Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it a......

Hang glider!
I've noticed lately they have been getting plenty of air time in while twiddeling my thumbs waiting for enough wind to sail. Wondered if anyone here is into it or thought about it as I've booked in for a week long course next weekend. Tried it a long time ago but wrote the glider off (should of taken lessons).

You only live twice

Really they sell them in the paper?
That means the quokka would have some great deals.
All I ever hear of hang gliders is them crashing.

'All I ever hear of hang gliders is them crashing.'
Not any more, all those guys are dead now, it's just the good pilots left.

'.stall.. and crash it into the cliff...'
It was actually a half cuben eight with a perfect 90 Deg. landing. The only scary bit was going inverted and going in head first.

'Paragliders look better, had a tandem in Aneccy France, so good getting in the thermals'
Oh yeah, thats where I want to be. It was a hard choice between the two but the coin landed on heads so hang gliding it is. So looking forward to it , it can't come quick enough.

Thought the same thing as well. I'll probably give paragliding a go down the track, they are a lot more portable, get going in lighter breeze and out sell hang gliders in Europe 20 to 1, sounds familiar. The H/g handles stronger wind, faster,much better glide ratio but you pay for it in longer rigging time and transporting (packs up to around 6 meters long though some new models at 2.1 meters).
5 days to go, it's like being a kid waiting to open your xmas prezzies.

I used to hang glide in my uni days. It was a total buzz and one of the best things I have ever done - even better than kiting! . Two seasons of Polo was close, but that is another story.

There is a big difference between HG's and PG's (we used to call PG's Jellyfish). As you can imagine the HG is much faster, more maneuverable and needs a lot more skill to fly it successfully. The glide ratio is much better - ie more efficient, and consequently you can travel enormous distances cross country using thermals. It is also harder to fly, harder to launch, harder to land, and needs more room than a PG. I would also consider it riskier due to this and the fact you are prone (head first). I have seen a guy killed and used to fly with a paraplegic girl (yes did it HGíng, but she just got a set of wheels to launch and land).

The biggest thing about a HG is that it is probably the closest thing to flying you will ever do. Sitting in a chair hanging about just doesn't count in the "flying like a bird" or Superman stakes. Cross country flying going from thermal to thermal is one of the most challenging and exhilarating activities ever. I will never forget the feeling of thinking "thats it I am bombing out" and looking for a place to land, when you feel a jolt and the vario starts screaming with a 5m/sec uplift. The adrenaline kicks in, you try guess what part of the thermal you are in (or maybe are now spat out of) and crank it over at 60deg to come back into it and back up into clear sky again. Guys were doing 200-300km in day, from Beachmont (back of Gold Coast) to Dalby. I heard a guy got to Chinchilla last year (over 300km).

The biggest downside with HGíng is that is takes time and effort and you need to keep up your hours and fitness (it is hard work, like continually doing pushups). It is not a once every few months sport. It is an every weekend thing. I kept my glider for 5 years after my last fly hoping I would find the time to get back into it. For safety I knew I would have to start back at the basics and work my up and I just never got there.

PG's are great for ridge lift situations (coastal cliffs etc) or a quick jump off a mountain. They are easier and more versatile to launch/land and travel with. They are easier to learn on and much less dangerous. This is why they are so popular - time and ease. They can of course travel cross country and fly thermals etc, but not as well as a HG. HG's can tow too - some of the best flights I had were out in the flat, blacksoil country (thermal's lined up like streets) and towed up to 1000ft off the back of a kingswood at a country airstrip.

If you have the time to spend on the sport do HGíng, IMO it kills PGíng in all aspects apart from ease (of everything). But don't expect to have any other life...... If you are looking for something fun to do that is pretty close, and a lot easier to get into then go PG'ing. Also if there is not much in your area other than ridge lift then also go PGíng. The key to HG is being able to go cross country.

All my opinion only - and admittedly I am out of touch by 10 years, but I doubt the basics have changed, just the safety and efficiency.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=563257

Check this out

If you feel like flying, this has to come pretty close...

It's been around for a while, so you may have already seen it:
http://www.compare-network-monitoring-tools.com/letsrace.html

Just got back from Wyalkatchem where the lessons were cut short due to one no show, one, a day late arrival, and one girl went home to regather her thoughts after a couple of hard landings. Hopefully can finish off over the next couple of weekends. 5 hours ago I was getting towed up to 1000 ft before cutting the the tow rope and flying back to the LZ, oh what a feeling! not dieing. Had three flights in total, all went smooth without a scratch.
I feel windsurfing helped to pick it up fast, with all the small adjustments made when sailing is similar to those in keeping the glider trimmed. If you can windsurf, you can hang glide, it's so much easier. Take off to 200 ft and land solo the first day, that's like water starting and planing in the harness. Then 1000ft circling the sky the second day, that's gybing! it's just a matter of getting your head around the fear factor.
PS windsurfing still kicks arse.

