I've asked those who attended these clinics to tell us how it
went

Dean Slocum <>
writes:

I attended the Scooter Tow Clinic at Wallaby Ranch, and in a word
it was outstanding! Steve Wendt is a truly gifted instructor, and his enthusiasm
for scooter towing is contagious. As you know, the winds in Florida last week
were very strong, but Steve was raring to go each morning at 7 AM in order to
beat the wind. We also towed each evening, only shutting down the scooter when
it became too dark to tow safely. Steve certainly put in some long hours!



Steve had the participants in the clinic take turns flying the gliders and
towing each other. We started doing low tows with a WW Condor, and progressed to
higher tows with a WW Falcon, just like students would do in an actual training
program. We towed with both a 50cc 2 stroke and 150cc 4 stroke scooter. It
was a bit easier to control tow height with the smaller scooter, and it still
had plenty of power for the higher tows.



Steve worked with each participant to help them refine their tow operator
technique. With just a little practice, it is easy to gently launch students
into the air and maintain them at any desired altitude between two and fifty
feet. We practiced gently lowering students back to the ground when things
didn't look right, or for landing (Steve does not have his students release from
the line on their first low flights).



Several folks who had never flown a hang glider approached Steve during the
clinic and asked to give it a try. Steve eagerly seized the opportunity to
demonstrate the scooter tow teaching technique on "real students". The results
were impressive, with every student making nice long 3 ft high flights on the
first or second try. The smiles on their faces said it all: they were having a
blast!



The many advantages of scooter towing as a training technique became apparent
over the course of the clinic. A few are obvious, like the lack of need for a
training hill, and the ability to train in any wind direction. Less obvious
advantages include more control of the student in flight (you control their
height and can land them at any time) as well as a less intimidating learning
experience (students start from flat ground and are not "leaping" off a hill).



I am not in the business of instructing hang gliding myself, but I can see that
scooter towing would be a great way to go. Steve talked at length about how his
own business has improved since switching to scooter towing. His students learn
quicker, have more fun, and as a consequence return for more lessons.



I think it's fantastic that Wills Wing has thrown their support behind scooter
towing. Both Mike Meier and Steve Pearson participated in the clinic at Wallaby,
and Steve's daughter even took a few scooter tow flights on her dad's
masterfully designed Condor. Wills Wing has also posted an excellent Scooter Tow
Manual and Video on their web site:
http://www.willswing.com/learn/scooterTow/ .



I would like to thank Steve Wendt, and the outstanding folks at Wills Wing for
putting on such a great clinic. It was the most fun that I have had with hang
gliding in years!



Steve Wendt mentioned several times that you were key in inspiring him to
promote his scooter tow training method to the rest of the world. So you
certainly deserve a pat on the back as well for helping to make this all happen.

Steve Wendt flies the Wills Wing Condor. Click for a higher resolution version.



http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=34128 for more pictures.