instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

[Zack C]

(But the S2 still wears me out flying fast for a while even at full VG.)

Zack

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=25527
Mouth AT Releases

deltaman - 2012/03/13 15:52:32 UTC

I would like to show you this kind of emergency mouth releases for the first meters (the most risky) of an AT flight.

You don't lose any second to release and don't lose any control either with two hands on the basebar.

On the other side you have got a classic barrel release (straight pin).

1. The remote barrel

* L/A ratio (direct load/actuation effort): 16.8
* maximum permissible tow tension to remain within the 25 pound actuation requirement: 820 pounds
* maximum load tested (also tested at all lower graduations): 300 pounds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh3-uZptNw0


2. The "4 strings"

It is designed to be used in an emergency situation only and experiences significant wear when actuated under a heavy load.

Due to the stepping down and other reductions through the mechanical advantage, friction, and resistance of the mechanism, when subjected to a 240 pound tow tension in One Point configuration the load transmitted to the Trigger Line remains well under two pounds.

* L/A ratio (direct load/actuation effort): 60
* A direct force of about 30 pounds is required to effect a release.

You can build yours here (see ~16 and ~17):

http://www.energykitesystems.net/Lift/hgh/TadEareckson/mousetraps.pdf

2013/07/03 06:00:29 UTC - 3 thumbs up - Rcpilot

Jim Gaar - 2012/03/13 15:55:30 UTC

Anything to keep the hands on the CB!!

Diev Hart - 2012/03/13 16:52:53 UTC
Santa Cruz

I want a remote barrel, that looks simple enough...how much?

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=14663
Aerotow Incident

Diev Hart - 2009/12/02 06:45:13 UTC

I'm Tad...
..."well now if you had my mouth release this would have never even been an issue"...
The same goes for the finger string on the basetube release for that matter...
good job in getting the gear out and down...

You miserable, mouthy little shit.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=25435
Raunchy Day At The Ridge + Release Failure

Zack C - 2012/03/13 00:11:28 UTC

For me, on my Sport 2, a ProTow setup is absolutely out of the question.

No, you can 'pro tow' a Sport 2. Even Wills Wing approves:

Towing from only the shoulder attachments without a top release is generally referred to as "Pro tow". The Sport 2, U2s and Talons may be "Pro towed" without a top release, however this method is not as easy as using a two point release as described above. Towing without a top release will cause the base tube to be positioned much further back during tow, the glider will have increased pitch pressure, and lockouts are much more difficult to correct.

I know a few people that have 'pro-towed' S2s without issue.

Casey Cox - 2012/03/13 01:14:11 UTC

"difficult to correct" ... I have a problem with that statement. At the very first sign of any lockout, Personally I would release and not try to "Correct."

Paul Edwards - 2012/03/13 01:37:55 UTC

Hey Zack! Did you ever try it on your S2?

Zack C - 2012/03/13 04:25:18 UTC

I have a problem with that statement too. By definition, a lockout is not correctable.

Hey Paul. No, I surface tow pilot-only, but I've never tried it aerotowing. I do plan to give it a try soon though and make a video comparison of the bar position differences.

Paul Edwards - 2012/03/13 12:25:45 UTC

Well, if you ever do let me know how it goes. If you ever come up to Lookout drop me a line. I'll come out and hook up my magnetic wing mount GoPro on your S2 so you can get multiple perspectives.

Plus it'd be great to fly together again.

At the very first sign of any lockout, Personally I would release and not try to "Correct."

BULLSHIT.

What's the first sign of a lockout?
-a) glider straight and level behind the tug
-b) glider slightly misaligned with the tug
-c) horizon tilted seventy degrees
-d) all of the above

Being on aerotow in thermal conditions is the first sign of a lockout and NOBODY *EVER* releases at the first sign of one - and you won't EITHER dude.

If you're:
- straight and level behind the tug you're gonna try to stay straight and level behind the tug
- slightly misaligned with the tug you're gonna try to get back straight and level behind the tug

If the horizon is tilted seventy degrees you're gonna be in shock wondering where the hell the tug went for a couple of seconds before you can even start thinking about what you should be doing. And if that happens below a hundred feet it's probably not gonna matter what you do or don't do ANYWAY - especially if you're flying Quallaby or Lockout Mountain equipment.

