instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

[Tad Eareckson]

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

Orion Price - 2013/03/10 05:57:24 UTC

(Today I learned) There is a guy who reads our forum every and does detailed analysis on all our comments.

Wow! That's pretty nasty! I think you should consider doing the same thing to me. That would be so much more damaging than just casting a bunch of vague aspersions about me.

This guy has Rafferty amounts of extra time to just be an idiot and not fly/work/live.

- And just why is what you learned today important enough to be worth starting a Grebloville topic?

- Maybe you guys could submit a petition to Highland Aerosports so they'd allow me to set up, stand in line, and watch the soaring window evaporate while their 260 pound Rooney Links were increasing the safety of the towing operation and their beneficiaries were moving back in front of me for free relights - just the way things used to be. That would take care of at least part of the problem.

In place of adding to our discourse he bought a website in which he makes comments about our comments. That's just weird.

Yeah? Cite some accomplishments of your discourse. Your forum - in its current incarnation - goes back over eight years now. So tell me what it's done to reduce the frequency of:
- unhooked launches
- missed LZs
- arms broken on needless standup landing attempts on putting greens
- towing disasters precipitated by total crap equipment

Apparently we are all we are all suicidal idiots and destroying the sport.

Nonsense! You've been having your discourse for over eight years now! So obviously you've got everything sussed out real well at this point. To tell you the truth, I can't really even understand why you're continuing to have a discourse. Shouldn't you be spending all this discourse time flying your asses off at Kagel and perfecting your flare timing for landing in narrow dry riverbeds with large rocks strewn all over the place?

Also he apparently really doesn't like NME_RIDER/LA Glide. JD to him is apparently Satan with a glider and a youtube account.

Apparently? How do I rank him in relation to:
- Jim Rooney
- Davis Straub
- Jack Axaopoulos
- Joe Greblo
- Ryan Voight
- Bob Kuczewski
- Sam Kellner
- Paulen Tjaden
- Trisa Tilletti
- Matt Taber
- Steve Wendt

Look at this shit. He literaly goes through every comment and makes his own comment on his own webside:
http://www.kitestrings.org/topic10-310.html

Have you looked up "literally"? You could find out what it means as well how to spell it in one fell swoop. (And you might wanna try to find a match for "webside" while you're at it.)

I know that haters' gonna hate.

So what's the point of you establishing this thread? Isn't it to foment as much hatred against me as possible?

But what is with weird antisocial behavior?

Why are you asking them? Wouldn't I be a much better source on my weird antisocial behavior?

Who has the time to not go flying, but to sit around and organize and edit weird videos (rafferty)? Who has the time to register websites and make their own PHPBB dedicated to every comment on the SHGA? Weirdos, Y U NO JUST FLY?

- Where'd you get the time to do this?
- What did you sacrifice to launch this attack against Yours Truly?
- Why was I a more important target than Rooney, Ryan, Sam, Bob, Sam, Jack, Davis, Trisa...

I ain't even mad.

Of course not. This is just a matter o' fact sorta discussion.

This is just FYI

And Sylmar needs or benefits from this Information why/how?

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

The Board's knee-jerk response was to try to take some kind of legal action to silence Tad. I indicated that I thought we shouldn't be sending our lawyers in as our first response, and that maybe we should have someone talk with him first.

- But silencing Tad was an option that we definitely wanted to hold in reserve.

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/faq.php
About the US Hawks

What will keep the US Hawks from becoming another USHPA or HGAA?

You will ... hopefully. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Everyone has to do their part once in a while. If you see something that's not being done correctly, then it's your duty to speak out. One big difference between the US Hawks and other organizations is that the US Hawks really does honor the free speech of its members.

We certainly value freedom of speech when it's in line with our own goals, viewpoints, values... But for people who have contrary stances? Gimme a fuckin' break!

- Talk some sense into him. Get him to understand how perfectly aerotowing is being conducted as a result of...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24534
It's a wrap

Paul Tjaden - 2011/07/30 15:33:54 UTC

Quest Air has been involved in perfecting aerotowing for nearly twenty years.

...Quest spending nearly twenty years and quite literally hundreds of thousands of tows working things out with 130 pound test fishing line, refining bent pin releases for maximum performance, developing pro toad training and procedures.

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

Yeah. Dennis sent me a complimentary copy of the excellent book, Towing Aloft, by Dennis Pagen and Bill Bryden, and explained to me how nothing really bad could happen to anyone on tow as long as he had a loop of 130 pound fishing line in the system. And after our discussion I understood that the USHGA SOPs covering aerotowing equipment - certified gliders, release capacity, tug and glider weak link strengths and configurations - really didn't need revision and/or enforcement the way Gregg Ludwig and I believed. What they really needed was deletion. Unfortunately most of that deletion came five days too late to do Zack Marzec any good.

A few years later (when I was starting the US Hawks Hang Gliding Association)...

How's that going, Bob?

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.

How'd your last Board of Directors election go? How's the 2013 fatality rate doing compared to last year's?

I actually wrote to Tad inviting him to our forum because I wanted to incorporate diverse views in our new association.

Within reason, of course. You certainly didn't want them significantly out of line with yours or the Tea Party's.

Tad joined us, and for a while things were fine. But over time, it became obvious to me that he was more interested in just bashing people than trying to actually solve problems in the sport of hang gliding.

- You can't solve problems just bashing people? Don't you think that Zack Marzec getting bashed into Quest's runway made one or two more people decide that they'd be happy with the two hundred pound weak links that Morningside had decided they were happy with the year before?

- What problems? Certainly you don't think that you're all suicidal idiots destroying the sport. That's just Tad Talk.

For a long time, I tried to show him kindness on our forum and I gave him a lot of slack with regard to his profanity and his comments that he wished certain people would crash and kill themselves.

Who? Terry Spencer and Zack Marzec? So what were YOU doing to lessen the chances of them crashing and killing themselves? You didn't make a single fucking comment on those issues before or after those incidents. But I guess nobody's gonna...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30971
Zach Marzec

Kinsley Sykes - 2013/02/09 23:49:42 UTC

I get pretty torqued up at the "strong weak link" advocates who come out of the woodwork when something like this happens and use it to say "see, this proves my/our point". This, in spite of not being there and only having second hand information to make this point. If you believe that fine, knock yourself out, but don't use BS like "this wouldn't have happened if only you had listened to me".

I have the greatest respect of Paul and Mark and their willingness to share what they know. I have zero respect for those who are using a tragedy to advocate a particular position, particularly when there is no proven link between their point and this accident.

