I was archiving old photos from my laptop to my hard drive the other day and stumbled on more photos that I have been meaning to post on the Lee-Side. These were taken at High Rock, MD last fall with my little brother John.
High Rock was where I was first exposed to hang gliding. My dad used to take me up there when I was a kid. We knew people hang glided there, but never managed to see any. Then when I was 19 I saw my first hang glider in person at High Rock while hiking the Appalachian Trail with Nischom and Hadar. I unstrapped my pack and walked right up to the glider to check it out. The pilot asked if I would wire crew for him while he launched. I happily obliged. I can still remember being nervous for the pilot and concentrating intently on his instructions. I was surprised by the feeling of the glider's sidewire pushing against my hand and how strong it the lift it was generating was. The pilot launched without incident and we watched for a bit until he disappeared into the trees. The hang gliding seed was planted, but it wouldn't sprout for 7 more years.
Last year John and I repeated the tradition and ventured up to High Rock to check it out. There were no hang gliders, but that might have been due to the raging 30mph + winds whipping through launch. High Rock is a cliff launch that was arguably dangerous to stand on in such strong winds. We explored the cliff and took some pics while I explained how ridge lift works to John.
High Rock Launch
High Rock was where I was first exposed to hang gliding. My dad used to take me up there when I was a kid. We knew people hang glided there, but never managed to see any. Then when I was 19 I saw my first hang glider in person at High Rock while hiking the Appalachian Trail with Nischom and Hadar. I unstrapped my pack and walked right up to the glider to check it out. The pilot asked if I would wire crew for him while he launched. I happily obliged. I can still remember being nervous for the pilot and concentrating intently on his instructions. I was surprised by the feeling of the glider's sidewire pushing against my hand and how strong it the lift it was generating was. The pilot launched without incident and we watched for a bit until he disappeared into the trees. The hang gliding seed was planted, but it wouldn't sprout for 7 more years.
Last year John and I repeated the tradition and ventured up to High Rock to check it out. There were no hang gliders, but that might have been due to the raging 30mph + winds whipping through launch. High Rock is a cliff launch that was arguably dangerous to stand on in such strong winds. We explored the cliff and took some pics while I explained how ridge lift works to John.
High Rock Launch
John
How Vain! Here I am taking pictures of myself...
...while John is hanging on for dear life.
John shot a 22 shot sequence of me releasing leaves into the slipstream over launch. The lift band was easily defined by the leaves. We watched them soar skyward like water from a hose, clearing the treeline behind the cliff by at least 20 feet. It was science in action! You can clearly see the lift band below.
A Tool of Science
The Lift Band
The Entire Sequence
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