Mitch Shipley <<elektratow>>
writes:

Just got back from the 2013 TTT Team Challenge. Great fun and a
fantastic learning experience.

One highlight for me came the last day doing pro-bono Elektro Tow (ET) tows in
the valley at George Galloway’s 3K foot grass runway. George has graciously let
me tow off his property (about as big as Quest!) the last two years. He stopped
by with his daughter Valerie as we were packing up the last day and asked if I
was doing demo flights. “Of course!” was my answer. Over the next hour we got
Valerie seven intro flights. I manned ET and expert Kitty Hawk Kites dune
instructors Joe and Jackson handled the instruction on the 225 Condor (crispy
new glider courtesy of Lookout Mountain Flight Park’s Matt Taber).

That intro demo was a perfect example of what an ET type of system might best be
used for. Using about a football field length of George’s real estate, we
re-aligned the system directly into the prevailing wind which had been switching
more Easterly. Then in less than an hour we took an excited college student from
“I’ve never been near a glider” to “Wow, I flew a hang glider!” Easy. Quick.
Quiet. Pictures to share. Family watching and cheering. Essentially a portable
KHK dune intro flight where ET was the dune that traveled to them and could
align into the prevailing wind. Great fun. Checkout some pics of the training
and the video of Valerie’s last flight.

Some might think “It’s just a scooter tow and we have had that for years”. Well
as the engineer PhD geek and advanced hang gliding instructor that has worked
with this system over the last three years I’d offer it is significantly
different than scooter tow. Quiet. Nice for both those being towed and the
neighbors. Flip of a switch starting in any weather. Rechargeable for about two
bucks of electricity. Inherently linear tow force Vs speed characteristic that
provides a self-adjusting tow force without operator action. There is more, but
I’ll save other discussion for the forum.

Great possibilities for bringing new pilots into the sport and I just had to
share!

http://ozreport.com/pub/images/Valerie'sPerfectFlight.avi