Kite Strings

http://www.hang-gliding.com/

Mission Soaring Center LLC has been serving the Northern California hang gliding community since 1973. Owner Pat Denevan is a leader in the development of modern hang gliding training standards and the USHGA Instructor Certification Program. In 2001, he received the United States Hang Gliding Association's Instructor of the Year Award.

Owner Pat Denevan is a leader in the development of modern hang gliding training standards...

Yeah Pat? While you were doing all that leading and developing did you read those modern hang gliding training standards?

The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, Inc.

Standard Operating Procedure
12. Rating System
02. Pilot Proficiency System
03. Rating Requirements

06. Beginner Hang Gliding Rating (H-1)
-B. Required Witnessed Tasks
02. Demonstrate proper ground handling of equipment.
-a. With each flight, demonstrate method(s) of establishing that pilot is hooked in just prior to launch.

07. Novice Hang Gliding Rating (H-2)
-B. Required Witnessed Tasks
02. Demonstrated Skills and Knowledge
-c. With each flight, demonstrates method of establishing that pilot is hooked in just prior to launch.

08. Intermediate Hang Gliding Rating (H-3)
-B. Required Witnessed Tasks
02. Demonstrated Skills and Knowledge
-e. With each flight, demonstrates a method of establishing that the pilot is hooked in just prior to launch.

09. Advanced Hang Gliding Rating (H-4)
-B. Required Witnessed Tasks
02. Demonstrated Skills and Knowledge
-d. With each flight, demonstrates a method of establishing that pilot is hooked in just prior to launch.

Or are you gonna argue that - even though the crap about with each flight demonstrating a method of establishing that the pilot is hooked in just prior to launch is in the modern training standards - it doesn't really count cause it dates back to 1981/05 and remains in its original wording?

...and the USHGA Instructor Certification Program.

Yeah. Having been through clinics run by Mike Robertson and Dennis Pagen and seen in action some of the assholes those assholes have signed off I'm not terribly surprised.

In 2001, he received the United States Hang Gliding Association's Instructor of the Year Award.

Great, Pat. Let's have a look the rest of that can of worms...

---
2000 - Rob McKenzie

Flat out REFUSES to teach hook-in checks because - in his OPINION - people who do them JUST PRIOR TO LAUNCH every flight will become so bored with doing them JUST PRIOR TO LAUNCH every flight that they might not do them JUST PRIOR TO LAUNCH every flight. No effort whatsoever to comply, not a single shred of evidence to support his idiot opinion, overwhelming evidence to refute it.

(And for the love o' God, Rob, don't EVER ONCE risk doing a hook-in check yourself after doing your idiot hang check or Aussie Method routines. Adding a lift and tug JUST PRIOR TO LAUNCH could instantly send you into such extreme throes of boredom as to cause you to move backwards in time and not do either your idiot hang check or Aussie Method routine.)
---
2002 - Mark Windsheimer

AirtimeAbove Hang Gliding. Evergreen, Colorado. Sparky's town. We know Sparky's not doing hook-in checks, we've seen him not doing anything remotely like a hook-in check at what's undoubtedly Mark's scooter tow operation, so it's close to a no brainer that this Mark flunks on this issue.
---
2003 - Sunny Venesky

Pin bender. Flies with one of my Bridle Links but damn near everybody who flies at Ridgely goes up on 130 pound Greenspot. Must share a large measure of the responsibility for turning Rooney loose on the hang gliding public.
---
2004 - Steve Wendt

Arrogant, pin bending 130 pound Greenspot junky. Truck tows people with Aasletten releases who believe that their weak links will protect them from lockouts on the payout winch. Never heard of a hook-in check. Sent Bill Priday off to his death after completion of his do-a-hang-check-and-assume-you're-hooked-in training. Signed Rooney's instructor ticket and inflicted him on New Zealand where he launched unhooked, put a passenger in the hospital, and came tantalizingly close to killing himself.
---
2005 - Bill Holmes

Sky Masters School of Hang Gliding. Phoenix. Flying companion of Kunio's. Undoubtedly watched him launch scores of times without doing any kind of hook-in check. Nobody in Arizona has ever heard of a hook-in check.
---
2006 - Henry Boessl

Rochester Area Flyers Training Coordinator. Endorsed by Linda Salamone. Minimal web presence but we know nothing noteworthy is happening in that neck of the woods.
---
2007 - Paul Voight

Fly High Hang Gliding - Owner. Totally fucking clueless.
---
2008 - Steven Prepost

Morningside head instructor. Jean-Joseph Coté is one of his products. I'm not impressed.
---
2009 - Tom Galvin

Mountain Wings. They don't teach or do hook-in checks. Watch Tom and Elan Schultz launch.
---
2010 - Bryon Estes

Fly High Hang Gliding. Flight School Manager for totally fucking clueless Owner.
---
2011 - Andy Torrington

Kitty Hawk Kites. Why bother worrying about hook-in checks? It's just sand ferchrisake.
---

Rob Kells - 2005/12

Mission's Pat Denevan teaches a hook-in check, which is the "lift the glider to feel the leg loops go tight" method I outlined above. He adds that he teaches his students to repeat it if they do not launch within fifteen seconds. Pat points out, correctly, that it's more important to know that you are attached to your glider and in your leg loops than if your harness lines are twisted in some way.