...get pretty torqued up at you for coming out of the woodwork and saying, "Toldyaso - ASSHOLES."

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

Warren Narron - 2012/03/06 02:26:04 UTC

Tad, used to post about as nice as anyone, and nicer than some. Remember?

Blowback... You put in a thousand plus hour$, tooling, te$ting and documenting safety issues for the masses and have it ignored and suppressed by people, for whatever reason, and you would get testy too.
You're fairly snarky as it is, and you haven't done the work...

And you may be correct about the footnote... but today's footnotes are now hyperlinks...

There is a good chance that from now on, for every incident and fatality caused by insufficient weaklinks or sub-standard release mechanisms, a hyperlink trail will lead back to Tadtriedtowarnyou.com ... where all the evidence can be found.

A further link could then go to a list of all the people and the role they played in the suppression of those safety issues...
Who would like to be on that list?
How many are already on it?

That was a bit over three months prior to Terry and a bit under eleven months prior to Zack, Bob.

Eventually (and for reasons that I won't full disclose here), it became necessary to ask Tad to leave the US Hawks forum, and he is currently the only person who's been completely banned from the US Hawks.

An honor I will treasure for the rest of my days - MOTHERFUCKER. I'm embarrassed that I lasted as long as I did on these shit heaps - especially yours.

Having said all of that, I have to add that Tad has an incredible amount of energy, and I think it would be great if the sport of hang gliding could figure out how to harness it.

I think it's great having the mainstream sport of hang gliding ostracizing and marginalizing me. I'm never gonna be able to be an active participant in it again and it's loads of fun watching you assholes doing off the scale stupid shit and slamming in left and right.

He's done extensive work on towing releases and he has a library of photographs related to releases. I think he brings an important perspective to the sport, but his personality is so toxic that it's very difficult to gain any benefit from it.

What the fuck does my personality have to do with anything? What can you tell about my personality from looking at my photographs, reading the specs and materials lists to duplicate them, and running independent testing? I've heard Bob Trampenau is a real asshole but I never heard a bad word about any of his glider designs.

Indeed, I consider it a failing on my part that I wasn't able to help Tad get past some of his "personality" issues and become a good contributing member on the US Hawks forum.

- Sorry my nose wasn't long enough to push Sam's out of the way and make a comfortable fit with you butt.

- And... Steve grabbed this one for me at the time in the short (under a half hour) window before it was deleted:

Robert Bustamante - 2013/03/11 00:18

Mr. Kuczewski,
Were you ever Banned from a site?
If so... why?
Never mind... I know the answer, and really don't give a sh#$!

Orion Price - 2013/03/11 02:34:19 UTC

I can imagine...geez. He's written a 10 page treatise about this very thread we're in now.

And... I have some follow-up now that I have your number and understand what you were trying to do and why - fuckin' sleazebag. Stay tuned.

[Tad Eareckson]

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

Orion Price - 2013/03/11 15:12:28 UTC

Final bit of troll food, I read about Tad's reputation this morning.

- Why did you have to read "about Tad's reputation"? There wasn't enough of my own material floating around for you to draw your own conclusions?

I can't IMAGINE anyone making a statement like that. When I wanna make a determination about a Bob Kuczewski, Jim Rooney, Davis Straub, Jack Axaopoulos, OP I don't read what other people are saying they're saying or saying about them. I read what THEY'RE saying. When I read what other people are saying about them I'm making determinations, judgments about THOSE people.

- So who did you use to form your opinions for you? Did any of them have any conflict of interest issues which might lead them to try to damage my reputation/credibility as much as possible?

- How many whistle-blowers do you know about who have great reputations inside the industry on which they're blowing whistles?

Tad Eareckson is a generally discounted crackpot...

A GENERALLY discounted crackpot? So not EVERYBODY discounts him as a crackpot.

- Can you give us some of the names of the people who discount him as a crackpot and the one or two names of the people who don't, their reasoning on this issue, their IQs?

- People who speak out against using Rooney Links as one-size-fits-all pitch and lockout limiters are generally discounted as crackpots - even if they're comp pilots and there are...

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

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

I've heard it a million times before from comp pilots insisting on towing with even doubled up weaklinks (some want no weaklink). I tell them the same thing I'm telling you... suck it up.

...a million of them and...

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

Davis Straub - 2011/08/28 15:26:28 UTC

Then again, Russell Brown had us double up behind him after six breaks in a row at Zapata. We couldn't figure out why we had so many breaks so quickly. Maybe just coincidence.

...their Rooney Link one-size-fits-all pitch and lockout limiters work so well they totally prevent them from getting airborne in light morning conditions.

- Aren't people who routinely walk around in their harnesses and skip hang checks...

Rob Kells - 2005/12

My partners (Steve Pearson and Mike Meier) and I have over 25,000 hang glider flights between us 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.

...generally considered crackpots?

- Weren't Wilbur and Orville generally considered crackpots prior to their demonstration flights at Le Mans on 1908/08/08?

- Don't most radical improvements in technology, procedures, society come from people who are generally considered crackpots?

- Guess YOU'VE never been generally considered a crackpot, huh OP? 'Cause you've never had a ghost of an original thought or idea outside of what you've been spoon fed at any point in your entire ten miles south of useless fucking life.

...and internet troll. He doesn't fly and has been perma-banned from most everywhere: .org, oz report and all the local club websites with discussion forums like ours.

Yeah. Pretty much all of them. About the only place on which I haven't been banned (yet) is the Yahoo TUGS group on which I called Dr. Trisa Tilletti a "fucking moron" on 2011/02/12 - ten days shy of two years prior to Zack Marzec dramatically demonstrating exactly how much of a fucking moron Dr. Trisa is. And the last time I posted anywhere but here was a bit over a year ago when I called Tom Galvin and his fellow Rocky Mountain club stupid pigfuckers a bunch of stupid pigfuckers.

So how can I be an internet troll? A FORMER internet troll maybe.

He has two main speaking points. 1. All HG landings should be done prone as belly landings using wheels.

Only the ones you on which you wanna maximize your safety margins.

All other foot landings are suicidal, he will say.

He WILL say that?
- Can you give him a chance to say that or do you feel totally qualified to speak on his behalf?
- If you're speaking on his behalf on a site on which he's not registered doesn't that make YOU an internet troll?

He schadenfreudes hard at our accidents...

How's your arm doing, douchebag?

...and especially fatalities

YOUR fatalities? If you're not a bunch of suicidal idiots...

