I'm a real big fan of the Smithsonian Air & Space magazine...
Did you check out the picture in the 1991 August/September issue of me soaring the North Bowl at that year's Kitty Hawk Spectacular comp?
...in a recent issue they had an article on using a Helicopter being used to tow marine vessels in distress.
It was interesting to see they suffered the potential of a lock-out...
Duh.
...but from a slightly different perspective... the "tug" could lock-out!
Jesus H. Keeriste. Everybody and his dog knows that a double loop of 130 pound Greenspot on a solo glider bridle will instantly lock one of our tugs out and kill it.
Never let the tow cable get more than ten degrees off centerline, or you risk running out of control authority.
Whatever's going on back there, I can fix it by giving you the rope.
...for the tug using THAT strategy.
Fuckin' douchebag.
Can't imagine what it would be like on the deck of a ship when a helo decides to dump 3000 pounds of tensioned steel cable back at yah?
Seeing as how steel cable is pretty much totally inelastic - not fuckin' much.
William Olive - 2014/03/02 04:40:23 UTC
I Tugbirded three times and didn't really enjoy the experience that much - something about tying things that fly to things that don't.
Yep, I don't give a much thought to towing devices that also fly, but I don't really like the idea of towing something that doesn't fly. However, there is a great poster shot showing an early Airborne Buzzard trike towing a water skier on Lake Keepit, piloted by Shane Duncan I'm pretty sure. I don't think I want to emulate the feat, but it's a great photo.
I like people who try shit, Billo. Makes 'em better pilots.
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.
Well...
Hang Gliding - 1998/02
The Wallaby Ranch Aerotowing Primer for Experienced Pilots
by Austin Scott Collins, USHGA Aerotow Pilot. Based on instructional information developed by David Glover and Malcolm Jones, USHGA Advanced Tandem Instructors. Copyright 1998 by Florida Hang Gliding, Inc.
Welcome to Wallaby Ranch, the first and largest Aerotow Hang Gliding Flight Park in the World! We're the aerotowing (or "AT") professionals; no-one knows AT like we do; it's all we do, and we do it everyday, year-round. This primer will teach you the basics of AT theory and technique. Our instructors have fine-tuned this system over the course of many years, while teaching thousands of people how to aerotow hang gliders. Careful study of this material will make your transition to AT faster, easier, less expensive, and safer. When done properly, AT is your gateway to longer, higher, hassle-free flights, and more airtime with less effort than ever before.
The simple fact is that hundreds of thousands of tows using weaklinks in their present configuration successfully bely your contentions that we're all crazy for towing that way.
Simply put, your statements are irresponsible and are based on your personal interpretations.
I am a tow operator--as well as a "towee." I also do aerotow tandems. Using greenline or similar line, which generally tests at 125 lbs +- 50 lbs is widely accepted because it simply works well and relatively predicatably for the enormous range of conditions and applications in towing. If this weren't true, then accident rates would be much higher and these kinds of weaklinks would have been abandoned along time ago.
A 400 lb load limit for a solo tow is absurd. You claim in-depth knoweldge of what you're doing--but do you know what kind of stitching your using, what kind of tack, and how it affects the integrity of the join you're doing?
Everyone supports you making efforts to improve things--but in the process you trash the present methods as somehow being an accident waiting to happen. You might not actually say it--but the implication is that both the operators and towed pilots are being irresponsible for using faulty equipment and practices.
It always amazes to hear know it all pilots arguing with the professional pilots.
I mean seriously, this is our job.
We do more tows in a day than they do in a month (year for most).
We *might* have an idea of how this stuff works.
They *might* do well to listen.
Not that they will, mind you... cuz they *know*.
I mean seriously... ridgerodent's going to inform me as to what Kroop has to say on this? Seriously? Steve's a good friend of mine. I've worked at Quest with him. We've had this discussion ... IN PERSON. And many other ones that get misunderstood by the general public. It's laughable.
Don't even get me started on Tad. That obnoxious blow hard has gotten himself banned from every flying site that he used to visit... he doesn't fly anymore... because he has no where to fly. His theories were annoying at best and downright dangerous most of the time. Good riddance.
So, argue all you like.
I don't care.
I've been through all these arguments a million times... this is my job.
I could be more political about it, but screw it... I'm not in the mood to put up with tender sensibilities... Some weekend warrior isn't about to inform me about jack sh*t when it comes to towing. I've got thousands upon thousands of tows under my belt. I don't know everything, but I'll wager the house that I've got it sussed a bit better than an armchair warrior.
