4144 Review - Sonoma Wings

[Tad Eareckson]

http://sonomawingsbb.yuku.com/topic/5825/4144-Review
4144 Review

rcpilot - 2015/09/22 21:06

http://www.energykitesystems.net/Lift/hgh/TadEareckson/4144review.pdf

Fred Bickford - 2015/09/26 13:01

COPY/PASTE of .pdf

...

Fred Bickford - 2015/09/26 13:06

2 of the 99 pages in that .pdf are posted above.

Yes Fred, the first two of ninety-nine pages of the document pasted as one paragraph. That was very helpful and an excellent use of bandwidth.

The rest of the file has bits of various discussions from different forums or email groups.

And an excellent description of and commentary on the substance of the ninety-seven subsequent pages that you didn't copy and paste as one paragraph.

Fred Bickford - 2015/09/26 13:54

https://books.google.com/books?id=7dFbCQAAQBAJ&pg=PR1&lpg=PR1&dq=bonded+to+the+abuser&source=bl&ots=AVgIg6a0oH&sig=AjinGmpJzs1gzV1-sav9zQR_pVc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CFAQ6AEwDmoVChMI29WX9tOVyAIVCJaICh3QEg-k#v=onepage&q=bonded%20to%20the%20abuser&f=false
I found this book a couple months ago and read it cover to cover.

- Is there any chance you could copy and paste the first couple of pages as one paragraph and tell us that the remaining pages have paragraphs and sentences relating to the title of the book?

- You're capable of reading something cover to cover? Who'da thunk?

It's very enlightening being a parent raising children.

I'll bet it is. I'll bet it's just chock full of stuff that never occurred to someone like you. Is it OK if I send the link to Brik Moorhead and Michelle Schneider so they can learn just whom they need to watch out for to keep their kids safe?

Flight instructors might find it useful as well.

Definitely.

KSNV-9-24015-6


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8697/16463566373_3f21d65f25_o.png
KTNV13-5626

Ya just never know when you have a child molester near one of your flight operations poised to destroy the life of another innocent young victim.

Fuck you and the children you're raising.

Frederick Bickford - California - 82191 - H3 - 2004/11/13 - Steve Bickford - AT FL AWCL CL FSL RLF TUR

Steve Bickford - California - 53108- Exp: 2011/09/30
- 2011/09/30 - H4 - 1991/04/14 - K. Dearborn - FL AWCL CL FSL TUR
- 1993/10/29 - P4 - K. Fiebig - FL

Gary Bickford - California - 83048 - P2 - 2007/06/26 - Rob McKenzie - FL FSL RS

The crud in this sport's gene pool was at an unsustainable level in the days of bamboo and it's gotten a little worse every year since - 'specially on the left coast.
---
2022/05/22 16:00:00 UTC

Split the forty posts of this topic out of "instructors and other qualified pilot fiends".

[Tad Eareckson]

http://sonomawingsbb.yuku.com/topic/5825/4144-Review
4144 Review

Eric Beckman - 2015/09/26 21:49

Thanks for the reference, Fred. The book "Bonded to the Abuser" looks very interesting.

Yeah, you Sonoma guys should knock yourselves out with it and solve some of the REAL problems you're having in this sport and with your personal lives.

I do, however, find Tad Eareckson's rant disingenuous at best and in general utterly dishonest when looked at in the light of serious intellectual discussion.

- Fuckin' great.

Eric Beckman - 20228
- H5 - 1985/12/16 - Russell Locke - AT FL AWCL CL FSL RLF TUR XC - AT TOW OBS, OBS, TAND ADMIN, TAND INST, TUG PILOT
- P4 - 1996/06/13 - Andrew Whitehill - FL CL FSL HA RLF RS TUR XC

I'd be pretty queasy if one of you assholes found anything the least different.

- Refer me to the light of this serious intellectual discussion to which you're alluding. Something from Dennis Excellent-Book Pagen, Davis Dead-On Straub, Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney, Dr. Trisa Tilletti's "Higher Education" magazine articles?

While aero-towing a hang glider has risks and skill requirements different from those associated with purely foot-launched flight...

Tell me how Robin Strid's final flight on 2005/01/09 wasn't "purely" foot-launched. Did he stand on the cart long enough to get it rolling a bit then hop off and run it into the air?

