instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=25963
Woman killed in B.C. hang gliding fall.

Davis Straub - 2012/05/08 23:34:37 UTC
Quest Air

I always hook the harness to the glider first, long before I ever get in it.
But do as you like. Far be if from me to tell you what to do.

http://ozreport.com/12.081
Weaklinks - the HGFA rules

Davis Straub - 2008/04/22 14:47:00 UTC

Here is the requirement from the 2007 Worlds local rules (which I wrote) for weaklinks:

Pilots must use weaklinks provided by the meet organizers and in a manner approved by the meet organizers. All weaklinks will be checked and use of inappropriate weaklinks will require the pilot to go to the end of the launch line to change the weaklink.

Weaklinks will consist of a single loop of Cortland 130 lb Greenspot braided Dacron Tolling line and should be placed at one end of a shoulder bridle.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25015
Zippy pounds in

Davis Straub - 2011/09/02 18:37:09 UTC

Concussions are in fact very serious and have life long effects. The last time I was knocked out what in 9th grade football. I have felt the effects of that ever since. It changes your wiring.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18009038
BBC News - Girl killed in crash was 'too light' for hang glider

BBC News - 2012/05/09
England



Girl killed in crash was 'too light' for hang glider

The crash was investigated by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch

Hang-gliding safety is being reviewed following the death of a 16-year-old girl on her first day of solo flying.

How'd her second day go?

Lois Preston, from Warrington, Cheshire, died in hospital after the accident in Derbyshire on 28 October.

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

Jim Rooney - 2011/08/31 09:25:57 UTC

Oh how many times I have to hear this stuff.
I've had these exact same arguments for years and years and years.
Nothing about them changes except the new faces spouting them.

It's the same as arguing with the rookie suffering from intermediate syndrome.
They've already made up their mind and only hear that which supports their opinion.

Only later, when we're visiting them in the hospital can they begin to hear what we've told them all along.

Did you visit her in the hospital, Jim?

An Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said she weighed less than the recommended pilot weight range for the glider.

The British Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association (BHPA) is reviewing aerotowing procedures.

The report identified factors that "could have made it more difficult for the student pilot to control the hang glider".

It said Miss Preston had been flying paragliders for two years and started hang glider training in April 2011.

The teenager had previously completed thirteen tandem aerotows.

Situation 'not recoverable'

She attempted her first solo flight at Darley Moor Airfield on 28 October, but the hang glider started swinging from side to side so she made a safe landing.

Nah. The GLIDER didn't start swinging side to side. The glider can swing to one side or the other but when it's swinging side to side it's called Pilot Induced Oscillation.

On her second attempt the same day, the glider started deviating to the left while still attached to the aircraft towing it.

An instructor on the ground said he saw Miss Preston attempt to correct this by moving her weight, but it was not sufficient, the report said.

He made a radio call telling her to release from the towing pilot, which she did.

British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association Technical Manual

TWO PLACE HANG GLIDERS: KEY SAFETY POINTS

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.

- So how come sixteen year old girls on their first (and last) couple of solo flights don't need to have their hands on the release at all times? When they have two hands completely full of locked out gliders, does taking one off to go looking for the release guarantee that their situations are going to get better before they get worse?

- How come they just need the extra safety margin when they're accompanied by highly experienced tandem instructors?

- Assholes.

The glider then descended in a spiral and hit the concrete and asphalt runway and Miss Preston sustained a severe head injury.

http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2467
weak links

Jim Rooney - 2007/08/01 13:47:23 UTC

Whatever's going on back there, I can fix it by giving you the rope.

Fix for whom, Jim?

The report said: "The instructor later commented that he had been startled by the speed with which the accident had happened and his impression was that the situation was not recoverable."

- At what point did it become unrecoverable?

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

Before or after she released?

- If after was telling her to release the best call?

Bill Bryden - 2000/02

Dennis Pagen informed me several years ago about an aerotow lockout that he experienced. One moment he was correcting a bit of alignment with the tug and the next moment he was nearly upside down. He was stunned at the rapidity. I have heard similar stories from two other aerotow pilots.

Really amazing isn't it? I wonder when instructors are gonna be a little less startled by the speed with which these "accidents" happen and situations become unrecoverable.

Towline 'too short'

No defects were found with either the tug aircraft or hang glider which could have contributed to the accident.

Aside from the tug aircraft being too fast and the hang glider being too big and slow.