The time to react to a lockout is a couple of weeks before you get on the cart. React now by:

- equipping yourself with the best technology available and give your Lockout Mountain Flight Park Equipment to an appropriate user...

GT Manufacturing Inc. (GT) and Lookout Mountain Flight Park Inc. (LMFP) make no claim of serviceability of this tow equipment. There is no product liability insurance covering this gear and we do not warrant this gear as suitable for towing anything.

...someone who has no intention of using it to tow ANYTHING (RTFM!);

and

- understanding that you're not gonna be releasing at the first sign of a lockout - and you'll be doing pretty good if you release by the third sign of a lockout.

Plus it'd be great to fly together again.

Ooh! Somebody likes Zack! (I wonder what it's like to be liked by a Jack Show diver.)
Maybe Zack can get through to him on something and get him to pass it on to someone else.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=25435
Raunchy Day At The Ridge + Release Failure

Terry Ryan - 2012/03/13 13:11:40 UTC

Re: aerotowing with bridle connected at chest and keel.
When I get thrown way off to the side (i.e. approaching lockout), I pull in and weight-shift very aggressively. Mostly it works. But I think I'm adding to the problem by moving my chest along with the rest of my body, thus moving half the pulling force off center ... exactly the wrong way ... resulting in a tendency to yaw ... that yaw tending to make the wing point more in the wrong direction.

A - Did I explain that clearly enough?

B - Is my analysis correct?

I'm thinking that I should weight-shift with my lower torso only ... keeping my chest centered. I think I read this somewhere. Can anyone confirm?
On a scale from one to ten, how important is it?

When I get thrown way off to the side (i.e. approaching lockout), I pull in and weight-shift very aggressively. Mostly it works.

Then mostly keep doing that.

But I think I'm adding to the problem by moving my chest along with the rest of my body...

Maybe you are - but you're probably also subtracting more from your problem than you're adding to it.

...that yaw tending to make the wing point more in the wrong direction.

Your big problem on tow is ROLL - not yaw. And the more of you you get under the high wing the more muscle it's gonna take and that muscle is pulling against the wire going to the high wing.

The glider's very roll unstable and very yaw stable. You take care of the roll and let the glider fix the yaw.

I'm thinking that I should weight-shift with my lower torso only ... keeping my chest centered.

If you don't REALLY NEED to get the wing down - sure. But if you really do I'd keep doing what you're doing and having it mostly work. Mostly getting towed hang gliders to do what we want is the best anyone can do anyway.

On a scale from one to ten, how important is it?

If it's a ten towing one point it's only about a five towing two - which is a lot safer all around anyway. And if you want a good two point release start by listening to Zack and Antoine and ignoring all the morons in that cult with you.

(Think I'm reasonably OK on this one, Antoine? Or anybody else?)

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=25527
Mouth AT Releases

Doug Doerfler - 2012/03/13 21:19:59 UTC

what happens when that pulley breaks with that thing in your mouth

Well, let's think about this for a couple of seconds.

- It's a Harken 405 16 millimeter AirBlock with a twelve hundred pound breaking strength.

- And it's only taking half the towline tension - sorry - PRESSURE, so it would take (want me to do the math for you?) twenty-four hundred pounds towline to blow it.

- For a max loaded T2 154 that's:
-- six and two thirds Gs
-- three and a third times the legal two G weak link limit
-- 4.4 times the one and a half G weak link that people with functional brains fly
-- 9.2 times the Davis Link all the fuckin' moronic Jack and Davis Shows clones fly

- And if it did somehow manage to break before the twenty or thirty other things that would blow first - quite probably including your glider 'cause it's also carrying an extra G's worth of itself and you - the 205 leechline lanyard would either pull out from between your teeth, whether you wanted it to or not, or auto actuate the release mechanism.

- I've never seen what happens to a glider just after it loses twenty-four hundred pounds of tow tension - or, for that matter, just before - but I'm guessing you really wouldn't be noticing or caring what was going on with that string around that time.

I still can not understand, if you get to the point its gone real bad and you need to release, what you need both hands on the control bar for

You don't. You should be using them to fully unzip your pod so you can kiss your ass goodbye.

The control of these things is weight shift....if you are locked out it means weight shift doesn't work any more

A few thoughts...

