The Bob Show

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=703
From John Heiney's Collection

Terry Mason - 2012/06/01 16:05:57 UTC

This is great, Bob. I was searching our site for videos to show friends and family what I've been doing, and finely found this topic, without any DEATH or Destruction, no arguments over politics, no Whacks!!!THANKS, Terry

You DO now see the irony there, don't you? This sport is inherently dangerous and incompetently run. If you'd wanted to show your friends and family the sort of thing you've been doing, these videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYe3YmdIQTM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_n5B3-MIC4


wouldn't have been bad approximations. And your friends and family might have been a lot less surprised about the ultimate consequences of your little hobby.

Terry Mason - 2012/06/01 21:26:39 UTC

Say Al, do you happen to have anything exciting, new, or entertaining to post.

Geez, Terry. What could've possibly been more exciting, new, or entertaining to read about than the Lenami Godinez-Avila fatality? That has to have been the single most widely reported on and followed incident in hang gliding history. All over the mainstream press globally for weeks. And it ain't over yet.

How about some videos of 'good' landings...

Sure. Here ya go...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjsp0mH7m0Y

7:15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72SJu09S-Y0

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7369/13962618245_163eb65caa_o.png


http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2920/13939515566_f9b68a2595_o.png
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2Gd2kcyOes

http://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7094/13952342741_f71f343877_o.png


http://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7151/13952329131_03e535bc8b_o.png

...or stories about good experiences in hang gliding.

How 'bout this one?

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=26870
weak links

michael170 - 2012/08/17 17:01:40 UTC

Zack, let me see if I understand your logic.

You had a thing and it broke needlessly.
You didn't want the thing to break needlessly.
You replaced the thing with a stronger thing.
Now the thing doesn't break needlessly.

That's one of my all-time favorites.

My family and friends are interested in seeing what I love about this sport, and i'm reluctant to guide them to a disaster scene blog full of sadness and grief.

That disaster scene blog full of sadness and grief ain't fiction, dude. And it's just...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=20756
How is Zach Etheridge doing?

Bob Flynn - 2011/02/04 11:26:34 UTC

Lookout keeps this kind of stuff under their hat. You never hear of accidents there. But every time I go there, I hear about quite a few. Blown launches, tree landings, etc.

...the tip of the iceberg - the stuff that's too spectacular and public for the hang gliding establishment to keep under wraps.

We...

Who's "WE", Terry?

...really are wanting to see the positive side...

I like these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHWbu0su1fA


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh3-uZptNw0


And there's nothing stopping from doing everything as right procedures, equipment, and skills allow and putting it up.

...without argument or insult.

When everybody gets on the right page with respect to this game we can dispense with arguments and insults. But as long as we have scum in this sport like...

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

Jim Rooney - 2007/08/01

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

It's more of this crappy argument that being on tow is somehow safer than being off tow.

...Rooney and...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25129
Ridgerodent gone?

Sam Kellner - 2011/09/10 02:24:50

I was working up some harmony for Rooney Tunes.

...his legions of shitheaded harmonizers we really need the arguments and insults to try to minimize the numbers of fatalities like yours.

And thanks again for all your help with the scooter tow, hope to see you on it soon, Terry

Too bad you didn't have Al or, hell, nobody at all on the front end of your towline. You'd have probably been OK and, in any case, no worse off than you were with Sam.

[Tad Eareckson]

Tad Eareckson - 2012/11/29 04:25:24 UTC

John and Dale Stokes
Steve Seibel
Scott Wilkinson
Christopher LeFay
Davis Straub

And not so much as a whisper from any of them. The hang gliding "community" let him totally get away with accidentally killing Terry last summer so I guess it should've been no great surprise that none of the in crowd was gonna say anything that might be disagreeable on this issue.

This:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQa-wiW5Lms


is incredibly cool. I've done a bit of falconry and I've let Quaker/Monk Parrots fly free - and it's really an amazing feeling to have a bird rocketing around the skies that you can call back in to you or that will come home in the evening to be let in for the night.

But...

I've had three of my little parrots killed by Cooper's Hawks. The Coop is the next size up in the genus of the Sharpy that was killed in Leakey.

The first was killed because I just didn't appreciate the threat.

The second was killed because I was stupid enough to think that a short flight every now and then through the winter was an insignificant exposure time.

