Brad Geary video

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.cbs8.com/story/15138240/paraglider-hurt-after-collision-at-torrey-pines-gliderport
Paraglider hurt after collision at Torrey Pines Gliderport - CBS News 8 - San Diego, CA News Station - KFMB Channel 8

CBS 8 - 2011/07/25 23:50 UTC - Posted
San Diego

2011/07/26 00:34 UTC - Updated

In La Jolla, two paragliders crashed into each other, sending one of them to the hospital.
It happened around 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Torrey Pines Gliderport.
San Diego lifeguards say a paraglider was coming in for a landing when another collided into them.
Witnesses say one paraglider fell about 40 feet and landed shoulder first on the ground. The other paraglider was able to land safely.
The cause of the collision is under investigation.

Craig McKee
A woman is recovering tonight after a paragliding accident in La Jolla.

Marcella Lee
Police say two people collided midair and the woman fell more than twenty feet to the ground. It happened at around 2:30 this afternoon at the Gliderport in La Jolla. Here's ABC Price's live in La Jolla with reaction from a witness who saw the entire scene unfold. It must've been so terrifying, Steve.

Steve Price
Yeah, terrifying indeed, Marcella and Craig, and let me update you. That woman was taken to the hospital for observation of her condition has not been released but those witnesses you were talking about say she took a very nasty fall.

Hang in there, girl.

Steve Price
Witnesses say the paraglider hit the ground so hard she bounced. It happened as the woman was coming in for a landing Sunday afternoon at the Torrey Pines Gliderport.

Were you the one that... tangled up with her?

David Fischbach
Yeah.

Steve Price
Witnesses say another paraglider got too close.

Linda Dunn
Witness
His glider hit her wing and collapsed one side. So one whole side of the wing quit flying and came into a stall. And she went into a turn, and... and fell.

Steve Price
Fell more than twenty feet but she was conscious and talking. Lifeguards say she was a student pilot.
Witnesses say she appeared to panic and didn't know what to do after the collision.
She was...

Linda Dunn
If she woulda corrected immediately to the right she would've lessened the blow, but there was no correction, and it was so quick.

Steve Price
It's not clear what the other pilot was doing right before the collision but we're told he appeared to turn INTO the student pilot. He was able to fly away and land safely. An investigation is now underway.

Sgt. Bill Bender
San Diego Lifeguards
After the accident there is a report that's taken and the report is done by officials here at the Gliderport that's used to determine what the outcome of the accident was and how it could be prevented in the future.

Steve Price
And, live, you can see it was an absolutely beautiful day out here for flying. So there were a lot of people up in the air. We have... a lot of these days out here at the Gliderport and yet we have very few accidents because everybody out here always seems to follow the rules. But, as we saw today, Craig and Marcella, all it takes is somebody not paying attention for a split second to have a mishap.
Send it back to you in the studio.

[Tad Eareckson]

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

Michael Grisham - 2015/04/19 04:40:13 UTC

I am shaking my head in disbelief after watching the Brad Video]. There is a standard of care called due diligence.

There is just so much plain wrong with the actions of Brad in that video given the context of the situation; I would not know where to begin to point them out. If you were making a video to demonstrate what not to do, that would be it.

I will say this, if a Captain of a commercial airliner pulled out his cell phone just after takeoff, the FAA would jerk his license lickity split.

http://www.brooklyndaily.com/stories/2015/14/all-nfn-gliding-2015-04-03-bd_2015_14.html
Jo shakes her head at tween hang-gliding - Brooklyn Daily

Joanna DelBuono - 2015/04/01

Lunacy rears its ugly head again. Several days ago a 12 year old was killed in a hang-gliding accident in Nevada when the boy and the instructor crashed into a dry lake bed.

What is wrong with parents to day? And where has all the common sense gone?

In these United States you have to be 21 to drink, 18 to vote and in most states 16 to drive. So how come there is no restriction on hang gliding? Or shooting an automatic weapon on a range in Arizona for that matter.

Why hasn't the FAA enacted an age restriction on all types of aviation practices?

I don't care how safe an instructor says it is. There is no way on this green earth that I would allow my 12 year old child to step into a glider and soar into the wild blue yonder with anyone. I don't care how experienced, or what the guarantee. No one is taking my child on such an adventure.

Not for all the "Please, mommy, pleases," in the world.

"Hang gliding was this year's adventure" reported KMVT.com. "The 12-year-old wanted to be first," said a relative. Who cares if he wanted to be first? If it isn't safe you just say "no." That's why we are the adults and they are the children - we know better.

The accident occurred when the team in the truck made a sharp turn while the glider was still attached and the glider came crashing down.

According to the story in the NY Daily News]: "The boy's family had hired the man to take him hang gliding near Jean, Nevada." They hired him? SMH.

Not for Nuthin™, but what is wrong with parents today? Why do parents feel they have to allow their children to make these decisions, and why do they feel the more dangerous the activity, the more fun it is? What the heck ever happened to visiting a museum, the beach, or a famed landmark for a good, old-fashioned, fun-filled, family vacation adventure?

Great company you're keeping there, Michael.

Zack... You OK?

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Zack 'n' Alec's mom for President, Brad Geary for coolest tandem thrill ride and tandem thrill ride video ever.

Gabe Athouse - 2015/04/03 16:38
Brooklyn

An exceedingly ignorant column. I feel bad for this columnist's children.

P.S. Michael...

I activated your account 2015/05/11 01:20:49 UTC. (Was pretty buried around the time you registered - 2015/05/08 15:33:23 UTC - and didn't get around to checking that activity for a longer period than I should've. Sorry 'bout that.) So you're quite welcome to log in and participate.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1865
Flying with children

Rick Masters - 2015/05/16 16:36:35 UTC

A lot has been discussed on US Hawks forums about flying with children.

Yeah. I've previously noted that obsession.

Like proselytizing drug addicts, fliers of all persuasions (except BASE jumpers, as far as I know)...

Is a BASE jumper a flyer?

...have exhibited a penchant for taking others along for rides. This blog looks at people who think it is okay. Is it child endangerment or the right of a parent to have their children participate in dangerous sports?

Whatever's OK with a parent is OK with me.

Or is it an exaggeration to call such flying a dangerous sport?

Aren't most sports involving movement dangerous to some extent or other?

Let's take a look first at parasailing.

Why? Is parasailing a SPORT? Not interested.

...

Rick Masters - 2015/05/16 16:45:54 UTC

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A commercial paragliding instructor is paid $200 by the mother of an 8-year-old boy...

I already called him eleven.

...to take him for a flight.

And another two hundred bucks for Alec.

In the air, the instructor engages in advanced close flying with another instructor, also carrying a child.

His brother Alec...

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...idiot.

His tandem license is yanked by the national organization. But no one is hurt...

BUT nobody was hurt? Has ANYBODY EVER been hurt doing this? Gimme the scenario in which somebody gets hurt.

...so why is it anybody else's business?

It isn't.

Rick Masters - 2015/05/16 17:04:38 UTC

Hang gliding

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A commercial instructor took an 11-year-old boy on an auto-tow for $200 and locked out. Both were killed. The family had enthusiastically sent the boy on the flight, so why is it anybody else's business?

http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/28635734/child-pilot-killed-in-hang-gliding-accident-near-jean#ixzz3aJz9nom5
Video: Child, pilot killed in hang gliding accident near Jean ID'd

What's your source on the glider being "locked out"? From the video clip you linked to:

Capt. Peter Boffelli
Metro Traffic Bureau

The glider was supposed to release the tether from the truck itself. Apparently that tether release did not occur. So what occurred was when that truck turned around thinking that the tether was released the glider itself plummeted straight to the ground.

