It is a funny thing, but in a court of law a criminal can only be judged on the matter at hand, and evidence has to qualify to be admitted. I don't understand what the exact charge was here, nor have I been able to review the evidence, but it doesn't seem to be just. A life-time ban is an incredible punishment for any act, by any pilot, that did not kill another person.
Without naming names (I'm curious to see if they'll own up to it first), on May 10, 2009, one Director wrote:
We need to consider getting an injunction against this guy communicating with the FAA on this subject.
That same day, another Director responded:
I forwarded the letter to Tim Herr yesterday asking about this.
For those who don't know, Tim Herr is ... USHPA's lawyer!!
A third Director (who I'll call "Mr. X") chimed in that same day with this:
Mr. X wrote:
Perhaps a strongly worded letter from Tim will do the trick. We can't force Tad to work within the USHPA framework but we can make it unpleasant and expensive for him if he chooses to makes derogatory and false statements about USHPA to the FAA he can't back up.
If I understand the previous comments, his sending USHPA a draft letter is an indication of willingness to engage in some dialogue before going to the FAA.
Don't even get me started on Tad. That obnoxious blow hard has gotten himself banned from every flying site that he used to visit... he doesn't fly anymore... because he has no where to fly. His theories were annoying at best and downright dangerous most of the time. Good riddance.
Go back to Tad's hole in the ground.
While you're there, ask him why he was banned from every east coast flying site.
I got an effective lifetime ban for trying to keep you useless goddam assholes from maintaining the sport as a science/math/logic-free religious cult and crashing and killing people in droves. And, goddam right... To me it WAS - and IS - an incredible punishment. After over a quarter century:
- I was abpruptly cut off from something I loved and socially ostracized.
- All of my equipment - glider, harnesses, helmets, parachute, vario, radios, towing gear, clothing, spare parts, racks - was effectively turned to junk.
- All of my ratings and qualifications...
Tad Eareckson - 32674 - H4 - 1991/12/17 - Santos Mendoza - AT FL PA VA AWCL CL FSL RLF TUR XC
...became marks on a useless laminated card.
- My Amateur Radio license - N3PGE - became useless.
So...
- On what charges was I found guilty?
- What was the:
-- damage and/or injury I was supposed to have perpetrated?
-- to support the charges?
- Who reviewed it before casting votes?
- When and where was the hearing in which I had an opportunity to defend myself and call and crossexamine witnesses?
This quote:
We need to consider getting an injunction against this guy communicating with the FAA on this subject.
is pretty much the smoking gun showing who the criminals were and are. Why would these pigfuckers be so terrified of "this guy communicating with the FAA on this subject" if they didn't have skeletons in closets and shallow graves all across the landscape coast to coast?
I cleared H1 actually got close to H2 but the weather wasnt 100% cooperative leaving me only lacking the flight requirements.
Glad you made it through the written OK. (Guess they're not sticklers on punctuation.)
Hows that for luck?
Thats a real bummer. Im really sorry things went down that way.
I did leave with my H1 paperwork which is on its way to the powers that be. Apparently a strange request at this site, I guess they normally submit the whole works for the students once they complete the program. I made a call to USHPA and they told me what I needed before I left. Reason being it will likely be spring before I return to this site. Plan is to head south for some towing over the winter.
Highly recommend Quest. They've been perfecting aerotowing for twenty years and the thermal conditions are totally awesome in early February.
So hows that going to work, arriving at a tow site as a FL H1?
Hard to imagine it could end up any worse than arriving at a tow site as a Hang 4 tandem aerotow instructor.
I'm assuming that I'll likely have to go thru the H2 process in its entirety again at the tow site since I didn't get cleared at the other site?
Not in its ENTIRETY. None of the schools or instructors are gonna put you through the tedium of adhering to USHGA's hook-in check requirement.
If all goes as planned I may be returning in the spring as an AT FL H2 only needing to get cleared for the mountian as per site requirements?
And, if not, as an urn full of ashes to get scattered over the mountian of your previously specified choice.
---
PARACHUTE---Der Stringencotten Das Est Usen To Floaten Down To Earthen Ven Der Fliegenwagen Est Kaputen
Or your Rooney Link - assuming you're fast and high enough and nothing wraps.
Mark G. Forbes - 2013/10/23 02:30:19 UTC
If you're headed for somewhere like Wallaby...
- Name an operation that isn't like Wallaby.
- Any reason you're not saying, "If you're headed for somewhere like Quest..."?
...it doesn't matter what ratings you have; if you're not signed off for aerotow and reasonably current, they're going to want you to go for a tandem and demonstrate your competence before letting you fly solo.
Zack Marzec (27), an H-4 Pilot with Aero Tow and Tandem Aero Tow proficiency as well as Advanced Instructor and Tandem Instructor appointments, and a USHPA member since 2009, suffered fatal injuries when when his glider tumbled during an aero tow launch. During the launch, at an altitude of 150 AGL, the pilot encountered an invisible bullet thermal which pitched the nose up, causing the weak link to break. Upon the breakage of the weak link, the glider whip stalled and then tumbled twice. The pilot and glider's leading edge hit the ground simultaneously. The pilot was utilizing his own pro-tow style tow harness, this own high performance glider with VG on, and was not wearing a full face helmet.
I'm still a bit uncertain as to what you're advising us to do now.
...and tandem is a good and fast way to get those skills dialed in.
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. The barrel release wouldn't work because we had too much pressure on it.
Anyhow, the tandem can indeed perform big wingovers, as I demonstrated when I finally got separated from the tug.
Right.
- What skills? Wasn't Zack Marzec dead center in the Cone of Safety when things suddenly became unsafe?
As a bonus, once you're good to fly solo, you'll rack up airtime like crazy down there and soon be ready for your H2 and aerotow signoffs.
It's been long enough since I've aerotowed that the next time I'm at Wallaby, I'll want to take a tandem first and make sure I'm back up to speed before taking a Falcon out solo.
- How are you gonna know you're up to speed? Sounds to me like anybody who aerotows is one bullet thermal and a chin guard away from a fatal tumble.
- The first time I ever aerotowed was foot launch, one point, behind a fast trike, on a Comet 165 - one of the hottest and stiffest ships of the era. Fuck tandem training, tandem check rides, and the tandem joyride industry.
I'd want to hear what Steve Wendt, Jim Rooney, Malcolm Jones, Bobby Bailey, Steve Kroop, Dave Glover, John Kemmeries, Hungary Joe and others have to say as well. As your proposed language stands today, I would vote against it based on my concerns. That's not to say that you're wrong, but I haven't bought into your proposal yet myself, and I haven't heard other viewpoints sufficient to form an opinion that's favorable.
...having no fuckin' clue which way is up, needs a babysitter to go up behind a tug gets any say whatsoever on aerotow policy issues?
