instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

[Tad Eareckson]

We are making significant changes to how we manage risk...

Note the cultural change in the language? We don't do SAFETY 'cause u$hPa's official stance on safety is...

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.

...that it's a MORASS. And what could POSSIBLY be more DANGEROUS than a MORASS - a recipe for the extinction of our association? So obviously we're much better doing nothing at all than pursuing anything that smacks of any hint of SAFETY.

And u$hPa can NEVER retreat one millimeter from that stance because doing so would be an admission of error. And u$hPa has a multi decade history of never having been in error about anything (except, of course, in the early years when some of its well intentioned but totally clueless officers made efforts (fortunately all harmless) to enhance the safety of the sport). And if it didn't it would be open to an avalanche of liability issues.

So the new weasel word is "risk management/mitigation". Probably dates back to the 2015/03/27 Jean Lake...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=32673
This is terrible

Dave Pendzick - 2015/03/30 17:42:41 UTC

This is not going to end well for us...

...child murder.

https://ushpa.aero/member_file.asp?id=587
USHPA - Members Only File Download

You are encouraged to re-read the excellent article by Mike Meier, "Why Can't We Get a Handle On This Safety Thing?" (http://www.willswing.com/why-cant-we-get-a-handle-on-this-safety-thing/). Although published in 1998, the risk mitigation analyses and approaches in the article are timeless and still applicable. Additionally, the technical information in "Towing Aloft" by Dennis Pagen and Bill Bryden is an excellent and complete reference on towing equipment and procedures.

We can't do SAFETY because - unlike in general, commercial, passenger, military aviation and space flight - the astronomically complex issues confronting hang gliding make SAFETY an unfathomable MORASS. But we CAN do...

Risk Mitigation Plan for the Quest Air Open

...RISK MANAGEMENT.

Don't even hafta be a pilot to be a stratosphere level Risk Management officer...

http://recreationrrg.com/rrrg-governance
Board and Governance | Recreation Risk Retention Group

Timothy Herr
Secretary and Risk Management Officer

A ground pounding scumbag lawyer will do just fine.

The implication of "risk management" is that everything possible was done in the way of the nuts and bolts of training and equipment decades ago and now we're just working on keeping the human element in line. (We've already got a state-of-the-art easily reachable bent pin pro toad release. Now all we gotta do is encourage the airline pilot on the back end of the rope to use it in a timely manner. And we can do that by making sure he understands that he can go back to the head of the launch line as a reward for his decision on the side of "safety".)

So whenever you hear someone in this sport discussing, addressing, referring to "risk management/mitigation" WATCH THE FUCK OUT (and thus manage/mitigate your risk).

[Tad Eareckson]

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. I would LOVE to not have to think that way, but every time a legal threat arises, it reminds me that we have a very dysfunctional legal system in this country (note: not a "justice" system...there's little justice involved) and we have to recognize that reality and deal with it.

Truer words were never spoken, Mark. The issue of hang gliding safety always has been and always will be a deadly morass.

So please explain to me how it's any less deadly a morass for:
- equipment manufacturers and dealers
- schools and instructors

And unless you can do that please explain to me any purpose in having equipment, site, instructor, pilot certification standards.

We can establish rules which we think will improve pilot safety...

So zero percent of your rules are based anywhere along the lines of any kind of established aeronautical theory and are entirely matters of opinions of the douchebags who've won the popularity contests of the other douchebags who've gotten them into office. And you use those opinions to promote some individuals and revoke the ratings of others, right? How fair is that?

Stepping into the morass of safety is a recipe for extinction of our association but making all critical decisions on SOPs and pilots careers based on totally unqualified opinion ISN'T? Can you refer me to any studies which lend support to that strategy?

I would LOVE to not have to think that way, but every time a legal threat arises, it reminds me that we have a very dysfunctional legal system in this country (note: not a "justice" system...there's little justice involved) and we have to recognize that reality and deal with it.

NMERider - 2017/02/28 07:28:01 UTC

Students sign a liability waiver that precludes them from filing suit themselves and in which the student assumes all risk, or words to that effect.
There is also a legal doctrine known as 'Assumption of Risk' wherein anyone engaging in activity already known to be risky assumes all risk for adverse consequences. Again, it's words to that effect.
Unless the judge is corrupt or an idiot, the case would be dismissed.

