I moved to low hang point I did find it easier doing forwards. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzybabybunny Posted October 2, 2016 Author Share Posted October 2, 2016 (edited) 44 minutes ago, alan_k said: Sometimes, particularly with nil wind. I usually give up after the third attempt thinking it is not meant to be today. Six tries is impressive but you are a lot younger than me. Do you really need 10 litres? When I moved to low hang point I did find it easier doing forwards. Cheers. lol, well at least on the upside my massive number of failures was impressive. I had six forward launch failures and maybe two reverse launch failures. So total of eight. It might have been more because I was there failing for what seemed like three hours. I'm 30 but it just completely trashed me. I got there at about 1:30. I had 10 liters because I wanted to go for a 3 hour flight - had some destinations I had never flown to. Sun sets at 7:00 and I figured even if I didn't get up until 4pm I could still have a good scoot. I've also read that reflex wings like mine are harder to bring up. On the forward launch especially they need full commitment, something difficult to do if it's nil wind and you're already tired and lugging around a 37kg machine with zero feeling being transmitted through the high hang point. Sure, high hang point dampens turbulence better, but man, the loss of feeling and the complete loss of weight shift steering ability is just horrible. I can't wait until I can move to a low hang point. The thing that I don't understand is that I've had plenty of successful near-nil reverse launches in inland sites in the past, mostly thanks to the ultralight material of the Spyder. I dumped some gasoline on my wing yesterday and aired it out for a couple of hours so I'm not sure if that could be the reason for the wing not coming up easily today? Edited October 2, 2016 by fuzzybabybunny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notch Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 (edited) Nill wind is not the hardest to launch in. Its when the wind is shifting all over the show due to thermals or rotor. Makes it almost impossible to launch. Do you create an artificial breeze with your motor before committing? That technique has helped me loads. Also holding the risers as the wing comes up gives me a feel for whats going on with the wing, so I can take the appropriate action - with the weight of the paramotor, you can no longer feel whats going on... Edited October 2, 2016 by notch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_k Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 Got to agree with the shifting all over the compass. I've been on he field a few times where I have chased the wind around the compass, then given up and gone home .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dariuszk24 Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 Hey fuzzy ,I not agree with you "Sure, high hang point dampens turbulence better, but man" It not dampens at all any turbulence. You simply not able to feel the air around you On high hang points ,you are hanged like piece of meat in morrison on the wall hook.? Agree with notch, you need artificial breeze from motor,wing jump it self over your head,just sometimes need a dab of breaks to not overshot your head? I get many days when you dance with the wing and wind all day. Finaly I always give up and start dance with pint of gold liquid in nearest pub ? Try force to start=broken prop and bend frame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 Agree with the point about staying on the A's until the wing is right up. I always power launch in nil-wind, it should always work (I've even had it work on a slight down-wind launch). Also, if the wing is damp from being on wet grass it becomes harder to launch. If you've launched from wet grass in the past, it may be that your C and D line sheathes have shrunk. That can put the wing out of trim and make nil-wind launches even harder. It's very easy to stretch your lines back to normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 It's well worth having a free flying harness for these occasions. I bought one off ebay which I use only for ground handling. With the light harness, I can practice launches with minimal effort until I am happy that my technique is correct, then strap on the motor and fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.