- After near seven and a half weeks of crack Mitch Shipley / u$hPa investigation that statement by that cop a few hours after impact is still the best information we have on this one. The
-- glider was supposed to release
-- truck thought the glider had released and turned around
-- glider
--- didn't release
--- plummeted STRAIGHT to the ground
- Fuck you - and Bob. Both of you motherfuckers have impeded and sabotaged all efforts to get safe releases into the air on hang gliders.

Rick Masters - 2015/05/16 17:08:36 UTC

Sailplane



A grandfather took his daughter-in-law and her 3-year-old son on a tandem sailplane ride, but stalled under aero-tow and crashed, killing all. The mother obviously gave permission for the child to ride along, so why is it anybody else's business?

http://www.khou.com/story/local/2015/05/16/11744614/
3-year-old boy, 2 relatives killed in glider crash near Wallis

Bullshit. Nobody got scratched. The report said they STALLED. And Bob has used his Navier-Stokes equations to explain to us that stalls are totally harmless. Besides, would we have been using the standard aerotow weak link as the focal point of our safe aerotowing systems for three decades if stalls were dangerous?

Is that all you have, Rick? No news clips about kids that have died in swimming, bicycling, horse riding, skate boarding, water skiing, surfing, ice skating, downhill skiing incidents?

Bob Kuczewski - 2015/05/17 06:30:31 UTC

Very timely topic Rick.

Doesn't he always have the most timely of topics, Bob?

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1157
Accident information please.

Bob Kuczewski - 2013/02/13 05:15:02 UTC

I agree with you Warren. This is one of the areas where Tad is on the right track.

If only more people like Rick could be more timely more often we could help Tad move faster forward on the right track and get some of these problems taken care of before more people of varying ages get fatally slammed in.

I tend to be somewhat libertarian on this subject, and I think people should be given quite a bit of freedom with their own children.

Obviously. Because they OWN the CHILDREN. The children are PROPERTY and parents and legal guardians should be able to do whatever the fuck they feel like with them.

However, an instructor flying with someone else's child is a different matter. In that case (or any case when an instructor is responsible for another life), the instructor has a duty to act responsibly.

How 'bout a tug driver like Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney or Mark Frutiger? The tug driver, Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney assures all of us muppets, is the PILOT IN COMMAND and the people on the gliders are just their passengers. So who's responsible when one of us muppet passengers gets killed behind a Dragonfly? How 'bout that..

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=32681
Tandem crash in LV (speculation thread)

Mark G. Forbes - 2015/04/01 03:46:29 UTC

We each agree that we are personally and individually responsible for our own safety. If we have an accident and get hurt, we agree in advance that it is solely our own fault, no matter what the circumstances might be. We sign at the bottom saying that we fully understand these things, that we accept them, and that we know we are giving up the right to sue anybody if an accident happens.

Those are fundamental tenets of our sport. We are all individually responsible for ourselves and our safety. We need to see and avoid all other pilots, avoid crashing into people or property and use good judgment when flying. If someone doesn't agree with those principles, then they don't need to be involved in our sport.

...Mark?

You u$hPa motherfuckers qualify scum like Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney, Bo Hagewood, Brad Gryder, Bart Weghorst; allow them to declare themselves Pilots In Command and us muppets passengers; tow us with flimsy illegal crap on their end; order us to fly with cheap illegal Industry Standard crap on our end - but when we get killed it's OUR sole responsibility? Is Mark Frutiger off the hook 'cause Zack Marzec took over as Pilot In Command for the three seconds between the standard aerotow weak link induced whipstall and impact? How 'bout Bobby Fucking-Genius Bailey then? Robin hit the ground with the focal point of his safe towing system welded to his Bobby Fucking-Genius Bailey Industry Standard release.

This is not acting responsibly:

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Like my stills archive, Bob?

Anyone who's ever experienced a frontal collapse (and I have) will tell you that things go from "all's well" to "all's hell" faster than you can blink an eye.

What? Somebody snuck up in front of you and pulled your nose lines down ten inches and if you hadn't gotten the silk out when you did the next second would've been your last?

You think you're a more skilled and experienced and better qualified paraglider pilot than Brad and/or Max? A couple of commercial tandem thrill ride drivers? I rather doubt it. But just based on the total crap you've said about stalls, weak links, releases, hook-in checks my personal pick is throwing a dart at a random list of names. Those guys may be total dickheads but I one hundred percent guarantee you they know what the fuck they're doing with paragliders and don't hold your breath waiting for them to screw pooches and go down in flames.

Furthermore, I am quite certain that the stunts performed in that video and the potential consequences were NOT fully explained to the parents...

Plural.

...and I suspect the instructors did NOT have the parent's...

Singular.

...permission to engage in activities outside the normal course of tandem paragliding.

Oh. You're QUITE CERTAIN. How?

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Brad: We'll, uh... We'll probably tour the ridge, come back, and do some roller coaster / swing stuff.

Mom: OK. Cool.

004-005615
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Brad: Yeah. We'll do it mostly right here.

Mom: OK.

Brad: A lot of our students are flying there too so I gotta do it like when the group of students is on one end of the ridge I'll get him in really quick...

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Mom: OK.

Brad: Yeah.

Mom: He'll love it.

Brad: Cool.

Mom bloody obviously has been informed and well knows they're gonna engaging in activities outside the mind-numbingly boring normal course of tandem paragliding and that Zack's gonna have a blast with the stuff you fuckin' nanny staters recently got outlawed. She knows they're gonna be tearing up the sky and needing a big wide open footprint to do it.

And then you see my:
http://www.kitestrings.org/post207833.html#p207833

Zack: MOM!

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Actually, you can tell how bad it was by the fact that USHPA actually did something to a Torrey instructor.

Actually, Bob, you can tell the PRECISE OPPOSITE by watching u$hPa doing anything.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25321
Stop the Stupids at the USHPA BOD meeting

Mark G. Forbes - 2011/09/29 02:26:23 UTC

We can establish rules which we think will improve pilot safety, but our attorney is right. USHPA is not in the business of keeping pilots "safe" and it can't be. Stepping into that morass is a recipe for extinction of our association. I wish it were not so, but it is. We don't sell equipment, we don't offer instruction, and we don't assure pilots that they'll be safe. Even so, we get sued periodically by people who say we "shoulda, coulda, woulda" done something that would have averted their accident.

It's not just concern for meet directors and policy makers...it's about our continued existence as an association. It's about minimizing the chance of our getting sued out of existence. We're one lawsuit away from that, all the time, and we think hard about it.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=27736
Increase in our USHpA dues

Mark G. Forbes - 2012/12/20 06:21:33 UTC

Imagine a report that concludes, "If we'd had a procedure "x" in place, then it would have probably prevented this accident. And we're going to put that procedure in place at the next BOD meeting." Good info, and what we want to be able to convey. But what comes out at trial is, "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, my client suffered injury because USHPA knew or should have known that a safety procedure was not in place, and was therefore negligent and at fault." We're constantly walking this line between full disclosure and handing out nooses at the hangmen's convention.

u$hPa will ONLY address a problem if it's not a problem for actual flying. If u$hPa were interested in fixing a few ACTUAL problems they'd have started by feeding Rooney, Davis, and Trisa into a big commercial wood chipper feet first in the middle of a packed soccer stadium - followed by a few thousand copies of the excellent book, Towing Aloft, by Dennis Pagen and Bill Bryden to help soak up some of the mess.