Apparently we are all we are all suicidal idiots and destroying the sport.

...how come you're having all these "accidents" and fatalities?

2. He is a self proclaimed "engineer" and inventor of Rube Goldberg tow bridles.

A tow BRIDLE - asshole - is a length of line. Here's my current one:

http://deltaplane.brozs.net/Cours/biblio/Zack.jpg


Just how Rube Goldberg is it?

As you can see his elegant designs are a huge commercial success sweeping the industry.

And EVERYBODY is SO HAPPY...

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

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

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

Zack C - 2011/08/26 00:08:08 UTC

Maybe because they're tired of releases that don't work under tension, releases they have to relinquish control of the glider to activate, stalling near the ground because of weak links breaking for no reason, instructors telling them to intentionally break weak links in an emergency when they can't get to their release, hook knifes being considered an acceptable release option, secondary releases on a V-bridle being considered a backup for the primary release, bridles wrapping on tow rings, tugs having weaker weak links than gliders, disagreement among even professionals over what a weak link is for, tow operators not having a clue what line tensions break their weak links...

In my opinion, we have a long way to go.

While we're talking about weak link material...it is a mystery to me that so many push or even mandate a weak link that breaks at 0.6 Gs for some people and 1.3 Gs for others.

...with the wonderful equipment The Industry permits in the air. Just ask...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31052
Poll on weaklinks

Jim Rooney - 2013/03/03 19:37:19 UTC

My response is short because I've been saying it for years... and yes, I'm a bit sick of it.
This is a very old horse and has been beaten to death time and time again... by a very vocal minority.

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.

...Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney. And he's the guy protecting us muppets from all this dangerous nonstandard...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30971
Zach Marzec

Jim Rooney - 2013/02/16 05:05:41 UTC

My general rule is "no funky shit". I don't like people reinventing the wheel and I don't like test pilots. Have I towed a few test pilots? Yup. Have I towed them in anything but very controlled conditions? Nope. It's a damn high bar. I've told more to piss off than I've told yes. I'll give you an example... I towed a guy with the early version of the new Lookout release. But the Tad-o-link? Nope.

So I hope that sheds some light on the situation.
But again, every tuggie's different and every situation is different.
What doesn't change however is that it's my call, not yours.
And it's my job to be the "bad guy" sometimes.
Sorry. It's just the way it is.

...funky shit - whether we muppets like it or not.

His explanation of how his bridles work indicated he doesn't have any education on the subject.

And, of course, YOU could explain WHY his explanation of how his bridles work indicate he doesn't have any education on the subject - if only your Grebloville audience had the requisite education to understand your explanation.

Lemme tell ya how my tow bridle works - DOUCHEBAG. You blow the release at one end and it feeds out through the tow ring. Here's a VIDEO:

http://vimeo.com/38334812

password - red
03-1304
http://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2938/13700558193_0e0946218e_o.png


to help you with the concept.

Any comment on Pat Denevan's...

162-20727
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8576/16673571861_3962427127_o.png


...understanding of tow systems? He only uses state of the art equipment but I'll bet that if he, you, Peter, Bobby, Rooney, Matt, Bart, Davis, and Paulen Tjaden put your heads together you might be able to tweak something or other a bit.

HEY BOB...

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

He's done extensive work on towing releases and he has a library of photographs related to releases. I think he brings an important perspective to the sport, but his personality is so toxic that it's very difficult to gain any benefit from it.

DO I KNOW WHAT THE FUCK I'M DOING ON TOW SYSTEMS OR NOT?

You bloody well know I do - toxic personality or not - but it suits your sleazy purposes to step aside and let this piece of shit spew out anything he feels like - MOTHERFUCKER.

His situation reminds me of a tragedy of a family friend. As began to loose his edge, he proportionality wanted to write people weirder and weirder letters.

And his command of the language started deteriorating. He started putting too many "o"s in "lose" and using strange nouns like "proportionality" as adverbs.

Newspaper editors, distant relatives, and especially the government would receive long rants pointing out his intelligence and schadenfreuding over their failures.

Had all these insane ideas about fossil fuels, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, tipping points, global warming, melting icecaps, glaciers, permafrost, reduced snow cover, sea level rise, catastrophic climate destabilization, hurricane intensification, droughts, floods, famines, mass extinction... You shoulda heard this guy! Un fucking believable!

Eventually his internet usage had to be monitored...

What a coincidence! MY internet usage seems to be...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30971
Zach Marzec

Kinsley Sykes - 2013/02/11 17:46:12 UTC

Because this has been beaten to death - google Tad Eareckson and try to read the mind-numbing BS. Most of the folks who have been towing for decades have worked this stuff out.

...rather heavily monitored as well!

...and his snail-mail letters "mailed" by someone else.

Sorry... What's this "snail-mail" to which you're referring?

The failure mode exhibited here is nearly identical.

- Can you give us any examples of these paranoid delusions he was spewing all over the place so we can assess the situation for ourselves? Aw hell, never mind... We'll just take your word for it.

- Well yeah, sounds like this ol' guy started going off the deep end. Sounds like a real tragedy.

- So did you start threads on forums like Grebloville and the Jack and Davis Shows to humiliate and stir up as much hatred and contempt for him as possible?

- Did you post over and over and over about his testicles or lack thereof?

- So if I've gone so far off the deep end myself wouldn't it be pretty obvious to all the intelligent well balanced people you're addressing? So how come you need to alert everyone to my tragic condition? Wouldn't your valuable time be better spent testing the breaking strengths of various flavors of fishing line?

- Did he have a...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30971
Zach Marzec

Jim Rooney - 2013/03/07 18:24:58 UTC

You were out looking for data to support your preconceived conclusion, rather than looking at the data and seeing what it tells you... which is why this is the first time we've heard from you and your gang.

Go back to Tad's hole in the ground.
While you're there, ask him why he was banned from every east coast flying site.

...hole in the ground that other people would go back to whenever Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney would order them to?

- How many of the topics on his forum had four to five digits worth of hits? At Kite Strings we currently have fifteen in the four and seven in the five digit ranges.

He may not fly, but I do.

Super, dude! DO keep me posted about...

Orion Price - 88538 - H3 - 2011/04/03 - Joe Greblo - FL 360

Tad Eareckson - 32674 - H4 - 1991/12/17 - Santos Mendoza - AT FL PA VA AWCL CL FSL RLF TUR XC - Basic Instructor

...your accomplishments. I give you my word that I'll do my best to pretend to be impressed.

And it's all about the flying.

Yep...

