instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

General discussion about the sport of hang gliding
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Tad Eareckson
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Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC

Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27609
Do we really need tandem hang gliding?
Tommy Thompson - 2015/12/12 22:44:52 UTC
Whitewater

IMO the training program for tandem pilots is not the problem, it complacency.
look at the number of pilots that stopped using weak links, full faced certified HGing helmets, and replacing flying wires each year. each of which is a symptom of complacency.
- Look at the number of pilots that stopped using weak links! What? Are they INSANE?

- First everybody started using the Rooney Link because they knew beyond any doubt that if everybody used it all the time for twenty years it would have an extraordinarily long track record.

- Then the started using Tad-O-Links because they were happy sacrificing track record and safety for convenience.

- And now they're not using weak links at all because they went totally nuts for convenience and are risking death by lockout or high angle of attack with every tow.

- Oh. So you're saying that tandem operations are flagrantly violating u$hPa SOPs, the aerotowing exemption terms, FAA aerotowing regulations every tow. So how come nobody's getting ratings and tickets suspended or revoked?

- When people WERE using weak links to increase the safety of the towing operation:
-- 1985/07/17 - Chris Bulger
-- 1996/07/25 - Bill Bennett, Mike Del Signore
-- 1998/10/25 - Jamie Alexander, Frank Spears
-- 1999/02/27 - Rob Richardson
-- 2002/08/17 - William Woloshyniuk, Victor Cox
-- 2005/09/03 - Arlan Birkett, Jeremiah Thompson
-- 2004/06/26 - Mike Haas
-- 2005/01/09 - Robin Strid
-- 2006/01/19 - James Simpson
-- 2009/01/03 - Steve Elliot
-- 2009/08/31 - Roy Messing
-- 2011/10/28 - Lois Preston
-- 2013/02/02 - Zack Marzec

So name some of the complacent people not using weak links killed or seriously fucked up subsequent to that last one.

I got news for ya, motherfucker... A weak link is something between the tug and the glider which breaks before the glider does. 100.00 percent of hang gliders are flying with weak links. And all hang gliders flying behind the Dragonfly tow mast breakaway protector are flying with dangerously understrength ones.

- What's a full faced certified HGing helmet and what's it supposed to do?

- Name someone who's been unnecessarily fucked up because he wasn't wearing a full faced certified HGing helmet.

This guy:

11-04221
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3806/13745948525_5582fa1a40_o.png
Image

appears to be wearing a full faced certified HGing helmet and at this point:

022-04610
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2809/13746340634_a74b33d285_o.png
Image

he's about 5.3 seconds away from getting his brain seriously mushed.

There's a little white dot at the near edge of the far wheat field in front of the glider:

10-12926
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2919/14039022660_d24ac7c976_o.png
Image

who's about to get permanently vegged trying to treat the tops as the surface - and nobody's ever breathed a word about the type and quality of his helmet.

- Never in the history of hang gliding has anyone been scratched because he didn't replace his flying wires each year. Just like nobody's ever been scratched because he wasn't hooked in at launch.

- Is flying with the Quallaby Release "designed" by Bobby Fucking-Genius Bailey that killed Robin Strid behind Bobby at the 2005 Worlds - and Mike Haas at Hang Glide Chicago a bit over six months before - "complacent"? Or is that totally cool 'cause everybody and his dog uses it and it's got a really long track record?

How many bonus points do you Jack and Davis Show dickheads get every time you babble away with more total cluelessness?
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Tad Eareckson
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Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=32681
Tandem crash in LV (speculation thread)
Mark G. Forbes - 2015/03/31 03:10:32 UTC

Based on our past experience, comments in club forums and venues like this one can and will be cited in court. As an example, a comment as innocuous as "Let's all keep an eye out for each other out there" was used to argue that every pilot present at a launch site had a duty to prevent a launched-unhooked fatal accident.
Which would've been pure fucking gold for the defense as it would be blindingly obvious to any judge or juror with half an ounce of common sense that not every one of the "large number of pilots" at the launch site are gonna be able to witness every launch and it would be certifiably insane to mandate a policy in which every pilot present at a launch is required to move into position be able to carefully observe every launch and intercede to stop one when he identifies a serious issue which the pilot himself has missed.

If I were the defending attorney I'd have had a fucking field day with that charge. The Hamilton Firm which Bill's family engaged for the lawsuit was composed of total douchebags.
The pilots at the site didn't know that the pilot in question was intent on launching; they thought he was just walking over to the ramp to line up first.
Which, as we've established many times before, is total bullshit. Everyone and his dog knew exactly what he was doing and he was engaged by a wire crew at the ramp.

But thanks bigtime anyway, Mark. Because what you've obviously and stupidly just done is imply that if the "pilots at the site" HAD known that "the pilot in question was intent on launching" it WOULD have been the duty of each and every one of them to prevent the launched-unhooked fatal accident. You've pretty much conceded the plaintiffs' point.

