Weak links

General discussion about the sport of hang gliding
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Tad Eareckson
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Re: Weak links

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=31717
Weak link?
Paraglider Collapse - 2014/08/31 06:08:00 UTC

Thanks Davis. Informative posts...
ANYTHING's an informative post for a total fucking moron such as yourself - 'specially when the author totally contradicts years' worth of previous statements. And before now I just never really appreciated the bacon aspect of the weak link equation.
...admirable restraint.
Like he has a choice. When the foundation of your position is constructed entirely of sloppily pasted-together Popsicle sticks you don't wanna say anything too definitive. Also, since he has no control over this forum, he can't delete posts, ban people, and lock down threads the way he does on his own little shitheap whenever he's getting his ass kicked.

Go ahead, align yourself with Davis...

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1041
"Sharing" of Hang Gliding Information ?!?
Merlin - 2012/05/26 13:22:30 UTC

I confess to previously having a bit of an Oz Report habit, but the forced login thing has turned me off permanently, and I am in fact grateful. Frankly, the site had pretty much been reduced to a few dedicated sycophants in any case.
The Zack Marzec fatality scared the crap out of all the Industry douchebags who've been running and getting away with this standard aerotow weak link scam decades, things ARE changing and we've gonna make damn sure that there's a clear historical record of the good guys and the scum and their pet idiots.
Remember 50 years ago when hang gliders would spontaneously dive into the ground? Well paragliders still do!
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bRrpHNa68iY/UQ6Pv9gRZyI/AAAAAAAAjTg/Hc22bx5122Q/s2048/20943781_BG1.jpg
Image

Still very sick. The 103 fever cycles quit Friday and that evening I thought I might have been coming out but now this is feeling very much like something I probably picked up from the very sick maybe Pakistani two-year-old in the next row on the plane coming home maybe fifteen years ago. Kept me weak as a kitten, miserable, and almost entirely horizontal for at least six months. Headaches, chills, terrible cough, little in the eating department, much more depression than usual.

If you wanna do something to help with the last issue, keep kicking these assholes until they're down and then stomp until there's nothing left. No prisoners. They've never in the past 33 years been as vulnerable as they are right now.

Here's a good trap for Davis...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=31717
Weak link?
Davis Straub - 2014/08/20 19:48:26 UTC

Many of us are now using 200 lb test line from Cortland.
http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=31747
Lockout
Davis Straub - 2014/08/29 17:26:54 UTC

I thought that I had made it clear that I want weaklinks and I want weaklinks to break to save the pilot's bacon. I have also stated that you can not count on weaklinks to break in a lockout. I have stated that weaklinks don't prevent lockouts, and we again have plenty of documentary proof of this.
If you want weak links to break to save the pilot's bacon you don't go from 130 to 200. You either stay at 130 huge track record perfection or dial DOWN. And, based upon what a monumentally crappy job John Claytor's Davis Link did of saving his bacon on 2014/06/02 at the ECC (held until impact) you obviously need to dial WAY the fuck down.

When you put a 200 pound weak link on a solo pro toad bridle you're talkin' 400 towline (ignoring the illegal fucking tow mast breakaway protector (if he uses that dodge we can make his life real miserable from other angles)) and something that will essentially NEVER break in the zone in which bacon is at risk.

We know from Marc Fink...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24846
Is this a joke ?
Marc Fink - 2011/08/28 21:11:09 UTC

I once locked out on an early laminarST aerotowing. went past vertical and past 45 degrees to the line of pull-- and the load forces were increasing dramatically. The weaklink blew and the glider stalled--needed every bit of the 250 ft agl to speed up and pull out. I'm alive because I didn't use a stronger one.
...that your bacon is total toast below 250 feet so, obviously, the new 200 pound bacon saver will require 385 feet and, hell, from that height you can hook knife your Davis Bent Pin Placebo Release or throw your parachute.

