Airchair Video Clips

By Mike Sandlin

Last Update: March 5, 2009 (revised text)

This page presents a selection of video clips of airchair flights. Materials appearing here (at least, those made by me) are freely available for reproduction, publication, or whatever purposes the user may deem fit.

Click on the title or on the image to select the video for web viewing.

Click on "link to file" to download the video as a saved file (select "save target as...." ).

1	Airchair Thermalling (18 sec.) This is the author in Goat2 over Horse Canyon, San Diego, California, on April 17, 2005. I'm high and climbing, turning in a big, wide thermal. Wind noise is somewhat exaggerated due to the audio limitations of the hand held digital camera with which the video was taken. (Note: the Youtube version of this video clip is of very poor quality. I recommend downloading and viewing the video file from the link below) Link to file for video copy (.mp4, 2.2 Mb)
2	A Quiet Landing (11 sec.) Floyd Fronius in Goat1 makes a precision hill top landing, beginning with a slip and ending with just a little nose skid application. Torrey Pines Gliderport, San Diego, California. May 29, 2005. Link to file for video copy (.mp4, 1.4Mb)
3	Rolling Takeoff (11 sec.) Here's a typical airchair self launch from a open mountainside slope in a good wind condition.This is Floyd Fronius in Goat1, Horse Canyon Launch, San Diego, California, on April 17, 2005. Link to file for video copy (.mp4, 1.4Mb)
4	Launching for a Long Flight (7 sec.) This is the take off for what will be a 100 km. (60+ mile) cross country flight. Seen is Floyd Fronius in Goat1, Horse Canyon Launch, San Diego, California on August 21, 2005. Link to file for video copy (.mp4, 0.9 Mb)
5	Landing in a Small Field (42 sec.) Author in Goat2 with drogue chute out, Horse Canyon LZ, San Diego, California. March 27, 2005. Take it on down, feet first! A pilot's view of my approach pattern and roll out while landing in a small clearing in the brush. Wind noise is exaggerated by the sound recording equipment. (Note: the Youtube version of this video clip is of very poor quality. I recommend downloading and viewing the video file from the link below) Link to file for video copy (.mp4, 5.4 Mb)
6	Cliff Launch, etc. (110 sec.) A collection of clips: some cliff launches, windjamming (myself just sitting in the glider on the ground, using the controls in the wind), another hill top landing, and a back country landing. Goat1 at Torrey Pines Gliderport, & Horse Canyon, San Diego, California, in spring 2005. Link to file for video copy (.mp4, 13.2 Mb)
7	Pilot's View of Cliff Flight (89 sec.) Here's a spectacular cliff launch (just rolling over the edge), ridge flight, and hilltop landing from the pilot's point of view. A hand held digital camera was used by Floyd Fronius to record this flight in Goat1at Torrey Pines Gliderport, San Diego, California on February 19, 2006. Link to file for video copy (.mp4, 11.1 Mb)
8	Forger Flies the Goat This is my copy of a video file showing Mark Stucky making his first flight in the Goat (he has previously flown Bug4 and a lot of other things). You can see good detail of elevator use for takeoff, and how to land in a turn to get where you want to stop. (5.8 Mb, wmv format). Mark Stucky in Goat1, Torrey Pines Gliderport, San Diego, California. January 19, 2006

The following video clips were not made by me, but thanks to others they can be viewed on the Web.

9. Aerotow at El Mirage....Here's a link to a video clip showing Goat3 launching at El Mirage Dry Lake, near Adelanto, California, in August 2006. The tow plane is a Bailey Dragonfly flown by Hungary Joe Szalai. The pilot is either me or Floyd Fronius, doing a very normal and uneventful launch.

10. HG&P in San Diego....Here's a link to a musical video production showing me in Goat4 launching at Horse Canyon, San Diego, California. I'm only in the very beginning, but watch it all, it's good, especially the tracking graphics.

11. Bug2 and Goat1 at Torrey Pines..... The first clip is Floyd Fronius in Bug2 launching and landing at Torrey Pines, San Diego, California, back around late 2003. Good shots of cliff launching in both strong wind (almost straight up) and light wind (a longer ground roll followed by a shallow dive). One landing shows an extended ground roll, the next shows use of the skid for stopping short.

The second clip is Floyd in Goat1, an ordinary cliff take off and a landing back on top.

12. SG-38 Primary Glider video clips on the Web..... There are several of these video clips which show open air bungee launches, towed launches, landings, etc., all of which are good lessons for air chair flying. The SG-38 itself is about 100 pounds overweight for an airchair, and probably doesn't soar very well, but it is historically the glider produced in the greatest numbers (thousands in the 30's and 40's), and apparently it is still legal to fly in Europe.

12.1 Car tows in Sweden: Overall this is a good view of what simple car tows are like, including the steep nose up climb and the casual glide down. There seems to be no lift, although the second pilot does some continuous turns as if he were thermalling. Also, the second pilot flies slower than the first, as you can see by the higher position of his head relative to the horizon. The lift offs from the ground seem to be very gradual and cautious, or maybe just the use of a skid instead of a wheel calls for special treatment. When the first pilot gets back on the ground and gets off the seat, there is some lift and fall of the glider that makes the skid look quite springy, it's not looking as stiff as I expected. Ground handling without a wheel is kind of a mystery: they appear to be dragging the glider with the pilot sitting in it using a short rope from a car.

12.2 Bungee launch in Germany: here we see the traditional bungee launch, a human powered start used for a short training flight on flat ground or from a shallow slope. A long sheet of plastic has been placed under the glider, to reduce the skid friction during take off, I suppose. A stick of gum is offered but the pilot refuses it, which is correct, since gum in the mouth can cause choking in the event of an accident.

The pilot swashes around the control sick and rudders, a good practice to confirm fee motion, and he looks to each side at the aileron action, but he does not look back at the tail. There are people standing back there who might get their fingers squeezed by sudden rudder or elevator use, so he should clear the tail before that control check.

This pilot evidently has a sailplane background, since he is not wearing a helmet. I would at least wear eye protection, since there are flying bugs, even in Germany. He should do as our governor here in California does and go looking for a cool pair of sunglasses.

The hookup seems to be under a little tension, using a big heavy ring, presumably onto a fixed hook attached to the airframe, so the ring will fall away when tension is lost and does not require any release action from the pilot (a good system which reduces the burden on the novice pilots).

They are using the "cast of thousands" system, two teams to pull and a third team to hold back the tail. Maybe this is the old tradition, instead of using a tail anchor. During the launch the pilot is gripping the edge of his seat with one hand, a good idea to keep the unused arm in place. When I do an open air take off in the Goat, my left hand tends to wind up on the control stick or just floating in space unless I grab a belt or something.

There is no ground handling shown, so how do they move that glider without a wheel? I don't see a dolly.

12.3 Another bungee launch: in this one they use a ground anchor and release mechanism, rather than a team of helpers, to hold the glider back until high bungee tension is reached.

This primary glider, a predecesor to the SG-38, has a faired cockpit and wing struts (notice the cables crossing between the struts for shear bracing). All that side area forward may have made the glider a little yaw unstable, it seems to be nosing around a lot.

 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm6-ox32tHQ...........(70 seconds)