Here's the problem, Mister Pat Leader-In-The-Development-Of-Modern-Hang-Gliding-Training-Standards-And-The-USHGA-Instructor-Certification-Program Denevan...

The most important of the modern hang gliding training standards that the graduates of the USHGA Instructor Certification Program - especially the recipients of the United States Hang Gliding Association's Instructor of the Year Award - are supposed to establish is that the pilot:

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

Notice how the training standard is NOT:

Lift the glider to feel the leg loops go tight within fifteen seconds of flight.

It's kinda like when you're about to cross an intersection with a highway with a 55 mile per hour speed limit. You don't check both directions for traffic, spend ten seconds staring straight ahead or reading a text message, and then pull out on the assumption that everything's just as you remember it. You check again JUST PRIOR TO PULLING OUT. EVERY TIME. Regardless of how mind-numbing Rob Fucking McKenzie...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=13359
Today was a bad day!

Rob McKenzie - 2009/08/26 17:26:12 UTC

I like variety. Sometimes AUSSIE and sometimes not. It helps to bring the thought process alive. Routine leads to boredom which leads to reactive thinking which IMO is a poor facsimile of true thinking.

...feels is the monotonous routine procedure performed the same way every time the situation is encountered.

Highway intersections and launch ramps are really crappy places for personal preferences, variety, thought processes coming alive, true thinking, Jim Rooney, and Bob Kuczewski and really great places for fear, common sense, and boring routine procedures. People who value personal preferences, variety, thought processes coming alive, and true thinking can and do get killed equally dead at both places.

The thing that ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of the people crushed to death on the rocks below the ramp and in the intersection have in common is that at the moment they started moving they ASSUMED they were good to go - often based on something they remembered or thought they remembered doing shortly before.

Take a skim through Pat's videos...

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=missionsoaring

There are 43 of them. Just do the first few seconds of each one if you get bored.

- Recorded lift and tug is a rarity.

- The percentage of launches which can reasonably considered to comply with the requirement of a hook-in check JUST PRIOR TO LAUNCH is microscopic.

- Hook-in checks of any kind are totally absent from foot launch tows. OK kids, just assume you're hooked in and stomp your foot a couple of times to signal the guy on the throttle you're ready to go. I wonder if that's how Bille Floyd signaled his winch driver on the second of his 2007/10/18 flights.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25550
Failure to hook in.

Christian Williams - 2011/10/25 03:59:58 UTC

What's more, I believe that all hooked-in checks prior to the last one before takeoff are a waste of time, not to say dangerous, because they build a sense of security which should not be built more than one instant before commitment to flight.

On the hook-in check issue, Pat Denevan totally sucks.

On the hook-in check issue, Joe Greblo also totally sucks.

And for I don't know how many years I've been ASSUMING that at least these two guys were handling this issue reasonably well. It is now my belief that there are ZERO instructors anywhere in the US - possibly in the world - who teach students to verify their connections within two, five, or ten seconds of launch.

Furthermore...

For the fourteen years Doug Hildreth served as USHGA Accident Review Committee Chairman, ending half past 1994, he pushed the lift and tug message constantly.

After that we heard the message sporadically for another decade.

Bill Priday was killed on 2005/10/01 and Rob Kells publishes his article in the 2005/12 issue of Hang Gliding. There is another mention of lift and tug in the following issue.

It's blindingly obvious that there is an unwritten but ironclad USHGA policy that to ban any mention of lift and tug or any other hook-in check procedure in all USHGA publications since that time. Whenever anyone is injured or killed as a consequence of leaving a ramp without his glider...

Joe Gregor - 2007/05

Lesson learned: HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK!

...it is ALWAYS and ONLY because he didn't perform a fucking hang check.

It's also pretty obvious that a strong motivation for this policy was the lawsuit filed by Bill's family against the Team Challenge Meet Director, the USHGA chapter which sponsored the competition, and the national organization itself.

This closely parallels USHGA's blindingly obvious unwritten but ironclad policy of banning from its publications and advisories any suggestion that use of a light weak link can be dangerous. The last such reference appeared in the 1992/05 issue of Hang Gliding:

Larry Keegan

I agree with Bud that a pilot in severe yaw or a high angle of attack caused by turbulence is already in a dangerous situation, but this can occur in normal everyday strong turbulence. What he does not address is the possibility of a low-rated weak link breaking in such a situation. I have been in such a situation and I am glad my weak link did not break.

WHEN someone is hurt or killed after a weak link blow it's NEVER *BECAUSE* the weak link blew - it's ALWAYS because the pilot failed to fly in a manner such that he could *RECOVER FROM* a weak link blow.

And the 2005/10/05 lawsuit against Hang Glide Chicago resulting from the 2005/09/03 Jeremiah Thompson fatality would've sure gotten that one set in concrete - if it hadn't been already.

