Brad Geary video

[Tad Eareckson]

Bob Kuczewski - 2015/05/08 07:16:36 UTC

Tad Eareckson (bcc Rick),

In your forum topic titled "Brad Geary video" at:

http://www.kitestrings.org/topic83-10.html#p7818

you wrote:

Fuck the PDMC. You assholes wanna talk about it relative to coastal sites then show me a video of a collapse at a coastal site.

I don't have a video, but please research Pam Hargett. She died at Torrey Pines in a paragliding crash likely caused by a collapse due to turbulence in a NW wind.

Tad, you are so driven by hatred for me that you're embarrassing yourself on your forum. For you to justify the antics of Brad Geary and Max Marien in that video - with children passengers - is shameful ... even for you.

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1031
Paragliding Fatality at Torrey - May 12, 2012

I don't have a video...

Correct.

...but please research Pam Hargett.

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=47773
Fatal Crash at Torrey Pines

I had actually stumbled over that one recently when I was researching bannings but had forgotten about it.

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1031
Paragliding Fatality at Torrey - May 12, 2012

Bob Kuczewski - 2012/05/14 20:54:48 UTC

From the data available, I suspect that a pilot flying low in that area at that time might experience fairly severe turbulence from the cliff and from the tall palm trees on that property. I hope this analysis will be considered by anyone investigating this accident and by anyone flying that area of the ridge during northwest wind conditions.

She died at Torrey Pines in a paragliding crash likely caused by a collapse due to turbulence in a NW wind.

Wow. A 180 pound aircraft that flies at twenty miles per hour and was below launch level and close in got spun into the cliff by fairly severe turbulence. Who'da thunk?

This is an excellent illustration of just how deep you gotta dig to find something to try to use to support/justify your position. (Still waiting to hear an account of somebody getting a bump on his head to justify implementation of the new Bob Kuczewski Mandatory Helmet At All Times While Hooked Into A Glider Regulation.)

Tad, you are so driven by hatred for me...

If I were so driven by hatred for you would I have put in the zillion hours I have so far running ground support for you and your position in this Gliderport banning and u$hPa expulsion bullshit?

...that you're embarrassing yourself on your forum.

Yeah? So? What difference does it make?

For you to justify the antics of Brad Geary and Max Marien in that video...

I LOVE the "ANTICS" of Brad Geary and Max Marien in that video.

113-220710
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8700/17205433495_ea31ccab99_o.png


That's the kinda stuff that we used to see John Heiney doing on the magazine cover - before he got so much shit from the Correctness Nazis that he said fuckit and stopped submitting it. And John's an extremely safe and conservative pilot - believe it or not.

...with children passengers - is shameful ... even for you.

Fuck you. Neither those "children" nor their mom asked any of you assholes to step in and make their decisions for them.

We know that Alec is totally cool with the relative work and aerobatics 'cause they wouldn't be doing the shit - repeatedly - if it were making him uncomfortable.

Zack is a wonderful little kid. Totally comfortable ('cept for the fuckin' Rooney helmet), having a blast with the relative work and aero, doesn't wanna ever come down, interested in everything that's going on, asks really good questions. Good pilot material.

And I love mom too. Watches Shannon slam in after the midair and get half killed, instantly does the math and comes up with don't-need-to-worry-'bout-this, says "Zack... You OK?" and good-let's-do-this.

I have ZERO doubt that if Zack and Alec were listening to you assholes referring to them as "children" in need of protection from these "antics" they'd find you just as patronizing and insulting as I do and you actually are.

And it's also a no brainer that mom was totally cool with everything in the video and would be pretty fucking hot listening to assholes in effect calling her a clueless and/or irresponsible parent.

Those were two very skilled and experienced professional pilots flying in baby butt smooth air under a pretty complete overcast, with pretty good altitude and clearance from the cliff, in total control of their birds ever second of the flights, with fuckin' huge safety margins, doing shit that nobody's ever been reported to have been scratched doing.

THIS:

27-44400
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8625/16019976468_1f060f370c_o.png


is a BRAIN DEAD *OBVIOUS* fatality waiting to happen - *AGAIN*. And six weeks ago today it DID - *AGAIN*. And if any of you Save-The-Children motherfuckers actually gave a rat's ass about actually saving any actual children THAT's where you'd be you'd be putting your efforts. (Yeah, I know, Bob... You've only towed once and that was tandem aero so you're not really qualified to comment on whether or not there's anything wrong with that picture.)

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=908
Janis Ian - At Seventeen (Live, 1976)

Bob Kuczewski - 2011/12/22 18:01:13 UTC

I believe that Tad took advantage of that boy and is justifying it with the same logic that he uses to justify everything else he says or does. That's where I drew the line.

That's ACTUALLY what you motherfuckers are doing - exploiting those kids...

