...basically looks like a curved metal tube with a couple of levers in the centre of it, a couple of small clips on the ends of it and a rope running through it. Three string releases can be used too, but we don't use them.
Well then, they couldn't possibly be worth looking into.
When attaching the release to your harness, attach the clips to the tow loops on the front/sides of your harness such that the levers on the front of it are to the right (all releases are right-handed)...
Seeing as how all VG cords are on the right side wouldn't it be a good idea to standardize aerotow releases for left hand use?
...and place both ends of the rope, which should have bowline knots on them, into your main carabiner.
- WHY? You've already got the thing clipped to the tabs?
- Fuck bowlines. That's not a secure knot and definitely something you don't use for a permanent application.
Each of the levers control one of two pins, one of which is spring loaded. Once the release is connected to your harness, you need to connect the bridle to the release (only after you've hooked in and done a hang check though).
What does doing a hang check have to do with anything?
The lower pin should be inserted through the loop in the longer end of the bridle and into the lower release lever, while the upper pin on the release should be inserted through the loop in the short end of the bridle and then into the upper lever. The explanation of why the short rope goes on top and the long rope goes on the bottom will be explained later, but for now, just commit to memory, "long rope on bottom, short rope on top".
If this is something one has to commit to memory this probably isn't a great hobby choice for one.
Colour coding can help make this easier.
So can a functional brain.
It'll make more sense when you see the pieces. As a final note, be sure to have the two ends of the rope that goes through the release looped into your biner so that the release is technically hooked to the glider when you hook in. This ensures that the line pulls your glider, not you!
Whether the release assembly is secured using:
- tabs only
- tabs and line to the carabiner
- line to the carabiner only
the effect is EXACTLY the same - 'cept with taps only you don't have all the useless crap in the airflow that you do with the two idiot options. Mike doesn't have a fuckin' clue what he's talking about.
The Release (Paraliding)
Paragliding.
A reliable two or three string release is fine.
Sure it is. There's no advantage to being able to release with both hands on the controls. So why bother pursuing anything down that avenue?
The lengths of the webbing or rope from the release to the harness 'biner must be equal though.
such that the:
- tow ring auto-centers
- load on the:
-- attachments is constantly equalized
-- release(s) is halved
This is important - slight differences will cause the canopy to tow crooked.
If it IS important then use a bridle that allows the tow ring to slide. 'Cause with a fixed three-string you're gonna get asymmetrical loading at the anchors any time the canopy isn't lined up with the towline.
There are neat limiters in some that automatically release during lockouts or hot climbs.
Yeah. Eric Aasletten had one of those. Climb got hot and it automatically released him. But why bother with the extra hardware? The light form of weak link instituted by Donnell Hewett...
...poised to make a good decision in the interest of your safety if/when your climb gets a little too hot or you start getting off line a bit.
The Emergency 'Chute
An emergency parachute is recommended for all high flying, and required for step towing. You should attend a proper 'chute clinic to learn how to properly pack, deploy and use a 'chute. For towing however, it is important to understand that the release may be in front of your parachute, so you have to ensure that it is cleared away before you ever grab the 'chute handle and try to deploy it. You should also make sure while doing your hang check that you can fit your fist between your 'chute and the base bar.
As far as towing is concerned... Fuck parachutes and parachute clinics. You should be spending the time you waste in clinics researching, developing, constructing safe equipment and learning how not to get into situations in which a parachute could be of any use.
The Hook Knife
This is an almost mandatory, fail safe item for those really unusual foul ups.
Bullshit.
They are rarely of use but could save your life.
If you're using equipment so crappy that a hook knife could be of the slightest use on tow the gene pool will be much better off without you.
The design is for catching lines, bridles, hang loops and anything else of that basic shape in the hook to make cutting it with the blade easier (as opposed to a normal knife) in emergency situations.
If you're in a REAL emergency situation on tow you're gonna be dead five seconds before you'll be able to pull it out of the sheath.
Before you launch on tow, you must go through the same routines you would at the hill, plus check a few of new things.
Maybe. Depends on what your routine on the hill is.
RCR Scores
First and foremost, you should have completed both your WIND (Tow version) and WINDIVIDUAL RCRs.
Available from High Perspective, Inc. for $55, DVD and notebook - plus shipping of course. When you've got something that good for hang gliding safety ya don't wanna just GIVE it away ferchrisake.
Sounds pushy, but we do them for a reason and you will be asked for your RCR score before the radio operator will launch you.
It was not a weak link break and I don't believe the release touched the control bar. I got a crap release. That's all there is to it. I never ever had a double release on any of the training harnesses. When I switched to the spaghetti and bought this release it double released on me all the time, but I usually don't transition until at least two hundred feet so it's always been a non-event. Annoying, but a non-event. I told them there was something wrong with the release, and they didn't believe me. Thought I was too new, and it was my technique. Until this flight. The release just let go. My hands never left the down tubes, and it did not touch the base bar. It was the final straw. If I let the video keep rolling, you would have seen me quickly lose my cool, and yell and curse and march into the office to demand a new release. I got one, and my next flight went great.
Get fucked.
You may be asked to explain your calculations, so it's not a good idea to randomly pick "85" out of the blue and use it.
Zero. If your tow driver is a total asshole a responsible pilot doesn't fly. And you're a total asshole.
Keep in mind that you can have a large portion of the charts completed the night before or on your way to the tow field. Remember, SAFETY FIRST!
For Mike I shoulda figured out on 1994/06/08 that it was a permanent zero. Ditto for Ridgely - 1999/05/28.
Glider Pre-Flight
Believe it or not, you can mess up your setup, even at a tow field (this is mentioned just in case there is some bizarre underground theory that pilots only forget to put pins in their base tubes when mountain launching). Always go through the same systematic pre-flight procedure after you set your glider up or after a hard landing.
The preflight sidewire load test will almost certainly pick up on a missing pin. We've now got a fairly good idea that you don't do and Mike does nothing to encourage that most important of all checks.
Hang Check
Old faithful.
Fuck it - and the assholes who emphasize it.
This isn't some silly procedure students are taught in their introductory course that experienced pilots don't have a use for. EVERYONE does a hang check before they launch, EVERY TIME.
When Bob Gillisse got hurt I suggested that our local institution of the hang check is more the problem than the solution. I still believe that.