However, the report said that the towline being used was only 68.3 metres long when it should have been at least 70 metres long.

According to the report: "This reduced the pilot's margin for error and meant any angular deviations would develop more quickly."

Pilots control hang gliders by shifting their own body weight, but the investigation found the teenager weighed less than the recommended pilot weight range for the glider.

According to the manufacturer's literature this would have made the glider "somewhat more demanding of pilot skill to fly".

How much more demanding of pilot skill is it to fly with one hand?

Wills Wing Falcon 3 145, 170, 195 and Tandem - Owner / Service Manual

Whichever method you use, there are a few important principles to observe.

The first is that you should not make any change in hand position unless you are flying at or very near trim speed. At speeds faster than trim, you will be holding the bar in pitch against substantial force, and if you let go to move your hand the glider will pitch up and roll towards your remaining hand.

The second is that while moving either hand, you have no control over the glider. You should move only one hand at a time.

Even so, if you can't make the transition in the position of each hand quickly and reliably, you should transition both hands while at altitude, before you start your approach. Otherwise, if you fail to make a quick transition, you could be out of control close to the ground, and suffer a turbulence induced change in heading or attitude without sufficient time to recover.

Many pilots make the mistake of trying to change position while flying fast and close to the ground, and experience a dangerous loss of control as a result.

Don't most aerotow launches occur near the ground?

Hang gliding is not regulated in the UK but is conducted under the supervision of the BHPA, which oversees pilot and instructor training standards.

Good job guys.

British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association

Approved maximum weak link values for tow launch operations.

1. All weak link values stated are maximums.

2. All weak link values stated are for professionally purpose built calibrated weak links such as Tost and Koch. These values must be reduced by 20% if using any other type of weak link.

3. 1daN is approximately 1kg force.

Hang Gliding

Hang glider Aerotow: (Glider end of tow rope)

* Up to 75kg clip-in weight: 100daN weak link
* 75kg to 150kg clip-in weight: 125daN weak link
* More than 150kg clip-in weight: 150daN weak link

Tug Aerotow: (Tug end of tow rope)

* Up to 150 kg glider clip-in weight: 150 - 180daN weak link
* More than 150kg glider clip-in weight: 180 - 225daN weak link

Jim Rooney - 2011/08/25 21:40:25 UTC

It's only a mystery why people choose to reinvent the wheel when we've got a proven system that works.

Aren't you gonna tell us why the weak link didn't work?

The report said: "The instructor considered that the student had demonstrated that she was more than capable of progressing to solo flight and additional dual training was not necessary."

Well, it isn't now.
---
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9847869/She-was-so-good-teenager-dies-in-first-solo-hang-gliding-flight.html
'She was so good': teenager dies in first solo hang-gliding flight - Telegraph

---
Dedicated topic starting at:
http://www.kitestrings.org/post12104.html#p12104

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=26116
Injury expense fund for a local Arkansas pilot

Steve Prater - 2012/05/12 20:06:12 UTC
Lower Arkansas

Injury expense fund for a local Arkansas pilot

A friend of mine and countless others Dave Dunning a 35+ year pilot was injured in an HG accident at Mount Nebo in Arkansas a few weeks ago suffering a broken arm and traumatic brain injury. He is out of the Hospital now and his sister has been caring for him. He did not have insurance and has piled up some major expenses. An account set up in his name for any that can help with a donation.

checks to
Dave Dunning fund
Account no. 577553

Liberty Bank
1714 E. Main St.
Russellville, Ar. 72801
Attn: Dave Dunning fund

Surely this must be a scam. I simply can't believe that if a crash this serious had actually occurred many responsible hang gliding pilots wouldn't have reported as many details as were available on the incident for the well-being of their fellow flyers.

[Tad Eareckson]

Tow line:
http://www.kitestrings.org/post1953.html#p1953
...
http://www.kitestrings.org/post1991.html#p1991

Subj: Plan B
From: tadercksn@aol.com
Date: 2012/04/24 19:45:29 UTC
To--: sunnystutzman@myfairpoint.net

Howdy,

I responded to your last post shortly after it appeared but Peter - who is a total moron and a major asshole - is either delaying me or blocking me completely.

If you want solid information on hang or para glider towing and a good smattering of important hang gliding topics, this forum:

http://www.kitestrings.org

is the ONLY place on the planet where you're gonna get it.

I'm currently commenting on the Peter Show discussion and you're more than welcome to browse, participate, bring friends who aren't assholes.