The third - my first bird - was fatally injured by a first year female the size of a Buick who reached through the bars after I had wheeled the cage out onto the back deck on a warm January afternoon. Didn't see that one coming. I ran out and grabbed the injured bird, the other parrot flew into the house, and the Coop flew to a branch a few feet away.

When I was inside holding the injured bird with the other on my shoulder, the Coop flew back down to the cage and deck looking for her stolen meal. Then she saw us through the sliding door and started bouncing off the glass trying to get in. It was about 45 minutes before she finally threw in the towel.

All of those deaths were horrible experiences - and entirely my fault, especially the second one. The hawks weren't to blame. They scare the hell out of me and it's sad when they nail a Dove or Jay but you really need them and I'm thankful they're around. If you don't have native predators you don't have healthy prey populations or ecosystems.

And if you don't want your own family members to become part of the food chain then keep them separated from it and don't roll dice.

P.S. This space was previously and briefly occupied by a chewing up of one of Bob's post Lenami statements on unhooked launches. Shoulda checked that I had already written nearly the exact same thing at:

http://www.kitestrings.org/post2205.html#p2205

Sorry 'bout that.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.ushawks.org/USHPA2012/

Bob Kuczewski's Platform Highlights:

1. Open Voting by the USHPA Board - All votes by the USHPA Board should be recorded and available for all USHPA members to review. This is the most important issue because it connects the decision makers (USHPA Directors) with the pilots they're supposed to represent (USHPA Members).

Just like the way things are done on US Hawks - except that the self appointed Dictator For Life does whatever the fuck he feels like and guts any of his stated principles whenever he finds it convenient.

2. National USHPA Pilot's Forum - USHPA should install and maintain a forum on their web site where USHPA Members can communicate with each other and where Regional Directors are expected to participate. The site should have national sections for hang gliding and paragliding as well as dedicated sections for each Region. All USHPA Chapters should be offered their own subforums within the national forum. This national forum will serve to unite Pilots and Chapters across the nation and will also serve to make USHPA more responsive to the will of its Members.

Just like the way things are done on US Hawks - except that the self appointed Dictator For Life and the Chapter Presidents can restrict or permanently eliminate people they don't like from any discussion at any time.

3. Fair Processes for All Pilots - Disciplinary actions taken by USHPA against pilots must be fair. There have been too many cases where certain pilots and/or instructors have been singled out for disciplinary actions while others have been given a "pass" for similar or worse offenses.

No shit, Bob? REALLY? That's very hard for me to imagine.

All disciplinary actions by USHPA against its Members must be administered fairly and openly to reduce these kinds of abuses.

Other, of course, than the abuses you feel like implementing. Then it's open season on anything that falls within shotgun range.

Bob Kuczewski is committed to these goals ... and has the track record to prove it.

Sure Bob, whatever you say.

Fuck you and your track record.

[Tad Eareckson]

This national forum will serve to unite Pilots and Chapters across the nation and will also serve to make USHPA more responsive to the will of its Members.

Just what hang gliding needs. A bunch of brained damaged, hook-in check skipping, backup looping, 130 pound Greenspotting, pin bending, standup spot landing, Pagen reading, Rooney harmonizing, hawk killing assholes and cults uniting their wills and destroying anybody who gets in their way.

Conspicuous absence of any mention of competence and protections for minorities and minority positions.

What a sewer of a vision for this sport.

[miguel]

Sorry to hear about your birds.

[Tad Eareckson]

Thanks. Those aren't happy memories and they do absolutely nothing for my self esteem.

Just wanted anyone reading to know that I know what it's like to lose stuff one cares about to those birds and that an argument starting with something along the lines of "Well, if it were YOUR chickens that had been snatched..." ain't likely to get anyone very far.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1193
'Dog needs good home...

Doug Johnson - 2013/01/15 14:17:44 UTC
Minnesota

Greetings,

I'm a Skydog looking for a good (forum) home.

Good. I can't recommend The Bob Show highly enough.

Started flying hang gliders in 1979. Master rated (5) in 2001. Been an Observer, Examiner, Basic Instructor, Tandem Aerotow Instructor, Aerotow Administrator, and a partner in a Dragonfly tow operation. (yawn!!)

And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the fine work you've done to help that branch of the sport really get its shit together.

I fly a North Wing Freedom 190 with a Moyes Contour harness. I was a good boy last year...good enough to get a Flymaster GPS vario from Santa. Looking at possible road trips to Chelan and/or Arkansas this year. I'd like to stay connected to some of the folks I've known over the years and get to know a few others (any other Skyline Skydogs out there?). I think that should just about cover it. Thanks.

