landing

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=30722
What happened to JD?

NMERider - 2014/02/05 04:51:39 UTC

Ironically, a few hours ago a long-time hang gliding friend of mine ran across this quote today.

The readiness to blame a dead pilot for an accident is nauseating, but it has been the tendency ever since I can remember. What pilot has not been in positions where he was in danger and where perfect judgment would have advised against going? But when a man is caught in such a position he is judged only by his error and seldom given credit for the times he has extricated himself from worse situations.

Worst of all, blame is heaped upon him by other pilots, all of whom have been in parallel situations themselves, but without being caught in them. If one took no chances, one would not fly at all. Safety lies in the judgment of the chances one takes. That judgment, in turn, must rest upon one's outlook on life.

Any coward can sit in his home and criticize a pilot for flying into a mountain in fog. But I would rather, by far, die on a mountainside than in bed. Why should we look for his errors when a brave man dies? Unless we can learn from his experience, there is no need to look for weakness. Rather, we should admire the courage and spirit in his life. What kind of man would live where there is no daring? And is life so dear that we should blame men for dying in adventure? Is there a better way to die?

Can anyone guess who wrote this and when (without using a search engine)?

NMERider - 2014/02/05 04:56:39 UTC

God bless your old man, Brian.

Yeah, he did a real bang-up job raising him - with, undoubtedly, a lot of help from God.

The day I stop being one stubborn motherfucker is the day you need to really be concerned about me. Right now the nerves running from my C5 down into my right arm and hand are giving me a world of agony. Let's hope I can see the spinal surgeon soon. Like tomorrow.

Cheers Amigo

Richard Palmon - 2014/02/05 05:26:57 UTC

If he flies HG's? There's no way in hell he works or worked for Nasa? My guess is he is a relative of the Wright Brothers? LOL!
I'm stumped JD?
Sorry for the speculation on my part!
He or She?

NMERider - 2014/02/05 05:35:43 UTC

Lindbergh, 1938

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Lindbergh

Funny how technology may change but not so for human nature.

Bullshit. I'm a big admirer of his for the stand he took on the environment but that statement is crap.

The readiness to blame a dead pilot for an accident is nauseating, but it has been the tendency ever since I can remember.

1. That's pretty much ALL the hang gliding establishment does whenever something ugly happens.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hhpa/message/11700
Question

Zack C - 2010/11/18 05:59:03 UTC

But I'm one of Matt's 'defective products'. The first thing I learned to do in the field at Lookout was a hang check. I was told a story by my instructor about the then-recent death of a pilot who launched without being through his leg loops. The instructor called this pilot an 'idiot'. This is how I was taught to think from Day 1.

Jon Orders is currently doing time for dropping a passenger a thousand feet as a consequence of his "criminal negligence". The problem was no fuckin' way that he was trained and certified using a "safety" procedure known, well documented, pretty much guaranteed to fail over time. And none of you motherfuckers are defending him on those grounds.

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."

But when people very regularly and predictably break arms and dislocate shoulders...

2. If a properly trained pilot totals himself he SHOULD be blamed. Name some survivors and narrow missers who don't blame THEMSELVES - often overly.

What pilot has not been in positions where he was in danger and where perfect judgment would have advised against going?

I've been in positions in which I've been in danger and crashed or gotten away with them. Several of them were because I had crappy tow operators. All of the others save one didn't need perfect judgment to avoid - mediocre would've sufficed.

On the one - which was very nearly fatal but totally inconsequential thanks to several feet of clearance - I hold myself fairly blameless because the phenomenon which overpowered me had never been observed at that site (Jockey's Ridge - South Bowl) had never been observed/ encountered before. If, however, I had resumed flying in the conditions in which produced that phenomenon my judgment would've been crappy.

But when a man is caught in such a position he is judged only by his error and seldom given credit for the times he has extricated himself from worse situations.

That's life, dude. Mother Nature doesn't give a rat's ass about all the times you did a hang check and launched hooked in, pulled out with two feet to spare, nailed the traffic cone with a no stepper, dodged the Cheetah until it ran out of breath.

Worst of all, blame is heaped upon him by other pilots, all of whom have been in parallel situations themselves, but without being caught in them.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=12682
Landing on your feet (for AEROTOW)- So Dangerous

Jack Axaopoulos - 2009/06/29 14:26:26 UTC

OMG!!! You dont even have wheels!!?!?!?!?
YOURE GONNA DIE FOR SUUUUREE!!!!

I have a brilliant idea. People who cant land for sh*t.... LEARN TO LAND That way when a weak link breaks on you, ITS A NON-ISSUE. Genius huh???

If one took no chances, one would not fly at all.

If one took no chances, one would not get out of bed at all. And then one would die from bedsores anyway.

What kind of chances are you talking about and what are the consequences of coming up with a losing roll of the dice? There's a difference between risking going down in a rough field, in which the situation can be easily managed to limit the consequences to a broken downtube or two, and risking going down in the trees or a river.

Safety lies in the judgment of the chances one takes.

Yeah, see above. There's a big difference between risking a crash skimming the soft sand at Jockey's Ridge and risking a turbulence induced crash soaring the Smithsburg training hill or badlands bluffs in North Dakota.

That judgment, in turn, must rest upon one's outlook on life.

We're all made of similar flesh, blood, bones, neural pathways and we all beak at similar degrees of trauma. If one's outlook includes putting those components at appreciable risk one shouldn't be flying.

Any coward can sit in his home and criticize a pilot for flying into a mountain in fog.

I can do that from five thousand feet over the ridge or wanging onto final in the field I've selected.

But I would rather, by far, die on a mountainside than in bed.

Really? So how come you didn't just keep engaging in risky flying until you achieved that goal? You died in bed of lymphatic cancer on 1974/08/26 - nine years to the day before I was spending eleven and a half hours on the operating table having a grapefruit sized malignant tumor hacked out of my abdomen. Tons of people say that bullshit. Hell, I used to. But nobody ever sticks to it when reality starts rearing its ugly head.

Why should we look for his errors when a brave man dies?

FUCK brave men. This guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj1Z_BI5OXs
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj1Z_BI5OXs[/video]

is a real coward. He doesn't wanna take chances of just getting injured when they're greater than a hundred thousand to one. He doesn't wanna go up when the chances of him getting injured are any greater than they are in the course of a normal day of boring ordinary ground based shit. Same for me, thank you very much.

Unless we can learn from his experience, there is no need to look for weakness.