Also a pretty good plug for the Aussie Method since the only way pilots in the setup area could be alerted to anything amiss would be if he were in his harness and under his glider while not connected to it. ("He's in his harness and connected to his glider now in the setup area. So no fuckin' way he could he be in his harness and NOT connected to his glider five minutes from now when he starts his run off the ramp.") So why haven't you established the Aussie Method in the u$hPa SOPs? And, of course, rescinded:
With each flight, demonstrates a method of establishing that the pilot is hooked in just prior to launch.
'cause any method of establishing that the pilot is hooked in just prior to launch is totally incompatible with the Aussie Method and serves only to give one a false sense of security?

Why isn't the Aussie Method even MENTIONED in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW8qZESnFvQ
As an example, a comment as innocuous as "Let's all keep an eye out for each other out there" was used to argue that every pilot present at a launch site had a duty to prevent a launched-unhooked fatal accident.
http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=5033
Extraordinary Carnage for One Day
Jim Thompson - 2015/12/12 01:42:36 UTC

H4 pilot with three-man wire crew positioned to launch from the saddle. Launch was reportedly perfect. Witnesses then noticed the pilot hanging by hands from the control frame until the pilot released grip and fell around ten feet to the ground. Glider shot straight up 80-100 feet, turned toward the ground, flipped, dove and recovered in time to impact on the control frame and keel, cartwheeled once and came to rest right-side up before damaging any other gliders. Pilot sustained minor injuries (scratches, bruises), possible sprain to hand. Two downtubes, several bent or broken battens and a keel for the glider. One wire crew member remarked that the pilot seemed to be in a rush to launch.
How 'bout the three-man wire crew at launch position on the saddle, Mark? What's the excuse there? The pilots at the launch position on the saddle didn't know that the pilot in question was intent on launching; they thought he was just running a drill and was unhooked because he didn't want to get in trouble in the event his wing got lifted up into the turbulent jet stream?
One wire crew member remarked that the pilot seemed to be in a rush to launch.
Wonder what the other two wire crew members remarked. How 'bout the "pilot"? Did he remark that he seemed to be in a rush to launch? They couldn't manage to get everyone on the same page with the best story - the way things are done whenever anybody's killed?

So, Mark... If:
- this one wire crew member who remarked that the pilot seemed to be in a rush to launch thought that the pilot seemed to be in a rush to launch; and
- we're supposed to be watching out for each other whenever we're aware that the pilot in question is actually intent on launching
- pilots who seem to be in rushes to launch are probably the primary cause of unhooked launches
what exactly do you think this one wire crew member who remarked that the pilot seemed to be in a rush to launch was watching out for?
- unbuckled helmet
- missing safety rings
- unsecured battens
- untied shoes
- vario off
- altimeter not zeroed

Name one thing more critical than the pilot not being connected to his glider. And if after over four decades of this bullshit you culture of safety fostering motherfuckers haven't been able to make the slightest dent in that issue then why bother with ANYTHING?
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Tad Eareckson
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Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=5033
Extraordinary Carnage for One Day
Brian Scharp - 2015/12/14 18:13:36 UTC

Re: USHPA Accident/Incident Report System

Whatever you do don't write about it here. If you have valuable information that will help others avoid repeating the same experiences you should put it where only three people can access it and wait to see if they ever release it.
Total conflict-of-interest meltdown.

Hang gliding organizations and culture are to aviation what the tobacco industry and recreational smokers are to breathing. Because of the forces of promotion and the campaign to protect from accountability/liability hang gliding has inevitably circled its wagons around all the most toxic elements of the sport:
- hang check
- foot launch
- spot foot landing
- easily reachable bent pin release
- Infallible Weak Link
- pro towing
- Dragonfly tug and its drivers
- certified instruction
- speculation bashing
- "civility"

As the collapse of the sport accelerates so will the intensity of the defenses. There's no chance of turning any of this crap around on beyond the microscopic level.
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Tad Eareckson
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Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=33758
Free flight forever fundraiser
Robert Kesselring - 2015/12/16 11:25:54 UTC

Has USHPA solicited RRG contributions from government entities?

When I was at LMFP last summer, I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $8k, I'm sure I generated some tax revenue for the states of GA, and TN, as well as the cities of Trenton and Chattanooga. Multiply this by the number of students LMFP has in a year and I'm sure the tax revenue is significant. Given that LMFP would likely shut down in the event of an RRG failure, those government entities have a stake in its success.
Goddam right they do. That's why when somebody buys it in the Lockout LZ we get:

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2009/jan/05/hang-glider-86-dies-dade/202463/
Hang glider, 86, dies in Dade | Local News | Times Free Press
Staff Report - 2009/01/05

An 86-year-old veteran hang glider from Battle Creek, Mich., was killed Sunday afternoon in Dade County, according to Sgt. Matt Cole of the Dade County Sheriff's Office.