Note that they:

- enacted the total bullshit Bob Kuczewski Mandatory Helmet At All Times While Hooked Into A Glider Regulation before anyone could blink with ZERO:
-- data indicating a need
-- consideration for any totally foreseeable consequences like...

23-20804

25-21227

28-21727

32-22416

34-22919


..extra unhooked launch fatalities.

- just shredded Brad's tandem ticket but totally expelled your ass (for zero of the reasons they should've totally expelled your ass)

- effectively ended my flying career for attempting to address some "some dangerous practices in hang gliding" (your words)

That means it must have been considered even worse than ... assault and battery.

Like I just said... Commit all the atrocities you feel like - no problem. Do anything that smacks of decency and/or excellence - watch the fuck out.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1865
Flying with children

Rick Masters - 2015/05/17 08:34:09 UTC

But there were two instructors and two children involved.

Involved in what? What percentage of them sustained serious injuries?

Scott C. Wise - 2015/05/17 14:56:44 UTC

I've been wondering about the OTHER Air California Adventure PG Tandem pilot who also endangered his child passenger.

Because you said so, right Scott?

It's pretty obvious that both tandem pilots HAD to be working in concert.

- Ya think?
- So then the other tandem pilot probably wasn't all that outraged by Brad's pulling on his nose lines - right Bob?

Bob, what was the other tandem pilot's name.

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1787
USHPA Expulsion Proceeding

Bob Kuczewski - 2015/04/23 08:15:53 UTC

You only have to look at the video by Brad Geary and Max Marien to see gross negligence.

I'd expect that you know it. Is he still doing tandems?

No. Two weekends later he got tangled up with another glider doing the kinda bullshit you saw on the video and he, the other tandem driver, and two adorable little people of varying ages all went down in flames. Huge cover-up.

If so, how does the USHPA condone not taking action on his part?

The Golden Rule.

Rick Masters - 2015/05/17 16:03:37 UTC

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Scott C. Wise - 2015/05/17 16:41:59 UTC

On this topic in general, . . .

I view it in two ways. Moral/Ethical and Legal.

How fortuitous! What with you being the world's foremost authority on all of the above.

On the Legal side -

Oh... I was so hoping you'd save the best for last.

Their are laws EVERYWHERE that make it a criminal act to endanger the welfare of a child.

Yes. That's why children EVERYWHERE are strapped down on their beds twenty-three hours a day - twenty-three and a half on Halloween.

So, the question in the legal case becomes -

Is sending a child into the air on a "high risk" minimal soaring air vehicle an act that endangers the child?*

Well fuck, that's already a felony in thirty-seven states.

Well, if you read the u$hPa's waiver - as attached to any 30 day or long term membership form - you can find the words "personal injury, bodily injury, death" repeated a number of times. Seems like a significant feature of the "sport participation agreement". For all intents and purposes, the person signing the waiver/membership agreement has been informed that flying a minimal soaring air vehicle can injure or kill a participant in the sport.

- DAMN! So people can get killed flying stuff? Who'da thunk.

- I didn't see the word "MINIMAL" in there anywhere - asshole. "MINIMAL" is relative to circumstances. A paraglider low in thermal turbulence can be lethally minimal but an Airbus A320 ain't a great option if you're out of gas and your best landing option is a baseball field.

If a parent is signing the waiver connected with a 30 day temp membership so their child can take a joy ride - then the parent(s) are at least negligent (in not fully understanding the "personal injury, bodily injury, death" parts of the waiver). But since that language exists - and is based on a well known HISTORY of personal injury, bodily injury, and death occurring in the sports of hang gliding and paragliding/speed wings - then "allowing" your child to be a (training) pilot or passenger on an HG and/or PG fits with endangering their physical (and perhaps mental) well being.

- And let's certainly not forget the devastating psychological trauma resulting from...

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

Scott C. Wise - 2015/04/18 16:17:40 UTC

Then, the PIC actually flies Closely (!) over the crash scene! There's something called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It can develop after witnessing the death or serious injury of another human being. Good thinking Brad Geary! (note absolute sarcasm)

...flying Closely (!) over the crash scene!

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Brad: Hey guys, the husband's been notified...

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...and he's on his way.

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Zack: Get me!

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Take a picture!

- Super, Scott! Now please explain to me how this differs from the parent(s) driving his/her/their kid(s) to Torrey for the tandem thrill rides.

If I were a City, County, State, Federal (or FAA) Attorney...

...I would hire the best hit man I could afford. Although, now that I think of it, with a few thousand other people of similar sentiments all got together on this...

...and had knowledge of a case where a child was injured or killed in a PG or HG, I believe I would have an EXCELLENT case of criminal endangerment against (at least) the parent(s)and/or guardian(s).

Do you get the same kind of thrill thinking what you could do to a John Junek who's just roasted his kid in the back car seat to death?

If a u$hPa waiver was signed then the proof is right there. These sports are DANGEROUS!

And there's no amount of skill, judgment, professionalism that can do anything to mitigate that danger. It's all just ONE BIG DICE ROLL!

Now if a HG/PG school or instructor was witnessed to say -

HG/PG School or Instructor wrote:
Don't pay attention to that "personal injury, bodily injury, death" language!
It's only in there for "legal" reasons. The sport is absolutely safe!"

- It would be a first - because nobody in the history of even THESE sports has ever been stupid enough to say anything like that.

- Also... Anybody who would be stupid enough to BELIEVE anything like that wouldn't be doing the gene pool a whole lotta good anyway.

- In this particular instance...

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...it's a pretty good bet that everyone and his dog at Torrey at that time - and a bit later when all the emergency response folk turned up - would've been disabused of any notions that paragliding was as safe as a game of checkers.

Well, that would be an act of intentional deceit. That might relieve the parent(s) of SOME of their liability.

Aw fuck. Let's prosecute them anyway. There's nothing more fun than hauling grieving devastated parents out of their homes in handcuffs and throwing them into isolation cells.

Now, the legal side of things can also come back to bite the u$hPa. If they have NO regulations regarding minors participating in the dangerous sporting activities they promote then it could be claimed that they are supporting the commission of criminal acts (i.e., child endangerment). This boarders on (?) an activity involving "organized" crime. Yea, really.

- Learn to spell "Yeah" - really. Also "borders".

- Brad DOES his share of lying on this video - some of it obviously Gliderport party line. But he also lapses into total honesty with the kid periodically:

Brad: Um... I think it was pretty severe. Judging by the way she hit the ground I'm gonna guess she probably has a collarbone, shoulder, arm, rib injury... Something like that. Probable lung injury...

Zack: Lung injury?

Brad: Lungs? She hit on her side pretty hard. It would be like falling off of a rooftop and landing on your side. So like probably... She probably had...

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...a lot of damage in that area. I don't know. We're not gonna know until a little later here.

On the Moral/Ethical side of this issue -

Children are not capable of making certain decisions because they lack the maturity, experience and therefore sound judgement to make such decisions.

- Oh yeah?

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

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

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

How many eight-year-olds do you know whose stupidity holds a candle to that of Davis, Russell, Trisa, Rooney, Lauren, Bart, Kinsley...

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

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

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

...Tom...

- And isn't it just fantastic that they have marvels of human evolution like you and Bob to make all their decisions for them.

This clearly pertains to significant/important decisions - not questions like "Do you want another cookie?".

Zack... You OK?

Through all of history children have been protected by their parents, community and society from situations that are considered to be dangerous.

- Like measles and polio vaccinations.
- All of them? No societies ever had practices of child sacrifice?

The idea being that until any child reaches a certain age they need to be shielded from things that could injure or kill them.

You got any idea just how much secondhand cigarette smoke I was bathed in before I hit double digits in age?

