Sylmar Hang Gliding Association

My landing resulted in broken ankle bones Sunday 09/15. The wind was about 2 MPH, and the flare was a little early. I have 2 landings with my new glider, a LitespeedS, (my old glider is the CXS), and both times the wind was light and I flared a little early. They both looked ok, but this landing I hit a rut or a gopher hole and twisted my ankle enough to break the bones. I might toss my drouge chute next time when the wind is light. Thanks to all that helped me, when I am ready to drive I wast to give you a ride up the hill.

In my opinion drogue chutes don't change your speed. They only decrease your glide. The less the air speed the less of an effect they have.

but they do reduce the risk of unintentional climbing during the flare. Jim's climbing flare was followed by his tail sliding back to earth with a 75 lb. glider above him.

Drag chutes also reduce the amount of time spent in ground effect, waiting for the time to flare.

And most importantly, they allow landings in significantly smaller fields.

The only penalty I have found using drag chutes over the past 35 years is the additional preparation, training, and discipline they require. I wouldn't suggest they be thought of as toys, but as effective tools for those willing to learn how to use them effectively.

mariasam wrote:Eddy makes a good case for using rear wire assist instead of nose wire. I've had rear wire assist back East where ramp suck was an issue and it worked great. If anyone is interested in some mutual rear wire assist practice let me know next time we're up on launch or even if it's relatively windy in the LZ we can practice there.

Obviously someone is lost on the wrong forum...

Mike Blankenhorn wrote:

mariasam wrote:Eddy makes a good case for using rear wire assist instead of nose wire. I've had rear wire assist back East where ramp suck was an issue and it worked great. If anyone is interested in some mutual rear wire assist practice let me know next time we're up on launch or even if it's relatively windy in the LZ we can practice there.

Obviously someone is lost on the wrong forum...

mariasam is a Spambot that copies text from a post in one thread and then re-posts it in another.

No ... actually there are a lot of people from Pakistan who are very interested in the SHGA, hang gliding, and safety ....

Post deleted, IP banned .... till the next one.

D-Q wrote:

Mike Blankenhorn wrote:

mariasam wrote:Eddy makes a good case for using rear wire assist instead of nose wire. I've had rear wire assist back East where ramp suck was an issue and it worked great. If anyone is interested in some mutual rear wire assist practice let me know next time we're up on launch or even if it's relatively windy in the LZ we can practice there.

Obviously someone is lost on the wrong forum...

mariasam is a Spambot that copies text from a post in one thread and then re-posts it in another.

what is the point of that, someone really bored?

Actually it's a little more malicious than that. This can go several ways. Other spambots will register and start a "conversation". After that links will be posted, websites recommended, etc etc. The links may be malicious or simply link to "cheap viagra", "cheap Nike Shoes" etc Chinese websites. With an apparent conversation going on there is an air of legitimacy.

Other spambots just post links trying to raise Google or Yahoo rankings of particular websites. This is known as "search engine optimization" (SEO).

In the end the primary goal is financial whether it's SEO, posting links to Blackhole downloaders, or simply links to counterfeit shoe or counterfeit pharmaceutical websites.

However, because the goal is financial and the incremental cost of a spambot is essentially zero, it becomes a real problem. Over any 24 hour period >95% of all traffic to our website is from IP addresses that are known spammers. Most of our traffic is from China, Venezuela, Sweden, Germany, France, Pakistan, Indonesia, Russia, Poland etc. Only a small percentage is local i.e. Southern California.

All of this is why we try and delete these posts and counterfeit identities as they appear.

I avoid all ankle injury by wearing a modified pair of Merrell Monarch hiking boots similar to this photo.


With the top 3 eyelets modified and closed so as to never snag anything. Also the tread is depleted to the thickness of a slipper. You have to lace them up for them to work, found that out on a training day and was out for 24 hours.
Never had any ankle troubles since. You can run with confidence even through ravines. Avenue S bushes are another matter.