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I'm pretty much constantly editing old posts (there'll be 5878 of them as of this one) to fix minor errors, provide better source documentation, format for better readability, improve embedded image quality, deal with broken and dead links...
Yesterday (Tuesday) morning was dealing with:
http://www.kitestrings.org/post2816.html#p2816
which addresses:
http://ozreport.com/9.175
Lock out
The photo set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/sets/788506/
Lockout
of Tim Meaney's, which is the subject of that entry, had always bounced as:
This page is private.
Oops! You don't have permission to view this page.
on the several times I'd attempted to access it over many years - which really pissed me off 'cause I REALLY wanted to see it. But this time...
So, with that advantage, here goes with (at least) one more response...
http://ozreport.com/9.175
Lock out
Davis Straub - 2005/08/23
How to kill yourself by aerotowing
So the Robin Strid video wasn't enough to get your attention? Will this help? How about a pilot coming to the 2005 Big Spring Open, not having aerotowed in five years and therefore not knowing enough to release when they were out of whack and just about to do what Robin did (when he couldn't release) and get thrown into the ground hard.
You'll find the sequence here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/sets/788506/
Lockout
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35640795/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35640798/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35640812/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35640817/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35640828/
Tim Meaney, who did the scoring at Big Spring, was the photographer.
Look over the shots carefully. Notice that the glider is out of whack from the get go. Notice that the pilot is towing from the pilot's shoulders, and being pulled toward the tug, but the glider is going in the opposite direction, and the pilot is in the cross control position (i.e. the pilot's shoulders are on the right side, but the pilot's legs are on the left side.
Notice that the pilot doesn't correct their incorrect position and get themselves over to the right side including and most importantly their legs, the side with the wing high. Notice where the hang glider is pointed in comparison to where the tug is pointed. Compare this to the Robin Strid video. Very similar.
How is this pilot saved? Not by releasing, as the pilot doesn't even seem to be aware that he/she is about to be killed. No, instead, Bobby Bailey (sound familiar here?) recognizes the problem, eases back on the stick and the gas, and moves to the left to save the pilot from a lockout.
Will this pilot read this report in the Oz Report? Unlikely. They appear to have missed the previous report which I wrote in a perhaps vain attempt to save some pilot's lives. It is so discouraging to see this.
Actively control the glider on tow and in the cart. Do not cross control. If you are the slightest bit uncomfortable, release and launch again.
So the Robin Strid video wasn't enough to get your attention?
Of course it was!
http://ozreport.com/9.009
2005 Worlds
Davis Straub - 2005/01/11
Rohan Holtkamp did an analysis of the accident, in particular the bridle and weaklink, which never broke. The weaklink was caught on the release mechanism, a standard spinnaker release found on bridle systems used at Lookout Mountain, Moyes, Wallaby Ranch, and Quest Air. The release clamp has an arm that is thicker at the release point and this held onto the weaklink which consisted of multiple loops of thick line.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aerotowrelease/8318769461/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aerotowrelease/8318781297/
This type of release mechanism has been banned (at least for a short while) from the Worlds at Hay.
The release mechanism that killed him was banned (at least for a short while) from the Worlds at Hay. Problem solved.
If the Robin Strid video was such a valuable resource for the advancement of aerotowing safety then why the fuck did you pull it? Because it very clearly showed:
- a highly skilled competition pilot being totaled by the standard spinnaker release found on bridle systems used at Lookout Mountain, Moyes, Wallaby Ranch, and Quest Air and Lookout Mountain, Moyes, Wallaby Ranch, and Quest Air wouldn't tolerate it's banning for more than a short time from the Worlds at Hay?
- how badly what little control Robin had in this critical situation was compromised when he effected the easy reach to the bicycle brake lever velcroed to his downtube?
- that:
-- Robin's "stronglink" had absolutely no bearing on the issue?
-- Bobby Bailey - the best tow pilot in the business and a fucking genius when it comes to this shit could've very easily and safely aborted the tow right at the get-go and elected not to?