So ask the motherfucker for an example of this two hundred bacon saver many of us are now deciding we're happy with actually saving any bacon.
miguel
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Re: Weak links

Post by miguel »

Tad wrote:Still very sick.
Hope you get well soon!
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Tad Eareckson
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Re: Weak links

Post by Tad Eareckson »

Thanks, but don't hold your breath. Was back up to 103 today, so no indication whatsoever that things have ramped down in the least. I'll try to get in to see my doc this week, but I'm really worried about timing. If things line up real well it's possible I could do the round trip - a dozen car miles, parking lot walk each way. If not... Sometimes I'm in such bad shape that just standing up would drop me in a faint.
Steve Davy
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Re: Weak links

Post by Steve Davy »

So ask the motherfucker for an example of this two hundred bacon saver many of us are now deciding we're happy with actually saving any bacon.
Fuck that, and fuck Davis.
You need to be taking care of yourself now, and not fighting this battle until you are feeling much better.
Get in and see the Doctor if you can. Perhaps take a taxi if you're not up to driving or call 911 if you need to.
I'm worried sick about you, and I want you to be doing whatever it takes to get through this.
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Tad Eareckson
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Re: Weak links

Post by Tad Eareckson »

I'm taking care of myself reasonably well, mostly a matter of staying hydrated, and cringing under the quilt during fever cycles. Please nobody worry sick about me - this isn't getting the least bit better but it's also not getting the least bit worse. I'm pretty sure it's the same thing I had before and it was just a matter of weakness and misery.

As for Davis...

- I've been fighting this Quest Link bullshit for something like eight years now - that's the issue that got me blacklisted out of the sport - and never before have we had these motherfuckers in such vulnerable positions.

- We can EASILY do to Davis what we did to Rooney and whenever I see one of those topics bumped up it's like a new present under the tree. Immediate morale boost and I immediately start feeling a lot better physically. Doesn't make too much difference if the post is a damaging shot at Davis or some pathetic attempt at self preservation or covering fire. If it's defensive it WILL be a contradiction and we WILL be able to use it at our leisure to bring down the Ponzi scheme.

- Conversely, when I see the topics drifting down the page...

Feel like I'm miserable in a concentration camp listening to the sounds of Allied bombs and artillery getting loader and closer.

Back under the quilt now...
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Tad Eareckson
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Re: Weak links

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=31717
Weak link?
michael170 - 2014/09/01 08:56:30 UTC
Paraglider Collapse - 2014/08/31 06:08:00 UTC

Thanks Davis. Informative posts, admirable restraint.
Well Davis, aren't you going to thank Paraglider Collapse for the blow job?
Gawd, can you imagine the bandwidth if he were to do that EVERY time for EVERY Dedicated Sycophant? He takes care of that at the annual Dedicated Sycophant Christmas / mutual masturbation party.

By the way...

Thanks michael. Informative posts, admirable restraint. REALLY admirable restraint.
michael170 - 2014/09/01 09:54:06 UTC
Mike Bomstad - 2014/08/30 17:07:51 UTC

Pilot needs to make himself safer by landing better, weak link had nothing to do with it.
Both hand transitions were terrible...
With his bacon saver increasing his safety I suspect he'll get lots of practice at landing better.
I KNOW he will...

http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2467
weak links
Flying Lobster - 2007/07/23 11:14:35 UTC

Exactly. Tad says we go to the upper end, we say it's fine where it is. Tad says "inadvertent" breaks are malfunctions which will kill you and inconvenience him with waiting an extra 3 minutes on the flight line while he's eager to go after that huge xc flight or Manfred's world distance record; we say it's the weak link doing what it's supposed to do. (it's a wonder he tolerates tandems on the same day he's out).
http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6326
An OK Day at Ridgely
Matthew Graham - 2014/06/09 01:51:11 UTC

I got on the flight line at a little after 1pm behind Sammi. She had a sledder. Then the tandem glider called rank and went ahead of me. The tandem broke a weak link and it took a while to sort out a new weak link. I finally towed around 1:30 and also broke a link at 450'. Back to the end of the line. Actually, my wife Karen let my cut in front of her. Bertrand and Sammi towed again. Each having sledder. The cirrus had moved in and things did not look good. Again I arrived at the front of the line only to have the tandem call dibs. And then the tug needed gas. I thought I would never get into the air...
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24846
Is this a joke ?
Jim Rooney - 2011/08/28 19:39:17 UTC

