Interesting collection of videos ...

The first pilot could have benefitted from Joe Greblo's training to go upright a bit earlier.

The car stopper was impressive. It must be anchored pretty well.

The crew members jumping the arresting cable were quick as cats.

I'm glad the pigeon net was used on pigeons and not Hawks. Let's not give USHPA any ideas. 

Safe-Splat solutions may take a hard look into stabilizing the head and neck, not just conventional helmeting. Filling the gap of the neck, bracing the head, and prevent compression of the head into the spine by arresting at the shoulders and hip may arrive to the solution space. 

Skull impacts

Neck fill

Brace head linearly to torso

Prevent compression of head into spine *arrest at shoulders, hip, thigh

Arrest-limit lines without rebound to be based from the lower end of the two queenposts 
(uprights; downtubes; sides of control frame; side edges of triangle control frame (TCF) )???

Additionally; 'retractable landing gear' may be the direction this is going. In the specific instance, the cart, or dolly, may be attached semi-permanently, allowing for extending of the feet as the gear in question! As for body protection, the air bags were to be strategically placed to take into account your very real concern for our fragility. Another Time,Terry

Each of those points are chapters in this game. "Retractable" is cousin to deployable. Bob Kuczewski gave high focus in a conversation a day or so ago, on out-of-the-way deployable Safe-Splat for those intending long flights; the "out-of-way" solutions would not be need for those specializing in very short flights where launching and landing are very close in time. 

In the stream: 
http://static.rcgroups.net/forums/attac ... 030501.jpg
How to deploy various Safe-Splat solutions?

  Tony Prentice, hang glider pioneer of UK, offers:


When doing low level testing the skis provided a fail safe allowing a belly landing without damage. Some of the slopes used for testing were very shallow and extended glides in ground effect would bleed off speed leaving insufficient for a full flare stand up landing. The skis also allowed a complete novice (see attached photos) to master the landing without too much drama. 
~Tony Prentice 
[Note expressed on 8Jan2012 concerning the 1970s explorations.]
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In this Safe-Splat project at US Hawks, someone may consider advancing a deployable version of what is seen. 


 All experimentation invites the highest of safety practices. 
No warranty of function or safety is implied in any note in this project. 

Invited all: to forward arrest lines for Safe-Splat systems. We need to retain flying control authority in any solution. 

Motivation: 

Knee cap, patella, 
Most of us have two knee cap bones. They usually stick out in front of us. Projections! Shrubs and boulders and kneecaps do not mix well. A dragging HG pilot in splats may aim to prepare to protect knee caps. 

Non-catching guard plates that have a bonded inner foam may begin structure higher up the body in order to effect a ski-protection. Just local guard for impact does not take into account the sliding jeopardy. Avoid catchy constructions. What have we? 

Fill frontal thigh to a level more frontal than the knee cap and then have plating that continues past the top of the knee. Think smooth without bumps. Consider integration with flight suit. Think fish scales or roofing tab layering as a shin and toe guarding will be next in the slide-hit challenge.

Two distinct branches of attention: 
1. Pod solutions.
2. Non-pod solutions. This realm personally has my first attention.


Solutions and forwardings for kneecap in Safe-Splat are invited. 
General images where perhaps not one satisfies (in dragging most, if not all seen, have catchy aspects that brings my "no" vote), but might be a source of ideas:http://tinyurl.com/KneeguardsLIFTimages

Encouragement from ducks: 
http://www.henkvanderheijden.nl/history-movies/Gliding%20is%20fun.wmv

Hi Joe,

That's funny with the ducks.

You might have something in the patella protector.

Sam  Good to hear from you!  
Yes, animals may lead the way. Water Safe-Splat. Ice and just enough friction, etc. 

How might explosives play in 
airbags or 
short lift or 
short airspeed regain or ?

Exposure motivation for SSS (Safe-Splat Solutions).

Tow shares on project: 
1. Motivation: 

2. Plate inner backed with frequency-lowering shock-absorbing foam shaped to fit pilot curves. High-frequency tends to shatter bones; this is partially mitigated by lowering the frequencies of impact. Spreading the forces by outer plates also helps.

Excellent videos Joe!!

We could use the towing example in several places in the training manual. It's obviously applicable to towing, but it also shows how long it takes to recover (or not recover) from a stall break at low altitude. Do you know what caused the rapid pitch up just prior to the stall?