Radically different perspectives, it would appear. But if Jonathan's is better in line one can't help but wonder why so much of u$hPa's mission is dedicated to crash evidence shredding and suppression.

[<BS>]

My personal respect and gratitude for "so-called judges" recently increased.

[Steve Davy]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=35117
Instructor costs per year

Mark G Forbes - 2017/03/04 06:48:55 UTC

All I can say is that we're actively working to reduce risk, by identifying problems before they become accidents. We're requiring instructors to submit plans for how they run their schools, operate at their training sites, handle emergencies and a lot more. It's a burden, I realize, but the goal is improved safety. If this year's results are anything to go by, it's having a positive effect.

Dave's cynical viewpoint has some justification, but not a lot. I prefer to think that while some of the steps we're taking are painful in the short term, it's going to be good for our sport over the longer term.

We had a meeting of the RRG board today, reviewed the unaudited year-end financials and a bunch of operational issues. We'll be holding a RRG shareholder meeting in the morning, where we'll discuss the operating results for the year and prospects for the coming year. Overall, things are going very well. We need to keep the focus on safe flying, reduction of risks and efforts to improve flight safety. We're already looking at reductions in instructor insurance premiums for next year if we can get a few more schools on board with PASA and the RRG.

You are hanging on a very precarious thread, Shithead.

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


You're fucked, Mark.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=12443
AT regs

Mark G Forbes - 2009/06/13 04:27:43 UTC

Action comes more swiftly when there's a clear threat to safety. I'm not seeing evidence (in the form of accidents or fatalities) that demonstrate that there's a major problem.

Guess ya see it NOW - pigfucker. Now after you've been dumped by your insurance company and no other one on the planet will touch you with a ten foot pole.

There may be room for improvement, and that's certainly worth considering as we review and update our procedures, but I don't see the urgency of adopting these changes without careful consideration and the input of lots of other people involved in aerotowing.

Me neither. By the way... Any feel for the number of people involved in aerotowing now relative to the number of people involved in aerotowing then - the better part of eight years ago?

I'd want to hear what Steve Wendt, Jim Rooney, Malcolm Jones, Bobby Bailey, Steve Kroop, Dave Glover, John Kemmeries, Hungary Joe and others have to say as well.

So how much were you able to hear? We muppets have had zilch - with the conpicuous exception of Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney for the subsequent four years. And now there isn't anybody on the planet who gives the slightest flying fuck about anything he has to say. And the hordes of assholes who were sucking his dick in those previous years are really hoping that that chapter in their lives will quickly fade from the historical record.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30971
Zach Marzec

Davis Straub - 2013/02/13 15:45:22 UTC

IMHO aerotowing is relatively safe compared with foot launching. I would certainly like to make it safer. What we would all like to know is what could we do to make it safer.

We have no agreement that a stronger weaklink would make it safer (again, I fly with a slightly stronger weaklink).

Have we gotten any agreement that a slightly stronger weak link would make aerotowing safer yet?

As your proposed language stands today, I would vote against it based on my concerns.

Good. I take that as the highest of compliments. If you HAD ever supported any of my proposals or actions I'd feel like slashing my wrists now.

That's not to say that you're wrong, but I haven't bought into your proposal yet myself, and I haven't heard other viewpoints sufficient to form an opinion that's favorable.

So tell us about some of the viewpoints you've heard over the course of the past eight years that have been sufficient for you to form some kind of favorable opinion about something. I understand the accepted standards and practices regarding aerotow weak links abruptly changed four years and two days ago... Can you share with of some of the relevant positions enunciated by Steve Wendt, Jim Rooney, Malcolm Jones, Bobby Bailey, Steve Kroop, Dave Glover, John Kemmeries, Hungary Joe and others? Can we expect another fourteen page Dr. Trisa Tilletti article on the newly accepted standards and practices regarding aerotow weak links.

All I can say is that we're actively working to reduce risk, by identifying problems before they become accidents. We're requiring instructors to submit plans for how they run their schools, operate at their training sites, handle emergencies and a lot more. It's a burden, I realize, but the goal is improved safety.

