Yet, until the recent past, the standards in the US for learning aerotow skills for sailplanes (which are easier to tow) have been much higher than for learning aerotow skills for hang gliders (which are more difficult to tow). The biggest recent improvement in USHPA's aerotow rating requirements has been the addition of tandem flight demonstration of out-of-position control on tow--specifically, flying the cross and diamond maneuvers within the cone of safety.
Eric Thorstenson - 2011/02/10 16:46:49 UTC
What I am more concerned about is USGHA's new requirement for the aerotow rating and having to do two tandems to show proficiency.
Not sure about everyone outside of the large flight parks but this has a HUGE impact on us smaller tow parks and what it will cost us to get people a rating. We have a hard time as it is and now this... not long after the private pilot issue. What's next?
Dave Scott - 2011/02/10 20:25:31 UTC
Tandems are $125 each. So, it's actually closer to $450 for a tow rating in the northwest. That's if you can somehow convince them to do a tandem as the park is not tandem friendly and makes the tow much more dangerous for everyone, especially the tug pilot.
The thing you have to realize is, adding the tandem requirement to the mix really increased the danger for everyone. For certain flight parks it was safer without this tandem requirement, not even counting the increased costs. Not every flight park is Quest with unlimited room to bail out in an emergency situation. The latest rules are really sad for our sport, but I suppose something is better than nothing.
Dave Scott - 2011/02/10 20:53:22 UTC
Couple a Dragonfly with a 582 engine, and you can tow fine with a single pilot and get a good climb rate, however with a Tandem you have a terrible climb rate. Now combine this terrible rate with an already small field and you have a situation that could lead to a death or serious injury of either party. All it takes is one engine out and you're done!
Rick Mullins - 2011/02/11 17:59:24 UTC
These new rules stink.
Dave Scott - 2011/02/11 18:21:19 UTC
So, was there some kind of FAA hammer required that made this towing tandem thing happen, or was this just our USHGA thinking we needed this? I'm sure everyone is wondering why, why, why and so far you have dodged this question by several of the posters.
Eric Thorstenson - 2011/02/17 06:15:49 UTC
I learned hang gliding via aerotowing tandem, I now teach aerotowing with solo tows for people that already fly hang gliders. Of course I would not teach someone how to fly hang gliders via solo aerotowing. That is when the tandems are the only option.
It is too bad the new reg is so broad and did not take this into consideration.
Rick Mullins - 2011/02/17 11:13:32 UTC
I have to say also, that I am really surprised that after all the flack the USHPA has taken in recent years for not getting feedback from the membership before making major changes that they are still doing it. Even as heavy handed as the FAA can be, a notice of proposed rule making is released first to the flying community to allow for a comment period prior to making it effective.
Larry Jorgensen - 2011/02/17 13:37:47 UTC
It did not come from the FAA, it came from a USHPA Towing Committee made up of three large aerotow operations that do tandems for hire.
Appalling.
Lisa Colletti - 2011/09
If out-of-position maneuvers are such an important part of aerotow training, why do you think it was not required by USHPA long ago?
Don't spend a whole lot of time reading the traffic on the forums, do ya Lisa?
This is a follow-up to our June 2011 article on use of curriculum and our July 2011 article on how to get the aerotow (AT) rating...
Any asshole can get an AT rating - and damn near every asshole has.
Are you ever gonna write an article on how to become a competent AT pilot? Just kidding.
...with a focus on learning more about out-of-position maneuvers...
...an article teaching more people how to maneuver out of position.
...and the cone of safety.
And a little more in the fiction department...
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.
...to supplement the Wallaby's weak link which will break before you can get into too much trouble and the Cloud 9 weak link which will break as early as possible in lockout situations but be strong and reliable enough to avoid frequent breaks from turbulence.
Tracy
You and I have received many forms of flight training and professional career training over the years. Is there anything you recall as being significant about those learning experiences?
Aside from the fact that none of them really accomplished anything of value?
Lisa
Yes, two things. First: Getting thorough training pays off in the long run--not quick, cheap and superficial training. Second: Having an instructor or school that is well-organized and presents and follows a clear syllabus or curriculum makes the training more understandable, effective, and efficient.
Three things:
Zack C - 2010/12/13 04:58:15 UTC
I had a very different mindset too back then and trusted the people that made my equipment. Since then I've realized (largely due to this discussion) that while I can certainly consider the advice of others, I can't trust anyone in this sport but myself (and maybe the people at Wills Wing).
ESPECIALLY with respect to aerotowing (and definitely the people at Wills Wing).
Tracy
It is human nature to look for deals and take advantage of opportunities to spend less time and money for flight training. We've tried that, and, in every case in our shared experience we feel we have received sub-standard training with cheap package deals and have ended up spending more time and money in the long run to become competent at that particular skill.
Exactly how much SKILL is involved in aerotowing? What is it that that a Hang Five with a thousand aerotows under his belt can do so much better than a solid Hang Two with twenty? Pretend that he's just as safe flying one point as the Two is flying two?
Alternatively, you selected one of the best and most rigorous medical training programs for surgery in the country, Lisa, as I did for engineering, and there is no question that it paid off for us.
You are being much too complimentary IMHO. I got so nauseated reading it I had to take a breather. Do you mean to tell me they wrote an article that wasn't insipid and self-congratulatory to the extreme? I've found their entire series on aerotowing to come off rather poorly to say the least. A sad waste of such exalted and highly qualified medical professionals. How do I know this? Well they won't stop patting each other on the back about how great they both are.
Pardon me while I puke.
I'd have a question or two about just how well any of y'all's training paid off for ANYTHING.
We learned to take the same approach in flight training and looked for high quality.
- How long did you look before you threw in the towel and went with assholes like Russell Brown and Jim Lee?
- What was it you were looking for in aerotow equipment? Popularity?
Neither of you bozos would be capable of recognizing quality if it bit you in the ass.
It is more fun and easier to learn skills from a thorough, well-designed training program than from a superficial one.
Yeah. With the standard aerotow weak link that ALL thorough, well-designed training programs demand you get to log a lot more takeoff and landing practice than you would with one of these who-gives-a-flying-fuck operations.
Lisa
Yes. Do you think people really want to be treated by a surgeon or doctor who is not well trained or want to fly with an airline pilot who is not well trained?
Do you think it's a really good idea to be getting flight instruction from an operation run by a married couple who are accountable only to an autonomous national organization...
I can see your frustration as we now have a "professional" not for profit corporation called the USHPA. Which IMHO is no longer geared to be responsive to the needs of the pilot, but to those of the corporation.
It used to be a case of ineptitude and nepotism amongst the BOD, but now they are professionals...
...also run by the same married couple?
Tracy
Of course not. But why do some people want to skimp on their flight training?