Jonas Blanton was attempting a landing in a field at 1836 Creek Road about 4 p.m. when he hit a tree and was killed instantly, Mr. Cole said.

The flight was reportedly part of Mr. Blanton's annual hang-gliding trip to Tennessee, and he had completed a tandem flight earlier in the day, Mr. Cole said.
I'm sure the situation is similar at other school locations too.
Ya think? Vancouver, Ridgely, Orlando, Phoenix, Whitewater, Vegas... Lenami Godinez-Avila, Keavy Nenninger, Zack Marzec, Mark Knight, Joe Julik, Arys Moorhead, Betrand Delacroix...

http://www.startribune.com/local/277600661.html
Hang-gliding accident in southern Wisconsin kills Minnesota man | Star Tribune
Article by: Associated Press Updated: 2014/09/30 18:45

COLD SPRING, Wis. - Sheriff's officials say a Minnesota man has died in a hang-gliding accident in southern Wisconsin.

Authorities say 57-year-old of Joseph Julik of Taylors Falls, Minnesota, was hang gliding at an airport north of Whitewater on Monday when his glider caught a wind shear, which caused it to pitch to one side and nosedive about 100 feet.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Jeff Parker says the wingtip of Julik's glider struck another glider that was tethered to the ground, causing the aircraft to flip over.

Parker tells the Daily Union (http://bit.ly/1u8VgaQ) Julik was visiting a friend in Whitewater and the pair had been hang gliding the past several days at Gutzmer's Twin Oaks Airport, which is home to the Whitewater Hang Gliding Club.

He says Julik was experienced in the sport.
http://www.stardem.com/news/local_news/article_e2aff723-fac2-55e9-9911-33cf291ad0fa.html
Man dies in hang gliding accident - The Star Democrat - Easton, Maryland: Local
2015/06/20 20:00 - Posted
2015/06/21 03:52 - Updated

Katie Willis - kwillis@stardem.com

RIDGELY - A New York man died as the result of a hang gliding accident at 11:44 a.m. Saturday, June 20, in a field next to Ridgely Airpark.

Delacroix lost control of the hang glider from the Ridgely Airpark that he was operating and crashed into the ground, according to police.

Sgt. Frank Stanco of the Maryland State Police was the duty officer at the Easton barracks at the time. He said the aircraft appeared to be for recreational purposes.

Stanco said he called the National Transportation Safety Board and alerted it to the accident, per Maryland State Police protocol, but was told it would not respond due to the aircraft not having a tail number. The tail number is an aircraft’s registration number and is a unique set of numbers and letters used to identify civil aircraft.

Typically, hang glider pilots are secured by a harness, which is attached to the mechanical structure of the glider. The pilot then glides through the air, as the mechanical structure acts like wings for the pilot. Pilots typically use body weight to move, shift and direct the glider.

Stanco said further information was not available and that the cause of the accident had not been determined.
Ya think we're ever gonna get any solid information on why these people are getting killed?
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Tad Eareckson
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Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=33814
USHPA CGL insurance update
Mark G. Forbes - 2015/12/16 21:04:41 UTC

There has been some discussion of whether we could continue to just obtain pilot and site insurance from our insurers, probably with a premium increase, and leave the instructors hanging. That idea was floated as an alternative to forming an RRG and self-insuring, since "after all, that's what we used to do."

Yes and no....we had a hole in our coverage related to paid instruction, and we plugged that hole when we obtained instructor insurance. We didn't make a big deal of it at the time because we didn't want to panic our landowners into shutting down flying sites. Going back to that situation isn't wise, and leaves us exposed to serious risk.

But that's moot. We've now received word that our insurers do not intend to renew ANY of our policies when they expire at the end of February. Talk of continuing some partial level of coverage under the existing policy is no longer on the table. This just came to light in a string of emails over the past few days. We either find a way to self-insure through the RRG, or we're done. Until this morning, I was of the opinion that we might still have a chance to renew the CGL policy, if all else failed. That is no longer the case.

This really is "for all the marbles". As of today's report, we have donations totaling just under $113,000 from 440 donors, with an average donation of $256.44. What that means is that 4.6% of our members care enough about our sport to help it survive. REALLY? Are we that apathetic?

Come on...I know we can do better than that. If we all pitch in a hundred bucks, we're done with this thing and we can get on with flying at our favorite sites.

Mark G. Forbes
USHPA insurance chairman
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skysailingtowing/message/7067
AT SOPs - proposed revisions
Subj: Re: [Tow] AT SOPs - proposed revisions
Date: 2009/05/10 02:08:52 UTC
From: cloud9sa@aol.com
To: skysailingtowing@yahoogroups.com
cc: GreggLudwig@aol.com, lisa@lisatateglass.com

Hi Tad.

I'm Tracy Tillman, on the USHPA BOD, on the Tow Committe, and I am an Aviation Safety Counselor on the FAA Safety Team (FAAST) for the Detroit FSDO area. As a rep of both the USHPA and FAA, I would like to help you, USHPA, and the FAA improve safety in flying, towing, and hang gliding.