Rob Kells - 2005/12
My partners (Steve Pearson and Mike Meier) and I have over 25,000 hang glider flights and have managed (so far) to have hooked in every time. I also spoke with test pilots Ken Howells and Peter Swanson about their methods (another 5000 flights). Not one of us regularly uses either of the two most popular methods outlined above.
For some reason, the odd pilot who has unintentionally forgotten to do one may not be around to explain the importance to us all.
Look motherfucker... There've been a lot of "pilots" who've remembered to do one but forgotten that they've subsequently unhooked. That's why you're one helluva lot less likely to launch unhooked...
What's more, I believe that all hooked-in checks prior to the last one before takeoff are a waste of time, not to say dangerous, because they build a sense of security which should not be built more than one instant before commitment to flight.
...if you HAVEN'T done one. One less hang check, one less dangerous element to build a dangerous false sense of security.
Hook in, check your lines, check your helmet, check your 'biner and set your vario before you even think about connecting the rope to your release...
And make sure you check your lines and helmet - those checks are just as important as making sure you're securely hooked in.
...(just in case the winch starts pulling in rope for some reason - dirt burn to the face can put a damper on after-flying partying).
...and are now totally confident that your safely connected to your glider...
...connect the lines from the bridle to your release. Remember to put the short line on top and the long line on the bottom (for HG).
Ooh, right. I almost forgot that part. Thanks for the reminder.
Lemme ask ya sumpin', Brian...
Let's say you DO get someone fuckin' clueless enough to reverse things. Isn't that gonna be pretty fuckin' obvious when the system's tensioned prior to launch? Wouldn't that go a lot further towards making sure the mistake wasn't repeated than your incessant verbal reminders?
Always check the weak link to ensure it has the correct number of strands for your flight...
Yeah, make sure you've got the right number of strands.
- If you have too many strands you could experience a severe lockout if the weak link doesn't break or a severe stall if it does. The thought of not having a light weak link to prevent me from continuing a hot climb sends chills up my spine.
- And it's WAY more important to have the right number of strands in aerotowing 'cause with too many you could override the tug's weak link and pull its tail around or cause it to stall. With the right number of strands if you get into a hot climb...
Zack hit the lift a few seconds after I did. He was high and to the right of the tug and was out of my mirror when the weak ling broke. The load on the tug was not excessive as with a lockout, but I was not surprised when the weak link broke.
...there will be a nice smooth separation from the tug - and that's our primary concern.
The whole idea of having the proper number of strands is to keep everybody from getting into too much trouble.
...and that it isn't frayed.
Why? The more fraying the safer it is. You might, at worst, be subjected to a wee bit of inconvenience...
Donnell Hewett - 1980/12
In skyting we use a simple and inexpensive strand of nylon fishing line which breaks at the desired tension limit. There is no possible way for it to jam and fail to release when the maximum tension is exceeded. Sure, it may get weaker through aging or wear and break too soon, but it cannot get stronger and fail to break. If it does break too soon, so what? We simply replace it with a fresh one.
If it's been a while since your last flight, a practice release sequence is a good idea after hooking up the line.
Yeah. Do it on the ground. That way you can pretend that taking your hand off the basetube...
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.
...won't be any big fuckin' deal in a real emergency. Might as well take your hook knife out and cut something while you're at it if the launch line is a bit on the long side.
When you're towing, you launch from ground level and go up. This makes it extremely important that you check your airspace, not only for other gliders that may be coming in on approach, but for other aircraft that may violate the tow line once you launch.
Also make sure there's nothing on the runway under your projected line of flight in case your light form of weak link protects you from a hot climb.
Progressions
So now that you've got your pre-flights under control, it's time to talk about getting your feet off the ground. Although a pilot can be towed to 5000 feet, you don't start off that way. You see, we build to that.
What if "WE" don't NEED to build to that? What if we already know how to fly the fuckin' glider but haven't towed before?
Just like learning to walk or to launch off of a hill, you learn to tow from the bottom up.
No thanks. I learned how to walk a long time ago and paid my dues working up the slope. I don't need to practice towing near the hard stuff to make any adjustments.
As a beginner, your first few tows will be at or within about five to ten feet off the ground and you may even find yourself running most of the distance (or at least a lot).
As a Hang Two first timer with 204 flights under my belt I foot launch towed on a stationary Yarnell winch with a frame mounted bridle/release system and no fuckin' weak link or tandem instructor and went right up to five hundred feet just fine. And I came out a helluva lot better than:
- as an AT rated Hang Four my:
-- first stationary winch tow with fuckin' idiot Mike Robertson when I dolly launched, was given zilch tension, and had a good decision made in my favor from my Pilot In Command three thousand feet away which resulted in a broken downtube
-- fourth stationary winch tow with fuckin' idiot Mike Robertson when I dolly launched in a strong right crosswind, got off to the left, and the motherfucker helped me out by flooring it, locking me out and crashing me hard and snapping another downtube
-- my fifth stationary winch tow with fuckin' idiot Mike Robertson whose instructor left the radio on which I was supposed to have been instructed on the winch where it vibrated off resulting in my pulling all the line off the winch
- Hang Four Tandem Aerotow Intructor Zack Marzec's last aerotow in which his Hewett instituted light form of weak link protected him from a hot climb
Once you have displayed controlled flight at ten, you will move to maybe twenty, then fifty and so on.
Yeah, a nice slow progression using a release that stinks on ice and a Hewett instituted light form of weak link maximizing my time in the kill zone. Sounds like fun.
Until you have sufficient height, you will leave the line connected to your release for the entire flight.
That's OK, you lost me a LONG time ago.
The main goal is to keep the glider level and pointed at the winch. Keep your eyes up and maintain a light touch on the down tubes.
I don't foot launch in dolly friendly environments and the only time I fly from the downtubes is about the first two seconds after a foot launch.
Once you have displayed consistent control of the glider, you will be towed high enough to release the line...
Right guys. 'Cause, obviously, no way in hell are you gonna be able to blow any conventional North American release...
...unless you're good and high and nothing bad is happening.
...and glide towards the winch, landing in front of it. Then, you'll be towed higher so that you can perform an "S approach" before landing near the winch. Eventually, you'll be towed high enough to release, fly back to launch and turn into the wind before landing near launch.
