I'm trying to get him to take offense.
Getting people to take offense is the only thing I've ever been really good at. If I can't even do that anymore I don't have much hope of accomplishing anything else.
Broken arm Saturday for discussion
- Tad Eareckson
- Posts: 9161
- Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC
- Tad Eareckson
- Posts: 9161
- Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC
Re: Broken arm Saturday for discussion
Jump to next post:
http://www.kitestrings.org/post11959.html#p11959
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYe3YmdIQTM
Been resisting doing a stills project on this one since Larry posted it here eight years, four months, and a day ago. Handheld camera from next to launch, low resolution, the glider fills very little of the screen during the really exciting parts but it's a really important career ending flight, we can see everything we need to, great smoking gun material.
Incident - 2012/02/18; Harrison H. Schmitt Big Sky Hang Glider Park, Sandia LZ, 35°10'55.69" N 106°31'08.78" W; stationary winch, turnaround pulley; foot launch
The players...
- Bryan Bowker - victim, veterinary surgeon; two rated almost certainly, Surface Tow signoff; Wills Wing Falcon 3 170 glider with substantial wheels; Wills Wing Z5 pod harness; easily reachable one point three-string shoulder mounted bridle/release assembly; 130 pound Greenspot weak link at the end of the towline very probably doubled
- Mark Knight - perpetrator, relevant instructor. Will be dead after Dragonfly tug falls apart at Phoenix 2014/02/24 - two years and six days after the conclusion of his victim's hang gliding career.
- Mel Glantz - winch owner, operations director, partial Hewett disciple
- Unidentified - driver/copilot
- Larry West - failed voice of reason; observer; sole incident reporter
01-0128
- 01 - chronological order
- 01 - seconds
- 28 - frame (30 fps)
Note windsock behind/above front/upwind end of tow rig - straight in, light.
01-0128

02-0216

03-0306

04-0314

Hook-in check.
05-0318

Airborne, prone, hands on the control tubes at shoulder or ear height where he can't control the glider. Will remain so positioned to and through impact.
06-0325

Soccer goal and kids in background.
07-0407

08-0421

Hands have been shifted down maybe ten inches.
09-0501

Keep those hands up on the control tubes so that you'll be able to land safely in the unlikely event that the focal point of your safe towing system suddenly increases the safety of the towing operation. Be Prepared. Can't go wrong with that motto.
10-0510

Final frame on tow. Things about to go much safer with the huge margin always afforded by free flight mode.
11-0513

12-0514

13-0517

Yeah, start rotating upright. Because we can run faster on our feet than on our ears. (To quote Greg DeWolf.) (And also to quote George Stebbins quoting Greg DeWolf.)
14-0520

15-0526

You're pulled in as far as possible with your hands in safe landing position. Keep up the great work. (And kudos to all your instructors, mentors, role models.)
16-0605

17-0617

18-0627

Nice altitude gain - considering you popped off tow 1.8 seconds ago.
19-0707

Now would be a really excellent time to rotate to prone and stuff the bar as much as your arms and extended fingers would allow.
20-0717

But what do I know. I haven't flown a glider in the better part of a dozen years.
21-0727

22-0807

23-0817

I can't watch any more.
24-0827

25-0907

26-0914

Impact.
27-0919

I'm doing these frame by frame 'cause it's within this 0.3 second (27-0919 - 35-0927) interval that we have taking place the transfer of energy that's gonna demolish this guy's right arm, end his hang gliding career, interrupt his professional career, irrevocably alter his life for the worse. And even at this point if both his hands hadn't been trapped on the control tubes in safe landing position...
28-0920