Why do that? Well, there's something about ensuring that the next generation live long enough to keep the species going.

- Goddam! I never thought of that! We've been getting dangerously low on the number of children living long enough to keep the species going!

- What about all the little fag and dyke kids? Guess there's not much of a problem sending them up on paraglider tandem thrill rides.

Someone may argue that . . . "Heck, if MOST of the children live to be adults isn't that good enough?"

Depends a lot on which ones. A two year old Jim Rooney? Bring on the coyotes.

Well, civilized society has determined that it is important to (legally) promote the protection of ALL children - not just "most".

What if they make it to eighteen but get killed on paragliders before they're able to reproduce? Shouldn't we maintain the protections and restrictions until after they've produced sufficient numbers of replacement copies?

Think also about this - Childhood is required to deliver us into maturity.

Can't tell you just how happy I am that you made it in such fine shape, Scott. Oh... By the way... Maybe you could tune us all in regarding the replacement copies with which YOU've blessed the planet. And Bob? Rick? All you Bob Show guys been doing your bits for the species?

It leads us towards the "serious" portions of our lives, where we accomplish our most significant positive acts.

Like Zack Marzec's - for example.

The kind of acts that contribute to the positive evolution of society.

And isn't it just marvelous the way society's always so positively evolving!

When a child looses their life...

...or his ability to spell and adhere to rules of grammar and basic logic...

...society has lost ALL of the (hopefully) positive benefits that that child may have brought to his/her...

Their.

...community/society. That is a BIG loss to society (not even mentioning the loss to the child's parents).

But after age eighteen... What the fuck.

So, my...

...fucking lunatic...

...view on this topic is that the u$hPa should disallow the participation of minors under the age of 16 (? higher ?) from participation in tandem operations and/or solo training flights up to, or at, significant altitudes (e.g., Low and slow ground skimming may be allowed).

Yeah, what's the worst that could possibly happen to an aircraft flying low and slow?

Policies could exist where a minor who repeatedly demonstrates their mature judgement be allowed to advance to "higher risk" flight activities.

Get fucked, Scott. I'm tired of listening to this lunatic self righteous babbling of yours. There IS a pilot rating system out there and I've never heard a rationale for different implementations based upon whether or not someone's hit his eighteenth birthday.

[ Note - Perhaps I/we can write up something along these lines to be included within the US Hawks policies? ]

Yeah Bob. Let's appoint Scott Director of Bob Show Child Protective Services. That way our species will at least have a fighting chance of hanging on for yet another generation.

*BTW - I'm not so sure that the sailplane crash falls into the "high risk" category of minimal soaring craft.

That one sure did.

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=877
Discuss Tad here

Bob Kuczewski - 2011/12/13 23:25:21 UTC

I've been polling some of the people who I thought might have been avoiding the US Hawks because of Tad. Here's part of one response that I got via email:

When I say that I want absolutely nothing to do with him, I am not exaggerating. The simple fact that he's on your forum means that I will not participate at all.

GOOD. I can't begin to tell you just how proud I am of this distinction and how mutual the feeling is.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1865
Flying with children

Brian Scharp - 2015/05/17 17:03:44 UTC

Scott C. Wise - 2015/05/17 14:56:44 UTC

Bob, what was the other tandem pilot's name.

http://www.kitestrings.org/post7743.html#p7743
Brad Geary video

Tad Eareckson - 2015/04/22 23:30:01 UTC

Max Marien - 75916
- H4 - 2015/03/24 - Steve Stackable - FL PA VA AWCL CL FSL RLF TUR XC
- P4 - 2003/04/15 - Gabriel Jebb - FL M1 M2 ST TFL PA VA CL FSL HA RLF RS TUR XC - ADV INST, TAND INST

A quick search of Max and I found this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EPJ3uOfT4E


Max Marian - acro pilot from California, USA

http://justacro.com/news/120822/max-marian-acro-pilot-california-usa
Max Marian - acro pilot from California, USA | justACRO.com

http://justacro.com/news/120822/max-marian-acro-pilot-california-usa
Max Marian - acro pilot from California, USA | justACRO.com

Max Marien was born in beautiful San Diego, California in 1988. Living in Southern California, he quickly learned to surf, snowboard and paraglide. He has been paragliding since he was 12 (half of his life) and works at Torrey Pines Gliderport as a flight instructor. He works with students and does tandems for a living. Needless to say, he loves his job.

Wow. With no help whatsoever from the Bob Show Child Safety Team he survived a dozen years plus three more since the article doing nonstop radical shit on a flavor of wing so inherently dangerous that just to clip into one without a helmet buckled on is a virtually certain death sentence. Who'da thunk.

Bob Kuczewski - 2015/05/17 18:05:21 UTC

Rick Masters - 2015/05/17 08:34:09 UTC

But there were two instructors and two children involved.

Good catch Rick!!

Pure genius.

As mentioned above, I believe the other tandem pilot was Max Marien ... Robin Marien's son.

Earlier...

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1787
USHPA Expulsion Proceeding

Bob Kuczewski - 2015/04/23 08:15:53 UTC

You only have to look at the video by Brad Geary and Max Marien to see gross negligence.

...you STATED it was Max Marien ... Robin Marien's son.

I have not been directly informed by USHPA as to what's been done to either pilot, but it's my understanding that Brad Geary spent a considerable amount of time in prison subsequent to the video. I've heard rumors that his prison time resulted from drug smuggling charges at the US/Mexico border ... possibly involving paragliding? So any suspension of his ratings - while in prison - is pretty much a non-punishment.

He didn't get his rating SUSPENDED. He got it permanently...

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.

...REVOKED. The federal government gave him a couple years for the drug smuggling but what he did on that paragliding video was so outrageously heinous that he got a life sentence out of the deal.

As for Max Marien, I've continued to see him regularly at Torrey.

Then you can probably verify whether or not it's him in the video 'cause we can hear his voice starting at 22:52.

I don't know the status of his ratings.

Didn't bother to read Brian's post? Too long winded for ya?

But one thing is clear. USHPA didn't send an email message to its entire 10,000 members smearing Brad Geary or Max Marien as they did to me.

Should they have? Cite the SOPs and/or laws on the books at the time they were violating.

I testified truthfully under oath about the problems at Torrey Pines and that's why I was expelled.

- I wrote truthfully - with a lot of quoting from u$hPa officials and their fatality reports in the magazine - about the state of the Aerotow Industry not under oath with pretty much the same result. And nobody to this day has disputed a single punctuation mark of my two hundred page document. And you can count the individuals who gave a flying fuck about my expulsion on the fingers of a hand or two.

- Is a total bullshit statement like:

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

Bob Kuczewski - 2015/05/07 09:05:58 UTC

The following pictures were taken at least a minute apart. That was a full minute (and more) where Brad Geary was on the verge of inducing a full frontal collapse in a tandem paraglider carrying a child ... and well within the PDMC.

098-191627
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7775/17215548160_5c8228c18c_o.png

v19m19s.jpeg (66.65 KiB)
097-191620
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7634/17019267669_112f0c55c4_o.png

v20m24s.jpeg (71.50 KiB)

truthful testimony - even disregarding the issues that the "at least a minute" is actually one second at most and that the photos are in reversed order?

How 'bout this total CRAP:

Bob Kuczewski - 2011/12/16 16:08:08 UTC

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=884
The Bob Show

Bob Kuczewski - 2011/12/13 05:55:39 UTC

If I boot you permanently it will be due to my concerns over the topic we discussed on the phone. This forum should be a safe place for people of varying ages to visit. You have not given me any assurances that's true with you on this forum.