If he flies into a mountain in the fog there's nothing to learn and we know what the weakness was - he flew into a mountain in the fog.

Rather, we should admire the courage and spirit in his life.

No. Unless he's morally cowardly Rooney/Davis caliber scum I'm gonna feel some degree of sorrow for him but I'm certainly not gonna admire his "courage and spirit" (read stupidity) any more than I did before he plowed into the mountain in the fog. I'm gonna admire the physical cowards who do everything they can to minimize risk and keep coming back any weekend when it's not significantly foggy.

What kind of man would live where there is no daring?

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. Imagine living most of your life with no testicles.

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.

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

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.

Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! A man with no testicles. A man who can win comps, set site records, pioneer sites, fly respectable XC distances, stop real short in real tight fields and with waist high grass if necessary - 'cause he's still got two functional arms and one functional neck to work with.

And is life so dear that we should blame men for dying in adventure?

Yes. And let's not forget about the some of the guys not lucky enough to die right away...

http://ozreport.com/11.126
The Exxtacy landing accident at Morningside

Debbie Onorato - 2007/06/27

Dear Micki and Al,

I am at the trauma center in Lebanon, New Hampshire called Dartmouth Hitchcock and I found their computer. I thought I would write and let you know how much I appreciate your email.

Mike is still in the ICU since Sunday. He is confirmed as being quadriplegic. I was informed in the ER on Sunday, but hoped 48 hours would maybe make the doctors wrong.

I cannot believe this nightmare.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc4-mRxy5GY


...and their friends and families.

And you're talking about recreational flying - flying done ultimately only for the feelings it gives us.

- And NOBODY enjoys throwing extra risk into the equation. Nobody opts for the narrow dry riverbed with large rocks strewn all over the place over the Happy Acres putting green also easily in range because it's more daring and will enhance his experience.

- And when pilots ARE doing the kind of flying that DOES demand substantial risk - search and rescue, combat - they're not enjoying flying blind, getting tossed around in storms, being shot at. They're doing everything they can to minimize risk and get the fuck back down to base in one piece.

Is there a better way to die?

Rick Masters - 1982/09/10

The wings were folded together. The fuselage and left wing lay upside down on top of the right wing. Jeff crouched down and looked up inside the fuselage. George was there, still strapped in. There was blood all over his face but he wasn't bleeding.

George was still gripping the canopy frame. We pried his fingers loose. There was blood everywhere from a gash on his head.

We attempted CPR. Joey gave mouth-to-mouth while I worked his chest. Soon our clothes were soaked with George's blood. I think we both knew he was dead, we just couldn't accept it.

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=811
FTHI

Rick Masters - 2011/10/26 23:07:48 UTC

Bob held on to his base tube all the way down from Plowshare. The impact split his skull and he suffered terribly until he died during the night, alone.

Mark Johnson - 2008/08/31
Phoenix

He then separated from his glider. I don't know if as he let go with one hand to throw his chute and the G force threw him out or maybe he was holding on and got thrown out, but he was falling and his chute was trying to open seconds before he hit. Had it been enough to slow him down. From above it looked like maybe it caught a tree, maybe it caught him. I was so hopeful, but in my heart I felt the worst.

As Mark Knight and I jumped in my truck to drive to the trail head, I could hear Kunio's kids crying, my heart sank even more, I felt sick. Had they just watched their dad fall to his death? I was nauseated and wanted to throw up.

Probably. And even if not there are damn near always better TIMES to die.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=30722
What happened to JD?

Erik Boehm - 2014/02/05 17:50:46 UTC

I think many of us have left uncomfortably thin margins for error.

I think damn near all of you introduce items into your procedures and equipment which leave you with uncomfortably thin margins for error which you think are doing just the opposite.

We can tell ourselves after seeing others cut that margin too thin...

0:50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR_4jKLqrus

...that we'll learn from their mistakes, but I suspect many of us don't learn as well as we should, or only become acquainted with the concept, but are still unable to accurately judge the risk.

1. You're an idiot, Eric.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=13864
My new wing

Erik Boehm - 2009/10/06 17:30:38 UTC

Yes, 75 N for 1 second, is still 75 N if it lasts for three seconds.

1 N will accelerate 1 kg by 1 m/s every second.
Thus if I apply a 75 N force to a stationary object for three seconds (ignore friction), if I desire to stop the object in one second, I will need to use a force three times greater than the 75 N force that was applied for 3 seconds ->225 N for 1 second is required to counteract a 75 N force applied for three seconds.

If you want to stop the object in half the time, you need twice the force.

Thus we see for situations where relative motion is brought to a stop very quickly (such as when wires that were slack go taught), the forces can be quite high.

Do try to avoid issues in which learning and judging are involved.

2. I tell myself that whenever you assholes see someone cutting margins for errors paper thin you'll make whatever he's using and doing SOP so you'll have more things you can blame on pilot error.

I won't be too hard on JD, I've done stupid things too.
But hopefully, he's learned a bit.

NMERider - 2014/02/05 18:35:21 UTC

Well said Erik,

Later, I will have more to say about 'learning' versus 'training' and how these two distinct aspects of flying impacted my decisions and my actions that resulted in this accident.

You're still calling it an accident, Jonathan.

Right now I am engaged in getting my MRI records in hand and seeing the neurosurgeon.

What fun.

Thanks, JD

CAL - 2014/02/05 19:18:49 UTC

Thanks, JD
i think that is well said as well, you also need to look at how much JD has flown, which makes the risk even higher how many of us could have as good of record as JD with that many flights, Noman who's name i use very respectfully has had his close calls, one i remember at the fort, with that said, he has been there so that gives him the right to help others try not to do as he, we all hope the best for you JD good Luck

Jonathan didn't nearly quad himself coming down in switchy air in a narrow dry riverbed with large rocks strewn all over the place after a long exhausting XC flight. All we need to look at is the number of times he tried to wind himself into wide open primaries with six foot drag chutes out as tightly and steeply as possible.

Patrick Halfhill - 2014/02/05 21:25:21 UTC

6000 views!

Wow JD,
You get more views than a thread with a world record flight! You need to start selling ad space.

Wow Pat,

In the General subforum currently back one from the bottom of Page 16 there's a thread:

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

with 17549 hits in which you didn't participate. And you with such a keen interest...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=12587
weak links (here we go)

...in the subject of hang glider aerotow weak links. How very odd.

I'm just so glad you are ok I need somebody that will fly with me when I come to California

Who ya gonna fly with when you go to Ridgely, Currituck, Quest?