Why not? Wherever you go in this sport you're gonna get fucked over by some idiot or set of idiots - the way you guys obviously were.
Basically, it means that when you are flying solo, you are flying alone with someone (yourself) who is not well trained. Who would want to do that?
I would. Do you have any clue as to how many decades it took me to unlearn the crap assholes like you fed me?
Lisa
Some pilots, very unwisely, are willing to take that risk.
Jim, as I am starting to play with Elektra Tow (ET) at Quest Air (the battery powered "scooter" tow system you and Adam got me jazzed up about up at Highland) I've watched this thread closely. We all can learn.
Enjoy your posts, as always, and find your comments solid, based on hundreds of hours / tows of experience and backed up by a keen intellect/knowledge of the issues when it comes to most things in general and hang gliding AT/Towing in particular. Wanted to go on record in case anyone reading wanted to know one persons comments they should give weight to.
But I've had it once where the pin had bent inside the barrel from excessive tow force. My weaklink was still intact. The tug pilot's weaklink broke so I had the rope. I had to use two hands to get the pin out of the barrel.
No stress because I was high.
...aerotow operators.
...is not going to want to put himself or his operation at risk by towing an under-trained pilot and will require such a pilot to get more training at their site before they will tow any pilot with questionable skills.
- This:
Manned Kiting
The Basic Handbook of Tow Launched Hang Gliding
Daniel F. Poynter
1974
"A bad flyer won't hurt a pin man but a bad pin man can kill a flyer." - Bill Bennett
is as true now as it was then. The only two threats to tug drivers are themselves and crappy tugs. So can the bullshit about all the brave tug drivers selflessly risking their lives for the pleasure of the gliders.
- Name me an operation that's ever been shut down by external forces because of somebody on the back end killed himself or was killed by the guy on the front end. If you assholes can get clean away with Jeremiah Thompson you can get away with ANYTHING.
- So how come they seem seem to have no problem whatsoever towing people with perfectly good flying skills on total shit equipment...
Ralph Sickinger - 2000/08/26 22:18:20 UTC
Under sled conditions, I decided to borrow Brian Vant-Hull's glider instead of setting up my own, since we both fly the same type of glider. Brian's release is a different style, but I tested it twice during preflight to make sure I was familiar with it. After towing to altitude, Sunny waved me off; I pulled on the release (hard), but nothing happened! After the second failed attempt to release, I thought about releasing from the secondary, but before I could move my hand the tug stalled and started to fall; Sunny had no choice but to gun the engine in attempt to regain flying speed, but this resulted in a sudden and severe pull on the harness and glider; I was only able to pull on the release again, while simultaneously praying for the weak link to break. The release finally opened, and I was free of the tug.
Brian Vant-Hull - 2000/08/28 22:49:13
I purchased my release (the one Ralph used) at Lookout Mountain over a year ago, but never had any problems until the Ridgely Fly-In, where the same thing happened. I pulled three or four times on the release, then finally went to the secondary, by which time I was high above the tug and Sunny (is there a connection here?) was frantically waving me off.
I've found it to fail this way once more since then, then on Ralph's flight, for about one time in ten.
...which totally negates their perfectly good flying skills?
Tracy
A recent article about the nature of pilots in the July 2011 issue of AOPA Pilot magazine stated: "Eighty percent of pilots believe themselves to be in the top twenty percent" and the reality is that half of us are below average."
But, of course, anybody who's ever had a glider hook up behind his Dragonfly is arguably one of the best tow plane pilots in our sport.
Lisa
Unfortunately, those students--whether above or below average--who tend to over-estimate their own skills and abilities think that a school or instructor is being thorough just to get more money from the student.
How much skill do you need before your your piece of shit Industry Standard release system...
Joe Gregor - 2004/09
There is no evidence that the pilot made an attempt to release from tow prior to the weak link break, the gate was found closed on the Wallaby-style tow release.
Also, some people are naturally frugal, which exacerbates the problem of their paying for instruction.
I'm not seeing much of a problem here. If someone satisfies the requirements for the rating then sign him off. If he doesn't then don't.
Lisa
Well, flight training is not the place to be overly frugal or superficial.
Nah. Save the frugality and superficiality for the towing equipment.
It's important that the instructor takes some of the mystery out of the training program by presenting and explaining a well-constructed syllabus or curriculum to the student, so the student understands what needs to be learned and why.
Anything wrong with what's in the FAA's Glider Flying Handbook?
Tracy
Advertisements for schools and instructors (or any product or service) cannot always be trusted; advertising is often more about selling the sizzle than the steak.
Please explain to me how publishing a series of articles in the magazine of a national monopoly you control...
Do you mean to tell me they wrote an article that wasn't insipid and self-congratulatory to the extreme?
...isn't advertising for your business.
Word of mouth is better, but it's not always reliable because of the rule of primacy.
Mitch Shipley (T2C 144) crashed at launch after a weak link break. He tried to stretch out the downwind leg and then drug a tip turning it around and took out his keel (at least).
...increases the safety of the towing operation.
Deals are great if you get high quality for less money, but you need to make sure you are getting high value and high quality. When looking for a good school or instructor, look at their curriculum. A thorough curriculum delivered by a good instructor is the steak--look for that, rather than the sizzle.
So where's yours published? Besides in your private magazine I mean.
Lisa
That brings us to why we are discussing the cone of safety this month--to provide a better, more thorough understanding of aerotow (AT) curriculum and how an AT curriculum should teach AT students to meet USHPA's AT rating requirements.
How 'bout instead discussing something to provide a better, more thorough understanding of aerotowing and the best ways to get off the cart and through the kill zone in one piece? Just kidding.
Tracy
First, let's look at the nature of aerotowing.
First, let's make damn sure we understand the nature of aerotowing before we start writing bullshit SOPS and magazine articles on the subject.
Anyone who flies and/or tows both sailplanes and hang gliders knows that aerotowing is fundamentally the same for either one.
Really?
Doug Hildreth - 1991/06
Pilot with some tow experience was towing on a new glider which was a little small for him. Good launch, but at about fifty feet the glider nosed up, stalled, and the pilot released by letting go of the basetube with right hand. Glider did a wingover to the left and crashed into a field next to the tow road. Amazingly, there were minimal injuries.
Comment: This scenario has been reported numerous times. Obviously, the primary problem is the lack of pilot skill and experience in avoiding low-level, post-launch, nose-high stalls. The emphasis by countless reporters that the pilot lets go of the glider with his right hand to activate the release seems to indicate that we need a better hands-on way to release.
I know, I know, "If they would just do it right. Our current system is really okay." I'm just telling you what's going on in the real world. They are not doing it right and it's up to us to fix the problem. Think about it.
Do sailplanes do aerobatics and crash whenever anybody's stupid enough to get into a situation in which he needs to release?
