... A friend sent me pictures of the Mitchell wing and it was being used as a hang glider. I was amazed! I had never seen it being used as a hang glider. I'm wondering why guys aren't still building and flying Mitchell wings as hang gliders.

My name is Chuck Rhodes. I currently own Mitchell Wing # 3, the original FAI World Record wing that George Worthington set the first official world records ever in a hang glider of any type and 6 total FAI records between 1977 and 1981. I bought the wing from him in 1982 and have several hundred hours flying it as a hang glider and ultralight sailplane. I have not only foot launched it many times but have ground and aerotowed it as well.

Although its performance is not as good as today's Millemnium or Swift, it still has an honest 15-16:1 L/D and a respectable sink rate. It is an incredibly strong glider; Don Mitchell, the designer, and the one who built mine, said it he built it for 6g's positive and negative.

It is still an outstanding glider for soaring but like a lot of rigid wings it does have drawbacks. These are more difficult to transport than a rag wing and it is more difficult to repair if you do not know what you are doing. If your are familiar with its construction and building techniques it can be easily repaired in most cases.

As for flying characteristics, it is full 3-axis once in the air but on take off, if foot launching, you only use tip rudders and weight shift for pitch. The hang cage is set up very similar to the Millennium. Using shoulder straps to support the weight of the wing it is easily foot launched. In fact in high winds it is much easier to ground handle and launch than any rag wing. Using the stick to work the elevons to control pitch and roll the pilot can easily keep the wings level and neutral for the launch run. I have stood on take off in 25-30 mph winds totally controlling the wing on my own and then merely running a few steps forward into the wind and am off.

It does help to have 2-3 ground assistants to help you lift the wing up initially and get into the hang cage and shoulder straps however. For towing I simply sit in the hang cage ready to fly and let the tow vehicle pull me along into the air on the landing wheels that I have built.

The wing can enter a stall/spin if you are not careful in a slow turn and you stall the inboard wing. This can happen if you get your weight to far back in the hang cage and aft of the CG. Standard sailplane 3 axis control spin recovery works very well to recover however, provided the pilot has the altitude to do so. Don't stall in a turn only 100 over a ridge etc.

Building the wing takes about 500 hours depending on the skill of the builder but is not especially difficult. Using Carbon Fiber the builder can reinforce ribs, spar, and trailing edge etc. to add strength to the wing. I did so and mine does just fine. The original M-Wings made for non-powered flight weighed only about 80 pounds. Mine now weighs about 120 due to the extra weight of the streamlined pod around the hang cage, and the paint I used on the wing covering. If I recover it in the future I will not paint it and that will easily knock 10 pounds off. However the weight is no hindrance in foot launching as the wing is so efficient in lift even at 134 square feet that it flies its own weight in 2-3 steps in low wind and I have foot launched it in winds of less than 8 mph.

Overall it is a classic glider and still has great performance but with flex wings like the FUSION and the new rigids like the Millennium it would be better to invest in one of those if you can afford it. If not build a Mitchell Wing and I am sure you could get all the materials to build it today for under $2000.00

Chuck Rhodes
U.S. Ultralight Soaring Assoc.
Cedar Point, NC