37-23223
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3713/9655904048_89cce6423a_o.png

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


FLY FLY FLY!

[/feeding weird internet troll]

Aw, c'mon OP... Toss me a few more. How 'bout a few posts about my testicular deficiencies?

[Tad Eareckson]

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

Mike Blankenhorn - 2013/03/12 03:57:34 UTC

Suicide is highly under rated, Tad should try it, but no wait he's lost his balls!

Orion Price - 2013/03/12 05:12:33 UTC

Normally I'd say that is a low blow Mike. However, this time it's not. I don't want to re-post it. But the senile guy has read our entire forum history and make detailed comments about our activities. He waxes on with glee about our fatalities. It is disgusting. Beyond anti-social.

Anywho. my comment this morning, posted only on shga at first, got be banned from kitestrings.org

What was your purpose for registering on Kite Strings? To have an honest, civilized, respectful, rational discussion about hang gliding issues and problems? I rather doubt it 'cause I've never seen you participate in any of the critical discussions on any of the mainstream forums.

Mike Blankenhorn - 2013/03/12 16:07:44 UTC

We should bury this thread and not give Tad the satisfaction that we are actually wasting our time acknowledging his existence. Yes, this needed to be brought into the light...

- What needed to be brought to light?

- Why did it need to be brought to light? How are people planning on benefitting from anything brought to light?

- Did either of these douchebags - OP or Ryan - quote one single word of anything I've said? Or are they just spewing a bunch of shit about me to suit there own political agendas?

- I don't hear you quoting me anywhere or making any specific charges.

- Fits the pattern, dude. There isn't one in a thousand amongst kite people capable of independent critical thinking. Very fertile ground for con artists like Bob, OP, Rooney, Davis to manipulate things to their advantages and ultralight drivers and loops of fishing line to take over as Pilots In Command of the gliders.

...but now we should bury this asshole with some nice cold dirt (metaphorically) and never speak of him again.

Super idea, Mike! OP and Bob have pupblicly denounced me so you have determined that nothing I ever have to say could possibly be worth you or anyone else in Grebloville listening to.

Really admire the way you have your shit so well together.

Mike Blankenhorn - 86767 - H2 - 2008/09/03 - Rob McKenzie - FL

How many more years do you think it'll take you to nail your spots consistently enough to be allowed to fly Kagel without a babysitter?

[Tad Eareckson]

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

Orion Price - 2013/03/13 05:52:48 UTC

Tad really has no testicles. He says he had one surgically removed. However we all know they took both out.

Quote Tad about our this thread here on SHGA:
"tell Rob McKenzie he can go fuck himself"



Surely that is a quotation of a man with no balls.

Difference of opinion. My position is that NOT telling Rob McKenzie he can go fuck himself is a strong indication of having no balls - or brains.

Imagine living most of your life with no testicles.

Mr: "I'm a genius, no one listens to me, the world will burn"...

Why do you have that in quotes? Is that something I said? If so can you please provide a reference?

...decides to write the FAA a letter about how unsafe we are:

http://www.energykitesystems.net/Lift/hgh/TadEareckson/4144review.pdf

Whereas what we SHOULD be doing is deleting all the equipment standards from the SOPs we established when we applied to the FAA for an aerotowing exemption.

Imagine you work for the FAA in DC and you get an 80 something page letter divided into 12 sections.

And imagine you purchase a reference from USHGA on hang and paraglider towing and you get a 374 page book divided into ten chapters and four appendices - very little of which have any basis in reality - and you only have the fifteen second attention span of typical of the dregs who fly these things and participate in mainstream glider forums.

It refers to other documents he's written of similar length.

- MY GOD! NO! Somebody who's written extensively on hang gliding issues! What more evidence do you need that you're dealing with a stark raving lunatic!

- And imagine you're a regular glider jockey browsing The Davis Show and you come across:

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30971
Zach Marzec
0196 - posts
9917 - hits
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31052
Poll on weaklinks
0174 - posts
4113 - hits

both of them:

- based on the fatal tumble of a tandem aerotow instructor which began when a loop of fishing line determined that popping him off tow when he was standing on his tail in a monster thermal would be in his best interest

- locked down by Davis as people from Tad's hole in the ground were starting to convince the dregs who fly these things and participate in mainstream glider forums that the fatal tumble was precipitated by the loop of fishing line determining that popping the glider off tow when he was standing on his tail in a monster thermal would be in his best interest

38 pages total based pretty much entirely on the failure of a single short piece of string and the confusion about whether it increased or decreased the safety of the towing operation in this particular case.

Ramblings of a mad man.

Can you quote something to support your point? Just kidding.

It's not so much what he's written anything damning.

Nah, none of those fatalities were the consequences of incompetence; crap equipment, procedures, training; deliberate and flagrant violations of regulations; criminal negligence... It's just that shit happens a lot in this sport and if you don't have the testicles to face and deal with it you should just play checkers.

It's more they have to receive letters from weirdos whom used to fly...

"From weirdos WHOM used to fly..."? And I'M the one who's supposed to be illiterate? There is such a thing as too many testicles, OP. You have them coming out of your ears.

but still associate with our sport.

- Yes... "OUR" sport. The one that you own and I have no claim to.

- Wow OP! And here I've been accusing you of never having had a ghost of an original thought or idea outside of what you've been spoon fed at any point in your entire ten miles south of useless fucking life. And you're the FIRST PERSON I've ever encountered in hang gliding who's had genuine deep concern and empathy for our good friends at the FAA! I've so misjudged and underestimated you!

Why does the world contain Raffertys and Tad Earecksons?

And why does the world contain Chris Bulgers, Bill Bennetts, Mike Del Signores, Jamie Alexanders, Frank Spearses, William Woloshyniuks, Victor Coxes, Mike Haasses, Robin Strids, Arlan Birketts, Jeremiah Thompsons, Bernie Zwahlens, James Simpsons, Steve Elliots, Roy Messings, Lois Prestons, and Zack Marzecs? Oh wait. It doesn't. Never mind.

Orion Price - 2013/03/13 06:40:59 UTC

Imagine walking around with a flat sack. Talking all castrato. A eunuch who wanted to be put out to stud, instead writes weird letters to the FAA. It's no way to be.

Makes it less painful to do lift and tug to verify connection and leg loops. I guess that's why just a few of us girlie men bother with them.

Mike Blankenhorn - 2013/03/13 16:55:55 UTC

Pure poetry!!!

My, what a productive discussion this is! Think what guys like you could accomplish with that degree of focus in a discussion on a fatality or near miss!