The FAA gets a lot of letters of complaint from a lot of yahoos. For best effect, I suggest that you describe in your letter (and also post to the skysailingtowing group and share with the USHPA Tow Committee) your areas of expertise (if any) related to this issue, and list your qualifiications, logged hours, and currency in certain categories, such as:

1. hang glider pilot rating and logged hours
2. hang glider aerotow rating, logged hours, and logged number of tows
3. hang glider tug pilot rating, logged hours towing, and logged number of tows
4. hang glider aerotow administrator appointment date
5. hang glider aerotow supervisor appointment date
6. hang glider tanderm instructor rating, logged hours of aerotow tandem instruction, and logged number of instructional flights
7. airplane pilot license ratings and logged number of hours
8. airplane tow pilot endorsement date, logged number of hours towing with airplane, logged number of tows
9. sailplane tow pilot license ratings, logged number of hours, logged number of tows.
10. sailplane instructor license date, logged number of hours of instruction, logged number of instructional tows
11. any other flying or engineering-related credentials that you may have as evidence of your competence to make these claims.

(BTW, if you have an AT hang glider rating or above the you would/should have received the USHPA Aerotow Guidelines as part of your instruction from the person who taught you to aerotow and/or gave you your AT rating, and you should currently have access to them via the packet that is accessible to you on the USHPA web site, if your AT or higher AT-related ratings and appointments are current.)

It would also be good for the FAA and USHPA to know what kind of ultalight or sport plane tug and airplane you use for towing hang gliders and sailplanes with at your operation (if any), along with a general description of your towing operation or who you provide towing and instructional services for (if any).

Additionally, if you want to really present a convincing argument, you should also: (a) get other experts to co-sign your letter, such as those who have some or most of the aerotowing-related credentials listed above, who have been doing this for many years with many students, and who support your argument; and (b) present reliable data based on valid research showing that there is a significant difference in safety with the changes that you recommend. Supportive comments from aerotow experts along with convincing data can make a difference. Otherwise, it may seem as if your perception of "the sky is falling" may not be shared by most others who have a wealth of experience and who are deeply involved in aerotowing in the US.

This information would also be very helpful in convicing the USHPA and others to take your complaint seriously. Most of the individuals who serve on the USHPA Towing Committe have most of the credentials listed above, so it will be great for you to let them know about your similar credentials and depth of experience, too. If you do not have those credentials, it will be a simple matter for the USHPA Tow Committee to respond to the FAA to discount your complaint, so it will be very important for you to present this information in your letter to the FAA and to others now.

The best way to make change is to get involved, and join the Tow Committee at its meetings. That's what people who really care do to make change. Such is the nature of the great opportunities we have to make a difference in the US (although it means having to spend time, money, and effort, compared to the ease of just sitting in front of a computer.)

Good luck with your endeavor, and regards,

Dr. Tracy Tillman
USHPA Director, Region 7
FAA Detroit FSDO FAAST Aviation Safety Counselor
Asshole.
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Tad Eareckson
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Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=5034
USHPA mailer re: donations for RRG
Greg Angsten - 2015/12/17 00:28:11 UTC
Westchester

What does it give you?

If you want to know what your donation gives you, it's this: A chance to keep hang gliding alive in America. If we don't make this work, most of the sites in the country will disappear. Most of the instruction in the U.S. will probably disappear, then the manufacturers will disappear and hang gliding as we know it will be history.

Imagine yourself coming in to land and the wind switches. After zooming across the LZ, you pound in and break two downtubes.
Because you'll have been upright trying to perfect your flare timing and nail the old Frisbee in the middle of the LZ in order to be able to safely land in a narrow dry riverbed with large rocks strewn all over the place. (Don't worry about wind switches in narrow dry riverbeds with large rocks strewn all over the place. Wind switches only happen in Happy Acres putting greens like the one in which you just crashed and broke two downtubes doing everything flawlessly.)
Let's make them Moyes downtubes.
In appreciation of all the huge contributions they've made to towing safety over the decades.
How long would it be before you ponied up the two hundred whatever bucks to get yourself back in the air?
I have no fuckin' idea. I decided it was a bad idea to land in narrow dry riverbeds with large rocks strewn all over the place and just come in on the wheels - like girls and fags.
Not real long, I'd bet, assuming you didn't break your arm too.
Lemme guess...

