I do not recommend "stepping" on a cable (I assume you mean in mid-span) as part of a preflight. If your foot hits the ground with the cable underneath, or sand or rocks are trapped in your shoe treads, you could damage the cable that you are testing.
Wills Wing
Sport 2 135, 155 and 175
Owner / Service Manual
Preflight Procedure
While pushing up on the leading edge between the nose and the crossbar junction, step on the bottom side wire with about 75 pounds of force. This is a rough field test of the structural security of the side wire loop, the control bar and the crossbar, and may reveal a major structural defect that could cause an in-flight failure in normal operation.
Through certification, information resources, specially negotiated insurance, competition sanctioning, partnerships with the FAA, FAI, and NAA, and more - USHPA remains America's only nationally recognized free-flight governing body of these sports.
Without naming names (I'm curious to see if they'll own up to it first), on May 10, 2009, one Director wrote:
We need to consider getting an injunction against this guy communicating with the FAA on this subject.
That same day, another Director responded:
I forwarded the letter to Tim Herr yesterday asking about this.
For those who don't know, Tim Herr is ... USHPA's lawyer!!
A third Director (who I'll call "Mr. X") chimed in that same day with this:
Mr. X wrote:Perhaps a strongly worded letter from Tim will do the trick. We can't force Tad to work within the USHPA framework but we can make it unpleasant and expensive for him if he chooses to makes derogatory and false statements about USHPA to the FAA he can't back up.
If I understand the previous comments, his sending USHPA a draft letter is an indication of willingness to engage in some dialogue before going to the FAA.
Good luck with this guy!
That's an example of USHPA's typical tactics: Call up the lawyer, then Attack, Attack, Attack.
From time to time we become aware that some pilots are flying our gliders in non-standard configurations, such was with the washout tips removed, or the bridles disconnected. Sometimes, it is instructors that have their students do this, because they feel it makes certain things easier for the student.
Those who nominated the Dragon Fly Soaring Club (DFSC) for this award offered an impressive list of above-the-norm safety-related practices followed by this club. Just a few examples:
DFSC has built more reliable and higher-powered Dragonfly tugs that get pilots away from the ground quickly, thus reducing the chances of incident from a weak link or release failure or a lockout.
We weren't ready to release. The conditions were smooth and we were towing normally when the weak link broke on the harness. The bridle snagged for about one to two seconds as it worked its way through the carabiner or whatever was at the end of the towline. It was at a reputable flight park, so I'm sure they were using a good set up.