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=28697
Weak links why do we use them. in paragliding.

Karolis Dautartas - 2009/12/09 23:15:03 UTC

For HG aerotowing we use releases which get actuated by mouth - this is probably the quickest release system ever designed: by the time you get scared and say "AAAAGH", you are already flying on your own. This system already saved me once from a very serious crash.

- What if you used it BEFORE you were locked out and weight shift didn't work any more?

Joe Gregor - 2004/09

The weak link broke after the glider entered a lockout attitude. Once free, the glider was reportedly too low (50-65' AGL, estimated) to recover and impacted the ground in a steep dive. There is no evidence that the pilot made an attempt to release from tow prior to the weak link break, the gate was found closed on the Wallaby-style tow release.

- Do you seriously believe that if you're fighting a potentially lethal low level lockout that you're gonna say to yourself:

I've gotten to the point that it's gone real bad, I need to release, and what do I need both hands on the control bar for?

and let go with one hand to go fishing around for some piece of shit Quallaby or Bailey release that probably won't work even if you are still alive by the time you find it?

Doug Hildreth - 1991/06

Pilot with some tow experience was towing on a new glider which was a little small for him. Good launch, but at about fifty feet the glider nosed up, stalled, and the pilot released by letting go of the basetube with right hand. Glider did a wingover to the left and crashed into a field next to the tow road. Amazingly, there were minimal injuries.

Comment: This scenario has been reported numerous times. Obviously, the primary problem is the lack of pilot skill and experience in avoiding low-level, post-launch, nose-high stalls. The emphasis by countless reporters that the pilot lets go of the glider with his right hand to activate the release seems to indicate that we need a better hands-on way to release.

I know, I know, "If they would just do it right. Our current system is really okay." I'm just telling you what's going on in the real world. They are not doing it right and it's up to us to fix the problem. Think about it.

http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3107
I have a tandem rating!!!

Lauren Tjaden - 2008/03/23 22:20:15 UTC

When Jim got me locked out to the right, I couldn't keep the pitch of the glider with one hand for more than a second (the pressure was a zillion pounds, more or less), but the F'ing release slid around when I tried to hit it.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skysailingtowing/message/6726
Weaklinks

Peter Birren - 2008/10/27 23:41:49 UTC

You'll have both hands on the basetube pulling it well past your knees but the glider doesn't come down and still the weaklink doesn't break (.8G). So you pull whatever release you have but the one hand still on the basetube isn't enough to hold the nose down and you pop up and over into an unplanned semi-loop. Been there, done that... at maybe 200 feet agl.

Dennis Pagen - 2005/01

By the time we gained about sixty feet I could no longer hold the glider centered - I was probably at a 20-degree bank - so I quickly released before the lockout to the side progressed. The glider instantly whipped to the side in a wingover maneuver.

- Are you suffering under some kind of delusion that leads you to believe that when you're locked out with the glider going somewhere you don't want it to it won't start going somewhere you more enthusiastically don't want it to a whole lot faster when you interrupt or end your resistance by taking a hand off the basetube?

Peter Birren - 2008/10/27 23:41:49 UTC

I know about this type of accident because it happened to me, breaking four ribs and my larynx... and I was aerotowing using a dolly. The shit happened so fast there was no room for thought much less action. But I wasn't dragged because the weaklink did its job and broke immediately on impact.

- Can you conceive of any circumstances other than a lockout in which it might be advantageous to be able to abort a tow by just pulling or letting go of a string in your teeth?

2012/03/14 08:05:23 UTC - Sink This! -- deltaman
2012/03/14 08:28:34 UTC - Sink This! -- Christopher LeFay

deltaman - 2011/06/17 14:06:59 UTC

We had a dramatic accident in 2004 in AT in France. I wasn't there. First AT for a pilot in a 1:1 dolly start. As he believed he has to pull hard right after leaving the dolley, he did it and hit the ground ..and was dragged before the wl break. He is tetraplegic now.

- Wouldn't it be easier to just have a string in your teeth so you can abort a situation immediately and don't hafta look at the weak link tables to determine the level of damage you're gonna sustain for each tenth of a G increment?

Steve Goldman - 1982/12

The release mechanism is dangerous...

In a desperate situation it can be difficult to release, which happened to me twice. In the first incident, as I said earlier, I got into violent yaw oscillations. There was no way that I could let go of the control bar and pull the release.