And then you'll be thoroughly acclimated to the Hewett/USHGA/HPAC foundation of hang/para glider towing:
In low level emergencies the release is just there for show - but, don't worry, you've got a Hewett light form of weak link which will keep you from getting into too much trouble.
What happens when you try to launch unhooked when scooter towing? Not much. Apparently in this case the tow instructor didn't notice that the student was not hooked in, even though the instructor was using a turn around pulley and was sitting on the scooter next to the student.
...if you're not hooked in. Just like it's no big fuckin' deal...
I'm happy to have a relatively weak weaklink, and have never had a serious problem with the Greenspot 130, just an inconvenience now and then.
...when your Hewett instituted light form of weak link pops. We know this because Davis has never had a serious problem with Cortland 130 pound Greenspot braided Dacron Tolling line - just an inconvenience now and then.
Once you have hooked in and performed your hang check...
You are fuckin' GOLDEN. There's no fuckin' way you'll be able to launch unhooked after that so now you shift your attention to your vario and camera adjustments. And your driver can shift his attention to making sure your helmet is buckled.
...you need to attach the line to your release. Remember, long rope on the bottom, short rope on the top. For your first flights, be sure that only one of the ropes are connected and OVER THE BASE BAR.
How 'bout we just swap out the split extension?
While you are hooking in and attaching the line, give the radio operator/launch director (the person launching you) your name, glider type, RCR score and your flight plan...
Also give him your emergency contact number, blood type, and organ donor status just in case:
- you unhooked to check your wing camera adjustment
- you really need to release before you're high enough
- your Hewett instituted light form of weak link protects you from a hot climb
...so that he may relay this information to the winch operator (who needs to know it!)
- OK Ray. We have Zack Marzec on a Moyes Xtralite 147. He says his RCR score is 95 but I think he's just being modest. His flight plan is to go up and look for thermals and he's using a standard Hewett instituted light form of weak link to protect him from a hot climb - so you can use whatever tension you like.
- Gotchya Mike. I'll launch him in a crosswind gust before he's got the glider leveled and leave the power setting on max for a couple minutes. I really need to take a leak.
For your first tows, the INSTRUCTOR will give YOU the flight plan.
Subject, of course, to the whims of your Hewett instituted light form of weak link.
It is important to always follow your flight plan, regardless of whether you're told what to do or have told someone else what you're planning to do.
Except, of course, your Hewett instituted light form of weak link...
...trumps the humans involved. It's really hard to beat the aviation decision making superiority of a piece of fishing line. It's got a track record like nothing else in this - or any other - sport.
Of course you should always have various back-up plans laid out for use in the event of unplanned occurrences popping up during a flight.
Once all this has been accomplished, ask everyone to clear away from your glider, then pick it up and put it on your shoulders (grapevine grip) as you would for a hill launch.
And remember... Just as in a hill launch you can be confident that you're hooked in because before you accomplished all that other shit you did a hang check.
The only difference is that you should raise the nose of the glider slightly higher than you would on a hill. How much you should raise it is inversely proportional to how gusty the wind is. If the wind is gusty, keep the nose slightly lower to make the glider easier to control. If the wind is light, leave the nose higher. Remember that if the wind is cross, you must point the glider into the wind (crab), but still run straight towards the winch when launching. When the glider is balanced on your shoulders, you're ready for the next step - TENSION!
When you are comfortable, ask the launch director for tension. "Ready for tension please" is a nice way to do this.
Yeah, make absolutely sure you have your nose stuck as far up his butt as you can possibly get it. Never underestimate the amount of damage the pigfucker with the throttle and dump lever can do if he feels like it.
Once the request is radioed to the winch operator, he will take in the slack line - be ready for a tug. The tug will be followed by a constant pulling on the line, which you will be able to counter by planting your feet, one foot ahead of the other, knees bent and your back straight or leaning slightly backwards.
Why are we foot launching?
When you are comfortable with the amount of tension (roughly as much as you can easily handle without pulling half of the muscles in your body), tell the launch director "Tension is good, thank you."
Try this, just to be on the safe side... "Tension is FANTASTIC. I've never had tension half this good before. You sir, are an ARTIST. One such as myself is unworthy of such excellent tension."
If you need to adjust the tension slightly, you may ask for a slight increase or decrease in tension via the radio however it is simpler to take a step back (to increase) or forward (to decrease).
I wouldn't do that if I were you. The launch director and winch operator might take it as some kind of insult.
With tension on, you are ready for launch. When everything feels right, ask the launch operator to check your airspace.
And make sure he doesn't check your connection status. That might distract him from checking your airspace. And I shouldn't hafta tell you just how ugly things could get if he doesn't check your airspace - especially if you're not hooked into your glider.
If you are told it is "clear", you may launch whenever you are ready. To launch, shout out loudly and clearly...
"I DID A HANG CHECK FIVE MINUTES AGO SO I'M GOOD TO GO!"
..."CLEAR AND LAUNCH".
I mean, if you guys think it's OK of course. I don't wanna be overly presumptuous.
The launch director will relay this request to the winch operator who will increase the tension on the line well beyond the point where you can hold your ground. This is where the biggest difference between hill launch and tow launch arises. Instead of running forward with long hard strides and pulling the glider behind you as you would on a hill, the idea in towing is to resist the pull of the line as much as possible with your legs, and let it pull you. Be sure to maintain a light grip with your hands to let the glider find its angle of attack. It is very important that you resist the line, rather than trying to outrun it or jump into the glider. Just resist the pull as long as you can with your legs. As you are pulled forward, keep your eyes up, take long level strides, just as you would on a hill, and be sure to keep the wings level and angle of attack at trim. Don't pull in or push out.
Why are we foot launching?
Before you know it, you will be in the air.
What if you're unable to keep the glider level or you get hit by a tailwind? Any way to abort the tow? (Just kidding.)
Once you leave the ground, pull in slightly until you reach a hundred feet.
I'd pull in a lot more than slightly if I were you. Don't forget that you've got a Hewett instituted light form of weak link protecting you from a hot climb.
Well, I agree with what --Christian ..-- just said about :
only the "Last" check Counts !!
The day i crashed on that Foot launched TOW; i had hooked into the tow bridle And the hang loop for the harness.