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1629
Jailed for taking pictures at Torrey

Michael Grisham - 2015/05/06 21:46:55 UTC

I also believe the FAA tandem exemption should have a minimum age limit somewhere between age 14 and 16 for the protection of children.

...to the very real and obvious detriment of ALL kids, to further your political goals.

P.S. Got a date on that video/midair? I'd like to have it up for the public record.
---
Edit - 2015/05/12 20:50:00 UTC

http://www.kitestrings.org/topic83-10.html#p7818

It's actually:
http://www.kitestrings.org/topic83-10.html#p7819
now since I shuffled the posts to get the extra series of stills in.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1629
Jailed for taking pictures at Torrey

Rick Masters - 2015/05/08 16:19:52 UTC

USHPA hang glider pilots shouldn't be allowed to see that video.
They need their tender little brains protected by their nanny org.

I thought they already had their tender little brains protected by the new Bob Kuczewski Mandatory Helmet At All Times While Hooked Into A Glider Regulation.

Rick Masters - 2015/05/08 17:03:18 UTC

The video was produced for and sold to the client for payment. That really complicates any copyright claim.
A court investigator will simply request the video be provided by the concessionaire, if needed.
Because it shows alleged child endangerment...

Who's alleging it? And what laws were being broken that resulted in that endangerment?

...on public city property, under a lease arrangement with a public entity, it becomes evidence and falls into the public domain, anyway.

All they did on public city property was walk into the air and float back out of it - asshole.

However, pulling the video from YouTube does protect the tender little brains of USHPA hang glider pilots from seeing how their sport has been hijacked.

That video had shit to do with hang gliding being hijacked. It showed paragliders operating in a mega safe paragliding environment.

That's something.

Yeah. Have fun with it, Rick.

Scott C. Wise - 2015/05/08 17:06:36 UTC

I think...

You really shouldn't. You totally suck at that activity.

...the following has a VERY significant relevance to the Brad Geary (as well as the other Air California Adventure Inc. PG Tandem pilot) video "evidence" that has been removed from YouTube -

The State of California wrote:
California Penal Code SECTION 273a.

(a) (a) Any person who, under circumstances or conditions likely to produce great bodily harm or death . . . willfully causes or permits [a] child to be placed in a situation where his or her person or health is endangered, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison for two, four, or six years.

(b) Any person who, . . . willfully causes or permits [a] child to be placed in a situation where his or her person or health may be endangered, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

I wonder if the SD Police Department would accept a complaint on this matter? . . Or, . . . just sweep it under the rug? . . .

Yeah, why don't you motherfuckers pursue that strategy. That should go a long ways to make you guys REAL popular. 'Specially after Mom gets swept up in the bust and Zack and Alec go into foster care with some stupid cunt like Joanna DelBuono.

Scott C. Wise - 2015/05/08 17:25:33 UTC

This may have been posted already (above) but I found this video on YouTube. It gives GRAPHIC detail on what happens to a person (and potentially child passengers!) when a collapsible canopy deflates/deforms near enough to the ground.

The second part of the video is from the 1st Person Crash Victim perspective. They were wearing a helmet cam! Clearly they are in pain and can not get up from where they pounded in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvYORWG-SpU

- Clearly "THEY" are a SOLO so I'm a little confused about your unwavering insistence on referring to "THEM" as "THEY".

- Yeah Scott. You found a video of a paraglider coming in at min sink, stalling out in the backside of a thermal, and slamming in pretty hard (fortunately with no child passengers!). Therefore, obviously, no child should ever be allowed to be a passenger on a paraglider under any circumstances - and anybody who DOES fly a paraglider with a child passenger should be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison for two, four, or six years.

See if you can find people getting injured in plane, car, boat, horse, bicycle crashes so we can protect more children and get more adults and older children in prison.

Rick Masters - 2015/05/08 17:44:17 UTC

Yeah. The soundtrack should go:

"Golly, look at all those hang gliders down there!
There's so many of them!
But hang gliders are so heavy!
All full of tubes and stuff!
I wonder why they're not flying paragliders like me?"

Paragliding: The closest thing to flying like a cement block.

Meanwhile, back in REALITY...

Grzegorz K - 2012/06/02

The main cause of the accident was the small experience.
Too little speed during landing, and the wrong response to the situation.

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

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

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."

But keep up the great work bashing paragliding at every opportunity - inherent genuine stuff and the petty bullshit like this that has little to nothing to do with the flavor of soaring machine. Keep up your nonstop screaming of attempted double child murder for this one:

073-173220
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at Torrey while totally ignoring this actual child murder / adult suicide:

07-03019
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8737/16790136379_c1c17b2f86_o.png


and Industry cover-up at Jean Lake. I'm sure that'll have TONS of appeal to...