- How 'bout an oscillation?

http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=587
Holly's Accident

Scott Wilkinson - 2005/06/08 12:55:46 UTC

Holly is doing as well as can be expected after fifteen hours of surgery. The doctors came to see us around 10:45 last night. They said everything went fine. Once into surgery, they found many more fractures than were evident on the CT scan. Holly's face wasn't just cracked in a few places, it was shattered into many pieces over large areas. Piecing everything together and securing it in place was meticulous, time-consuming work.

You have plenty of control, a bit too much in fact, but you're probably gonna be disinclined to let go nevertheless.

I still can not understand, if you get to the point its gone real bad and you need to release, what you need both hands on the control bar for

The control of these things is weight shift....if you are locked out it means weight shift doesn't work any more

I started out really cutting this guy to shreds but backed way off.

- The flight park scumbags sell these suckers this dangerous junk.

- Then feed them a load of shit about how it's really OK and there's no reason to try to go with something better 'cause it won't make any difference.

- They're scared shitless every time they go up so they really wanna believe this absolutely lunatic crap.

- And so they go into hyper-rationalization mode until all the Kool-Aid is down.

- But they know on a gut level that it's a bunch of crap.

- This guy's scared.
---
P.S. - 2014/08/13 04:40:00 UTC

Douglas Doerfler - 82459 - H4 - 2007/07/05 - Christopher Valley - FL ST FSL RLF TUR - OBS

Fuck you, Chris.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=25527
Mouth AT Releases

Interesting little dynamic happening on The Jack Show...

- You have your Jack Show...

http://www.hanggliding.org/wiki/HG_ORG_Mission_Statement

No posts or links about Bob K, Scott C Wise, Tad Eareckson and related people, or their material. ALL SUCH POSTS WILL BE IMMEDIATELY DELETED. These people are poison to this sport and are permanently banned from this site in every possible way imaginable.

...Mission Statement prohibiting posts about Tad Eareckson or his material.

- But deltaman...

deltaman - 2012/03/13 15:52:32 UTC

I would like to show you this kind of emergency mouth releases for the first meters (the most risky) of an AT flight.
You can build yours here (see ~16 and ~17):
http://www.energykitesystems.net/Lift/hgh/TadEareckson/mousetraps.pdf

...posts about and links to Tad's material.

- And before this halfwitted little twit:

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=14663
Aerotow Incident

Diev Hart - 2009/12/02 06:45:13 UTC

I'm Tad...
..."well now if you had my mouth release this would have never even been an issue"...
The same goes for the finger string on the basetube release for that matter...

notices or figures out that he's looking at Tad's material...

- He blurts out:

Diev Hart - 2012/03/13 16:52:53 UTC

I want a remote barrel, that looks simple enough...how much?

- And now if Jack Ass enforces his Mission Statement and deletes the post with its photos, video, and description of Tad's equipment and link to Tad's documentation - the foundation of this discussion that's got a bit of interest and is currently riding at 213 hits - he's gonna really piss some people off and really look really really bad.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=25527
Mouth AT Releases

Zack C - 2012/03/14 05:16:10 UTC

Doug Doerfler - 2012/03/13 21:19:59 UTC

The control of these things is weight shift....if you are locked out it means weight shift doesn't work any more

It doesn't mean weight shift doesn't work any more...it means it's inadequate to recover. As long as your weight shift is opposing the lockout, it's still helping. Take a hand off the bar while you're fighting a lockout and your attitude will immediately worsen. At altitude this won't matter, but near the ground it could be a big deal.

It's astounding that this this needs to be explained to anyone who's ever flown down a training hill once or twice - or, hell, flown a kite at the beach as a ten year old kid.

2012/03/14 08:05:57 UTC - 3 thumbs up - Christopher LeFay
2012/03/14 08:27:35 UTC - 3 thumbs up - deltaman
2016/06/02 12:04:07 UTC - 3 thumbs up - Bill Jennings

Zack C - 2012/03/14 05:29:01 UTC

And if you're just approaching a lockout, taking a hand off the bar could be the very thing that puts you into a lockout.

No Zack...

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.

When the towline's hooked up to the pilot the sideways force tends to pull him over to the correct side to make the glider turn naturally in the proper direction.