THEN
the wind died, and Stayed dead for 10 min.
So i unhooked from the glider and sat on the bace-tube, but left the Bridle attached.
The Wind came back up and i picked up the glider & made a mental pre-launch check. Remembering that i had already hooked in previously --
i deleted the, "lift the glider" part to check for tension on the harness.
and signaled for the driver to GO !!
That was the LAST foot launch with a HG, i'll ever make again, with my :
Real Feet !!
...your memory of things you did subsequent to your hang check isn't too far off.
...are these: Firstly, your number one priority is to fly the glider so concentrate on nothing but controlling it!
How many hands should we use? One or two?
Be sure to never give up on trying to fix any course deviations that arise and always look where you want to go.
Especially when you're locked out. Be EXTRA sure to never give up on trying to fix any course deviations that arise and always REALLY look where you want to go.
Secondly, remember the word "ABORT".
Why? Didn't we just do a rather extensive section on the RELEASE? Can't we just release ourselves instead of having to phone in a request and maybe getting put on hold and having to listen to some elevator music?
If at any time you feel like the launch just isn't going right, yell out loudly and clearly, "ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!"
PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD - ABORT!
I'm concentrating on nothing but controlling the glider, not giving up on trying to fix the course deviation that arose, and looking where I wanna go. But it's going SOMEPLACE ELSE!
And I'd take my hand off to blow the release but you just told me to never give up on trying to fix any course deviations that arise and that would be giving up! And I mean REALLY giving up!
...and the radio operator will signal the winch operator to cut tension immediately.
- ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!
- Sorry that was a bit garbled. Come again?
- ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!
- I didn't hear the magic word.
- PLEEEEEASE!!!
- That was a much nicer way to ask! OK... Ray, wanna chop the power?
- Huh?
- Chop the... Oops. Never mind. You got 911 on speed dial, right?
Don't be surprised if the launch director...
Who, like the tug pilot in an aerotow operation, is the Pilot In Command of your aircraft and highly motivated to keep his passenger just as safe as he would keep himself.
...aborts your launch, even if you think everything was going well.
We were towing on the lee side of some thousand foot mountains. I had flown without problems an hour before.
I got to about a hundred feet and the glider was completely veered to the left due to the strong crosswinds from the right.
What made me hesitate and not release was having the right wing way up and being stalled and very low. I had the feeling I was going to be catapulted backwards if I released and had a clear notion I was going to hit dirt in a tailwind.
The best option seemed to be to resist the lock out and slowly bring the glider down, even if it was crooked, but another problem arose when the observer had the tow line cut when I was down to about fifty feet.
I had no chance. The glider that had been hanging on like a kite dead leafed to the ground. The left leading edge hit first, destroying it along with the nose plates. My body's impact point was the left shoulder and the left side of my head and neck.
I remained unconscious for about twenty minutes with a bloody face from what poured from my nose. The chopper arrived about an hour after the crash. I was already semi-conscious but in a lot of pain and having trouble breathing. I was hauled to Stanford (about half an hour flight time).
The toll: fracture and crushing of the upper humerus, several broken ribs, a lung pierced and collapsed by one of them, and broken C1 vertebra right by the artery. They considered surgery, but the no-surgery risk was lower - they feared a chip would rupture the artery.
...too many safety links overriding your decision to go up.
A good launch director may see something happening that you don't...
And a really excellent launch director will imagine something happening that really isn't and can be fixed by giving you the rope.
...and can concentrate on deciding whether or not the launch should be aborted (considering he or she is not having to worry about flying the glider).
- And from three thousand feet away isn't really sure whether he's watching your glider or a Turkey Vulture but, what the hell, you just can't go wrong by cutting power.
- And won't hafta take the chopper ride with a fracture and crushing of the upper humerus, several broken ribs, a lung pierced and collapsed by one of them, and broken C1 vertebra right by the artery if he makes the wrong call.
This applies to all pilots, not just beginners.
Yeah. Nuno was a Four.
Be understanding if a launch director aborts your launch.
And, of course...
Bill Bryden - 1999/06
During the tug's roll-out for the second launch attempt, the tug pilot observed the glider clear the runway dust and then begin a left bank with no immediate correction. At that point he noticed that the launch cart was hanging below the glider and immediately released his end of the 240 ft. towline. The tug never left the ground and tug pilot watched the glider continue a hard bank to the left achieving an altitude of approximately 25 feet. Impact was on the left wing and then the nose of the glider. Rob was killed immediately from severe neck and head trauma. Rob's body likely cushioned much of the student's impact.
Towing Aloft - 1998/01
Pro Tip: Always thank the tug pilot for intentionally releasing you, even if you feel you could have ridden it out. He should be given a vote of confidence that he made a good decision in the interest of your safety.
Always thank the tug pilot for intentionally releasing you, even if you feel you could have ridden it out. He should be given a vote of confidence that he made a good decision in the interest of your safety. And be sure to write something in your will to make sure one of your family members thanks him for making a good decision in the interest of your safety just in case you never regain consciousness.
He or she is concerned for your safety when you are launching...
Fuck him or her. If he or she were REALLY concerned for my safety, he or she would:
- equip me with a release I could actually USE when I needed to instead of sending me up with a:
-- Hewett instituted light form of weak link;
-- hook knife; and
-- radio
- not:
-- ever put me up into a situation that I couldn't handle myself
-- be feeding me a bunch of crap about being able to fix whatever's going on my end of the rope by giving it to me
The only thing this sleazy motherfucker is concerned about is protecting himself from accountability and liability to the maximum extent possible.
...and it's always better to restart a launch that didn't need to be aborted than replace the broken tubes or arms that can easily result from one not being aborted when it should have been.
And there's no fuckin' way that you're gonna get any broken tubes or arms from an unnecessary aborted launch or a launch aborted when the string was only thing that was keeping your sorry ass alive.
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
"A bad flyer won't hurt a pin man but a bad pin man can kill a flyer." - Bill Bennett
Wills Wing / Blue Sky / Steve Wendt / Ryan Voight Productions - 2007/03
NEVER CUT THE POWER...
Reduce Gradually
Increase Gradually
And hang gliders never crash on normal planned landings set up from five hundred feet or more - why should we expect any less when we abruptly dump them from fifty, thirty, ten feet?