Robert Kuczewski - 81898
- H4 - 2005/09/13 - Steve Stackable - 2012/09/30 - FL AWCL CL FSL RLF TUR
- P4 - 2006/04/11 - Ken Baier - FL CL FSL HA RLF RS TUR

...your biwingual demographic.

You have a fuckin' lunatic colony over there, Bob. No principles, integrity, sanity. You've maxed out your expansion and are going nowhere beyond what you have now. If you were ever gonna see anything happen you'd have seen a spike or upswing in response to this Torrey/u$hPa banning/expulsion bullshit/atrocity.

Yeah, Kite Strings has maxed out its participation but it's slowly and steadily growing as a legitimate reference and threat to the establishment. Your lunatic colony was doomed by the time you'd taxied to the downwind end of the runway.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1629
Jailed for taking pictures at Torrey

Rick Masters - 2015/05/09 11:25:25 UTC

I run across this kind of thing all the time in my research.

How much good is you research doing? Paragliders will collapse in turbulence and if the collapse is low the pilot can get killed. People don't know that? And the people who need to see the results of your research to understand that are doing the gene pool some appreciable good?

Ground-handling of paragliders can be dangerous. The canopy is high in the air, exposed to gusts. It can easily lift the operator off the ground.

No shit. Can I see your data on that?

In the San Diego political incident, one USHPA member informed another that he was instructing without a helmet and should simply put one on.

It was none of Member A's goddam business and it was massively...

Rich Hass, President - 2015/04/18

ROBERT KUCZEWSKI EXPULSION HEARING INFORMATION

In a subsequent restraining order hearing initiated by Air California Adventures against Mr. Kuczewski, the judge watched Mr. Kuczewski's own video of the confrontation and commented that Mr. Kuczewski's behavior was "just totally unacceptable behavior". The judge encouraged Mr. Kuczewski to avoid similar confrontations in the future.

...inappropriate. And when Member A took his one and only tow flight - tandem aero with Malcolm - I never heard his saying shit about the dozen or so obvious and massive violations of existing u$hPa SOPs and FAA regulations.

It should have ended there.

It should have never started there.

Everything that resulted from that point reflects the appalling immaturity of the concessionaire and the USHPA Board of Directors. If you, as a USHPA member, can be put in jail and expelled from the USHPA for pointing out safety violations, what are you doing supporting the organization? It is obviously ethically crippled and not the same one you signed on to. Get out now. Start over.

I don't remember you getting too bent out of shape when those same total pieces o' shit ended my flying career or when Bob expelled me from his dump 'cause he felt like it.

-
Paraglider killed in ground-handling accident
PG fatality #926 - Seoung Man Lee, 44
October 11, 2010 Rancho Palos Verdes, California, USA
Hanging on to the control handles, he was lifted unexpectedly by "a strong gust of wind." Unprepared for flight, without helmet or harness, he was lifted 100 feet into the air supported only by his grip on the control handles. Because the man fell after only "a few seconds" of flight, a witness said he may have panicked and let go rather than hold on until the paraglider lost altitude.
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Paraglider-Dies-After-Huge-Gust-of-Wind-Sends-his-Chute-in-the-Air-104786114.html
-
Paraglider injured in northeast crash
April 4, 2015 20:03
A paraglider has suffered a serious injury on Holy Saturday in Hainburg (District Bruck an der Leitha) in exercises with his paraglider. The man's canopy was suddenly pulled into the air due to a strong gust of wind. At about three meters high, the loops of the steering lines slipped from his wrist. The 48-year-old lost control and fell from two and a half meters. The paraglider, who was busy with so-called ground handling exercises, landed on his back on the grass of the airfield and was even dragged a few meters by the paraglider along the ground, said the State Police of Lower Austria. The 48-year-old was seriously injured in the accident, and then flown to Vienna's SMZ Ost hospital by the emergency helicopter Christophorus 9. The man was wearing a helmet and harness fitted with a back protector. According to the authorities, a spinal injury is suspected.
http://www.salzburg24.at/paragleiter-stuerzte-in-noe-ab-und-verletzte-sich/apa-s24_1422998150
-
Kitesurfing fatality
Joaquin Barbero, 33
December 14, 2011
Cerro Cathedral, ARGENTINA
Barbero died from serious head injuries received on December 10. Instructor Andres Bertoncelj reports that Barbero was ground-handling a kitesurfing wing in a level parking lot when a gust of wind lifted him unexpectedly. Frightened, he let go at 2 meters and fell backward, striking his head on the pavement. The kite was inaccurately described in most press reports as a paraglider.
-
Paragliding fatality #734
2009 ARGENTINA
The instructor set up paraglider in windy conditions to demonstrate inflation technique to students. He was lifted into air and immediately slammed to the ground. He died at the scene.
http://www.favl.org.ar/informe_accidentes.php
-
Paragliding fatality #406
Dai Jurong, 34, instructor
March 5, 2005 Jurong Akayama, Nanjing Jiangning, CHINA
The instructor held onto the brakes of a student's paraglider when it was lifted by a "violent wind." The paraglider carried them both off the ground. The instructor lost his grip and fell from 50 meters. He was fatally injured.
"New extreme sports coach killed in PG accident,” Jinling Evening News, 8 Mar 2005
-
PG serious injury -- Markus O., 10
March 9, 1998 Virgen, Lienz, AUSTRIA
The child was playing in a flat meadow with a borrowed paraglider when the wind lifted him into the air. He was dropped onto a roof, then another gust threw him onto an apiary. "Severe head injuries." Helicopter rescue.
http://flash-news.at/pdfs/news81.htm