Doug Hildreth - 1990/03

The other significant increase is in failure to hook in. Typically there are about the same number of non-hook-ins in the questionnaire group, so that it is safe to say that there were at least ten failures to hook in this year. It has occurred in the tandem sector too, both pilot and passenger.

The instructional programs to assure hook-in within fifteen seconds of launch have apparently not caught up with the masses.

Doug was assuming for almost nine years that all instructors were teaching in compliance with the regulations. Until very recently I was assuming that at least two were making a reasonable stab at it. Truth is... We got NUTHIN'. Never did.

Boy do I hope I live long enough to see at least one head on a pike. And boy do I hope I'll have been able to claim at least some small part in getting it put there.

It's also pretty obvious that a strong motivation for this policy was the lawsuit filed by Bill's family against the Team Challenge Meet Director, the USHGA chapter which sponsored the competition, and the national organization itself.

I'm not getting this. Help.

- Hang gliding starts seriously and rapidly evolving in the Seventies and it's got a lot of pretty good people thinking independently and innovating.

- And the national organization isn't bad - not having had enough time to slide into state of vile and absolute corruption in which we find it today.

- Robert V. Wills and Doug Hildreth were the first two Accident Review Committee Chairmen and you couldn't ask for much better. Tons of data on crashes and fatalities and good analysis in the magazine.

- In the late Seventies people start dropping like flies from failure to hook in incidents and the hang check - disastrously - is established as the protocol to address the issue.

- However, lift and tug is around by at least 1977 and some of the smarter people have adopted it and are understanding that it's the key.

- In 1981 Doug Hildreth is the Director for Region 1 - Washington and Oregon - and Pat Denevan and George Whitehill are the Directors for Region 2 - the northern two thirds of California and Nevada.

- By May of that year there's enough understanding that the:
-- verification of the connection must be made as close to commitment to launch as possible to make it distraction proof; and
-- hang check isn't doing and can't do the job
to get all the rating requirements revised - and George Whitehill's article is published in the magazine to introduce the revisions and explain the intent.

- The article - though well intentioned and a step in the right direction - is a disaster because all of the suggested hook-in checks include the preflight inspection of the connection - which was supposed to be done before you got on the ramp.

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=822
US Hawks Hook-In Verification Poll

Bob Kuczewski - 2011/11/09 18:34:13 UTC

Your five second time limit between hook-in check and launch is unreasonably short - especially when attached to the consequences that you've listed. This would preclude, for example, the "turn and look" hook-in check that Joe Greblo teaches because five seconds would easily elapse between that check and getting the glider back into position to launch.

- So you get idiots like Joe Greblo (sorry, but it needs to be said) programming idiots like Bob Kuczewski to do useless idiot preflight procedures then assume they're hooked in for however long it takes after that to get airborne.

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=646
Failure to Hook In

Bob Kuczewski - 2011/07/22 22:30:23

And changed/distorted the meaning of the original sentence how?

I'll tell you how. I just talked with Joe, and he said that hang checks do have limited usefulness in protecting against hook-in failures, and that their value in that regard decreases with the time between the hang check and the launch (he's absolutely correct here). He also said that doing a hang check the moment before launch was just as good as a hook-in check at launch, but that a hang check can catch things that a hook-in check might not (like a hang strap routed around a down tube, as just one example). So your claim that hang checks aren't needed by pilots who use the same glider/harness combination is invalidated right there.

Totally dude.

Well then, I guess you were "totally" wrong. Joe recognizes (as most people do) that a hang check (just like a hook-in check) has a value that decreases from time that it's conducted. That's not the same as *NO VALUE* or "mathematically ZERO". As Joe pointed out, if the hang check is done immediately before launch, it's just as good as a hook-in check. But as he said, it can also catch things that a hook-in check doesn't.

- And then in a remarkably speedy regression YOU'RE RIGHT BACK EXACTLY WHERE YOU STARTED prior to the revisions: Do a hang check then assume you're hooked in for however long it takes after that to get airborne.

- The implementation is a TOTAL FAILURE. The only people thinking about and doing this right after the implementation are the same ones who were thinking about and doing this right before the implementation - the people who are smart and independent enough to get it DESPITE their USHGA training.

- And once:

-- USHGA fails to implement something right and/or succeeds in implementing something wrong it will fight to the death supporting its record and history rather than admit and attempt to fix its idiot policy mistakes

-- people start getting hurt and killed - which tends to happen pretty quickly as a result of idiot policy mistakes in hang gliding - USHGA will fight to the death really viciously supporting its record and history

-- lawsuits are filed against USHGA instructors, schools, chapters, meet heads, and/or itself in response to people getting hurt and killed, USHGA will fight to the death really REALLY viciously supporting its record and history

http://marioncountynews.net/lawsuit-filed-after-hang-gliding-death-p279-98.htm

Marion County News
307 Elm Avenue
PO Box 765
South Pittsburg, Tennessee 37380-1337
423-837-6312

Lawsuit filed after hang gliding death

Brett King, Hustler News/Sports Editor - 2006/10/31

A lawsuit has been filed asking for $10 million after a hang gliding fatality in Whitwell in October of 2005. Bill Priday died in the accident and his family is suing organizers of the competition.