For your first flights, your goal is to fly straight and level towards the winch.
...now that you've learned everything you'll ever need no know about preventing unhooked launches for yourself and the people with whom you fly.
Keep your hands lightly on the down tubes, fly at trim (or a little faster - BUT NOT MUCH!) and try to quickly correct any changes in direction that you feel happening with nudges.
Why are we foot launching?
If you start a turn, you will need to stop it with an opposite move. You will be leaving the rope on for the first few tows and, once your instructor tells you to do so on a later flight, you will release the rope by pressing the longer of the two levers.
Yeah. Releasing the rope really isn't an important component of the glider control equation.
The whole goal on the beginning tows is to learn to tow in a straight line.
And that being able to release the rope isn't really an important component of the control/safety equation and is really more in the jurisdictions of the ground crew and Hewett instituted light form of weak link.
The whole goal on the beginning tows is to learn to tow in a straight line.
And internalizing the concept that having in the system a Hewett instituted light form of weak link that can dump you at any random moment in the course of normal operation is a standard aviation practice.
You want to get comfortable with launching...
You DON'T *EVER* want to get comfortable with launching. A towed hang glider is ROLL UNSTABLE and people with a thousand times your beginning student level of tow experience have been fatally slammed in within seconds of the tension coming on. If you're comfortable with tow launching hang gliders you should be looking into other hobbies.
...and controlling the glider in the air.
And you need to know that you can encounter circumstances when that's not an option and learn how not to encounter them and equip yourself as best as possible to deal with them if you do. And having a Hewett instituted light form of weak link and a radio with which to transmit "ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!" to a radio operator who will signal the winch operator to cut tension immediately doesn't come anywhere close to cutting it.
At this point, don't worry about your landings - just use the wheels.
- Yeah. If you come down on wheels it doesn't count as a landing. It's only a real landing if you whipstall the glider to a dead stop and keep the nose up.
- At what point does the student NEED to start WORRYING about his "LANDINGS"?
- At this point, why does he need to be worrying about his foot LAUNCHES? Why isn't he using wheels as well at the BEGINNING part of the flight? Shouldn't we be throwing as little shit as possible at him for his first experiences?
If you're comfortable with your flying you can try a foot landing, but it is safer to avoid worrying about that until you have some more flying under your belt.
It's SAFER if he never in his entire hang gliding career tries a foot landing. There's no shortage of Hang Four and Five types who've come into Happy Acres putting greens in zilch conditions and left with broken arms and dislocated shoulders.
As a rule you will have a radio with you at all times on your beginner flights. Make sure before each flight that the radio is secure and turned on to full volume.
Steve Wendt has sent tens of thousands of student scooter tow flights up with inaccessible releases and no radios and has never had a significant incident. Fuck the radio.
Your instructor will communicate with you whenever necessary during a flight. Always listen to what he or she is telling you and do it...
Yeah, that'll help acclimate you to the concept of having some asshole a couple hundred or thousand feet away acting as Pilot In Command of your aircraft.
...UNLESS YOU ARE SURE THAT DOING SO WILL BE DANGEROUS.
What a load o' crap.
- The student should NEVER be put into a situation in which his skill limitations will put him at a significant risk of a significant consequence.
- It's fuckin' moronic to assume that if he can't safely respond to the input he's getting from the glider that he's gonna be able to safely respond to verbal instructions.
- If he DOES safely respond to verbal instructions he's not learning to safely fly the fuckin' glider - he's learning to safely respond to verbal instructions.
- If he doesn't know what the fuck he's doing then how the fuck is he supposed to be able to differentiate between safe and dangerous verbal instructions?
Try to listen and react but remember that you are ultimately responsible for your own well-being, and that either or both radios can malfunction. If what you hear sounds or seems wrong, feel free to follow the plan that seems best.
Lose the fuckin' radios. Either the student is qualified to be in a particular situation or he isn't. Fine tune him after he's back on the ground.
"Hello Dave. Wambatsu is up next on his 165 Spectrum. He will be doing a foot launch on four strands. RCR score is 83. He will be stepping. He's doing his hang check and will be ready for tension in about two minutes."
THEN
the wind died, and Stayed dead for 10 min.
So i unhooked from the glider and sat on the bace-tube, but left the Bridle attached.
The Wind came back up and i picked up the glider & made a mental pre-launch check. Remembering that i had already hooked in previously --
i deleted the, "lift the glider" part to check for tension on the harness.
and signaled for the driver to GO !!
I'm learning a LOT about Braided carbon sleeves ; that is what my fake-legs are made from and i've broken 6 legs in 4 years at a cost to the tax-payers of over $120,000 . The last one snapped two & 1/2 months ago and I said --((NO))-- to them making me another one, (decided to do it myself) at a cost of $100 a try. I've broken 4 of the 17 parts i made so-far but at least the working guy isn't paying for my education, it's coming out of my own pocket !! Haven't gone kite boarding once this summer.
That's a MICROSCOPIC percentage of the cost to hang gliding and society of fuckin' total douchebags like Mike REFUSING to teach/require the slightest pretense of a hook-in check.
As discussed, your very first flights will leave you with the rope still attached.
And, quite possibly...
Dennis Pagen - 2005/01
The first accident occurred in Germany at an aerotowing competition. The pilot launched with his Litespeed and climbed to about forty feet when he encountered a thermal that lifted him well above the tug. After a few moments, the glider was seen to move to the side and rapidly turn nose down to fly into the ground, still on tow, in a classic lockout maneuver. The impact was fatal.
Analysis
This pilot was a good up-and-coming competition pilot. He had been in my cross-country course three years ago, and this was his second year of competition. What happened to him is not too unusual or mysterious. He encountered so much lift that although he was pulling in the base bar as far as he could, he did not have enough pitch-down control to get the nose down and return to proper position behind the tug. This situation is known as an over-the-top lockout.
...your very last flight.
It is fine to just land on the wheels...
It's ALWAYS fine to just land on the wheels. If it isn't you're landing someplace you shouldn't be.
...or ease out the bar and run out the landing.
Really? Are you sure? Shouldn't we be practicing for landing in an environment in which it's not safe to run out the landing?
As you get a little higher and have begun releasing the rope...