How about a pilot coming to the 2005 Big Spring Open, not having aerotowed in five years and therefore not knowing enough to release when they were out of whack and just about to do what Robin did (when he couldn't release) and get thrown into the ground hard.
- Yeah. Watch Ollie here:
01-001
04-200
07-300
10-307
15-413
He's a tandem instructor and tows all the time. And he DOES know enough to release when he's out of whack and just about to do what Robin did (when he couldn't release) and get thrown into the ground hard.
- Whoa! HOW ABOUT THAT!!! And just look at all these other fuckin' muppets:
10-525
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/435/19224482318_2da3f48afe_o.png
25-04714
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7319/11414267393_23e21cf4b8_o.png
42-05328
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7309/11414153476_3ca8cc4036_o.png
http://ozreport.com/pub/images/Jrs_2009.jpg
http://ozreport.com/pub/images/Jrs_2010.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35642942/sizes/o/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35642828//sizes/o/
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3725/9665623251_612b921d70_o.png
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9Ek9_lFeSII/UZ4KuB0MUSI/AAAAAAAAGyU/eWfhGo4QeqY/s1024/GOPR5278.JPG
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xh_NfnOcUns/UZ4Lm0HvXnI/AAAAAAAAGyk/0PlgrHfc__M/s1024/GOPR5279.JPG
07-300
10-307
022-04610
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2809/13746340634_a74b33d285_o.png
088-05301
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3708/13746233274_c1a80f35c1_o.png
They've all got perfectly good releases within easy reach and they just leave their hands on the control frame until:
- they slam in
- it's too late to do them much good
- the Davis Link increases the safety of the towing operation too late to do much good
- Probably...
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1143
Death at Tocumwal
Davis Straub - 2006/01/24 12:27:32 UTC
Bill Moyes argues that you should not have to move your hand from the base bar to release. That is because your natural inclination is to continue to hold onto the base bar in tough conditions and to try to fly the glider when you should be releasing.
...because their natural inclination is to continue to try to fly the glider when they should be releasing.
- Or maybe...
http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=25435
Raunchy Day At The Ridge + Release Failure
Diev Hart - 2012/03/06 01:06:39 UTC
Right there (I think) is the main issue...some pilots think they can fix a bad thing and don't want to start over.
...they think they can fix a bad thing and don't want to start over. Have any thoughts on this one...
http://ozreport.com/pub/images/fingerlakesaccident2.jpg
http://ozreport.com/pub/images/fingerlakesaccident3.jpg
...Davis?
- Or maybe they just hadn't aerotowed in the previous five years and therefore didn't know enough to release when they were out of whack and just about to do what Robin did (when he couldn't release) and not get thrown into the ground hard. Maybe we should make sure everyone aerotows at least once every three years or thereabouts so's they understand how important it is to release in a lockout.
Fuckin' douchebag.
Look over the shots carefully. Notice that the glider is out of whack from the get go.
Yeah.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35640798/
Do we get to hear anything about WHY? Crosswind, hang-up, crappy cradles design, pushed out prematurely, forgot to grasp hold-downs...?
Notice that the pilot is towing from the pilot's shoulders...
It's called...
06-03114
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3728/9655895292_f4f808fb0e_o.png
...PRO towing. You really need to be a pro...
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3746/13864051003_a820bcf2b8_o.png
...to be able to do it...
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bRrpHNa68iY/UQ6Pv9gRZyI/AAAAAAAAjTg/Hc22bx5122Q/s2048/20943781_BG1.jpg
...safely.
...and being pulled toward the tug, but the glider is going in the opposite direction...
Go figure! I'da thunk that would've automatically leveled the glider. That's what...
Donnell Hewett - 1982/09
As can be seen, this sideways force tends to pull the pilot over to the correct side to make the glider turn naturally in the proper direction.
...Donnell Hewett says. And...
Dr. Trisa Tilletti - 2012/06
Dr. Lionel D. Hewitt, professor of physics and developer of the 2-to-1 center-of-mass Skyting bridle for surface towing, is well respected for his knowledge of towing, bridles, and weak links.