Michael Robertson of High Perspective Hang Gliding, with over 30 years of experience hang gliding and a Senior Tandem Instructor rating, takes us through an in-depth look at Tandem Hang Gliding passenger hook-in and equipment safety specifications. For more information on tandem safety or to book your flight go to http://www.flyhigh.com
TANDEM HANG GLIDING
PASSENGER HOOK-IN & SAFETY PROCEDURES
with
Michael Robertson
High Perspective Inc.
Are "passengers" the only people you take up, Mike? Ever do any STUDENTS?
The Harness
So I just want you to just realize how you're in here. Let's turn around.
So we've got these leg loops snugged up. Right.
And these knee hangers are really superfluous. They don't... They don't matter much.
We got a back strap that's done up.
We got shoulder straps that are snug up.
You know, this kind o' harness is what they use in a... in a uh... midway ride because there's just no way you can come out of it.
- Unless you've missed your leg loops - but what are the odds of THAT happening?
- And in foot launching there's always the possibility of the harness not being connected to the glider so you always wanna do a hang check before you get up on the ramp.
You could jump out of an airplane with this thing with a parachute and if you were upside down, sideways, whatever you cannot come out of that harness. You're in it every which way.
How do you think things would go if Spencer jumped out of the airplane at a hundred feet?
So... That's how you're supported.
The 'biner on this thing is 34 hundred kiloNewtons... Uh, so... That's like seven thousand pounds.
34 hundred kiloNewtons is like over three quarters of a million pounds - idiot. It's a 34 kiloNewton carabiner.
All of these lines are thousands of pounds.
Super. What's the ultimate capacity of the glider?
The main hang loops...
Those AREN'T the main hang loops, Mike. The main hang loops are on the glider.
...that are the main support system are six thousand pounds.
Super. What's the ultimate capacity of the glider?
The leg loops...
Assuming you're in them - which, of course, you ARE...
...are six thousand pounds and the shoulder straps are six thousand pounds.
Super. What's the ultimate capacity of the glider?
So we could be carrying a truck with this thing.
Super. What's the ultimate capacity of the glider?
In fact one time when they were certifying hang gliders in the early days they - without breaking the hang glider - they accidentally lifted a truck in the air.
Great. I feel so reassured now. Hard to imagine anything bad happening. God himself could not sink this glider.
Hooking - In
Spencer, just watch here. I'm gonna show you what I'm gonna do and then I'm gonna hook you in.
Right, Mike. Spencer's just a passenger, this is just a ride for him, and we certainly don't want him acting as anything better and more involved than that.
So I'm hooking into my main hang loop here and then I'm hooking into a backup.
Make sure you get that backup, Mike. You just never know when you might snag a truck heavy enough to break that main loop... And then where would you be?
So now step in here. And I'm gonna hook you in similarly.
Why don't you tie his shoes for him while you're at it?
So I'm hooking you into your main hang loop... Right? Six thousand pounds... And your backup... Six thousand pounds. And the 34 hundred kiloNewton steel carabiner.
34 kiloNewtons.
And the gate is locked.
Thank God! We lost so many people back in the early days before we started using locking carabiners.
Now I've got a third rope here I'm gonna hook in.
Now this really... uh... isn't necessary for keeping us in the glider. Uh... Uh... We... This is just so on tow... I'll show you what I'm gonna do... uh... you don't slide back too far... when we tow.
So... You're in and locked, I'm in and locked, both in two hang straps... Couldn't get out of this thing if we tried.
That's so very reassuring. Guess we really don't need to worry about falling out of the glider from this point on.
So I'm gonna hook up the tow rope now and you'll see that there's two parts to it.
This is the main tow rope. It goes under the bar. And... uh... it's pulling on me. And then this one goes above the bar. This is the takeoff rope. So this is just another... See... That we take off with this rope.
And, you know, we're taking off on wheels. And we take off with this... We call it a weak link - many people would call it a fuse...
I came off the cart smoothly, but at a hundred feet, started getting slammed. I tow lots, and I will tell you I have never felt anything like this before. Ginny leapt sideways and would go slack and then violently shudder. Jim hung onto the plane and I hung onto her basetube, but at four hundred feet my pussy-##s weak link broke. Great. Now I had to land in the monster that had just attacked the runway. My glider set me down neatly, but adrenaline was practically spilling out my eyeballs by then.
...FUSE. About eight times a weekend Lauren talks about her pussy-##s "fuse" breaking.
And that fuse is all we need to tow us up.
Are you sure? Are you positive that in all circumstances in which you're gonna be towing up that "fuse" will be allowing you to do what you want - and maybe NEED - to?
And if anything ever happened that got us overtensioned...
Overtensioned? What is it that you anticipate overtensioning a glider that can probably pick a truck up off the ground.
...that would just break...
NO SHIT. In fact, I'm guessing that that would just break at ten percent of the kind of pull that would start overtensioning your fuckin' glider - let alone your 764,320 pound steel carabiner.
...and we'd be free flying...
Yes! You'd be FREE FLYING! Many people would call it a...
If you take this away that angle goes from there to now there and the... You're stalled. You're stalled.
...STALL! That's what I experienced when I was waiting for you to start pulling me up and you decided to make a good decision in the interest of my safety.
Do you get your marks to sign something saying they're gonna like the "free flying" that results when your braided Dacron trolling line Pilot In Command decides that your three and a half thousand pound capacity glider is in danger of being overtensioned? I know I didn't like you crashing me and trashing one of my downtubes. I think if you start asking around you won't be finding too many people with fond memories of...
Wills Wing / Blue Sky / Steve Wendt / Ryan Voight Productions - 2007/03
NEVER CUT THE POWER...
Reduce Gradually
Increase Gradually
...their power being cut.
Uh... The... The... Uh... When we're climbing... OK... What... The... This... We climb quite steeply.
Oh! You climb quite steeply! But if anything ever happened that got you overtensioned that would just break - and you'd be free flying...
...decided that the glider was getting overtensioned and dumped him into free flight? As I recall he wasn't all that grateful.
We're gonna be lying down... I'll show you that in a minute... And... And when we climb you're gonna slide back a little bit relative to me. But this will only allow you to slide a little bit. You won't be going out the back door. OK? It might feel like it but only for two inches. And then when we glide you'll come forward a little bit. OK?
Now... We're gonna take off, we're gonna climb quite steeply...
Fuckin' idiot. No way in hell would I send anybody to go up with or train under this asshole.
...and then I'm gonna drop this top rope. And there'll be a kind of a DOING. It's not the wings falling off the glider. It's just me... what we call transitioning... to the main rope. OK?
So I'm gonna walk back, and lie down, and you're gonna walk back and lie down too.
So we're gonna take off in this position. That's it, lie right down, stretch your legs out, maybe cross your ankles is comfy.