And make sure you've got plenty of altitude and the glider's stable and flying at trim before you attempt...
...this single most dangerous required maneuver in all of aviation - hang gliding and the real stuff. Note that the comp pilot Dennis Excellent-Book Pagen reported on elected to keep his hands on the basetube through a lockout all the way into the ground because that was the safer option.
...you can begin trying fuller flare foot landings if you are very comfortable.
Yeah.
Gil Dodgen - 1995/01
All of this reminds me of a comment Mike Meier made when he was learning to fly sailplanes. He mentioned how easy it was to land a sailplane (with spoilers for glide-path control and wheels), and then said, "If other aircraft were as difficult to land as hang gliders no one would fly them."
Let us know how that works out.
The main idea is to learn to control the glider all the way to the ground...
Like the guy in the report did. Both hands on the basetube all the way in even if the result is almost certainly gonna be fatal. 'Cause the consequence of taking a hand off is even more likely to be fatal - even if you do manage to pry your release open within a one or two second interval.
I can't control the glider in strong air with my hands at shoulder or ear height and I'd rather land on my belly with my hands on the basetube than get turned downwind.
Steve Pearson's pretty on board with this - so you don't hafta just take my word on it.
...and continue staying level until you stop.
But even if you're just rolling it in on the wheels you always wanna be thinking about what would be the best instant to whipstall it.
Until you are ready for higher altitude flights, your flight plan will always be to take off, fly towards the winch and land along the path of the rope.
* IMPORTANT: Never ever fly without an instructor present and a radio mounted to either your glider or you until you are informed that it is OK to do so!!!
- Fuck the radio.
- If you shot all the hang gliding instructors in North America today there's no question that hang gliding competence and safety would begin a steady increase starting tomorrow.
developed equipment and procedures that WORKED. If you kept them isolated them from the mainstream they'd keep getting better at what they were doing and developing better equipment to do it with.
Paragliders
The basics of stationary winch towing are the same for both hang gliders and paragliders.
Most importantly, neither one can safely release in an emergency.
There are, however, a few differences in the way launching and controlling are done.
The procedure for launching a paraglider is exactly the same as for a hang glider up until the point of tension, except for two things. First, paragliders do not use a metal two-stage release...
Yeah. We know. They don't have a basetube to interfere with a towline that increases its angle with climb.
..but instead use a two-string release (these releases can be used since transition is not required).
And, of course, since paragliders are lighter than hang gliders they require an even safer Hewett instituted light form of weak link.
Under tow, much less tension should be used. Hot tows/extreme climbs are extremely hazardous. Can you spell "collapse"?
Yes. I can. So what does it have to do with high tension / hot tows / extreme climbs?
This probably wouldn't happen close to the ground though.
Can you cite an example of it happening ANYWHERE as a consequence of high tension?
Stay in an upright position until you are at least fifty feet above ground. Even higher if you have minimal harness padding.
What's it matter? You're going up aren't you?
While on tow, the canopy is going to be a lot farther back than normal. If there is a line break or weak link break there is going to be canopy surges.
Yeah, that seems to be something of a problem with the Hewett instituted...
Donnell Hewett - 1980/12
Now I've heard the argument that "Weak links always break at the worst possible time, when the glider is climbing hard in a near stall situation."
...light form of weak link. But it's the focal point of a safe towing system so what are ya gonna do?
The recommended procedure for releasing the line is to put both toggles into one hand and reach down with the other hand to activate the release.
So you can control a paraglider using one hand just as well as - if not better than - you can with two? That's good to know!
(And I guess it would be totally ridiculous to suggest developing a release that could be blown with both hands on the toggles - if something like that were within the scope of human engineering one of those guys would have done it already.)
The main difference when flying on tow as opposed to in open air is that the glider is being pulled. This changes the way the glider controls in that it can add a requirement for more control input while simultaneously increasing the amount of effect that control input has.
So what would be the effect of taking a hand off the basetube at a point when control might be more of a critical issue than at any time in the course of your entire hang gliding career?
Maintain a light grip on the control bar and let the glider tell you what is happening.
Yeah. You really wanna maintain that light grip...
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)...
That's absolutely critical if you wanna get an accurate feel for what's happening with your glider.
Try to react to changes with small corrections before they have time to put you off course and necessitate larger ones...
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.
...and remember: No matter what happens, fly the glider first.
Really? I've always heard that no matter what happens...
I have had issues with them releasing under load. So I don't try to release it under a lot of load now.
...you're under a lot of load when you have a problem. Then you go back to:
- maintaining a light grip on the control bar
- letting the glider tell you what's happening
- trying to react to changes with small corrections before they have time to put you off course and necessitate larger ones
- remembering, no matter what happens, to fly the glider first
Some aerotow releases, including a few models from prominent schools, have had problems releasing under high tensions. You must VERIFY through tests that a release will work for the tensions that could possibly be encountered. You better figure at least three hundred pounds to be modestly confident.
Maybe eight to ten years ago I got several comments from people saying a popular aerotow release (with a bicycle type brake lever) would fail to release at higher tensions. I called and talked to the producer sharing the people's experiences and concerns. I inquired to what tension their releases were tested but he refused to say, just aggressively stated they never had any problems with their releases, they were fine, goodbye, click. Another person tested one and found it started getting really hard to actuate in the range of only eighty to a hundred pounds as I vaguely recall. I noticed they did modify their design but I don't know if they ever really did any engineering tests on it. You should test the release yourself or have someone you trust do it. There is only one aerotow release manufacturer whose product I'd have reasonable confidence in without verifying it myself, the Wallaby release is not it.
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.
Once you have demonstrated solid towing skills as a beginner...
When you throw a little air into the mix there's no such thing as solid towing skills as a beginner or anything else. Without needing much in the way of skills we all very soon run into very solid limits - and at and beyond those limits we become passengers.
There are however, HUGE advantages that can be imparted with equipment. A newly AT rated Hang 2.0 on a Falcon or Sport 2 using a two point bridle and one and a half G weak link could've breezed through the crap that killed Zack Marzec with his pro toad bridle and Hewett instituted / Davis mandated light form of weak link.
...on a shorter rope...
Oh. So it's safer to tow beginners on SHORTER ropes. How come? Is it like it's safer to foot launch them on really light weak links and keep them upright on the downtubes before we allow them to dolly launch on heavy weak links and allow them to fly prone?