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Incident 1
No helmet. No harness either so the Kuczewski Klause was totally irrelevant. No mention of head injury. Fell a hundred feet but he'd have been fine if only he'd been wearing a helmet.
-
Incident 2
Was clipped in and wearing a helmet. Had a back protector and probably suffered spinal injury. No indication that his helmet prevented injury.
-
Incident 3
KITESURFING practice in a parking lot - paved presumably. Don't know whether or not he was wearing a helmet or whether or not one would've done him any good. Probably wasn't, may have.
-
Incident 4
No indication regarding helmet use and no description of injuries.
-
Incident 5
Not his glider. Held onto someone else's glider. No indication regarding helmet use and no description of injuries. Fell a hundred and fifty feet but he'd have been fine if only he'd been wearing a helmet.
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Incident 6
A kid playing with a borrowed paraglider. No indication regarding helmet use. I'd guess not. If not a helmet would probably have made a big difference. But do ya think the kid in Austria would've been wearing a helmet because of the Kuczewski Klause?
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Five months after the Torrey incident this is the best you can do? This is PATHETIC.

Bob Kuczewski - 2015/05/09 12:30:30 UTC

Paraglider killed in ground-handling accident...

Gee, I thought Gabe Jebb was demonstrating that helmets weren't needed when you're "just ground handling"?

And here's Bob Kuczewski at Torrey:






demonstrating that the USHGA hook-in check regulation isn't needed where Tad Hurst was actually very seriously injured solely because he never did hook-in checks.

If you actually gave a flying fuck about safety in these sports you wouldn't be obsessing on bullshit like this. Wanna see someone kicking some serious paragliding ass on the safety front? And, of course, getting banned in the process? (Which is the universal yardstick that confirms you're spot on.)

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=28697
Weak links why do we use them. in paragliding.
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=28641
Weak links in towing paragliders with pay out winch

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hhpa/message/9351
Just a Tad to the Right

John Moody - 2010/02/03 04:09

Bob, I had already looked over the first two links you posted about the Capitol Hang Gliding Club and knew that Tad was an active member in the early '90's and I had also looked over his Flicker pictures of releases. It was the third link that turned out to be the really good one. I read the whole thread from top to bottom, about a three hour chore for me and keeping score as it bounced from person to person was hard for a while. The one thing I found I could seriously relate to was Tad Eareckson. He is my newest Hero now.

If you REALLY wanted to do something substantive to make paragliding a lot safer at zero cost/tradeoff you'd help finish off Stuart Caruk and Peter Birren.

Fake:
- grassroots hang gliding association
- mission statement and principles
- board of directors
- concern for protection of people of varying ages
- turbulent jet stream six inches above your glider on launch
- aviation safety campaigns

P.S. Ignore:
Last edited by miguel on 2015/05/11 17:06:08 UTC, edited 1 time in total.

[miguel]

And here's Bob Kuczewski at Torrey:



demonstrating that the USHGA hook-in check regulation isn't needed where Tad Hurst was actually very seriously injured solely because he never did hook-in checks.

Well.............He does appear to be examining his hang loop/carabiner for continuity

[Tad Eareckson]

Yeah, Bob does an EXCELLENT job of...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13132
Unhooked Death Again - Change our Methods Now?

JBBenson - 2009/01/25 16:27:19 UTC

I get what Tad is saying, but it took some translation:
HANG CHECK is part of the preflight, to verify that all the harness lines etc. are straight.
HOOK-IN CHECK is to verify connection to the glider five seconds before takeoff.
They are separate actions, neither interchangeable nor meant to replace one another. They are not two ways to do the same thing.

...preflighting his suspension in the staging area just prior to moving to launch - just like tons of other people for whom that strategy has been good enough 99.9 or better percent of the time.

And, fuck, even if he runs off unhooked and falls a hundred and fifty feet - he's got a helmet, undoubtedly buckled as he always verifies while running Joe Greblo's Four Or Five Cs.

P.S.

In the course of yet another review of the video yesterday I realized there was a section from 223518 to 231104 that merited detailed coverage - 'specially seeing as how the video's no longer publicly accessible - to the tune of 26 additional stills. Amending them, in order, to Post 07:

http://www.kitestrings.org/post7749.html#p7749

in the archive brought the stills count for that one up to 44 which made it unacceptably cumbersome. So I'm reposting this one in as new entry and shuffling everything from that point on to make the requisite space.

