Dear Eric! Great and - very important!! - job to introduce (urgently necessary !) new ideas to this sport! I'm Andreas Paschmann from Hamburg. I have spent a lot of time over my flying years, to think about - how hanggliders could get constructed for much easier, for much more comfortable usage, for much easier set-up and even for lighter weight! (By the way you have forgotten to mention one special member in the list of easy-set-up gliders, which once were available: these were the gliders called "Medil", once produced by the French company TECMA. The "Medil" glider got folded like an umbrella. All battens could stay in the sail! The set- up time was about 2 (unbelievable) minutes! It was also very light. But the problem of the long ! package- bag was still there!) We all know (at least this is definitevely the case in Europe): all the certain transporting and usage- problems of hang- gliders, combined with it's constant disturbing heavy weights, step by step, have caused that process: - "the dying-out" of hang- gliding! (In many cases to the benefit of paragliding - for real and urgent reasons behind it). Believe me: I have had them all: - I had Finsterwalders (simple- sail and double- sail gliders). I had normal gliders and also had Topless ones! And I even had 2 of those carbon rigid- wings (Extaccy and Ghostbuster). Today, for certain expectations, which I again had about them, - which for me did not (fully) come true!, I still have one of these foldable, topless wings (Fox13Tl) from Aeros - which I use as a Trike-wing. With all that I mentioned, I only wanted to try to explain: I always was on "search" for "something". But at the very end of my very long (personal) search, I more and more got convinced: - that things MUST be simple! Which means: things must be constructed simple! And I got more and more 100% convinced: - that the most simple things are the best! (Of course I'm not speaking about competition- flying etc. here). - I'm speaking about recreational flying only! I'm speaking of those flights after work. I'm speaking about these flights with friends at the weekend. I'm speaking about personal recreation and peronal, innocent fun! In this field, I know, there are a lot of things, which must be done! And I know, - all those this - can be done! The only missing ingredient here is, as so many times, - the correct idea! Therefore my beg: - if you like, Eric, bring me in contact with Florian! I have tried to Goggle him, to write him some of my ideas, but I was not sucessful! (My e-mail adress is: [email protected]). Although applauding to Florian and his braveness to travel over half of the world, to introduce his concept, - seeing your video on youtube, Eric, I immediately discovered some basic problems (or mistakes) in the concept of Florian! That concept (as I look upon it) is still (avoidable) too complicated. The main problem, that I see is, - that still battens must be used for his glider! I'm convinced: that is an absolute "no- go"! That is, exactly, - what we must get rid of! And there is a way for a construction in this direction! I say: tubings in the glider: yes! (Maybe intelligent telescope- constructions). Maybe a king-post with its cables also! Underwires also! But NO battens! Getting rid of this would solve many, if not all set-up and transportation- problems, which we still constantly are confronted with. My conviction: hang- gliders must be a construction- combination of paragliders and hang- gliders! - Know and use the benefits of each - for a certain, new hang- glider- concept ! That is my "credo"! I'm convinced: hang- gliders must have an open leading- edge. (Like a paraglider). Hang- gliders must have cells, (but no battens!) which give them it's profile. If you like to bring me in contact with Florian, I could share my construction- ideas to him! (I had my personal hours- long phone- discussions about such and other ideas with 2 German hang-glider manufacturers (which now are out of production). They were interested in the whole. But they were not at all able to realize anything. - Because it was too expensive for them, to make (real) products out of such ideas under the demands of German rules. But: the possibility is still there! Maybe if we discuss and share our ideas and by this maybe discover new ways for new and better concepts. - Which, as I believe, in the end would help all or many of us! I believe in this! Our future is still open! And we can do it! Best regards! Andreas/Hamburg

it looks stronger then it needs to be / too heavy ,

9:42 it's a play at your own risk situation.

Welcome to ye olde Piratey Hang Gliding Flight School!! where we teach yee about Lam-in-arrrrggh! flow!!