NMERider - 2014/02/05 22:49:02 UTC

For me, the truth of the matter is that pilots need to be discussing the training they have done along with the training they are currently doing and the training they have scheduled and are planning on doing. I'm talking about hands-on training. That means launching, landing and flying with a purpose. That purpose needs to be improving skills and improving margins for safety.

How much training do they need to have in order to not fly gliders into the ground with six foot drag chutes out behind them? As far as I know all tandem passengers who had their unhooked Pilots In Command fall clear of the glider before hitting the powerlines came out smelling like roses - and even Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney's victim stayed in pretty good shape.

Book learning and video watching and forum exchanges and LZ discussions are all very well and good but none of that amounts to anything unless there is hands-on training going on at a regular pace to develop better skills and to reduce and eliminate bad habits or weaknesses.

Where's your data to support that statement?

- I can inoculate any first day student with half a brain or better against launching unhooked and assholes like Tom Galvin without him ever getting near a glider.

- I can multiply the safety margin of any aerotower by a factor of a thousand by putting a five hundred pound weak link on the glider, a six hundred on the tug, selling him a hundred dollar release:

http://www.getoffrelease.com/

from Joe Street, and telling him to tell anybody who's not on my very short approved list to go fuck himself.

- I can knock the chances of him crashing a landing down to 0.1 percent of what it is for a Lockout Mountain or Grebloville victim by putting a good pair of pneumatic wheels on the basetube and telling him to never foot or spot land and never even think of putting it down in a narrow dry riverbed with large rocks strewn all over the place.

Talk is cheap.

Really? It cost me my hang gliding career.

Training takes time and money.

Not necessarily. There were a lot of people from back in the dinosaur days who got kits and a sheet of instructions on how to fly who did a lot better than you did on your last flight.

Talking is not training. Training is training. There is no substitute.

Bullshit. Training starts with ground school and theory. And hang gliding's got a bunch of assholes incapable of dealing with grade school language, math, science teaching whatever fiction they feel like making up for ground school - if they have a pretense of one at all - and a pathological hatred of theory. And nobody who understood theory would ever dream of going up on a pro toad bridle with a Rooney Link and bent pin barrel release on his shoulder.

There have been a number of pilots who I know personally who have good safety records and solid skills and although they may talk and listen and read and write, above all they train and they train hard.

I'm talking about pilots who show up at 8AM with their wives and then knock off five launches, flights, and landings in a single day where virtually everyone else gets in one flight.

1. Got any pilots who show up at 8 AM with their husbands and then knock off five launches, flights, and landings in a single day where virtually everyone else gets in one?

2. Why not? Too many testosterone poisoned assholes in your (red) neck of the woods to make it a very comfortable environment for all potential participants?

The pilots shoot video for their own review in order to improve and less for vanity and showmanship. It's expensive. It costs money and takes time and energy away from other pursuits.

All of which are obviously totally useless - or at least vastly inferior.

But that is where solid skills come from and not merely from exchanging information.

So the guys who are doing this are all immune from crashing and everyone who's not is just an accident waiting to happen.

So it's more than understandable when these pilots get incensed at others who have needless accidents and then rationalize their mistakes or insist that exchanging information alone will correct their weaknesses.

You had one of the more spectacular and devastating hang gliding "accidents" of the twelve month period ending at the end of January. And you've been flying your brains out for years.

It would be great if that were true but it isn't. What is true is that the pilots with solid technique and who have fewer accidents tend to be the ones who train the hardest.

The pilots who have the fewest "accidents" are the ones who always come in on their wheels. Just go to any tow park that does aerotow rides and training and watch what happens.

And it's pretty fucking obvious that when you're talking about "accidents" and hard training and solid technique you're talking pretty much exclusively about foot landings. Because...

- Safety is an issue pretty much only at launch and landing.
-- Tow launches are all brain dead easy platform and dolly.
-- Foot launches can be practiced in soccer fields.

- It's impossible...

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."

...to do foot landings safely and consistently.

- They're overwhelmingly...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=22176
Paragliding Collapses

Jim Rooney - 2011/06/12 13:57:58 UTC

Most common HG injury... spiral fracture of the humerus.

...the primary cause of injuries.

- Everything else in hang gliding is...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=27415
Friday the 19th with Hawks & Friends!

NMERider - 2012/10/24 21:47:05 UTC

I have to say that landing on the wheels is so much fun it's not funny.

...FUN to practice and become proficient in and you don't need to be some hard-ass who shows up at 8 AM to start doing endless repetitions while ignoring everything else in life every flyable weekend.

Obviously none of us wants to train ourselves to reinforce bad habits and we need information to follow from and practice while in the air and during air-to-ground transition.

I don't wanna train myself to do much of anything, Jonathan. I did all that bullshit decades ago and I know how to fly a lot more safely than all the hook-in check skipping foot landing dickheads your talking about. I can get to cloudbase with the best of them, I no longer give much of a rat's ass about XC and any of a rat's ass about flare timing, and I can do an approach into anything better than just about anyone. I just wanna enjoy flying the way I wanna enjoy it.

So there's learning and there's training together. But above all there needs to be some form of physical practice.

It's like riding a bicycle.

And that practice must be with a purpose.

Knock yourself out - when and if you can again.

Sadly, this is a very difficult sport to get that practice because it is very time consuming and there are limited opportunities to do the physical training.

Guess we'll just hafta dumb down our landings to the way all other fixed wing aircraft do them and abandon our dreams of coming down in narrow dry riverbeds with large rocks strewn all over the place.

I don't have an answer for that.

See above.

But I promised Erik I would revisit this thing about learning. And I wanted to differentiate learning from training at least as I personally view the two aspects of skill development.

Any chance of you posting your x-rays for us?

So when it comes time for me to return to the skies, assuming I recover well enough to do that...

Yeah. ASSUMING you do. And you can't just recover well enough to return to the skies. You've gotta recover well enough to return to the skies AND ENJOY BEING THERE. And I have serious doubts about that happening.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=26847
Landing Out

NMERider - 2012/08/10 17:09:10 UTC

Be glad you don't fly XC where I do. It really sucks here in the LA Basin and I'm tired of all the hazards.

Back then you had an option of just stopping doing the kind of flying that you weren't really enjoying. But you took the other fork and started getting heavily into drag chutes to deal with the hazards. And then you took that approach to the lunatic extreme and now you may be permanently in a condition in which the pain you're gonna experience more than cancels out any enjoyment you can get from flying - and a lot of other activities like playing checkers.