P.P.S.

Post 08:
http://www.kitestrings.org/post7750.html#p7750
features 30 stills, four of which:
118-222515
119-222610
123-224125
146-231218
I bumped up from Post 07 and the rest I harvested yesterday.

All posts beyond 07 and up to this one I bumped I bumped to the next chronological slot. (miguel's post (just prior to this one) originally occupied 2015/05/10 23:01:00 UTC.)

[Tad Eareckson]

002-005121
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004-005615
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...
024-043111
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OK. Have fun.
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...
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Get me!
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045-101029
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Take a picture!
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...
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MOM!
-
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112-220524
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113-220710
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Haha!
-
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115-221003
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116-221114
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...
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Hi mom.
-
...
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So within a couple seconds of Zack waving to Mom he's walking on Alec's wing. And it's a no fuckin' brainer that she's down there in that little spectator cluster going nuts with her camera. And it's also a no fuckin' brainer that everybody and his fuckin' dog is down there watching this outrageous child endangerment - and also, inexplicably, not melting down the phone lines to the San Diego Police and Child Protective Services. And this is in a society in which the SWAT Team is called within three seconds of the sighting of a couple of kids playing in the neighborhood park without a heavily armed adult hovering within a fifteen yard radius.

Also note that Mom's not parked by the touchdown point poised to rescue her kids from the clutches of these maniacs and read them the Riot Act for this atrocity.

Sure is a good thing we've got a bunch of Bob Show and u$hPa Fake Safety Nazis to generate the fake safety hysteria necessary to pretend to address actual safety issues.

P.S. How do you think Zack feels knowing that HIS flight as documented in HIS video resulted in the permanent revocation of Brad's tandem rating? Ditto for Mom and Alec.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=41619
Goodbye Bob K?

Mark G. Forbes - 2015/04/21 01:32:02 UTC

Oh, we'd heard BobK's name before...he's hardly an unfamiliar topic at the BOD. You might even describe him as "legendary". We reviewed written and video materials before taking the vote. We also read through the court transcripts and depositions. There was an extended discussion of that material before we voted. I don't think any of the directors made their decision on the basis of just one side of the story. What you've been getting here is pretty much the Bob side of the story, because (as I've said several times) I'm trying to stay out of a discussion of the merits of Bob's arguments until after the hearing.

Which, of course, is not to say that you'll engage in any discussion of the merits of Bob's arguments after the "hearing".

So far as the wing walking thing goes, as soon as we were made aware of it last year, we immediately suspended the tandem rating, followed (after procedure) by a permanent revocation of that rating.

Based on what? Show me the SOP which prohibits "wing walking" (an eleven year old gently sliding his foot...

112-220524
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113-220710
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114-220829
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...a few feet across the top of his brother's canopy for three seconds with ZERO effect on the other glider).

Had we known about it sooner, we would have acted sooner.

Did you know we had a fuckin'...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skysailingtowing/message/7230
Towing question

Martin Henry - 2009/06/26 06:06:59 UTC

PS... you got to be careful mentioning weak link strengths around the forum, it can spark a civil war

...civil war going on over the Standard Aerotow Weak Link until after one of your douchebag tandem aerotow instructors fatally slammed his stupid ass back into the Quest runway when one of them very predictably increased the safety of the towing operation? Here's what you published in the 1983/08 edition of your stupid magazine:

Now I've heard the argument that "Weak links always break at the worst possible time, when the glider is climbing hard in a near stall situation," and that "More people have been injured because of a weak link than saved by one." Well, I for one have been saved by a weak link and would not even consider towing without one. I want to know without a doubt (1) when I am pushing too hard, and (2) what will break when I push too hard, and (3) that no other damage need result because I push too hard.

Furthermore, I will not use a mechanical weak link no matter how elaborate or expensive because there is always the possibility that it may fail to operate properly. In skyting we use a simple and inexpensive strand of nylon fishing line which breaks at the desired tension limit. There is no possible way for it to jam and fail to release when the maximum tension is exceeded. Sure, it may get weaker through aging or wear and break too soon, but it cannot get stronger and fail to break. If it does break to soon, so what? We simply replace it with a fresh one.

three decades minus six months prior. Had you heard that "argument" - and Donnell's totally unfathomable stupidity - before?

That's the disciplinary process that is available to us...

Meaning the Board of Directors stacked with and to the sole benefit of...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TUGS/message/1184
aerotow instruction was Re: Tug Rates

Larry Jorgensen - 2011/02/17 13:37:47 UTC

It did not come from the FAA, it came from a USHPA Towing Committee made up of three large aerotow operations that do tandems for hire.

Appalling.

