From: "James Gaar" <blindrodie@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Re: Botched Launch OR How To Cut Down A Canadian Balsam
On my first 3(and only) Mountain launches I noticed that I went to the bottle grip (holding the down tube like I’d hold a beer bottle) as soon as the wing loaded and I was surprised at how comfortable it was in pitch and roll authority. (Falcon 195)
It even felt good staying upright until I was clear of the ridge and could transition to the base tube. All my grip changes come as a brainwave instead of conscious thought. I'm happy for that as I have enough to think about anyway.
Jim
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From: flymedave@aol.com
Subject: Re: Re: Botched Launch OR How To prevent It
blindrodie@hotmail.com writes:
<< It even felt good staying upright until I was clear of the ridge and could transition to the base tube. All my grip changes come as a brainwave instead of conscious thought. I'm happy for that as I have enough to think about anyway.
>>
Jim I don’t mean to be too critical, but this is how I see it.
We should practice and technically understand every move we make on launch.
Hoping a brain wave will automatically lead us to the proper action is more an act of faith and should be left to Sunday worship.
Every launch should be the execution of very precise actions judgments.
After Setting the pitch wings level... choosing the mostly straight in cycle...
WE SHOULD BE AWARE of moving the glider forward with our shoulders to break the inertia.
Using the bottle grip there are no grip transitions...
Be aware of the Hang straps becoming tight...
Aware of holding the pitch (Nose) from pooping...
Aware of wings level and pitch pressure building...
Aware of the lift being generated be the wing...
Aware of using your legs to power the glider through the launch...
Be using pitch and roll authority to control the transition from still to safe flight speed...
You should be able to look back at the launch and remember the whole sequence of events and how much you were aware and in control of each ...
If not go to the training hill and practice getting familiar with the whole launch sequence. Slow it down and focus on each part of the launch until you are the master of a well executed launch... It happens much faster on the
Mt, but knowing you have a solid launch technique is the good start to a great flight. Enuff Said
DaveH
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From: "Richard Heckman" <hekdic@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: Jim's grip
Jim,
I think that what you are describing as your feeling at launch is a combination of muscle memory and what I call a state of gestalt awareness, that you are acutely aware of what is happening around you without consciously focusing on any one thing. When I was racing cars I found that I only made good lap times when I could get in the zone of "soft focus" where I let all info come in without consciously trying to manage it. Your brain and body are capable of responding to many inputs without you telling it to. You see a lot more than your conscious mind can process in a timely manner. You can develop plenty of muscle memory but if you focus on one segment of a task, the other parts of a complex task suffer. Your mind shuts off some of the other input to concentrate on what you are trying to tell it.
I've found in teaching skiing that some otherwise good skiers with good technique can't put a good run together because they can't stop trying to direct their body all the time. Get them in a little tougher conditions and they fall apart. In teaching upper level classes, the biggest thing I try to work on is expanding their focus and stop micromanaging. That's the difference between a terminal intermediate and a true expert. With type A folks that's not easy.
Dave's point is well taken. There has to be a method underlying what you're doing and that has to be well thought out and have become second nature before this awareness can succeed. If we all think about our best flying, skiing or driving etc, it seemed just to happen, without conscious thought.
Just my thoughts.
Dick