Hang Gliding - FAQ - What's needed?
WHEELS: All hang gliders used to teach flying MUST have wheels. This is not a subject for debate; walk away (while you can) from anybody who thinks wheels are optional for lessons. I recommend that the first glider that you own should have a set of wheels, also, at least for the first few months that you fly. They can save your aluminum, and they can even save your bacon. When you no longer need your wheels, there will be another student behind you, who will buy them from you for most of what you paid. Wheels are then the cheapest insurance that you can buy.
One very minor caution on wheels: Clip-on wheels, the type that split into a top half and bottom half, are not as reliable for protection as the one-piece wheels that mount on a hub of some sort. Any wheels are better than none, though. If you do choose to use the clip-on wheels, just wrap the tread area of the wheel with one continuous piece of tape, completely around the outside of the wheel, and at least two layers. Wide Nylon filament tape would be good for this, but even duct tape is better than nothing.
WIND INDICATORS: Especially as a new HG pilot, you want to have wind indicators on the nose cables of the glider. There should be one on each nose cable, about eye-level high, when you are standing ready to launch the glider. Each wind indicator should be at *least* one foot (30cm) long. The best material will be the lightest possible synthetic knitting yarn (usually, from a fabric shop). Heavy strips of cloth (or ribbons) are NOT good wind indicators, for the light winds of HG lessons.
Do not launch when the wind indicators are not blowing toward you. Your instructor will teach you how to deal with crossing winds, on launch. If the glider that you are learning with does not have these wind indicators installed, maybe you need to take a better look at your HG instructor (not a joke). You can easily make your own wind indicators from knitting yarn, and small (electrical) alligator clips. Clip them on the cables where you need them, and take them with you, when you leave. Remember, from the first instant that your feet leave the ground, you are becoming the Pilot-In-Command of an aircraft. It is your responsibility to have the things you need to operate the aircraft safely. That ability and responsibility can start, right here.
Wind indicators (streamers) at the launch and landing sites can be "toilet tissue" streamers, one or two yards (meters) long, mounted on poles which are only barely strong enough to support the streamer. If your lessons or HG instructors do not provide these things, feel free to provide them for yourself. You WILL regret their absence, if you do not. "Wind socks" on the landing field are for airplanes. They may be "classic," but they are *not* really good enough, for hang glider operations.
Learning to fly well is a life-long affair that should not start, or stop, with lessons. (MORE)