...commercial tandem thrill ride operators.

...as a membership...

Meaning all us recreational muppets unworthy of any information of any actual value.

...association. It's all there in SOP 12-7 for you to read for yourself, in the members section of the USHPA website.

Yeah. That's the huge load o' crap explaining how anybody inside the u$hPa establishment can fuck over anybody down in the pecking order for any reason he feels like. Now show us the SOP you used to justify the permanent qualification revocation.

And also please explain to us why you took ZERO action against the OTHER obviously willing participant in the "wing walking" "incident".

P.S. While you're at it... Please explain to me how you're justifying this tandem exemption as an instructional tool when not once in the twenty-eight minute and one second duration of this flight (canopy coming up to canopy down) does this "student" ever have a hand anywhere near a control - and why that isn't a more serious issue than this trumped up total bullshit about child endangerment.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=32842
has anyone done a tandem loop?

Dave Hopkins - 2015/05/05 01:45:21 UTC

areobatics in tandem is basically banned.

- Please define "areobatics".

- Flying with a weak link under 80 percent max certified operating weight and a front end weak link lighter than the back end is very specifically and clearly illegal and has resulted in several twofer fatals. Yet one hundred percent of Dragonfly tandem tows are so conducted. Any comment?

It has been the source of many fatalities and bad injuries.

Solo? Yes. Tandem? Bullshit. ZERO.

This crap:

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15302
New Zealand tandem deaths



CAA Safety Notice and Preliminary Findings re Queenstown Tan
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15385

is the best we have. The glider's supposed to be certified to six Gs. The downtube failed at less than half that. (Three is about what you pull at the bottom of a loop.) And the UVed out parachute bridle wasn't up to the job it was supposed to do EITHER.

Cite ONE other downtube failure in the history of hang gliding aerobatics. We break leading edges and cross spars - and, if you're Bo Hagewood, tandem student killer of note, two millimeter racing wires. If a downtube goes it's 'cause there was something seriously wrong with it and thus the glider was dangerously decertified - PERIOD. Something unsafe to fly AT ALL in anything more demanding than a shallow dune skim.

I think the rule reads no unnecessary maneuvers .

- Show me a video of a hang or para glider takeoff which is NECESSARY. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of hang and para glider flights are *UN*NECESSARY - by DEFINITION.

- You THINK the rule reads no unnecessary maneuvers? Somebody's had his tandem ticket permanently revoked and you can't be bothered to FIND OUT what the rule reads?

- Let's look at the relevant current and presumably most restrictive/obnoxious rules:

The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, Inc. - 2015/03/13

12. Standard Operating Procedure
02. Pilot Proficiency System
02. Hang Gliding Tandem Requirements
-D. Tandem Operating Restrictions and Limitations
01. Tandem I (T-1):
-e. It is recommended that all tandem flight maneuvers be within the glider manufacturer's suggested operation limitations, and within the pilot-in-command's level of skill.
-f. In cases where a wing is uncertified or placarded limitations are not specified, it is recommended that the following limitations are not to be exceeded:
-i. Maneuvers beyond a 60 degree bank and 45 degree pitch angle.
ii. Maximum allowable wing loading (not to exceed) 2.25 lbs. per sq. ft.
03. Paragliding Tandem Requirements
-D. Tandem Operating Restrictions and Limitations
01. Tandem 1 (T-1):
-e. It is recommended that all tandem flight maneuvers be within the glider manufacturer's suggested operating limitations, and within the pilot-in-command's level of skill.
-f. In cases where a wing is uncertified or placarded limitations are not specified, it is recommended that the following limitations are not to be exceeded:
-i. Maneuvers beyond a 60 degree bank and 45 degree pitch angle.
ii. Maximum allowable wing loading (not to exceed) 2.25 lbs. per sq. ft.
-g. Pilots are prohibited from executing hard round spirals, the SAT maneuver, Stalls, and Spins with student pilots not holding a minimum of a P2 or H2 as described in the Pilot Proficiency Program.
-h. Pilots are prohibited from flying beyond 90 degrees of bank or pitch angle on flights with student pilots not holding a minimum of a P2 or H2 as described in the Pilot Proficiency Program.
02. Tandem Instructor (T-3):
-f. Pilots are prohibited from executing hard round spirals, the SAT maneuver, Stalls, and Spins with student pilots not holding a minimum of a P2 or H2 as described in the Pilot Proficiency Program.
03. Maximum allowable combined passenger and pilot hook-in weight must be within the manufacturer's placarded limitations of the glider.
09. It is recommended that all tandem flight maneuvers be within the glider manufacturer's suggested operating limitations, and within the pilot-in-command's level of skill.
10. In cases where a wing is uncertified or placarded limitations are not specified, it is recommended that the following limitations are not to be exceeded:
-a. Maneuvers beyond a 60 degree bank and 45 degree pitch angle.
-b. Maximum allowable wing loading (not to exceed) 2.25 lbs. per sq. ft.
11. Tandem pilots are prohibited from executing hard round spirals, the SAT maneuver, Stalls, and Spins or from flying beyond 90 degrees of bank or pitch angle with passengers not holding a minimum of a Novice rating (P2/H2) as described in the Pilot Proficiency Program.