In the lawsuit filed in Marion County circuit court, the Priday family of Virginia names the Tennessee Tree Toppers, Inc., the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (USHGA), and meet director Dean Funk as defendants.

On Oct. 1, 2005, Bill Priday, 52 of Richmond participated in the Team Challenge hang gliding competition atop Whitwell Mountain, according to a statement released by The Hamilton Firm of Chattanooga, who is representing the Priday family.

Priday was the first person to launch that day and the statement claims Priday was not properly secured to his aircraft. When he launched, he fell two hundred feet to his death.

"That morning, a large number of pilots were bunched into the small launch site," the statement reads. "According to observers, the scene was chaotic and unorganized. For reasons not yet known, Bill (Priday) was permitted to launch without the proper equipment check by officials."

The lawsuit claims the launch site was small, although a more appropriate launch site for such a competition was located in Dunlap at the Henson's Gap site. According to Patrick Cruise, an attorney for the Hamilton Firm, the recent 2006 competition was held at the Henson's Gap site.

The lawsuit list several non-exclusive acts of negligence of the defendants which include the use of a "semi-developed" launch site, failure to require a "hang check" of all competitors, failure to warn, failing to have the meet director present to observe every hang check and launch.

In the lawsuit, the representatives of the Priday family say the event was promoted as an event focused on providing Hang 3 pilots "with a fun learning experience in safe cross country flying and beginning competition skills."

According to the USHGA website, Priday was classified as a Hang 3 pilot by the USHGA, which is the intermediate level. A Hang 3 pilot has ten hours of airtime, understands right-of-way rules, wind and sight conditions, spot landing and approaches.

"We are just trying to find some answers," said Cruise. "From what we looked into, the Tree Toppers did a number of things wrong. The family wants some answers and we are trying to prevent this from happening again."

President of the Tree Toppers Board of Directors Steve Lee said the lawsuit was not justified. He said that making sure straps are secured is the glider's main responsibility.

"We were just looking out for the best for everyone," Lee said. "He made a bad decision. He got a little excited and jumped off too quickly. He done it so fast no one could stop him. It was a real tragedy."

On their website, the USHGA states, "Like any form of sport aviation, hang gliding can be dangerous if pursued carelessly."

The website also states that hang gliding instruction has changed so students learn from certified instructors using a thorough gradual training program.

"Despite these advances, people still make judgment errors and aviation is not very forgiving of such," the website states. "The majority of pilots fly their entire careers without sustaining a serious injury."

From 1997 to 2003, there were 27 fatalities from hang gliding that were reported to the USHGA, according to a hang gliding accident summary by the USHGA. There were nine fatalities in 1998, the highest number in that seven-year span.

Last year, there were 19 non-fatal hang gliding accidents reported to the USHGA. Information was not available on fatal hang gliding accidents from 2004 or 2005.

The USHGA, the Priday family, and Dean Funk could not be reached for comment.

-

Bill Priday gets strapped into a glider. This photo was taken just a few months before he fell to his death during a hang gliding competition in Whitwell.

Bill Priday died in the accident...

Nope.

...and his family is suing organizers of the competition.

Wrong target - mostly.

In the lawsuit filed in Marion County circuit court, the Priday family of Virginia names the Tennessee Tree Toppers, Inc., the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (USHGA), and meet director Dean Funk as defendants.

Focus more on USHGA.

On Oct. 1, 2005, Bill Priday, 52 of Richmond participated in the Team Challenge hang gliding competition atop Whitwell Mountain, according to a statement released by The Hamilton Firm of Chattanooga, who is representing the Priday family.

No he didn't - he was a wind dummy.

Priday was the first person to launch that day and the statement claims Priday was not properly secured to his aircraft.

Duh.

When he launched, he fell two hundred feet to his death.

I heard three or four - but at that order of magnitude it doesn't much matter.

"That morning, a large number of pilots were bunched into the small launch site," the statement reads.

- The guys who were bunched there were "trained" by places like Lookout, Manquin, and Ridgely - so it's highly doubtful that there were any actual pilots in the vicinity.

- Bill launched at about two that afternoon. So what the fuck does a large number of glider divers being bunched into the small launch site in the morning have to do with anything?

- If a large number of glider divers were bunched into the small launch site when he launched what the fuck would that have had to do with anything?

- On a good mountain day in the east when AREN'T a large number of divers bunched into the small launch site?

- If you find a mountain site in the east that DOESN'T have a large number of divers bunched into it on a good day DO please let me know about it.

"According to observers, the scene was chaotic and unorganized."

- Yeah? And?

- Normally when people fly hang gliders the scene is chaotic and unorganized. People show up when they get there, find or wait for an area in which they can spread their wings and stuff their battens, snake their ways towards launch between trees, rocks, and other gliders, and yell for impromptu crews when they get near to position.

-What the fuck does "the scene" hafta do with anything? There were only about 155 square feet of that place that were relevant - and they were doing as fine as they ever are on a typical flying day.