29-0921

30-0922

31-0923

32-0924

33-0925

34-0926

35-0927

Aftermath...
36-1010

37-1113

38-1226

Jump to top:
http://www.kitestrings.org/post11958.html#p11958
http://www.kitestrings.org/post11959.html#p11959
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYe3YmdIQTM
Been resisting doing a stills project on this one since Larry posted it here eight years, four months, and a day ago. Handheld camera from next to launch, low resolution, the glider fills very little of the screen during the really exciting parts but it's a really important career ending flight, we can see everything we need to, great smoking gun material.
Incident - 2012/02/18; Harrison H. Schmitt Big Sky Hang Glider Park, Sandia LZ, 35°10'55.69" N 106°31'08.78" W; stationary winch, turnaround pulley; foot launch
The players...
- Bryan Bowker - victim, veterinary surgeon; two rated almost certainly, Surface Tow signoff; Wills Wing Falcon 3 170 glider with substantial wheels; Wills Wing Z5 pod harness; easily reachable one point three-string shoulder mounted bridle/release assembly; 130 pound Greenspot weak link at the end of the towline very probably doubled
- Mark Knight - perpetrator, relevant instructor. Will be dead after Dragonfly tug falls apart at Phoenix 2014/02/24 - two years and six days after the conclusion of his victim's hang gliding career.
- Mel Glantz - winch owner, operations director, partial Hewett disciple
- Unidentified - driver/copilot
- Larry West - failed voice of reason; observer; sole incident reporter
01-0128
- 01 - chronological order
- 01 - seconds
- 28 - frame (30 fps)
Note windsock behind/above front/upwind end of tow rig - straight in, light.
01-0128

02-0216

03-0306

04-0314

Hook-in check.
05-0318

Airborne, prone, hands on the control tubes at shoulder or ear height where he can't control the glider. Will remain so positioned to and through impact.
06-0325

Soccer goal and kids in background.
07-0407

08-0421

Hands have been shifted down maybe ten inches.
09-0501

Keep those hands up on the control tubes so that you'll be able to land safely in the unlikely event that the focal point of your safe towing system suddenly increases the safety of the towing operation. Be Prepared. Can't go wrong with that motto.
10-0510

Final frame on tow. Things about to go much safer with the huge margin always afforded by free flight mode.
11-0513

12-0514

13-0517

Yeah, start rotating upright. Because we can run faster on our feet than on our ears. (To quote Greg DeWolf.) (And also to quote George Stebbins quoting Greg DeWolf.)
14-0520

15-0526

You're pulled in as far as possible with your hands in safe landing position. Keep up the great work. (And kudos to all your instructors, mentors, role models.)
16-0605

17-0617

18-0627

Nice altitude gain - considering you popped off tow 1.8 seconds ago.
19-0707

Now would be a really excellent time to rotate to prone and stuff the bar as much as your arms and extended fingers would allow.
20-0717

But what do I know. I haven't flown a glider in the better part of a dozen years.
21-0727

22-0807

23-0817

I can't watch any more.
24-0827

25-0907

26-0914

Impact.
27-0919

I'm doing these frame by frame 'cause it's within this 0.3 second (27-0919 - 35-0927) interval that we have taking place the transfer of energy that's gonna demolish this guy's right arm, end his hang gliding career, interrupt his professional career, irrevocably alter his life for the worse. And even at this point if both his hands hadn't been trapped on the control tubes in safe landing position...
28-0920

29-0921

30-0922

31-0923

32-0924

33-0925

34-0926

35-0927

Aftermath...
36-1010

37-1113

38-1226

Jump to top:
http://www.kitestrings.org/post11958.html#p11958
- Tad Eareckson
- Posts: 9161
- Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC
Re: Broken arm Saturday for discussion
Something MAJOR that I just caught and that we've all missed before...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYe3YmdIQTM
The camera's back at launch...
01-0128

...to the right of the winch. We can hear the engine just fine from that fixed position. Launch is being initiated here:
02-0216

We start a premature and steep climb here:
08-0421

09-0501

about two and a half seconds into launch.
AND WE CAN HEAR THE DRIVER IMMEDIATELY EASE OFF ON THE GAS.
EVERYTHING WOULD'VE BEEN FINE. He'd have been eased back down onto his wheels, briefed, hooked up for another go. But...
Steven Pearson - 2015/01/16 20:08 UTC
We all heard this - but it was exactly what we should've heard and expecting to hear and didn't grasp its significance. What we all FOCUSED...

