Most people have no idea what is really happening
While that it is a true statement about virtually every, single, thing, in modern society, It is 100% true for general public’s knowledge about foot launched soaring.
Most people cannot translate the actions they see into functional concepts
Just because you see a thing, does not mean you understand a thing.
I am going to summarize some things from Don Rottman’s excellent video explaining some details about hang gliding using some pretty stunning visuals.
The first thing is that important to notice is he is flying over perfectly flat ground (it is Australia after all). He did not fly off a mountain, or as most people say it ‘he jumped from the mountain’. We never jump.
He then explains some thermal theory. Being invisible, 99.99999% of people do not understand the actual word and it’s true meaning. Or as most people think, we stay up because of the ‘wind’. Sometimes that is true, but never true when not near a ridge or mountain.
He also explains a bit of hardware and flying strategery. Who knew a kite could be so complicated.
Watch the video!
A really informative presentation.