...he's well respected for his knowledge of towing, bridles, and weak links. Just see Reference 4 if you don't believe me.
...and the pilot is in the cross control position (i.e. the pilot's shoulders are on the right side, but the pilot's legs are on the left side.
Fuck you, Davis.
- In those first photos...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35640812/
...the suspension's way the hell over towards the right side of the control frame. That tells us about how much muscle he's using for roll input - tensioning the starboard sidewire and easing the tension on the port.
- How 'bout you show me a video of someone making a glider go left by pulling his shoulders to the right and letting his legs rotate to the left? Until you can do that how 'bout shutting the fuck up about CROSS controlling?
Notice that the pilot doesn't correct their incorrect position and get themselves over to the right side including and most importantly their legs, the side with the wing high. Notice where the hang glider is pointed in comparison to where the tug is pointed. Compare this to the Robin Strid video. Very similar.
Oh. So Robin Strid, a Norwegian national champion, totally sucked too. Had less instinct and ability regarding roll control than a lot of Lesson Two dune students I've worked with.
How is this pilot saved?
By his Davis Link?
http://ozreport.com/12.081
Weaklinks - the HGFA rules
Davis Straub - 2008/04/22 14:47:00 UTC
What material should be used for weaklinks?
From section 3.4 of the 1999 Hang Gliding Federation of Australia Towing Manual:
Recommended breaking load of a weak link is 1g. - i.e. the combined weight of pilot, harness and glider (dependent on pilot weight - usually approximately 90 to 100 kg for solo operations; or approximately 175 kg for tandem operations).
Each pilot should have his/her own weak link of appropriate strength.
It is recommended that a new weak link is used for every launch; or a fabric sheath is used to cover the weak link to protect it as it is dragged along the ground.
Testing weak links tied from "No 8" builders string line has shown that the type of knot used does not greatly affect the breaking strain of the weak link.
Here is the requirement from the 2007 Worlds local rules (which I wrote) for weaklinks:
Pilots must use weaklinks provided by the meet organizers and in a manner approved by the meet organizers. All weaklinks will be checked and use of inappropriate weaklinks will require the pilot to go to the end of the launch line to change the weaklink.
Weaklinks will consist of a single loop of Cortland 130 lb Greenspot braided Dacron Tolling line and should be placed at one end of a shoulder bridle.
At the 2008 Forbes Flatlands Greenspot for the first time was used as the standard weaklink material (thanks in large part to the efforts of Bobby Bailey). We applaud these efforts to improve the safety of aerotowing by using a better weaklink material.
The focal point of his safe towing system? The standard weak link material that (thanks in large part to the efforts of Bobby Bailey) was used at the 2008 Forbes Flatlands to improve the safety of aerotowing?
Not by releasing, as the pilot doesn't even seem to be aware that he/she is about to be killed.
- Don't you mean: "...as the pilot doesn't even seem to be aware that THEY ARE about to be killed."?
- Yeah, TOTAL doofus. Just like THIS:
022-04610
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2809/13746340634_a74b33d285_o.png
asshole. No fuckin' CLUE that anything's wrong, that he's just five seconds away from having his brain turned to mush and his life destroyed. Probably just boating around, totally oblivious to the tug...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35640817/
...enjoying the view. What possible other explanation could there be?
No, instead, Bobby Bailey (sound familiar here?)...
Oh yeah! The best tow pilot in the business - a fucking genius when it comes to this shit.
...recognizes the problem...
He RECOGNIZED the PROBLEM?! Wow! He REALLY IS the best tow pilot in the business - a fucking genius when it comes to this shit. Thank GOD he became a tow pilot instead of a quantum physicist! Such a pity that he didn't recognize THIS:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aerotowrelease/8318781297/
problem with the piece of shit he concocted as an aerotow release and ban it (at least for a short while) from the Worlds at Hay BEFORE Robin was killed by it.