I will discuss my training program at that time.

I can hardly wait.

Thank you for your indulgence.

I'd rather have seen videos of you doing hook-in checks, flying around with Redtails, Eagles, and Condors, and wheel landing in the primary.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46pvhPUM5-Q
Proof Jaybird is capable of busting a DT 12-01-2013

Glenn Zapien - 2013/12/03

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46pvhPUM5-Q


Proof Jaybird is capable of busting a DT 12-01-2013

Proof ANYBODY is capable of busting a downtube attempting stupid stand-up no-stepper stunt landings in zilch air. And I don't hear none of you idiot fuckin' yahoos commenting on what is about to happen or just happened because the mistakes are just too subtle.

I don't like having the VG off completely while landing.

1. But you're obviously totally cool with having the wheels off completely while landing.

2. I don't like...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=26854
Skids versus wheels

Andrew Stakhov - 2012/08/11 13:52:35 UTC

So I just came back from flying in Austria (awesome place btw). Stark difference I noticed is a large chunk of pilots choose to fly with skids instead of wheels. Conversations I had with pilots they say they actually work better in certain situations as they don't get plugged up like smaller wheels. Even larger heavier Atosses were all flying with skids. I was curious why they consistently chose to land on skids on those expensive machines and they were saying that it's just not worth the risk of a mistimed flare or wing hitting the ground... And those are all carbon frames etc.

...trashing hundred plus dollar downtubes because of barely perceptible errors with speed and flare timing on brain dead easy putting greens while practicing for landing in narrow dry riverbeds with large rocks strewn all over the place.

But that's just me.

But that's just me.

pepersorte

Thank god all my old gliders have round up rights, they only cost me £7 each to make... cheers pete

Wheels? Necessity of practicing stunt landings?

And here's this asshole almost certainly at the other end of that flight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-0SlPcnQqE


Let the glider float up to tension the suspension and verify connection status and leg loops? Why fuckin' bother? Just did a hang check a minute or two ago.

[Tad Eareckson]

Jump to next post:
http://www.kitestrings.org/post5701.html#p5701

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_2holKUTxM
Hang Gliding, Landing on Wheels

Niki Longshore - 2014/02/10
Galveston

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_2holKUTxM


Until I master the foot stuff, I'm bound to "training wheels".

1. You mean like airline, crop duster, carrier, space shuttle pilots?

2. Yeah, after you master the foot stuff...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11946
Once again with wheels

Rich Jesuroga - 2008/05/19 17:49:23 UTC

A few years back a friend who had good landing skills missed ONE. Stuck his speed bar in the dirt and whacked hard. He swung through the control bar and hit the top of his helmet on the keel buckling his neck. He was a quadriplegic for eight months before committing suicide. Would wheels have worked? YES - no debate by those who were there and witnessed the accident.

...you can get rid of your "training wheels", protective clothing, helmet. And after you've mastered thermal and aerobatic flying you can get rid of your parachute.

3. The best way to master the foot stuff is to find a Hang Five type who's mastered it...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27086
Steve Pearson on landings

Steve Pearson - 2012/03/28 23:26:05 UTC

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.

...and have him explain to you just how to do it.

4. Once you've mastered the foot stuff:
- to what states are you planning to travel to look for places where you'll need it?
- would you please explain what's required and involved so the rest of us can master it too?

5. With what fucking idiots are you associating who are telling you can master this bullshit?

Basic landing approach (downwind, base, final).

Tighten it way the fuck up. Being able to do a really tight approach will do marvels to keep you out of deep shit, mastering the foot stuff will only put you into it.

Final approach with lots of speed...

Too much speed too high. No need whatsoever in air like that.

...and gentle touch down on wheels.

Yeah - natural, safe, brain dead easy, great way to end a flight.

Though I don't know what it's like to land on my feet (yet)...

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."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46pvhPUM5-Q


Difficult, complicated, ineffective, stressful, frustrating, scary, expensive, dangerous, stupid. Your best opportunity for getting seriously fucked up and interrupting or ending your career. Talk to Shannon Moon.

I am enjoying the wheels!

NO...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=27415
Friday the 19th with Hawks & Friends!

NMERider - 2012/10/24 21:47:05 UTC

I have to say that landing on the wheels is so much fun it's not funny.

...SHIT.

Compare/Contrast:

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=30722
What happened to JD?

NMERider - 2014/02/05 22:49:02 UTC

For me, the truth of the matter is that pilots need to be discussing the training they have done along with the training they are currently doing and the training they have scheduled and are planning on doing. I'm talking about hands-on training. That means launching, landing and flying with a purpose. That purpose needs to be improving skills and improving margins for safety.

Book learning and video watching and forum exchanges and LZ discussions are all very well and good but none of that amounts to anything unless there is hands-on training going on at a regular pace to develop better skills and to reduce and eliminate bad habits or weaknesses.

Talk is cheap. Training takes time and money. Talking is not training. Training is training. There is no substitute. There have been a number of pilots who I know personally who have good safety records and solid skills and although they may talk and listen and read and write, above all they train and they train hard.

I'm talking about pilots who show up at 8AM with their wives and then knock off five launches flights and landings in a single day where virtually everyone else gets in one flight. Some pilots leave a dirt bike down in the LZ and drive themselves up to launch go fly and then ride their bike back up to their truck and may do it all over again several times the same day.

The pilots shoot video for their own review in order to improve and less for vanity and showmanship. It's expensive. It costs money and takes time and energy away from other pursuits. But that is where solid skills come from and not merely from exchanging information.

So it's more than understandable when these pilots get incensed at others who have needless accidents and then rationalize their mistakes or insist that exchanging information alone will correct their weaknesses. It would be great if that were true but it isn't. What is true is that the pilots with solid technique and who have fewer accidents tend to be the ones who train the hardest.

Obviously none of us wants to train ourselves to reinforce bad habits and we need information to follow from and practice while in the air and during air-to-ground transition. So there's learning and there's training together. But above all there needs to be some form of physical practice. And that practice must be with a purpose.

Sadly, this is a very difficult sport to get that practice because it is very time consuming and there are limited opportunities to do the physical training. I don't have an answer for that. But I promised Erik I would revisit this thing about learning. And I wanted to differentiate learning from training at least as I personally view the two aspects of skill development.

So when it comes time for me to return to the skies, assuming I recover well enough to do that, I will discuss my training program at that time.

Is that:
- what you got in this sport to do?
- where you want put your time, energy, resources, focus?
- something you believe people are really capable of pulling off and making pay in the long run?