That was the extent of my public comment on the subject. That's when Tad launched into his own public confession.

where you try to blackmail me into voluntarily leaving your nasty little lunatic asylum and pretend your post would be too indecipherable for anyone reading it to ever decode?

Truth to you is just fundamental lies you can fine print your way around and try to use to your personal/political advantage. You ARE NOT a truthful honest person. You lie to yourself as much or more than you lie to everyone else and thus have no actual grip on reality.

U$HPA clearly has its priorities backwards, and they've been irresponsible in their "self regulation" of our sports. It's just a matter of time until it bites them again ... and again.

Any comments on Scott's drivel and his idea of appointing himself official Bob Show Defender of People of Varying Ages?

Bob Kuczewski - 2015/05/17 23:26:58 UTC

It's hard to quote a full sentence from Tad without running afoul of George Carlin's "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television".

- Must be why I'm having such abysmal success luring in people of varying ages. Think I should use fewer of those words and have more pictures of puppies, kittens, bunnies?

- Not sure whether or not you're aware of this but that was not a list of words George Carlin specified or proposed for exclusion from television broadcast.

But this one squeaked through:

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?
http://www.kitestrings.org/topic83-20.html#p7850

Brad ended up going to jail on other charges...

OTHER charges? He was criminally charged for the stuff he did on the video but just went to jail on OTHER charges?

...so revoking his tandem ticket wasn't much of a punishment ...

How the fuck do you know how much of a punishment revoking his tandem ticket wasn't? He goes from having a fun job doing cool stuff every day and making top notch videos to staring at cinderblock and steel all day every day and knows that there will be zero chance of ever returning to anything like what he'd had.

...but it looks good when USHPA talks about "how they've corrected the problem".

Ain't these national associations just super at finding solutions to nonexistent problems?

Of course Max is the son of Robin Marien and they're all well-connected with the Jebb family. Here's a visual of the "buddy buddy" relationship between Robin and Gabe:



Torrey is the tail that wags USHPA, and that pretty much answers Tad's question ... and many others.

'Cept for the part about what Brad did that was so grotesquely egregious that he got a permanent revocation of his tandem ticket.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1865
Flying with children

Rick Masters - 2015/05/18 00:42:48 UTC

his prison time resulted from drug smuggling

Wow...

Yeah Rick. Wow. Here's the snippet you quoted IN CONTEXT:

Bob Kuczewski - 2015/05/17 19:05:21 UTC

I have not been directly informed by USHPA as to what's been done to either pilot, but it's my understanding that Brad Geary spent a considerable amount of time in prison subsequent to the video. I've heard rumors that his prison time resulted from drug smuggling charges at the US/Mexico border ... possibly involving paragliding?

So fuck you, you're LYING. Any comment, Bob? Just kidding. It really serves your purposes to have misinformation and false allegations regarding anybody in any opposition camp plastered all over your website.

Adventure aviation operators should face random drug tests, a New Zealand coroner said Thursday, after finding the pilot of a balloon that crashed killing 11 people was a "chronic cannabis user". Coroner Peter Ryan said pilot Lance Hopping's judgement was probably impaired by cannabis when the balloon hit power lines in January 2012 before plunging to the ground in a flaming wreck. Ryan said cannabis would account for some of the "inexplicable" actions taken by Hopping in the lead up to the crash, which killed everyone on board -- all New Zealanders -- as relatives watched from the ground in horror.

..."The question that must then be asked is: was Mr. Hopping's piloting of a commercial balloon with THC (cannabis) in his system an isolated incident, or is this a widespread problem within the adventure aviation sector?" Adventure aviation includes hot-air ballooning, gliding, tandem hang-glider and paraglider operations, as well as commercial parachuting.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3051873/Call-drug-tests-New-Zealand-balloon-tragedy.html
Call for drug tests after New Zealand balloon tragedy | Daily Mail Online

What a load o' crap.

- You can smoke a joint and test positive a couple weeks later.

- Does a CORONER have some special qualifications to determine that a balloon pilot's judgment was PROBABLY impaired by the THC in his system?

- WHAT "INEXPLICABLE" actions? Crappy decisions and responses - fer sure. But INEXPLICABLE? Was he in the gondola doing handstands while singing the Marseillaise?

- Yeah, the guy sounds like a real asshole. But let's not dump too much on the weed element based on evidence and statements like that.

Scott C. Wise - 2015/05/18 02:43:00 UTC

About Max Marien as the "other" Air California Adventure Inc. tandem pilot who endangered a child in his collapsible canopy wing -

Fuck you, Scott.

He looks and sounds stoned as can be in that "infinite tumble" video taken in the country of Turkey.

Therefore he obviously must BE stoned as can be in that "infinite tumble" video taken in the country of Turkey.

And talk about endangering the life of your passenger! Holly Shoot!

Yeah, let's talk about it.

- You do aerobatics in smooth air at altitude without the slightest indication of a hitch that automatically means you're endangering the life of your passenger!

- And obviously the person of the varying age had no fuckin' clue what he was getting into and no ability to give informed consent.

So, I ask, how is it that Max Marien hasn't also had his tandem rating (and/or COMPLETE u$hPa membership) revoked?

Well nothing's stopping the Bob Show National Hang Gliding Association from revoking his ratings and membership. You have an extremely streamlined process for such actions over there.

Perhaps it has something to do with him being the son of "Made" Marien?

Gee, the part of my earlier post in this topic that referenced the u$hPa being involved in "organized" crime, . . .

And on The Bob Show all you have is organized bigotry, stupidity, incompetence, deceit.

Scott C. Wise - 2015/05/17 16:41:59 UTC

Now, the legal side of things can also come back to bite the u$hPa. If they have NO regulations regarding minors participating in the dangerous sporting activities [which] they promote then it could be claimed that they are supporting the commission of criminal acts (i.e., child endangerment). This boarders on (?) an activity involving "organized" crime. Yea, really.

Actually protecting a u$hPa member (by way of not acting to revoke his [Max Marien's] tandem rating or membership) who endangers the life of a child, . . . That goes beyond "supporting the commission of" and moves into the "aiding and abetting" (and worse) category.

Go fuck yourself, Scott. And fuck all you Bob Show douchebags for tolerating this asshole.

Very Seriously, it's time to call the FBI.

Yeah Scott. You do that. Or maybe get Bob to do it for you.

Frank Colver - 2015/05/18 03:58:30 UTC

Back in the seventies, when the hang gliding accident rate was high, I always told people, who mentioned it, that if the number of accidents that were due to drug and alcohol use were known and if those accidents were taken out of the statistics the sport would look pretty safe. I would hear of another accident of some HG pilot I knew and quite often I would know he was either stoned or drunk because he always flew that way.

One death I remember occurred when the pilot started doing 360's and just kept doing them until he hit a house. He had smoked a joint just before launch.

And then in the early Eighties the fatality rate plummeted because pilots suddenly decided it was a bad idea to fly stoned and/or drunk. Had absolutely nothing to do with glider certification standards and towing through the pilot rather than via the control frame.

BTW - I turned down an offer of a tandem paraglider cliff soaring flight at Wilcox because the pilot was completely stoned. He even started to drive with his glider hanging out of his trunk and dragging along the ground.

Completely stoned. Yeah, that would also explain all these...

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7570/15661252749_7fcfe6445a_o.jpg


...unhooked launches we're seeing.

With each flight, demonstrates a method of establishing that the pilot is not completely stoned just prior to launch.

If I hadn't yelled to stop him it would have been destroyed.

Ever yell at anybody to do a hook-in check just prior to launch - regardless of whether or not he's hooked in?

