hi-start/bungee launching

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[iawnski]

hi eric/ with mine a i launch at  around 45/d  i then apply a little bit of up  as i get to the top and the bungee gets  slack i put her in a small dive and come off the hook (hopefully) as for the tow hook ive put mine just forward of c/g and it works fine for me.what i did buy was a screw  in doglead holder only £1 in market 18 inchs long works like a worm screw /brilliant  never had it come out ground hope this helps

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Alistair Taylor]

Hiya Eric

The hook position will dictate what kind of launch you get, and how high your glider ends up at apogee (that'll snare a few model rocketry search engines).

The further forward the hook, the flatter the launch, and lower the final height achieved (barring a really decent zoom launch). The further back the hook, the closer to vertical will be the launch angle - basically the glider will pivot around it's CofG until the bungee/line makes a straight line between the anchor stake, CofG and tow hook. However, as you move the hook backwards, the glider will become more unstable in yaw, and may start to diverge from flying straight ahead.

So - the optimum position is......found by trial and error. Or you can use up elevator to steepen the launch (best have quick reactions in case you get it wrong - or maybe just use small increments of  trim), weave using rudder on the way up to get more height, and dive - zoom climmb to get a "ping" off the top. I found that launching into wind, the line/parachute would get blown off the towhook without pilot intervention.

The "best" launch usually takes several balmy afternoons of silent, relaxed, stress free flying to come even close to (at least that's what I used to tell the missus).

AlistairT