Thanks for a great find!!

Clarification over the note:

JoeF wrote:Tow shares on project: ...
2. Plate inner backed with frequency-lowering shock-absorbing foam shaped to fit pilot curves. High-frequency tends to shatter bones; this is partially mitigated by lowering the frequencies of impact. Spreading the forces by outer plates also helps.

By "frequency" is not meant the number of incidents, but rather the vibrations set up at a particular impact. Hit a hammer on glass with the glass based on concrete and notice that the impact frequencies are high, i.e., the number of oscillations per second. Bones shatter more easily when the frequencies set up in an incident are high. One task is to reduce the frequency that occurs in an impact. 
====
BobK,
On that last video: I do not have the detail story behind the sudden pitch up to stall. Open matter until we get it. 
Yes, for a particular glider with a particular pilot: a certain recovery vertical distance! Such distance is something that should be well known by each pilot.
JoeF

================
New furthering: 
For ski runners in Safe-Splat: I aim to explore titanium tube holding an interior safety cable.

JoeF wrote:Tow shares on project: 
1. Motivation: 

2. Plate inner backed with frequency-lowering shock-absorbing foam shaped to fit pilot curves. High-frequency tends to shatter bones; this is partially mitigated by lowering the frequencies of impact. Spreading the forces by outer plates also helps.

From the looks of the “hang gliding ouch” and the other video’s by Harastee their tow method looks to have the primary release hanging from the keel ahead of the hang strap.
It looks to be a two point bridle (keel to tow/ring to pilots waste.) I think it looks like a one to one bridle.
On a video Hg kurs Lillestrøm 3:32 and 3:40 it looks like a barrel release near his body/leg. (Back up release.) 
They all seem to be dragging the un-threaded tow bridle upon landing.
I can’t see how they are activating the release.
Speculation:
1) Weaklink break during a steep unrestrained climb.
2) Release during a steep unrestrained climb.

Resulting in a hammerhead stall too close to the ground.

The motor rpm didn’t increase at the start of the steep climb out. 
It was overcast but that wouldn’t necessarily rule out flying into a thermal to cause the steep climb out. 
Did the pilot push out to cause the steep climb out? 
Did the pilot climb out of the lower wind speed gradient into a faster wind speed to start the steep climb out?

The cause of this crash should not be placed on a release failure or a weaklink failure. 
A pilot should never tow in such a fashion that does not plan, at any second, for a weaklink failure, line break, scooter failure, encountering a thermal, or wind gradient.

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Fun FromDayOne!
Bill, thanks for forwarding examination of the stall video.
==============================
Toward busable HGs with Safe-Splat solutions: 

Legend: FLG flatland long gliding starts and stops soon off flatland.
Other legend glossary: HERE.

billcummings wrote:Resulting in a hammerhead stall too close to the ground.

The motor rpm didn’t increase at the start of the steep climb out. 
It was overcast but that wouldn’t necessarily rule out flying into a thermal to cause the steep climb out. 
Did the pilot push out to cause the steep climb out? 
Did the pilot climb out of the lower wind speed gradient into a faster wind speed to start the steep climb out?

The cause of this crash should not be placed on a release failure or a weaklink failure. 
A pilot should never tow in such a fashion that does not plan, at any second, for a weaklink failure, line break, scooter failure, encountering a thermal, or wind gradient.

Hi Bill,

The pilot/student seemed to be keeping the glider level. That's a good thing. I surely agree that you always have to be ready for a premature release.

The scooter operator seemed to be the contributing cause.
First, the glider was too high to be a low&slow method.
Then, when the pitch up occured, the operator throttled back too much.  

Seems to me if the operator towed with enough force to ger the glider that far off the ground, cutting the throttle completely was a mistake.

I've seen a Reg11 instructor make some bad errors as operator.
Once, immediately after release, reduced throttle resulted in the glider hitting the drogue. Luckily nothing tangled. 


We got the roller fairlead for our scooter tow, today.  
We're about ready to try it out.
A Condor or Falcon 195 with big wheels would be nice.

Motivation for Safe-Splat, perhaps: 
Funny Hang Glider Crashes

=================================
Forwarding one avenue of Safe Splat: 
There seems to be some opportunity in lateral splay of ski runner with resistive arrangement off the TCF basebar; such might be combined with some vertical resist along (or into) the two queenpost uprights. Splay left for left runner and splay right for right runner might win.