SAFA Skysailor Magazine

20 SKY SAILOR September | October 2023 Join us for the first Open Day, scheduled for the weekend of 9 September 2023. Rob De Groot has designed and manufactured a hang gliding flight training simulator for the Illawarra Gliding Club, with funding assistance of the NSWHPA. This HG flight training simulator currently consists of a NSW registered flatbed tandem wheel trailer with three fold down sides to make a larger flatbed platform approximately 3.5m x 3.5m. A training hang glider is attached to the simulator trailer with a single rigid boom tether. The boom is adjustable in length and has universal joints at each end connecting the hang-point of the glider to the top of a mast at the front of the trailer. Two adjustable restraining ropes are also attached. The simulator rig is towed by a small car or utility vehicle to create sufficient airspeed for simulated flight. In a no wind situation, the vehicle speed needs to be approximately 40km/h, depending on the glider size and pilot weight. The rig is based on a version used with success by Rohan Holtkamp (Dynamic Flight Hang Gliding School in Victoria). Dynamic Flight’s version uses a larger platform and a rope tether. Our version uses a boom tether so that a smaller, more readily transportable platform, can be used. The boom restricts the glider’s forward motion in relation to the platform, but allows sufficient simulated flight manoeuvrability for a beginner pilot to quickly develop an instinc- New hang glider training flight simulator – Open Day Jaspers Brush 9 September 2023 by Illawarra Hang Gliding Club Inc. Photo: Dynamic Flight HG School