Image

Spiral fracture of the humerus?
That's what it's going to take from all of us to make this happen.
Assuming Arys Moorhead's family doesn't win a judgment of five times what you're able to load into the RRG.
Just log on to ushpa.aero and get it over with.
I can't log on. I got so disgusted with your piece o' shit organization back in 2008-9 that I let my membership lapse and u$hPa invalidated all my ratings. Is there anyway I can donate a thousand bucks as a private citizen?
You'll recover but if you don't do it, HG here probably will not.
Tell me why it deserves to.
Bob Bendetson - 2015/12/17 00:48:55 UTC

Thanks Greg. Clear, concise answer. You scared the shit out of me and the money out of my wallet.
Great. Now you will no longer be scared. Also remember to always do a hang check at Kagel to eliminate your fear of launching unhooked.
NMERider - 2015/12/17 03:34:18 UTC

For anyone waiting for everyone else to pay into the RRG consider this: If most pilots in the US become unable to fly...
...in addition to the ten in the US who became unable to fly this year so far...
...then the resale value of your glider, harness, and reserve will drop by many thousands of dollars (on average) while the hundred or so dollars that you saved will be all you have to show for your thrift. Image
Bob Kuczewski - 2015/12/17 09:11:04 UTC

What does your donation to USHPA get you?
Poorer.
That's easy. You get a mismanaged insurance program that even Lloyd's of London won't touch anymore.

Yes, throw even more money at USHPA.

Don't even consider demanding resignations of the people who screwed up your forty years of investment in hang gliding. Just give them more money and more power to further bankrupt your sport.

Insanity is doing the same thing again and again ... expecting a different outcome.
And why don't you tell us what better...

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=463
Davis Straub's "Oz Report" Conflict of Interest
Bob Kuczewski - 2011/03/09 02:33:49 UTC

This is going to sound cold, but I believe people have a right to make their own choices. I don't want a "nanny state" where anyone is telling me what I can and can't do ... for my own good. The sport of hang gliding would surely not exist if that thinking were carried to its logical extreme. There's something bred into all living things that urges them toward taking some degree of risk in their lives. Those who want to forbid that risk are essentially snuffing out the human spirit itself. I can't support that. I do support information. I support good information. I support exposing bad information. But I don't support dictating what anyone can or can't do. The fundamental principle of economics (and evolution) is two words: "people choose".
http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=881
Davis Straub; Idiot Statist, Endless Wars & Tyranny
Warren Narron - 2015/02/08 00:52:29 UTC

The Hawks has no product. There is no there, there.
...you have to offer.

You try to get insurance, I'm gonna make sure the company gets no know your attitude about risk management. And you wanna talk about essentially snuffing out the human spirit?

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8143/7462005802_bbc0ac66ac_o.jpg
Image
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Tad Eareckson
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Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45634
Les King
Davis Straub - 2015/12/16 13:43:46 UTC

Dies

Rich Hiegels writes:
Les King passed on December 11. Les was instrumental in the early days of the hang gliding movement in the DC area. He had a full time shop in Gaithersburg from the mid 70's through the early 80's. He was an avid pilot, inventor, philosopher, and instructor. He collaborated with the famous Paul MacCready at AeroVironment. I know that I will miss him.

"Les King of Tehachapi is survived by his wife Marilyn. Les was an avid fan of all things flying, from foot launched full-size to hand-launched models to microlite kit built possibilities, and always had something on his drawing board. Les was a contributor across decades to the Experimental Soaring Assn. From its SHA inception. More recently he filed patent rights on wind energy technology, and enjoyed the camaraderie of friends and builders on the Mountain Valley Airport. Passed December 11, in Bakersfield, CA."

Les ran Sport Flight a full time Hang Gliding Shop In Gaithersburg Md from the early 70s until the late 80's before moving out to California. Les was instrumental to bringing hang gliding to the Mid-Alantic Region. You can not over state the impact Les had on the formation of hang gliding in the 70's into the late 80's. Les was responsible for teaching and guiding hundreds of students into the sport of hang gliding..
Rich Hiegels...
Fuck you Rich "HiegelS".
Les was instrumental in the early days of the hang gliding movement in the DC area.
Fuck the hang gliding movement in the DC area - then and now.
He had a full time shop in Gaithersburg...
http://www.marylandcorporates.com/corp/339525.html
SPORT FLIGHT, INC. - MarylandCorporates - Company Profiles of Maryland
Sport Flight, Inc.
Robert M. Deffenbaugh, Jr.
Resident Agent
9041B Comprint Court
Gaithersburg MD 20760
1981/12/14
...from the mid 70's through the early 80's.
That's where I got my first glider - used Comet 165 - in February of '82, plus stirrup Chris Price (OP's father) harness (in dangerous shape) and parachute.
He was an avid pilot, inventor, philosopher, and instructor. He collaborated with the famous Paul MacCready at AeroVironment...
Here's how I remember him most.

I was all ears when for 1981/05 USHGA published the first of what was supposed to be four of Donnell Hewett's article's on "center of mass" towing. The assholes on the Board decided that what he had was too dangerous for us muppets to be permitted to read and evaluate and, without a word of comment/explanation...
Gil Dodgen - 1983/05

Editorial

A NOTE ON TOWING

The early days of hang gliding were marred by numerous towing accidents. During this period this aspect of our sport established a hopelessly bad reputation. And, indeed, last year, as you may have noted in Doug Hildreth's recent accident review, there was a towing fatality by a totally inexperienced Texas pilot.