Slip this right arm behind my back... Up in behind my back... And you can just hold on on the other side... Gimme this hand here... You're gonna hold on under there.
So you see... There's no possible way that we can't be hooked into the glider... Because we are already... If we weren't hooked in we'd be lying on the ground.
Right, Spencer. There's NO POSSIBLE WAY that you can't be hooked into the glider. And if you're foot launching...
...you just get someone to hold your nose while you hang like that to make sure you're hooked in and then you're good to go. There will be NO POSSIBLE WAY for you to launch unhooked...
I experienced the same accident, but came out only with a broken wrist.
Not accounting for the reasons that allowed me to launch without hooking up...
That's what happened:
Double release (bridle under/over bar) and hydraulic winch, foot launch, hands immediately on the bar, and going up fast, at about 45 degrees angle. The first reaction is to tight the grip, not to release; by the time you blink, you are at twenty-five feet.
One hand out of the bar, and released; could not get the hand back to the bar. Glider banking now to the left. Released the grip of my left hand, on purpose, and fell.
There was not much time for the "what if". Waiting for the 'abort' would take me much higher; I'm not saying that it was the best decision, but it was the one, at that time.
Do not try this at home.
...Luis.
When I'm steering... We steer by weightshift. If your head hits that bar you move your head over my back. Too far. See? So that I can move right over if I have to.
OK, are you all set? Perfect. That's it.
Ready for tension.
And absolutely no possibility of overtension. What could possibly go wrong on that flight.
P.S. Back in '86 when that fishing line fuse of yours kept that glider you were boat towing from getting overtensioned, dumping it into free flight and increasing the safety of the towing operation, how did you like getting hit with the tow ring in your face where your right eye was up till then?
-- He doesn't make them freely publicly available.
-- Nobody uses them. Notice that in this:
TANDEM HANG GLIDING
PASSENGER HOOK-IN & SAFETY PROCEDURES
with
Michael Robertson
High Perspective Inc.
video we see no evidence whatsoever of their implementation or existence.
-- They wouldn't put any measurable dents in anything if they did.
-- What puts major dents in things is:
--- taking off and landing on wheels (which he's doing here but not having his solo students doing)
--- always assuming you're not hooked in and verifying that you are within two seconds of launch
--- using releases that don't stink on ice
--- knowing the difference between a release and a weak link
-- If you're going up or training with some asshole who makes the statements on the weak link that Mike does or using the hook-in check procedure that Jon Orders always used (nothing - same as Mike) your reliability factor goes to zero.)
...takes us through an in-depth look...
Yeah kids, make sure you stay alert and take plenty of notes. This is gonna be a pretty intense ride.
...at Tandem Hang Gliding passenger hook-in...
Pay careful attention to this part. He's gonna show you the technique he developed over the course of thirty years for snapping a carabiner into a loop of nylon webbing.
...and equipment safety specifications.
Pretty technical stuff... Harnesses with openings for your head, arms and legs and straps for hanging ourselves... Stay focused as best you can.
For more information on tandem safety...
That's OK. I think this is all I'll be able to digest over the course of the next couple of months. Maybe after I've got my shit together on this I'll come back with a couple of questions about the Lenami Godinez-Avila pooch screw. (Did you hear about that one, Mike? I don't believe I caught your take on it.)
Yes. To BOOK YOUR *FLIGHT*. Senior Tandem Instructor rating...
- you book your flight
- he spends five minutes explaining to you all about how you're not gonna fall out of the glider and how safe everything is
- up for a ten minute scenic tour
- for an extra twenty-five bucks a souvenir video you can cherish the rest of your life
- next...
TANDEM HANG GLIDING
PASSENGER HOOK-IN & SAFETY PROCEDURES
with
Michael Robertson
High Perspective Inc.
The Harness
So I just want you to just realize how you're in here. Let's turn around.
So we've got these leg loops snugged up. Right.
And these knee hangers are really superfluous. They don't... They don't matter much.
But the backup loop and carabiner locks do?
We got a back strap that's done up.
We got shoulder straps that are snug up.
You know, this kind o' harness is what they use in a... in a uh... midway ride...
Like you're about to have here.
...because there's just no way you can come out of it. You could jump out of an airplane with this thing with a parachute and if you were upside down, sideways, whatever you cannot come out of that harness. You're in it every which way.
So... That's how you're supported.
Right. So why is the title at the beginning:
TANDEM HANG GLIDING
PASSENGER HOOK-IN & SAFETY PROCEDURES
and not something on the order of:
TANDEM HANG GLIDING
ALLAYING THE IRRATIONAL FEARS OF THE TYPICAL MIDWAY THRILL RIDER
The 'biner on this thing is 34 hundred kiloNewtons... Uh, so... That's like seven thousand pounds.
All of these lines are thousands of pounds.
The main hang loops that are the main support system are six thousand pounds.
The leg loops are six thousand pounds and the shoulder straps are six thousand pounds.
So we could be carrying a truck with this thing.
Yeah, we can tear the glider apart several times over with the stuff connected to it. So why are we spending all this time discussing the overkill? Shouldn't we be discussing any of the ACTUAL threats? Oh, right. This isn't about educating a student - this is all about moving an amusement park customer through the system as efficiently as possible.
In fact one time when they were certifying hang gliders in the early days they - without breaking the hang glider - they accidentally lifted a truck in the air.
Wow! Doesn't sound like there's really anything bad that can happen...
The weak link broke from the tow plane side. The towline was found underneath the wreck, and attached to the glider by the weaklink. The glider basically fell on the towline.
...on one of these things.
Hooking - In
Spencer, just watch here.
Yeah, that's absolutely all he's gonna do for the entire four minutes and thirty-seven seconds of camera time in this video. He's not gonna:
- participate in preflighting anything
- hook himself in
- make a comment
- ask a question
- utter a single solitary audible syllable
So what's the deal with this kid? Scared shitless or bored out of his skull? I really can't tell - but either way it's not good.
Is this a typical session? I'm guessing it is 'cause it looks like you're on autopilot.
I'm gonna show you what I'm gonna do and then I'm gonna hook you in.
So I'm hooking into my main hang loop here and then I'm hooking into a backup.
So now step in here. And I'm gonna hook you in similarly.
So I'm hooking you into your main hang loop... Right? Six thousand pounds... And your backup... Six thousand pounds. And the 34 hundred kiloNewton steel carabiner. And the gate is locked.
If Jon Orders had treated his passengers as participants in this most critical of all assembly/preflight procedures they'd have all had more positive, worthwhile experiences and his life wouldn't be the irreversible hell it is now.
Now I've got a third rope here I'm gonna hook in.
Now this really... uh... isn't necessary for keeping us in the glider. Uh... Uh... We... This is just so on tow... I'll show you what I'm gonna do... uh... you don't slide back too far... when we tow.
