Today we did our first tow launches.  We are attached to a rope that runs to a high speed winch that pulls us into the air, cresting at roughly 50 feet above the ground.

There’s still a lot of running to be done as I generate enough forward motion to inflate 28 square meters of wing:

A little bit of lift:

Unfortunately I didn’t depower the wing on landing so it fell on top of me.  I understand this is called a “gift wrap”:

Flying high!  The first time was terrifying, but the second time was much better:

Touchdown!

The kids loved the ranch dogs, Sassy and Buddy:

Coming back from the tow run with my wing:

The kids worked on tessellations in math class:

As the winds picked up, Mark helped me practice the reverse launch:

Again, towards sunset, the winds died down and I was able to practice the forward launch:

Tomorrow we will practice launches wearing the motor.