Lisa Colletti - 2012/06
Sailplane weak links rarely fail inadvertently--that's not so much the case for hang gliding weak links.
We had six weaklink breaks in a row at Zapata this year.
...blowing six weak links on a row?
Do sailplanes use weak links who's breaking strength is determined by whatever any Flight Park Mafia shithead wants to call it...
Tracy Tillman - 2012/06
We could get into details of lab testing weak links and bridles, but this article is already getting long. That would be a good topic for an article in the future. Besides, with our backgrounds in formal research, you and I both know that lab tests may produce results with good internal validity, but are often weak in regard to external validity--meaning lab conditions cannot completely include all the factors and variability that exists in the big, real world.
...instead of bench test results?
Both systems (a) normally use the same length towrope, which is about 200 feet; (b) have releases and weak links at both the tug end and glider end of the towrope;
BULLSHIT.
Trikes have releases and weak links at the front end of the towline.
You show me a Dragonfly...
Towing Aloft - 1998/01
I witnessed a tug pilot descend low over trees. His towline hit the trees and caught. His weak link broke but the bridle whipped around the towline and held it fast. The pilot was saved by the fact that the towline broke!
Oh it happens.
I have, all the guys I work with have.
(Our average is 1 in 1,000 tows)
Oh yeah... an other fun fact for ya... ya know when it's far more likely to happen? During a lockout. When we're doing lockout training, the odds go from 1 in 1,000 to over 50/50.
...with a release or weak link on the end of the towline.
...and (c) use similar towing techniques for straight flight, turning flight, lockout prevention...
I got news for ya, Tracy... You can write all the bullshit you want about fins, advanced training, and cones of safety...
Gilbert Griffith - 1996
As far as theory of lockout is concerned, I doubt whether there is any cure and bugger-all time for theory if you're stuck in it. All the ones I have seen are over within seconds.
There never has been nor ever will be any such animal as lockout prevention.
But I have seen others fail twice and one of them was during one of my training tandems. I just kept hitting the brake lever for a few seconds in WTF mode, and the instructor used the barrel release. The other one I saw failing was another tandem. The release just opened when they took off, around fifty feet up.
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.
Hang gliders use release techniques QUITE similar to those of sailplanes.
Lisa
Of course, there are some differences in overall weight and tow speed. But what's most important is that sailplanes are much more controllable on tow than hang gliders, because sailplanes have aerodynamic controls and tail surfaces at the end of a long fuselage.
Yeah Lisa. And let's make REAL SURE we say ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about...
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.
Dennis Pagen - 2005/01
By the time we gained about sixty feet I could no longer hold the glider centered - I was probably at a twenty degree bank - so I quickly released before the lockout to the side progressed. The glider instantly whipped to the side in a wingover maneuver.
...the FACT that it takes TWO hands to fly a hang glider and you don't get a waiver to fly it with one when you're locking out and need to try to get your hand on the release actuator which was within such easy reach when you were testing it under a thirty pound load on the cart.
Flying-wing sailplanes are more sensitive in pitch control, but still offer more overall control on tow than hang gliders.
ANYTHING offers more overall control on tow than a hang glider.
- But what flavor of aircraft do we select to be festooned with the crappiest tow equipment we can fabricate and still have it work two out of three times when everything's going pretty well?
I witnessed the one at Lookout. It was pretty ugly. Low angle of attack, too much speed and flew off the cart like a rocket until the weak link broke, she stalled and it turned back towards the ground.
- And what flavor of aircraft do we pull up on fuzzy loops of fishing line to increase the safety of the towing operation?
Higher EDUCATION - 2011/09
MORE ABOUT AEROTOWING AND THE CONE OF SAFETY
Tracy Tillman
Yet, until the recent past, the standards in the US for learning aerotow skills for sailplanes (which are easier to tow) have been much higher than for learning aerotow skills for hang gliders (which are more difficult to tow).
- AND they have releases which can be actuated without compromising control and aren't the chintzy pieces of uncertifiable illegal shit that you Flight Park Mafia assholes have done so much to legitimize and promote. As a matter of fact, we used to use them ourselves...
Harry Robb - 1975/09
The three most used brands - homemade models are not recommended due to lack of knowledge about their strength factor - are on Bennett Delta Wing gliders, on Moyes gliders, and the more recently available Schweizer sailplane release used by David Broyles and by Jack Hinson of Dallas, Texas on their conversion control bars for hang gliders. The Schweizer is rated at 1200 pounds deformation strength, as stamped on the release hook.
...before Donnell came along and convinced everyone that releases weren't important as long as you used nylon towline and three quarter G weak links.
- AND they use manufacturer designated weak links of TESTED rather than ASSUMED values...
Lisa Colletti - 2012/06
Sailplane weak links rarely fail inadvertently--that's not so much the case for hang gliding weak links.
...which don't blow for no reason every third tow.
- Hang gliders are more difficult and dangerous to tow. They take lotsa muscle, don't respond nearly as well, and are roll unstable. But I've NEVER heard that it takes more training, time, skill, and/or brains to learn to tow them.
The biggest recent improvement in USHPA's aerotow rating requirements...
You mean the ones you wrote?
...has been the addition of tandem flight demonstration of out-of-position control on tow--specifically, flying the cross and diamond maneuvers within the cone of safety.
It did not come from the FAA, it came from a USHPA Towing Committee made up of three large aerotow operations that do tandems for hire.
Appalling.
...or otherwise in bed with expressed a similar opinion?
Tracy
...
Most of Germany's military pilots at the start of WW II had previous glider flying experience as youngsters, prior to the war. A lot of them were pretty good at dead-stick landing their planes after getting shot down, rather than bailing out.
So the guys without glider backgrounds would bail out when they lost engines?
Lisa
So standardized out-of-position tow training has been around for nearly seventy years, as a practical tool for training students to aerotow. It is amazing that it has only been required by USHPA for the last couple of years.
- And it's absolutely amazing how many aerotow crashes we've experienced in the decades prior due to this lack of standardized out-of-position tow training. You guys are true saviors with respect to this aspect of the sport.
- Since two months after publication of this article - by popular demand - it CEASED being required by "USHPA" for anyone who didn't have the misfortune to be getting his rating from a facility which has tandem instruction available.
- So what are we seeing in the difference in crash rates of those who've had this crucial standardized out-of-position tow training and those with the crappy solo ratings?
Tracy
Well, we and some other hang gliding aerotow schools have been teaching the cross and/or diamond or other out-of-position maneuvers for some years, but many others have not been teaching these skills, since it was not required by USHPA until recently.
- USHPA being YOU, right?
- Oh. So if something's required by USHPA...
With each flight, demonstrates a method of establishing that the pilot is hooked in just prior to launch.
...that means it's gonna get taught. That's good to know.