Some time ago I received a series of four articles on a new towing system from Texas experimenter and inventor Donnell Hewitt. I ran the first in the series of four articles. Editors learn from experience and if I could roll back the calendar I would run all four at once in condensed form. In fact, what happened was that the first article - which made seemingly outrageous claims without outlining the actual technique or hardware - inflamed the then towing establishment. It seems that today's innovators become tomorrow's conservatives so I was bombarded with calls, some from the USHGA Board, telling me that this Mr. Hewitt was totally inexperienced, that he didn't know what he was talking about, and that I was contributing to the possible injury and death of unknown multitudes of innocent hang glider pilots.

I am not a tow pilot, and although Donnell's system made sense to me I was forced to discontinue the series. The essence of his system was a double bridle that connected to the glider and to the pilot. This system would thus pull the pilot back on line in the event that the glider was inadvertently turned off course from behind the vehicle. This would produce a self-correcting system avoiding the infamous "lockout" the factor which seemed to make towing so dangerous.

Well, it appears that Mr. Hewitt's system not only works but, as I've been told by pilots who have made literally thousands of land tows with it, it works beyond all the most optimistic expectations. One pilot told me, "It is virtually impossible to lock out even if one tries."

The possibilities are obviously incredible if a safe, standardized towing technique can be established. The sport of hang gliding at this point is essentially limited by the availability of flying sites. With land tow the entire country is opened up, and as we have seen by Willi Muller and Bruce Case's world class cross country flights over flat land, the potential is unlimited. In fact, there are certain safety advantages to flying over flat land. The turbulence created by jagged terrain is avoided and the dreaded downwind turn into the hill is eliminated.

In upcoming issues we will try to supply as much information as possible on this new aspect of the sport. Those with experience are invited to contact us about possible articles.

However, any new technique or equipment always produces unforseen problems. Towing must be approached with the most thoughtful and conservative attitude. As Garry Whitman pointed out to me recently, the only problem he has had has been with experienced pilots who won't listen to his instructions. And please remember, the equipment and methods described in this publication are based on the experience of the authors only and are not endorsed or recommended by the USHGA or Hang Gliding magazine.

With the kind permission of Donnell Hewitt we will publish the remaining three installments of his Skyting series in upcoming issues.
...the rest of the series. I asked Les what the fuck and he told me they figured from the tone of the writing that he was a wack job.

And then a couple years later, after Skyting had swept the planet and we muppets were permitted to read the heretical text, Les told me - privately - "He was right. We were wrong."

And he was/is a wack job and his Skyting "theory" resulted in a bloodbath that continues to this day. But at least he was right about moving the lower attachment off of the basetube and onto the fucking pilot. And the USHGA Board douchebags were too sleazy to publicly apologize for what they got wrong and too fuckin' stupid to run Skyting through high school physics and ten year old kid common sense and demolish all the lunatic crap he got wrong - to this day. So Les most assuredly doesn't belong on anyone's Heroes of Hang Gliding list.
"Les King of Tehachapi is survived by his wife Marilyn. Les was an avid fan of all things flying, from foot launched full-size to hand-launched models to microlite kit built possibilities, and always had something on his drawing board.
'Cept, of course, for safe towing systems. And towing is the backbone of this sport - and, in the absence of the flying cart, whatever future it might have.
Les was instrumental to bringing hang gliding to the Mid-Alantic Region.
If it hadn't been him it would've been someone else.
You can not over state...
Four consecutive words which should've been two.
...the impact Les had on the formation of hang gliding in the 70's into the late 80's. Les was responsible for teaching and guiding hundreds of students into the sport of hang gliding..
And helped set us on the path to where we are now.
Rich Hiegel (Highrockman) - 2015/12/16 15:33:20 UTC

Les was a special person with an infection enthusiasm rarely seen..He meant so much to me, my life and my love of flying. I can not put into words how much I will miss our talks..I was 19 years old when I first walked into his shop Sport Flight..Im 59 now and I can say without a doubt that Les's joy of flying never wavered ..He opened a whole new world to me and guided me carefully and intelligently through all my steps..From my first training hill adventures to our many xc flights together..He was a great mentor ..and I will miss him...Rich Hiegel
And how wonderful it's been for hang gliding having the expertise with which he imbued you to help get us through some of our rough spots. Fuck you, Rich.

http://www.kitestrings.org/post7583.html#p7583

Ditto for Steve Exceptionally-Knowledgeable Wendt - if I haven't mentioned it lately.
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Tad Eareckson
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Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45634
Les King
Harry Martin - 2015/12/18 02:11:35 UTC
Casper

The loss of another friend and hero.