Great video, Eric, and great work, Florian! It clearly needs work but it's exciting to see a new product being developed and encouraging to see someone tackling the portability problem. Keep us posted!

So glad I found your video, very informative, thanks for sharing and you got yourself a new subscriber

Im curious as to why he had to travel all the way to the United States to get someone to test fly it. There’s a huge free flight community in Switzerland, are we just the only “cowboys” willing to take on something like this? Or is there liability reasons that he could not get the test flights done at home?

This was great to see. It was also good to see Andy as he was my instructor in 1989ish. I haven't flown in CA since '91'

That glider needs reflex in the sail, That's pretty obvious

I hope he can fix the aerodynamics while still achieving the weight and packing goals. It looks quite obvious that the battens should extend all the way to trailing edge, not sure why he made them shorter. Maybe batten length concern due to packing, but then the Finsterwalders have battens that can split. That cross bar solution obviously didn't work, and the lightest possible solution would be a bowsprit design, although at this low nose angle it may be a challenge. The middle span of the sail has the trailling edge too low, so there's no washout on the glider. Maybe even a negative average washout, so the glider is, besides stiff from the crossbar, also unstable. The front part of the sail looks too stretched. All those things can be fixed with sail cut, longer battens, and a different crossbar solution. If the result is still very light and short packable, then it will be great!

Такие эксперементы очень важны, потому что они наглядно доказывают, что все лучшее уже было сделано раньше, до того времени, как мир начал "сходить с ума".

I am very happy to see that research into hang gliding is still going on. Research has been stopped for many years, only implementing small things. The Finsterwalder wing is almost perfect (and very safe) the only improvement would be to shorten the short package by 50 cm. Your wing makes me happy because the package is very short but it has too much flutter (not only on the trailing edge) everything is very loose and it still seems very unsafe. Keep up the good work, keep improving and thanks again for trying to solve the only problem of this sport: Logistics.

Lotnia została opatentowana w latach 80 od tego czasu zmienia się tylko: materiały,technologia,reszta jest dopracowana w ostatnich 20 latach.Prostota konstrukcji jest naprawdę do podziwu i nie ulegnie poważnym zmianom.

Something that doesn't work in theory, won't work in practice.

Such a brilliant set of videos The best web site I have ever seen on Hang gliders Thank you so much for providing so much valuable information

Very nice I hope your hang glider becomes popular and safe to fly.

Eric, I appreciate your work which provides aspiring pilots opportunities to get involved in the sport. I live in Missoula, MT and have recently retired. I’m looking forward to a great flying season headed my way this year. One thing I believe that’s important for old and new pilots is to stay in good physical shape year round. A good workout routine that includes weight trading will help keep you from getting injured or spraining something. Additionally, adding new flying sights is imperative to keeping the sport alive. The more there are in your area, the more opportunities you will have to fly them in different weather conditions.

Erika!

Нехватает Аэродинамики, но в целом, хорошо! 😊

If Florian can perfect his TPHG design I'm sure many more people would join the sport. 👍👍😎☮

Thank you so much for sharing this amazing video 🙏🏻👌❤️

I haven’t flown since 2005. Still, you never get it out of your blood.

the woopy-wing, woopy jump and woopy fly are decent inflatable gliders. haven't flown one yet but they are youtubed and seem to fly well.

The days of "Low and Slow" magazine, the "Conduit Condor"...

As old school rc flyer all of this is a dream day

thank you, thank you, very, very much for NOT mentioning paragliding! also; sorry; no disrespect to Florian; but the ultra lightweight and short pack hang glider was designed and manufacturered many, many years ago by Finsterwalder and they STILL sell gliders!

I wonder would inflatable full length battens help , they have tents now with inflatable poles that are able to handle extreme winds

A very exciting video, probably more of a flug tag glider though

why under 5 feet ,,, under eight or nine would suit most cars / estates , if it made building the glidr easier ,,, but this has to be a major step forwards ,, well done to all on the team.

