Glenn and I could not find the elevator to 1,000' over.
We struggled to stay at ridge level. At least a half hour of my flight was below the ridge top. Not wanting to give up too soon, I scratched around and eventually ended up landing at the postage stamp. The other pilots were able to make it across the freeway to Anderson's field. The wind there was parallel with the road from the North.
It turns out a person was there with a high def video camera and recorded the whole thing. He posted it on YouTube and we were watching it while driving home. His video is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoJKlgI75sA
Anna extracted the few relevant seconds and slowed it down. :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co6Z8Vx7peQ
Allison, an experienced wire person, is on the right. A friend of Floyd, who had not helped launch a flex wing before, is on the left. You can see that when I say clear both wire people do exactly the right thing and let go. Behind launch I talked to Floyd's friend and went over the take-off procedure. He indicated he understood what to do and he subsequently did it exactly correct. (I want to make this clear. He was very upset after my crash, and felt horrible that he may have caused it. This is not the case.)
- Never be in a hurry to join your friends in the air.
- Never be in a hurry because the wind conditions may change and make it impossible to fly.
- Balance the glider so that it is stationary before taking the first step.
- The instant before a crash, let go and use your limbs tucked in to protect your body.
Bill H.