Later I thought maybe I shouldn't have yelled.

Are all the hang glider pilots who've hit the road without strapping their kites to the racks completely stoned? I did that in the fall of '82 leaving the Outer Banks and I wasn't even partially stoned. Catherine asked me if I'd strapped my Comet when we were halfway across the bridge. Later in my career I made a rule to always flip a windshield wiper up whenever I had an unstrapped glider on the racks.

As far as I know he flew Wilcox but I didn't stick around to see.

Probably crashed and burned.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1865
Flying with children

Bob Kuczewski - 2015/05/18 08:57:02 UTC

I had a friend who took lessons at Torrey who frequently complained that Max Marien (Robin Marien's son) was often high when teaching.

Did you ever have a friend who took lessons at Torrey who frequently complained that Max Marien (Robin Marien's son) was often fucking up flights?

Here are some posts from "Yelp" about some of the Torrey tandem paragliding pilots and instructors (duplicated from other topic):

http://www.yelp.com/biz/torrey-pines-gliderport-flight-school-la-jolla
Torrey Pines Gliderport - Hang Gliding - Reviews - Yelp

2012/06/06

I don't want to risk my life flying with someone who stinks like pot. I know marijuana is legal now for some people but seriously, would you want to jump off a cliff dangling from a parachute steered by someone who is stoned?

I'd rather jump off a cliff dangling from a parachute steered by someone who is incompetent. Besides... It's a fucking PARACHUTE. What is it you're expecting to happen with it?

The pilots aren't the only thing high, the prices are way too expensive. $150 for 15 minutes? I can go to a flight school and fly a real airplane with a licensed pilot for a whole hour for less than that."

Yeah, it's a rip-off. No argument whatsoever there.

Crystal D. - 2015/04/11
Long Beach

I would give this 0 stars if I could. These guys are complete dicks.

Welcome to the world of foot launchable soaring.

The Ragnar Relay paid to use this site for a rest exchange in the SoCal race and participants paid in too on top of that to eat here. One of the pilots came over and literally locked the bathrooms and told us to get lost because they pay for it. Yes, and we paid to be here and to eat here! Really selfish and shitty move, and it completely ruined this spot.

Gino C. - 2014/04/10
Concord, California

They offer a living social voucher during low wind season which they don't fly in. Which makes it nearly impossible to redeem. And won't give an extension to the voucher until the next possible flight day (wind is strong enough). It is pretty much a scam for them to get your money without a deal.

Kim - 2013/08/10
Atlanta

So here are some observations. The view IS amazing. Watching all the action is entertaining, to the untrained eye. The food was decent... nothing special but OK, if a bit overpriced. However there was ALOT about this place that disturbed me.

If you come here to take a recreational tandem flight, be aware of a few things. First, your pilot may smoke cigarettes right on top of you, and you and your children will be subjected to a litany of foul language and crude talk amongst employees and staff.

Also, there are so many people doing tandems that you may feel rushed in and out of your experience, which might leave you feeling let down after a $150 price tag.

The large number of people landing and taking off from the same zone is also unsafe. I was there for two days and saw MULTIPLE incidents of people landing on top of one another and getting their wings tangled up. In one of these incidents I watched a twelve year old girl get drug forty feet across the ground before smacking into a solo pilot on the other side of the field. Scary and reckless!

I HAVE to comment on the bathroom situation also. There are only three porta-potties available for the public, all of which were in a DEPLORABLE state both days I was there. A pyramid OVER seat level and urine covering the floor!! I was blown away at the insanely unsanitary conditions! They were completely unfit for human use! Shameful!!!

So name some nonhuman animals for which you'd consider that sorta thing completely fit.

If you come here as a pilot hoping to fly I would warn you about the rude behavior of the staff and local pilots. I was shocked at one group of men in particular that seem to be the daily posse there. Both days I was there I heard them heckling others and loudly making extremely crude and distasteful comments about other pilots AND tourists there for a tandem experience. After two days there observing all of this I can say I would NEVER bring a child into this environment!

Also there are signs up stating that by county ordinance there is to be no smoking... I saw tandem pilots smoking all day long as well as kitchen staff smoking, IN the kitchen right next to said signage. This area is FILLED with families and children throughout the day.

In many ways the "rules" seemed to apply to visitors but not to the "local posse", pilots, or staff.

My advice would be to stop by for the view but unfortunately look elsewhere to try paragliding. This operation struck me as quite unprofessional and dangerously sloppy. If you're a pilot, and can deal with a group of weird, ego-inflated older men, then good luck. Just make sure and plot your landing well. I give them two stars for the great view and the fact that this place is a great concept. If it was managed and run correctly this place could be world class.

Dominique M. - 2011/08/04
Beverly Hills

This was complete bs... I had been to the nude beach below and admired the paragliding from above. I agree with the other review about their release of liability and just how confident they were in their flying skills. Okay, no problem, allow me to sign my life away should the instructor fail to steer correctly or mother nature blow us into a cliff wall. The weather appeared just fine to me, there were many other paragliders in the sky - however I was told I had to wait because it wasn't safe to fly due to the current weather condition. Wow, really?!?

If it wasn't safe to fly why were so many still in the sky and not told to land during my waiting time because of the non safe weather condition. Or did someone just need to take a lunch break and wasted my time?

To each is own, right? To me this was a waste of money and terrible first experience towards something that should have been exciting.

nacia z. - 200906/18

The gliderport itself... beautiful.

But the gliderport store and shop, workers there are douchebags...

See Bob? Sometimes you really need to use foul language to get a point across effectively and efficiently.

...and they're shady about returns. Be warned.

Mike F. - 2009/06/21
Vista

The owner and manager extort money from independent pilots. They are under a city lease which allows them to charge $35 per flight. I heard the manager say to our pilot that for $100 he would allow us to fly. Extortion. The City should fix this, it is a public park.

Otherwise, a great view of coast and activities.

Laurie T. - 2011/01/10
Torrence

who wouldn't want to jump off a cliff with nothing but a strip of nylon saving you from a grisly death?

Anybody who wants to fly and understands a few things about physics, engineering, logic... Often the same kinda person who will bother to hold a shift key down when typing the first letter of the first word of a sentence.

after some intense badgering, i finally agreed to fork out the money to go paragliding. sure, it was a gorgeous day, and sure, the view was beautiful, but it was totally NOT worth $150 (for 20 minutes of gliding time).

**long story: after signing the necessary papers and watching other paragliders sail across the sky, i was called up. i was getting situated in the harnesses when, all of a sudden, the wind caught my parachute and dragged me a good forty feet down the grassy lawn. (yippee. is it over yet?)

Same distance the twelve-year-old Kim was talking about got dragged about two and a half years later. Must be an Industry Standard. (Did they count it as part of your airtime?)

eventually, my instructor and i made it off the cliff and started gliding. he pointed out some naked people on the beach below and proceeded to tell me stories about seeing naked people through the windows of the houses that we were passing. (awesome. my guide is a perv.) since that conversation lasted all of 5 minutes, we tried making small talk. (i can't believe i paid $150 for forced conversation with a peeping-tom.) eventually our conversation stalled, and we glided in silence. after a while, he asked me if i wanted to take some pictures. i totally didn't know you could bring a camera with you. a camera may have made time pass by a little faster, but alas, disappointment was the theme of the day. 5 minutes later we landed back on the grassy lawn. after my airborne excursion, my body felt heavy...but my pockets were decidedly lighter.

**short story: watching paragliding is more fun than actually paragliding.

Did you watch the video of Brad and Max and Zack and Alec?