Best wishes,

Tad Eareckson

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skysailingtowing/messages/8154
Payout Line Strength?

Jim Gaar - 2012/04/26 20:35:39 UTC

90% of this towing is knowing your system and how to make it work for you.

Excellent point! I would add "...how to make it work "safely" for you.

I might add that the 3/16th was hollow braid but the 3/8 is not...

Sam Kellner - 2012/04/27 02:29:43 UTC

Towheads,

Thanks for the topic Nate. Everyone, very helpful:)
I posted two new photos. Please comment.

IMO, There's an increasing emphasis on operator/driver input. Why?
Can anyone fly the glider if the operator is a tow tech/instructor?
I don't think so, but opinions seem to be indicating in that direction.
We are approaching our winch towing ops from a "pilot in control" view, as opposed to a operator in control.

We are using 3/16 poly on the scooter at this time. It is working great. The fact that it is hollow braid is a plus, splicing without a knot, and Spectra compatible.

I'm glad to hear the positive comments about the history of 3/16 poly. We'll do our best to use it in a safe manner.

Miller Stroud - 2012/04/27 04:07:41 UTC

Apples Or Oranges

It's really hard to discuss tow techniques and rope types. When you have platform, payout, scooter, static, and stationary type systems, seems everybody gets off on their own tangent and the rest are left swearing the author is going to die sooner or later. lol!

I have experience with static, platform, and payout. Now put me at the controls of a stationary or scooter, and I will surely get you killed. I, being on a rigid and towing behind a platform rig turned payout, have had to pioneer my own releases and techniques to escape the killer platform launch.

Without outriggers on the platform, I choose to footlaunch or surface launch as it's called. Martin Henry called me an expert. Ha! Had I been killed I'm sure he would have said, What an idiot!" lol

After surface launching for 3 years, we are still tweaking the technique sucessfully. The biggest shift in technique has been adjusting the tow based upon constant verbal feedback from the pilot during the actual tow, as opposed to the driver calling out questions to the pilot about the tow.

Stuart Caruk - 2012/05/06 03:54:58 UTC

Ah the infamous weaklink issue.

Personally, I rarely see weak links breaks, and haven't seen one on launch in many, many years. But then we've abandoned the sling shot launch of years before and use tow assists when towing paragliders now. Sorry, I've yet to see a similarly functioning device for towing hang gliders... yet another reason to go fly a bag.

As for not using weak links, I haven't towed without one since the lack of one caused my (so far) only reserve ride to the icy cold lake. If I'd been bright enough to use a weak link it would have been a non-event.

If people have to guess at whether or not the tow equipment is suitable for the job at hand, IMHO they would be better off staying on the ground. And who in their right mind tows without eye protection? That's right up there with a tow bridle and a hook knife?

Tad Eareckson - 2012/05/16 19:52:00 UTC

Hi again folks,

Some of the more astute readers amongst you might have noted an eleven day, nine hour, forty-two minute discrepancy between the time I posted my last message and the time it actually appeared on the message board. I suspect the reason for this has something to do with the following little note that seemed to appear in the course of my submissions:

* Your message must be approved by the group owner before being sent to the group.

If I see that again, Peter, I'm gonna be a lot more unhappy than I was last time.

Anyway...

Ah the infamous weaklink issue.

Ya notice that the weak link issue is infamous in hang and paragliding but not in sailplaning? Ever wonder why?

Personally, I rarely see weak links breaks...

Personally, I've never seen anybody run off a slope or ramp without a hang glider after skipping a hook-in check. And I almost never see people doing hook-in checks. But on 2004/09/20 I found myself talking to a guy who wasn't trained to do hook-in checks whose body would be recovered from the slope below the escarpment 376 days later.

...and haven't seen one on launch in many, many years.

1. Have you seen one NOT on launch in many, many years?

2. If you've seen one not on launch is there some reason it couldn't have just as easily happened on launch?

But then we've abandoned the sling shot launch of years before...

Right. You abandoned your PREFERRED launch, which is analogous to a hang glider platform launch...

Zack C - 2011/03/04 05:29:28 UTC

As for platform launching, I was nervous about it when I started doing it. It looked iffy, like things could get bad fast. I've since logged around a hundred platform launches and have seen hundreds more. Never once was there any issue. I now feel platform launching is the safest way to get a hang glider into the air (in the widest range of conditions). You get away from the ground very quickly and don't launch until you have plenty of airspeed and excellent control.