"...with eyes turned skyward..."
Doug Johnson
skydog

Bob Kuczewski - 2013/01/15 18:27:32 UTC

Hello Doug,

It's an honor to have more and more of the early hang glider pilots finding a nice landing at the US Hawks. Please contact me any time if I can do anything to make this web site better for you.

Thanks again for joining the US Hawks!!

Go fuck yourself, Bob.

Bill Cummings - 2013/01/15 22:36:46 UTC

Hey Sky Dog Doug. This is Sky Dog Bill ---do you copy? --Over!

How is Shelly?

Hey Bob my rating card is signed by Doug!

Doug, I'm hopping this website will become a parallel organization to USHPA.

A noble goal if ever I heard one.

One day there may be enough members to get insurance separate from paragliding.

1. Don't hold your breath.

2. In the highly unlikely event that I live long enough to see something like that happen DO count on Yours Truly contacting the insurance company and giving it some background on The Bob Show's attitude towards and record of competence and safety.

I feel that USHPA sees HG as being on the way out and Paragliding on the way in. Which may be happening. But while there are still some HG pilots still doing it I want to see the RD's looking out for me just as hard as they were in the early days.

They sucked back then too - not as much, but they still sucked.

I also want to know how my RD's are voting. (That isn't happening.)

So join a dictatorship run by a sociopath who does whatever the fuck he feels like on whatever pretense he thinks he can get away with and talks endlessly about the democratic freedoms and constitutional protections the membership will enjoy just as soon as he sucks in enough loyal cult members.

Doug Johnson - 2013/01/17 22:03:47 UTC

Hey Skydog Bill,

It wasn't long after that I met you and towed from your payout winch/trailer somewhere down by Eau Claire. Ah, my early days with the Hewlett Skyting system. Twisted nylon rope and horse bridle releases. I'll never forget that first tow. I only got a hundred feet off the ground before I accidentally released (release string, which was run through plastic tubing on the down tube, was too short). That heavy horse bridle release came back as a result of all the stretch in that twisted nylon and hit me right on the end of my nose. I had to land blind because my eyes watered up instantly!! Am I bringing back any memories?

Goddam right you are.

Mike Lake - 2011/03/02

In the early '80s we were given a demo of a fixed line tow system complete with spring gauge, spaghetti bridles, rings, string and chunks of metal at longbow tensions positioned in front of the pilot's face.

The release was some kind of boat shackle that required about same continual tugging to actually release as it does for me to untangle my mobile phone charger.

After release the line had to unthread itself from various rings before the glider was actually free from a rather pathetic tow launch.

This was utter, utter crap, the whole setup and we (rather unkindly) laughed.

I got my helmet hit so hard I thought I had been knocked out.

You can't beat fun for having a good time, eh?!!

Did that experience in any way cause you to question the validity of the rest of Hewett package?

Just kidding.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=3840
[TIL] About Tad Eareckson

Bob Kuczewski - 2013/03/10 18:20:34 UTC
San Diego

I first learned about Tad Eareckson when I was Regional Director and the USHPA Board circulated a letter he had written (with intention to send?)...

The intention was to generate some incentive to you ten miles south of useless USHGA motherfuckers to engage in some dialog about some serious decades old problems that you ten miles south of useless USHGA motherfuckers are WAY more interested in maintaining than fixing.

...to the FAA about some dangerous practices in hang gliding.

Primarily the one which, some of your more astute readers may recall, just killed Zack Marzec at the beginning of last month.

The Board's knee-jerk response was to try to take some kind of legal action to silence Tad.

As evidenced by this new Sylmar thread and all the shit currently flying on The Davis Show it appears that the results of any efforts to silence Tad were a bit less than stellar.

I indicated that I thought we shouldn't be sending our lawyers in as our first response...

Second or third... well SURE. But definitely not the first.

...and that maybe we should have someone talk with him first.

But under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should we actually have anyone READ what Tad was saying - which was the same thing that previous USHGA Safety Committee Chairmen and other officials had been saying for years - and see if it had any legitimacy and that USHGA was putting virtually ALL AEROTOWED GLIDERS in extreme danger every flight they took.

Hell, it's not like assholes like Bob...

