How does it work?
The Sobrevoar Hang gliding School uses an innovative towing system to make the gliders fly, replacing the usual hill take-off. This way, we are capable of taking off and landing in the Aeroclube de Castelo Branco, right in the middle of the plains.
The system used by us is the NSLT (Nordic Static Line Towing),developed in Finland in the begining of the 90's. Its main characteristics are safety and smoothness
A car is used to tow the gliders with a cable and the tow force is controled via an hydraulic meter on the car. The cable is very long, what makes the towing very smooth due to the cables'great elasticity and the small variation in the tow force's direction.
To increase the piolot's safety, a calibrated weak link is always used. In this way, the piolot is always protected agaisnts excessive forces.
To better use the available runway, a turn around pulley is used for the cable. When towing, the car and the Hang glider move one towards the other, but from from very far away (900m), the car is barely visible from the Hang glider. See the drawings and photos next.
Beginning
Middle
End
Foot launching in Beja
"Dolly" Take-off in Castelo Branco
Take off with wheels on the Glider in Castelo Branco