Joe Faust - 2013/03/13 21:47:52 UTC
Los Angeles

Some background:

http://www.energykitesystems.net/Lift/hgh/TadEareckson/

Orion Price - 2013/03/14 02:30:05 UTC

Yea, someone else pointed that out to me.

- Is there some reason you're not naming him?
- And his purpose in referring you to that document was?

That's some weird stuff.

How 'bout this stuff:

Matt Taber - 2009/07/12

GT Manufacturing Inc. (GT) and Lookout Mountain Flight Park Inc. (LMFP) make no claim of serviceability of this tow equipment. There is no product liability insurance covering this gear and we do not warrant this gear as suitable for towing anything. We make no claim of serviceability in any way and recommend that you do not use this aerotow gear if you are not absolutely sure how to use it and or if you are unwilling to assume the risk.

A window into the mind of a madman.

What kind of mind is that stuff a window into?

In 80+ page colored ASCII texts he starts calling other designs and people "insane."

Well it's really great to know that a quarter century or so of accountability free aerotowing has weeded out all the insane designs and people - save, of course, for Tad's stuff and Tad.

I noticed on his tow treatise he keeps mentioning the word "strength." And referred to the "G" rating of weak links and ropes.

Yeah, what's THAT about? Everybody knows that aerotow equipment is certified in terms of lengths of track records and degrees of funkiness.

And I was all:

And Lauren was all:

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=28290
Report about fatal accident at Quest Air Hang Gliding

Lauren Tjaden - 2013/02/07 23:56:42 UTC

I am posting the report my husband, Paul Tjaden, just wrote about Zach Marzec's death at Quest. It is a great tragedy to lose someone so young and vital. We are sick about it, and our hearts go out to his friends, family and loved ones.

And Rooney was all:

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30971
Zach Marzec

Jim Rooney - 2013/02/11 19:22:18 UTC

Of course not... it's Asshole-ese.

Sorry, I'm sick and tired of all these soap box bullshit assheads that feel the need to spout their shit at funerals. I just buried my friend and you're seizing the moment to preach your bullshit? GO FUCK YOURSELF!!!!!!!!

I can barely stand these pompus asswipes on a normal day.

Might of has well mention the number in inches of water in of gallon...

Square root of 47, right? Except on the second Thursday of the month. Then it's the date times pi.

...or how many volts are in a pound.

Well, that can't be answered unless you know the percent cloud cover.

A clear demonstration of ignorance involving simple concepts.

So what did you think of the fourteen page article on weak links that Dr. Trisa Tilletti published in the magazine a bit over eight months before you began your campaign to identify Tad as today's foremost threat to hang gliding and All that is Sacred to Our way of life.

Thank you, OP, for so clearly demonstrating the depths of stupidity of your Grebloville audience. If the average IQ in that shit heap of yours were up to thirty you'd have had your balls ripped off and shoved down your throat.

And George Stebbins... You deserve to be stood up in front of a fuckin' wall for letting this piece of shit get away with running his mouth unchecked like this. And...

Bob Kuczewski - 2011/12/31 07:34:26 UTC

But if you want to talk numbers and logic, then start by explaining the laws of physics in terms of differential equations and not your simple 2+2=4 "logic" if you want my respect. Go ahead and explain the first quarter of Newtonian physics for us and see how far you get. We'll let you work your way up to the Navier-Stokes equations.

...fuck you, Bob.

Some times, in life, you get left with the short end of the stick. And sometimes, in Tad Earecson's case, holding an empty sack. Literally. The man has no testicles.

I'm still waiting to hear something relevant to hang gliding here, OP.

Robert Bustamante - 2013/03/14 03:56:12 UTC

According to this report... Tad's gonna be around for awhile.
http://www.salon.com/2012/09/25/study_testicles_are_overrated/

And in hang gliding functional brains are DESPISED.

Orion Price - 2013/03/14 04:00:48 UTC

LOL. Long Live TAD!
Good news everybody! Tad saved 100% of his athletic supporter costs by switching to eunuch.
http://epicsports.cachefly.net/images/26320/300/schutt-protective-cup-athletic-supporter.jpg

I'm still waiting to hear something relevant to hang gliding here, OP.

Steve D - 2013/03/14 05:13:06 UTC

I thought about posting this:

Orion Price - 2013/03/14 02:30:05 UTC

I noticed on his tow treatise he keeps mentioning the word "strength." And referred to the "G" rating of weak links and ropes.

Might of has well mention the number in inches of water in of gallon, or how many volts are in a pound. A clear demonstration of ignorance involving simple concepts.

In the quotes thread on Kite Strings, but concluded it was too pathetic to qualify.

And sometimes, in Tad Earecson's case...

P.S. Eareckson's is spelled with a k, Morion.

Orion Price - 2013/03/14 06:12:12 UTC

Morion? Who you calling a morion?

Orion Price - 2013/03/15 01:55:37 UTC

Who is Steve D? Do you think he would have the balls to call me a Morion to my face? We know that Tad Eareckson wouldn't, he doesn't have any balls.

No one. No one calls me a morion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morion_(helmet)

I'd consider it my civic duty to call you a stupid sleazy motherfucker to your face. Anything more diplomatic than that would be an act of cowardice.

If i'm a morion. Then your mother is a whorish sombrero.
---
Last edited by OP on 2013/03/15 04:20:28 UTC; edited 2 times in total

How many more edits do you think it would take you to get that last line to look like:

If I'm a morion then your mother is a whorish sombrero.

Doug Martens - 2013/03/15 03:21:01 UTC
Reseda

The answer to the whole issue could be the sourcing of towing equipment.

Well, yeah. EVERYBODY knows that.

Towing Aloft - 1998/01

The towline release is a critically important piece of equipment. It is the device which frees you from the towline and it must be failure-proof. Numerous designs have evolved over the years--some very good and some not so good. Unfortunately, releases are items that many pilots feel they can make at home or adapt from something they have seen at the hardware store. Two fatalities have occurred in the past 5 years directly related to failures of very poorly constructed and maintained releases. For the sake of safety, only use releases that have been designed and extensively tested by reputable manufacturers. Listed below are various types of releases available with their attributes and applications.

Provided in Appendix III is a performance test specification for towline releases. This is not presented to give you guidelines for making your own, but rather to make you aware of the requirements of a good release in order to select and purchase good equipment (See Appendix IV).

It's all about the SOURCING of the towing equipment.

- If you get it from any large scale commercial operation it's OK.