- Guess that also means that when we have equipment standards...
A weak link must be placed at both ends of the tow line.
This release shall be operational with zero tow line force up to twice the rated breaking strength of the weak link.
...Cloud 9 and all the other responsible tow operations will be very careful about adhering to those as well.
Higher EDUCATION - 2011/09
MORE ABOUT AEROTOWING AND THE CONE OF SAFETY
Lisa
If out-of-position maneuvers are such an important part of aerotow training, why do you think it was not required by USHPA long ago?
I'm sorry, Lisa, I seem to have missed the part where you assholes cited data that indicates that out-of-position maneuvers training is of any value whatsoever.
Here's what it says about out-of-position maneuvers training in Reference 6 - the FAA's Glider Flying Handbook:
Boxing the wake is a performance maneuver designed to demonstrate a pilot's ability to accurately maneuver the glider around the towplane's wake during aerotow.
- Towed hang gliders are ROLL UNSTABLE - in or outside of your moronic cone of safety.
- We don't box wakes. We try to stay within a degree or two of optimal position ALL THE TIME.
- And even if we do we can still get killed if we get hit by something nasty enough low enough.
- So we really don't need to be practicing maneuvers for which we have no use and should be avoiding like the plague at all times anyway.
And if out-of-position maneuvers training is such an important part of aerotow training how come it's hasn't been required by USHPA for solo trainees since 2011/11?
Tracy
Many hang glider pilots and instructors are or were not also sailplane pilots and did not know about out-of-position and other standard aerotowing training techniques. Because of that, much of the development of hang glider aerotowing has been a slow re-invention of the wheel.
Gee, Tracy...
Tracy Tillman - 2012/06
Based on several decades of experience and hundreds of thousands of tows conducted by numerous aerotow operators across the county, the de facto standard has become use of a 260 lb. weak link made as a loop of 130 lb. green spot IGFA [ref 12] Dacron braided fishing line attached to one end of the pilot's V-bridle. It is a de facto standard, because it works for most pilots and gliders and is usually near the USHPA recommendation of a nominal 1G weak link for most pilots. For example, a mid-size Sport 2 155 with a pilot who has a hook-in weight that is in the middle of the recommended weight range will weigh about 260 lbs., so a loop of 130 lb. line is just right.
After several decades of experience and hundreds of thousands of tows conducted by numerous aerotow operators across the county it's REALLY difficult for me to believe that we haven't gotten a totally awesome wheel by now.
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.
We have to realize the depth of experience we're dealing with here.
Also, as we previously mentioned, there is always pressure on instructors to lower standards, because of the frugality of some students and the nature of too many pilots to overestimate their own skills and abilities.
Bullshit. Nobody with some significant fraction of a brain overestimates his towing skills - the feedback when you're not up to snuff is too good.
And anybody aerotowing who's not scared on takeoff and nervous on climb is too stupid to be participating in the sport anyway.
Lisa
OK. So let's talk about the cone of safety.
No. Let's talk about why rating officials who are signing people off in violation of the rating requirements aren't having their certifications revoked.
Tracy
The cone of safety is a border around the normal, center tow position, which delineates the out-of-position point at which a lockout or loss of control will occur.
Oh.
- So if I'm dead center and level behind the tug there's NO FREAKIN' WAY I can get locked out. That's very reassuring. So I guess as long as I'm a competent pilot I guess it's OK to fly with Industry Standard releases 'cause I'm never gonna be in a situation in which I need something that doesn't stink on ice.
- So can I see the data that you used to obtain the precise boundaries of the cone of safety... the lines which delineate the point at which a lockout or loss of control will occur?
What a load of total crap.
By definition, loss of controllability on tow is considered a lockout.
WHOSE definition?
You can lose controllability by being stalled or temporarily overwhelmed by turbulence and/or misalignment and still be able to recover and continue the tow.
A lockout, by definition, is when the tow's over - when no matter what you do, you ain't comin' back. And you can maintain some controllability - just not enough to prevent things from progressing.
A lockout can occur from being too far from center, left or right, up or down, or diagonally.
Or from being clobbered by something when you're in perfect position - just like can happen when you're not tied to a tug - you morons.
Tracy
Here at Cloud 9, our tugs have nearly twice the horsepower and climb rate of other tugs. The most dangerous phase of aerotowing occurs when both the tug and glider are near the ground, so it is desirable to minimize the time we are near the ground.
Due to the rough conditions weak links were breaking just about every other tow and the two tugs worked hard to eventually get everyone off the ground successfully.
Jim Rooney - 2011/08/26 02:44:10 UTC
The "purpose" of a weaklink is to increase the safety of the towing operation. PERIOD.
I've always been taught that you increase safety by MAXIMIZING the time when both the tug and glider are near the ground.
Higher EDUCATION - 2011/09
MORE ABOUT AEROTOWING AND THE CONE OF SAFETY
Lisa
As you can see in Figure 2, the high (12 o'clock) position is shown with the glider and horizon at the top border of the cone of safety and the tug and center of the cone of safety below the horizon. This high point position must be pre-determined and practiced ahead of time by the tug pilot and instructor to know exactly where it should be for the particular tug that is being used for training.
Maybe it would be a good idea for the tug manufacturers to specify in the owners' manuals the EXACT positions at which a glider will lock out or lose controllability.
If the glider gets too high, the tug may lose pitch authority and speed up to the point where the glider is going so fast the glider pilot cannot get lower or even hold the glider's position, thus locking out vertically. This is particularly dangerous for the tug pilot when near the ground, as the tug pilot can lose pitch authority and be driven into the ground.
If that glider doesn't nose that tug into the ground nothing will. The tug isn't releasing, bothered, or affected. There are ZERO incidents of hang gliders endangering tugs on takeoff. There are also zero incidents of tugs being endangered by hang gliders in any situation in which the tug wasn't using an illegal piece of shit for a release or didn't allow a slack line situation to develop.
Wanna see an example of a tug almost getting killed?
Towing Aloft - 1998/01
I witnessed a tug pilot descend low over trees. His towline hit the trees and caught. His weak link broke but the bridle whipped around the towline and held it fast. The pilot was saved by the fact that the towline broke!
That happened because you douchebags are too fuckin' stupid to make any effort to comply with the USHGA/FAA regulations concerning weak link configuration.
It is also more likely to happen when hang glider pilots use a pro-tow (shoulder-only) tow bridle.
Bullshit.
- It's most likely to happen to some new bozo who doesn't have a clue what he's doing and rockets off the cart. And new bozos don't fly one point.
- There are TONS of total assholes who fly one point but they ALL have the flying skills to hold the glider in position during launch in sane conditions.