Donnell Hewett - 1981/10

If any part of the bridle comes into contact with one of the flying wires or the control bar, as it must if the glider is turned severely crossways, then the stated conditions are not met and a lock-out or a tuck does become possible.

It's only when some part of the bridle comes into contact with one of the flying wires that the system ceases to be self correcting and a lockout becomes possible. Until that point is reached there's really no significant advantage to having a hand or two on the basetube.

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=821
Fatal hang gliding accident

Zack C - 2011/11/14 03:07:28 UTC

Wow. I can't believe he said that.

Welcome to the world of Hewett mythbusting.

2012/03/14 08:06:16 UTC - 3 thumbs up - Christopher LeFay
2012/03/14 08:28:18 UTC - 3 thumbs up - deltaman
2016/06/02 12:04:18 UTC - 3 thumbs up - Bill Jennings

Christopher LeFay - 2012/03/14 08:10:11 UTC

The benefit is only limited by your imagination:

No Christopher...

Towing Aloft - 1998/01

The towline release is a critically important piece of equipment. It is the device which frees you from the towline and it must be failure-proof. Numerous designs have evolved over the years--some very good and some not so good. Unfortunately, releases are items that many pilots feel they can make at home or adapt from something they have seen at the hardware store. Two fatalities have occurred in the past five years directly related to failures of very poorly constructed and maintained releases. For the sake of safety, only use releases that have been designed and extensively tested by reputable manufacturers. Listed below are various types of releases available with their attributes and applications.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22308
Better mouse trap(release)?

Jim Rooney - 2010/12/16 18:47:05 UTC

A few years ago, I started refusing to tow people with home made gear.
I like the idea of improving gear, but the lack of appreciation for the world they were stepping into didn't sit with me.
For example... flying with the new gear in mid day conditions?
Are you kidding me????

Approach it for what it is... completely untested and very experimental gear which will likely fail in new and unforseen ways as it tries it's damndest to kill you... and then we can talk.

The benefit is primarily limited by USHGA, the Flight Park Mafia, Davis, Jack, and the rest of the scum that controls this sport.

you're on tow, when the tug gives you the rope just as you are clearing the tree line by a few meters - what you really want to do is ditch the rope and fly the glider - if you have to take hands off the control bar at such critical moments, you trade one for the other...

Yeah. That's a real biggie. This release should be a real godsend in dealing with all those situations.

And you CERTAINLY wouldn't wanna hafta take a hand off the basetube when the towline's slack. Hard to predict how the glider would be likely to react.

How 'bout limiting your imagination a little more and ignoring incident, crash, and fatality reports a little less?

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=25527
Mouth AT Releases

Mike Lake - 2012/03/14 10:17:09 UTC
UK

Please, if you don't like the string in teeth idea that's fine but to dismiss the notion that flying with one hand is no big deal in a critical situation is nonsense.

I can think of a few stronger words to use with respect to that post. As a matter of fact I did but was overcome by a rare feeling of pity while I was composing my response.

It's easy to test, just fly fast and open and close you mouth, nothing much happens.

Try the same experiment, but this time let go with one hand at the same time, a momentary loss of control.

Still nothing much happens of course, except if you find yourself experiencing some other momentary loss of control at the same time.

Or are vigorously exercising some momentary or sustained control input upon which your life is dependent at the time.

Try these experiments...

- Stuff the bar for two seconds and take a hand off the basetube.

- Set the glider in a coordinated turn in with a forty-five degree bank angle, try to reverse the roll as hard and fast as you can, and take a hand off the basetube one second into the effort.

You probably wanna conduct them at something over fifty feet.

As for the comment...

what happens when that pulley breaks with that thing in your mouth

This is critical of course and a very valid point, certainly on top of my list of 'things that might go wrong' along with a buckled cross-tube, a snapped hang loop, and inexplicably poor denture cement.

The solution, fortunately, is a simple one. Only use the commonly found stuff that will take the weight of five fat people and not shit rig equipment made from parts of an old toy, a box of matchers, and a Parker ball point pen.