A better "morass"?

late 15th century: from Dutch moeras, alteration (by assimilation to moer 'moor') of Middle Dutch marasch, from Old French marais 'marsh,' from medieval Latin mariscus.

A better SWAMP - what the new administration is so enthusiastically draining at present. Good luck with that, motherfucker.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=35117
Instructor costs per year

We're requiring instructors to submit plans for how they run their schools, operate at their training sites, handle emergencies and a lot more. It's a burden, I realize, but the goal is improved safety. If this year's results are anything to go by, it's having a positive effect.

Lockouts, towing inconvenience and landing stalls, blown and unhooked launches, tree clips, midairs, sidewire failures, thermal tumbles, blown aerobatic maneuvers... These all went away subsequent to 2016/12/31 - the past two month period - because of the really great job u$hPa's done in requiring instructors to submit plans for how they run their schools, operate at their training sites, handle emergencies and A LOT MORE.

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/22/pacifica-paraglider-dies-in-rough-surf/
Pacifica: Paraglider dies in rough surf

Sharon Noguchi - 2017/01/22
snoguchi@bayareanewsgroup.com

PACIFICA - A South San Francisco man paragliding above coastal cliffs died after he plummeted into the ocean and apparently became entangled in his glider.

Solomon Lee, 59, was pronounced dead on the beach, where bystanders had pulled him from the surf and cut him free of his gear.

Rescuers and firefighters responded to the beach behind 100 Esplanade Ave. at 10:37 a.m. Saturday to a rescue call for a downed paraglider, according to Clyde Preston of the North County Fire Authority. Emergency responders took over from bystanders who were performing CPR, but the man could not be revived, Preston said.

Witnesses said the paraglider had been riding air currents along the coast, but lost lift and fell into the ocean, according to ABC 7 News. Fellow paragliders, yelling for the man to get out of his parachute harness, rushed to a nearby beach, but could not easily reach him because of the rough surf. Access to the paraglider also was hampered by large cracks in a beach trail under repair.

The beach is not far from a clifftop apartment building that will soon be demolished because of coastal erosion that threatens to topple it into the ocean.
The San Mateo County Coroner's Office is investigating the death.

http://cbssanfran.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/paraglide-surf-recoveryteam.jpg

http://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51838208671_937cae1850_o.jpg

Solomon Lee - 95412 - Exp: 2017/09/30
- H2 - 2015/02/01 - Michael Jefferson
- P3 - 2015/06/24 - Fred Morris - FL CL FSL RS

Just from my regional Mid Atlantic perspective I can tell you that aerotow related crashes and injuries are pretty much things of the past. And Vegas area surface towing incidents? Not so much as a scraped knee since the early afternoon of 2015/03/27. And even if there had been...

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

Mark G. Forbes - 2011/09/30 23:21:56 UTC

Here's how it really works:

- Member submits an accident report. Could be the pilot who had the accident, or some other witness.

- Accident report is sent to Tim to maintain legal privilege. Tim reviews the report and determines whether there's significant legal risk associated with it. He may redact certain parts (personally identifiable information, etc.) if in his opinion exposure of that information poses a risk to us. If the report is very risky, he may decide that it can't be shared further, and will notify the ED about it. He may also notify our insurers if he sees a potential for a claim, as is normal practice for any incident where we are aware of such a potential.

- Redacted report goes to the accident review chairs, for incorporation into periodic articles in the magazine. Articles focus on root causes of accidents, not on personal narratives or details.

The whole procedure is outlined in SOP 03-16, which you can read by logging into the USHPA website and clicking on "Policy Manual".

...chances are nobody outside of your circle of official privileged information decimators would know about it anyway. 'Member how long it took us to even get a name regarding the 2016/04/03 Nancy Tachibana student murder at Mission (eleven months ago yesterday)?

Keep up the great work guys. I'm hoping we can keep our excellent streak going later this year when we have more than a couple dozen people in Florida and the Southern Border states doing any actual flying.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=35117
Instructor costs per year

Mark G Forbes - 2017/02/28 02:19:22 UTC

We're requiring instructors to submit plans for how they run their schools, operate at their training sites, handle emergencies and a lot more. It's a burden, I realize, but the goal is improved safety. If this year's results are anything to go by, it's having a positive effect.