Of course, your weak link should break before the lockout becomes too severe, but that assumes a properly applied weak link.
Dr. Trisa Tilletti - 2012/06
Based on several decades of experience and hundreds of thousands of tows conducted by numerous aerotow operators across the county, the de facto standard has become use of a 260 lb. weak link made as a loop of 130 lb. green spot IGFA Dacron braided fishing line attached to one end of the pilot's V-bridle. It is a de facto standard, because it works for most pilots and gliders and is usually near the USHPA recommendation of a nominal 1G weak link for most pilots. For example, a mid-size Sport 2 155 with a pilot who has a hook-in weight that is in the middle of the recommended weight range will weigh about 260 lbs., so a loop of 130 lb. line is just right. This strength of line also meets FAA requirements for most sizes of gliders and weights of hang glider pilots.
...that assumes a properly applied weak link - a loop of 130 pound Greenspot with the knot positioned so that it's hidden from the main tension in the link and excluded altogether from the equation. You can't be using one of those...
Ok, keyboard in hand.
I've got a bit of time, but I'm not going to write a dissertation... so either choose to try to understand what I'm saying, or (as is most often the case) don't.
I don't care.
Here's a little bit of bitter reality that ya'll get to understand straight off. I won't be sugar coating it, sorry.
You see, I'm on the other end of that rope.
I want neither a dead pilot on my hands or one trying to kill me.
And yes. It is my call. PERIOD.
On tow, I am the PIC.
Now, that cuts hard against every fiber of every HG pilot on the planet and I get that.
Absolutely no HG pilot likes hearing it. Not me, not no one. BUT... sorry, that's the way it is.
Accept it and move on.
Not only can you not change it, it's the law... in the very literal sense.
So, you're quite right in your thinking in your example. The person you have to convince is me (or whoever your tuggie is).
I've had this conversation with many people.
We've had various outcomes.
I can tell you what my general ideas and rules are, but you do not need to agree with them nor do you get to dictate anything to me... if I'm not happy, you ain't getting towed by me. Why I'm not happy doesn't matter. It's my call, and if I'm having so much as a bad hair day, then tough. You can go get someone else. I won't be offended. Each tuggie is different, and I've had someone ask me to tow them with some stuff that I wasn't happy with and I told him point blank... go ask the other guy, maybe he'll do it.
I can tell you that for me, you're going to have a hell of a time convincing me to tow you with *anything* home-made.
"But I love my mouth release! It's super-delux-safe"... that's great, but guess what?
I've towed at places that use different weak links than greenspot. They're usually some other form of fishing line. Up in Nelson (New Zealand), they don't have greenspot, so they found a similar weight fishing line. They replace their link every single tow btw... every one, without question or exception... that's just what the owner wants and demands. Fine by me. If it wasn't, then I wouldn't tow for them and I wouldn't be towed by them. That's his place and he gets to make that call. Pretty simple.
Up at Morningside, they're using that new orange weaklink. It's a bit stronger and it has to be sewn or glued so it doesn't slip when unloaded.
If you're within the FAA specs and you're using something manufactured, then you're going to have a far better time convincing me to tow you.
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.
...Tad-O-Links which is even stronger than the Dragonfly's tow mast breakaway protector. You could kill a tug...
Well, I'm assuming there was some guff about the tug pilot's right of refusal?
Gee, didn't think we'd have to delve into "pilot in command"... I figured that one's pretty well understood in a flying community.
It's quite simple.
The tug is a certified aircraft... the glider is an unpowered ultralight vehicle. The tug pilot is the pilot in command. You are a passenger. You have the same rights and responsibilities as a skydiver.
It's a bitter pill I'm sure, but there you have it.
...or the passenger?
Once you're outside of the sweet spot the loads on the tow line increase and you are at risk for breaking a weak link.
...at every second of the tow? What did the asshole who signed you off down at Manquin tell you the purpose of the weak link was and what strength you should be using?
- At RISK of breaking a weak link? At risk of WHAT?
Nonsense.
It's completely about convenience.
People like to argue about it and in their arguments, they dig up rationalizations of it not being about convenience, but sorry... it very much is about convenience.
Take if from the other angle... if it were about safety... if you are truly concerned about your safety... why are you towing? Why are the people that are arguing about weaklinks towing?
The answer of course is that it's not actually about "safety".