Karen H. - 2011/10/23
Boca Raton

Well the place is beautiful. Since I am from Florida we have the lovely ocean but not these views. Went back a second day to see the sunset. The gliding was boring and I am a big chicken. The "manager" Jeremy gave the most boring ride. He told me nothing about the area and we only flew over a small area while I saw other instructors talk to people and give them big long rides. Mine was a dud. Landed on beach an not back on the cliffs. Okay with that a you are warned about it. I just wonder if it was the pilots skill as everyone else landed back on the cliff. Best be in shape for the climb back up-it is huge and you are not prepared-no water or anything. Not worth the $150.

Did you watch the video of Brad and Max and Zack and Alec?

However, you can enjoy the place and people without gliding. I spent the entire day up there. The cafe had excellent food.

Stephen W. - 2008/07/23
San Diego

You can get food here, but it's nothing worth anything.

I used to go here to fly RC gliders. Tons of fun, and a great flying spot right here in San Diego. Problem is, the guy who leases this land from San Diego (for like $1 or something), makes all of his money from the paragliding operation. So, he's not a big fan of the RCs. In fact he's been downright nasty to rule-abiding folks on many occasions.

Still, if you wanna to a tandem paraglide for your birthday or something, this is the place to go. And it's a nice spot to just chill out and watch the sunset.

B.R. - 2011/05/28
Hermosa Beach

My wife planned an amazing surprise for my birthday, paragliding over La Jolla beach. How cool is that? Well... we arrived at the Gliderport and went inside to check in. The vibe was immediately off, as the manager and staff were strangely condescending and combative from the get-go.

After expressing interest in a tandem paragliding ride, they hand me the liability release to sign. I start reading it, and the manager makes a mocking comment, "Huh, we got a reader here." RED FLAG - now I know that I need to read this release form.

While I'm reading it, two more staff members make the same crack comment, trying to get me to hurry up and sign the 'damn' thing.

Listen, accidents can happen, forces of nature can happen, that's just the reality of higher risk activities...but when you sign their release you exempt them from negligence (in multiple paragraphs). Your guide could be strung out on LSD, forget to strap you in, or fly you straight into a cliff, and you've signed away your right (or your surviving family's right) to sue them for negligence.

Knowing that that won't hold up, you also sign away your right to take them to court. If you do, you pay their legal fees from day one, even if you win the case; you can even infer from the release that you'd be responsible to cover any restitution fees that they owe you if you win the case. It's a massive, legal circle jerk.

I lined out whole sentences and paragraphs and was told, "You don't sign, you don't fly." So, I held onto my $150 dollars and walked away.

To note, I am not a lawyer and even I could tell that this was the most toxic liability release that I have ever read. Why would a 'reputable' company need to screw you over so badly in their contracts? I decided not to find out.

So Bob... Where's the nasty review from Zack 'n' Alec's mom?

You assholes have spent 99 percent of your efforts blasting Brad and Max for what they did on that video yet ZERO percent of the Yelp complaints have the slightest thing to do with what Brad and Max were doing with Zack and Alec. In fact a couple of the complaints were against pilots for NOT doing with them what Brad and Max were doing with Zack and Alec.

You assholes are complaining that Brad took off with Zack right after Shannon slammed in - which is what Mom and Zack WANTED. Dominique's complaining that they kept her sitting around all afternoon wasting her time.

Laurie's complaining that she didn't get any pictures. Zack got a video so cool that it was used as justification for permanently revoking Brad's tandem ticket.

Karen's complaining that her ride was mind-numbingly boring. Brad and Max and Zack and Alec were all on the brink of death the entire durations of the flight.

073-173220
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8727/16997998127_0dc02969d5_o.png


Karen's complaining that her driver told her nothing about anything. The question/answer conversation between Brad and Zack is virtually nonstop. Zack's getting told about the:
- tandem harness arrangement
- awareness needed for flying in traffic
- airspeed they're flying
- response of the lifeguards to the crash
- necessity for getting out of the way if a chopper comes in
- probable injuries Shannon sustained
- real estate at the south end
- seasonal flying conditions
- altitude at which hypoxia becomes problematic
- law, issues, practices regarding clouds
- reason for limiting flying range
- price of the GoPro cameras
- Pelicans and their commute and behavior
- emergency response vehicles
- freefall acceleration curve
- altitude cost for aerobatics
- perspective of gliders at a distance
- duration the pilots can stay up
- main reason people get killed in this game

You have TONS of totally LEGITIMATE vile crap to use to attack the Concessionaire thugs so, naturally, you pretty much ignore it and go frothing-at-the-mouth rabid at them for venturing into excellence - doing what they SHOULD be doing and what the people of varying ages WANT them to be doing.

P.S. We had confirmation that Max is on the other glider with Alec. Brad calls him by name at 16:02.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1865
Flying with children

Joe Faust - 2015/05/18 14:40:29 UTC

Flash idea that just came to me:
The idea concerns an illustrated set of facts about PG and HG and the concession.
A dedicated volunteer offers a free copy to every tourist arriving to the city park.

Would such information affect the PG business? Would the business in the city park grow or decline by reason of people having facts?

Would parents let their children have an illegal joy ride on a canopy after having access to facts?

Lessee...

- Zack 'n' Alec's mom has, along with Zack 'n' Alec themselves and everybody and his dog present that afternoon, just watched Shannon slam in and get half killed as Brad is getting Zack prepped for launch. That's about as graphically illustrated a fact about paragliding in as timely a manner you can get.

And she watches Zack - and undoubtedly Alec - complete their flights totally unscathed and touch down like dandelion seeds.

And later she undoubtedly watches the videos of both of her kids' flights from before start to after finish and doesn't sue anyone out of existence or write a nasty Yelp review.

That's not good enough?

- Name some Hang Four glider pilots who are unaware of unhooked launch fatalities. And name some Hang Four glider pilots who actual do hook-in checks - in accordance with the u$hPa regulation for every flight of every rating they've ever had.

Not really seeing that people handing out fact laden leaflets at Torrey is gonna have much of an effect on anything - one way or another.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42445
split the USHPA in two

Mark G. Forbes - 2015/05/20 15:54:20 UTC

In my Experimental Light Sport aircraft, with a Sport Pilot license, I'm allowed to take one non-paying passenger aloft for recreational flying. I'm not allowed to charge for it, and I have to inform my passenger that we're flying an experimental aircraft that does not meet federal standards for airplanes. If I want to take paying customers aloft, the aircraft has to be SLSA (I think), which is the factory-built side of light sport. I think there are additional pilot requirements too (flight instructor, maybe?) but I've not investigated that because I have no interest in flying passengers for money.

FAA requires that introductory tandem instructional HG/PG flights be instructional, but it does not mean that students are obliged to become pilots. I do agree that taking young children up, who are well below the age where they'd reasonably be able to fly solo, is getting into a gray area which we may have to deal with at the SOP/rulemaking level.

Lotsa assholes your industry takes up for tandem thrill rides are permanently below the age where they'd reasonably be able to fly solo. So are lotsa assholes training, flying, teaching solo. This asshole:

25-23223
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3713/9655904048_89cce6423a_o.png


was as totally fucking clueless as the rest of his Industry buddies and he was a tandem aerotow instructor and thrill ride driver. And he totally got bit. So why bother with age distinctions?

I could've equipped and taught an eleven-year-old and to tow through that monster thermal just as inconsequentially as the guy on the front end of the string did - and there's never been anything in FAA or u$hPa regs saying I couldn't.

We have not done that, so far. We're ok with FAA so long as we follow the procedures we've established in the SOPs...