Have you actually requirED (past tense) any instructors to submit plans for how they run their schools, operate at their training sites, handle emergencies and a lot more? Or is this something you're just PLANNING on doing?

All our totally excellent u$hPa instructors have safety as a concern above all others (refuse to teach lift and tug, for example, because it gives a deadly false sense of security) so if your actions have helped them identify shortcomings then how come there haven't been any public expressions of gratitude and appeals to fellow instructors for like remedial actions?

We had a meeting of the RRG board today, reviewed the unaudited year-end financials and a bunch of operational issues.

You haven't gotten any results back, identified any problematic issues or areas, revised any SOPs, published any advisories. Everybody's doing everything EXACTLY THE SAME, the vast majority of the fatalities we racked up during the Bloodbath Period of the previous couple years involved flyers who hadn't been under the supervision of instructors for years or decades.

So you just point to a 58 day period of deep winter in which there's only been one u$hPa pilot fatality - on which the mainstream media has reported and u$hPa HASN'T, refer to it as a "year", and pat yourselves on your backs for the great job you've finally started to do after four and a half decades of total cluelessness.

Trump took office on 2017/01/21 and since then Paraguay hasn't launched a single missile attack on the US. He's sure getting MY vote again in '20.

And the assholes on The Jack Show are still letting you get away with this crap. And the insurance companies still aren't.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=35165
Superstitions in hang gliding?

piano_man - 2017/03/16 02:06:57 UTC
Georgia

Never say dead or die on launch.
Never ever say - "watch this" as it pertains to some maneuver you're about to perform.
Don't talk about or listen to chatter regarding accidents or bad landings on launch.

A bad landing on launch? That DOES sound particularly unpleasant.

2015/08/23 - Rafi Lavin? Nah, my wires are fine. I know 'cause I just replaced them two months ago.
2015/08/24 - Craig Pirazzi? I don't need no stinking wire assist in this rotor. Wire assistance is for faggots.
2013/02/02 - Zack Marzec? We'll probably never know what really happened with that one.

Avoid anything negative as you begin to set up and launch.

I am safely hooked in. I am ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE I am safely hooked in. It would be totally MORONIC to have the slightest shadow of a doubt on this issue at this point in the process. (Think of the happiest thought, Any merry little thought...)

Avoid negative thoughts in general and especially as you begin your landing approach.

There's no fuckin' way there could be any powerlines or barbed wire fences stretched across that field, another approaching glider I've missed, or a downhill grade I haven't picked up on or that I could get hit by a gust, 180 shift, thermal blast, rotor at this point. So I'm gonna do my standard looooong final which allows me to get upright early with my hands on the control tubes at shoulder or ear height where I can't control the glider and start adjusting my glide to nail that real or imagined old Frisbee in the middle with a perfectly timed flare.

Don't fly if you didn't get enough sleep. 5 hours is pushing it for me.

3 red flags before launching and I'm grounded. A bit subjective.
So let's say I bump my head, stub my toe, or trip and almost fall, in other words, clumsier than usual - that's one red flag. Or I lock myself out of the house before driving off. That's another one. Let's say I leave the house and drive for 30 minutes before I realize that I forgot to grab my harness - definitely a red flag. Now depending on the day and how I'm feeling I may reclassify a red flag for a yellow one (2 yellow flags = 1 red) in which case, if I have 2 red flags and a yellow - I consider myself pushing the envelop...

Inability to spell "envelope" = another red.

...and try my best to stay on point.

Oh good. Another u$hPa...



...FOCUSED PILOT - complete with wristband. Just what this sport really needs at this critical point in its history.

All of this is just a way for me to surmise or sort of keep track as to how I'm functioning on some basic everyday activities before hucking myself off of a cliff. If I'm sort of loopy or forgetful on a particular day I'll know it and hopefully think of something else to do with my time (like play the piano).

After bagging and loading the glider, driving the hour and half back down around the switchbacks, over the interstate, through the suburban streets necessary to get back home. 'Cause even though with three red flags certifying me as a total accident waiting to happen in the air I'll always be just fine piloting a two thousand pound chunk of metal and glass with a couple hundred horses under the hood at a mile a minute through the maze of other vehicles, pedestrians, dogs, kids on bicycles.