...the actual record of aero-toewing...

How the fuck do you have the slightest goddam clue what the actual record of "aero-toewing" is? The tow operations suppress incident reporting as much as possible and u$hPa shreds everything it can get away with shredding and mangles what it can't. We know what gets posted on forums and what turns up on YouTube - and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

...contradicts one of his first premises in the following: "Flights are typically conducted in which the pilot has no reasonable expectation of being able to remain on tow...

http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2467
weak links

Jim Rooney - 2007/08/01 13:47:23 UTC

Whatever's going on back there, I can fix it by giving you the rope.

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.

...or separate from it...

http://ozreport.com/pub/images/fingerlakesaccident2.jpg
http://ozreport.com/pub/images/fingerlakesaccident3.jpg

...as the situation may dictate, or maintain safe and effective control of the glider." This just doesn't pan out in the light of reality.

Fuck no.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9Ek9_lFeSII/UZ4KuB0MUSI/AAAAAAAAGyU/eWfhGo4QeqY/s1024/GOPR5278.JPG

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xh_NfnOcUns/UZ4Lm0HvXnI/AAAAAAAAGyk/0PlgrHfc__M/s1024/GOPR5279.JPG

Everything's just fine in your reality. Now let's check our standard aerotow weak links for excessive wear, hook up our pro toad bridals, and get some airtime!

Most hang gliding competitions in the U.S. are now being conducted via aero-tow with hundreds of successful launches in the strongest conditions of the day.

- HUNDREDS! I'm SO impressed. And SUCCESSFUL! If nobody gets slammed in hard enough to kill him within the remainder of the calendar year it's successful.

- I didn't write that "NOW", motherfucker. If you bother to check the letter's date at the top of Bickford's paste you'll note it to be six years minus a month ago as of today. And that was back in the days of the standard aerotow weak link that nobody's talking about anymore.

- So what are these aerotow competitions using in the way of weak links nowadays? Fishing line flavors, pounds, Gs? And what are they designed to do in order to increase the safety of the towing operations?

Yes, accidents still happen...

Name one.

...just like they do in typical foot-launch competitions...

Bullshit. Foot launch is a bloodbath compared to dolly and platform.

...but not in any statistically different numbers or with any greater level of injury or fatality.

Well great then. If our aerotow manglings and killings are about the same as our mountain launch manglings and killings then we've got absolutely nothing to worry about.

OK, maybe using competitions as the benchmark is unfair, since pilots will be assumed to have higher skills as a base-line.

Nah. Go ahead and use comps as your benchmark. Skill...

01-001

04-200

07-300

10-307

15-413


...has pretty much shit to do with anything. It's virtually all crap equipment and that doesn't care much whether you're a new Two or have been at an around all this plenty long enough to understand what's what and who's who.

Even so, there does not appear to be any real analysis which supports Mr. Eareckson's premise (or his "manifesto," as he calls it).

- 'Specially if you haven't bothered to read any of the fatality reports and analyses and recommendations by USHGA officials taken from the magazine and included in Mr. Eareckson's "premise" (or "manifesto," as he calls it).

- Quote Mr. Eareckson calling it his "manifesto" - motherfucker.

Thankfully, freedom of speech gives Mr. Eareckson the opportunity to rant all he wants in any venue he chooses to exploit.

- I'd choose that one but I know you cowardly lying dickheads would ban me and delete my posts the minute I started drawing blood.

- Oh good...

2008/12/12 - Capitol Hang Glider Association
2009/05/17 - Peter Birren Show
2009/11/10 - Jack Show
2010/02/24 - Paragliding Forum
2010/04/03 - Davis Show
2010/11/19 - Houston Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association
2011/12/14 - Bob Show
2012/11/01 - Rocky Mountain Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association
2014/01/11 - Mikkel Krogh Show

Freedom of speech gives me the opportunity to rant all I want in any venue I choose to exploit. Thanks for letting me know.

- Yeah, I COULD exercise my freedom of speech for the opportunity to rant all I want in any venue I choose to exploit but it would really cut into my child molestation time. So I've gotta prioritize things accordingly. Sorry. (Bit surprised you didn't pick up on that.)