...you will be towed the full length of the field and land near the winch. After this, you will have enough height to release the line and perform 'S Turns' before landing at the winch end.
At what stage of training will they be qualified to fly high enough to...
The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, Inc. - 2012/06/20
Standard Operating Procedure
12. Rating System
02. Pilot Proficiency System
12. Hang Gliding Aerotow
-A. Aerotow
05. The candidate must also demonstrate the ability to properly react to a weak link/tow rope break simulation with a tandem rated pilot, initiated by the tandem pilot at altitude, but at a lower than normal release altitude. Such demonstrations should be made in smooth air.
...safely recover from a Hewett instituted light form of weak link break in smooth air?
Next, if conditions are right and the field is long enough, you will be given enough height to release the line...
Put a NUMBER on it, motherfuckers. How many feet high do you need to be to safely release and...
I once locked out on an early laminarST aerotowing. went past vertical and past 45 degrees to the line of pull-- and the load forces were increasing dramatically. The weaklink blew and the glider stalled--needed every bit of the 250 ft agl to speed up and pull out. I'm alive because I didn't use a stronger one.
...what happens to you if you hafta release below safe release altitude?
...fly back to launch and turn into the wind before landing. Once you have demonstrated consistent success with these flights, you'll be ready to begin transitioning (which gets you even higher!)
Got any data to support the notion that prolonging time in the kill zone during training is yielding better results?
Transition (HG only)
For your initial flights, only a single line was attached to your release through the A-frame and above the base bar of your glider. The next step is learning to transition so you can get higher. Note that this should never be tried without the consent of an instructor. Before you perform a real transition, your instructor may have you perform one or more 'mock' transitions, using both ropes above the base bar.
To set up for a real transition, you hook in...
Hook IN or UP? There have been a lot of unhooked tow launches because hooking UP has mentally registered as hooking IN. And since you're not gonna entertain the idea of doing hook-in checks it's best not to confuse the situation any further.
...like before, but you put the longer line of the bridle UNDER the base tube while keeping the shorter line OVER the base tube. So then, commit to memory "Long rope under, short rope over." Make sure that these are never reversed. Double check this because having them reversed could put you into a serious stall! When standing at launch with tension on, have a look to ensure that the bottom rope is indeed slack under the base bar and not pulling it up at all.
And when you're setting up your glider insert the cambered ends of your battens in the trailing edges. Commit to memory "Cambered end fore, straight end aft." Make sure that these ends are never reversed. Double check this because having them reversed could put you into a serious stall! And you could wind up flying backwards after you recovered. When standing at launch with tension on, have a look around to ensure that the your glider looks similar to those of the more experienced pilots.
What will happen is that you will launch as you have been previously, but when you get to a good height (where the top rope is close to or touching the base tube and you are at a minimum height of 200 feet)...
Which is about as low as you wanna be before you take a hand off the basetube anyway.
...you will release ONLY the top rope. The proper procedure for executing this radical move is to place your fingers behind both levers on your release, then use your thumb to press the upper release while flying the glider at trim with your free hand.
- Your "FREE" hand? I got news for ya, motherfucker. There ain't no sech thing as a "free" hand in hang gliding. 'Specially...
Steve Kinsley - 1996/05/09 15:50
Personal opinion. While I don't know the circumstances of Frank's death and I am not an awesome tow type dude, I think tow releases, all of them, stink on ice. Reason: You need two hands to drive a hang glider. You 'specially need two hands if it starts to turn on tow. If you let go to release, the glider can almost instantly assume a radical attitude. We need a release that is held in the mouth. A clothespin. Open your mouth and you're off.
...on tow when things are heading south.
- What happens if it's an emergency release and you need to dump everything? It's highly unlikely that the glider will be flying at trim and that things are gonna be cooperative while you're trying to fly with your "free" hand.
If you are pulled in and remove one hand, you will initiate a turn.
Like this?
So I guess the message is to never have to be pulled in on tow - or fly into air that would require you to pull in.
Do not stop flying the glider or spend time staring at your release when attempting to do this.
And for the love of God DON'T PULL IN!!! It's really hard to overemphasize this point. This is one of the big advantages of a pro toad aero bridle:
You're pulled so far forward of trim that you hardly have anything left to pull in.
It only takes a second for your glider to get way off course.
Yep.
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.
Way less than a second I'd say.
Practice the motion of sliding your fingers behind the levers and clicking the upper one when you're on the ground either walking around or hanging in your bird.
And then spend a lot of time practicing not thinking about what's gonna happen to you when the shit hits the fan and how you really don't have as many extra hands as you thought you did when the glider was flying level and trim in smooth air at two hundred feet.
Some pilots will slide their left hand to the centre of the bar while letting go with the right hand to maintain control and avoid initiating a turn. Others "cheat" by making a small, quick bump to the right (while keeping the wings level), before making the transition move. Either is acceptable.
Were you this unbelievably stupid BEFORE Mike got ahold of you?
The net effect of releasing the upper line and leaving the lower attached is that it changes the attitude of your glider and gives you a much higher rate of climb.
BULLSHIT.
- The tension's coming in at the same angle and being routed to you and the glider in exactly the same manner. The only way anything happens with the glider's attitude is if you've delayed the transition to the point at which the upper line is pulling back on the basetube - which you shouldn't. (Not that big a deal but the idea is to get as HIGH as possible.)
- Assuming constant tension your best rate of climb happens as you come off the surface with a tow angle of close to zero. The steeper your tow angle the more down vector you're getting and the crappier your rate of climb will be.
It will allow you to fly right over the winch.
Well yeah, but you can fly right over the winch even with the line over the bar...
That's OK - I can deal with scary. I just wanna make sure they're not really dangerous.
Lockouts don't happen often...
Well great then. They're not really dangerous and they don't happen often so we don't really need to gear our equipment to deal with them any better than we're doing now. We can just slap on a Hewett instituted light form of weak link and hope that it blows soon enough to keep us from getting into too much trouble.
...and rarely happen to the same pilot twice (mainly because the sudden need to change your underwear that it causes is more than a little unpleasant).
