Flyfunston

The Mentor program at Fort Funston is a great benefit to upcoming pilots but one problem we have is that our Mentors do not have the same back ground of experience to work from. It is agreed that a set of Mentor guidelines would be of great value and I have volunteered to draft them up.

The guidelines should have everything that it is important for both the pilot and the Mentor, like how to judge appropriate wind conditions, how to design a good flight plan, how to describe rotor areas, etc. etc.

I would like to hear what experienced pilots think needs to be taught, and I also want to hear from our upcoming pilots about what tips they have found valuable and especially if something was missed that they really wish they had known about.

All suggestions and feedback will be appreciated!

Please email me directly; srskypuppy@earthlinkdotnet

Thanks!

I sent this info to Steve and posted it here to help stimulate any additional
thoughts or ideas. Steve is driving the final version so help us all out and e-mail Steve with YOUR ideas.

Mentor guide: Fort Funston
Tom Jensen 22 Aug 2008

Overview:
Fort Funston is a great site to fly hang gliders. We must remember there are others we share the park with. Flying can be mellow or terrifying, always look out for air traffic and pedestrians using the path to the beach. If it looks like there may be people in the LZ or on the path, relax and make another pass. You must always land 25’ or more away from pedestrians. The Fellow Feathers Club has control over all flying in the park. No R/C flying is allowed when hang gliders are attempting to launch, fly or land. Fly with your ties so if you have to land on the beach, you can break down your glider and walk it up. Observe international rules of separation and right of way.

Beach Areas (landing area and obstructions)
1: Near south path walk up: South walkup is the best place to land, always land in the south direction or north direction, never west. When the wind is straight in, the landing area is usually calm, if its south on top it will be south on the beach, If its north on top it’s usually always north on the beach.
2: Sewer Pipe obstruction: Below the observation deck and slightly north is a sewer pipe that extends out into the surf; do not attempt a landing approach near this pipe. The pipe is so high you have to climb over it to get to the other side, avoid the pipe; also there is an out cropping between the pipe and the north walk up. Sometimes difficult to get around this area so land way north near the walk up (gap) or the south walk up. Sometimes when the tide is high it’s tough to get your glider out if you are between the pipe and outcropping.
3: North walk up: This is a good landing area; however, it’s a long walk back to the parking lot.
4: Ocean Beach: This is a good place to land when flying shear conditions.
5: Vent pipes: There are vent pipes north of the north gap, be prepared to avoid them when landing. They are about 8” in diameter; just don’t look at them when you make your landing approach.

Launching and landing
Light wind: 12-14 Medium wind: 15-22 Strong wind: 23-35

General best practices:
Launches in light and medium conditions should be aggressive. In medium conditions, have fun feeling the glider and being super man. In strong conditions try to get used to handling the glider from the base tube. When it’s blowing very strong, keep the pitch neutral while you walk out to the lift band, (you should be able to do this yourself). Keep the control bar 4-8 inches off the ground and the nose down (neutral pitch) and don’t tension your harness lines until you get to the lip... let the nose up very slowly, harness strap tensions slowly... bend you knees and fly away, make your first turn quickly. I’ve seen mountain pilots fly right out of the lift band and have to land on the beach.
Landings: The dominant factor in all top landings is avoiding the bush rotor, the smaller path rotor and people. Check the LZ to make sure it’s clear before leaving the lift band. If you get confused or get a panic attack just land on the beach, always avoid the surf. In medium or strong conditions there is always a strong rotor to welcome you on your landing approach, usually just when you are moving your hands from the base tube to down tube is when you end up grabbing air instead of the down tube. Yes, it happens all the time. I suggest flying using your down tubes before you leave the lift band. Landing approaches should be at a slightly higher air speed than trim, you will land where you are looking. While landing consider arching your back, bend at the knees, ankles crossed, belt buckle out, shoulders back, thumbs out, eyes forward, hands at waist level then shoulder height before flare. Fly the glider to the ground and don’t flare too early. Feel the bar pressure between your fingers and the leading edge of your down tube from pulling in, burn off your energy. When you feel the down tube pressure (from pulling in) against your fingers lighten and then go away, you can flare without fear of ballooning up high and ground looping.