- Yeah, a Hang Five one pointer can launch into a thermal blast and find himself fucked 'cause he can't hold the nose down to a survivable pitch attitude the way a Hang Two two pointer with half a dozen tows under his belt could easily do BUT...
You motherfuckers don't recognize:
- that "pro-tow" can represent a lethal control compromise; and
- thermal activity as a potential cause of a lockout - as long as one stays in the Sacred Cone of Safety we are immune from the whims of Mother Nature.
Students must be trained to release from tow if they get too high, outside of the vertical limit of the cone of safety.
Yeah! Great idea!
Dennis Pagen - 2005/01
Analyzing my incident made me realize that had I released earlier I probably would have hit the ground at high speed at a steep angle. The result may have been similar to that of the pilot in Germany.
Let's teach students to pin off whenever they find themselves climbing steeply outside of the Cone of Safety. The Aasletten Maneuver.
But really, why bother?
Dennis Pagen - 2005/01
The normal procedure for a tow pilot, when the hang glider gets too high, is to release in order to avoid the forces from the glider pulling the tug nose-down into a dangerous dive.
The tug driver can always be counted on to make a good decision in the interest of the glider's safety - especially when it will save him from getting pulled nose-down into one of these dangerous dives we're always getting told about but which never actually seem to happen in real life.
Lisa
The low tow position must be somewhere above the prop wash, prior to where either the hang glider or tug loses controllability. This is particularly dangerous for the hang glider pilot when near the ground, as the hang glider pilot can lose airspeed and controllability if he hits the prop wash near the ground and can be driven into the ground.
- Yeah, that's a real big problem - gliders staying way low behind the tug right after takeoff.
- Explain to me how a glider loses airspeed as a consequence of hitting propwash.
- It's impossible for the glider to fly any slower than the tug and tugs on takeoff fly faster than gliders like to fly on takeoff.
- Cite an incident involving a glider being driven into the ground after takeoff.
- And DO make sure to avoid that deadly prop wash...
Higher EDUCATION - 2011/09
MORE ABOUT AEROTOWING AND THE CONE OF SAFETY
Lisa
The left extreme position must be somewhere before the student pilot will lose control of the glider and lockout to the left. Going to this position on the left border of the cone of safety gives students recognition of when a lockout may start and the ability to smoothly move the glider left and right with very little banking of the wing.
Loss of control and a fuckin' lockout can start anywhere at any time. And if you're teaching people otherwise that's yet another reason why you assholes should have your certifications revoked.
Students must be trained to release from tow if they get farther outside to the left, outside of the cone of safety.
- Yeah, great. Teach them to release with no consideration other than how far outside of your bogus Cone of Safety they manage to get or be blown to. And let's not worry about what might happen next.
Right Sam?
- You can't afford to have anyone getting outside of the fuckin' Cone of Safety down low enough for their safety to be dependent upon them releasing.
- What happens to all that lovely smooth precise control you're teaching in your standardized cross and diamond out-of-position maneuvers training when:
-- you're trying to pry your Industry Standard two point release open?
-- /if you manage to pry your Industry Standard two point release open?
A glider can get quite far off to the side, as long as the wing is kept relatively level.
Bullshit. The Cone of Safety is fixed and sacred. It isn't influenced by factors like bank angle, roll rate, position shift rate, tension, turbulence, or tug response. It's like the Sacred Standard Aerotow Weak Link which we use without respect to either flying or maximum certified operating weights and always increases the safety of the towing operation.
Typically, when using a three-point tow bridle...
So we should connect to the control frame corners for this drill?
...the glider can get about 20 degrees off to the side of centerline without locking out [ref 14].
Yeah, good ol' Reference 14.
Peter Birren
The excellent book, Towing Aloft, by Dennis Pagen and Bill Bryden...
If it's in the excellent book, Towing Aloft, by Dennis Pagen and Bill Bryden, you can take it to the bank.
By the way, what's Reference 14 say about three point tow bridles?
Here at Cloud 9, our extreme left tow position occurs when the hang glider pilot can line up the tail wheel of the tug with the right main wheel of the tug.
Oh. So the extreme left tow position varies from one flight park to another. Must have something to do with the latitude and Coriolis effect.
Where does your extreme right tow position occur?
Lisa
Here at Cloud 9, our right extreme tow position is when the hang glider pilot can line up the tail wheel of the tug with the left main wheel of the tug.
Oh wow! There at Cloud 9, your right extreme tow position occurs at the same position at which your extreme left tow position occurs - 'cept on the right. Who'da thunk!
Lisa
The procedure consists of slowly rising from the sweet spot to the 12 o'clock position (see Figure 2) and holding for a second-or-two, then simultaneously moving down and to the right to the 3 o'clock position (see Figure 5) and holding for second or two, then simultaneously moving down and to the left to the 6 o'clock position (see Figure 3) and holding for a second or two, then moving up and to the left to the 9 o'clock position (see Figure 4) and holding for a second or two, then moving up and to the right, back up to the twelve o'clock position, see Figure 2) and holding for a second or two, before moving straight hack down to the sweet spot.
Lemme rewrite that sentence for you so it's less of a monumentally tedious headache to read:
The procedure consists of smoothly moving to the top, right, bottom, left, and top positions with hesitations at each point.
Tracy
This realistically gives the student pilot a feeling of how the glider feels at all positions around the cone of safety and how to precisely control and move the glider in two axes simultaneously, in order to get back to the sweet spot if they get knocked out of the normal sweet spot position by turbulence on tow.
Oh. You can get knocked out of the normal sweet spot position by turbulence on tow - but you can't get locked out. So all you've gotta do is precisely control and move the glider in two axes simultaneously in order to get back to the sweet spot.
I have never had a lockout situation happen so quickly and dramatically and had no chance to release as I have always thought I could do.
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.
That's good to know.
First, these out-of-position maneuvers must be performed in smooth air and with a tandem pilot/instructor and tug pilot who has experience flying these maneuvers.
Fer sure. Who knows what horrors could await glider and tug if a solo student botched this at fifteen hundred feet.
Second, the movement from point to point should be in a straight line, with a consistent slow speed that takes about five seconds to get from point to point and with a momentary hold at each point. Third, you may notice that the shape of the cone of safety is an oval; as long as the wings of the hang glider are kept relatively level, and a three-point bridle (not pro-tow) bridle is used, the hang glider can safely get farther off to the left or right side of the sweet spot, before locking out, than it can go high or low before locking out.
So what you're saying is that gliders on tow are pitch and yaw stable but roll unstable?
Lisa
I'd like to add that the cone of safety is smaller when launching and near the ground. There is less room for error.
Oh, so towing is more dangerous at takeoff than it is at fifteen hundred feet. Lemme write that down.
When launching, the pilot must rise from the cart to get above the prop wash, but not too high, so as to avoid pulling up the tail of the tug. Basically, when launching and climbing out, the hang glider should be at the same level as the tug, so both the tug and the hang glider are in the same wind gradient.