So... You're in and locked, I'm in and locked, both in two hang straps... Couldn't get out of this thing if we tried.
Good job, Mike. Don't bother ASKING him to CHECK that he's properly secured - just tell him he is.
So I'm gonna hook up the tow rope now and you'll see that there's two parts to it.
This is the main tow rope. It goes under the bar. And... uh... it's pulling on me. And then this one goes above the bar. This is the takeoff rope. So this is just another... See... That we take off with this rope.
And, you know, we're taking off on wheels. And we take off with this... We call it a weak link - many people would call it a fuse... And that fuse is all we need to tow us up. And if anything ever happened that got us overtensioned...
- What's this "ANYTHING" that could ever happen to get you overtensioned?
- Has it ever happened to you?
- Has it ever happened to anyone?
- Surely it must be happening on some significant scale because you're taking the time to spew this bullshit.
- Why are you discussing the "fuse" but not the parachute?
- I thought this whole exercise was supposed to be as safe as getting out of bed.
--- What is it you're not telling me and why aren't you telling me anything?
--- Why is this spiel one hundred percent about what can't go wrong?
--- Even on commercial airline flights prior to every single takeoff every single passenger is briefed on:
---- a variety of things that can go wrong (turbulence, loss of cabin pressure, crash landing, water landing); and
---- emergency equipment and procedures (seat belts, oxygen masks, crash positions, emergency exits, floatation devices).
--- Are the statistics on tandem hang glider rides so much better than on commercial airline flights that no irregularities need be mentioned?
--- You're conning me.
...that would just break - and we'd be free flying, which is just what we like.
- You don't have the slightest fuckin' clue what a weak link is or what you're talking about.
- The chances of a weak link ever being of the slightest use even in a halfway competent aerotow operation are virtually zero. Divide that by twenty for your hydraulic winch tow operation.
- You give us all these totally useless figures...
The 'biner on this thing is 34 hundred kiloNewtons... Uh, so... That's like seven thousand pounds.
All of these lines are thousands of pounds.
The main hang loops that are the main support system are six thousand pounds.
The leg loops are six thousand pounds and the shoulder straps are six thousand pounds.
So I'm hooking you into your main hang loop... Right? Six thousand pounds... And your backup... Six thousand pounds. And the 34 hundred kiloNewton steel carabiner.
...about all this absurdly overkill suspension material and hardware.
- A weak link under about 1.3 Gs in any hang glider towing system is dangerous. It's THE issue that's most likely to crash the glider. If your choice is between anywhere under 1.3 and no weak link then go with the latter.
- You've had an eye taken out as a consequence of a totally unnecessary Hewett Link blow from a totally under control normally climbing glider.
- What you're telling the PASSENGER is pure unadulterated bullshit. You're telling him that an instantaneous catastrophic power failure with the glider in a steep climb is not only perfectly safe but desirable. You're an idiot and a liar.
- While the strength of an appropriate weak link isn't particularly critical - one and a half two Gs or, if the release can handle it, a bit over - it is THE most critical figure in the system. Everything else will probably handle at least twice a realistic worst case scenario.
- Your failure to give the passenger the slightest hint what the actual capacity of that fishing line you're using is GLARINGLY OBVIOUS. It fits right in with the Towing Industry pattern. All you motherfuckers...
Wills Wing
Always use an appropriate weak link with a finished length of 1.5 inches or less.
...are TERRIFIED of accurate numbers being specified. Because the second you do that...
Naw... You want me to make bold black and white statements so that you can have a go.
Unfortunately that's not what you're getting.
Some people listen with the intent of understanding.
Others do so with the intent of responding.
...anybody who knows what the fuck he's talking about can tear your balls off and shove them down your throat. You are undoubtedly using what you're using because somebody else was using it, have no fucking clue what its actual capacity is, and are being very careful to not find out.
Uh... The... The... Uh... When we're climbing... OK... What... The... This... We climb quite steeply. We're gonna be lying down... I'll show you that in a minute... And... And when we climb you're gonna slide back a little bit relative to me. But this will only allow you to slide a little bit. You won't be going out the back door. OK? It might feel like it but only for two inches. And then when we glide you'll come forward a little bit. OK?
Now... We're gonna take off, we're gonna climb quite steeply, and then I'm gonna drop this top rope. And there'll be a kind of a DOING. It's not the wings falling off the glider. It's just me... what we call transitioning... to the main rope. OK?
So I'm gonna walk back, and lie down, and you're gonna walk back and lie down too.
So we're gonna take off in this position. That's it, lie right down, stretch your legs out, maybe cross your ankles is comfy.
Slip this right arm behind my back... Up in behind my back... And you can just hold on on the other side... Gimme this hand here... You're gonna hold on under there.
So you see... There's no possible way that we can't be hooked into the glider... Because we are already... If we weren't hooked in we'd be lying on the ground.
Is there any possible way one of you can be...
...partially hooked into the glider? I once put myself in a reasonably good position to get killed because none of you motherfuckers bothered to discuss that issue as a major threat. That could - and should - have been done a few minutes prior to Flight One.
When I'm steering... We steer by weightshift. If your head hits that bar you move your head over my back. Too far. See? So that I can move right over if I have to.
OK, are you all set? Perfect. That's it.
Ready for tension.
No fuckin' way you - or any of your passengers or students - are - or ever will be.
TANDEM HANG GLIDING
PASSENGER HOOK-IN & SAFETY PROCEDURES
with
Michael Robertson
High Perspective Inc.
The Harness
So I just want you to just realize how you're in here. Let's turn around.
So we've got these leg loops snugged up. Right.
And these knee hangers are really superfluous. They don't... They don't matter much.
We got a back strap that's done up.
We got shoulder straps that are snug up.
You know, this kind o' harness is what they use in a... in a uh... midway ride because there's just no way you can come out of it. You could jump out of an airplane with this thing with a parachute and if you were upside down, sideways, whatever you cannot come out of that harness. You're in it every which way.
So... That's how you're supported.
The 'biner on this thing is 34 hundred kiloNewtons... Uh, so... That's like seven thousand pounds.
All of these lines are thousands of pounds.
The main hang loops that are the main support system are six thousand pounds.
The leg loops are six thousand pounds and the shoulder straps are six thousand pounds.
So we could be carrying a truck with this thing.
In fact one time when they were certifying hang gliders in the early days they - without breaking the hang glider - they accidentally lifted a truck in the air.
Hooking - In
Spencer, just watch here. I'm gonna show you what I'm gonna do and then I'm gonna hook you in.
So I'm hooking into my main hang loop here and then I'm hooking into a backup.
So now step in here. And I'm gonna hook you in similarly.
So I'm hooking you into your main hang loop... Right? Six thousand pounds... And your backup... Six thousand pounds. And the 34 hundred kiloNewton steel carabiner. And the gate is locked.
Now I've got a third rope here I'm gonna hook in.
