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Artificial thermals to boost hang-glider adventure tourism.

I believe Australia has a reputation for creative and bold new ideas.

Why not help boost the hang-gliding industry by creating artificial thermals? Spaced 10-15 km apart. Any black material covering a few acres will do the job. We could become the world leader in adventure tourism and kick start whole new spin off industries. This idea has been tested and proven.

http://www.flyaboveall.com/articles/thermalproject.htm

Hang-gliding is an international sport that has grown enormously since the early days when flyers were considered slightly insane. Only 30 years ago pioneers were still learning the tricky art of keeping these unpowered vehicles aloft.

One way of staying in the air longer and flying further is to use natural thermals. The Darling Downs is rich in these. Fields warmed up by the sun create good heat plumes that can carry gliders much higher into the sky. Car parks, nuclear power stations, cities and any artificial heat absorbent surface is essentially a man-made thermal but only by accident.

Covering a couple of acres of ground with black volcanic rocks, dark used textiles, black plastic or even dark paint would create a powerful thermal very cheaply.

These thermal producing stations would be easy for flyers to find from the air. It could be the beginning of a whole new adventure sport industry. I can envision dotted lines of these thermals becoming flight corridoors that crisscross the state. Mounds of dirt built near each one would allow flyers to launch their hang-gliders again easily after landing and spiral their way back up into the air like an eagle. Cafes and repair shops would doubtless pop up along these new flight lanes. Accomodation for when the sun has gone down too far and flying is finished for the day.

This is not an original idea. After discussing it with professional flyers one told me he had been working on the same concept for a few years. "A pyramid shape would wick off the point all day long" said Mark from Lakeview Oregon. "A bowl shape would pulse (fill with hot air and suddenly release it)." he added as an interesting alternative. But his favourite idea which would take maximum advantage of available surface area, "I think the best shape would be a half pipe elevated at one end."

Deliberately creating thermals specifically for flyers wouldn't be introducing more heat into the atmosphere either. They are only tapping into existing solar rays which would have warmed the earth anyway. We would merely be redirecting existing heat.

This already exciting sport could become synonymous with queensland.

Tags: action, adventure, excitement, flying, fun, hang-glider, sky, soar, sport, thermals

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rob Moore on September 9, 2011 at 4:11pm

Not "pie" in the sky- but "Hang-glider " in the sky.

Wayne- go for it buy up the few acres and do your business plan and good luck with it but I don't think that we have too many hang-gliders as members here.

Permalink Reply by Wayne Robert Smith on September 9, 2011 at 4:30pm

I'm not a hang-glider pilot either. I'm more interested in it from a business potential perspective. This could seriously put Queensland on the world map. Its novel and exciting. Hang-gliders are becoming cheaper and broader in design. They are starting to look more like sailplanes. I foresee this tourism industry seriously taking off. All these powerless vehicles including glider planes and parasails which can fit in a rucksack suffer from the same problem. That is ofcourse that they lose height constantly.

An external power source fuelled by sunshine means people could fly as long as they want(lavatory breaks excepted). More air time and launch facilities which costs nothing means more people becoming flyers to enjoy the thrill because they can get more flying for their buck. We could stage annual races across the state. It could open up vast areas of the state currently unused.

Most importantly it will create jobs and money for the state.

Permalink Reply by Wayne Robert Smith on October 30, 2011 at 8:50am

George Negus Tonight: Hang Gliders

Quantas just grounded all its flights so a hang glider might be your only option if you plan on flying anywhere.

Quantas grounded atleast another day.

Councils already provide bike lanes, skate ramps, horse trails, bushwalking tracks and community swimming pools for recreation. Why couldn't a state government build thermals for the hang gliding community. Its a rapidly growing sport. The cost is minimal. Seems to me that we could use an exciting drawcard to set us apart from the other states and attract more tourists. New zealand is famous for bungee jumping. Queensland could be even more famous for hang gliding zones.

Hang-Gliders.Org

Permalink Reply by Wayne Robert Smith on November 18, 2011 at 10:50am

Attention wildlife thrill-seekers! In Nepal, a new sport combining paragliding and falconry is gaining attraction in the world of adventure travel. Parahawking allows a person to glide the serene skies over Nepal with a rehabilitated yet unreleasable raptor leading the trek. Over the span of five years, creator Scott Mason, owner of Himalayan Raptor Rescue, trained the rescued birds to fly alongside him while paragliding. By introducing the practice to the public for support of raptor conservation, the incredible sport was born. Read on for a first-hand account of parahawking.

Fly The Skies With A Bird As Guide

I'd pay to try that.

This is a fast growing industry welcoming innovative new ideas. Tourism is going to be the backbone of queensland when our mining resources are gone.

Permalink Reply by Wayne Robert Smith on November 30, 2011 at 1:07pm

Hi Allen. Nice pictures. I'd like to see engineless flying machines filling up the skies and becoming affordable to everyone. Ofcourse there is nothing wrong with microlights and hangmotors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_hang_glider

I guess I like the idea of free energy.

Obviously this project needs publicity to ever get off the ground. So I'm going to take Rob Moores advice and build some larger test plumes but not as part of a business plan. I'm going to build a series of large plumes spaced a few kilometres apart for an attempt on the world distance record. It currently stands at 700.6 km I believe. There is nothing in the rules about building artificial thermals for a record attempt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hang_gliding#Records

No. I won't be flying it myself. I'm in contact with the Moyes Hang Gliders group about that.

Permalink Reply by Wayne Robert Smith on November 30, 2011 at 7:42pm

A lot of people have been independantly researching this at the same time unaware that many others were also exploring it.

This guy has patented his own very elaborate thermal generator. Looks quite impressive.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2371629.html

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2371629.pdf

This guy has created a website dedicated to thermal generator concepts.

http://www.energykitesystems.net/Lift/2011/2011AprilLIFTp2.html

This is a brave new world of aviation science. Could lead anywhere. We are right at the start of it which I find very exciting. Would be nice if Queensland were to lead the way.

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