People get pissed off not because the weaklink breaking made their lives scary... it made it a pain in the ass. They missed the thermal. They had to relight. Etc.
I'm not saying that these are invalid feelings.
I'm saying that they're not about safety.
Last year, at LMFP I saw an incident in aerotow that resulted in a very significant impact with the ground on the chest and face. Resulted in a jaw broken in several places and IIRC some tears in the shoulder.
I witnessed the one at Lookout. It was pretty ugly. Low angle of attack, too much speed and flew off the cart like a rocket until the weak link broke, she stalled and it turned back towards the ground.
How much more? Is there some law of physics/aerodynamics that says a glider can't be upside down and still on a towline limited to two hundred pounds of tension? Is that the best you can do in the way of a comment?
When flying in strong thermal conditions the pilot has to be very active to maintain the ideal alignment.
No he doesn't. When you're running tension through the pilot as the glider rolls away from the tug the tension will pull the pilot under the high/forward wing and stabilize things without any effort from the pilot. Just read your Skyting Theory.
Once you're outside of the sweet spot the loads on the tow line increase...
They PROBABLY will. But, depending upon what's going on with the air, tug, glider, not necessarily for a bit and not necessarily that much, that fast, or before you slam back into the runway.
...and you are at risk for breaking a weak link.
Which is another way of saying that if you're counting on a weak link to keep you from getting killed in a lockout you are also at risk for NOT breaking it.
And you can get a release that you can count on ONE HUNDRED PERCENT to blow you off tow the instant you can react - well under a second and with both hands continuously on the basetube.
And Rooney, Ryan, Jack, Rodie, Paul Hurless, all that caliber of shit will always delight in telling you that anything properly engineered to do the job is complex and thus highly likely to fail - despite the fact that they can provide zero evidence to support this bullshit.
But, for the sake of argument, say that funky shit releases have ten percent failure rates.
So your chance of getting into a potentially lethal low level lockout in the course of an aerotowing career is pretty close to zero. It's about the same as the fatality rate for aerotowing because virtually all aerotowing is done with totally useless releases and Rooney Links which - Mike Haas, Roy Messing, Steve Elliot, Lois Preston...
07-300
11-311
15-413
...Oliver Chitty - NEVER break before you can get into too much trouble so the vast majority of potentially lethal low level lockouts ARE.
So you have a zero percent chance of getting into a dangerous low level lockout and a ninety percent chance that if you do your release will work. So what's the point in flying with THIS:
You know, after all this discussion I'm now convinced that it is a very good idea to treat the weaklink as a release, that that is exactly what we do when we have a weaklink on one side of a pro tow bridle. That that is exactly what has happened to me in a number of situations and that the whole business about a weaklink only for the glider not breaking isn't really the case nor a good idea for hang gliding.
I'm happy to have a relatively weak weaklink, and have never had a serious problem with the Greenspot 130, just an inconvenience now and then.
I'm thinking about doing a bit more testing as there seemed to be some disagreement around here about what the average breaking strength of a loop of Greenspot (or orange) weaklink was.
Pilots must use weaklinks provided by the meet organizers and in a manner approved by the meet organizers. All weaklinks will be checked and use of inappropriate weaklinks will require the pilot to go to the end of the launch line to change the weaklink.
For whomever asked about the function of a weak link, it is to release the glider and plane from each other when the tow forces become greater than desirable -- whether that is due to a lockout or a malfunction of equipment or whatever. This can save a glider, a tow pilot, or more often, a hang glider pilot who does not get off of tow when he or she gets too far out of whack.
I rarely break weak links -- in fact, I believe the last one was some two years ago, and I have never broken one on a tandem (probably because I am light and also because I change them whenever they show any signs of wear). They are a good thing to have, though!!
...running Quest Air.
And we've had a grand total of one response - extremely lukewarm - resulting from, as of the time of this post, 196 hits.
Looks to me like there are a lot of Jack Show assholes not quite ready to cross Wallaby off from their lists of present and future flying opportunities.
If you have a weak-link THAT sensitive, plan on having many short tows...
So you're saying that a weak link capable of getting you up for a short tow isn't capable of locking you out and slamming you in while you're still connected to whatever's pulling you? I got news for ya.
I've only aerotowed a few times with nary a hitch...
I'm guessing Zack Marzec towed many hundreds, maybe thousands of times with nary a hitch - till the last time anyway.
...many more platform and foot launched. I've never gotten crooked and way off the tow to pop a link...