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 favorite. 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.
Wow. Heading towards five hours now and nobody coming to Davis's defense and not so much as a Paul Hurless "Sink This!" on michael. I think people are FINALLY beginning to be really fed up with Davis and his bacon saver bullshit - or at least too scared shitless to be seen as being aligned with him. Boy do we have momentum now.
Steve Davy
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Re: Weak links

Post by Steve Davy »

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?p=311285#311285
Report about fatal accident at Quest Air Hang Gliding
deltaman - 2013/02/08 14:52:04 UTC

What lacks to your friend Zack is a good understanding of what should be a weaklink..
Its purpose is not to protect the pilot as every ranches are saying but just to protect the glider from overload.
In accordance of the FAA rules we should all fly a 1.5G of the MAXIMUM certified operating weight weaklink and use a reliable release with 2 hands on the bar during actuation:
2 points GetOff release : http://www.nanoavionic.com/,
or 1 point mouth release : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh3-uZptNw0

Here, Zack needed tension and not the opposite !
and with a poor "standart 130lb weaklink" you take unnecessary risk !!

How much deaths again ?

condolences to his family & friends.
2013/02/08 16:53:49 UTC - 3 thumbs up - miguel
2013/02/08 21:37:04 UTC - 3 thumbs up - michael170
2013/02/08 18:59:15 UTC - Sink This! -- NMERider
2013/02/09 05:11:43 UTC - Sink This! -- peanuts
2013/02/08 17:36:21 UTC - Sink This! -- Paul H
Steve Davy
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Re: Weak links

Post by Steve Davy »

http://ozreport.com/3.050
Aerotowing in Australia
James Freeman - 1999/04/29

I use a stronger weak link for the simple reason that low level weak link breaks are dangerous as the glider may not recover from the probable ensuing stall prior to hitting the ground.
http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?p=311364
Report about fatal accident at Quest Air Hang Gliding
Davis Straub - 2013/02/09 05:38:41 UTC

The weak link broke. So what?
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Tad Eareckson
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Re: Weak links

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=31811
Weak link material
Tiberiu Szollosi - 2014/09/10 20:20:18 UTC

Thinking of bumping up from 130lb to 150lb
Let's not go nuts here, Tiberiu. 140? MAYBE. 150? Image
Would this make good material?

http://www.amazon.com/500-27-150-lb-Ashaway-Braided-Dacron/dp/B001RR0BTA
500' 150-lb. Ashaway Braided Dacron Kite Line: Toys & Games
Image

No track record whatsoever.
Jim Gaar - 2014/09/10 20:24:02 UTC

In my personal opinion weak-link material is only as good as it's needed breaking strength.
Wow, that sentence makes total sense.
If it breaks consistently for you at the correct time it's good weak-link material...
Yeah, Tiberiu. Talk to the manufacturer and see how it came out in time trials. For a really good low level lockout protector you want something that consistently blows in the five to ten second range.

Somebody help this guy. I don't hate him yet and it would be a REALLY GOOD opportunity to finish tearing Rodie's balls off.
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Tad Eareckson
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Re: Weak links

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=31811
Weak link material
Brian Scharp - 2014/09/10 23:06:03 UTC

How do you test to find if it breaks at the correct time?
You use pressure gauges and stop watches to document weak link characteristics. Never ever use a tension gauge. You and I both know that lab tests with tension gauges may produce results with good internal validity, but are often weak in regard to external validity - meaning lab conditions cannot completely include all the factors and variability that exists in the big, real world - especially tension.
I thought 130 lb. was capable of holding till crash time.
But it keeps you from getting dragged afterwards...

Image
http://ozreport.com/pub/images/fingerlakesaccident2.jpg
http://ozreport.com/pub/images/fingerlakesaccident3.jpg
Image
34-03715
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5594/14877659539_4d1333c6a3_o.png
Image
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http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3845/15061342651_ecc43c3f4f_o.png
36-04005

That's where the REAL damage is done when these stronglinking test pilots like Davis and Tiberiu decide to ignore what Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney has been telling them all along.
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