That landing was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. It was perfect. It can't be done any better than you just did and you should never need anything else. Don't let these assholes with whom you're training ever convince you otherwise and start you down that endless misdirected path.

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Stills from the launch, tow, release, sightseeing eighty percent of the flight:
http://www.kitestrings.org/post6165.html#p6165

Jump to top:
http://www.kitestrings.org/post5670.html#p5670

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=30722
What happened to JD?

NMERider - 2014/02/06 17:58:05 UTC

My basic launch and landing skills are actually pretty solid and herein lies the rub. I personally find that performing conventional and repetitious launches and landings to be boring, tedious, monotonous and in short, the antithesis of why I engaged in foot-launched soaring flight.

I didn't engage in hang gliding 'cause I gave a rat's ass how I got airborne. And my take is that anybody who does is a dickhead.

Unlike some others in this sport, I am anything but a one-trick pony. I am not someone who prides himself on doing the same exact thing in the same location(s) ad nauseam. No two launches and landings are ever the same for me. No two flights are ever the same either. I am always experimenting with new routes and unconventional routes and flying longer, lower and deeper with each new iteration.

That's a great recipe for a long flying career.

I went the opposite route. I figured that I'd rather put as much of my time, energy, resources into thermalling within range of the airport and scrubbed all the bullshit associated with XC and retrieval. And I always had a blast landing at the Ridgely Happy Acres putting green doing simulations of putting it down in a postage stamp.

Needless to say I neither run with the herd nor bend to others' perceptions of convention.

Bull fucking...

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

NMERider - 2013/02/19 22:56:19 UTC

I will appreciate that it is the tug pilot's call as to the maximum breaking strength of any so-called weak link system and not mine.

047-03703
http://live.staticflickr.com/5529/14422573378_5385a9a99a_o.png


...shit. You run with the herd, bend your barrel release pins exactly the same way all stupid clones do, and happily allow dickheads like Rooney and Davis and little loops of fishing line tell you what you can and can't do and how and when and where you can do it.

Many of my peers who I have known throughout the decades are dead.

If you're such a mold breaking individualist how have you managed to have any peers at all - let alone many dead ones?

Others are crippled and some escaped while they had time and now fly sailplanes. And some of those who fly sailplanes do exactly the same type of flying as I do but with different equipment.

Assuming I make a full recovery...

You will NOT make a full recovery. Don't bother assuming you will.

...and improve my health so that it is better than when I crashed (and it was pretty bad at that time) I would be more than happy to meet, and fly with, anyone in person who believes their technique is so superior and they can dish out all the warranted criticism to my face as they wish.

I don't need technique superior to yours. I can go a helluva long way on superior equipment, understanding of theory, judgment, decision making, attitude.

What happens in this sport as well as in this life in general is that people have selective memories and tend to store and recall only those events or data that suit their beliefs and their goals and mysteriously forget the rest. It's simply human nature to do this. I am as vulnerable to this trap as the next person.

Nice to have a written record stored on the web, isn't it?

So you are correct that I do take a number of calculated risks and that number is far from small. I enjoy this aspect of my flying activities and I live for this.

No you don't...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=26847
Landing Out

NMERider - 2012/08/10 17:09:10 UTC

Be glad you don't fly XC where I do. It really sucks here in the LA Basin and I'm tired of all the hazards.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=27415
Friday the 19th with Hawks & Friends!

NMERider - 2012/10/24 21:47:05 UTC

I have to say that landing on the wheels is so much fun it's not funny.

NOBODY enjoys risk. The goal of this whole drag chute kick of yours was to reduce risk involved in doing the kind of flying you wanted to. Too bad you lost sight of the purpose of the mission you had taken on.

There are others who do not seem to grasp or appreciate this fact and respond with intolerance and prejudice. Many just whisper behind backs and others are openly outspoken about it.

I'm pretty openly outspoken about you and your flying career and situations. But I don't see you engaging or responding to me.

So you are correct that I am an adventurer.

Were, anyway.

I keep my adventures close to home due to poor heath and modest finances. Luckily I am blessed with a variety of flying sites within a 125-mile radius of home and I can achieve my modest goals within the confines of a single day trip.

I will not belabor the history or the details of the animosities between me and a number of others both on this forum and elsewhere as I see no constructive outcome from it.

Then why bother having animosities? Anybody who doesn't have serious animosities in this sport is - at best - a gutless piece of shit and enabler of serial killers. And if there can be no constructive outcomes from animosities the sport is doomed to continue its uninhibited decades long slide into the sewer.

Assuming that I do in fact recover to engage in my pursuit of foot-launched cross-country adventure soaring my focus needs to be developing a stronger mental and psychological foundation based in large part on the FAA ADM.

Bullshit. You're talking about this as if you got fucked up pushing the longer, lower, tighter XC envelope when in fact the case was the precise opposite.

For now I will call this my (mental skills). My basic physical skills are...

Were.

...in fact very good and I don't require anyone's stamp of approval. OTOH - My mental skills have been largely neglected and it was this weakness that failed me when I needed to be focused, alert, and ready to change plans at the last second eight days ago.

You can't be focused AND ready to change plans. Pick one. Being focused is the absolute worst thing you can be as a pilot. Why do you think USHGA is pushing those stupid wristbands while gutting as many safety standards as possible and attacking reformers with all the hostility and venom it can muster?

Now if anyone out there has honest-to-god first-hand experience and credentials with strengthening a pilot's mental skills, I am more than interested in communicating about strategies and methodologies.

Fuck you...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=13745
Good News vs Sad News

NMERider - 2009/10/01 22:31:04 UTC

IIRC - Tad has already worn out his welcome on the Oz Report over his AT release mechanism, and so it seems he has come here to preach his gospel of safety according to Tad. The prize of course will either be delivered by the HMS Beagle or can be found on the Gallapagos Islands.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=14312
Tow Park accidents

Jaime Perry - 2009/11/10 10:56:19 UTC
Trenton, Georgia

I can't say that I'm sorry to see him go.

BUT ...

I really wish the sport had a die hard advocate for safety improvements because I think we have alot of room to improve the sport. Sometimes Tad makes some good points, he just goes about things in the most ineffective and offensive way. Imagine someone as passionate as Tad that was a great communicator who could influence people and make things happen ...

Honestly now that he is banned I'd like to see some rational discussion about some of his safety concerns without his obnoxiousness making me leave the threads.