I've had a few weak links that I think were 'too light' for me.
You THINK were 'too light' for you? It's your ass on the end of that string. Shouldn't you KNOW what you should be using for a weak link? Like you know what glider, harness, parachute, helmet size? The weak link is the fucking focal point of a safe towing system, ferchrisake! Where are you getting your ratings? Out of fortune cookies?
Think there are any possible downsides to having weak links 'too light' potentially more consequential than inconvenience?
These on rigs that have more lightweight pilots than me.
Oh. So you're saying that heavier pilots should be using heavier weak links?
The accepted standards and practices changed.
I still won't tow people with doubled up weaklinks. You don't get to "make shit up". I don't "make shit up" for that matter either.
We all play by the same rules, or we don't play.
Morningside decided that they were happy with 200lb weaklink. They changed their tug's link and they don't just pass the stuff out either. If you'd like to know more about it... go ask them.
The law of the land at comps was 130lb greenspot or you don't tow. Seriously. It was announced before the comp that this would be the policy. Some guys went and made their case to the safety committee and were shut down. So yeah, sorry... suck it up.
Fuck you, dude.
I ABSOLUTELY do not think a weak link will save you from a lockout condition...
- "I ABSOLUTELY do not think a weak link will save you from a lockout condition" doesn't quite do it for me. Kinda like "I ABSOLUTELY do not think my carabiner's dangling behind my knees."
- A weak link CAN save you from a lockout condition. Rooney Links blow entirely at random so it's POSSIBLE for one to save you from a lockout.
-- It's POSSIBLE that a eucalyptus tree in the middle of the LZ will snag a glider and save someone the broken arm he'd have gotten perfecting his flare timing.
-- If you shoot enough people carrying backpacks to sporting events you'll eventually hit a suicide bomber.
...nor should you EVER trust it to do so.
So then why the fuck are you using a weak link? Is there ANYTHING...
Tost Flugzeuggerätebau
Weak links protect your aircraft against overloading.
...you CAN trust it to do?
If for ANY reason you don't feel good about the tow or you are drifting off centerline and can't seem to IMMEDIATELY bump yourself back in - then PULL THE FRIGGIN' RELEASE and live to see another day.
- Wow! I sure am glad you said that! That should put an end to all these lockout deaths we're getting as consequences of people who think they can fix bad things...
-- A towed hang glider is a roll unstable aircraft.
Bill Bryden - 2000/02
Dennis Pagen informed me several years ago about an aerotow lockout that he experienced. One moment he was correcting a bit of alignment with the tug and the next moment he was nearly upside down. He was stunned at the rapidity. I have heard similar stories from two other aerotow pilots.
Anybody who ever feels good about a tow - especially an aerotow in soaring conditions - is a fucking moron.
-- If everybody who drifts off centerline and can't seem to IMMEDIATELY bump himself back in PULLS THE FRIGGIN' RELEASE then there are gonna be a lot short tows, long launch lines, wear and tear on the tug, and dangerous relaunches and not many people getting much in the way of airtime.
- Oh. So you can just PULL THE FRIGGIN' RELEASE...
When the pilot went for the release he stopped flying the glider.
...while you fly the glider with the other hand...
05-215
07-300
...and everything will be...
15-413
...JUST FINE. Just get yourself a copy of the excellent book, Towing Aloft, by Dennis Pagen and Bill Bryden, paraphrase some of the useless crap in it, and you'll sound just like God's Gift To Aviation - the way Rooney does - or used to, anyway.
Fletcher - 2014/03/14 00:53:01 UTC
Sure Fletcher...
Fletcher - 2014/03/05 23:07:57 UTC
Here's my 2 cents worth When the pilot went for the release he stopped flying the glider.
At that point the glider was no longer in contact with the dolly. Who knows what any of us would have done in that situation but continuing to fly the glider away from the ground might have been a better choice.
I don't mean to criticize but offer a different option that may or may not be helpful
Neat little one-size-fits-all solutions to EVERYTHING. Just like...
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.
Christopher LeFay - 2012/03/15 05:57:43 UTC
January's canonization of Rooney as the Patron Saint of Landing was maddening. He offered just what people wanted to hear: there is an ultimate, definitive answer to your landing problems, presented with absolute authority. Judgment problems? His answer is to remove judgment from the process - doggedly stripping out critical differences in gliders, loading, pilot, and conditions. This was just what people wanted - to be told a simple answer. In thanks, they deified him, carving his every utterance in Wiki-stone.