Now this really... uh... isn't necessary for keeping us in the glider. Uh... Uh... We... This is just so on tow... I'll show you what I'm gonna do... uh... you don't slide back too far... when we tow.
So... You're in and locked, I'm in and locked, both in two hang straps... Couldn't get out of this thing if we tried.
So I'm gonna hook up the tow rope now and you'll see that there's two parts to it.
This is the main tow rope. It goes under the bar. And... uh... it's pulling on me. And then this one goes above the bar. This is the takeoff rope. So this is just another... See... That we take off with this rope.
And, you know, we're taking off on wheels. And we take off with this... We call it a weak link - many people would call it a fuse... And that fuse is all we need to tow us up. And if anything ever happened that got us overtensioned that would just break - and we'd be free flying, which is just what we like.
Uh... The... The... Uh... When we're climbing... OK... What... The... This... We climb quite steeply. We're gonna be lying down... I'll show you that in a minute... And... And when we climb you're gonna slide back a little bit relative to me. But this will only allow you to slide a little bit. You won't be going out the back door. OK? It might feel like it but only for two inches. And then when we glide you'll come forward a little bit. OK?
Now... We're gonna take off, we're gonna climb quite steeply, and then I'm gonna drop this top rope. And there'll be a kind of a DOING. It's not the wings falling off the glider. It's just me... what we call transitioning... to the main rope. OK?
So I'm gonna walk back, and lie down, and you're gonna walk back and lie down too.
So we're gonna take off in this position. That's it, lie right down, stretch your legs out, maybe cross your ankles is comfy.
Slip this right arm behind my back... Up in behind my back... And you can just hold on on the other side... Gimme this hand here... You're gonna hold on under there.
So you see... There's no possible way that we can't be hooked into the glider... Because we are already... If we weren't hooked in we'd be lying on the ground.
When I'm steering... We steer by weightshift. If your head hits that bar you move your head over my back. Too far. See? So that I can move right over if I have to.
OK, are you all set? Perfect. That's it.
Ready for tension.
Are you really sure you're ready for tension, Mike? Shouldn't you check to make sure this guy still has a pulse?
What a REVOLTING way to experience hang gliding for the first - and almost certainly last - time.
My first flight on a hang glider was a ten o'clock class on 1980/04/02 at Kitty Hawk Kites on an Eaglet 191 trainer in a prone training harness from the top of a fifty foot dune with Jim Johns as my instructor after an introductory run into the wind on the plateau.
I ran the glider into the air, transitioned to prone, kept it level, and rolled the landing in on the wheels. Probably lasted something on the order of six seconds but *I* was one hundred percent the Pilot In Command of that aircraft and it was one of the coolest experiences of my life. And over the course of the next few days I moved to higher launches and worked up a pretty good proficiency with turns. Total blast.
At that point those damnable "training" harnesses that force you to "fly" upright from the downtubes didn't even exist in anybody's warped imagination, I didn't have Steve Wendt regulating my thrust and airtime allotment, Mike Robertson wasn't there to give me the responsibilities of and treat me like a sack of potatoes, and Hewett based towing was still some months away from rearing its ugly head.
And my last flight on a hang glider was on 2008/10/12 behind a Dragonfly piloted by some asshole product of the same operation which bestowed Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney on the sport with my thrust and climb totally dependent upon the whims of said asshole and his triple strand 130 pound Greenspot tow mast breakaway protector and in flagrant violation of FAA safety regulations. What a grotesque way to "evolve" through the journey.
Presumably Spencer showed up because he had some interest in hang gliding and learning to fly. I can't imagine that interest survived that experience. I think these commercial thrill ride operations are skimming up a huge percentage of potential pilots and doing a quick buck / instant gratification number on them which kills any incentive to work up the skills ladder from scratch then tossing them back into the video game/simulation environment whence they came.
And everything that persists beyond the thrill ride barrier gets immediately brainwashed into believing that if they don't do every landing with their hands in arm break configuration they'll inevitably wind up with a broken neck in a narrow dry riverbed with large rocks strewn all over the place within two years. And within the space of two years we lose half of that population to broken arms.
I'm new to the board so apologies if this topic has been done to death.
Blast away. Rest assured that Davis will lock things down before there's any danger of a positive resolution.
I wanted to start a discussion about how aggressive we can be in our flying styles.
If you're gonna do stupid shit like skip hook-in checks, come in with your hands on the downtubes at shoulder or ear height, fly with releases within easy reach and Rooney Links to increase the safety of the towing operation it really doesn't matter much.
Let me start by saying that I don't believe any pilot should ever cause another person to feel they are in danger or that we should ever actually put someone else in danger. But I think eliminating or suppressing extreme flying, while saving lives, is slowly killing our sport.
What the fuck is "EXTREME" flying?
A little danger is honestly the reason why many of us began flying.
Then many of us can go fuck themselves.
In just about any other thrill sport...
This is not a "thrill sport" - asshole. Well, at least not for the people who do more than book bucket list tandem flights with commercial tow operations anyway.
...risk is celebrated, it gains exposure, and draws in new participants.
Great. As if we didn't have enough brain dead douchebags in the sport as it is.
In hang gliding, aggressive flying is often discouraged to the point that no one wants to mentor new pilots in these ways.
Good.
Only cross country pilots seem to gain universal approval for taking risks.
Given two of the three fatalities I know of came from XC...
Nobody ever got scratched from flying XC. People get trashed when they STOP flying XC in places they shouldn't have gone.
...(the third was a mechanical failure while flying straight and level) I personally feel an imbalance.
Whatever it was it could and should have been identified and dealt with in preflight.
On counterpoint, our insurance is coming under increasing pressure. And flying in a manner that risks site closure is just not acceptable. So I'm forcing myself to be open to more governance on my own flying.
Don't take stupid chances.
Swoops, Loops, Spins, Beat-Ups, Wingovers, what is acceptable?
Anything in which you stay in control of your glider - the way Doug Prather...
And can we afford greater freedoms if we actually made structured learning available and therefore made it safer and limitations more universal?
Hang gliding isn't about "freedom". It's about knowing what the fuck we're doing and staying inside of very narrow tolerances to be able to max out our accomplishments - be they launching, landing, towing, dune skimming, thermalling, XC, or aero.
I'm actually trying to figure out where I stand on this going forward and hope to gain some collective insight.
Hard to go wrong with 130 pound Greenspot and a well hidden knot for breaking at a consistent tow pressure.
I'd just request that anyone commenting would also be willing to consider other viewpoints so we can keep this thread helpful.
Sorry. I don't do viewpoints.
Steve R - 2013/10/24 15:38:05 UTC
Hey Milo,
You have touched on a lot of subjects, so please accept my apologies if I ramble a bit.
First off, I love freestyle flying!