...'cause now you're afraid of low level weak link blows. Don't worry, they scare the crap out of hang gliding people too. So Zack's crowd in the Houston area uses six hundred pound weak links, blasts gliders up through the kill zone pretty fast, and doesn't have any problems.

...and use tow assists when towing paragliders now. Sorry, I've yet to see a similarly functioning device for towing hang gliders...

Sorry, you've yet to really look at a towed hang glider and have anything useful register. Hang gliders have ALWAYS had the same technology for low angle towing. There's ALWAYS been an upper attachment - usually on the keel - which uses a portion of the tow tension to trim the glider faster. Everybody and his dog knew where to put the upper attachment a decade and a half before it was figured out that the lower attachment should be on the pilot rather than the bottom of the control frame.

...yet another reason to go fly a bag.

Fly whatever the hell you feel like. Just know what the hell you're talking about before you go around handing out advice.

As for not using weak links...

I'm not following you here. Who said anything about now using weak links? What kind of total moron would tow ANYTHING without a weak link?

I haven't towed without one since the lack of one caused my (so far) only reserve ride to the icy cold lake.

You didn't take a bath because you didn't have a weak link.

"A bad flyer won't hurt a pin man but a bad pin man can kill a flyer." - Bill Bennett

You took a bath because you had a driver who floored it when he should've been doing the opposite.

If people have to guess at whether or not the tow equipment is suitable for the job at hand, IMHO they would be better off staying on the ground.

I TOTALLY agree.

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

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

Steve Kinsley - 1996/05/09 15:50

Personal opinion. While I don't know the circumstances of Frank's death and I am not an awesome tow type dude, I think tow releases, all of them, stink on ice. Reason: You need two hands to drive a hang glider. You 'specially need two hands if it starts to turn on tow. If you let go to release, the glider can almost instantly assume a radical attitude. We need a release that is held in the mouth. A clothespin. Open your mouth and you're off.

1. If you're going up on an aircraft which requires two hands for control and you using a release for which you've gotta reach then it stinks on ice.

2. And all paraglider releases and damn near all hang glider releases stink on ice.

3. And if you're worrying about you're weak link blowing at a rate more frequent than a once-in-a-century nightmare scenario then your weak link stinks on ice.

4. And any time a "pilot" goes up expecting weak link to be of some use in compensating for his crappy judgment, release, or driver then the "pilot" stinks on ice.

And who in their right mind tows without eye protection?

Who in his right mind tows with equipment which makes eye protection advantageous?

That's right up there with a tow bridle and a hook knife?

In hang gliding flying with a hook knife because you think you'll be able to salvage a situation WHEN your release locks up (again) is analogous to driving with an anchor on the passenger's side floor because you're worried about your brakes failing.

Peter Birren - 2012/05/17 03:47:00 UTC

Re: Tad

If I see that again, Peter, I'm gonna be a lot more unhappy than I was last time.

Like I care, Tad. I've got a gig now that takes me away from home for 12 hours a day. To friggin bad if your email doesn't get approved until I get home. Suck it up and tough it out.

Miller Stroud - 2012/05/17 04:04:26 UTC

Is this the same Tad thats been kicked off just about every group on Yahoo? Seems like a crap load of rambling. By the way Peter, I did a 145 miler last Sunday. 4.5 hrs in the air.My best so far. I was using my double linknife release, payout winch, surface launching my rigid.

Peter Birren - 2012/05/17 04:07:45 UTC

My personal schedule can take credit for the 9:42 difference but your (or somebody's) server has to take the blame for the 11 days.

Peter Birren - 2012/05/17 04:25:02 UTC

Yup, the one and the same Tad who also recently got booted from USHawks. I haven't kicked him out of here (yet) because maybe, just maybe, there'll be something worthwhile in one of his monologues. (but if someone should make a righteous suggestion....)

Posted your note about the 145 miler (CONGRATS!) to the Reel Pilots' list. Pretty damn cool, especially over Tiger Country. Lots of good flights out of Enjoy Field recently by several pilots.

Glad to hear your double Linknife is serving you well. Should be about as fool-proof as it gets. (right?)

Butch Pritchett - 2009/05/17 05:04:11 UTC

Tad STOP! This site is not your personal soap box, there are other people on here with other things to talk about, so STOP.

Tad Eareckson - 2012/05/17 12:12:12 UTC

Like I care, Tad.