"For reasons not yet known, Bill (Priday) was permitted to launch without the proper equipment check by officials."

- He was PERMITTED to launch without the proper equipment check by officials? I've launched zillions of times without anybody's freakin' permission and I AM the official responsible for my equipment check, as is ANYBODY who flies ANYTHING - with the possible exception of the space shuttle.

- Have you read the Sport 2 owner's manual? Did you find anything about permission to launch and/or equipment check officials?

- How 'bout the Cessna 152 owner's manual? When one of those is at the downwind end of the runway at Ridgely what officials typically inspect the equipment and who grants launch permission?

- If this had just been a typical good day and all those same people had just shown up on their own initiatives for recreational flying and Bill had gotten killed who would you be suing and why?

The lawsuit claims the launch site was small, although a more appropriate launch site for such a competition was located in Dunlap at the Henson's Gap site.

Joe Gregor - 2006/01

2005/10/01 - approximately 14:00
SSE at 5-7 mph; nearly straight in and smooth

- Yeah, you'd hafta run a lot faster but it IS a much nicer ramp.

- And you get killed so much less dead when you launch unhooked from a site with lotsa room for setting up.

- And it's always SO much nicer dying WITH your glider by stalling it off the ramp than alone by plummeting from your glider a few yards out with it flying away and landing pretty much unscathed.

- It's HENSON Gap.

According to Patrick Cruise, an attorney for the Hamilton Firm, the recent 2006 competition was held at the Henson's Gap site.

Yeah, they must've belatedly realized that the danger of launching unhooked at Whitwell was unacceptably high and just run extra fast on the southeast days. And hey... No unhooked launch fatalities. Seems pretty obvious in hindsight.

The lawsuit list several non-exclusive acts of negligence of the defendants which include the use of a "semi-developed" launch site...

- Yeah. It's just a little clearing on the top of an escarpment with an earthen ramp built up at the edge. Just IMAGINE launching a HANG GLIDER off of something like THAT! What WERE they THINKING!!! It's absolutely amazing that they don't kill two or three people a weekend off of something like that.

- If the site had been better developed it would've undoubtedly had a Starbucks - like we have at just about all our other launches. And if there had been Bill would've undoubtedly started his day off right, with a good cup of coffee and a solid breakfast. And then there would've been no question whatsoever that he'd have had the precious blasts of nutrients and energy he needed to haul himself back up into the control frame and fly away unscathed.

- I first flew that semi-developed launch site 1988/04/13 - a couple of minutes after John Woiwode launched. No equipment check or launch officials, Starbucks, mattresses stacked at the base of the escarpment. We both somehow cheated death that afternoon - probably only because the small site hadn't had a large number of pilots bunched into it that morning - but I look back in horror at our foolishness. You just can't count on luck like that holding up over any serious numbers of dice rolls.

- I suppose I COULD have flown Henson - maybe after stopping at the Starbucks in Dunlap - but it was southeast at ten, I was never that much of a sprinter, and they hadn't yet gotten the mattresses in place over there at that point either.

...failure to require a "hang check" of all competitors...

- Show me something in US hang gliding regulations requiring a pilot or competitor to do a "hang check" prior to a flight.
- People who require - or even request a "hang check" - are morons and I tell them to go fuck themselves.

...failure to warn...

Dude, you're about to run off a four hundred foot cliff. You might wanna make sure you're connected to your glider. And then make sure your helmet's buckled and your vario's on.

...failing to have the meet director present to observe every hang check and launch.

- OK, I've observed your hang check. Looks good. You can relax now - I've got it marked on my clipboard. Gimme a holler when you're ready to launch. Judging by the length of the line it shouldn't take any more than ten minutes.

- Oops, Channing's in front of you. Make it fifteen.

- What happens if a site has multiple ramps or lines?

- In a track competition is the meet head responsible for checking every hurdler to make sure his shoes are tied?

- It was an XC competition. Was the meet head supposed to figure out the times and locations of the places people were gonna to come down so he could observe every landing, make sure that pods were unzipped and people were aware of wind directions, slopes, power line locations, and vicious dogs?

In the lawsuit, the representatives of the Priday family say the event was promoted as an event focused on providing Hang 3 pilots "with a fun learning experience in safe cross country flying and beginning competition skills."

- Again... Bill wasn't participating in the event. He was a wind dummy.
- Probably didn't have much fun and, if he learned anything, it wasn't of much use to him at that point.
- Really weak on the safety and cross country aspects. Probably set low end site records on both counts.

According to the USHGA website, Priday was classified as a Hang 3 pilot by the USHGA, which is the intermediate level.

- According to the USHGA website:
-- who rated him at the Intermediate level? Hell, who rated him at the Beginner level?
-- what's it say that every pilot for every rating has gotta do JUST PRIOR TO LAUNCH? Does it say anything about a hang check anywhere?

A Hang 3 pilot has ten hours of airtime, understands right-of-way rules, wind and sight conditions, spot landing and approaches.