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=802
AL's Second flight at Packsaddle how it went

Bob Kuczewski - 2011/10/23 16:29:29 UTC

As for Nobody's request for me to read a document, I haven't found the time yet. I'm sorry, but I don't have time to read everything that everyone asks me to read.

...have time to read everything that everyone asks them to read.

So Dennis Pagen volunteered, and I believe the matter was settled without any serious damage to the sport.

1. Oh, you BELIEVE the matter was settled without any serious damage to the sport.

2. The implication being, of course, that Tad's actions would've resulted in serious damage to the sport - which, as everyone in it knows perfectly well, has been running along just great for the past forty years.

3. Dennis Fucking Pagen IS serious damage to the sport - as are assholes like you, Bob.

4. You lying sonuvabitch. You know perfectly goddam well that that pigfucker...

Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 12:40 AM
To: Pagen, Dennis; Tate, Lisa
Cc: USHPA Regional Directors
Subject: Re: aerotow SOP complaint

Second, I cast my vote for having Dennis write a letter to Mr. Eareckson as he suggested.

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=674
Nate's minor accident at Packsaddle

Tad Eareckson - 2011/07/11 00:19:32 UTC

Could you drop Dennis a note and ask him how he's coming on that letter?

...never contacted me.

5. And who gives a rat's ass about the serious (fatal) damage that was done to Tad's...

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

Jim Rooney - 2011/08/25 04:55:25 UTC

Don't even get me started on Tad. That obnoxious blow hard has gotten himself banned from every flying site that he used to visit... he doesn't fly anymore... because he has no where to fly. His theories were annoying at best and downright dangerous most of the time. Good riddance.

...hang gliding career.

A few years later (when I was starting the US Hawks Hang Gliding Association), I actually wrote to Tad inviting him to our forum because I wanted to incorporate diverse views in our new association.

OUR new association? Get fucked, Bob. It was a dictatorship when you founded it on 2010/08/13, it was a dictatorship when you invited me to register on 2011/02/11, it was a dictatorship when you extrajudicially locked me into your Basement on 2011/12/09, it was a dictatorship when you extrajudicially booted me on 2011/12/14, it's a dictatorship today, and it will ALWAYS be a dictatorship.

Tad joined us...

Tad started posting on your lunatic forum, Bob. NO WAY IN HELL did he EVER join "US".

...and for a while things were fine.

But then you started discovering that DIVERSE views that weren't YOUR views - and the troubles began.

But over time, it became obvious to me...

Wow Bob! If something became obvious to YOU it must've been something pretty fuckin' obtuse.

...that he was more interested in just bashing people than trying to actually solve problems in the sport of hang gliding.

1. WHAT problems in the sport of hang gliding, Bob? I thought you just said two sentences ago that there WEREN'T any problems in the sport of hang gliding.

2. Unfortunately, Bob, hang gliding is 99 percent populated and 99.9 percent controlled by slimeballs and pigfuckers. So bashing "people" and actually solving problems in the sport of hang gliding are one in the same. And bashing slimeballs like you and pigfuckers like Sam aren't bad places to start.

For a long time, I tried to show him kindness on our forum...

Oh thank you SO much, Bob. I so did appreciate your kindness on "our" forum. I have no idea what was so wrong with me that every time you showed me your kindness I'd be overcome with the urge to beat you to a bloody pulp.

...and I gave him a lot of slack with regard to his profanity...

Fuckin' awesome, dude.

And I really appreciate the way you gave my ol' buddy Peter Linknife Birren a lot of slack - and covering fire - with regard to HIS...

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

Peter Birren - 2011/08/29 18:40:45 UTC

I see you are still trying to pawn off on someone else what you can't do yourself. Fuckin' coward... ignorant coward.

Tad, you ignorant slut...

...profanity.

...and his comments that he wished certain people would crash and kill themselves.

You mean like THIS:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8143/7462005802_bbc0ac66ac_o.jpg

Eventually (and for reasons that I won't full disclose here)...

1. Oh, go ahead and disclose them, Bob. I know how much joy calling Tad a known and unrepentant child molester (over and over and over and over) gives you.

2. But, what the hell, saying:

...(and for reasons that I won't full disclose here)...

is just SO MUCH MORE FUN because it automatically causes people to think there's something SO VILE about this person that it can't even be MENTIONED in polite society.

...it became necessary...

Yes Bob, it became NECESSARY. So who thought it was NECESSARY? A unanimous vote by the "membership"? Two thirds majority? Over half? Anyone besides the Self Appointed Dictator For Life?