I remember some of his projects when I flew with him in the LA area. He would fuss over everything. I recall one time he was worried about how one of his trailer designs might become air born (from lift) while cruising down the highway.
Wow! What amazing attention to detail!
We will miss you Les.
Course when TAD fusses over everything on stuff that's SUPPOSED to become airborne...

http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=3840
[TIL] About Tad Eareckson
Orion Price - 2013/03/11 15:12:28 UTC

Final bit of troll food, I read about Tad's reputation this morning.

Tad Eareckson is a generally discounted crackpot and internet troll. He doesn't fly and has been perma-banned from most everywhere: .org, oz report and all the local club websites with discussion forums like ours.

He has two main speaking points. 1. All HG landings should be done prone as belly landings using wheels. All other foot landings are suicidal, he will say. He schadenfreudes hard at our accidents and especially fatalities 2. He is a self proclaimed "engineer" and inventor of Rube Goldberg tow bridles. As you can see his elegant designs are a huge commercial success sweeping the industry. His explanation of how his bridles work indicated he doesn't have any education on the subject.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aerotowrelease/8318603266/
Image

His situation reminds me of a tragedy of a family friend. As began to loose his edge, he proportionality wanted to write people weirder and weirder letters. Newspaper editors, distant relatives, and especially the government would receive long rants pointing out his intelligence and schadenfreuding over their failures. Eventually his internet usage had to be monitored, and his snail-mail letters "mailed" by someone else. The failure mode exhibited here is nearly identical.

He may not fly, but I do. And it's all about the flying.

[/feeding weird internet troll]
Fuck this sport and its heroes.
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Tad Eareckson
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Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=5033
Extraordinary Carnage for One Day
Jim Shaw - 2015/12/18 00:01:12 UTC

Brian and Bob, am I missing something?
You're in Grebloville. Probably not a whole lotta shit you're NOT missing.
Did JD suggest not to list here also?
- List WHAT? Groceries? Checks? Buckets? Birds? Shit?
- So what's your point? What somebody else suggests one does or doesn't do is law?
Unless I am all wet...
Which you undoubtedly ARE.
...an apology may be in order from you both.
Or it may not.
If I stand corrected I will gladly do so myself.
Haven't got all day here.
NMERider - 2015/12/18 02:52:05 UTC

Jim, Even if you were mistaken (which you are not), you would in no way owe either poster an apology of any kind since neither one flies at Sylmar or has any say in our club's affairs.
I looked around and didn't see anything about flying at Sylmar or being involved in your club or affairs. Is aviation in the LA area that much different from what it is in other areas? Aside from the typical consequences of skipping hook-in checks I mean?
What you are reading smacks of cynicism toward USHPA...
What else is REMOTELY possible?
...and should be taken up directly with the board of USHPA.
Good freakin' luck. We've all seen just how well that works.
The conduct you are seeing is juvenile at best...
Shouldn't we be trying to get a few people UNDER the age of sixty into the sport?
...and none of this has any place on the SHGA forum.
- Show me the SOPs.

- Again, “Looking for a Safety Mascot" and after forty-three posts and three weeks shy of three years no closer to actually finding one. So exactly how do we define what does and doesn't have a place on the SHGA forum?
What our members chose to post about their accidents...
Their whats?
...here is their own free choice.
Yep. And in this wave of Extraordinary Carnage for One Day every single member (thanks for pretty much confirming that they were all members) freely chose to post NOTHING - as has become extremely fashionable in just a few of the recent years.
There is no obligation to share or discuss details of one's own accidents in public, period.
- Or those of the students whom one has signed off.

- I remember the days when we had on the books very serious penalties for instructors not reporting serious training incidents.

- So exactly where has this policy of right to remain silent gotten us?

- I've screwed a lot of major pooches in the course of my career and always felt that it would be dishonorable to not post a full detailed honest report. And on top of that there are ALWAYS gonna be witnesses who are gonna know what happened and what you're not being forthcoming about. And if you start catching a bunch o' flack... What the fuck. Wait a few months and one or two of your most vocal detractors is gonna screw a much bigger pooch and cripple or kill himself. (Or the guy he's towing. (Right, Santos?))

- When you came real close to totally yourself flying into the ground on 2014/01/29 you posted what was left of the video and reported every shred of relevant information. So how much better or worse would your flying career, credibility, social standing, life in general have been if you'd Tim Herred everything?

- Was Jesse Fulkersin's 2015/10/11 approach fatality as inevitable as the u$hPa damage control operatives are portraying it? He was doing everything totally flawlessly, clipped a tree, spun in, got killed instantly. If he gets a do-over starting as he's turning onto final he's gonna do everything exactly the same as the first time - totally flawlessly - and get better results.

Anybody remotely worthy of the designation PILOT wants to know everything possible about serious incidents. But in hang gliding nobody wants to provide the slightest detail of any incident involving himself. Fuck that bullshit culture. This is how come I tend not to get overly upset when I hear about the next guy becoming a statistic.
Since the AIRS database is confidential and the records therein are protected by statute and cannot be subpoenaed or even externally disclosed.
- Not a sentence.
- Oh good. Even more steel and lead lining around the most useful/valuable safety information.
This frees pilots of the hazards that come with divulging details of accidents in which they are involved.
- Let's continue killing accountability wherever we see it rearing its ugly head.