- Does he understand wind and sight conditions well enough to know not to launch off a northwest site in a southeast wind?

- Chad had problems in the sight conditions department. Flew great but... Maybe if you're damn near legally blind it wouldn't be a bad idea to get someone who isn't to check your Dragonfly behind you after it's been reassembled.

- Notice how USHGA prioritizes the spot over the approach. That's the mindset that got John Simon's arms broken and Tony Ameo killed.

- A Hang 3 pilot is also supposed to:

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

Did you read that part?

"We are just trying to find some answers," said Cruise.

Yeah. And you've done such a FANTASTIC job of understanding the lay of the land so you know what questions you should be asking.

"From what we looked into, the Tree Toppers did a number of things wrong."

Yeah. Let's do a recap of what we've got so far...

- Allowed lotsa people to cram into the setup area in the morning to chaotically stuff battens without supervision three hours before the launch.

- Insufficient acreage. Should've brought out the chainsaws to open things up more.

- Violated FAA regulations by failing to have certified Equipment Inspectors and Launch Directors controlling activities.

- Organized the competition such that gliders were forced to launch INTO the wind.

- Failed to:

-- provide on site facilities to ensure that competitors and wind dummies could be assured of starting their day off right, with a good cup of coffee and a solid breakfast to give them those precious blasts of nutrients and energy which may come in very, very handy

-- stack mattresses at the base of the escarpment

-- require flyers to perform hang checks to give them and their crew a sense of assurance on the ramp

-- warn flyers that four hundred foot cliffs can be even more hazardous to your health than erections lasting four hours or more and that running off of them (the cliffs) without a glider may have serious medical consequences

At this point I don't think we're just looking at wrongful death here. I don't even think we're looking at negligent homicide or manslaughter. This has got second, maybe first degree murder written all over it.

"The family wants some answers..."

Yeah, sure they do. I can tell by the way they've sought out the people in this sport who have their shit together and worked to understand the issues and history of this problem.

"...and we are trying to prevent this from happening again."

And, on behalf of hang gliding and Kunio Yoshimura's and Yossi Tsarfaty's families, let me just say that we can't begin to thank you enough for the stellar investigative job you've done up to this point and, no doubt, will continue to do in the future until you get to the bottom of things, hold the right people accountable, and make sure the necessary changes in policy are implemented.

Gawd... And I thought it would be difficult to find people anywhere near as stunningly stupid as glider divers.

President of the Tree Toppers Board of Directors Steve Lee said the lawsuit was not justified.

It was totally justified - just misdirected and grotesquely mishandled.

He said that making sure straps are secured is the glider's main responsibility.

That almost makes sense. If there's enough wind to float it the glider pretty much WILL make sure the straps are secured.

"We were just looking out for the best for everyone," Lee said.

No you weren't. You guys aren't anywhere near competent enough to be doing that and never will be.

"He made a bad decision."

Everyone who gets into this sport and just listens to his idiot instructor without thinking for himself is making really bad decisions.

"He got a little excited and jumped off too quickly."

- I wonder if that's a direct quote.
- If:
-- not it's shit reporting - NOBODY in hang gliding jumps anywhere - except a gap - or refers to anyone doing so
-- so then Steve's trying to paint a misleading picture with respect to the preventability of this incident
- Getting excited has shit to do with this issue.

"He done it so fast no one could stop him."

BULL SHIT.

Joe Gregor - 2006/01

The accident pilot spent some time under his glider while it was turned around. He then lifted it, turned 180 degrees to face the ramp, and was met by a side wire crew. At this point his team leader told the accident pilot, "Do a hang check." The wire crewman on the right side reported that, after subsequently setting the glider down, the accident pilot started adjusting his VG rope and talking to the crew about how to give him feedback.

The accident pilot picked up his glider and proceeded to the launch point. Several pilots present at the scene reported they checked his hang point and it looked like he was hooked in. Several pilots present at the scene reported that there were four or five other individuals who said, "Do a hang check," or "Have you done a hang check?" In no case was it reported that he responded directly.

Conditions were pronounced fine and the accident pilot cleared his launch.

You are LYING.

"It was a real tragedy."

Yep. And you could see it coming with every foot launch he made and every wisp of instruction he had had.

On their website, the USHGA states, "Like any form of sport aviation, hang gliding can be dangerous if pursued carelessly."

- He didn't die hang gliding. Nobody hang glid that day. Hang gliding involves connecting yourself to a glider and flying. The sport in which he was briefly engaged that afternoon was skydiving.

- This issue has shit to do with carelessness and everything to do with being taught proper procedure.

The website also states that hang gliding instruction has changed so students learn from certified instructors using a thorough gradual training program.

- No shit. What did you expect the USHGA website to say about its own training program?
- Ask someone when certified Steve Wendt was gonna thoroughly and gradually train Bill to verify his connection JUST PRIOR TO LAUNCH.
- Wanna read what MY website says about their certified instructors and thorough gradual training programs?

"Despite these advances..."

WHAT advances? Name one single advance you total assholes have even ATTEMPTED to make in this area since 1981/05. The only direction you bastards ever advance is backwards.

