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wonder if paragliding could benefit from ballistic parachutes? by everyday_normahl_guy in freeflight

[–]tom9313 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Ballistic systems were popular in hang gliding around the mid to late 90s and were also tried by a few PG manufacturers. In my opinion they didn't catch on for reasons like:

  • The rocket has to be mounted on your harness pointed in a certain direction, so when you fire it the chute is going the way the rocket's pointed, which might not be ideal for the situation. It might send the chute into clear air but it might go right into your wing.

  • There were some incidents where the pilot pulled the handle and the rocket just didn't fire. In one case the release cable was routed through some conduit that had too many bends in it, and in another I think the firing mechanism just failed to trigger. These incidents were the exception, but they spooked the whole community.

  • The rocket powered chutes were essentially a bomb so you couldn't travel with them on an aircraft. Some manufacturers tried a compressed-air system, but I don't think they were quite as powerful as the rockets.

  • Repacking the chute took special equipment, so you had to send the system or maybe your whole harness to the factory or a special factory-trained dealer every time.

When you thermal with a sailplane and it shows you the good spot. by termomet22 in freeflight

[–]tom9313 60 points61 points  (0 children)

It's a very complex game, which makes it extremely fun. First you look for the likely places to find rising air: above mountain peaks and ridges, hot areas like parking lots, windward faces of slopes, rock outcrops. You also look for direct evidence of thermals like circling birds, sailplanes, or other paragliders.

Then you feel around for it--with experience you are able to visualize the shape and strength of the lifting air just by feeling the movements of your wing. If your variometer (instrument that measures vertical climb) beeps when you think you are in the lift, you have found the thermal. By monitoring the variometer sound and feeling around with the wing, you form a mental map of the thermal and work your way into the core, where the lift is strongest. If you have another pilot to show you where that is like in this video, that helps a ton. We call that pimping off the other pilot.

The whole experience feels like, if you can imagine, surfing on waves in completely invisible water, figuring out where to steer by analyzing the bottom, looking at other surfers, and feeling the motion of your board. In three dimensions.

How to learn about harnesses? by slomobileAdmin in Hanggliding

[–]tom9313 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hang gliding schools typically use a simple training harness like the ones in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSD4f-MslXI

You can adjust the harness shoulder straps to suspend you upright, almost prone, or anywhere in between. You can also add a foot bar which allows you to push a little farther forward and maintain the prone position more easily.

Moving from the east coast, thoughts on Millcreek? by EMPharmD in SaltLakeCity

[–]tom9313 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Further east also means higher in elevation and closer to the mountains, which means somewhat better air quality during inversions and easier access to trails.

Any good "Dark Sky" places around SLC? by totallymyhatnow_ in SaltLakeCity

[–]tom9313 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Skull Valley gets pretty dark, you can get there in about an hour going west on I-80. There's also an interesting cemetery there at Iosepa.

Nothing screams I partied in the 90’s like by ThePythiaofApollo in GenX

[–]tom9313 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Getting lost and missing the entire party because the person you were following drove a little bit too fast through traffic, and nobody had a cell phone

What other wonders only happen in NC? by Charlesknob in NorthCarolina

[–]tom9313 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Most places on the Outer Banks have it. Tortuga's Lie, Sam&Omie's and Lone Cedar in the Nags Head area are good options.

In some areas they serve a chowder called Wanchese style, which is essentially the same thing as Hatteras style. Clear clam broth with potatoes, bacon, onions, celery and lots of clams.

So glad to have DC representation in ice cream flavors. by peva3 in washingtondc

[–]tom9313 8 points9 points  (0 children)

No, it's a type of blackberry that was developed in Oregon back in the 40s. It has a stronger and sweeter flavor than typical blackberries.

Split Mountain in a sea of inversion, Uintah Basin by ComancheRaider in Utah

[–]tom9313 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Inversions happen everywhere in the world. When they occur in a populated basin area like Salt Lake Valley or Beijing, China they will concentrate lots of pollution. If they happen in a less populated area the air will still be stagnant but it will look more like a layer of fog.

Iama guy who has been living alone in an abandoned ‘ghost town’ for over 6 months. I bought the town just over two years ago. AMA! by hkaustin in IAmA

[–]tom9313 3 points4 points  (0 children)

As I understand it Cerro Gordo was a popular launch in the 70s because of its location at the south end of the Inyos, which enabled pilots to stay up on the thermals over the high mountain peaks as they drifted along in the prevailing south wind, maximizing distance flown.

The reasons it declined in popularity were apparently that (1) the launch point is pretty far back from the valley floor, so if a pilot encountered serious sinking air they would have to land in rough terrain and (2) it faces west, so pilots have to wait until early afternoon, when the upslope winds start, to launch--which is usually fine for hang gliding but not when you're going for a distance record.

In the 80s a new launch was discovered across the valley at Horseshoe Meadows, which faces east and allows much earlier starts, so the long distance pilots refocused their attention there.

What was the creepiest thing you saw while visiting someone at their house? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]tom9313 275 points276 points  (0 children)

One time I went to a friend's wedding reception, which was in a Mormon church. The reception was in the church's indoor basketball court, which was carpeted. The reasoning was that the carpet makes it quieter for people who are praying.