- What HAZARDS?

http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=5033
Extraordinary Carnage for One Day
Jim Thompson - 2015/12/12 01:42:36 UTC

Pilot impacted, at speed, on the upslope to the SIBL parking area at the bottom of the road to the wash. Pilot sustained a deep gash to lower leg, cut on hand and probably a very stiff neck from slamming headfirst into the soft dirt. Broken downtube and possible damage to a carbon wing extender that was catapulted into the wash by the force of the impact.
Don't the hazards typically tend to be history a few seconds after things first start going south?
In theory this paves the way for broader and more detailed accident reporting in which the details may be sanitized, summarized and then disclosed in public and in a manner that benefits interested pilots.
In theory a loop of magic fishing line will very clearly provide protection from excessive angles of attack, high bank turns, and the like for our form of towing.

In practice we have yet to get one punctuation mark's worth of information of this latest of u$hPa scams. When are you predicting that we'll be getting better results? Think it would help if we all wore our FOCUSED PILOT wristbands while we waited?
If anyone wishes to rant and curse to his or her heart's desire then do what I did and join Tad Eareckson and company at:http://www.kitestrings.org/forum2.html
- Not everyone is welcome over here. I'm afraid that all the hang gliding people who ARE welcome over here are already over here.

- Rant... OK, what in hang gliding doesn't need ranting about?

- Curse... Probably about the same rate as what you'd get on the Daily Show and Colbert Report. Big fuckin' deal.

- Her... Only two known female types registered - Ann Fawkes and Niki Longshore. No posts from either, couple email messages between Niki and Yours Truly.

- One doesn't just get to rant and/or curse to one's heart's desire over here. There are common sense rules defined in the first two posts and they have been and will be enforced.
Of if anyone wishes to be conspiracy theorist then do what I also did and join BobK and the gang at US Hawks:
http://www.ushawks.org/forum/search.php?search_id=active_topics
THIS:

http://torreyhawks.org/r3/ENDNOFR.HTM
Endorsements
NMERider

I voted for Bob after spending a very enjoyable hour on the telephone with him a few months ago. My impression of Bob is that he is a level headed and enthusiastic supporter of both hang gliding and paragliding, and above all: SAFETY.
BobK?
Why not? I had an acquaintance who, in the mid-60s was simultaneously members of the John Birch Society and Students for a Democratic Society. Who says you can't have it both ways?
Certainly not Bob. More democracy and individual rights and freedoms than one could possibly imagine - as long as Emperor Bob has 100.00 percent of the control over everything.
Jim Shaw - 2015/12/18 16:52:46 UTC

JD, nicely written.

Jim, I for one appreciate your post very much.
Because he gives you information that all of the assholes involved in the incidents reported on in Jim's post totally withheld? Wouldn't that put you more in alignment with Brian and Bob than with Jonathan?
And as you already know, I am sure the silent majority of us Kagelites do as well!
Yep. That's sure one helluva silent majority y'all have...

http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=1389
Where are the Accident Reports for the two fatalities 2008?
Joe Greblo - 2009/04/11 15:16:54 UTC

Accident reports for both Richard and Jeff have been submitted to the USHPA. I sent one in for Richard and the SHGA has a copy in their files. I suspect accident reports were submitted by more than just one individual. For Richard's accident, I personally have a copy of the one I sent in and one that Rome sent. I'd be happy to share them with any current club member that would like to read them in my presence, but I don't think that they will be published out of deference to the families.

This is because accident reports are submitted by simple witnesses to the accident and not professional accident investigators. These witnesses are often other pilots, or simply spectators or passers by. The content often includes personal opinions of why the accident happened; opinions that do not necessarily hold true.

The USHPA often publishes summaries of accident reports in an effort to educate pilots as to specific dangers or accident trends. I don't know if a summary covering Richard or Jeff's accidents will appear in a future issue of Hang Gliding Magazine.
...over there in Grebloville. 'Specially the dead guys. You should be very proud. And I for one am always very appreciative of all the stuff nobody ever posts on your forum. Really hard to find better quality silence than that anywhere in hang gliding.
As my good friend in England likes to say, "Well done!" - to both of you.
What a clever saying from your good friend in England. I sure wish I had good friends in England like that providing me such memorable quotes. About the best I can do is acquaintances in America who like to say stuff like, "Nice!"

Fuckin' asshole.
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Tad Eareckson
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Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=27396
Scooter tow faillure... or Never Land On Your Face
Mitch Shipley - 2012/10/22 19:04:16 UTC

We engage in a sport that has risk and that is part of the attraction.
Not so much for the insurance companies though, is it...

http://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5788/23461251751_e98b9c7500_o.png
Image

...ASSHOLE?
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