I've only been a pilot since September 07 and there have been numerous serious accidents at my local flying site. I don't feel like we do a good job of compiling the information on the incidents to make use in an effective lessons learned program. I wonder alot lately "What can I do to make a difference" ?

HG.org really has the ability to make a big difference in this sport, I'd like to challenge all of us to figure out how to use this wonderful place(that SG has so generously provided) as a powerful advocate for safety in this sport.



SG I know your reluctant to ban anyone but I support you on this one. It had gotten to the point that I avoided mentioning safety at all so as not to lure Tad into any thread of discussion.

Thanks for all that you do again !

...Jonathan.

I should be spending more time re-reading the FAA ADM and trying to build mental aptitude with updating the decision matrix. But there's more I have in my library primarily from sailplane authors that I will look into.

Yeah, you do that. And continue enjoying your little...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=27217
Bad Launch!

NMERider - 2012/09/25 14:21:38 UTC

But what we have in excess here on the Org is generally referred to as a mutual masturbation society. That's where pilots get together and sit around and just jack each other off. That's what I see here in spades.

...mutual masturbation society.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=30722
What happened to JD?

Dave Hopkins - 2014/02/06 19:21:33 UTC

I think landing is the most difficult skill to perfect and stay on top of.

So how much effort did it take you to perfect it and when was the moment that occurred?

From my own path I can see the long road of study , questioning, practice practice practice, that it is the hardess skill to perfect and the one that will erode the quickest.

Sounds to me like when you've finally perfected it you're back off the mark by the time you've got the glider packed up and on the car.

I remember a landing on my old HP1 at the bottom of Sugar Hill, lakeveiw. A thermal broke off and put me in a good tail. I just snapped the nose up when it said it was time and all was good.

And thus you can assume that whenever a thermal of any magnitude breaks off in your vicinity all you need to do is snap the nose up when the glider says it's time and all will be good. I wonder why people like Steve Pearson...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27086
Steve Pearson on landings

Steve Pearson - 2012/03/28 23:26:05 UTC

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.

...don't seem to share your optimism. Any thoughts on this one...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=25536
Whoops! Snapped another tip wand :-O

NMERider - 2012/03/14 15:17:14 UTC

Landing clinics don't help in real world XC flying. I have had the wind do 180 degree 15 mph switches during my final legs. What landing clinic have you ever attended that's going to help? I saved that one by running like a motherfukker. And BTW - It was on large rocks on an ungroomed surface.

When I come in on many of these flights with sloppy landings, I am often physically and mentally exhausted. That means fatigued to the max. Many times I can't even lift my glider and harness, I'm so pooped.

This is the price of flying real XC. I have seen many a great pilot come in an land on record-setting flights and they literally just fly into the ground and pound in. I kid you not.

None of this is any excuse mind you. There has to be a methodology for preparing to land safely and cleanly while exhausted. This is NOT something I have worked on.

Jim Rooney threw a big tantrum and stopped posting here.

His one-technique-fits-all attitude espoused on the Oz Report Forum has become tiresome to read. It does not work in the fucked-up world of XC landings and weary pilots.

I refuse to come in with both hands on the downtubes ever again. I have had some very powerful thermals and gusts kick off and lost control of the glider due to hands on the downtubes. I prefer both hands on the control bar all the way until trim and ground effect. I have been lifted right off the deck in the desert and carried over 150 yards.

I like what Steve Pearson does when he comes in and may adapt something like that.

...Jonathan?

I realized that a couple of yrs earlier I would have pounded In that situation . Yrs of practice in the high desert had honed my skills.
Understanding landing technically and following a protocol every time is important.

Whipstall that sucker to a dead stop on your feet EVERY TIME no matter what.

Every landing is a situation of intensifying stress. At the end This stress will block out the subtle clues of flare timing. Training ourselves to amp up our attention to the gliders clues is a process of focus.

Make sure you've got that wristband on at ALL TIMES.

As Jonathan said we get there by practice.

I hope not too many people have gotten there by practice. I'm really worried about the extent of available standing room.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=30722
What happened to JD?

I did a telephone debriefing with Mitch Shipley, our new USHPA accident analyst...

Were you able to get the results of our new USHPA accident analyst's analysis of the Zack Marzec fatality? I was deeply disappointed that we didn't have the benefit of his insights into the matter.

No, wait...

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.

We had Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney's comments to give weight to...

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!!!!!!!!

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

Jim Rooney - 2013/03/06 01:42:41 UTC

Oh god, I've been offensive to people that I hold in contempt.
How will I ever sleep at night?

Hard to imagine Mitch would've been able pick up on anything Jim missed.

...and hope to eventually prepare a detailed write-up for the association and possibly for the magazine as well.

I have EVERY confidence they'll publish it. The editors are CONSTANTLY looking for quality material on safety issues...

http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=3638
FTHI

Steve D - 2012/10/25 06:23:16 UTC

An article by Tad Eareckson:

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

Mike Blankenhorn - 2012/10/26 02:39:07 UTC

Wow, I never saw it put quite like that before. Great write up!

...and this widespread and serious issue of people flying into the ground in wide open primaries with big drag chutes out has been neglected for far too long.

Any write-up I do should include references to Mike Meier's seminal article on safety...

That goes without saying. And it's a good thing we keep having these horror shows at regularly scheduled intervals because then we wouldn't have people referencing Mike Meier's seminal article on safety with the frequency we do.

...along with Robertson's Chart of Reliability...

Why? Is there anybody out there NOT using Robertson's Charts of Reliability before every flight now?

...and above all, the FAA Risk Management Handbook and the ADM approach.

Above Mike Meier's seminal article on safety and Robertson's Charts of Reliability? Surely thou doth jest.

There is no great moral to this story or big epiphany either. People have unexpected accidents all the time and with far worse outcomes than mine.

The more they EXPECT to have them the less they actually have them.

I would love to snap my fingers and instantly get well then return to flying this weekend but it just doesn't seem to be an option.

I'd like that too, Jonathan. But like you said...

Well it's time to wash up and order a ride via Uber so I can get over to Urgent Care and beg for intervention on my pain management.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=30722
What happened to JD?

Dave Hopkins - 2014/02/06 19:21:33 UTC

I think landing is the most difficult skill to perfect and stay on top of.

So how much effort did it take you to perfect it and when was the moment that occurred?

From my own path I can see the long road of study , questioning, practice practice practice, that it is the hardess skill to perfect and the one that will erode the quickest.