...somebody else we all know and love.
How 'bout you fuckin' assholes give telling people what they should be doing a rest until you give them the equipment with which they can actually do it?
You know, after all this discussion I'm now convinced that it is a very good idea to treat the weaklink as a release, that that is exactly what we do when we have a weaklink on one side of a pro tow bridle. That that is exactly what has happened to me in a number of situations and that the whole business about a weaklink only for the glider not breaking isn't really the case nor a good idea for hang gliding.
I'm happy to have a relatively weak weaklink, and have never had a serious problem with the Greenspot 130, just an inconvenience now and then.
I'm thinking about doing a bit more testing as there seemed to be some disagreement around here about what the average breaking strength of a loop of Greenspot (or orange) weaklink was.
...Trisa... all these fucking Rooney Linkers are entirely full of shit, right?
So what should we be using the goddam weak link for and what strength should it be to do its goddam job safely and effectively?
It's nothing more than marketing hype. Sad that anyone feels it's necessary to over-inflate the level of safety in order to generate sufficient business but I have heard far worse BS than this from other professionals in the sport regarding the safety of certain things where I personally know it is not so.
Goddam fuckin' right, Jonathan. That's about the most astute thing you've ever said. Almost makes me forget all the half-assed crap you spew half the time.
Hewett came along at the beginning the beginning of the Eighties with his fifteen cent insane theories and cheap junk equipment and told everyone all they needed to tow safely was some nylon parachute cord, fishing line, hardware store panic snaps, and a trailer hitch and they were good to go.
That instantly opened up the 85 percent of the country that doesn't look like California as a marketplace and away we went. Then Dennis Pagen and Bill Bryden published their bullshit Industry infomercial to make sure everything stayed carved in granite, Accident Review Committee Chairmen like Doug Hildreth were eliminated from the gene pool and replaced by Tim Herrs, and everyone with any interest in reform had a bounty put on his head.
And it's worked that way across most of the planet.
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.
Speedy recovery to the pilot in question.
It could have been worse. It could have happened at...the other place (but nothing happens there. ) Good luck if it does. No 911 calls allowed. My friend was lucky, the nurse on hand convinced the owner not to move him, this after he snatched and threw her phone away. She was trying to dial 911. My friend suffered lower back injury.
Sure it does.
They will move the entire launch line if the wind switches even a little bit off straight in on take off because they have like a billion acre flight park.
So they do it 'cause they CAN?
I have been to other places that will tow launch you cross with no worries.
I've towed in places that don't have the option of turning into the wind in a scary strong crosswind and found it to be no big fuckin' deal.
I feel OK with this when the Tugs are the high power ones. seems like the power of the tugs can deal with a cross wind situation.
Oh. So power on takeoff makes things SAFER. Are you sure? I've always heard...
The "purpose" of a weaklink is to increase the safety of the towing operation. PERIOD.
...the precise opposite.
Wallaby has the 585???...
582
...tugs and will still make the launch line move if they deem fit.
Oh. So Wallaby runs a clean operation and puts safety first, 914 tugs are safer than 582s, but they use 582s and shift the launch direction as the wind shifts and hope they don't get any crosswind shifts while the takeoffs are in progress.
Cross wind you take off and you crab but its not a big deal...
- Oh. So the big safety advantage that's Wallaby's hallmark really isn't that big a fuckin' deal.
- But really... Just how much of an advantage is the extra power of the 914...
Don't ever pull a solo at full throttle... they will not be able to climb with you. You can tow them at 28mph and you'll still leave them in the dust... they just won't be able to climb with you... weaklinks will go left and right.
...when our 130 pound Greenspot Pilots In Command decide it's not really safe for us?
How 'bout addressing the topic of this thread - which is whether or not Wallaby is feeding the sport of hang gliding a load of deadly shit in its educational material? Or doesn't that matter to you because there's nothing bad that can happen in aerotowing as long as you're launching into the wind?
It's nothing more than marketing hype. Sad that anyone feels it's necessary to over-inflate the level of safety in order to generate sufficient business but I have heard far worse BS than this from other professionals in the sport regarding the safety of certain things where I personally know it is not so.
Hey Jonathan...
When you were getting all those little stamps on your card would you have been less inclined to stay in a program that constantly emphasized how dangerous this shit can be if done wrong and constantly emphasized the procedures, equipment, skills, mindset you needed to do it right?