For the time being just explain to me what one is definitely prohibited from doing under the terms of that functionally illiterate load o' crap.

Eric Beckman - 2015/05/05 03:32:47 UTC

As to tandem aero maneuvers, don't do it. The aero-elasticity of modern flex-wings is pretty awesome, but a hair too much yaw and/or side-slip during a high-speed high-wing loading situation can quickly cause structural failure.

Bullshit.

- You have to really fuck up a fairly radical aero maneuver to break up an airworthy glider.

- Nobody takes tandems beyond ninety anyway.

- For the years I was watching tandem thrill rides damn near all of them concluded with series of ninety degree wangs. If this is so fucking dangerous then where were all structural failures, parachute deployments, fatal crashes?

And that assumes you have experienced pilots as both PIC and passenger.

Bullshit.

- Tandem PICs have experience coming outta their asses by definition.

- The passenger (who's supposed to be a STUDENT) isn't touching the bar when anything critical and out of his depth - takeoff, approach, landing, aero - is going on. He's holding onto the PIC's harness - and is thus just a load o' control ballast. And THIS:

http://i.imgur.com/tt379.jpg


is what an ACTUAL aerotow student can do to a tandem on a normal straight and level climbout if he DOES start controlling the glider.

Putting inexperienced students through high-banked maneuvers while flying tandem should result in a minimum warning of rating revocation for first offense, and loss of privilege after that IMHO.

Fuck your OPINION. We have ZERO evidence that this is an actual safety issue. And we have TONS of PROOF that PICs, passengers, and students are being killed by skipped hook-in checks and Industry Standard releases and weak links. And you've never done shit about those issues.

We scored a dead eleven year old - along with his Hang Five tandem "instructor" seven weeks and one day ago for ZERO official u$hPa reason to date. There hasn't been ONE SINGLE finding of fault or criticism of the operation. And we're talking about all the harsh sanctions we need to hit people with to end the scourge of tandem aero. What a total load o' unconscionable crap.

Cheers!

Get fucked.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=32842
has anyone done a tandem loop?

Mark G. Forbes - 2015/05/05 06:21:34 UTC

Indeed.

Yeah Mark. Totally bogus safety issue. Indeed.

In fact, we added some specific language to the tandem SOP to make it clear that tandem aerobatics with students are prohibited.

Oh really. Let's take a look at the relevant points from the earliest copy of the Policy Manual I have:

The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, Inc. - 2013/03/16

12. Standard Operating Procedure
02. Pilot Proficiency System
12. Hang Gliding Tandem Requirements
-D. Operating Restrictions and Limitations
01. Tandem I:
-e. It is recommended that all tandem flight maneuvers must be within the glider manufacturer's suggested operation limitations, and within the pilot-in-command's level of skill. Maneuvers beyond a 60 degree bank and 45 degree pitch angle are not recommended below 1000 feet AGL.
02. Tandem 2:
-d. It is recommended that all tandem flight maneuvers must be within the glider manufacturer's suggested operating limitations, and within the pilot-in-command's level of skill. Maneuvers beyond a 60 degree bank and 45 degree pitch angle are not recommended below 1000 feet AGL
11. It is recommended that all tandem flight maneuvers be within the glider manufacturer's suggested operating limitations, and within the pilot-in-command's level of skill. It is recommended that maneuvers beyond a 60 degree bank and 45 degree pitch angle not take place below 1,000 feet AGL.
12. Tandem pilots, flying for recreational purposes (purposes other than flight training) are prohibited from performing stalls or spins and from flying beyond 90 degrees of bank or pitch angle with passengers not holding a minimum of a Novice rating (H2/P2) as described in the Pilot Proficiency Program. Tandem instructors are permitted to perform stalls and lockout simulation/training with pilots possessing less than a novice rating (H2/P2) if these maneuvers are conducted in a hang gliding lesson program for the purpose of stall/lockout recognition and recovery. Stall and lockout simulations training should be performed above 1000' AGL.
--. Paragliding Tandem Requirements
-D. Operating Restrictions and Limitations
-e. It is recommended that all tandem flight maneuvers must be within the glider manufacturer's suggested operating limitations, and within the pilot-in-command's level of skill. Maneuvers beyond a 60 degree bank and 45 degree pitch angle are not recommended below 1000 feet .AGL
-f. Pilots are prohibited from executing hard round spirals, the SAT maneuver, Stalls, and Spins with student pilots not holding a minimum of a P2 or H2 as described in the Pilot Proficiency Program.
-g. Pilots are prohibited from flying beyond 90 degrees of bank or pitch angle on flights with student pilots not holding a minimum of a P2 or H2 as described in the Pilot Proficiency Program.
02. Tandem 2:
-d. It is recommended that all tandem flight maneuvers must be within the glider manufacturer's suggested operating limitations, and within the pilot-in-command's level of skill. Maneuvers beyond a 60 degree bank and 45 degree pitch angle are not recommended below 1000 feet AGL
-e. Pilots are prohibited from executing hard round spirals, the SAT maneuver, Stalls, and Spins with student pilots not holding a minimum of a P2 or H2 as described in the Pilot Proficiency Program.
10. It is recommended that all tandem flight maneuvers be within the glider manufacturer's suggested operating limitations, and within the pilot-in-command's level of skill. It is recommended that maneuvers beyond a 60 degree bank and 45 degree pitch angle not take place below 1,000 feet AGL.
11. Tandem pilots are prohibited from executing hard round spirals, the SAT maneuver, Stalls, and Spins or from flying beyond 90 degrees of bank or pitch angle with passengers not holding a minimum of a Novice rating (P2/H2) as described in the Pilot Proficiency Program.