- Under no circumstances should you consider yourself - or any other individual not imbued with the divine powers that come with being part of a large scale commercial operation - qualified to develop tow equipment.

This is pretty simple basic stuff recognized...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22308
Better mouse trap(release)?

Jim Rooney - 2010/12/16 18:47:05 UTC

Oh, I've heard the "everything we do is an experiment" line before.
The trouble is, it's not.

I've seen experimentation with towing gear more than anything else in HG.
I've not seen many go out and try to build their own sails for example. When someone does, they're very quickly "shown the light" by the community. Example... the guy that was building the PVC glider in California somewhere.
But for some reason, towing gear is exempt from this.

The difference is what we do has been done by thousands of people already. It's been tested... a lot.
What we do is free of the experimentation part.
It's still dangerous, but not at the level of building new gear is. Not even close.

That's what people fail to realize.
It's no small difference. It's a huge chasm.

Notice how I'm not saying to not do it.
Go forth and experiment. That's great... that's how we improve things.
I'm just warning you of that chasm.

A few years ago, I started refusing to tow people with home made gear.
I like the idea of improving gear, but the lack of appreciation for the world they were stepping into didn't sit with me.
For example... flying with the new gear in mid day conditions?
Are you kidding me????

Approach it for what it is... completely untested and very experimental gear which will likely fail in new and unforseen ways as it tries it's damndest to kill you... and then we can talk.

...throughout The Industry.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skysailingtowing/message/4049
Towing errata

Bill Bryden - 2004/04/01 16:20:18 UTC

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.

Wills Wing offers drawings and links
http://www.willswing.com/learn/scooterTow/

Compare the release Steve's using in their video to the one Bill Bryden - coauthor of the excellent book, Towing Aloft, by Dennis Pagen and Bill Bryden - discusses above.

Experimental aviation is the most dangerous.

Name someone in hang gliding who's been so much as scratched as a consequence of experimentation. And, no, those dumb fucks at Phoenix...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=20529
Shane Smith - RIP

...who took the tow ring off the end of the line were NOT engaging in experimental aviation any more than Jeff Craig was when he came up short of the Kagel primary and flew into a boulder.

Moyes offers
TOW RELEASES BAILEY/MOYES TOW RELEASE & BRIDLE X REL TOW
TOW RELEASE BRIDLE X REL TOW BRI $25.00
EMERGENCY SHOULDER RELEASE X REL EME SHO $42.50
http://www.moyesusa.com/downloads/MoyesUSA09RetailPricelist.pdf
are those products safe?

Of course they are...

Orion Price - 2013/03/11 15:12:28 UTC

As you can see his elegant designs are a huge commercial success sweeping the industry.

Those elegant designs have been huge commercial successes and have swept the industry. I'm really surprised you're not aware of this and are asking these sorts of questions.

Orion Price - 2013/03/16 17:56:25 UTC

People ask me: "OP, why must you troll the trolls?"

That's an easy one, OP. It's because you're a sleazy, disingenuous, cowardly, useless glider jockey douchebag without the inclination, integrity, and balls it takes to get out on battlefields like:

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30971
Zach Marzec
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31052
Poll on weaklinks

take on the establishment power structure, and make any positive changes in the sport. You'd much rather advance within that power structure so you ingratiate yourself into it by helping to gang up on and attack the most obvious threats to it.

And there's a very obvious, predictable, stereotypical, mathematically identifiable pattern to the way you - and kindred douchebags like Rooney, Davis, Jack, Bob, Ryan, Peter, Stuart, Trisa - operate:
- distort, misrepresent, misquote, lie about the target's statements, positions, history
- refuse to answer the target's questions and ignore his points
- quote statements out of context
- denigrate established aviation theory
- avoid numbers, history, crash reports like the plague
- attack the target on as many totally irrelevant personal issues as you can get away with
- never acknowledge endorsements of the target and/or his accomplishments from other parties
- use the term "Rube Goldberg" (or "Heath Robinson")
- studiously ignore all the atrocities routinely committed by mainstream hang gliding
- go first person plural to give the impression that one's speaking on behalf of all concerned
- appeal to the basest instincts of the mob and whip them into lynch mode

I used to be baffled by scum such as yourself 'cause I just couldn't comprehend that there were minds that worked like yours. But now I understand that seeing ANY of the indicators above is confirmation that you're dealing with a sleazebag and would be wasting your time attempting to engage him in rational, respectful dialogue. You have the indicator at that point that it's mandatory to go into full permanent attack mode and never EVER back off, give him the benefit of any doubt, reach an accommodation.

After watching this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW8qZESnFvQ


Tad Eareckson says:

Go fuck yourselves:
- Paul Voight - Fly High Hang Gliding
- Sylmar Hang Gliding Association
- Joe Greblo - Windsports Soaring Center
- The Crestline Soaring Society
- Rob McKenzie - High Adventure

Thank you so very much for finally quoting something I've actually said. And let me take this opportunity to reiterate and emphasize:

Go fuck yourselves:
- Paul Voight - Fly High Hang Gliding
- Paul Voight - Fly High Hang Gliding
- Sylmar Hang Gliding Association
- Joe Greblo - Windsports Soaring Center
- Joe Greblo - Windsports Soaring Center
- Joe Greblo - Windsports Soaring Center
- The Crestline Soaring Society
- Rob McKenzie - High Adventure
- Rob McKenzie - High Adventure

So in effect my effort is a preemptive ban.

Really? Can you cite something from the SHGA chapter or forum rules that:
- authorizes you to implement a preemptive ban - or do you just really enjoy making shit up as you go along?
- makes me a candidate for a preemptive ban?

The crack pot has been banned from most every arena of discourse on hang gliding.

I notice you didn't say, "...from most every arena of CIVILIZED discourse on hang gliding."

Now he is also known to our group as an incredible idiot on the subject of hang gliding.

Of course he his. You've:
- stated he's an incredible idiot on the subject of hang gliding without presenting a single scrap of evidence
- ignored:
-- substantial evidence to the contrary provided by Steve D
-- strong indications to the contrary provided by Bob - who, by the way, is solidly and permanently on my enemies list
-- fairly positive responses from Doug
- made five posts partially or entirely about the status of my testicles
- gotten a single yippy little Hang Two punk to jump on board with you
- stated he's an incredible idiot on the subject of hang gliding

Case closed, dude. Excellent work.

In place of debunking the scientifically illiterate and religiously motivated Tad.

Is that supposed to be some kind of sentence? Use of the word "illiterate" a bit ironic, don't ya think?

I've started a free weak link testing endeavor.