And there couldn't POSSIBLY be a dangerous situation anywhere in the future that you'd have been better able to handle after gaining the flying day's experience of which you just permanently deprived yourself 'cause you weren't your usual beacon of perfection and perkiness in the hours leading up to launch.

If I decide to fly anyways, I'll know I'm on shaky ground.

- Whenever I decide to fly I ALWAYS know I'm on shaky ground. Helps a lot in keeping my head from going dangerously far up my ass.

- But as long as you don't have any flags racked up for the day you're more than happy to hop on a cart with a Marzec pro toad rig behind some dickhead in front of a Dragonfly tow mast breakaway protector while the cumies are really popping.

- And you're on PERFECTLY SOLID ground with respect to all that other rot you've written. Pretty fucking obvious these are actual issues after all the super highly detailed accident reports we've gotten from Mitch and our Risk Mitigation Officer.

Lemme tell ya how a REAL pilot functions. He's CONSTANTLY thinking about worst case scenarios, mistakes that he may have made, may be making, may be about to make and best possible remedial actions, bailouts.

I don't EVER run off a cliff confident that I'm safely hooked in 'cause I did a hang check in the setup area five minutes ago or a hook-in check at launch position two seconds ago. Even if I feel a solid connection on the hook-in check I'm always wondering if I did a partial (again).

NMERider - 2012/03/14 15:17:14 UTC

Landing clinics don't help in real world XC flying. I have had the wind do 180 degree 15 mph switches during my final legs. What landing clinic have you ever attended that's going to help? I saved that one by running like a motherfukker. And BTW - It was on large rocks on an ungroomed surface.

When I come in on many of these flights with sloppy landings, I am often physically and mentally exhausted. That means fatigued to the max. Many times I can't even lift my glider and harness, I'm so pooped.

This is the price of flying real XC. I have seen many a great pilot come in an land on record-setting flights and they literally just fly into the ground and pound in. I kid you not.

None of this is any excuse mind you. There has to be a methodology for preparing to land safely and cleanly while exhausted. This is NOT something I have worked on.

Jim Rooney threw a big tantrum and stopped posting here.

His one-technique-fits-all attitude espoused on the Oz Report Forum has become tiresome to read. It does not work in the fucked-up world of XC landings and weary pilots.

I refuse to come in with both hands on the downtubes ever again. I have had some very powerful thermals and gusts kick off and lost control of the glider due to hands on the downtubes. I prefer both hands on the control bar all the way until trim and ground effect. I have been lifted right off the deck in the desert and carried over 150 yards.

I like what Steve Pearson does when he comes in and may adapt something like that.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27086
Steve Pearson on landings

Steve Pearson - 2012/03/28 23:26:05 UTC

I can't control the glider in strong air with my hands at shoulder or ear height and I'd rather land on my belly with my hands on the basetube than get turned downwind.

ALL OF US are in shit shape at the ends of long thermal flights - totally FESTOONED with red flags. If we felt the way we do just before landing just before launch we wouldn't and would be nuts too.

Gil Dodgen - 1995/01

All of this reminds me of a comment Mike Meier made when he was learning to fly sailplanes. He mentioned how easy it was to land a sailplane (with spoilers for glide-path control and wheels), and then said, "If other aircraft were as difficult to land as hang gliders no one would fly them."

So how many of these flag counters will forego opportunities to perfect flare timing, stay prone and on the control bar, and roll or belly in when they're exhausted, dehydrated, half airsick and the field is flagless and switching the hell all over the place?

Three red flags before getting to the ramp/cart - scrub the day. Way to show maturity and responsibility as a pilot, dude!
Roll it in when totally wiped and conditions are screaming broken downtube, arm, neck. Wheel landings are for girls and fags.

[Steve Davy]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=35257
Brace Mountain Fatality Tuesday

NMERider - 2017/04/12 04:47:23 UTC

More sad news.

How do you know that it's sad news, NMERider?
If it was a Brad Barkley type shithead that went in then I'd consider that to be other than sad news.

[<BS>]

Lessons learned and revealed! Stand down everyone.

http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=5615
From Accident Reviewers