Let's hope it leads to some honest level-headed discussion and analysis to improve free flight safety in general and especially in regards to aero-towing.

- From the likes of stupid lying scumbags like you? Yeah, let's hope that.

- Why? You just said that the carnage in aerotowing is no worse than the carnage in mountain. Eleven non AT fatalities this year to date. I'm good with that.

- Is that all you're gonna do? HOPE that Mr. Eareckson's disingenuous and utterly dishonest rants lead to some honest level-headed discussion and analysis to improve free flight safety in general and aerotowing in particular? You're saying that we have room for improvement so what's stopping you from addressing some actual issue and doing something right now? What? Eleven fatalities so for this year and there's NOTHING you can think of from ANY of them that would benefit from the collective honesty and level headedness of the Sonoma Wings Mutual Masturbation Society?

Tandem thrill ride industry pigfucker...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=32366
An accident has taken another pilot. :0(

Eric Beckman - 2015/01/26 05:25:38 UTC

Condolences to the family and all his friends.
Hope they figure out what happened and that there is something useful to learn from this.

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

Eric Beckman - 2015/05/31 05:12:41 UTC

While there may be some who disagree with particular aspects of the investigation and the conclusions, it appears to be well considered and thorough. My hat's off to those who contributed to the unpleasant task, and my hope is that we can apply the learning to help prevent another tragedy like this from occurring in the future.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=33308
Funston Accident

Eric Beckman - 2015/08/25 04:26:49 UTC

So sad. Rafi was such a well-liked guy, and a fixture at the Fort for years. Heartfelt condolences to all family and friends.
I don't remember any year with so many fatalities, and I've been flying since 1975. Oy!

EXACTLY what one would expect. Lotsa heartfelt condolences and nothing of the slightest degree of SUBSTANCE ever being done - unless you wanna count sabotaging LEGITIMATE efforts.

P.S. Hey asshole... When you pull a tandem what's its weak link and how much over its do you have your tow mast breakaway protector to comply with FAA aerotowing regulations?

[Tad Eareckson]

http://sonomawingsbb.yuku.com/topic/5825/4144-Review
4144 Review

Fred Bickford - 2015/09/26 13:06

2 of the 99 pages in that .pdf are posted above.

- Yeah, the first and the ninety-sixth. With no indication of the break.

- No they're not. The first page was divided into twenty-one short paragraphs, none of which exceeded four sentences, the ninety-sixth into another ten, none of which exceeded one sentences. You have it presented as one continuous paragraph which was as a deliberate misrepresentation of the author's work. Makes it unreadable and makes the author appear to be deranged.

Eric Beckman - 2015/09/26 21:49

Thanks for the reference, Fred. The book "Bonded to the Abuser" looks very interesting.

Pick up a copy, Eric. You can probably find some good tips on getting your abusees to bond to you. Or hell, just do what your highly esteemed colleague Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney does. Tell them you won't tow them if they don't suck your dick a couple times a week.

I do, however, find Tad Eareckson's rant disingenuous at best and in general utterly dishonest when looked at in the light of serious intellectual discussion.

Really? My situation reminded OP of the tragedy of a family friend who began to "loose" his edge and wrote weirder and weirder letters to newspaper editors, distant relatives, and especially the government. Doesn't really sync well with disingenuousness and dishonesty, does it? Maybe you two assholes could get together and collaborate on a consistent story.

While aero-towing a hang glider has risks and skill requirements different from those associated with purely foot-launched flight, the actual record of aero-toewing contradicts one of his first premises in the following: "Flights are typically conducted in which the pilot has no reasonable expectation of being able to remain on tow or separate from it, as the situation may dictate, or maintain safe and effective control of the glider." This just doesn't pan out in the light of reality.

OK. Name some aerotow pilots who refuse to mountain launch because of the increased risk. Foot launch IS several hundred times as dangerous as dolly or platform but the forums are nevertheless INFESTED with rabid ropophobes. And the REASON is that Infallible Weak Links, easily reachable releases, and drivers poised to fix whatever's going on back there by giving them the rope relegate them to passenger status during the most lethal phase of the flight op.

Most hang gliding competitions in the U.S. are now being conducted via aero-tow with hundreds of successful launches in the strongest conditions of the day.

