Poll on weaklinks
Sure, that makes perfect sense to me. But here's where I get a little confused...Jim Rooney - 2013/03/03 19:37:19 UTC
See, most people are happy with how we do things. This isn't an issue for them. They just come out and fly. Thing's aren't perfect, but that's life... and life ain't perfect. You do what you can with what you've got and you move on.
There doesn't seem to be ANY OTHER area of controversy anything like this ANYWHERE else in hang gliding - or, for that matter, mainstream aviation.
The hang gliders themselves are fairly complex pieces of work, they all undergo pretty exacting, strict, brutal certification testing, they've been very similar beasts ever since late 1979 when the UP Comet hit a design plateau, and people have ALWAYS been pretty happy with them since a bit before that time. They've made steady advances in performance, handling, weight, setup over the years and decades - but a Comet wouldn't be totally blown out of the sky by a T2C in a thermal climb.
We accept that they can tumble in extreme thermal conditions but those are rare events and, almost by definition, happen high enough so that a reasonable response with parachute gives one a real good chance of coming down in real good shape.
But, beyond that, they can be flown very safely with a rather minimal amount of maintenance and preflighting in a pretty wide range of conditions. We don't have people falling out of the sky for reasons that aren't immediately blindingly obvious - damaged sidewire, uninstalled pin, absence of preflight - and we don't have inexplicable "freak accidents" for which it's highly unlikely that the cause(s) will ever be properly understood.
And there are no violent controversies about them. They can be fairly easily understood and there's no factionalizing about what's going on with them.
Likewise with harnesses, parachutes, helmets, instruments, and... surface towing procedures and equipment.
The equipment ain't great but ain't horrible neither. Generally speaking...
- nobody gets fucked up unless something spectacularly and obviously stupid has been done to set things up
- there are no inexplicable "freak accidents" for which it's highly unlikely that the causes will ever be properly understood
- weak links are fairly irrelevant because most systems are tension controlled
- only the bottom several percent think of weak links as lockout protectors
- it rarely matters if a weak link blows 'cause the gliders can launch with a lot of speed reserve and climb through the kill zone very quickly
- there are no truck drivers screaming about how the gliders don't get to chose their weak link ratings because there asses are on the line too
- when people start breaking weak links they make them heavier until they stop breaking
- nobody's stupid enough to try to use polypro to protect the weak link
- surface towers use hydraulic pressure and tension gauges so:
-- they know what their actual tow tensions are
-- it's real easy for them to find out ACTUAL weak link strengths
- there are no truck drivers dictating the release equipment people will and won't be permitted to use
- people tend to acquire release equipment from individuals not associated with the towing operation
- truck drivers tend to be hang glider - rather than ultralight - pilots taking turns at the wheel or non pilot friends helping out
- most surface towing operations are conducted by recreational - versus commercial - pilots
And you just don't see this violent controversy and factionalizing the way you PERPETUALLY do with issues of aerotow releases and weak links. Go figure.
Well surely you can...But then there's a crowd that "knows better". To them, we're all morons that can't see "the truth".
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22660
What can be learned from this "scooter" towing accident?
...use your keen intellect, solid comments, experience of hundreds of hours and tows of experience, keen intellect, and knowledge of the issues of most things in general and hang glider aerotowing in particular to debunk this lunacy. After all, you're the one person to whose comments we should be giving the most weight.Mitch Shipley - 2011/01/31 15:22:59 UTC
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.
Yeah. I'll try to work up some new ones for you.(Holy god, the names I've been called.)
So why do you really NEED any time? You had everybody eating out of your hand when you were telling them how easy it was to foot land...I have little time for these people.
http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=25536
Whoops! Snapped another tip wand :-O
NMERider - 2012/03/14 15:17:14 UTC
His one-technique-fits-all attitude espoused on the ORF has become tiresome to read. It does not work in the fucked-up world of X/C landings and weary pilots.
...a year ago. What's the big problem with doing a similar job with aerotowing theory and debunking all the lunacy of Tad and his Clones?Christopher LeFay - 2012/03/15 05:57:43 UTC
<rant>January's canonization of Rooney as the Patron Saint of Landing was maddening. He offered just what people wanted to hear: there is an ultimate, definitive answer to your landing problems, presented with absolute authority. Judgment problems? His answer is to remove judgment from the process- doggedly stripping out critical differences in gliders, loading, pilot, and conditions. This was just what people wanted- to be told a simple answer. In thanks, they deified him, carving his every utterance in Wiki-stone. </rant>
To tell ya the truth, it seems to me like you're starting to lose your grip...
...on some of your easiest marks.Kinsley Sykes - 2013/02/18 14:32:01 UTC
Overall this actually makes some sense...
You mean like the people at Morningside who...It saddens me to know that the rantings of the fanatic fringe mask the few people who are actually working on things.
...after working on and over this stuff for years and thousands upon thousands of tows to ping in on 130 pound Greenspot, suddenly upped the strength 54 percent to exactly what tandem gliders have been using since forever and...Jim Rooney - 2013/02/12 18:00:27 UTC
AT isn't new. This stuff's been worked on and worked over for years and thousands upon thousands of tows. I love all these egomaniacs that jump up and decide that they're going to "fix" things, as if no one else has ever thought of this stuff?
http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2467
weak links
...a million comp pilots were insisting on half a dozen years while you and...Jim Rooney - 2007/07/22 22:30:28 UTC
I've heard it a million times before from comp pilots insisting on towing with even doubled up weaklinks (some want no weaklink). I tell them the same thing I'm telling you... suck it up. You're not the only one on the line. I didn't ask to be a test pilot. I can live with your inconvenience.
http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3600
Weak link question
...your brain dead asshole colleagues were telling them they could go fuck themselves and dropping them at rates of...Jim Rooney - 2008/11/24 05:18:15 UTC
BTW, if you think I'm just spouting theory here, I've personally refused to tow a flight park owner over this very issue. I didn't want to clash, but I wasn't towing him. Yup, he wanted to tow with a doubled up weaklink. He eventually towed (behind me) with a single and sorry to disappoint any drama mongers, we're still friends. And lone gun crazy Rooney? Ten other tow pilots turned him down that day for the same reason.
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24846
Is this a joke ?
...six for six in light morning conditions?Davis Straub - 2011/08/26 14:04:52 UTC
We had six weaklink breaks in a row at Zapata this year.
Don't you think for a NANOSECOND that you're gonna be able get away with rewriting history and telling everybody how all you aerotow professionals could've gotten the weak links beefed up to sane ratings and saved Zack's life if only it hadn't been for Tad and all his fear mongering insistence on 130 pound Greenspot lockout protectors. Not this time motherfucker.
You think you're having trouble having conversations NOW, dude? I've got some REAL unpleasant news for ya. Just wait a little bit to see just how much damage well orchestrated fanaticism can do.The fanaticism makes it extremely hard to have a conversation about these things as they always degrade into arguments. So I save the actual conversations for when I'm talking with people in person.
Yeah. And like everything else you've ever had to say about anything...A fun saying that I picked up... Some people listen with the intent of understanding. Others with the intent of responding.
I like that.
...it's gotten a bit old.Jim Rooney - 2013/02/16 23:18:54 UTC
Naw... You want me to make bold black and white statements so that you can have a go.
Unfortunately that's not what you're getting.
Some people listen with the intent of understanding.
Others do so with the intent of responding.