Or the dumb sonuvabitch could've just clicked on the link to Mousetraps that Antoine provided and read the documentation and specifications of the components - but it was just so much easier to blather the first thing that popped into his head.

sigh...
-
Skyhook BogRog built from plans
Own design and built experiment
Skyhook Sunspot
Skyhook Sabre (CFX)
23 year rest...
Airwave Calypso
Airwave Kiss

None of these assholes has ever put any equipment into the air that wasn't handed to him on a silver platter by some other asshole. Gawd it's nice to hear someone who's looked at problems, thought about and developed solutions, and gotten them airborne. Helps wash the tastes of the Davisses, Rooneys, Hagewoods, Jacks, and Hurlesses out of one's mouth a bit.

2012/03/14 10:42:05 UTC - 1 thumb up -- deltaman
2012/03/14 11:25:59 UTC - 3 thumbs up - Christopher LeFay

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=25527
Mouth AT Releases

Casey Cox - 2012/03/14 11:12:13 UTC

Looking at the video, the pilot can see the release in his peripheral vision. Several barrel release are made in various lengths. I chose the longer barrel release due to it is well in my peripheral vision.

And what style pin did you choose? Bent or straight? Just kidding.

Yes, I have to let go with a hand to release, but I also have 2 barrel releasees so I can use either hand.

Great!

http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3391
More on Zapata and weak link

Paul Tjaden - 2008/07/22 04:32:22 UTC

I have never had a lockout situation happen so quickly and dramatically and had no chance to release as I have always thought I could do.

You're all set then.

I'm not nocking the mouth release, but I won't to point out a couple things. The mouth release is not for me with a full face helmet and maybe someday going with a visor. I also surface tow as well as aero tow and even though I use different releases, I still use the same hand and the release lanyard is located only inches from each.

British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association Technical Manual - 2003/04

On tow the Pilot in Command must have his hand actually on the release at all times. 'Near' the release is not close enough! When you have two hands completely full of locked-out glider, taking one off to go looking for the release guarantees that your situation is going to get worse before it gets better.

Plus; I would not be able to yell, "damn this is going to hurt" if I got into a bad situation.

Idiot.

deltaman - 2012/03/14 12:50:36 UTC

Casey,

Yes, I have to let go with a hand to release, but I also have 2 barrel releasees so I can use either hand.

So we return to square one?

Yeah, we've been doing NOTHING BUT returning to square one for the past thirty years - thanks to these total morons and the other total morons who keep telling them they're not.

Have you noticed the futility of using hands here?

I'm amazed this guy notices which way is up long enough to get his glider down in one piece. They probably had to expand the Lookout LZ an extra twenty acres to give him a safe enough margin.

Keep your hands on the CONTROL bar.

Whoa!

Manned Kiting
The Basic Handbook of Tow Launched Hang Gliding
by Daniel F. Poynter
1974

"Never take your hands off the bar." - Tom Peghiny

Now there's a thought maybe worthy of a little consideration!

But...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24846
Is this a joke ?

Cragin Shelton - 2011/09/03 23:57:33 UTC

Nice Reference Citation

Manned Kiting
The Basic Handbook of Tow Launched Hang Gliding
Daniel F. Poynter
1974

"The greatest dangers are a rope break or a premature release." - Richard Johnson

Do you REALLY think that there has been no progress in knowledge about the practical applied physics and engineering of hang gliding in 37 years? OR that an early, 3+ decade old, information book written by a non-pilot is a solid reference when you have multiple high experience current instructors involved in the discussion?

Perhaps not. You really need to tailor your message to stay in sync with the plummeting IQ average for the hang gliding population as we move ever forward in time.

The mouth release is not for me with a full face helmet and maybe someday going with a visor.

Chin guard is not an issue. Your eyes shouldn't quit the tug.

Next time you do a video use a full face helmet and visor to illustrate the lanyard routed below the chin guard. Or, hell, just do a still shot using either release.

I would not be able to yell, "damn this is going to hurt" if I got into a bad situation.

Good news! Indeed, you would have released a long time ago.

Astounding that you need to point that out. You're definitely talking to someone who grew up with a lot of lead in the drinking water.

[Steve Davy]

~12. Construction - Secondary Bridle

The Bridle Link is described in the Weak Links section.

Note: The Secondary Bridle must be long enough for the Four-String Release to clear before being contacted by the Primary Bridle Thimble or Tow Ring.

Looking at the photos posted by deltaman, I don't understand how the four string could clear before contacting the primary bridle or tow ring.