And one hundred percent of THESE launches:

http://ozreport.com/13.238
Adam Parer on his tuck and tumble

Adam Parer - 2009/11/25

Due to the rough conditions weak links were breaking just about every other tow and the two tugs worked hard to eventually get everyone off the ground successfully.

were successful 'cause nobody got killed.

Yes, accidents still happen just like they do in typical foot-launch competitions, but not in any statistically different numbers or with any greater level of injury or fatality.

Really? Can you cite the databases from which you drew the statistics to support your position? Can we go to the websites of Wallaby, Quest, Florida Air, Lockout, Currituck, Manquin, Ridgely, Morningside, SOGA, Cloud 9, Whitewater, Cowboy Up, Wannabe and get what we need from their incident report pages? Can we go to one single aerotow operation site and get one single account of one single bent downtube resulting from one imperfectly timed flare?

OK, maybe using competitions as the benchmark is unfair...

And perish the thought that you should include anything in your post that hints of the slightest degree of unfairness.

...since pilots will be assumed to have higher skills as a base-line.

ASSUMED? Fuck, we KNOW they all have superior skills. Davis only permits them to fly with pro toad bridles and easily reachable bent pin releases.

Even so, there does not appear to be any real analysis which supports Mr. Eareckson's premise (or his "manifesto," as he calls it).

Sorry, I missed the part where Mr. Eareckson stated his premise (or his "manifesto," as he calls it). The document was a request for the FAA to review the conduct of u$hPa controlled aerotowing under the terms and conditions of the aerotow exemption it granted on 1984/10/25. Can you tell me exactly what the "premise" was supposed to have been and quote something to substantiate your claim?

Thankfully, freedom of speech gives Mr. Eareckson the opportunity to rant all he wants in any venue he chooses to exploit.

And thankfully for you the sport's controlled by hordes of stupid scummy little cocksuckers who permit you to get away with spewing any crap you feel like without the slightest fear of repercussion.

Let's hope it leads to some honest level-headed discussion and analysis to improve free flight safety in general and especially in regards to aero-towing.

So if Tad was doing nothing more than disingenuously and dishonestly ranting about nonexistent issues then how come his actions sent the wave of terror it did through u$hPa and the tandem thrill ride industry back at the beginning of the 2009 season? The FAA gets letters from crackpots like him all the time and obviously knows just how to deal with them. Why didn't the level headed hang gliding interests just calmly point out that all the fatalities he cited were mere figments of his fevered imagination and his solutions were reminiscent of patent applications for perpetual motion machines?

If aerotowing has its shit so well together then how come we have:



with no resolution whatsoever after another three seasons? And those were discussions from which T** at K*** S****** as a direct participant had been totally excluded.

[Tad Eareckson]

Tad Eareckson - 2015/09/26 21:32:42 UTC

To: Steve Davy

4144... Nobody's ever gonna read that and engage. Same way there won't ever be another discussion on aerotow weak links.

Toldyaso. The kind of person that's gonna accept that two plus two equals four has already read that document and is already onboard.
And here we see the familiar pattern...
- Play the child molester card 'cause there can be nothing of any actual substance in any response.
- Characterize and dismiss the post, response, work as a rant and don't actually address anything that's actually said.
- Declare victory and leave.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://sonomawingsbb.yuku.com/topic/5825/4144-Review
4144 Review

rcpilot - 2015/09/27 21:37

Hello Eric
Would you be so kind as to find the quote where Mr. Eareckson calls it his "manifesto" and then post it here?
Thanks.

Hey Eric...

When you get tired of looking around for that nonexistent quote maybe you could spare a minute or two to explain to me what my motivation for all that disingenuous and utterly dishonest ranting was supposed to be.

This sport has been OOZING in lies and scams for as long as I've been in it and well before and we've never needed rocket scientists to see through them and spot their blindingly obvious motivations - self promotion, ass covering, dodging accountability, rip-offs.

So I'm supposed to have composed this hundred page document and submitted it to the FAA to benefit me personally how? I was supposed to pick up lots more friends, get half price tows at all the flight parks, make a mint on all the equipment I'd be getting into circulation?