How's that going? It's coming up on eight months since you've started your free weak link testing endeavor. What kind of trends are you seeing?

Send me your links and i will test them free of charge.

Can I help you out with some of your expenses?

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31432
Free* weak link tensile testing.

Page 22, 155 hits, zero responses. Well, at least no one will ever be able to accuse you of publishing a batshit insane manifesto. Keep up the great work.

Zack C - 2012/06/02 02:20:45 UTC

I just cannot fathom how our sport can be so screwed up.

This is why. The sport is an ecosystem ripe for infestation/infection/takeover by this pathological personality type - and nuthin's ever gonna change that. The best we're ever gonna be able to do here is expose these slimeballs for what they are and cramp their style a bit.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.wingsofrogallo.org/board/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1608
November 2013 Minutes
pc_airdawg - 2013/11/28 - 21:51

Ed Levin - Phyl Hamby

There was an accident in which a woman broke both arms. Apparently she held onto the downtubes while nosing in on a flight from the forty foot hill. Eric Hinrichs commented that students should not be allowed to launch from the top of the hill if they crashed on a previous flight.

- Oh. She had her hands on the downtubes and broke both arms. Big surprise.

- So how come she was flying with her hands on the downtubes? Lemme guess... One of those piece of shit "training" harnesses...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_yTHPgNxsk

05-03223
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7411/14165628916_bbdc682e28_o.png


http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5120/14188732974_08536f5037_o.png
08-43827

...that forces the student upright until she's earned the privilege of flying the glider in a safe configuration in which she can actually CONTROL the glider?

- So somebody explain to me why this atrocity isn't getting the heat that this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIHfVnuNX0Y


did?

-- No video?
-- Instructor a good ol' boy who's real popular with the locals?
-- Victim not as cute?

- So that's the criterion for being good for the top of the forty? As long as the student's previous flight didn't require tubing replacement and/or an ambulance ride she's solid?

- When do you think:
-- USHGA will be publishing the accident report in the magazine?
-- she's gonna be back for her next lesson?

Great job guys. Keep up the good work.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=30380
Newbie - First Post

Kayakjack - 2013/11/28 00:46:21 UTC
Atlanta

I am a real newbie.

That could work to your advantage. Do try to avoid getting your brain rotted out by the assholes who run this sport.

I took my first two flights - tandem aero-tow at Lookout Mountain Hang Gliding - Lookout Mountain Flight Park last weekend. Loved it.

Probable too late.

My pilot Ozzie was the best.

Yeah, they all are. There's not all that much too it.

I took the leap (pun intended) and signed up for training (their VIP Package). I now have the manual Hang Gliding for Beginner Pilots and have started to read.

Have you realized what a total piece of crap it is yet?

I have participated in "risk" sports a lot.

Not like this one, dude. Inherently dangerous, based on fiction, controlled by a lawyer whose sole function is to protect the industry from liability.

I am a whitewater kayaker. Various fast car activities. But this is new.

I am a safety oriented person. I have made it this far (64 years) without a scratch. I am not a daredevil. I just want to fly.

No you don't. You want to perfect your flare timing so's you can whipstall all your landings to no-steppers within five feet of a traffic cone.

I would be not be truthful if I said I had no apprehension about this.

So you HAVE read and understood some of that crap you bought from Matt.

Foot launch gives me the willies.

Good. It's dangerous as hell.

Hopefully the training will ease that. A bit.

Hopefully it'll do just the opposite - a lot.

I have a lot to learn.

And then, if you wanna become a competent pilot, you'll have a lot to unlearn.

I hope I like this enough to make it a big part of my life.

It sure did just become a big part of Scott Howard's life.

We will see. One step at a time. Like I said, I am safety oriented. I don't take stupid risks.

By starting your training at Lockout you already have.

Any suggestions or insight would be appreciated.

You want help - come over here. You've had an invite.

Thanks for listening.

Don't worry, I'll be listening.

2013/11/28 01:32:26 UTC - 3 thumbs up - Sam Kellner

Dan Johnson - 2013/11/28 01:19:14 UTC

Well, you most definately have the right attitude.

But definitely the wrong forum.

Foot launch can be quite a bit (I hate to use the word) scary, but your brain is learning a new skill, so the more practice you get, the better you will adapt.

Yeah, maybe Bondy can give you a few tips. No, wait... Never mind.

Your instructor - coach will give you the right skill sets...

Bullshit.

...plus the training manual will give you some tips...

Everything you could possibly want to know about hang checks, backup releases, fishing line, and hook knives.

...but the word is practice.

Flare timing, flare timing, flare timing...

Only then YOU will know that you are ready to move up to the bigger hills.

An don't for get those hang checks. They become more and more important the higher and higher you get.

I was young and working out three times a week, twice a day. I had real problems in that I tried to muscle the thing. It's a finesse, learning to let the glider fly and feel what it is telling you.

Mostly with your hands on the downtubes at shoulder or ear height.

Good luck, have fun, and Oh, as my first instructor told me; "You know you can breath up there." (10 feet off the ground took my breath away)

Sometimes it's a good idea to use different spellings for different sounding words.

Sebastian (seb) - 2013/11/28 01:33:35 UTC
Alabama

The aero towing will make you a better pilot.

But it's IMPURE. For it to be properly sacred you must drive your glider to the top of a mountain on a truck, set it up, and run it off a ramp - just like a bird does.

You will be flying very fast on tow and will learn how to give small inputs at high speed.

And how to properly prepare for your 130 pound Greenspot Pilot In Command increasing the safety of the towing operation at the worst possible time, when the glider is climbing hard in a near stall situation.

I did the VIP at Lookout and did all my aerotow first. Hell I had fifteen solo aerotow flights before I did my first mountain launch. The mountain launch was easy after all you experience on tow !

And not the least bit scary. You always do a hang check at the back of the ramp so you know you're safely connected to the glider and have your leg loops at the front of the ramp.

Experiencing rotor wash, turbulence and just one on one with the instructors during tandems you will get more air time and instruction than if you were just doing the mountain launch. Congrats!! Plus all your flights are high altitude!

I liked being Pilot In Command of the goddam glider for every flight of my advancement.

My name is Sebastian and I'm usually there every two weeks! Congrats again and looking forward to meeting you. Awesome instructors and tug pilots at LMFP!