Definitely, Sat morning went up in a microlight trike to get the feel of weight shift control, then two runs in a HG tethered to a huge flat trailer so at 6ft up you get comfortable with it. Once you feel competent they tow the HG up to 50ft for 1 1/2 km, stop the car, the rope goes slack and glide down to land (they call it a bunny hop).
Next day it's a 200ft bunny hop and if all goes well (which it did) it's the full 1000ft tow and release to fly back to the LZ.
I need a few more tows to get my hours up, then two 15 minute soaring flights, an exam and I'll be a Top-Gun. A lot less intense than yours Paradox.
The instructor (Shaun Wallace at Light Flight) said when he did his all he had to do was take off, turn left then right and land. His mate crashed on landing, the instructor yelled out "are you alright?" and the reply was "yyeeaahhh", " well that's good enough for me", they passed. Haven't things changed.
If anyones thinking about it, PM me your # and I'll see if I can talk you into it.

Oh,man, you've got some awesome cliffs down there, got a spare room?
The main man in that vid is Shaun the instructor, funny guy. Inspirational stuff, itchin' to get my first set of wings.

Yeah, that's the harness I want, that ones called a Mosquito harness. The ridged wing glider he's using is a fast wing and helps to have a good headwind( or roller blades ).
Not the most graceful of takeoffs but even though, very little to no damage would have be done and would be right to go after another preflight inspection.
At the training site there were a few less than perfect takeoffs and landings which made that one look tame but there were no injuries and only a couple of down tubes bent which is like a built in give point to absorb any impact, a 1 minute job to replace. Their not as fragile as they look.

This thread is awesome.

When does Mt Tamborine work, on a westerly I presume? Might go out one day and watch.

The paragliders definately have the advantage in the portability stakes. I was in a cable car in Austria with some backpackers. At the top they unpacked their bags and flew away.

Esperance brings in the memories, the first H/G flight over one hour in WA, I guess it would be 1977. As the first to fly Observatory, and Twilight, the sites will always belong to me.!
I gave up hang gliding, after building a house on the edge of the best dune gliding , and the best windsurfing beach in the Metro area.. Wanbro Sound, Safety Bay. I used to come home, on a Saturday arvo, and have a beer as I made up my mind which toy to get out of the shed. After a beer or two it had to be a sail!

To compare, its the adrenaline that counts...I never have a good windsurf unless I get really scared, and yet I never get hurt. After a few years Gliding you start to get bored and suddenly your dead.

Good luck to all you flyers and sailors....Jay

Yeah - Tambo would be working on ridge lift now - westerlies are the go. It also works in summer on hot light wind days chasing thermals - harder and more advanced flying though. Generally when the SE's are blowing everyone heads to Beachmont, which is over the back of Mt Tamborine and facing the Gold Coast. Take off from there and that is where they do the big down wind cross country runs over the great dividing range.

I remember playing in a big touch footy comp at Beaudesert and one of my mates I hanglided with was flying over on a big cross country run, needed to land and saw the footy fields and beer tent - perfect LZ!! He was rather surprised when I came over and handed him a beer and a burger.

Also when I first met my wife we went to Mt Tambo for lunch with my dad (post Hang Gliding days). We went and watched them flying and I was answering the normal question "do they ever fall out of the sky?" with a scoffing, "practically never, it is the landings that get you!". About 10secs later my future wife says "then what is that guy doing!" And of course some dude had folded his kite doing a loop directly over the take off area. Fell 150m and just got his shute out before he hit the ground.

That pretty much ended any hope of me getting back into it as far as my wife was concerned.

I agree with Jay though - you get complacent or overconfident and you get dead. I saw lots of accidents (including me) and one guy killed on landing. Most were advanced pilots pushing their limits or being lazy. The guy killed was an advanced dude, and wanted to land on the far side of the power lines at the Tambo bomb out paddock. Landing on the easy side was for Noobs and you had to walk further! (sound familiar!). Apparently he did not have enough height to get over them so decided to dive and duck under. Hit the ground with his A frame at speed and still prone, swung up and hit his head on the main spar. Cracked his helmet in half.

Well done

Awesome dude