There's no such thing as freestyle flying. You've gotta stay within the guidelines Sir Isaac published in 1687.
It is one of the main things I enjoy about hang gliding. I am no saint and admit to doing my share of wanging, and buzzing, and showing off, but I have to say that doing what you refer to as "extreme flying" like this near people is not sustainable or acceptable. Why? Because there are too many pilots who will push the envelope until there is an accident, and that accident could kill someone and/or shut down the flying site. That does not promote the sport!
So it's OK if you pile in on a nice empty mountainside somewhere? Probably a good thing because the emergency response people can always use the practice?
There have been a number of local pilots who have demonstrated this very thing, but two in particular are striking examples. Both guys blew maneuvers in view of spectators and too low to deploy. As a result of their actions one guy "only" fractured a couple vertebrae but the other is a total paraplegic.
Eric Mies? He looks more quaded than paraed.
One of them crashed into the cliff just 75 feet from a heavily traveled pedestrian trail. What do you think would have happened if he and his wreckage had landed on top of a spectator? How do you think a child's fragile little body would hold up to a couple hundred pounds of glider and pilot?
Who cares? It's not acceptable either way.
People see swooping and all they think about is how fun it looks and what a skilled and cool guy the pilot must be. They would feel very different if they knew how dangerous it really is!
How dangerous is it really? Is it a significant source of serious crashes?
I know from personal experience that a flying wire can literally cut a man's arm muscle in half.
Do you know what a loop of 130 pound fishing line and some idiot fucking tug driver who mandates its installation on a bridle can do to someone?
If you misjudge a high speed swoop and clip someone you could easily sever their esophagus and aorta.
Has anyone ever done this?
If this were to happen we can kiss our insurance good bye.
So in the entire history of hang gliding no one's ever done this. Maybe we've got other problems we should be dealing with first.
Pilots showing off near spectators are a threat to free flying in the United States, period.
That being said, I admire the pilots who do aero well and do it responsibly.
Oh. So something that demands skill isn't necessarily dangerous.
And yes, you can get totally radical and still be responsible! How? By not doing anything that endangers other people or the flying site.
But it's OK to endanger yourself.
A good aerobatic pilot will choose locations to fly where a blown maneuver won't affect anyone else.
A good aerobatic pilot won't blow a maneuver because if he piles in it WILL...
They practice somewhere away from wuffos and with AGL sufficient to deploy their chute.
Bullshit. A parachute deployment for a hang glider is a total crap shoot.
They go out and get upside down because it is the best ride on earth, and not because they need to stroke their ego by showing off in front of other people.
Then what are aerobatics competitions - or even Kitty Hawk's Hang Gliding Spectacular - largely about?
I believe that knowing how to do aero will make you a better pilot.
All it'll make you is someone who can do aero. Ryan Voight is really good at doing loops and I've never gone beyond ninety but I'm a pilot and he never will be.
If you fly in high winds or strong thermals, sooner or later the air will try and kill you. Being comfortable with unusual attitudes and instinctively knowing how to recover from them will make going over the falls a non-event and maybe even save your life.
BULLSHIT. Any Hang 2.0 can stuff a bar just as quickly and effectively as John Heiney and conditions can tumble gliders no matter what the pilot does. And when was the last time there was a fatal tumble and someone got on a soapbox to push for more aerobatics training and practice? That position was conspicuously absent from anywhere in the hundreds of posts in the Zack Marzec postmortem discussions.
Hang gliders are not designed or certified for aero. Aero CAN be done safely but it's a no brainer that the more people you have doing it the more:
- parachutes are gonna be tossed - with very poor success percentages
- gliders are be gonna be tumbled and broken
- people are gonna be crashed, injured, crippled, killed
There's no spinoff benefit from aero.
A pilot who really craves freestyle will go after it one way or another, and since knowing how to do aero can be a good thing...
The ability to do aero gives you the ability to do aero - nothing more.
...I believe that it is our responsibility to mentor any appropriately skilled pilot to try and keep them safe.
There's nothing to mentor there. Aero's a matter of gradually and continually pushing your comfort level - in smooth air.
But here's the catch: I've witnessed three successful deployments due to blown aerobatics, but I've also seen two pilots die from non-deployment.
Deploying it don't mean it's gonna open and not get wrapped up.
Two out of five is a horrific failure ratio and something to keep in mind if you ever start to feel comfortable just because you have a parachute.
Parachutes are total crap shoots. If you're gonna do aerobatics you can't afford to blow them.
This reality puts a huge burden on the instructor, so please don't blame someone for not wanting to be a mentor.
Here is the bottom line: Another big lawsuit will cost us our insurance, and without insurance we will lose hundreds of flying sites across the country. Think about that next time you see some hot shot blowing up their ego.
NMERider - 2013/10/24 19:53:06 UTC
Sorry Milo but I beg to differ. AFAIK nobody is suppressing 'extreme flying' and even assuming that there is a reduction in 'extreme flying' it is an irrelevant aspect of the sport that has little is any impact on the sport's growth. Furthermore, 'extreme flying' degrades the sail and results in trailing edge flutter. It is expensive to replace a sail.
I do agree with Steve in that it is good to practice enough aerobatics to become familiar with unusual attitudes for flying in active air that might flip your glider past vertical or induce a spin.
Cite an incident in which somebody who wasn't doing aero piled because he hadn't done enough aero.
The hang gliding that I know is not grown by thrill-seekers nor is it an 'extreme sport'. It's actually a pretty nerdy sport that only appeals to a very small portion of the general population.
That's the hang gliding I know. But I find that it mostly appeals to assholes.
IMHO the only thing that needs to be eliminated or suppressed is conduct that threatens other people's safety...
I will appreciate that it is the tug pilot's call as to the maximum breaking strength of any so-called weak link system and not mine.
threatens my safety, Jonathan. I'm not gonna tolerate law breaking brain damaged shitheads like Bobby, Adam, Rooney, Brad and their sacred fishing line putting themselves in the position of Pilot In Command of my aircraft.
...and our precious flying sites.
My flying site is gone.
If somebody wishes to take the sport to extremes--knock yourself out whoever you may be. Most of us are neither impressed nor interested. Just don't do it in a way that suppresses or eliminates the freedoms of the rest of us.
Just Tad. We're all totally cool with that 'cause he didn't appreciate that it's the tug pilot's call as to the maximum breaking strength of any so-called weak link system and not the glider's. And, of course...
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.
Fuck you, Billo.
OTOH others' perception of the danger posed may not be realistic and I can't help it if another person thinks aggressive but safe flying/driving/riding is a danger to them.
You are responsible for your actions, but not for how others may feel about those actions.
By the way, this is in USHPA's official flight training manual:
Lockouts can be prevented by using good technique, light tow pressures, and appropriately-sized weak links--if you get too far off heading, and a lockout begins to develop, a proper weak link will break and release you from tow.
