|
|
Landing in Monkey
Maureen Grant caught me landing at the Finger lakes Aerosports
Flight Park while in "monkey" in the control frame of my AIR ATOS VX and later
on the Wills Wing Sport 2.


In these photos I'm a few hundred feet up on final. Notice the different angles
of my elbows and knees. In the top photo I'm pulled in more.
As I come in closer to the ground I pull in even further to make sure that I
have extra speed:

In this case my butt is very close to the base tube. I'm also moving from side
to side to make sure that I'm coming in with my wings level. Notice below how
I've moved to one side:

Notice also that there is no need for a drogue chute. I have a huge wind scoop
helping me have a short final.
I still stay in monkey as I get close to the ground:

Just as I get very close to the ground I come out of the control frame:

Now I'm being held up by the hang strap pulling up on my back.
I flare and come in for a couple of stepper:

Now both gliders are reputed to be easy to land. Will this method work for
topless gliders? How about with lots of turbulence in the LZ? I don't know, but
I think I will find out.
George Ferris taught me to go monkey. Here's another influence:

I like this landing technique as it gets my feet under me, produces a lot of
drag, lets me control the glider from side to side with my weight under me, and
makes it easy to pull in using my feet.
Are there any down sides to this method? |