Is crudding up the sport with a population of morons like Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney...
Weak links break for all kinds of reasons.
Some obvious, some not.
The general consensus is the age old adage... "err on the side of caution".
The frustration of a weaklink break is just that, frustration.
And it can be very frustrating for sure. Especially on a good day, which they tend to be. It seems to be a Murphy favourite. You'll be in a long tug line on a stellar day just itching to fly. The stars are all lining up when *bam*, out of nowhere your trip to happy XC land goes up in a flash. Now you've got to hike it all the way back to the back of the line and wait as the "perfect" window drifts on by.
I get it.
It can be a pisser.
But the "other side"... the not cautions one... is not one of frustration, it's one of very real danger.
Better to be frustrated than in a hospital, or worse.
No exaggeration... this is the fire that the "other side" is made of. Best not to play with it.
...Davis Straub, Dr. Trisa Tilletti, Lauren Tjaden, Zack Marzec who swallow, practice, teach, enforce the kind of rot that Wallaby's been broadcasting nonstop for over two dozen years now doing ANYBODY - including/especially the commercial interests and perpetrators - any good?
I've started ditching the weak link. I just hold the tow line in my mouth. When tow forces get too strong my teeth fall out. Usually before that I scream some vulgarity and the rope drops out of my mouth anyway.
Much cheaper than paying for weak link string and I have full control without taking my hands off the bar.
Fuck you - asshole...
Craig Hassan - 83917 - H3 - 2006/01/22 - Robert Hagewood - AT FL ST RLF TUR
Along with every goddam idiot douchebag who ever signed you off on ANYTHING.
It's a lot more than that, Jonathan. It's a bald-faced LIE. It's LETHAL misinformation - like:
Joe Gregor - 2007/05
An advanced pilot launched unhooked. The pilot was able to hold on and effect a landing on the beach below, but suffered a broken pelvis and internal bleeding. It is extremely fortunate that this pilot had the strength to hold on for the duration of the flight, and it's amazing that these were the only injuries suffered. Lesson learned: HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK! Your life will most often depend on it.
Sad that anyone feels it's necessary...
Sad? I'd go with DESPICABLE. Tell me why these motherfuckers shouldn't have their ratings permanently revoked. Instead they get appointed and invited to participate...
It was noticed over a number of years there have been a number of fatalities to participants in hang glider aerotow instruction. The president of the USHPA, therefore, formed an Ad Hoc Joint Committee of the chairs of Safety and Training, Tandem and Towing to investigate this, appointing the Chair of Safety and Training to preside. Tandem instructors Matt Taber and David Glover were invited to participate.
...in writing USHGA safety advisories.
...to over-inflate the level of safety...
Over-inflate? Use bald, worn out tires on your car. That'll prevent you from accelerating to dangerous speeds and increase the likelihood of a blowout before you can get into too much trouble.
...in order to generate sufficient business...
Flood the culture with so much misinformation that the chances of them ever being found liable for any criminal negligence will be close to zero.
...but I have heard far worse BS than this from other professionals in the sport regarding the safety of certain things where I personally know it is not so.
So how 'bout telling us what it is and naming names? Tireless safety crusader Orion Price will be looking for other targets after he's finished neutralizing T** at K*** S******.
You are being much too complimentary IMHO. I got so nauseated reading it I had to take a breather. Do you mean to tell me they wrote an article that wasn't insipid and self-congratulatory to the extreme? I've found their entire series on aerotowing to come off rather poorly to say the least. A sad waste of such exalted and highly qualified medical professionals. How do I know this? Well they won't stop patting each other on the back about how great they both are. Pardon me while I puke.
two motherfuckers? They're spewing EXACTLY the same bullshit that Malcolm is and it got a tandem aerotow instructor killed within a bit over eight months of publication. But you just commented on their obnoxiousness. You never warned anybody that they were USHGA serial killers.
This some rot is liberally sprinkled throughout the excellent book, Towing Aloft, by Dennis Pagen and Bill Bryden, which USHGA has been selling nonstop for over sixteen years as its official hang and para gliding towing manual.
Name some names. Go on the record with an enemies list and don't give scumbags like Ryan Voight the benefit of ANY doubt. That way the next time they cripple or kill someone you'll be able to say, "Tried to warn you but you chose not to listen. Tough shit."
Good luck if it does. No 911 calls allowed. My friend was lucky, the nurse on hand convinced the owner not to move him, this after he snatched and threw her phone away. 