William Olive - 2013/02/15 22:13:01 UTC
The manual is wrong and needs to be re-written to remove any reference to weaklinks preventing lockouts. It has been said many times, and I'll say it again, you can suffer a lockout all the way to the ground and never exceed a 1G load or break the weaklink.
What the manual should say is "--if you get too far off heading and a lockout begins to develop, YOU should release from the tow"
But the manual HASN'T been rewritten - or pulled from the shelves, recalled, and shredded the way it should be. And...
Zack C - 2013/02/15 23:01:21 UTC
Yes. And as pointed out previously, Wallaby's website and Towing Aloft make similar statements. If this is what the written literature says, why would we expect instructors (at least those in the US) to be saying anything different?
...Wallaby, Dennis, USHGA, the Flight Park Mafia are still peddling the same toxic crap.
And 99 percent of back end weak links are Rooney Links still being used as pitch and lockout limiters and protection for...
Lookout Mountain Flight Park - 2009/07/12
The new GT aerotow release, new as of July 11th 2009, is designed to be used with a V bridle and a 130-pound green stripe Dacron tournament fishing line weak link. At this time it is not recommended to use this release with a higher value weak link. We are confident that with an ultimate load of 130 pounds at the release point, the new GT aerotow release works better than all cable releases that we have experience with.
I'm not bothered by straight pin releases.
I do think the strong link guys gravitate to them due to the higher release tensions that strong links can encounter.
...the Industry Standard bent pin crap being passed off as releases.
And one hundred percent of Dragonfly weak links are still being used as tow mast breakaway protectors. And I would SO LOVE to get a video of a tandem popping the front end...
The weak link broke from the tow plane side. The towline was found underneath the wreck, and attached to the glider by the weaklink. The glider basically fell on the towline.
...preferably with Lauren Eminently-Qualified-Tandem-Pilot Tjaden as just prior Pilot In Command and falling on the towline - and preferably on some...
How do you think a child's fragile little body would hold up to a couple hundred pounds of glider and pilot?
The hang gliding that I know is not grown by thrill-seekers nor is it an 'extreme sport'. It's actually a pretty nerdy sport that only appeals to a very small portion of the general population.
I think a good segment of the sport I see today is probably well characterized by your description. I'm not sure what attracts people who are not naturally adventurous to hang gliding but they obviously find something fulfilling and hopefully they'll continue to be with us.
adventure - an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity
If hang gliding is typically hazardous for a participant that individual is an incompetent asshole and really needs to find a different hobby.
But the culture I found when I started flying was much more vibrant. People were pioneering new sites...
That's because there WERE new sites to be pioneered. The gold rush was over a long time ago.
...pulling loops in single surface gliders, flying without harnesses...
A German hang-glider was killed when he plunged 15 metres to the ground after forgetting to do up his leg straps during a flight yesterday (Thurs (2009/08/28)) in Tyrol.
Local police said the man, 58, took off from a mountain station near Tannheim but was seen clinging onto the hang glider with his hands and with his legs dangling down in front of him, forcing the craft to lose altitude.
They said he was killed immediately when he lost his grip and fell just 200 metres from his intended landing area.
...we're still in pretty good shape on that score.
...there was excitement in club meetings and it was about flying not about personal conflicts...
And then the sleaziest individuals inevitably figured out how to best control the turf for their own personal benefit and objectives. And we had no checks and balances to keep them under control. So here we are - drifting farther and farther down the sewer with each passing year.
...it was the wild west.
And all the buffalo, injuns, and wolves were getting wiped off the map.
And a lot of pilots died.
And now we have the kill rate down to a level that everyone's happy with. So why bother trying to fix anything else?
But it was also a period of monumental growth and innovation in the sport.
That's 'cause the starting points were so abysmal. And I'm not the least bit impressed with the progress that was made over the decades. Today's state of the art topless comp gliders are just foldable flying wings with triangle control frames wired underneath them. They've gotten as much crap out of the airflow as is possible and they're at a design plateau. And twenty years from now you're gonna see pretty much exactly the range of stuff flying that you are now.
I don't see the young wild eyed kids beating paths to our doors now like they did then.
It was a baby boom dynamic. And we also have THIS:
Gil Dodgen - 1995/01
All of this reminds me of a comment Mike Meier made when he was learning to fly sailplanes. He mentioned how easy it was to land a sailplane (with spoilers for glide-path control and wheels), and then said, "If other aircraft were as difficult to land as hang gliders no one would fly them."
obvious crap going on. We're demolishing people...
Clearly I don't want to bring back the funerals...
We have the funerals. Just keep your head in the sand and they won't bother you too much.
...or some of the lessons learned.
There have never been any disasters due to unknown issues - they've all occurred because hang gliding has always been a haven for assholes too lazy, arrogant, stupid to incorporate the aviation theory that was developed at the very beginning of the previous century.
And I'll tell ya sumpin' else...
Back in the first couple of decades we had accident review guys - Robert Wills and Doug Hildreth - with integrity working their asses off to identify the issues and get them fixed. Now we have nothing but coverup artists like Joe Gregor and Mitch Shipley doing everything possible to obscure the issues and protect the perps and scum like Tim Herr using the shredder to make sure reports never see the light of day.
But I can't help but wonder what would draw the gaze of the crowd that once made us so much more fun.
Weak links break for all kinds of reasons.
Some obvious, some not.
The general consensus is the age old adage... "err on the side of caution".
The frustration of a weaklink break is just that, frustration.
And it can be very frustrating for sure. Especially on a good day, which they tend to be. It seems to be a Murphy favourite. You'll be in a long tug line on a stellar day just itching to fly. The stars are all lining up when *bam*, out of nowhere your trip to happy XC land goes up in a flash. Now you've got to hike it all the way back to the back of the line and wait as the "perfect" window drifts on by.
I get it.
It can be a pisser.
But the "other side"... the not cautions one... is not one of frustration, it's one of very real danger.
Better to be frustrated than in a hospital, or worse.
No exaggeration... this is the fire that the "other side" is made of. Best not to play with it.
As long as you don't hit anybody or their stuff, and as long as your grieving relatives don't decide to sue USHPA or pilots present at the site for "failing to stop you from killing yourself"...
2005/01/10 - Bill Priday
- Doesn't USHGA have a regulation which states:
With each flight, demonstrates a method of establishing that the pilot is hooked in just prior to launch.
- Isn't USHGA always playing the "self regulated" sport card?
- Wasn't USHGA's then two dozen year failure to implement and enforce that regulation a case of monumental gross criminal negligence on the part of the organization, its certified instructional programs, and its rated pilots?
...and as long as a witness doesn't see the crash and decide to sue your estate (and by extension our insurance policy) for emotional distress because your ghost is haunting them, and your antics don't attract the attention of drivers nearby who watch you and run off the road then claim you were an attractive nuisance and sue the landowner for allowing this dangerous activity to take place within view of the road, or...