Bullshit.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=30412
Good flying advice

Brian Horgan - 2013/12/04 21:32:56 UTC

If your new at this great sport and want to get sound advice,post your questions herehttps://www.facebook.com/FreeFlightAdvice

You will get good advise from people that you can bet your life on.HG.org has good advise also but you have to weed through the retards that fly a keyboard and sound convincing(arm chair pilots)

i hope sg will start a forum for people to give advice that limits the people who can give advise.We need to know who our veterans are.

Anyway the site up above will get you veteran advise, if you want it.

- Good job, Brian. You spelled "advice" right three out of six times. And fifty percent is my minimum threshold for accepting advice about where I can get advice I can bet my life on.

- But maybe you should get your average up to two out of three before you start referring to other people as "retards".

- Actually, Brian, I don't BET my life on ADVICE from people stupid Jack Show glider jocks refer me to. I use my keyboard to check the numbers so I understand the issues just as well as anyone else capable of using his keyboard to check the numbers - and thus don't hafta gamble with my life every time I go up the way idiots who operate on the advice of others do.

- Jack's already made a pretty good job of starting a forum for people to give advice that limits the people who can give advice. He skimmed off the Extremist One Percent which knows what the fuck it's talking about and left a bunch of brain dead dildos to advise each other on issues like the best times to try to blow Lockout Mountain Flight Park Releases:

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=22540
LMFP release dysfunction

Diev Hart - 2011/07/14 17:19:12 UTC

I have had issues with them releasing under load. So I don't try to release it under a lot of load now.

how to fly most safely with Rooney Links:

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

Craig Hassan - 2012/08/17 12:47:39 UTC

So my suggestion is, don't break your weak link and it won't cause you any problems.

and how to best avoid attaining a false sense of security when you're about to run off a ramp unhooked:

http://www.rmhpa.org/messageboard/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4258
HG accident in Vancouver

Tom Galvin - 2012/10/31 22:17:21 UTC

I don't teach lift and tug, as it gives a false sense of security.

- So you veterans knock yourselves out advising the newbies on listening to Ryan Instant-Hands-Free-Release Voight and how to sift through all the opinions and toss out the ones from armchair pilots who sound convincing and swallow whole the totally insane sounding crap coming from high airtime scum like your buddy Davis. If I'm lucky I'll get another good fatality before Christmas - hopefully with a good high resolution video.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=30412
Good flying advice

Hey Brian...

- If you're so fucking qualified to advise newbies on who they should and shouldn't get advice from why don't you just advise them yourself? Not really all that fucking confident in your own understanding of the issues?

- Plan B...

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

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.

Why not just refer everyone to Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney the way Mitch does. Rooney knows everything about everything - just ask him sometime. Well... everything about everything but the Zack Marzec fatality - but nobody really has any idea what happened on that one.

- Can you cite any:
-- data indicating that people are getting creamed because they're getting convincing sounding but bad advice from armchair pilots?
-- convincing sounding but bad advice from an armchair pilot that isn't also given by some stupid thousand hour air jock?

- Isn't most of the instruction provided to students coming from or supervised by high airtime air jocks? Why do you think it sucks so much that the students need you to advise them on the best opinions to listen to?

- Why do think it is that nobody seems to be able to recommend any solid texts that don't contradict themselves every other page? My take is that since there's only about half a dozen people in the sport who can differentiate between angle of attack and pitch attitude and tension and pressure it's really not worth the effort to do anything right.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=30412
Good flying advice

Paraglider Collapse - 2013/12/05 04:31:14 UTC

What a great idea!

And in that spirit of generosity I volunteer myself as the top expert and authority on all aspects of hang gliding to lead your new group!
I'm all for limiting opinions and am quite certain that anyone who disagrees with me is a "mousepad pilot."

Now let's see... the pointy end goes forward, right?

Pre fucking cisely.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=4276
USHPA website redesign

Greg Angsten - 2013/12/04 23:59:07 UTC
Westchester, California

I received this from John Stallman (bad name for a pilot, isn't it?) at USHPA and thought I would post it here.

Hello USHPA Chapter Presidents,

Happy holidays to you all.

The USHPA web site will be undergoing a major redesign and modernization effort in a few weeks.
We want your input for the redesign. Because you are the conduit to your region, we thought you might be able to help solicit the creative input from our membership.

What functions, features, and abilities do you want to see from the USHPA web site? We have some ideas such as; site guides, chapter guides, forum links, weather links, how to videos, online flight school materials, etc. We need to support these suggestions with details - what sites? What videos? What are the URL's? What weather links do you use? What other modern tools do you like to use for your flying needs/passion (hard to tell the difference sometimes)
Please post those suggestions under the topic item: USHPA Headquarters: What do you want from an USHPA website? Details Welcome?
You can access the USHPA Facebook page by clicking this link:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/United-States-Hang-Gliding-and-Paragliding-Assn-Inc-Ushpa/250881831591967

I welcome you to forward a message to your local chapter mailing list or regional mailing list serves to request people, if interested in helping, to go to the USHPA Facebook page, read the comments provided, 'like' the features you would like to see, and provide your suggestions - this is an easy way for us to keep track of suggestions. If you are not a Facebook user, you may email me directly and I will incorporate into the pool of ideas. Please keep your suggestions constructive, positive, and applicable to the redesign of the web site - specifically what you would like to see available as a membership.

How 'bout some suggestions about what to avoid like the plague?

- Hook-in checks. You wouldn't wanna hafta do a Paul Voight "Pre Flight Safety for Hang Gliding - Revision" revision video.

- Purpose of a weak link - beyond, of course, being the focal point of a safe towing system / increasing the safety of the towing operation / breaking as early as possible in lockout situations.

- Tested weak link strength values. With our backgrounds in formal research, we know that lab tests may produce results with good internal validity, but are often weak in regard to external validity, meaning lab conditions cannot completely include all the factors and variability that exist in the big, real world - particularly those involving invisible dust devils and bullet thermals.

- Mention of a Hewett Link failing to prevent a lockout or decreasing the safety of a towing operation.

- Argument that "Hewett Links always break at the worst possible time, when the glider is climbing hard in a near stall situation."

- Homemade releases with very short track records. Might not be consistent with industry standards.

- Wheel landings. If they start catching on people won't be able to safely land in narrow dry riverbeds with large rocks strewn all over the place.

- Crash reports. Only post ones about fatalities so notorious that a report would be conspicuous by its absence and obscure the actual causes as much as possible. If the victim was wearing an open face helmet do your best to leave the impression that he'd have come out smelling like a rose if only he'd had a chin guard.

- T** at K*** S******. And anyone else who'd like to see any of the solutions Doug Hildreth was tirelessly plugging thirty years ago implemented.