...eases back on the stick and the gas, and moves to the left to save the pilot from a lockout.
REALLY?!
- He didn't just...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35640817/
...dump him? But that worked out so well for Ben...
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9Ek9_lFeSII/UZ4KuB0MUSI/AAAAAAAAGyU/eWfhGo4QeqY/s1024/GOPR5278.JPG
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xh_NfnOcUns/UZ4Lm0HvXnI/AAAAAAAAGyk/0PlgrHfc__M/s1024/GOPR5279.JPG
...when Joel dumped him.
- So the guys on both ends of the line plus the Davis Link - all of whom were THERE - all determined that the best course of action was...
Wills Wing / Blue Sky / Steve Wendt / Ryan Voight Productions - 2007/03
NEVER CUT THE POWER...
Reduce Gradually
Increase Gradually
...to continue the tow. But only He/She is an asshole for not aborting it. Can you walk me through your arithmetic on that one, Davis?
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25015
Zippy pounds in
Davis Straub - 2011/09/02 18:37:09 UTC
Concussions are in fact very serious and have life long effects. The last time I was knocked out what in 9th grade football. I have felt the effects of that ever since. It changes your wiring.
Never mind.
- I notice that as severe as that situation was...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skysailingtowing/message/6726
Give 'em the rope? When?
William Olive - 2005/02/11 08:59:57 UTC
I give 'em the rope if they drop a tip (seriously drop a tip), or take off stalled. You will NEVER be thanked for it, for often they will bend some tube.
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14221
Tad's release
William Olive - 2008/12/24 23:46:36 UTC
I've seen a few given the rope by alert tug pilots, early on when things were going wrong, but way before it got really ugly. Invariably the HG pilot thinks "What the hell, I would have got that back. Now I've got a bent upright."
The next one to come up to the tuggie and say "Thanks for saving my life." will be the first.
...nothing got bent. Wouldn't that suggest that Bobby's a driver far superior to Billo and...
http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2467
weak links
Jim Rooney - 2007/08/01 13:47:23 UTC
Whatever's going on back there, I can fix it by giving you the rope.
...Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney - your...
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24846
Is this a joke ?
Jim Rooney - 2011/08/28 06:15:12 UTC
You may not know, but Davis is a friend of mine.
We have discussed this many times in person. We are not in disagreement.
If you can not see that we're in agreement, perhaps I can clear things up for you. Or Davis can.
Either way, you're the one creating the drama.
...very good friend?
Will this pilot read this report in the Oz Report?
Will he read it in an incident report in Hang Gliding magazine? Will it figure into an annual summary so's flight parks, tow operations, the Towing Committee, individual pilots can look at the trends and work on the problems?
Will he get to read a report written by anyone who bothered to get HIS perspective on things? Or is it plenty good enough to have him portrayed as a total asshole by some total fucking douchebag like Davis?
How come you know so goddam much about exactly what was going on and why on this one with no statement from either of the participants in the tow while you're totally fuckin' clueless...
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30971
Zach Marzec
Mark Frutiger - 2013/02/08 19:12:21 UTC
Zack hit the lift a few seconds after I did. He was high and to the right of the tug and was out of my mirror when the weak ling broke. The load on the tug was not excessive as with a lockout, but I was not surprised when the weak link broke. I was still in the thermal when I caught sight of Zack again. I did not see the entry to the tumble, but I did see two revolutions of a forward tumble before kicking the tug around to land. The thermal was still active in the area that I had just launched from so I did a go round and landed on a runway 90 degrees cross to the direction we were towing in.
http://zweefvliegopleiding.nl/index.php/thermiek
Davis Straub - 2013/02/09 16:45:39 UTC
I can't see how the weaklink has anything to do with this accident.
...on the Zack Marzec fatality?