"...people still make judgment errors..."

This wasn't a JUDGMENT ERROR. This was massive gross negligence in your training program.

"...and aviation is not very forgiving of such," the website states.

This had nothing to do with aviation. He didn't come off the ramp too slowly and get turned back into the cliff. His glider aviated all by itself and did a pretty good job of it. Bill plummeted.

"The majority of pilots fly their entire careers without sustaining a serious injury."

Don't ya just love this organization?

- There's no solid crash data. We know about stuff that gets reported - as long as Tim Herr doesn't get to the reports first - and we don't know anything about what DOESN'T get reported.

- The vast majority of pilot careers last five hops on the dunes on a Kitty Hawk Kites trainer.

- What's a serious injury? If you can get out of bed and start limping around after six months was it a serious injury?

- The "majority" of pilots is 51 percent. If 51 percent of pilots only get the usual spiral fractures of the humerus a couple of times and 49 percent get killed that statement could be deemed legitimate.

From 1997 to 2003, there were 27 fatalities from hang gliding that were reported to the USHGA, according to a hang gliding accident summary by the USHGA. There were nine fatalities in 1998, the highest number in that seven-year span.

Last year, there were 19 non-fatal hang gliding accidents reported to the USHGA. Information was not available on fatal hang gliding accidents from 2004 or 2005.

And how many people are flying, how many flights are the making, how many hours are they spending in the air, what's not getting reported, what constitutes an "accident"? Good luck getting much in the way of meaning out of those numbers.

The USHGA, the Priday family, and Dean Funk could not be reached for comment.

USHGA couldn't be REACHED? Bullshit. They might've declined to comment but they COULD be reached.

Bill Priday gets strapped into a glider.

He's getting hooked into a tandem trainer at Manquin for wheel launched aerotow and will be immune to the issue which will kill him in a few months.

This photo was taken just a few months before he fell to his death during a hang gliding competition in Whitwell.

He fell to his death before the competition had started and - as a consequence - the competition didn't start that day for anyone and didn't ever start for some of his friends.

Pre Flight Safety for Hang Gliding - Revision
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW8qZESnFvQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW8qZESnFvQ

How many things can you find wrong with this picture?

(Or, to cut down on the bandwidth, how many things can you find right with it?)

What was the final outcome of the lawsuit? Google was not my friend on this one.

Hopefully The Hamilton Firm got its ass sued off for malpractice by a competent firm representing the Priday family.

You know everything I know on this one. I've also done a lot of searching over the years and come up with zilch. Just found the newspaper article. Don't know how I missed it before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW8qZESnFvQ

Pre Flight Safety for Hang Gliding - Revision

---

USHangGlidingParagli - 2011/02/23

In loving memory of William F. Priday:

Preflight Safety for Hang Gliding" is a new, USHPA-produced video on hang gliding safety. The video premiered at the meeting in Bend, Oregon giving directors an opportunity to review an excellent video produced, directed and edited by Greg Gillam. Paul Voight and Greg collaborated as co-writers and Paul hosted the video. Joe Greblo and Rob McKenzie provided assistance. Erika Klein and Greg DeWolf are featured in the video together with Paul. USHPA Chapters are encouraged to present the video at chapter meetings. The video is available for viewing on the USHPA website.

---

For as long as man has dreamed, he has dreamed of soaring with the birds. With the invention of hang gliding, we have finally realized that ancient dream in our lifetimes. Some of us feel more at home in the sky than on the earth, but none of us ARE born with wings. Free flight is only possible with proper equipment, specialized training, and systematic attention to safety.

UNITED STATES HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING ASSOCIATION

PRESENTS

Preflight Safety for Hang Gliding
hosted by PAUL VOIGHT

Hi. My name is Paul Voight. I've been flying hang gliders since 1972. During that time I've taught hundreds of students to hang glide, including my son Ryan, who is now an instructor and flight school owner himself.

While I consider hang gliding very safe, over the years a number of hang gliding accidents have reminded us that safety begins on the ground. Despite all too common lapses in preflight routines, pilots often get lucky and walk away with just scratches or a broken downtube. But when luck runs out the results can be tragic.

Whether you're a new student or a skilled pilot, you should periodically review your preflight procedures. By paying systematic attention to safety on the ground, you'll be setting yourself up for success in the air, which will keep your flying safe for many years to come.

Assessing the Site

Flying sites vary greatly. Some have beautiful launch ramps and spacious, groomed landing zones, with many options for emergency landings. Others are wild and rugged and demand more advanced flying skills.

While sites generally have an established minimum rating, you, and your instructor if you're still in a program, must decide if you're up to it. Preflight safety begins with this assessment. Remember, that coastal sites, mountain sites, and tow sites all have their individual demands.

Ask yourself these FIVE questions...

Do I feel comfortable setting up and launching at this site?

Is there an established landing zone that I can safely land in, even if the conditions get strong or the prevailing winds switch on me?

If I don't make an LZ can I handle the emergency landing options?

Are the potential terrain effects, like rotor, canyon suck, and powerful thermal activity, within my capabilities?