which predates the Board's response...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=41619
Goodbye Bob K?

Mark G. Forbes - 2015/04/21 01:32:02 UTC

So far as the wing walking thing goes, as soon as we were made aware of it last year, we immediately suspended the tandem rating, followed (after procedure) by a permanent revocation of that rating.

...to the Brad Geary video - and compare them to the latest I have posted above. So WHAT specific language?

A tandem instructional flight with a non-rated student pilot should not be covering the fine points of aerobatic flying.

Why the fuck not?

- You force Day One Flight One hang gliding students to start practicing for landings in narrow dry riverbed with large rocks strewn all over the place. And all that accomplishes is...

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.

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.

...lotsa crashes and people injured and crippled out of the sport.

- You've been forcing them up on Rooney Links on both hang and para gliders for decades and...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYe3YmdIQTM


...stalling them back towards or into the ground every third flight.

- What's wrong with showing an actual student at actual capabilities of the bird he's gonna be learning to fly on Day One?

It's not a thrill ride.

Oh really? What fraction of one percent of tandem flyers come back for a second lesson?

This applies both to HG and even more so to PG....we had some pilots doing stuff with students that was well outside of the normal training curriculum.

What fraction of 0.001 percent of these students were getting hurt as much as the average hang or paragliding student staying was well INside of the normal training curriculum - whatever the fuck that is?

Penalties range from a warning and a note in your file, to immediate suspension and revocation of a tandem and/or pilot rating.

Based on what? Whatever you motherfuckers feel like doing? What did Brad do that was so grotesquely egregious that he got a permanent revocation of his tandem ticket while Max didn't even hafta stay after class and clean the chalkboard?

Between rated pilots, things are more relaxed. If a suitable glider was available I think it would be great to learn aerobatic techniques from a guy like Aaron Swepston.

Or, hell... Zack Marzec. He can show ya how to tumble twice from a hundred and fifty feet and land so softly that you survive almost all the way to the hospital - even WITHOUT a full face helmet.

But that's for rated pilots who understand the risks they're taking and are capable of making an informed decision to fly.

Oh. Rated pilots understand the risks they're taking and are capable of making informed decisions to fly.

- Explain:
-- Bill Bennett and Mike Del Signore on 1996/07/25 at Garrettsville, Ohio
-- Arlan Birkett on 2005/09/03 at Sheridan, Illinois
-- Bill Priday on 2005/10/01 at Whitwell
-- Kunio Yoshimura on 2008/08/30 at Mingus
-- Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney on 2006/02/21 at Coronet Peak
-- Kelly Harrison on 2015/05/27 at the Jean Dry Lake Bed

- How the fuck is anybody supposed to understand the risks he's taking when you motherfuckers gut the accident reporting system and sell fictional crap like the excellent book, Towing Aloft, by Dennis Pagen and Bill Bryden?

- Zack and Alec and their mom understood the risks they were taking better than you and Bob and all his pet douchebags put together EVER will. There WEREN'T any.

- Likewise little Lars here:

27-44400
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8625/16019976468_1f060f370c_o.png


is obviously having NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER understanding what a load o' total crap the easy reach is.

Dave Hopkins - 2015/05/06 01:01 UTC

thanks for the clarification mark

Great job, Mark. You clarified something for Dave Hopkins.

You guys keep having fun jerking each other off of over there.

[Tad Eareckson]

Hey Brad...

Count the people in hang and para gliding - 'specially the ones from the tandem thrill ride industry and including your Torrey former employers and buddies and the ones from the operations that have mangled and killed students and passengers - who've uttered single syllables in defense of you and what you were doing and in protest of u$hPa and what they did to you.