You motherfuckers have always been perfectly OK with the FAA flagrantly violating the crap out of their regs and your own SOPs and killing both people on the glider as a direct consequence.

...and we include some elements of basic instruction as a part of each tandem flight.

Yeah. Sure...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhCW-Nm6nxw

Michelle Schneider - 2015/03/29

And I believe that the skydiving instructor did everything he possibly could to make it comfortable for Arys in his last moments. I believe that in my heart.

..."WE" do.

The student gets some basic ground school about launch and landing, some discussion of flight conditions, and some time in the air handling the controls.

- And the family gets some basic instruction in CPR.
- Show me the frame in the Brad Geary video that depicts Zack with a hand somewhere near a control handle.

That's all instructional, even if much...

All.

...of the flight is spent enjoying the view.

Swift - 2015/05/20 18:11:43 UTC

Brad Geary - Max Marian Video

FAA requires that introductory tandem instructional HG/PG flights be instructional, but it does not mean that students are obliged to become pilots. I do agree that taking young children up, who are well below the age where they'd reasonably be able to fly solo, is getting into a gray area which we may have to deal with at the SOP/rulemaking level.

A video recently surfaced where two USHPA Paragliding Instructors with young passengers flew close formation/wings touching at Torrey Pines.
The video has since been removed from YouTube but is stop frame immortalized at:
http://www.kitestrings.org/topic83.html
by Tad Eareckson.

Gawd I hope I don't find any more frames that need to be inserted in the sequence.

One instructor, Brad Geary, had his ratings permanently revoked by U$HPA and the other, Max Marian, son of Torrey Pines Concessionaire Robin Marian, is still giving joyrides.Mark Forbes, please tell us why one instructor's ratings were permanently revoked and the other instructor didn't suffer the same...

...or any whatsoever...

...consequence?

'Cause Max was just an innocent victim totally unaware of any of the antics going on around his glider.

And the usual sorta response you get from a Mark G. Forbes, Richard Bryant, Peter Birren, Bob Kuczewski when he finds himself painted into a corner.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42711
Torrey Collision Suit Settled?

Brian McMahon - 2015/06/08 21:07:18 UTC

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/jun/08/gliderport-lease/
Gliderport lease hangs in the balance | UTSanDiego.com

There have been some lawsuits filed over accidents there over the years, including one in 2013 over a mid-air paraglider collision that injured a woman. The lawsuit eventually settled for a confidential amount, and the city was not named as a defendant.
The collision was captured on a video being made by another instructor who was in the air, according to the court file. That video shows two paragliders operated by instructors purposely colliding into each other, among other risky acts.
The suit argued such conduct is not unusual, said Brett Schreiber, the lawyer for the woman, who said the city needs to take a harder look at the leaseholder, Air California Adventures.

And the defendant's lawyer argued that such conduct is not unusual? I think it would have been more accurate to state that such conduct is not unusual at Torrey Pines. Or is it true to say that carrying 12 year old kids and attempting collide with other paragliders is pretty common at all flight parks around the world? How the insurance company for Air California Adventures could possibly be willing to cover them under such conduct is beyond my understanding. Wasn't there someone here from the USHPA that was arguing that there was no case for the plaintiff to stand on?

The collision was captured on a video being made by another instructor who was in the air, according to the court file.

The author of the court file is totally full o' shit.

- The collision was most assuredly NOT captured on ANY video.

- AnOTHER instructor? Another instructor besides whom? Are we implying that one or more of the two people involved in the midair was an instructor?

- The instructor who captured the AFTERMATH of the collision on the video...

008-022312
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5462/17203779832_acda4a445a_o.png


...doesn't even start his launch stroll until about four seconds shy of two minutes after Shannon hits the ground.

That video shows two paragliders operated by instructors...

That video shows two paragliders BEING FLOWN by PILOTS. They're not operating as instructors. Everybody involved in this understands that these are thrill rides - nothing more or less. Zack - and we can safely assume Alec - never get hands anywhere near the control handles.

...purposely colliding into each other...

Fuck you.

collide - verb - hit with force while moving

A KISS is NOT a COLLISION. If two Torrey Pines tandem drivers wanted to purposely COLLIDE into each other, trust me, they could've done it - and left no doubt whatsoever as to what a COLLISION was. Ya got asshole Rick Masters over there droning on incessantly about how deadly paragliders are yet when two advanced rated tandem instructors with lotsa time on their hands make multiple attempts to kill themselves and their little kid passengers - with their mom looking on and taking pictures the whole time - using the most dangerous techniques known to aviation they repeatedly, totally, and miserably fail. Mom will now be forced to take them home, drown them in the bathtub, and try to make it look like a paraglider collision accident.

...among other risky acts.

Fuck you.

Risky acts? As defined by a goddam lawyer whose sole interest in aviation is extracting money from it?

Wanna talk about risky acts? Talk about a deliberate platform launched circuit tow with a disabled and unchecked piece o' shit two-string release; a lanyard, handheld radio, and hook knife all within easy reach of the tandem instructor; wheels extended off of the ends of the basetube within easy reach of the tow bridle; no mirrors on the truck; a typical two loop / four strand weak link for tandem surface tow operations properly installed and positioned between the tow bridle and the towline; and an eleven year old kid onboard.

The suit argued such conduct is not unusual, said Brett Schreiber, the lawyer for the woman, who said the city needs to take a harder look at the leaseholder, Air California Adventures.

Take a harder look at the tons of totally rotten stuff it does. Leave the tiny bit of excellence it does the fuck alone.

And the defendant's lawyer argued that such conduct is not unusual? I think it would have been more accurate to state that such conduct is not unusual at Torrey Pines.

Oh. So this is shit that they're doing all the time. And it's risky - so risky, in fact, that nobody else on the planet is doing anything remotely like it. But nobody's ever been scratched as a consequence of this risky behavior. ANYWHERE. So how is it you're defining the word "risky"? Name some other risky behaviors that have never gotten anyone scratched.

Or is it true to say that carrying 12 year old kids and attempting collide with other paragliders is pretty common at all flight parks around the world?

No. Nobody ANWHERE is carrying twelve year old kids attempting to collide with other paragliders. That's just some more outrageous shit you pulled outta your lying ass.

Besides... ATTEMPTING to collide with other paragliders is a totally benign activity. Try looking at attempting to NOT collide with other paragliders. That's what David and Shannon were attempting and it got Shannon two thirds killed. If they'd been attempting to collide with each other - like Brad and Max were - they'd have been just as fine as the four people involved in those exercises were.

How the insurance company for Air California Adventures could possibly be willing to cover them under such conduct is beyond my understanding.

Two plus two equals four is beyond your understanding - asshole.

Wasn't there someone here from the USHPA that was arguing that there was no case for the plaintiff to stand on?

I don't know whether there was a case for the plaintiff to stand on or not 'cause the video tells us almost nothing about the midair beyond the fact that one occurred between Shannon and David and that the former landed first but finished second. But just based on the fact that I'm hearing NOTHING about anything that led up to the midair and unending total crap about this Brad/Zack-Max/Alec video I'd toss out Shannon's suit in a nanosecond. If you had anything legitimate you'd use it.

The more I hear about this video from you Bob Show douchebags and the more I hear other Bob Show douchebags letting you get away with it the more I find my alignment shifting in the other direction. Keep working your stupid hypocritical asses off going after Brad and Max for giving two little kids two long peak flying experiences and memories to last a lifetime while bending over backwards to ignore the systemwide inbred corruption and incompetence that led to the typical hang glider platform tow that killed the driver and his terrified eleven year old passenger at the end of a 390 foot vertical plummet while the kid's family watched from the other end of the rope.