And was everybody totally cool...

http://www.kitestrings.org/post1019.html#p1019

...with your decision?

...to ask Tad to leave the US Hawks forum...

At which point Tad told you to go fuck yourself.

...and he is currently the only person who's been completely banned from the US Hawks.

1. Unless you count Terry Mason. He wasn't actually banned but it's not like he can benefit from his posting privileges - thanks to your asshole buddy Sam making a good decision in the interest of his safety.

2. And let's not forget Steve Davy (Nobody) who you locked down in The Basement and whose accessibility to The Bob Show you butchered for voicing a diverse view in our new association regarding the necessity of asking Tad to leave.

3. And, of course, Bob, you're QUITE certain that it WAS "NECESSARY"...

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 will be many problems that crop up as the US Hawks grows. I think it's important that we - as a community - work together to handle them in the best way that we can. 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. That's part of what will keep the US Hawks from becoming another USHPA or HGAA.

...to ask Tad to leave the US Hawks forum. No question whatsoever. (Fuck you.)

4. Super, Bob! You can now count yourself amongst the likes of Jack Axaopoulos, Davis Straub, Peter Birren, and a whole shitload of other stupid, cowardly, serial killing control freaks.

Having said all of that...

Oh, are you QUITE positive that you don't wanna say some more of that? It does seem to give you so much enjoyment. C'mon, call Tad a known and unrepentant child molester just a few more dozen times.

I have to add that Tad has an incredible amount of energy...

Fuck Tad's incredible amount of energy. Hell, Davis has an incredible amount of energy. DOES TAD KNOW WHAT THE FUCK HE'S TALKING ABOUT OR NOT?

...and I think it would be great if the sport of hang gliding could figure out how to harness it.

1. The fuckin' sport of hang gliding - over the course of DECADES - can't figure out that:

- it's a good idea to make sure you're connected to a glider a couple off seconds before running off a cliff with it

- when you take a hand off a locking out glider to go for a Bobby Fucking-Genius Bailey Release the glider won't go into pause mode until you've finished up with what you want to do

- a bent pin really sucks as a second class lever arm

- the only thing a weak is capable of doing is limiting a tension load

- weak link strength should be proportional to glider capacity or, at least, flying weight

- that a "standard aerotow weak link" does NOT blow at whatever some asshole says it does

- forcing everybody up on a "standard aerotow weak link" that's been known to blow on competition pilots six times in a row in mild morning conditions DOES NOT increase the safety of a towing operation

- a control bar makes a much better control bar than a pair of downtubes - especially when you're trying to land

2. It's BEEN harnessed, dude - just not by the sport of hang gliding as useless fuckin' douchebags such as yourself envision it. And it's currently having the hell harnessed out of it on The Davis Show. And the Rooney Linkers and Pin Benders are getting demolished.

He's done extensive work on towing releases and he has a library of photographs related to releases.

1. Yeah? So?
2. The problem was the piece of shit fishing line these assholes are trying to use to compensate for their piece of shit releases.

I think he brings an important perspective to the sport...

1. Yeah, grade school science and math. But if, in your OPINION, regulations based on grade school science and math have no validity... hell, just ignore them.

2. I don't give a flying fuck about what you do or don't "think".

...but his personality is so toxic...

1. And yet here I am, getting discussed all over the place all over the place while you, conspicuously AREN'T.

2. To assholes like you and the ones you try to cultivate - damn straight. And if you thought my personality was toxic a year and a half ago just keep watching what's gonna be happening.

...that it's very difficult to gain any benefit from it.

What makes you think I want you - or any of your aiders and abetters - to benefit from it?

Indeed, I consider it a failing on my part...

Wow. I'm impressed that you're able to keep track.

...that I wasn't able to help Tad get past some of his "personality" issues...

Damn! And all that time I was trying to help YOU get past some of YOUR "personality" issues. Looks like we BOTH totally suck as amateur shrinks.

...and become a good contributing member on the US Hawks forum.

1. That's OK, Bob. By getting rid of Tad the membership of and participation in The Bob Show skyrocketed - AND it became a safe place for people of varying ages (just as long as the varying age wasn't 66).

2. So just who the hell are all of your contributing members and - besides more opinions, misinformation, ignorance, stupidity, death, and destruction, items of which there's never been any great shortage in hang gliding - just what is it...