All I got out of it was an end to a flying career spanning over a quarter century, all my qualifications becoming totally useless, thousands of dollars of equipment becoming useless junk, total ostracism from all my old flying "buddies", lotsa child molester publicity from pigfuckers like you who'd get their fuckin' heads blown off in two seconds if they ever had the balls to engage in legitimate discussion.

Check out Jack Haber Stroh’s disingenuous and utterly dishonest rant from 1974/05/31:

http://www.kitestrings.org/post1455.html#p1455

about 35 years before mine and reads very similarly. What do you think he thought would be his personal gain from taking that action?

Two big mistakes we can point to right now.

- You pulled your claim that I called that document my "manifesto" outta your ass and you will NEVER be able to cite a scrap of evidence to support it or write it off as an honest mistake. And that calls into serious question the credibility of everything else in your post and thus the substance of your character.

- You characterized my document as dishonest without providing:
-- so much as a dishonest punctuation mark from anywhere in the hundred pages to support your claim
-- any viable possible motive for the aforementioned dishonesty

You're asking your readers to buy that I just got bored during a rained out weekend and decided to compose a hundred page document just for the thrill of creating something dishonest to perpetrate on the public.

OP was trying to accomplish exactly the same thing you are - discredit T** at K*** S****** and thus enhance your social position in the organized crime syndicate that controls this sport. And part of your strategies were identical - attack the entirety of the documentation as total crap without citing a scrap of its content as supporting evidence.

But OP's a lot smarter than you are. He characterized the content as deranged paranoid ramblings and since only about one or two percent of his audience has the intellect to both go to the source and comprehend words over a syllable or two so that strategy WILL have a little traction for maybe a couple months.

You, on the other hand, portrayed me as a con man and con men are not known for being either stupid or deranged. So given that there was and is nothing to be gained and a helluva lot to be sacrificed from a course such as mine you've painted yourself into a corner you'll never be able to get out of.

Tug drivers seem to be extraordinarily gifted at that. Think Bobby Fucking-Genius Bailey, Bill Moyes, Russell Brown, Dr. Trisa Tilletti, Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney, Brad Gryder, Bart Weghorst. And let's also consider fake tug driver and privileged information decimator Jim Gaar.

So how ya comin' with that "manifesto" quote?

[Tad Eareckson]

http://sonomawingsbb.yuku.com/topic/5825/4144-Review
4144 Review

Fred Bickford - 2015/09/27 16:29

There's not as many books on the subject of various forms of child abuse as there should be and its too misunderstood by society as a whole in my opinion.

I agree, Fred, and deeply value your opinion. I've got all fifteen of them and not one of them really covers such basics as the best kinds of candy to use to lure potential victims into one's car and how and were to dispose of the bodies without leaving any traceable evidence. I may write one or two of my own to fill the void after another year or two of experimentation - if my luck keeps holding out anyway.

Not many good books on effectively poisoning elephant carcasses to eliminate the vultures which are so problematic in alerting game wardens and rangers once the tusks are removed. Much work to be done there as well.

It's somewhat of a taboo topic generally, but at the same time recognized as an epidemic globally.

Well I say it's a really good thing we have hang gliding forums in general and aerotowing topics in particular to sort these issues out and bring this global epidemic under some kind of control.

Elder abuse is often overlooked also.

Well yeah, but that's more of a surface tow related field. Let's not get TOO far off topic. Maybe start another thread titled something like "Optimizing winch tow pressures for safe climb rates" to get a productive discussion going and that issue properly addressed.

Currently I'm reading one of Noam Chomsky's books called Hedgemony or Survival published in 2003.

I'm really impressed! Where DO you find the time to fly gliders and discuss issues related to hang gliding?

Solely on the topic of safely flying hangliders...

Fuck that. We were just starting to get some real traction on child abuse. Didn't you get one of those little red rubber FOCUSED PILOT wristbands from u$hPa in the mail?

...I think it would benefit the flight community on a long term basis to shift some of the written portions of the intermediate and advanced rating system to the beginning stages of instruction and include more aerodynamic theories and weather knowledge as standard practice.

DAMN! I was just thinking the EXACT SAME THING! What remarkable connections we seem to have!

The rating system we're currently using wouldn't work well if the population of pilots were to hypothetically double or quadruple overnight.