Versus the rest of the tow when the hang glider should be at a level different from that of the tug.
When launching in wind, the wind speed near the ground is lower due to gradient, and the wind speed is higher farther above the ground due to gradient.
Let's try it this way:
Wind speed near the ground is lower due to gradient.
Are you guys getting paid by the word?
Therefore, if the glider gets low on launch, the glider not only pulls the tail of the tug down, but the airspeed of the tug at its higher altitude may be significantly higher than the airspeed of the glider that is close to the ground. This can cause the tug to zoom up even higher and the glider to get stuck with low airspeed and stay in the prop wash of the tug.
What a total load of crap. This is too stupid to even be worth commenting on.
Tracy
Conversely, if the hang glider gets too high on launch, it will zoom up into higher wind speed above the level of the tug and pull the tail of the tug up. This can quickly degenerate into a vertical lockout (especially with a pro-tow bridle), and drive the tug into the ground.
Bullshit.
- Even in a situation as extreme as this:
Dennis Pagen - 2005/01
I am personally familiar with such a problem, because it happened to me at a meet in Texas. Soon after liftoff the trike tug and I were hit by the mother of all thermals. Since I was much lighter, I rocketed up well above the tug, while the very experienced tug pilot, Neal Harris, said he was also lifted more than he had ever been in his heavy trike.
I pulled in all the way, but could see that I wasn't going to come down unless something changed. I hung on and resisted the tendency to roll to the side with as strong a roll input as I could, given that the bar was at my knees.
I didn't want to release, because I was so close to the ground and I knew that the glider would be in a compromised attitude. In addition, there were hangars and trees on the left, which is the way the glider was tending.
By the time we gained about sixty feet I could no longer hold the glider centered - I was probably at a twenty degree bank - so I quickly released before the lockout to the side progressed.
The glider instantly whipped to the side in a wingover maneuver.
the tug is never compromised enough to even merit mention - let alone necessitate a front end release.
- Nothing's stopping the tug from dumping the glider and killing it anyway.
It is critical for the hang glider pilot to be at the same altitude as the tug (usually wing on the horizon) throughout the climb through the wind gradient, perhaps to 200 feet agl.
- Wouldn't 200 feet MSL work even better?
- Bullshit. It's desirable - not critical.
- Very little in this game is critical and it's critical in only the rarest of circumstances. But when it is you assholes provide neither the training nor equipment to survive it.
After getting through the wind gradient and mechanical turbulence that is closer to the ground, the hang glider pilot can move into the normal sweet spot tow position.
Yeah, you wanna be out of the sweet spot before then.
Another very dangerous condition occurs when instruments or other hardware are placed in the middle of the control bar. These objects can get caught by the tow bridle or tow rope at launch, resulting in the glider getting pulled by the control bar and quickly zooming up or to the side, out of control and locking out, while lifting the tail of the tug and driving it into the ground.
- Yeah, if you're fuckin' stupid enough to put snaggy crap on the basetube you can get killed. That phenomenon has been demonstrated well enough to remove any doubt.
- Drop the crap about tugs getting driven into the ground. That's never come anywhere close to happening and never will.
For the mutual safety of both the glider pilot and the tug pilot...
Fuck the tug pilot. Since it's the goddam tug pilots who control this sport they've ALL got releases they can blow with a hand on a Dragonfly joystick or foot on a trike pedal. It's the gliders that are gonna get killed by the crap on their downtubes and shoulders that we've gotta worry about.
...instruments should be placed to the side, near the corner bracket--not in the center of the base tube--when aerotowing.
Duh.
Unfortunately, many mountain pilots do not fully appreciate the risk and deadly potential consequences of placing their instruments in the center of their control bar when towing.
Good. The gene pool sucks way too much as it is.
Tug pilots and aerotow operators must inform pilots about this danger and ask them to place their instruments and hardware to the side, near their corner bracket.
Why does anyone with an aerotow rating - or a third grade education - need to be told something like that?
Lisa
Another issue to address is correct position for turns. The easy procedure for making a turn is to point the nose of the hang glider at the outside wing of the tug during the turn. For example, if the tug turns to the left, the hang glider pilot should wait for the right wing tip to get in front of them and then follow the right wing tip through the turn, keeping the nose of the glider pointed to that right wing tip throughout the turn. However, the shape or the cone of safety changes for turns relative to straight flight, as it is more likely to lockout if the glider gets low and slow on the inside of the turn, or high and fast on the outside of the turn.
Yes Lisa, the risk of a lockout increases when you're on the inside of a turn with your tension heading towards zero.
LISA: As you can see in Figure 2, the high (12 o'clock) position is shown with the glider and horizon at the top border of the cone of safety and the tug and center of the cone of safety below the horizon. This high point position must be pre-determined and practiced ahead of time by the tug pilot and instructor to know exactly where it should be for the particular tug that is being used for training.
...
Here at Cloud 9, the high tow position is actually with the wing of the tug on the horizon, because our normal sweet spot position is reached when the wheels of the tug are above the horizon.
TRACY: After slowly moving back down to the sweet spot, the student pilot slowly descends to the low (6 o'clock) tow position on the low border of the cone of safety and holds there for a second-or-so, before slowly moving back up to the sweet spot. Again, the students must demonstrate simultaneous vertical and horizontal control by keeping the glider on the vertical centerline of the tug as they move down and back up to the sweet spot.
LISA: As you can see in Figure 3, the low (6 o'clock) position is shown with the glider and horizon at the bottom border of the cone of safety and the tug and center of the cone of safety above the horizon. Like the high position, the low point position must be pre-determined and practiced ahead of time by the tug pilot and instructor to know where exactly it should be for the particular tug that is being used for training. The low tow position must be somewhere above the prop wash, prior to where either the hang glider or tug loses controllability. This is particularly dangerous for the hang glider pilot when near the ground, as the hang glider pilot can lose airspeed and controllability if he hits the prop wash near the ground and can be driven into the ground.
Here at Cloud 9, our low tow position is lower than what is shown in Figure 3, because our normal sweet spot position is located with the wheels of the tug above the horizon.
TRACY: After slowly moving back up to the sweet spot, the student pilot slowly slides left to the left extreme (9 o'clock) tow position on the left border of the cone of safety and holds there for a second-or-so before slowly moving back to the right, to the sweet spot. Again, the students must demonstrate simultaneous vertical and horizontal control by keeping the glider on the horizontal centerline of the tug as they move out to the left and back to the sweet spot.
LISA: As you can see in Figure 4, the left extreme (9 o clock) position is shown with the glider, tug wheels, and horizon at the horizontal center line of the cone of safety. Like the high and low extreme positions, the left extreme position must be pre-determined and practiced ahead of time by the tug pilot and instructor to know where exactly it should be for the particular tug that is being used for training.