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1186
D. Straub's Politics=Gun Grabbing, Constitution/Baby Killing

Bill Cummings - 2013/02/19 02:43:00 UTC

No one should confuse me with someone that has been exposed to higher education. I avoided that style of incarceration like the plague.

...they're supposed to be contributing and...

Bob Kuczewski - 2013/02/19 04:39:45 UTC

Don't worry ... your secret is safe here on the US Hawks ... after all, we've only got about 5 active participants.

...to what?

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=3849
midair

http://vimeo.com/61198259

Bob Kuczewski - 2013/03/24 19:07:55 UTC
San Diego

Everyone knows that I'm all for supporting pilots' freedoms at Torrey Pines (and other sites).

Sure ya are, Bob - just as long as they don't take any stands in opposition of you.

Joe (Grebloville) has used the term "Freedom Fighter".

Fuck him too.

But this was just stupid ... not the posting ... the flying.

Any opinion on THIS:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8143/7462005802_bbc0ac66ac_o.jpg


one? My thinking is that it was a lot more stupid and it appears that a lot more people got a lot more killed as a consequence.

As it is, almost every paraglider crash at Torrey (and there have been many) is initially reported in the local media as a "hang gliding" crash. We don't need to reinforce the "hang gliding = death sport" image with our own accidents ... the PG folks are doing enough of that for us already.

Yeah...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13132
Unhooked Death Again - Change our Methods Now?

Brian McMahon - 2009/01/22 17:04:35 UTC

There is a guy by the name of Tad Hurst locally that failed to hook-in twice at Torrey and finally quit flying as a result.

http://www.topix.com/forum/outdoors/hang-gliding/TBLSBDT5L7A8MQSVG
Torrey Pines Accident

Tad Hurst - 2006/06/01
Carlsbad, California

I am the pilot that crashed on 5/5/06 at Torrey. This was a failure-to-hook-in event. I hung on the Glider all the way to the beach. Since I was hanging on the base tube, I obviously had no pitch control and the glider was in a steep dive. I did manage a turn to the right to line up with the dry sand.

I did a PLF on the beach at an estimated 50-60 MPH and 30 degree incline. Broken pelvis only.

I am recoverying - I have been back at work for the last 2 weeks, and I can drive the car. I should be walking without crutches in 3.5 weeks.

I am in better shape than I have any right to be.

Fuckin' paraglider people.

But here's the bottom line ... if you're so bored with hang gliding that you have to do dumb things like that, then please take up paragliding ... in the Owens.

I've only just watched the video, and I don't know if the Jeff's have publicly renounced this stunt, but I hope they have (or will), and I hope their statements will include a comment on how they risked not only their own lives, but the lives of others and the future of the sport of hang gliding for all of us.

Sorry Jeff's .. I have to call them like I see them.

Really appreciate your dedication to safety, Bob. By the way... What percentage of your Bob Show active membership...

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1186
D. Straub's Politics=Gun Grabbing, Constitution/Baby Killing

Bob Kuczewski - 2013/02/19 04:39:45 UTC

Don't worry ... your secret is safe here on the US Hawks ... after all, we've only got about 5 active participants.

...did you kill last year...

http://www.theleakeystaronline.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/uncleTerry3.jpg


...and what were some of the issues...

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1081
Platform towing /risk mitigation / accident

Sam Kellner - 2012/07/03 02:25:58 UTC

No, you don't get an accident report.

...that you identified as problems?

P.S. Any thoughts on THIS:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bRrpHNa68iY/UQ6Pv9gRZyI/AAAAAAAAjTg/Hc22bx5122Q/s2048/20943781_BG1.jpg


one? Seemed to have some similarities to the one in Leakey and I thought that maybe Sam would have some insights or we could figure out if Zack was using the optimal pro tow bridle length...

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1146
Tow Force Diagram with "V" Bridle



...for the Rooney Link he was using.

We could really use a good aeronautical engineer with a good grasp of Navier-Stokes equations - all the aerotow professionals are totally stumped and we're all completely mystified as to how something like this could happen to such a great guy and friend of Rooney's.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1233
Building the US Hawks: Impossible

Rick Masters - 2013/04/06 01:02:27 UTC

Building the US Hawks can only be done by HG purists who believe that gliding canopies are a risky mistake.

Can you think of any risky mistakes in hang gliding we've been making for decades and don't really need to be?

It cannot be done by people with one foot in the HG camp and the other in the PG camp.