How 'bout if they ACTUALLY doubled or quadrupled overnight? How well do you think the rating system we're currently using would work under those situations? And what if it tripled? Shouldn't we have a contingency plan ready to go for that scenario?

It's basically a who knows who scenario and is easily manipulated like the issues at Torrey Pines for example.

Thank you for this guy, God. And/Or whatever it is you're putting in the water in that neck of the woods. Rivals whatever it is you've been doing in Texas.

Hey Eric... The "manifesto" quote?

[Tad Eareckson]

http://sonomawingsbb.yuku.com/topic/5825/4144-Review
4144 Review

Dialing down the attack on Fred. Thought I was counterattacking but the guy's just free associating, saying whatever's popping into his head at the given moment.

Eric, on the other hand...

[Tad Eareckson]

http://sonomawingsbb.yuku.com/topic/5825/4144-Review
4144 Review

Eric Beckman - 2015/09/26 21:49

I do, however, find Tad Eareckson's rant disingenuous at best and in general utterly dishonest when looked at in the light of serious intellectual discussion. While aero-towing a hang glider has risks and skill requirements different from those associated with purely foot-launched flight, the actual record of aero-toewing contradicts one of his first premises in the following: "Flights are typically conducted in which the pilot has no reasonable expectation of being able to remain on tow or separate from it, as the situation may dictate, or maintain safe and effective control of the glider." This just doesn't pan out in the light of reality.

Most hang gliding competitions in the U.S. are now being conducted via aero-tow with hundreds of successful launches in the strongest conditions of the day. Yes, accidents still happen just like they do in typical foot-launch competitions, but not in any statistically different numbers or with any greater level of injury or fatality. OK, maybe using competitions as the benchmark is unfair, since pilots will be assumed to have higher skills as a base-line. Even so, there does not appear to be any real analysis which supports Mr. Eareckson's premise (or his "manifesto," as he calls it).

So tell me, Eric... What the fuck does ANY of that crap hafta do with the only sentence you actually quoted out of my hundred page document?

Foot launch aerotowing is so insanely stupid and dangerous that you won't even find schools and instructors forcing new students to do it.

The document was concerned ONLY with Exemption 4144 which is ONLY concerned with AEROTOWING. I've never given a flying fuck about assholes blowing ANY kind of foot launches - tow, slope, cliff - just that they comply with:

With each flight, demonstrates a method of establishing that the pilot is hooked in just prior to launch.

before they blow them and break their fuckin' necks. There's never been any controversy on how to foot launch. And the only reason I have a "launching" thread on Kite Strings is to blow assholes who maintain that foot launching is safer than rolling tow launching out of the water.

What the fuck does that second paragraph hafta do with my quoted "premise"? Your imaginary crash statistics refute it? I've NEVER said that someone who flies with an easily reachable Industry Standard release and standard aerotow weak link to increase the safety of the towing operation is highly likely to experience a serious crash. The fact of the matter is that the stupid motherfuckers almost NEVER do. Things hafta line up just right for something good to happen. I'd guess you need to run about ten thousand cycles to get a reasonably good crash out of the deal and about a hundred thousand to fuck somebody up but good or kill him.

I WISH *ALL* launches with Rooney Links, Dragonfly tow mast breakaway protectors, tug drivers who can fix whatever's going on back there by giving the glider the rope, Industry Standard releases, and/or pro toad bridles would result in instant kills. One hundred percent, no exemptions for people of varying ages, preferably tandem thrill rides. Hang gliding aerotowing would be transformed to what sailplanes have been doing since Day One overnight.

And quote me something from my "manifesto" which presents relative risks of aero versus mountain as an issue.

Yes, accidents still happen...

Really? Cite one. The last two significant aero crashes THAT WE KNOW ABOUT were John Claytor, 2014/06/02, Ridgely and Steven Tinoson, 2014/09/23, Forbes - both career enders, very long and extremely short respectively. Were those "accidents"? The assholes at Ridgely were rolling dice trying to run the ECC in blown out crosswind conditions on crappy equipment and the motherfuckers who slammed the new student in on crappy equipment haven't admitted that anything even happened or revealed the identities of anyone involved.