The left extreme position must be somewhere before the student pilot will lose control of the glider and lockout to the left. Going to this position on the left border of the cone of safety gives students recognition of when a lockout may start and the ability to smoothly move the glider left and right with very little banking of the wing.
Students must be trained to release from tow if they get farther outside to the left, outside of the cone of safety. ...
Here at Cloud 9, our extreme left tow position occurs when the hang glider pilot can line up the tail wheel of the tug with the right main wheel of the tug.
TRACY: After slowly sliding back to the right to the sweet spot and holding momentarily, the student pilot continues to slowly slide over to the right extreme (3 o'clock) tow position on the right border of the cone of safety and hold there for a second-or-so before slowly moving back to the left and back to the sweet spot.
Again, the student must demonstrate simultaneous vertical and horizontal control by keeping the glider on the horizontal centerline of the tug as they move out to the right and then back to the sweet spot.
LISA: As you can see in Figure 5, the extreme right (3 o'clock) position is shown with the glider, tug wheels, and horizon at the horizontal centerline of the cone of safety. Like the high and low and left extreme positions, the right extreme position must be pre-determined and practiced ahead of time by the tug pilot and instructor to know where exactly it should be for the particular tug that is being used for training. The right extreme position must be somewhere before the student pilot loses control of the glider and lockout to the right. Going to this position on the right border of the cone of safety gives students recognition of when a lockout may start on this side of the tug and the ability to smoothly move the glider right and left with very little banking of the wing. Students must be trained to release from tow if they get farther outside to the right, outside of the cone of safety.
Here at Cloud 9, our right extreme tow position is when the hang glider pilot can line up the tail wheel of the tug with the left main wheel of the tug.
I wonder how much extra Spotted Owl habitat had to be chainsawed to pad the magazine with this verbose, redundant drivel.
Request for Proposals for Solo-Only Aerotow Hang Gliding Instruction
Sorry Tracy, I missed the Request for Proposals for Mandatory Tandem Aerotow Hang Gliding Instruction.
To help the committee and board have a better understanding of the issue, I am asking for practical and logical feedback from the towing community that I can present at the meeting.
Since when did the Committee and Board give a rat's ass about understanding anything and practicality and logic?
Ideally, it would be better for anyone with expertise regarding this issue to attend the meeting in person--otherwise, I will try to collect and present this information to the Towing Committee for you.
Enjoy your posts, as always, and find your comments solid, based on hundreds of hours / tows of experience and backed up by a keen intellect/knowledge of the issues when it comes to most things in general and hang gliding AT/Towing in particular. Wanted to go on record in case anyone reading wanted to know one persons comments they should give weight to.
Have you talked to Rooney?
I am asking qualified individuals who teach hang gliding aerotowing skills by solo-only hang glider flights to contact me and give me some specific information that the committee can use to make a logical decision and proposal to the board regarding solo-only aerotow hang gliding instruction.
- What makes you think you think there ARE any qualified individuals who teach hang gliding aerotowing skills?
- Sorry, I missed the request for specific information that the Committee could use to make a logical decision and proposal to the Board regarding mandatory tandem aerotow hang gliding instruction.
- You - I'm sorry - the COMMITTEE and Board do and have always done whatever the fuck they feel like so how 'bout not insulting my intelligence with this show you're putting on.
The committee needs to look at curriculum, teaching techniques, and skills taught by solo-only aerotow hang gliding instruction as well as the minimum rating and experience that an aerotow student must/should have before beginning instructional solo-only aerotow hang gliding flight, such as whether the student already has a surface tow rating.
WHY does the Committee all the sudden NEED to look at all this bullshit? We had aerotowing and aerotowing SOPs around for a quarter century before you suddenly decided that it just wasn't safe enough without forcing everyone and his dog to take two tandem flights with out-of-position maneuvers.
So what were you seeing in the way of fatalities, injuries, crashes, near misses, accidents waiting to happen that was gonna be cured by two tandem rides?
I have already received a proposal from an instructor who requires a Surface Tow rating and significant experience before beginning solo aerotow hang gliding instruction.
I just love it when flight instructors get to make up and ignore whatever regulations they feel like. Is this a great sport or what!
To review, the SOP's were changed last year to require two tandem hang gliding flights as part of the AT special skill sign-off, followed by three solo hang gliding flights.
What the fuck do you mean they WERE changed? YOU got changed them and got the Board to rubber stamp them.
The old regs just required five solo fights.
The old - and current - regs also require weak links on towline ends and releases that can handle twice weak link, but I don't see you getting too bothered about any of that.
The fundamental reason for this change is because we now tow hang gliders under FAA Part 91 towing regs, which require FAA registered tugs with FAA airworthiness certificates flown by FAA licensed pilots who must have FAA tow pilot endorsements.
The fundamental reason for this change is because you wanted to model hang gliding instruction after sailplane instructions without recognizing that towing hang gliders is inherently dangerous because they're being hooked up to the tug through their control system and fixing the REAL problems as best as possible.
Aerotowing of hang gliders and sailplanes are both governed by these regs, and the instructional approaches used for teaching aerotowing of sailplanes and hang gliders are very similar. The committee simply proposed a change last year that would more align the aerotowing elements required for demonstration of proficiency for getting the AT-rating to that of getting a sailplane (glider) license, as a way to protect aerotowing operators, aerotow students, and our ability to aerotow hang gliders, in general.
Ya wanna talk about our ABILITY to aerotow hang gliders?
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.
Due to the rough conditions weak links were breaking just about every other tow and the two tugs worked hard to eventually get everyone off the ground successfully.
Davis Straub - 2011/08/26 14:04:52 UTC
We had six weaklink breaks in a row at Zapata this year.
Start with that one...
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
Dr. Trisa Tilletti - 2012/06
So, the typical weak link used for aerotowing most hang gliders, made as a single loop from 130 lb. line, will have a nominal 1G breaking strength of 260 lbs. and be legal for both the very small, light glider and the heavier, larger glider--assuming there is no reduction in strength of the weak link due to a knot in the line.
...before you start educating everyone about the wonders of the Cone of Safety.
There is now much more likelihood that an aerotow hang gliding accident will be investigated by the FAA and NTSB, and more likelihood that those governmental agencies--as well as prosecutors of a lawsuit--may now press for evidence of a similar quality of aerotow-skills instruction between that of sailplanes and hang gliders.
Oh! So you're not really worried about keeping people from being killed - you're worried about ass covering. Big fucking surprise.
Mike Haas wasn't killed 'cause he launched into a powerful thermal with an inaccessible Wallaby Release and a Standard Aerotow Weak Link.