What makes you think for a nanosecond that I thought you would?

But when you go around making statements like:

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=607
Understanding Tow Releases

Peter Birren - 2011/09/18 22:27:52 UTC

Uh, sorry Tad. "TadErcksn@aol.com" is still a member of the Towing List. I did bounce Warren and one other guy but not you. Guess it must be easy to think you're ridiculing someone else when you do it to yourself so easily.

and you interfere with my posts it undermines your credibility. And getting people in these sports to undermine their credibility is one of my favorite hobbies.

To friggin bad if your email doesn't get approved until I get home.

1. Lemme fix that sentence for ya:
---
Too friggin' bad if I don't approve your post until I get home.
---
Let's not put out the impression that this is a passive thing.

2. You are never in a million years gonna be qualified to approve or disapprove anything I've got to say. It's not always a great idea to do something just because you CAN.

Suck it up and tough it out.

1. "Suck it up..." Now WHERE have I heard that expression before... Oh yeah.

http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2467
weak links

Jim Rooney - 2007/07/22 22:30:28 UTC

I've heard it a million times before from comp pilots insisting on towing with even doubled up weaklinks (some want no weaklink). I tell them the same thing I'm telling you... suck it up. You're not the only one on the line. I didn't ask to be a test pilot. I can live with your inconvenience.

Some really great company you're keeping there, Peter.

2. You have the power to determine when and if what I say gets circulated here. You DON'T have the power - or the pay grade - to tell me what to do.

Is this the same Tad thats been kicked off just about every group on Yahoo?

Nah Miller, I've only been kicked off one group on Yahoo. They took a vote and the dregs won out by a two thirds majority.

Zack C - 2010/11/23 05:23:34 UTC

In September of 2010, hang gliding safety activist Tad Eareckson entered a discussion on the Houston Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association's discussion group that would result in his being banned from the group within two months. But despite the controversy over Tad's 'arrogance' and 'condescending tone,' I was impressed by his knowledge, logic, and respect for science, which included a great deal of his own research and experimentation. My attempts to carry out a rational discussion with him were continually sabotaged and eventually aborted by other group members, many with little interest in or comprehension of the discussion.

I wished to continue the discussion, and I knew others in the group were interested in it as well. But Tad had been banned from every group he entered to date, so we needed a place of our own where knowledge was prized over personality. And thus the idea for Kite Strings (http://www.kitestrings.org) was born.

Given the power the dregs hold over these sports I was absolutely stunned by the narrowness of the margin.

I've been kicked out of just about every other glider group on the planet but I don't feel like tallying them up right now. But this one:

Mission Statement and Site rules for HangGliding.org

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.

dating back to three Novembers ago is pretty typical. (I'd think people in a country which is always sending lotsa soldiers off to the Middle East to get blown up on the pretense of fighting for our constitutional freedoms and minority protections would find scum like Jack Axaopoulos grotesquely repugnant but - hey - this is hang gliding.)

Seems like a crap load of rambling.

1. That's OK, Miller. I'm pretty sure a high school physics book would seem to you like a crap load of rambling. It does to just about everyone else in hang gliding.

2. I note you're saying "seems". Going by how things SEEM in aviation is a really bad idea. For example... Hitting the gas because it SEEMS like the glider on the other end of the line is hooked in and ready to go can be a really bad idea. (Talk to Bille Floyd about that one if you're not thoroughly convinced.) Sometimes you need to check things out a little more thoroughly.

Yup, the one and the same Tad who also recently got booted from USHawks.

1. Tad didn't GET booted from US Hawks. Bob Kuczewski booted Tad from US Hawks. (Wasn't all that recently either - over five months ago.)

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=929
Training Manual Comments / Contribution

Warren Narron - 2012/01/06 18:55:32 UTC

Going against the grain here, but someone has to point out that the probable best candidate to write a training manual has been banned from this site.

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=929
Training Manual Comments / Contribution

Bill Cummings - 2012/01/10 14:04:59 UTC

Tad's procedures for aerotowing should become part of any training manual.

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=992
Continuing Saga of Weak Link and Release Mechanism Failures

Warren Narron - 2012/03/04 16:03:16 UTC

No one wants to admit they are wrong and Tad Eareckson, is right.

2. There IS NO US Hawks.

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=883
What will keep the US Hawks from becoming another USHPA or HGAA?

