It's May 2024 - we are 4 years into this crazy project! And we now have 3 models to 'chose' from. Our original model (now called the Vortex-15 (vx15)) has been working great for even tandem hang gliders, our original goal. But at 110lbs, it's a little heavy to lug around. It can tow everything real nice, even paragliders! We have limiter dial on the controller to reduce the max power available to a tow to reduce the ability to over-tension any pilot.
For prices see here
In early May 2024, we did our initial testing on the Vortex-11 (vx11) and Vortex-4 (vx4), our two new models!
The vx4 is targeted towards towing solo paragliders. We also tested it towing a light pilot on the large Alpha235 hang glider in light winds (10kph) and were surprised to get a substantial climb rate (800fpm)! We thought it would only be able to be used for low-and-slowing a trainer hang glider (like a low-powered 50-80cc scooter) but it looks promising that it will be able to be used by schools for a full training program. It is a low powered motor and controller so if high volume HG towing is on your radar, it may be under-powered for you.
The all-new vx-in-a-box (without battery and fairlead)
The new vx11 is a much more robust motor and a higher powered motor controller. It will be more suitable for towing high volume paragliders, paragliding tandems and solo hang gliders in great volumes as well. It likely won't have desirable enough power to tow tandem hang gliders. Our initial tests on an Alpha235 gave 1100fpm climbs!
Production...everyone's next question is "when can I get one?!". That is something we are struggling with! It's one thing to get one functioning unit...but it's another to have a refined product ready to sell to the masses. I've had some serious personal setbacks this winter which has really put a kink in the Vortex production process and I am way behind where I had hoped to be by spring. I'm working hard to overcome those setbacks but family has always been the highest priority and that is where my focus lies.
We are also working on a new level-wind system to improve on the quality of how the winch winds the rope back onto the winch, especially after the pilot releases the tow line. We are happy how the current system is working to get a reasonable "tight stack" of rope on the winch...slightly loose wraps do get corrected when the rope is manually pulled out for the next tow but we aren't 1000% happy with it for step-towing so we have ceased trying to use the Vortex for step-towing until we sort that out. A loose wrap that gets dug in and buried in the spool can be disastrous when the pilot is on a down-wind run with the rope during a step.
This new system takes a lot of engineering time to design and we are trying to find time for that but our time is limited with our full-time careers, families, teaching HG and of course our personal flying!
We are also working on some slimmer frames to reduce the weight of the winch. We are getting older ourselves so lifting a winch on and off the hitch is more pleasurable with lighter winches. The vx11 is over 20lbs lighter than the vx15.
Wireless....still our ultimate goal. We personally have the dream of self-towing so we can just go flying more. And self-towing tandems is my personal goal as it isn't easy getting crew trained and available to make tandems happen - a big bottleneck keeping us from sharing hang gliding with more of the general public...
Towing hang gliders is A LOT more involved than towing paragliders. The hardware alone (especially battery power) is much more demanding to tow a faster moving aircraft like a hang glider compared to a paraglider. And the process of towing a hang glider (ESPECIALLY step-towing) is a lot more complex and mission-critical. We don't take that lightly. The off-the-shelf products used to self-tow paragliders are quite simple (technologically) and work OK for them but the logistics of requiring a HG pilot to foot launch a winch-tow AND hold on to a remote is not an easy task.
What we are working on is an additional custom digital controller that will help automate towing a hang glider. It will still require the pilot to be quite skilled and experienced to successfully self-tow but we are working hard to add some intelligence to help that pilot manage self-towing - right from pre-tow, through the tow and post-tow-release. And with the development of all the other things mentioned above, we always seem to push this remote down the list.
Regardless, if self-towing hang gliding is what your goal is, you won't do this immediately upon taking delivery of your Vortex. You will want a winch operator to be operating it until you are competent. Our future wireless controllers will be compatible with the Vortexes we send out now - with little or no modifications
We are getting there! :)
So when can you get your hands on these...? I think the vx4 will be ready by July 2024. It will have a simple boom/ladder fairlead for guiding the rope. It is static unlike the oscillating fairlead we currently have on our vx15. We hope to have our new level-wind implemented on both our flagship vx15 and the new vx11 at the same time and hopefully by fall 2024. Wireless...we may have a crude/simple one on the vx4 by June and we will see if we can make that work with the vx11 then as well. But the automated, digital remote...likely fall 2025... :(
Oh...and batteries...? We now have production of batteries down to a VERY short lead time. We worked out logistics with our custom battery manufacturer in China and they had new batteries to us, at our door, in just over 2 weeks from ordering. And they are smaller and half the price of our original batteries - but almost half the capacity as well...but we still get at least HG 20 tows on a full charge! A 2hr re-charge gets you to at least 80%