After almost a year of work, I finally got to fly one of the new WW harnesses. I can't explain how satisfying it was to pin off and zip up for the first time on a nice Florida day after so much work. Fillipo (from the Italian gold medal team) was here and it was such a pleasure to race around on a new sail, in my new harness with him and the others here at Quest.
This project has been so rewarding in so many ways. It has been a true collaboration with some of the people that I have the most respect for in this industry and sport. Objectively and unarguably, Steve Pearson is one of the most experienced and successful designers of hang gliders and hang gliding equipment in the history of our sport. Many don't know but he was the first to do many things relating to harnesses (first cocoon in production, first side mount parachute, etc.) and it's been not just helpful but absolutely necessary for success to have him working with me on this project. Steve and I (along with input from Dustin, Mike and Jeff) came up with what we thought was a good shape as a starting point. Over the months of development, Steve was patient enough to help me understand pattern development, teach me how to use the latest in 3d shapes CAD software and help me to develop some skills necessary to change the patterns to adjust for fit. His experience and expertise were also required to translating what we wanted for components into tangible parts by using the CNC machine and other resources at WW to make our designs reality. Without his involvement, it would have taken me 5-10 years to get to the same place in shape and pattern and it would have been impossible to achieve the same level of component design involved with this harness.
Dustin has been equally important in the product that pilots will receive. For pilots that know him, most are familiar with his scrutiny and "Drag Nazi" tendencies. Believe me when I say, his critical opinion was, and continues to be, necessary to produce what I think people want in a clean comp harness. His motivation to make the best back plate in the world is astounding. He has been working 15 hour days to come up with a lay up and process to achieve the strongest and most durable result possible. He is using ski core technology and believe me when I say, you can stand on top of his back plate and jump up and down on it without it so much as flexing. I am really looking forward to it's test results to be represented by hard numbers after Demo Days. I have a strong suspicion that it will exceed our expectations.
When I arrived at Wills Wing before the drive to Florida, Mike and I had a conversation that made me feel so incredibly lucky to have him support this venture as well. His experience and expertise in establishing industry safety standards for hang gliding have contributed to our sport over the years in a lasting and impacting way. When he mentioned that he wanted to come up with a series of tests and procedures to create a rigorous certification standard for harnesses based on testable structural results, my eyes lit up. I love the idea that we can create a quantifiable test of the structural limitations of the harnesses that we produce. With his level of understanding and execution, it will do nothing but drive the product design to the highest level. I can't wait to start the testing process.
As for my part, I am committed to producing harnesses for pilots needs that fit their expectations based on their flying styles and to the customer service that is helpful both for the customer (pilots) and to me to insure that the folks ordering harnesses get exactly what they want in fit and function. Essentially, the difference in race, comp and XC models will only differ in boot style and choice of options. The construction, attention to detail and overall look of the harness (and certainly customer service) will be vertually the same in most ways.
I have spent a lot of time researching textiles to achieve the balance of all that is required of the material in the place that it is used. For instance, the outer shell material has to be the blend of durability and abrasion resistance along with the correct amount of elasticity to achieve a skin tension that translates the least chance for wrinkles (even with a correct pattern). I feel that things like using a Polyether Polyurethane for the boot area (a thicker version of what is used to build white water rafts and is designed to bounce off rocks) is a huge improvemnt in durability over leather. Coming from a climbing back ground, it is extrememly important to me to balance the duriblity factor with the asthetics and function in a way that those of us passionate about hang gliding will appreciate. I am going to be flying this harness too and want to feel good about what I'm flying in as well as representing.
I wanted to basically say thanks to those involved. I will be taking in air photos to post as soon as the weather improves on Tuesday or Wednesday for pilots to get a better detailed look at the improvements made from the prototype Dustin was flying in the photos on the OZ report. We should be able to start taking orders and will have a sizing and ordering page up on the web site shortly after the Florida Comps are over. During the time between now and then will allow for us to accomplish the load testing and to make whatever necessary changes are required to finalize the harness and ready it for delivery to interested pilots.
No comments:
Post a Comment