Well yeah. If you hafta change your underwear after a lockout that should get you focused enough on what you're doing on tow that the chances of you having a second one are pretty much zilch - no more idly wandering outside of the Cone of Safety.
The result of a lockout is an incredible amount of yaw that seems almost impossible to control (trust me - been there, done that).
Well, the important thing is that you controlled it. Some people don't know how to do that but not everybody has had the benefit of the superior training you got at High Perspective.
You'll know you've locked out if the glider begins making a serious turn to one side and you feel a lot more vertical, position wise, than you normally do.
Slow down. I'll know I've locked out if the glider begins making a serious turn to one side and I feel a lot more vertical, position wise, than I normally do. OK, got it. Now I'll recognize that I'm in a lockout a lot sooner and start paying attention to what I'm doing so I can fix it before it gets to be something of a problem.
You also may soon feel a new horizontal position which involves either your right or left side being on the bottom, instead of your stomach! This, if you can picture it, is the result of the glider being pointed to the right or left instead of at the winch, with its nose way above where it should be, and the rope making the glider think it is level.
OK, keep the glider pointed at the winch and you can't lock out. A lot like the aero Cone of Safety but for surface.
If you experience anything like this, try not to panic.
Of course not. The more you panic the longer it's gonna take to recover from the lockout.
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.
...gives you no chance to release because you too unbelievably stupid to take advantage of technology which allows you to release without needing a "free" hand I'm not seeing that you have much else in the way of options.
NEVER GIVE UP!
I wouldn't DREAM of it! A lockout is only a lockout for faggots who throw in the towel at the first sign of trouble! For REAL pilots it's merely a minor inconvenience, like a Hewett instituted light form of weak link pop - but not as bad 'cause you can recover from it and continue the tow.
Because the lockout is exaggerated by lack of air speed (poor nose angle), rely on your old friend Mr. Speed.
Our old friend Mr. Speed - who you just finished telling us...
If you are pulled in and remove one hand, you will initiate a turn.
...we can't have if we wanna separate ourselves from the towline?
Pull the bar in, move to the high side and keep it in until you regain control.
Makes perfect sense to me. Maybe there should be a LockOut Recovery (LOR) Special Skill signoff so you can satisfy the flight park operator that they aren't a real problem for you. But, of course, anyone who has the skill to recover from a lockout wouldn't get into one in the first place.
Get speed and immediately begin trying to get the glider out of the turn it's in and pointed back at the winch.
Tad loves to have things both ways.
First weaklinks are too weak, so we MUST use stronger ones. Not doing so is reckless and dangerous.
Then they're too strong.
I have no time for such circular logic.
I had it with that crap years ago.
As for being in a situation where you can't or don't want to let go, Ryan's got the right idea. They're called "weak" links for a reason. Overload that puppy and you bet your ass it's going to break.
You can tell me till you're blue in the face about situations where it theoretically won't let go or you can drone on and on about how "weaklinks only protect the glider" (which is BS btw)... and I can tell ya... I could give a crap, cuz just pitch out abruptly and that little piece of string doesn't have a chance in hell. Take your theory and shove it... I'm saving my a$$.
...do the precise opposite! This is all so confusing! I guess the best solution is somewhere in between these two extremities.
Keep the line attached...
Well of course! How are ya gonna recover from a lockout if you abort the tow? Once the line is unattached you're just free flying and there's not much skill or challenge in that.
...unless you stray off course by more than 45° from your original path.
So inside of 45 degrees you're automatically OK and outside it's definitely a lockout. That's good to know...
Imagine if you will, just coming off the cart and center punching a thermal which takes you instantly straight up while the tug is still on the ground. Know what happens? VERY high towline forces and an over-the-top lockout. You'll have both hands on the basetube pulling it well past your knees but the glider doesn't come down and still the weaklink doesn't break (.8G). So you pull whatever release you have but the one hand still on the basetube isn't enough to hold the nose down and you pop up and over into an unplanned semi-loop. Been there, done that... at maybe 200 feet agl.
...our old friend Mr. Speed?
...but don't stop flying the glider.
Right. No fuckin' way you wanna stop flying the glider during an unplanned semi-loop!
Chances are you won't be very high if you've initiated a lockout...
OK, this makes sense. We should only initiate lockouts up high.
...as the most common cause is early transition or too little speed during it.
Well that's good then. I'll be able to release with one hand while I continue to control the glider with my free hand because our old friend Mr. Speed won't be around to complicate things.
...be prepared to land wherever your are, be it a different field, the wrong end of the right field or wherever.
Are you SURE I won't recover high enough to return to the flight line? It's such a hassle carrying my glider.
You won't likely have enough altitude to return to your planned landing spot...
Oh FUCK! These lockouts sound really inconvenient. I'm gonna make extra sure I don't initiate one - down low anyway.
...so just get control and get down safely.
No problem dude. I'm totally convinced by your unassailable logic.
For a far more detailed discussion on lockouts, check out the October 1996 issue of Hang Gliding.
Yeah guys, I've read that useless goddam crap from Dave Broyles and Dennis Excellent-Book Pagen. And there's not a single goddam solitary WORD in EITHER article about using a release that allows the pilot to blow tow with both hands on the basetube. And there also isn't a single goddam solitary WORD condemning one point aerotow bridles.
And - assuming we have people at both ends of the string who know what the fuck they're doing - the only two tools we have for defending from lockouts are optimal bridles and releases that don't stink on ice. And those are tools that Industry motherfuckers like Dave Broyles, Dennis Pagen, and Mike Robertson are NEVER gonna get behind.
P.S. I went to two of the three funerals that resulted from the two incidents that inspired those articles. The second was a tandem that let itself get stalled by a tug who didn't know what he was doing and the first was a solo scooter who died after eight years of mentoring by Yours Truly because he needed three hands to comply with your ever so sage:
Release the line but don't stop flying the glider.
advice.
P.P.S. The tandem double fatality included Bill Bennett who was, at the time, a USHGA Region 9 Director and had been to Mike Robertson's step tow clinic in Ellenville a bit over two years prior. And I don't recall Mike Robertson having a single goddam solitary word to contribute to either postmortem discussion.
P.P.P.S. We just covered everything we'll ever need to know about lockouts in two paragraphs without one mention of the term "weak link". So please remind me... What's this Hewett instituted light form of weak link supposed to be doing for us?