Bob Kuczewski - 2012/03/14 15:15:03 UTC

There are lots of things to learn from Tad's case. I am not convinced that I did the best thing and I think it's good to talk about other alternatives.

US Hawks is one of many figments of Bob's fevered imagination. I told him if he booted me I'd make what he did blow up in his face. I did.

(Little suggestion for anyone needing to interact with Bob... Whenever he says anything understand that he's thinking the precise opposite.)

I haven't kicked him out of here (yet) because maybe, just maybe, there'll be something worthwhile in one of his monologues.

1. How would you know, Peter? You've never put any effort into understanding anything that required more than two or three paragraphs worth of attention span.

2. Remember thirty-one years ago when the stupid Attention Deficit Disorder dregs who ran USHGA decided that no one in the membership should have the right to hear what Donnell had to say? (I do - and I remember how I felt about it.) Good to see you carrying on the noble tradition.

3. The reason I came over here the better part of a month ago was to address an issue Sunny raised. His response to my response was:

Sunny Stutzman - 2012/04/24 16:04:40 UTC

Good info.

4. I'd rather be ripping up all the lunatic crap Stuart's written about weak links (which is modeled on all the lunatic crap Donnell wrote about weak links) than responding to a bunch of attacks but... This is hang gliding and here we are.

(but if someone should make a righteous suggestion....)

I'll be MORE THAN HAPPY to make a righteous suggestion. (You probably wouldn't like it much though.)

Glad to hear your double Linknife is serving you well. Should be about as fool-proof as it gets. (right?)

Sure Peter. Unless...

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.

...you have two hands completely full of locked out glider and you really can't afford to allow the situation to get any worse taking one off to be able to blow tow.

Kinda reminds me of the situation Lois Preston was in at the end of October last year on her second solo aerotow - and the last flight of her sixteen year long life (not counting the chopper ride - which we probably shouldn't 'cause she never regained consciousness).

My personal schedule can take credit for the 9:42 difference but your (or somebody's) server has to take the blame for the 11 days.

1. This has absolutely nothing to do with anybody's servers. I didn't e-mail my post. I used the website - as always.

2. Look at the messages page and note the date and time on Post 8161.

3. Click on Post 8161 and compare the date and time.

4. The eleven days was probably a software thing but as long as you're arrogant and clueless enough to think you have justifications and/or qualifications for interfering with my post submissions I hold you accountable.
---
Posted:
2012/05/17 12:12:12 UTC

Peter Birren - 2012/05/17 14:53:03 UTC

Games

Tad,

I deleted your last note to the Towing List. Far too long and off topic.

Make me work too much and I'll be deleting you as well. Your rants and bullying attempts will not be tolerated. (Save that line for later use to prove how persecuted you are.)

Keep it on topic and readable, no problem.

Tad Eareckson - 2012/05/17 15:26:57 UTC

Re: Games

Get fucked.

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TadErcksnataoldotcom (Banned by Owner)

Peter Birren - 2012/05/17 15:30:55 UTC

Re: Games

Oh, thank you, Tad. Such a thoughtful and salient reply. So befitting your personality.

Tad Eareckson - 2012/05/17 16:52:45 UTC

pick one

01. I gave you a public thoughtful and salient reply. You deleted it.

02. The topic *I* wanted to discuss was "Payout Line Strength".

03. But you interfered with my post on that discussion and it disappeared for a long time and came back out of context.

04. You then started a topic called "Tad".

05. I didn't want to discuss "Tad". I wanted to discuss "Payout Line Strength". But instead I had to address four posts from two people about "Tad" which had nothing to do with "Payout Line Strength".

06. And then you tell me my post was "OFF TOPIC".

07. If you host a forum you set rules which get applied fairly across the board to people you like and people you don't. You don't start making up special rules for special people to get them to say only what you want to hear.

08. I've got zero respect for people like Davis, Jack, and you who use edit, delete, and/or ban buttons and/or just walk out of conversations to win arguments.

09. There are a few other people in this sport of the same sentiment.

10. But, don't worry, the vast majority are stupid dregs and you've always done just fine with that crowd.

[Zack C]

To complete the thread...

For those of you who know Tad from before his recent notes, sorry to say but he's gone... and banned from this list (not really sorry but it's polite to say). I deleted a note from earlier this morning -- typically Tad: long-winded and way off topic, mostly insulting me, Stu and anyone who dares disagree with him or who offers an alternate (usually experienced) opinion -- and told him privately that bullying will not be tolerated. His 2-word response got him the boot.