Cite me an aero crash report - other than Zack Marzec's - in which the finding was, "Well, shit happens." That was EXACTLY the official finding for Zack's but it was also the last we ever heard of the standard aerotow weak link and weak links being used to increase the safety of the towing operation and from Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney - the world's foremost authority on everything. And if you'd care to endorse the position that that was a case of shit happening in an honest level-headed discussion then be my guest - and be prepared to have balls torn off and shoved down your throat within the first thirty seconds.

Got news for ya, Eric... REAL aviators don't believe in or talk about "accidents". And if you do then please explain to me how one of your honest level-headed discussions is gonna be able to accomplish anything.

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=463
Davis Straub's "Oz Report" Conflict of Interest

Bob Kuczewski - 2015/02/11 07:13:44 UTC

Here's my message to the Board:

Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 12:40 AM
To: Pagen, Dennis; Tate, Lisa
Cc: USHPA Regional Directors
Subject: Re: aerotow SOP complaint

Third, I'm not an expert in towing, but I consulted someone who knows the topic pretty well. His comment was that while it might be good for USHPA to make recommendations in this area, there is still plenty of room for innovation. For that reason, he doesn't think USHPA should mandate any kind of obligatory system that would stifle that innovation - whether Mr. Eareckson's or any other. I have very little background in towing, so I'm just passing this perspective on for your general consideration.

See the pattern?
- Don't bother to actually read or even quickly skim the actual content.
- Fabricate out of thin air something that it said but totally didn't.
- Attack and dismiss the actual content and its author on the basis of the total outrageous fabrication.

I so do hope there's a special place in Hell for these motherfuckers and that they get there as quickly as possible. But just in case there is no just Hell in the afterlife we need to do whatever possible to make the life we know about as miserable as possible.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://sonomawingsbb.yuku.com/topic/5825/4144-Review
4144 Review

Brian Scharp - 2015/09/28 16:39

Flights are typically conducted in which the pilot has no reasonable expectation of being able to remain on tow or separate from it, as the situation may dictate, or maintain safe and effective control of the glider.

I don't see anything disingenuous or dishonest about that statement. The universal one size fits all 130 lb weak link is well documented for ending tows before the pilot wished.

And occasionally when he's not in a position to be able to survive the increase the safety of the towing operation or inconvenience - as the case may be.

Many industry standard releases require you to let go of the control bar to actuate...

And the ones that don't aren't warranted as suitable for towing anything and don't work.

...and some are known to jam under tension.

- Pressure.

- Name some that aren't.

- And I CAN'T WAIT until we get a well documented smash-in due to the weak link Davis is now happy with locking up the bent pin crap Davis is happy with, sells, and forces people to fly with. Hopefully Davis will be the Pilot In Command and will move on to a better place after a couple days in shock trauma.

Many acknowledge the weak link won't prevent a lockout yet still used or use it for that purpose, most likely because of their just lack of confidence in their releases.

Anybody who's flying at under five hundred pounds max towline is using it for that purpose.

Although incident records may not help prove anything...

'Specially the ones following the Hildreth era.

...it seems pretty logical...

Oh, we're gonna make a stab at injecting logic into the discussion.

...to me that if you needlessly increase the number of takeoffs and landings, you'll also increase the number of incidents.

Inconveniences.

If you want dishonest...

Why else would anybody be in hang gliding in these times?

...check the last sentence of this out.

HANG GLIDING FOR BEGINNER PILOTS
By Peter Cheney
Published by Matt Taber
Official Flight Training Manual of the U. S. Hang Gliding Association

Flight Tip:

One of the biggest dangers in towing is the lock-out. In a lock-out, the tension of the line overpowers the pilot's control authority, and the glider rolls hard to one side. If the pilot fails to correct, the glider may dive and roll to the ground.

Lockouts usually happen when a pilot allows the glider to roll too far off heading, so that the tow line is pulling the glider at a sharp angle.

Lockouts can be prevented by using good technique, light tow pressures, and appropriately-sized weak links--if you get too far off heading, and a lockout begins to develop, a proper weak link will break and release you from tow.

Two or three people establishing and defending a reality beachhead in these discussions can do a lot of damage.

[Tad Eareckson]

There's some more of that honest level-headed discussion and analysis to improve the safety of aerotowing you were talking about. Careful what you wish for - motherfucker.