...on was the hands way up on the control tubes and the premature high pitched climb.
Do correct me if I'm wrong though.
P.S. The video's title frame 04:18 - three before my 08-0421 selection. We all have a good feel with respect to what to start looking at.
P.P.S. If this nicely reported and video documented incident doesn't show us how far south of totally useless u$hPa's Pilot Proficiency Program is then I don't know what will.
---
P.P.P.S. - 2020/06/28 21:15:00 UTC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYe3YmdIQTM
The camera's back at launch...
01-0128

...to the right of the winch. We can hear the engine just fine from that fixed position. Launch is being initiated here:
02-0216

We start a premature and steep climb here:
08-0421

09-0501

about two and a half seconds into launch.
AND WE CAN HEAR THE DRIVER IMMEDIATELY EASE OFF ON THE GAS.
Close your eyes and just listen to it - power up for launch, power dialed back when Bryan goes early Day One scooter training on us, retrieval chute pops.Wills Wing / Blue Sky / Steve Wendt / Ryan Voight Productions - 2007/03
NEVER CUT THE POWER...
Reduce Gradually
Increase Gradually
EVERYTHING WOULD'VE BEEN FINE. He'd have been eased back down onto his wheels, briefed, hooked up for another go. But...
And...Larry West - 2012/02/20 14:49:54 UTC
...and he got mad (he was already stressing) and said "Larry, we just flew and those guys said I was flying like a Hang 3.", at which point I just walked away and waited for something bad to happen......which it did 5 minutes later.
Steven Pearson - 2015/01/16 20:08 UTC
Copyright 2007 by Sport Kites, Inc.
doing business as
Wills Wing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
How can pilot competence ever hope to compete with the Infallible decision making performance of a loop or two of Cortland 130 lb Greenspot braided Dacron Tolling line?Steve Wendt
But with the towline we use a standard weak link like we would for aerotow.... and that in this particular case it's 130... Uh... This... In this particular case it's 130 greenline, 130 pound test.
We all heard this - but it was exactly what we should've heard and expecting to hear and didn't grasp its significance. What we all FOCUSED...

...on was the hands way up on the control tubes and the premature high pitched climb.
Do correct me if I'm wrong though.
P.S. The video's title frame 04:18 - three before my 08-0421 selection. We all have a good feel with respect to what to start looking at.
P.P.S. If this nicely reported and video documented incident doesn't show us how far south of totally useless u$hPa's Pilot Proficiency Program is then I don't know what will.
---
P.P.P.S. - 2020/06/28 21:15:00 UTC
We can see - AND HEAR - everything we need to. And u$hPa really hates stuff like this....we can see everything we need to...
-
- Posts: 1338
- Joined: 2011/07/18 10:37:38 UTC
Re: Broken arm Saturday for discussion
Watched and listened to the video at half speed a few times. I don't see or hear anything "that we've all missed before".
What I see is the weak link breaking and then hear the engine's sound reduced.
What I see is the weak link breaking and then hear the engine's sound reduced.
- Tad Eareckson
- Posts: 9161
- Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC
Re: Broken arm Saturday for discussion
With a gun to my head I'd swear the RPMs, pitch, volume all start dropping the instant Bryan starts climbing out of skim mode. And I think that would be instinctive anyway for anybody with any feel for what he's doing who's driven a winch a few more times than Jean Lake Driver had launched a platform. But other takes are more than welcome.
Also...
There's undoubtedly a way to do this properly digitally that I have yet to figure out. But failing that...
Let's get ourselves some guinea pigs. Don't tell them (individually) what's going on, black out your screen, run the tape from 03:00 to 09:00. They're gonna recognize engine noise, ask them what they hear. I'm hoping they'll say fast, slowing, pop, continues slowing. But let's record the first impression. Maybe run it a couple times before asking for the impression.
Then they're probably gonna be interested in what was going on and we can do show-and-tell.
I'm sure we're all a lot more isolated than we were back in the old universe several months back but I'll be at a small get-together on the Fourth and...
Also...
There's undoubtedly a way to do this properly digitally that I have yet to figure out. But failing that...
Let's get ourselves some guinea pigs. Don't tell them (individually) what's going on, black out your screen, run the tape from 03:00 to 09:00. They're gonna recognize engine noise, ask them what they hear. I'm hoping they'll say fast, slowing, pop, continues slowing. But let's record the first impression. Maybe run it a couple times before asking for the impression.
Then they're probably gonna be interested in what was going on and we can do show-and-tell.
I'm sure we're all a lot more isolated than we were back in the old universe several months back but I'll be at a small get-together on the Fourth and...