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http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4897/32213470928_7672c6f166_o.png
is overly complex; excessive in number of parts, heads, legs, arms, straps, strings, carabiners; Rube Goldberg. And perish the thought that we should count the mountain, access road, retrieval vehicle and driver, ramp, wind coming in at an acceptable range of direction and speed as components. Setting up and breaking down the glider for each launch and landing cycle - mere inconvenience, nothing more burdensome than a weak link increasing the safety of the towing operation.
Most folk understand that fear is the foundation of any strategy to prevent an unhooked launch. And a couple dozen understand that it's critical to max out the fear to and through the point of commitment. But in the bullshit we're seeing in situations like this one the guy running show has gotta share that fear with what's involved in getting the glider accelerated and airborne.
Interlaken isn't advising Chris to "Run!" half a dozen times in the space of about a second and a half 'cause he's confident that his passenger won't suddenly stop functioning as an engine and revert to functioning as a passenger.
And also - speaking of passengers...
Ya know how before the passenger jet starts moving a member of the crew shows everybody how to safely secure himself to the plane so's nobody gets his fuckin' neck broken if something really bad happens after the plane starts moving? And somebody goes around and checks that everybody's connected before the plane starts moving? And that the likelihood of the average traveler ever actually NEEDING to be securely connected is pretty much zilch?
Yet in tandem hang gliding in which the seatbelt light is always on from before takeoff until after we've rolled to a stop on the runway and failure to connect ALWAYS results in something really bad happening pretty much instantly there's NOTHING that's being done that's the least bit analogous to what every passenger plane on the planet does four times a day.
Somebody find me some video evidence of the passenger/"student" being involved in the process.
http://www.hangglidinginterlaken.com/faqs
Frequently asked Questions - Hang Gliding Interlaken
Goddam fuckin' right. Perish the thought that we should multitask for 45 seconds while we're setting up the glider, alert the guy to this horrendous danger, assign him the task of effecting and checking both connections, double the number of pairs of eyes verifying that things are good to go before and after arriving at launch position.What is required of me?
You have to take 4 - 8 running steps alongside your pilot on the take-off, that's about all!
http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3600
Weak link question
Jim Rooney - 2008/11/24 05:18:15 UTC
Well, I'm assuming there was some guff about the tug pilot's right of refusal?
Gee, didn't think we'd have to delve into "pilot in command"... I figured that one's pretty well understood in a flying community.
It's quite simple.
The tug is a certified aircraft... the glider is an unpowered ultralight vehicle. The tug pilot is the pilot in command. You are a passenger. You have the same rights and responsibilities as a skydiver.
It's a bitter pill I'm sure, but there you have it.
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24846The Press - 2006/03/15
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is urgently pushing for new hang-gliding industry standards after learning a hang-gliding pilot who suffered serious injuries in a crash three weeks ago had not clipped himself on to the glider.
Extreme Air tandem gliding pilot James (Jim) Rooney safely clipped his passenger into the glider before departing from the Coronet Peak launch site, near Queenstown, CAA sports and recreation manager Rex Kenny said yesterday.
However, he took off without attaching himself.
In a video, he was seen to hold on to the glider for about fifty meters before hitting power lines.
Rooney and the passenger fell about fifteen meters to the ground.
Is this a joke ?
08-19Jim Rooney - 2011/08/25 21:40:25 UTC
See, the thing is... "we", the people that work at and run aerotow parks, have a long track record.
This stuff isn't new, and has been slowly refined over decades.
We have done quite literally hundreds of thousands of tows.
We know what we're doing.
Sure "there's always room for improvement", but you have to realize the depth of experience you're dealing with here.
There isn't going to be some "oh gee, why didn't I think of that?" moment. The obvious answers have already been explored... at length.
Anyway...
Weaklink material... exactly what Davis said.
It's no mystery.
It's only a mystery why people choose to reinvent the wheel when we've got a proven system that works.
http://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5277/30076449505_1f6ed2f804_o.png
All you hafta do is take four to eight running steps alongside YOUR PILOT on the take-off. Leave everything else to us. We know what we're doing. And of course we'll take the selfie of you...
http://misshappyfeet.blogspot.com/2016/10/hang-gliding-in-interlaken.html
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4857/44285690050_cdfba8826a_o.png
...pretending to fly like a bird (while we continue to do all the actual flying).
Factory tandem thrill rides for bucket listers. Process them through the system as quickly and efficiently as possible. Next...
Not at all REQUIRED though. And there's no evidence of this actually happening anywhere in the photos and videos from your site.If you like you can take control for a bit (not at all required).
And you just got a guy what we'd consider pretty badly injured if we weren't looking at the potential for the situation.
And your reputation? What are ya gonna do? Implement better procedures that nobody's ever thought of before? They hafta be better procedures that nobody's ever thought of before or you'll be pressed to explain why you hadn't implemented them before. Nah, just keep on doing what you've been doing for the better part of two decades. The results have always been good enough.
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