3 Comments

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  by Charles 11 months ago

  Kind of a cool enclosed hang-glider. It looks like it has the single wheel of a sailplane located just aft of the pilot on the bottom of the enclosure. Assuming that the "cockpit" is made of a carbon fibre composite, it should be strong enough that you can keep your legs inside and land on the wheel. Then, when you have slowed enough, you can just stand up. Alternatively, you could try to extend your legs just before the flair, and land in a run or standing up depending upon wind, but that would probably change all of the flight characteristics just at the wrong time and might lead to a messy ending to a fun flight. Since the video was shot in 2007, and we haven't heard anything more about it, my guess is that it didn't catch on. But it looks great and the builder and pilot should be very proud of their craft.
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  by Timothy E 11 months ago

  It's a SWIFT (Swept Wing with Inboard Flap Trim), taking off from Monte Cucco, a hill above Sigillo, Italy, site of the upcoming World Hang Gliding Championships in the second half of July. I'd even wager a guess that the pilot is Switzerland's Steve Cox.
  
  The Swift is a hang glider designed in the late 80's at a university in California (I forget which one) to be the ultimate hang glider, prompting the international organization that recognizes all forms of free flight, C.I.V.L., to create a second and separate class for it for competitions; Class II.
  
  It caught on, yes, but not big, as it's a lot of money for what amounts to a combination of the worst aspect of a hang glider (a lot of heavy lifting) with sub-par sailplane performance. Most pilots who'd contemplate getting one bypass it and go directly to either to sailplanes for a better performance or hang gliders for the simplicity and joy of flying headfirst in the open air like superman. Even so, there are a dedicated group who congregate bi-annually for the official Class II World Hang Gliding Championships (the last time was May 2010 in Schwangau, Germany).
  
  To legally fall into a hang glider category for the sake of competition and setting records, a hang glider must be both foot launchable AND foot landable. Because of its higher landing speed (as well as a greater risk to one's wallet from a bad landing), pilots normally land on the rear wheel and skid, then unvelcro the windscreen to step out. One pilot, however, has actually foot-landed it. American Brian Porter did it only once in front of witnesses maybe ten years ago just to quell the controversy of whether or not it qualified as a hang glider.
  
  Though originally built in the States, the Swift is currently built by the Belgium company Aeriane. More information about it can be found at http://www.aeriane.com
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  by Doug Rodrigues 10 months ago

  I suppose that the pilot that the pilot could wear roller skates in the event that the wind quit? :-) Just kidding. I once asked a fellow saileplane pilot, who also flew hang gliders, what it felt like to fly out in the open? He said, "Feels similar to sailplanes, but not as comfortable.