I'd bet it wasn't "Thank You".

funny.... I was going to post a response to his diatribe but figured there's no point having a battle of wits with an opponent who is unarmed...

I do appreciate his belief that far too many people have no idea what their weak links break at though, since it's dead on.

Zack

[Steve Davy]

I'm using a rental computer at FedEx office now but at thirty cents per minute (and five miles from home) I don't use it much. I should have a new laptop in a few days. It will be good to catch up on what's been going on.

Thanks for concern.
Steve

[Tad Eareckson]

Huge relief. I feel like a California Condor in a single digit world population with tens of thousands of pigfuckers using us for target practice. It won't take much to put us over the edge.

You can't go to a library four miles from home and use a computer for free?

[Tad Eareckson]

Hey Peter, oh Sainted Inventor of the Linknife which, in one fell twenty dollar swoop, solved for All Eternity all of mankind's glider towing problems remaining after Donnell's revolutionary two cent 0.8 G weak link (and Lifetime Banner of any heretic with a differing viewpoint who refuses to get back on message despite an unambiguous warning from Your Holiness)...

Somebody goes to Tennessee Tree Toppers...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TTTFlymail/
...he doesn't hafta register to read the messages.

Somebody goes to your little idiot medieval personality cult...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skysailingtowing/
...he can only see what y'all are babbling to each other upon your personal approval.

What is it that you're afraid of the general public seeing? I'da thunk that the Highly Esteemed Recipient of the 2006 NAA Safety Award would want his message spread as far and wide as possible. This is MOST confusing.

[Zack C]

I was surprised upon learning that logins were now required to read the Oz forum. When asked why, Davis's response was:

Spiders. Tired of them. No need to have outside indexes of the forum. Now those spiders are just knocking on the door. They can't get in (now).

...'spiders' referring to software (primarily search engines) reading the site (as opposed to humans). This didn't make any sense to me...most site owners want spiders on their site so it'll show up in search results...so I asked:

Spiders. Tired of them.

What are the adverse effects of spiders?

No need to have outside indexes of the forum.

The forums are an excellent resource and it would be a shame for posts not to appear in search engines. Besides, phpBB's search engine sucks.

As Bille pointed out, it also makes sharing links (say, with the local club, of which only a few members have Oz logins) to forum posts problematic.

Zack

I understand that there are downsides. I was just tired of spiders. The Search function here works well, as far as I'm concerned.

You are free to copy and paste.

I asked for clarification and all I got was restatement of his original reasoning, so if you're looking for an explanation, that'll have to suffice...

Zack

[Tad Eareckson]

I wasn't looking for an explanation.

- You have a flavor of aviation which has spent over three and a half decades learning how to shield itself from any and every trace of accountability.

- Scum will INEVITABLY rise to the top in such a system.

- Said scum will INEVITABLY move to silence dissenting voices...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14931
Tad's release (even more)

Freedomspyder - 2009/02/14 17:43:30 UTC

I've found your posts on both hook-in checks and releases very interesting and well thought out.
Best of luck dealing with the Oz Report forum cult and its leader.

...and shield itself from public scrutiny.

- In the entire history of the sport there has NEVER been a threat to the global cartel that controls it a fraction as great as the Lenami Godinez-Avila incident. There's A LOT of shit on The Davis Show that would put both of those Site Administrating bastards - Davis and a past HPAC President - in very bad light if anyone from the mainstream media gave enough of a rat's ass about his responsibilities to start doing his job.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27658
LOG IN just to read OZ ?

Davis Straub - 2012/05/19 15:59:56 UTC

You are free to copy and paste.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22660
What can be learned from this "scooter" towing accident?

Davis Straub - 2011/02/07 19:21:29 UTC

Okay, enough. On to new threads.

--LOCKED--

Tens of thousands of links to Davis Show discussions are now brick walls and contributors whose positions were not satisfactorily aligned with Davis's are cut off from accessing their own discussions.

Twenty years ago people were using Wallaby and bent pin releases and standard aerotow weak links at the flight parks and doing hang checks at the back and skipping hook-in checks at the front of the ramps. The gliders and harnesses have been for a good many years now as good as they're ever gonna get. If somebody put you in a freezer today and thawed you out twenty years from now the only thing you'd notice at a flying site would be a much warmer temperature and a lot fewer birds.

Oh well... lower rankings for Oz Report, higher rankings for Kite Strings.