Options for different flying conditions
Light S/W
Take off: Aggressive! If it’s sunny and warm the wind can be enough to soar but be aware that a sunny warm bubble of air can form on the land and block flow for a short period of time and send all gliders trying to land at the same time. When soaring use stick thermal techniques to auger thru the light lift and no-lift zones. Don’t launch if there are more than two or three gliders up and it’s sunny.
- Normal landing: Land on top to the south, when going south (north of the deck) fly over the bush and glider assembly area back S/E of the water fountain turn into the wind and land. If your high enough you can do a left 270 way south of the take off area and land to the S/W
- Landing with fog: Leave ridge north of the bush, fly over set up area, and land southwest back far from the edge rotor.

Light West
Take off: Aggressive, turn quickly, stick thermal fly, you can get high at the north end and use that altitude to give you more landing options.
Normal landing: south approach and then a left 270 then straight in west.
Landing with fog: be aware of other traffic, you can “see down” so use your references and go back far enough and keep your speed up. Ground speed is high and things happen quickly.

Light N/W
Take off: Aggressive slant to the n/w be ready for left wing to pop up, keep nice and close in ground track into the lift band, ask someone to see if there is traffic to the N/W (around the corner) before you run hard on your take off. Don’t lollygag on your run and turn quickly to stay in the narrow lift band.
Normal landing. Land in the wedge area south of take off (what’s left when you factor in the bush rotor). Consider an approach over the path where the fence is. Land far back or up on the chip area, avoid the path directly it’s low and you will hit dead air (gradient).
Landing with fog: Be aware of pedestrians on the ground and land in the wedge area.
Medium S/W
Take off: This is the sweet direction, get your straps tight run and fly it off.
Normal landing: South approach from the ridge south of the take off area then a left 270. The LZ is usually safe and smooth; always keep your approach speed up as usual. It’s usually not a good idea to stall to loose altitude.
Landing with fog: Don’t get to high into the clouds know where the other gliders are.

Medium West
Take off: Aggressive and don’t fly out to far
Normal landing: Left 270 then west into the LZ or come in over the bush and into the LZ
Medium N/W
Take off: Hard run
Landing: Land in the wedge
Landing with fog: watch out for gliders.

Strong S/W
Take off: Walk the glider out to the edge as far as possible with neutral pitch, and then lift the nose up slowly until you the harness straps pick up tension. Help on one wire might be a good idea, don’t let the wireman hold any pressure on your side wire so you have total control of the glider before “clear”. Your wireman should only be there to help as a backup if you loose control. You should always control the glider 100% before saying “clear”
Normal landing: The LZ is usually sweet
Landing with fog: Keep clear of others.

Strong West
Take off: Get out into the lift band where the air is smoother before “clear”.
Normal landing. The rotor can be strong, pull in, and be ready for it
Landing with fog or if fogged in. You can fly down to the south to the smaller ridges and soar all day, when the fog lifts up enough come back and land on top.

Strong N/W
Take off: Yaw wing until you have equal pressure no matter what direction the wing is pointed, keep your left wing down and anticipate a roll to the right.
Normal landing: Land in the wedge south of take off or land south of the parking lot on the east half of the LZ in the red vegetation area. You will have a high head wind so don’t go back to far, you can do figure eight turns if your to high. It’s decent air unless a big RV pulls in front of you.
Landing with fog: Use the wedge, you will need to land way back downwind of the path.
Shear: Launch same, landing the same or use beach. Single surface gliders are not recommended due to strong headwinds. Have fun, relax, you can always land on the beach if you feel overwhelmed or things get scary.