Sounds to me like when you've finally perfected it you're back off the mark by the time you've got the glider packed up and on the car.

I remember a landing on my old HP1 at the bottom of Sugar Hill, lakeveiw. A thermal broke off and put me in a good tail. I just snapped the nose up when it said it was time and all was good.

And thus you can assume that whenever a thermal of any magnitude breaks off in your vicinity all you need to do is snap the nose up when the glider says it's time and all will be good. I wonder why people like Steve Pearson...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27086
Steve Pearson on landings

Steve Pearson - 2012/03/28 23:26:05 UTC

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.

...don't seem to share your optimism. Any thoughts on this one...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=25536
Whoops! Snapped another tip wand :-O

I refuse to come in with both hands on the downtubes ever again. I have had some very powerful thermals and gusts kick off and lost control of the glider due to hands on the downtubes. I prefer both hands on the control bar all the way until trim and ground effect. I have been lifted right off the deck in the desert and carried over 150 yards.

...Jonathan?

NMERider - 2014/02/15 21:21:17 UTC

It is sad how hang glider pilots receive so little in the way of Risk Management training while FAA certified pilots in various ratings at least seem to have had more in this regard.

That's because hang gliding is geared by and for people who can't be bothered and/or are too stupid to do basic theory in ground school and heavily marketed as a branch of aviation that's perfectly safe for anyone focused enough to do his hang before every launch, perfect his standup landing, and always use a release within easy reach and an appropriate weak link of 1.5 inches or less just in case.

In my own case I had received some amount of Risk Management training via self-study and that when push came to shove, I did not practice what I already knew academically. Obviously, there is a world of difference between academic training and the training that comes with physical practice.

Yeah, you really need to practice that fast, steep, low turn drag chute approach a lot more. I hope this little setback doesn't put you off of that too much.

Hopefully, I will have the resolve to carry-out Risk Management as my number one priority heretofore. It will take work to accomplish this.

No one is immune in hang gliding no matter how much they puff up their chests and mightily bellow out how perfect they fancy themselves to be.

Nobody!

Bullshit. Chest puffing bellowing assholes like Orion Price ARE pretty much guaranteed to eat it badly a few times and have short careers. And that's a really GOOD THING for the sport and the gene pool.

But somebody with an attitude like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj1Z_BI5OXs


is an excellent prospect for pulling it off.

If you think that your chance of:
- breaking an arm or dislocating a shoulder on a given foot landing is one in in ten thousand then roll it the fuck in.
- not being hooked in since you did or think you did your last check is one in a million then do another fucking check.

And NEVER tow behind some chest puffing bellowing assholes like Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney or anyone who will have anything to do with him EVER.

Paul Hurless - 2014/02/15 21:42:39 UTC

The majority of hang glider pilots don't have much other aviation experience so that's not really surprising.

GA pilots don't really get a lot of exposure to it, either. While it's been a major concern in military aviation for quite a while there hasn't been as much emphasis on it for those civilians who aren't flying in the professional piloting jobs.

But they have access to the models used by military and commercial conventional aviation and are perfectly capable of exploiting them. And so do we. So fuck anybody who can't be bothered 'cause it should be OBVIOUS that what they're getting from their hang gliding programs is total shit.

NMERider - 2014/02/17 18:58:29 UTC

Thank you fellow pilots.

Yeah, you owe so very much to YOUR fellow "pilots".

It's queer how peers disappear 'til we're on the repair.

That's my rhyming wordplay on the fact that when pilots get injured badly how so many of our flying companions suddenly seem to forget we exist.

Yeah? See what happens when you try to PREVENT people from getting injured badly and killed by assholes like Adam Elchin, Davis Straub, Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney and go into whistle-blower mode.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=25302
Interview with Davis Straub, OzReport founder

Allen Sparks - 2012/02/20 21:44:47 UTC

fascinating ...
to round it out, you should also do an interview with hang gliding safety activist Tad Eareckson
http://www.kitestrings.org/topic2.html

NMERider - 2012/02/20 23:27:48 UTC

Don't go whining to me too much about ceasing to exist.

At the same time, peers who we have never met in person reach out with kind words and empathy. I would guess that a lot of the amnesia comes from pilots not wanting to see how they are likely end up themselves one day. I'm a bit loopy on Percocet and not my usual Hemmingwayesque self so words escape me currently.

Maybe I should break out my O2 system and take a couple hits?

Anyhow, in the five and a half years I have been back in the sport I have had a lot pilots who I have had personal contact with die from their own flying errors.

How 'bout from their instructors telling them:

- You are not hooked in until after the hang check.

- Preflight, Hangcheck, Know you're hooked in.

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

- There's also a way to swing your body way outside the control frame so it stays up there while you reach out with one hand and release. Come on - do some pushups this winter. See if you can advance up to some one-arm pushups.

- If you fail to maintain the correct tow position (centered, with the wheels of the tug on the horizon), the weak link will break before you can get into too much trouble.

- This stuff isn't new, and has been slowly refined over decades.

- We know what we're doing.

- I'd be careful about stringing things up in your glider. The more complex you make things, the easier they fail. I've seen far too much of this stuff... simple is always better.

- Hang Glider pilots should make landing approaches with their hands on the uprights and shoulders raised.

And there are many more than this who are now paralyzed or equipped with bone reinforcement hardware.

I know many more pilots who have made equal or worse errors (including me) and walked away with little worse than grass stains and dust. My guess is that pilots don't want to get too close to the aftermath of what they have to face one day. By getting too close or too real they might become discouraged from the activity that gives them great pleasure.

Who in his right mind would want to give up that tremendous, indescribable, and visceral rush?

And in this way, many injured or crippled pilots become lepers in their own community and popular with remote communities. I suppose that it's just human nature and not something exclusive to hang gliding. I have witnessed this pattern throughout my life in nearly every facet. I have also recognized this as a recurring theme in films and in plays.

Assuming I am able to compose a worthwhile article/report for USHPA I will do my best to draft it in a way that the reader steps into my own shoes and the story rings true for the reader. It's something I attempt to do when I edit video. It's a lot of work but very satisfying when viewers tell they feel as if it was they who were flying.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=30722
What happened to JD?

NMERider - 2014/02/27 02:44:50 UTC

Ironically I had bought a new helmet before the crash! Must be Murphy's Law of self-fulfilling prophesies. One thing I have had to reflect on in this ordeal is the fact that I put my desire to dive test my big drag chute ahead of my safety when I knew there was a moving target (obstruction) in the LZ. I still distinctly recall rejecting the idea of performing a wide left-hand pattern rather than a tight right-hand pattern. I further recall rejecting the idea of landing at the foot of the training hill then walking the long way to the breakdown area. I recall locking in to the idea of doing the dive test over the shade structure then pulling a tight right-hand pattern.

