A COLLECTION OF CLIFF LAUNCHES

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