US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

Limit Lines
LL
Guy lines that limit the position of an object? Leash? Control position of a grazing animal? Stay the position of sail? Fall-arrest? Bridle? Keep a pilot within bounds when wanted? Etc. Limit lines have been used by mankind for thousands of years for various purposes. Spiders guy their webs and limit the position of their bodies in various ways with limit lines.

For warming up:
http://www.energykitesystems.net/LimitLines/LimitLinesFromTCFtoPilot.html
Limit Lines
in USHawks
http://tinyurl.com/LimitLinesUSHawks
2011 forward.

Limit lines hang glider
http://tinyurl.com/LimitLinesHangGlider

Eric Raymond has recently been mentioned by Rick Masters; reference and text or/images are sought for any use of limit lines from Eric's world are sought.
Study Rick's note: http://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=2027&p=13301&#p13301
Challenges in hang gliding:
1. Swing-through of body during landing crunches.
2. Turbulence-induced slacks of hang lines inviting gross change of position of pilot body in HG.
3. Maneuver-fail gross change of position of pilot body in HG
4. Limit lines when wanted? Place and remove when wanted?
5. Net pros and net cons for any particular arrangement?
6. What has been explored?
7. What has been insufficiently explored as regards limit lines?
8. Adjustable limit lines? Variable-length strategies?
9. No-rebound limit lines?
10. Stiffening the hang lines?
11. Costs of added parts?
12. Effectiveness?
13. Study of incidents and exploration of whether or not limit lines could have saved injury or death?
14. How parallel bars effected some limiting of pilot position.
15. How primary and secondary gliders limit the position of the pilot body?
17. Mass-shift or weight-shift control systems and limit lines?
18. Limit-position of mass in powered aircraft? Strap and clamp down. Pilot trimming control surfaces when mass is shifting inside fuselage?
19. Energy uptake? Where are the restraining forces sent when a pilot's body position is being limited?
20. During toss of rescue chute, how might pilot-body-position limit lines be useful, if so.

Studies, essays, experiments, references, etc. are invited to explore limit lines for hang gliders.


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After dragging 250 feet up a hill in my foot launch balloon (Hangstat) during which I fell outside of my hang frame, so that I was personally dragging through the rocks and weeds, I put in limit lines to keep me inside the protection of my frame if that experience ever happened again.

The photo shows the framework but before the limit lines. I haven't located a photo showing those. BTW _ The swing seat was made for me by Eipperformance specifically for this balloon.

Frank Colver

Frank,

Can you tell us more about your "Hangstat"? It looks like a great subject for an entire topic. Give us the whole history.   

Thanks!!

OK Bob. I haven't posted much about it because it wasn't a hang glider but I'll go back through what I have and put a subject on the Hangstat together.

One interesting thing about its history is the reaction from the SoCal ballooning community. The pilots flying at Perris CA, where I flew a lot, were very negative toward my foot launch balloon. I heard comments like; "he'll break his legs and give ballooning a bad name". So to counter this attitude I wrote an article about the Hangstat for Ballooning Magazine, the publication of the BFA (Balloon Federation of America). It was published in the magazine in November of 1979 and completely changed the attitude of balloonists to one of support and positive. Many of the pilots who were against my experimental balloon now wanted to fly it. One print article in the national org magazine gave me complete legitimacy. It's amazing how that works!

Frank

That is very very cool Frank.

You really are an inspiration for anyone who wants to be in the air.