So if Bobby saved him from a lockout then he didn't lock out. So then there was no need to abort the tow. So then it's pretty safe to assume that he continued the tow successfully to altitude. So then it's a pretty safe bet that he wasn't the total doofus you're making him out to be. And I also note that nobody said anything about problems with previous or successive tows or anybody refusing to tow him. And that WOULD have happened if he'd insisted on...
http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2467
weak links
Jim Rooney - 2007/07/22 22:30:28 UTC
I've heard it a million times before from comp pilots insisting on towing with even doubled up weaklinks (some want no weaklink).
http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3600
Weak link question
Jim Rooney - 2008/11/24 05:18:15 UTC
I've personally refused to tow a flight park owner over this very issue. I didn't want to clash, but I wasn't towing him. Yup, he wanted to tow with a doubled up weaklink. He eventually towed (behind me) with a single and sorry to disappoint any drama mongers, we're still friends. And lone gun crazy Rooney? Ten other tow pilots turned him down that day for the same reason.
...using a two hundred pound weak link.
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24846
Is this a joke ?
Davis Straub - 2011/08/28 15:26:28 UTC
Then again, Russell Brown had us double up behind him after six breaks in a row at Zapata. We couldn't figure out why we had so many breaks so quickly. Maybe just coincidence.
You motherfuckers have no problem whatsoever pulling any bozo capable of flashing a card and plopping a glider on a cart but are all frothing at the mouth about pulling someone with a weak link in the middle of the legal/safety range.
Unlikely.
What about the assholes who signed him off? If the guy's a total doofus don't his instructors and rating officials merit some real serious scrutiny?
They appear to have missed the previous report which I wrote in a perhaps vain attempt to save some pilot's lives.
Yeah, you wrote a report about a guy getting killed by a blindingly obvious defect in an aerotow "release" Bobby Fucking-Genius Bailey had "designed" and how it was banned (at least for a short while) from the Worlds at Hay by all the shitheaded douchebags running the show while they doubly fixed the problem by mandating weak links too light to get gliders airborne and using polypro towlines to try to keep them from breaking. And you also told us about how he got off to a really shitty start solely because he foot launched...
10-525
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/435/19224482318_2da3f48afe_o.png
...solely because the launch carts where nearly as crappy as the rest of the equipment being used.
It is so discouraging to see this.
Especially after you've labored SO tirelessly for SO MANY years for compliance with safety standards and regulations and developing and promoting innovative equipment and procedures. And I was so very certain that after all the writing you did on Robin slamming in that we would never again see a low level aerotow lockout.
Actively control the glider on tow and in the cart. Do not cross control. If you are the slightest bit uncomfortable, release and launch again.
Wow! That was TRULY inspirational. I'm sure now that all the people who:
- don't actively control the glider on tow and in the cart
- cross control
- stay on tow when they're the slightest bit uncomfortable
will now mend their ways and become Zack...
37-23223
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3713/9655904048_89cce6423a_o.png
...Marzec / Ben...
...Dunn / Davis...
...Straub caliber aerotow pilots.
And I'm SO looking forward to an article from you on actively controlling the glider in the cart. I'd actually rather have one from your good friend Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney but I don't think he's allowed to post anything on aerotowing any more.
And when you've done with that one maybe we can get an article on aerotow releases and which ones are the most aerodynamic and easily stowed. Interesting that you've made this report all about what an ass this guy was for not releasing and haven't given us one single word about what he was equipped with in the way of a release. And mention of the weak link he was using and why it failed to do...
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31052
Poll on weaklinks
Davis Straub - 2013/03/06 18:29:05 UTC
You know, after all this discussion I'm now convinced that it is a very good idea to treat the weaklink as a release, that that is exactly what we do when we have a weaklink on one side of a pro tow bridle. That that is exactly what has happened to me in a number of situations and that the whole business about a weaklink only for the glider not breaking isn't really the case nor a good idea for hang gliding.
I'm happy to have a relatively weak weaklink, and have never had a serious problem with the Greenspot 130, just an inconvenience now and then.
I'm thinking about doing a bit more testing as there seemed to be some disagreement around here about what the average breaking strength of a loop of Greenspot (or orange) weaklink was.
...what it was SUPPOSED TO is also totally and conspicuously absent.
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