Home Made Hang Glider

Here are some pretty pics of the glider actually flying. Click for larger version.

Videos are available here. Direct links: All Flying (just clips of flying), Longer footage of flying (crashes and yelling included). See flight log for explanations.

Flight Log

May 25, 2008 - After sleeping through the alarm, getting way lost, and being pulled over by the police, we made it to the beach. Wind was quite strong, 5 degrees off parallel from the shore. The idea was to fly the glider like a kite: Rachael would hold the rope connected to the front, and I would just nose up. The glider certainly flew, but took Rach right off the ground. As such the glider flipped backwards with me attached. We took the advice of a random french man wandering by: "I suggest you stop while you still have two legs." The frame was quite bent as well.

May 24, 2008 (evening) - 10mph gusty wind up McGill Hill in Solebury PA. Longest flight to date, about half the hill. The camera was (of course) not on for the longest flight, but the second to longest is in the videos. If you look in the longer video you will see Mike touch the frame and scream - we were under very high voltage power lines. The metal frame of the glider became a paristic conductor, and at certain angles to the wires would shock the hell out of you. A picture of me: (note that I was about to stall since I had the bar that far forward)

May 24, 2008 (morning) - Very low wind about 15 degrees to McGill Hill in Solebury PA. At first I acheived Controlled Falling, where I would simply stall down the hill. Eventually I managed to control things, and flew a fair distance. The wind was only on the top half of the hill, so by the time I got in the air the wind gave out and I'd be back on the ground shortly.

February, 2008 - A group of us from WPI went to a nearby hill to attempt flight. There was a lot of snow, so skis were employed. We got a good bit of air speed, but still almost no lift. I suspect we need a more serious angle of attack. Me during the event:

December 15, 2007 I finally got a dry day while visiting my parents in NJ. This was the first time I had the glider fully assembled and outside. I had hoped to simply take a few steps and glide off into the distance, but alas... One problem was that the wind ran purpendicular to the large hill at the park. As such, I could either run into the wind or down the hill. A nice pic none the less:

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-Jack Carrozzo