Jeremiah Thompson wasn't killed 'cause his driver outclimbed him, the front end weak link blew, and the luff lines were all six inches out of adjustment.
Roy Messing wasn't killed 'cause he was using a piece of shit Lookout Release which isn't warranted as suitable for towing anything and typically requires about four pulls to get it to work at normal tow tension.
These guys were killed 'cause they didn't stay inside the Cone of Safety.
And, hell, they had two tandem flights in which they were trained how to stay inside the Cone of Safety. So what are ya gonna do? Sometimes shit just happens.
So how 'bout evidence of a similar quality of aerotow EQUIPMENT between that of sailplanes and hang gliders? Just kidding.
The Towing Committee was of the opinion that virtually all aerotowing instruction in the US was done via tandem hang gliding flights...
It did not come from the FAA, it came from a USHPA Towing Committee made up of three large aerotow operations that do tandems for hire.
Appalling.
No shit.
...and was not well-aware of solo-only aerotow operations who would be adversely affected by this change.
Was it not well-aware of any sixty hour pilots with dune, hill, and mountain free flight and winch, boat, and truck towing experience under their belts who really didn't need to pay a fuckin' babysitter to go up with them to tell them how to point the glider at the back end of the tug?
Was it not well-aware of any PILOTS who's wallets would be adversely affected by that change for no demonstrable benefit?
Oh, right. This sport doesn't exist for the benefit of the recreational pilot. This sport exists for the benefit of USHPA and the big aerotow operations that do tandem for hire. Big fucking surprise there too.
One fault in the organizational structure and decision-making process of USHPA is that there is and has not been a formal means of feedback before changes to USHPA regs are enacted.
And I'm sure you did EVERYTHING possible to get input by informal means before putting that crap into law.
The mechanism has been such that committees discuss issues, make proposals to the board, and the board approves, changes, or denies those proposed changes.
Do we get to know who's on the committee and see the voting record of the Board?
There has not been a mechanism for presentation of proposed changes to the membership before enactment of those changes.
Nah, of course not. There's no fuckin' way you coulda gotten a couple of paragraphs into the magazine or put anything up on the USHPA website.
Thus, when the changes to the towing regs were made...
Rammed down everyone's throat.
...last year, the Towing Committee had to rely on the expertise and knowledge of the Regional Directors on the Board...
I wasn't aware that there was a requirement for Regional Directors to have any expertise and knowledge in the area of aerotowing. And since it's pretty fucking obvious that none of the large aerotow operations have a goddam clue what the hell they're doing or talking about I'd be pretty stunned if they did.
...to provide feedback and let the Towing Committee and Board know if there were problems with the change or if anyone in there Region would be negatively affected.
Nah, there'd be NO FREAKIN' WAY to predict that anyone would be negatively affected or have any objections to a change like that.
That is the basic process on how all changes have been made in the past by the USHPA Board, through representation of specialties on committees followed by representation of regional membership by Directors.
About the only two positive changes made to the Pilot Proficiency System since the beginning of time were the requirement of a hook-in check prior to all foot launched flights and a runway option as an alternative to the insanely dangerous spot landing requirement. But nobody ever made the slightest pretense of implementing the former and the latter is at the discretion of the narrow-dry-riverbed-with-large-rocks-strewn-all-over-the-place obsessed instructors.
That is why it is important for both committee members and Directors to be knowledgeable and caring.
Yeah. And we all know what they're knowledgeable and caring about.
There is now much more likelihood that an aerotow hang gliding accident will be investigated by the FAA and NTSB, and more likelihood that those governmental agencies--as well as prosecutors of a lawsuit--may now press for evidence of a similar quality of aerotow-skills instruction between that of sailplanes and hang gliders.
Really appreciate your transparency.
I believe that Rich Hass (our new Fearless Leader) is working on creating a mechanism for members to provide feedback before proposed changes to regs become effective.
Yeah?
Doug Hildreth - 1991/06
Pilot with some tow experience was towing on a new glider which was a little small for him. Good launch, but at about fifty feet the glider nosed up, stalled, and the pilot released by letting go of the basetube with right hand. Glider did a wingover to the left and crashed into a field next to the tow road. Amazingly, there were minimal injuries.
Comment: This scenario has been reported numerous times. Obviously, the primary problem is the lack of pilot skill and experience in avoiding low-level, post-launch, nose-high stalls. The emphasis by countless reporters that the pilot lets go of the glider with his right hand to activate the release seems to indicate that we need a better hands-on way to release.
I know, I know, "If they would just do it right. Our current system is really okay." I'm just telling you what's going on in the real world. They are not doing it right and it's up to us to fix the problem. Think about it.
Luen Miller - 1996/10
We have two more fatalities because of a glider that couldn't be released from tow.
I am strongly recommending formal review and analysis of releases and weak link designs for all methods of towing by the Towing Committee, and that recommendations on adoption or improvements be generated.
Is he gonna listen to the feedback from these two USHGA Accident Review Committee Chairmen? Or is death by inoperable tow releases just background noise nowadays?
If you are concerned about this issue, have expertise, and want to provide usable information to the Towing Committee on this issue, please call me at 248-921-0092 for further information about how to submit a proposal for solo-only aerotow instruction.
Higher EDUCATION - 2011/09
MORE ABOUT AEROTOWING AND THE CONE OF SAFETY
Tracy Tillman - 2011/09
Advertisements for schools and instructors (or any product or service) cannot always be trusted; advertising is often more about selling the sizzle than the steak. Word of mouth is better, but it's not always reliable because of the rule of primacy [3].
In advertising and public communications, the law of primacy in persuasion as postulated by Frederick Hansen Lund in 1925 holds that the side of an issue presented first will have greater effectiveness than the side presented subsequently. Lund gave college students a document in support of one side of a controversial issue and then presented a second taking the opposite position. He found the document read first had greater influence, regardless of which position it expressed.
That's EXACTLY what goes on and EXACTLY why Kite Strings will never make much of a dent in the hang gliding's many lethal problems and fallacies.
- backup loop
- hang check
- chin strap
- safe standup landing
- standard aerotow weak link lockout protector
- polypro standard aerotow weak link protector
- lever on downtube
- bent pin backup release
- hook knife
After Matt or Tracy gets ahold of someone for the first hour of his exposure to the sport the success rate for pulling him back to the Light Side of the Force is - at best - about 0.1 percent.
There is now much more likelihood that an aerotow hang gliding accident will be investigated by the FAA and NTSB, and more likelihood that those governmental agencies--as well as prosecutors of a lawsuit--may now press for evidence of a similar quality of aerotow-skills instruction between that of sailplanes and hang gliders.
Good. I'll celebrate the day the FAA and/or NTSB as well as prosecutors of a lawsuit investigate any aerotow hang gliding incident or any tandem incident.