So what are ya gonna do with all the people who fly both? Steve Kinsley comes to mind and it seems to me that between being the first to recognize the hang check as the primary cause of unhooked launches and advancing towing technology I'd say that he's done a lot more for hang gliding than you ever will.

Sorry Bob, but you really blew it on this one.

Name something that he hasn't blown it on. And compare the rate of fatalities of Bob Show registrants who've been significant participants to what the paragliders are doing.

Bob Kuczewski - 2013/04/07 19:29:03 UTC

Building the US Hawks can only be done by HG purists who believe that gliding canopies are a risky mistake.

I don't believe this is true, Rick. We don't have to believe that paragliding is a "risky mistake" to want to build a hang gliding association.

Wanna talk risky mistakes? You, Sam, Terry, Bill, Pilgrim, Rick...

We just have to care about hang gliding and be willing to work to protect and promote it.

Yeah Bob, let's protect and promote it. It's not like it needs fixing or anything.

It cannot be done by people with one foot in the HG camp and the other in the PG camp.

What about people who have one foot in the HG camp and one foot in the sailplane camp? Wasn't USHGA's early leadership guided by sailplane pilots?

1. Where were the fuckin' sailplane people when Donnell came along?
2. Take a look at sailplane people like Russell Brown and Dr. Trisa Tilletti. How much good are they doing us now?

Sorry Bob, but you really blew it on this one.

I'm sorry Rick, but I don't subscribe to the notion that supporting hang gliding means trashing paragliding any more than I believe that supporting hang gliding means trashing any other sport.

Nah. And we've already got our work cut out for us trashing hang gliding before we can even think about responsibly promoting it.

However, I will say that USHPA has become a paragliding association, and many of the people in paragliding leadership roles don't care at all about hang gliding.

They scare me a helluva lot less than the total fucking assholes callous enough to be promoting unreformed hang gliding and having its SOPs determined democratically.

I would like to see that reversed in UHSPA...

I would like to see the "H" and "S" reversed in "UHSPA" - but that's probably just me.

...but the trend doesn't appear to be going that way.

How are the trends going on The Bob Show? If it had never existed how would the lay of the land be any different?

So hang gliding will either be marginalized within USHPA or hang gliding will create its own organization.

It's got it's own organization. Paragliders can slope and surface tow launch but practical aerotowing is totally off the table for them. So we've got the aerotow cartel. What's your perception of how that's been going?

I'm in favor of the latter.

A democratically controlled one with unassailable rights and protections for any of its members Bob likes.

More specifically, with regard to me "blowing it on this one", I believe that the US Hawks has grown very slowly...

It's growing very slowly backwards - fortunately.

...because of anti-competitive practices by Jack Axaopoulos ("sg" on hanggliding.org).

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=15047
Thank You SG!.

Bob Kuczewski - 2010/01/01 06:08:31 UTC
San Diego

Finally!! A topic where everyone agrees with me!!!

You've done a great thing here SG!!

Jack has banned myself and others who would promote (or even mention) the US Hawks because he wants to maintain his near monopoly status in the sport of hang gliding.

Wanna talk about banning people - motherfucker?

Jack did a similar thing with the HGAA.

Big surprise.

He claimed that he was kicking people out because he wanted to grow it, and he got his way.

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=877
Discuss Tad here

Bob Kuczewski - 2011/12/09 21:58:14 UTC

Starting today (December 9th, 2011), I've restricted Tad to only posting in the "Free Speech Zone". I plan to continue that restriction for about a month to see if that helps or hurts general participation in the rest of the forum. This restriction is not intended to be any judgement on Tad or on the value of his posts. Instead, it's intended to simply answer the question as to whether Tad's presence is helping or hurting the growth of the US Hawks and the US Hawks forum (a question he posed himself). At the end of the month, I'll review the results of this restriction to see if our forum participation (measured in posting rates) has increased or not.

Go fuck yourself, Bob.

But did he grow it? No.

And what were the results of your little experiment, Bob?

Go to http://hgaa.org right now and see what became of Jack's association after he seized control. He killed it because it would have been a democratically controlled forum that would have competed with his absolute control at hanggliding.org.

Good thing you've got US Hawks going over there then, isn't it? Two and a third years old come Saturday. I expect that it'll become a democratically controlled forum competing with his absolute control at hanggliding.org any day now.

(Total fuckin' wack job.)