http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1081
Platform towing /risk mitigation / accident
Sam Kellner - 2012/06/30 03:46:10 UTC
Bill,
Glad to see you here
.
You're on to something
Terry would drop and do pushups to prove his upper body strength.
Then Bill ISN'T on to anything. Upper body strength wasn't any more a limiting factor for him than it was for the thousands of people who've locked out high without consequence and the scores of people who've locked out low and been creamed.
That childhood illness effected his lower body, more so.
Did it affect his lower body as much as Chris Starbuck's lower body was affected by that seated pancake back in the Seventies? 'Cause if not we really don't need to be discussing it.
IMO...
Oh good. We once again get to hear Sam's OPINION.
...his upper-lower body mass was not proportionally normal/average.
Yeah?
- NOBODY'S upper-lower body mass was not proportionally normal/average.
- Seeing as how hang gliders fly just fine with pilots prone, suprone, and standing in the control frame, tell me how that matters a tinker's cuss.
His good leg was smaller than my arm.
Ever met Tip Rogers?
RIP Buddy
He's not RESTING and - even if he thought you were up until about two seconds before he slammed in - you were NOT his buddy. I was.
When I saw him towing/flying a 170Falcon, in Kingsville, with Donnell Hewitt, there were some PIO.
He should have just taken his hands off the controls. A Hewett Bridle auto corrects for roll. Funny that more people don't use it.
At that time I/we attributed it to light wing loading.
Yeah. He's OVERcontrolling because he's light on the wing. Makes sense to me.
Now that I look back?
Idiot.
During our more recent scooter ops, PIO never occurred on his new glider, the 135sq Sport 2.
Yeah. You can always count on heavier wing loading to reduce overcontrol.
I didn't see PIO 6-16...
Meaning you were there.
...but the threshold/trigger between being a bit off line with the tow, and a progressive irreversible lockout, was dramatic.
Yeah Sam...
Bill Bryden - 2000/02
Dennis Pagen informed me several years ago about an aerotow lockout that he experienced. One moment he was correcting a bit of alignment with the tug and the next moment he was nearly upside down. He was stunned at the rapidity. I have heard similar stories from two other aerotow pilots.
...it always is.
http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=649
missing release
Sam Kellner - 2011/05/05 04:25:07 UTC
Hello Hawks,
It was a super tow to cloud base ~2500'. As the tow vehicle neared the end of the runway, I glanced down to visually locate the release pin line.
Maybe two seconds later, I felt a normal thump of release and the tow line fell away.
That's why it's a really bad idea to fly with junk you're still looking for when the weak link blows. Two seconds can be a very long time when the shit is hitting the fan. Asshole.
Bille Floyd has commented how there are some differences in control, being a double amputee.
Yeah...
http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=4046
Accident Report
Doug Koch - 2007/10/20 15:42:57 UTC
Bille got the glider leveled off and released the towline, started to come in to land, and at about twenty to thirty feet suddenly dropped from the glider. As he was in a semi-prone attitude he came down at an angle of a few degrees, impacted the ground on both feet, and then fell forward on his face.
The impact broke both legs at the ankles and drove his shin bones out the bottom of his feet six inches.
...Bille Floyd.
http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=892
Redundant hook in check.
Terry Mason - 2011/12/12 22:06:05 UTC
Hey Bill, My old pac-air had an elastic bungy cord, very light, from the hang loop to a red plastic flag, hanging in front of your face. When hooked in, it was pulled out of the way by the carabiner in the loop pulling the thin elastic cord. My Hang check procedures precluded the need for further redundancies, allowing removal of the extra complexity, I never missed it.
Anything we can do to get around the USHGA requirement:
With each flight, demonstrates a method of establishing that the pilot is hooked in just prior to launch.
will help make this world a better and happier place.
It might have been a contributing factor.
Idiot.
- The Sport 2 135 has a hook-in weight range of 135 to 200 pounds. Either he was in it or he wasn't.
- The Falcon 3 170 you reported him flying earlier has a hook-in weight range of 140 to 220 pounds. That suggest he was over the minimum.
- And, in any case, the few pounds he might've been missing downstairs wouldn't have made a rat's ass worth of difference.
- He got out of position, he was overwhelmed, and he couldn't get off in time.
- And he hit the ground with his weak link intact and his release closed - didn't he?
Thanks for helping to understand.
Yeah. If your upper-lower body mass isn't proportionally normal/average then don't platform launch.
Big fuckin' help.
http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=822
US Hawks Hook-In Verification Poll
Sam Kellner - 2011/11/08 14:20:25 UTC
Yes, my degree in barnyard technologies was expensive and has taken >50yr to complete.
Fuck your fifty year degree in barnyard technologies. It never has been and never will be a substitute for a functional brain. Not in this game anyway.
