If you fly in high winds, then you probably know that sometimes you have to fly fast for a long time, to get to the landing area, or just to get yourself out of trouble.

When you are fully prone and flying fast, holding the basetube "stuffed" can be very tiring. If your glider has some bar pressure at high speed, it will try to push you into a more upright position, which is not helpful, in terms of drag. To get where you need to go in a glider, you may need to be flying fast, and efficiently, with no extra drag. Having your body wadded up in a ball, and hunched over the basetube, might not do the trick for you. Turbulence will be a problem that way, too. Course corrections will be tricky. PIOs can happen, forcing you slow down, even when slowing down is not a good idea.

There is a better way. It may feel awkward at first, and I strongly recommend some extended time for serious practice (not just a few moments) at high speeds, but this technique is easy, accurate, and efficient. It's not an all-or-nothing affair, either. You can start by flying around at normal trim speed, and get used to this technique gradually.

Just fly along normally at first, at trim speed, fully prone. Have plenty of clear airspace around you, away from the hillside, and other gliders. Let go of the basetube, and grab each downtube, thumbs down. You should decide for yourself to spend the next 15 to 30 minutes, getting accustomed to flying fully prone, thumbs down, relaxed, and without ever touching the basetube. It can feel awkward at first, but once you get used to it, you will find that you have all the control necessary to fly the glider normally. Flying with the basetube is more useful and comfortable when thermalling, but for now, we're not talking about thermalling. We are talking about building a life-saving skill, and self-preservation. If anybody has a better way to fly a flexwing extremely fast for long periods of time, easily, with precise control, then I really want to hear about it.

When you are comfortable with this new technique, and ready to begin flying fast, slide your hands down to the bottom corners of the control bar, still keeping hold of the downtubes, thumbs down. Push yourself forward through the control bar, gaining speed, until your arms are straight, and your elbows are locked. You are using the bone structure in your arms to form struts, which will hold your weight forward in the glider. Your arm-struts also lock your body in position, from side to side, making it very easy to ignore or resist turbulence that tries to roll you off, from your intended course.

Allow the glider to find its' new "trim speed" with your arms straight, and elbows locked. Learn to steer and make course corrections by swinging your feet only, to the side that you want to turn towards. When you are flying fast, an easy and precise way to do this is by using a *slight* shrug of one shoulder. You can hold this "one-shoulder" shrug as long as necessary to complete a gradual, high speed, sweeping turn. You can also vary the amount of "shrug" that you use, to increase or decrease the turn rate. At higher speeds, it takes very little weight shift, to cause the glider to turn. If you have ever tried to make small course corrections with the bar stuffed, you have probably found that this is no easy proposition. It's very easy to over-control the glider at high speeds. This technique, using your arms as struts, makes it very easy to fly extremely fast, make gentle corrections, and make big, smooth, sweeping turns.

To fly faster, you only need to raise the position of your hands on the downtubes, while holding the downtubes with the arms straight, with the thumbs-down grip. You will have one "fast" cruising speed with your hands on the downtubes, at the bottom corners of the control bar, and several, even faster cruising speeds, with your hands located on the downtubes:

-just below your body level (fast), or

-at your body level (faster), or even

-above your body level (fastest).

At the most extreme speed, with your hands on the downtubes above your body level, you can be flying very fast and stable, head low, body clean and pointy, with the basetube closer to your feet than you could normally stuff it. (Did he really say that? YES. The basetube can be completely out of reach, 'way past "stuffed".) Being fully prone, with your body straight, you will have less body drag, and a better high-speed glide ratio.

Slow down to normal airspeeds by "creeping" your hands progressively lower on the downtubes, rather than allowing the dive recovery system to make a too-sharp pull-up for you.

There are several advantages to using this "thumbs-down" technique. It is easy to fly at high speed in straight lines, with very little effort. Some turbulence will need no effort to combat, because the normal stability of the glider is enough to keep you on course, when your body is "strutted" to the control bar. Gentle course-corrections can be made with the shrug of one shoulder, without over-control, and without slowing down first. There is less risk of PIOs at high speeds, this way. You'll have a variety of high cruising speeds available, both faster and slower than your usual "bar-stuffed" airspeed. If the glider has some bar pressure at high speeds, that bar pressure will help to keep your head down, not up, as it would if you were holding the basetube.

Using this technique is all a matter of degree and judgment. My car goes too fast for the roads, if I just stand on the gas pedal. The "throttle" here is the height of your hands on the downtubes. Use as much throttle as needed, but no more. This technique does take some practice, and some flying time, to "get used to it."

This same technique can also be applied to a "basetube launch" in high winds. You can judge the Angle of Attack (by feel) much better on launch, when holding the downtubes (thumbs-down) in high winds, than you could by holding the round basetube. Sure, I can do a basetube launch, but this way feels much better, for me. You just need to become very comfortable flying around normally (not fast) with the "thumbs-down" grip, fully prone, before you try a high-wind launch like this.

I have gone weightless while speeding along, and that problem is much easier to deal with, when you are "strutted" to the glider. Turbulence that would rip the basetube from your hands will merely slide your hands up the downtubes a bit, so it is much easier to stay in control, then. The glider is far more pitch stable when it has to move your weight, "strutted" to the structure, before it can do anything undesirable.

In smack-the-sail turbulence (and you should never be there, but now you still need to survive in it), your hands can be ripped off the basetube. When you cannot reach the basetube, suddenly you will have several problems, all at once. Using my technique, your hands will slide (drag) upward on the downtubes instead, but they will not get disconnected. That means you will be regaining control instantly, because you did not lose that connection in the first place. The force of your body impacting the sail will also be dissipated by the drag of your grips in that sliding-hands-upward-on-the-downtubes scenario, making it unlikely that you will break the glider with the impact of your body, as may happen with your body hitting the sail unchecked.

You will still need to get one foot (leg) out of the cocoon or harness boot in heavy turbulence, because you do not want to hammer-punch the keel with both heels locked together.  One-leg-out should be your normal "survival mode" of flying in heavy air, at any time.

CAUTIONS: This is a flying technique for fast and smooth high-speed flight. It is NOT usable for aerobatics, which can be done (somewhat safely) from the basetube. It is so effective that you could easily exceed Vne on some gliders, with very little effort. You must be aware of the actual airspeed limits of your glider, and fly within those limits. As with any aircraft, turbulence will reduce your maximum safe flying speed (Va). Strong turbulence will reduce your maximum safe airspeed limit, even further. Do not depend on this technique to get you out of trouble, unless you have first practiced it extensively, and long before you need it. You will need to know your limits, first. Everything has limits. Making the limits larger does not change the fact that there are still limits.

All of this stuff is optional; I do not pretend that everybody will like this technique as much as I do. Try it for yourself, and feel free to enjoy it, or forget it.

Hope that helps.

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