Because I fixated on the latter decision I found myself locked in like a deer in headlights. Had I chosen the prior, more conservative approach I would have had the maximum margin for error and escape routes. The worst fate to befall me would have been an extra hundred yards of walking to the breakdown area. That's all folks.

I know this topic of fixating on one single course of action (obsessing)...

Towing Aloft - 1998/01

A weak link is the focal point of a safe towing system.

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

Jim Rooney - 2007/08/01 13:47:23 UTC

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

Joe Gregor - 2007/05

Lesson learned: HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK! Your life will most often depend on it.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=13359
Today was a bad day!

Mike Bomstad - 2009/08/26 04:21:15 UTC

The harness is part of the aircraft... end of story.
(Just because it's easy to remove, does not mean it should be. Dont choose the path of least resistance)

Attach it to the wing, completing the aircraft.... then preflight the completed aircraft.
Buckle yourself into the cockpit and then your ready.

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

Rick Masters - 2011/10/19 22:47:17 UTC

At that moment, I would banish all concern about launching unhooked. I had taken care of it. It was done. It was out of my mind.

...has been discussed on occasion but not too often if I recall. I have seen other pilots and other people in life in general get fixated on single courses of action.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=21088
What you wish you'd known then?

Doug Doerfler - 2011/03/02 05:24:44 UTC

Nothing creates carnage like declaring a spot landing contest.

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

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

Weaklink material... exactly what Davis said.

It's no mystery.
It's only a mystery why people choose to reinvent the wheel when we've got a proven system that works.

047-03703
http://live.staticflickr.com/5529/14422573378_5385a9a99a_o.png


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

I watched an acquaintance of mine do this and die in front of 150 spectators when he would not stop trying to do past-vertical wingovers on a perfectly good glider that he was clearly not in sync with. His final inverted stall killed him in the end.

As opposed to killing him in the beginning.

This is more than just object fixation like flying into that lone tree in the forty acre LZ. It's being locked into a single course of action with no escape routes or back-up plans (A, B, etc.). Normally when I fly aggressively (high risk factor) I give myself at least one way out at every moment. In this case I failed to do that. So this is something I offer anyone interested to reflect on so you may avoid falling prey to the same pattern. I know this is just a typical part of human nature. But I have observed that not everything that comes naturally to humans is healthy or in our best interests.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=26266
Please Take Your Landings Seriously!

Steven Leiler (kermit) - 2012/06/02 13:51:16 UTC
Durham, Connecticut

Is it X-ray day? This was fourteen months ago:

http://forum.hanggliding.org/download/file.php?id=20507


Knowing what I did wrong and two landing clinics later, I'm feeling better about landing.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=25536
Whoops! Snapped another tip wand :-O

NMERider - 2012/03/14 15:17:14 UTC

Landing clinics don't help in real world XC flying. I have had the wind do 180 degree fifteen mph switches during my final legs. What landing clinic have you ever attended that's going to help? I saved that one by running like a motherfukker. And BTW - It was on large rocks on an ungroomed surface.

I refuse to come in with both hands on the downtubes ever again. I have had some very powerful thermals and gusts kick off and lost control of the glider due to hands on the downtubes. I prefer both hands on the control bar all the way until trim and ground effect. I have been lifted right off the deck in the desert and carried over 150 yards.

I like what Steve Pearson does when he comes in and may adapt something like that.

Steven Leiler - 10911 - H3 - 2010/11/28 - Bryon Estes - AT FL PL 360 AWCL CL FSL RLF TUR XC

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=21647
Busted Shoulder

Steven Leiler - 2011/04/25 00:35:49 UTC

I feel your pain as I type with my left hand
two weeks ago sat broke right humerus from a weak ass flair
hope to post story, video and x-rays sometime this week

Well, at least you didn't break your neck in the narrow dry riverbed with large rocks strewn all over the place in which you were stopping it.

So THIS:

http://forum.hanggliding.org/download/file.php?id=20507


is an appropriate punishment for a weak ass flare in brain dead easy conditions in the primary putting green.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=30462
How is it done?

syncnsarc - 2013/12/13 18:13:05 UTC
Wasa, British Columbia

I have been in the hang gliding world since the Seventies, and I've seen many people come and go. Where I fly, in the Rockies, there are fewer pilots returning each year, and they are grey-haired grandpas, for the most part, with few newbies to replace them.

Over the years, I have tried training and inspiring enthusiasts, but they rarely reach soaring ability, and it has generally ended up with my damaged equipment, and them with false bragging rights. I see the younger generations desiring constant social contact, the need for instant gratification, and an aversion for spending the many years necessary to become a proficient mountain pilot. Why would they when there is no glory or recognition in a lonely vigil, which requires undaunted dedication not to mention a serious element of risk?

It doesn't help matters when the local perspective is that it is foolhardy, irresponsible, and negligent behavior. I realize it is somewhat different in other places where there is a support network and an established core of people who greatly help to continue this activity, but not where I live. I fly alone.

Jaime Perry - 2014/01/14 14:28:47 UTC

I think the biggest barrier to entering the sport is simple fear. 95 percent of the people I talk to about hang gliding think I'm insane and their first response when I tell them they could fly is NO WAY !

And you wonder why the sport's dying and paragliders are taking over.

Yeah, paragliders do THIS:

Disaster !! Bad Collapse Handling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T24X-NBNsPM
sitvanit - 2007/07/24
dead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC_b4YnhLdQ


every now and then. But they DON'T...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=28835
Why I don't paraglide

Tom Emery - 2013/04/17 14:29:12 UTC
San Diego

Been flying Crestline about a year now. I've seen more bent aluminum than twisted risers. Every time another hang pounds in, Steven, the resident PG master, just rolls his eyes and says something like, "And you guys think hang gliding is safer."

...do scary, stupid, DANGEROUS landings EVERY TIME THEY FLY.

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."

You've ELECTED to make them dangerous to land with your SOPs, rating requirements, training programs, clinics, owners' manuals, and shit attitudes and kill most of the fun involved in learning and flying so no one's flying hang gliders. Big fuckin' surprise.

P.S. kermit... Thanks bigtime for the report. Ditto for all you assholes who witnessed what happened and didn't think it worthy of comment.