...then it's fine if you crash and get yourself hurt or killed. At least, so far as the insurance policy goes. And yes, those are actual examples (except for the driver) of things we've paid tens of thousands of dollars to defend against.
We lost a site here because a long-time pilot (my first instructor) launched with an improperly rigged hang strap and fell to his death.
Undoubtedly Tom Sapienza - 1997/04/04 - Mount Tom, 2700 feet, Coburg Hills, Oregon.
The timber company didn't immediately close it, but the next time they were up there with equipment they put in a gate and ran a bulldozer over the launch area to destroy the ramp and dig huge tank traps to make it impossible to run off the slope. Not insured, no claim, but they didn't like the exposure to theoretical risk. So yes, one accident can close a site forever.
I am responding to your request for info regarding helicopter rescue from trees. I feel the need to relay my story so that maybe all of you out there will check into the helicopter procedures for the county/state that you live in so that a similar situation will not be your fate.
On April 4, 1997, my husband, Tom Sapienza, owner of Airtime Oregon (hang gliding/paragliding business) out of Eugene, Oregon, was killed in a hang-gliding accident in the Coburg Hills near Eugene. Tom was a very conservative, safe pilot and this was his 927th flight.
I am pursuing vigorously getting helicopter rescue procedures here in Oregon and Lane County changed. At the time of the accident, the Lane County Sheriff's Office had sole decision-making capabilities as to whether a helicopter was to be called in for a rescue procedure. Due to the length of time for a Deputy Sheriff to get "on-site" in this particular rescue effort and due to the "wrong helicopter" being called in by the Office of Emergency Management (the State agency in Oregon that actually dispatches helicopters for the whole state), Tom bled to death.
When the first rescue personnel arrived on the scene approx. 1 1/2 hrs. after the accident, it was determined and called in to 911 that a helicopter was needed, but nothing could be done until the deputy sheriff arrived approximately 2 1/2 hrs. after the accident and then the wrong helicopter was called in.
In a situation where a pilot is either in a tree or under the canopy of trees, the optimum choice would be to call in a helicopter that has "hoist and winch" capabilities. It was decided by those in control to call in a helicopter which was not equipped with hoist and winch capabilities, which was too big to land near Tom, too heavy to land on the hospital which was 8 miles away so that he would have to land some miles away and additional time taken to ambulance him to the hospital, etc., etc.
So because of this, Tom was transported by foot over horrendous terrain causing internal bleeding. This was a lesson in what could possibly go wrong, did go wrong.
The consequence of this particular botched rescue effort was that Tom died from internal bleeding. Ironically, there was a Coast Guard helicopter with hoist and winch capabilities (that could have been called) doing touch and go landings on the hospital where Tom was taken at the time that the initial people on the scene made the determination that a helicopter was needed.
I have only love and respect for the fine rescue people who assisted Tom. They made the best decisions they were able given the circumstances and that the choice of helicopters was out of their control. I am having difficulty getting the powers that be to accepting change to save lives in similar rescue operations. I have sought legal counsel, not to initiate a law suit, but in order to get information documented and to get the County/State changes made. I have been in communication with my local County Commissioner, my State Representative and the Governor's office.
As of this date, as far as I know, nothing has changed and it is almost a year since the accident occurred. A similar fate could be in store for anyone else in a like situation. I will keep pursuing this situation until the procedures are changed. If you have any ideas or suggestions as to ways to get this changed, I would appreciate hearing them. Fly safe.
We never heard about this clusterfuck, did we Mark? How come? Too busy promoting first aid and CPR requirements and classes for instructors and club members?
What the fuck are we supposed to be learning from all this crap, Fred?
- skipped hook-in checks
- dollies not used
- elastic materials
- misrouted bridles
- eliminated tow rings
- crap
-- dollies
-- equipment with unbelievably long track records
- inaccessible actuators
- the chintzy one-size-fits-all fishing line pitch and lockout limiter and emergency release
- the Dragonfly tow mast breakaway
- the three-strand Dragonfly tow mast breakaway protector
- the Peter Birren Pitch and Lockout Limiter
- good decisions made in the interest of the glider's safety
- unqualified pilots
- pro toads
- tow pressure
- pressure gauges
- idiot:
-- instructors
-- drivers
-- configurations
-- releases
-- launch conditions
-- landings
-- theory
- ultralight drivers:
-- with zero respect and concern for the gliders paying for the ride
-- making up and dictating clueless policy as they go along
- friendly welcoming hang gliding communities
- opinions
- commercialization
- conflict of interest
- reputable equipment suppliers
- Hang Gliding, Skywings, Towing Aloft
- USHGA, HPAC, BHPA, DHV, HGFA, NZHGPA
- Donnell Hewett, Bill Moyes, Bobby Bailey, Russell Brown, Trisa Tilletti, Wills Wing, Dennis Pagen, Bill Bryden, Peter Birren, Mike Robertson, Steve Wendt, Davis Straub, Trisa Tilletti, Jim Rooney, Paulen Tjaden, Jack Axaopoulos, Trisa Tilletti, Steve Kroop, Mitch Shipley, Trisa Tilletti, Malcolm Jones, David Glover, Matt Taber, Trisa Tilletti, Pat Denevan, Bob Kuczewski, Trisa Tilletti, Sam Kellner, Tim Herr, Trisa Tilletti...
Forty years ago people used to die...
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
...because the rope would break.
Robert V. Wills - 1979/03
1978/04/06 - Bill Flewellyn - 31 - Hang 4 - Moyes Stinger - Toowoomba, Queensland
Vehicle tow during exhibition. Rope broke at 100 feet. Dived in.
The rope broke. The glider stalled and slammed in. End of story.
Then in 1980 some whack job in South Texas declared rope breaks to be GOOD things and the whole flock of shitheads who fly hang gliders bought into it. And...
- It became mandatory to fly with ropes which break six times in a row in light morning conditions.
- People IMMEDIATELY:
-- stopped dying because their ropes broke
-- started dying because they:
--- let their noses get too high
--- attempted to tow in thermal conditions
--- failed to react:
----- properly to their ropes breaking
----- quickly enough to their ropes breaking
--- lacked the tandem training necessary to learn to react properly and quickly enough to their ropes breaking
--- deliberately used ropes that didn't break soon enough
--- probably accidentally used ropes that didn't break soon enough
--- weren't using the quality full face helmets necessary to protect them from rope breaks
- Anybody who questioned the wisdom of this strategy found himself without flying opportunities - permanently if he pushed the issue.
Until you off the scale stupid Jack and Davis Show motherfuckers can understand and reach a consensus that the reason Zack Marzec died on 2013/02/02 because his rope broke - BY DESIGN - then shut the fuck up about learning anything from any "mistakes".