Love it- necessity is the mother of invention- let’s fly 🎉

I have an old Colver variometer. Is Frank Colver the designer and manufacturer?

Finsterwalder gliders take 20 to 30 min to set up/bd, with no tools, from 6 ft. Wills Wing Falcon 3s take 90 min with tools. The anouncer probably didn't know this...

Proof of concept. 👍

The inability to turn is not surprising. Flexwing hang gliders require the sail billow to “move” from one side to the other to turn. By introducing the rigid “battens” spanwise prevents the differential billow to turn.

There's a guy Neil Kinnear if you can find him built successful short pack hang gliders in the 80s. At that time he was teaching in a S London school in UK. Some of his a/c were used in practical flying and Science lessons as part of their education

Bonjour , bravo pour cette recherche . Le velcro pour fixer les lattes au bord de fuit a déja été utilisé par La Mouette sur l'Atlas et le X-ray en 1978-1980, ce n'est donc pas nouveau . Les lattes doivent aller jusqu'au bord de fuite , avec un peu de reflex pour donner de la stabilité au profil . Il a existé des ailes pliable en 2,5m (Windfex de Finsterwalder); Bref je pense que plutot que de re-inventer "l'eau chaude" , ne serait il pas plus efficace de partir sur des bases connues et testées pour faire une tiny-delta ??bonne continuation pour le V2 . Benoit PERMAFLY France

Looks promising, great video!

I get the feeling It'll be a while before anyone wants to cliff launch it. Some work to do,,,

It needs either a 'leech line' or in short, a small line (strong string) in the trailing edge. This will keep the trailing edge from flapping. Small batons will also help, but it looks like you really need to slightly modify the sail cut.

I agree with the idea of a more practical hang glider. I recall how my old Gemini was practical and fast to set up. I was thinking the Ram-Air would be a mid-ground between paraglider and hang glider. A hang glider packable into a backpack would be great. Inflatable battens, maybe.

A TPHG has eluded designers for decades, it is a very difficult engineering challenge. The Whitney/Eddie Paul Portawing looked to be as minimalist as structuraly posible. I hope this colaboration of veteran pilots can acheive their goals.

Some interesting innovations, i can see the Spaneron is causing a big problem preventing the essential billow in fact its deforming it the opposite direction not helped by no luff lines that’s why The trailing edge is shaking badly as the airflow is separating detached airflow in a critical area even at high AoA - fit luff lines & a floating telescopic collapsable cross tube to enable roll/yaw control

Look up the Woopy Fly or Woopy Jump wing.

Velcro is what was used to secure battens in the 70s.

Great work! We need more like Florian in the sport!

There was a hang glider type device out of Europe some 10 to 15 years ago. It was self inflating. It was called the Woopy fly and/or the woopy jump. It was far simpler than this. Much lighter. Much easier to manage and was fun just to fly off a small hill and glide to the bottom. The whole thing only weighed a handful of pounds. It should have been a HUGE hit, but then disappeared. There are a bunch of videos here on KZbin showing it being used by skiers and on a video from Japan that it was used as a pure hang glider. This thing could have changed flying for MANY people. Oh well!!

Si esto se mejora, la comunidad del ala delta va a REVIVIR, ya que es uno de los inconvenientes que ocupe mucho espacio. Felicidades!! 🔥🤙🏻

I enjoyed the old timer stars and their enthusiastic support more. Perhaps they May remember the Whitney’s Porta-Wing by, Whitney’s Enterprise from LA California, back around 73,74. Very portable, lightweight, fast setup and flew OK. Wings like these are great for one time escape flights from the Federally’s down in Bolivia.

Nice,great start.

"if you are looking for perfect safety, you will do well to sit on a fence and watch the birds; but if you really wish to learn, you must mount a machine and become acquainted with its tricks by actual trial.” - Wilbur Wright it is worthwhile to note that these words inspired his brother Orville Wright to take that first flight, while he was sitting on a fence, watching.