Does everything feel right?

Listen to your gut.

Remember, if a site seems scary to you, you might not be ready for it.

Initial Weather Check

You've assessed the site, walked the landing zone, hung out on launch, and now you're ready to fly.

Before you ever get your glider off the truck, you must assess the weather.

For Beginner and Novice rated pilots easy, forgiving, and mild conditions offer the best scenarios for safe learning experiences.

Intermediate and Advanced pilots are released to fly in a much wider range of conditions, which allow them to hone their advancing skill sets.

It's always better to be on the ground, wishing you were in the sky, than in the sky, wishing you were on the ground.

Head Check

It may seem obvious, but one of the most difficult preflight checks to remember is a head check. You're not ready to fly until you are mentally ready to fly.

First, are you in good health?

Second, is your mood right?

Are you feeling overly daring?

Or perhaps the opposite, nervous and unsure?

Are you upset from a recent divorce, or on the tail end of a hangover?

Or perhaps both, since they seem to go together?

Are visitors, or other pilots, distracting you with cameras, flirtatious behavior, or revealing clothing?

Assessing your physical and mental condition and recognizing distractions are very important factors in keeping your flying safe. It is critical that your mind is clear and focused and ready for the demands of free flight. Don't even set up if your head isn't in the game.

Preflighting the Glider

The weather is perfect, you're feeling good about flying today. It's time to set up and check your equipment. Without safe equipment you can't have a safe flight.

Always take into account changing winds while you're assembling your glider.

Now that your glider is assembled, it's time to do a complete preflight walk-around.

Check all the connections, batten stations, cables, tubing, and sail condition, with a routine preflight that is uninterrupted.

If you are interrupted in any way, start over at the beginning.

You, and your glider, are good to go.

Before you hook in, be sure to reassess the weather. Conditions often get stronger or change dramatically while you're setting up. You must have the maturity to postpone or even cancel the launch if conditions have become questionable. Never consider your initial weather check your final weather check.

Harness Inspection

It's almost time to fly.

Once you have the harness on, make sure the leg loops are actually on, and all the pull strings are correctly routed.

Check that your helmet is secured, your radio is working, and then hook into your glider.

HANG CHECK

Are you hooked in?

Every flight, every single one, needs to be preceded by a hang check. There is no substitute for a full, prone, test hang immediately before executing your launch run. A lapse at this critical stage can cost you your life.

Have another pilot stabilize your glider and visually check that you are hooked in.

The carabiner should be locked.

Whether you are flying a borrowed or rented glider, or you're in your own glider, you are also checking to make sure you are suspended the correct height above the basetube for optimum control.

While hang checking, once again, go through a mental assessment to make sure that all is a go. It's never too late to unhook and go home.

Do you still feel good about this flying site, launching safely, and getting to the landing zone without a mishap?

Is your helmet fully secured?

Is your harness in place and ready for launch?

Is your radio working?

Are your instruments working?

And most important, are you hooked in?

Are you hooked in? It can never hurt to double and triple check to make sure you're hooked in properly.

If there's any delay or distraction in your launch routine check again just to be sure you're hooked in.

You're hooked in.

You're ready to fly.

Stay safe.

Have fun.

That's what it's all about.

This film is dedicated in loving memory to

WILLIAM F. PRIDAY
1952 - 2005

Written by
Gregory C. Gillam
Paul Voight

BEACH CAST

Student...Erika Klein
Instructor...Greg DeWolf
Thonged Man...Lyndon Vasquez
Guy with Hangover...Mike Collins
Girl on Bike...Stacy Marks
Friendly Pilot...Kevin Kernuhan

MOUNTAIN CAST

Novice Pilot...Chris Armenta
Comp Pilot 1...Jonathan
Comp Pilot 2...Jeff Chipman

Produced, Directed & Edited by
Gregory C. Gillam

Camera Operator
Jason Asteros

Additional Footage
Jonathan
Bill England
Lucas Ridley
Ricker Goldsborough

SPECIAL THANKS

Paul Voight - Fly High Hang Gliding
Sylmar Hang Gliding Association
Joe Greblo - Windsports Soaring Center
The Crestline Soaring Society
Rob McKenzie - High Adventure

Copyright 2010 USHPA

For more information about hang gliding or paragliding visit

http://www.USHPA.org

A Red Sands Production

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J00H24dkbJw


This is how we do it at McClure but our checkers are not as attractive.

Yeah, I had seen that one - almost linked to it myself in this thread.

- He gets big points for humor.

- Looks like in Paul Voight / Greg Black territory a hang check five paces back from launch position and a minute and forty seconds - plus whatever's on the cutting room floor - counts as a hook-in check "just prior to launch".

- Guess people in that neck of the woods have really fantastic memories.

- But the important thing was that he wasn't flipped by the turbulent jet stream just above glider-on-the-shoulders level.

- Doesn't appear to be able to read his owner's manual or understand the function of a spreader bar any better than he can read his rating requirements or understand the function of a hook-in check. I wonder what he thinks it's supposed to be doing. (Beats Chris Valley hands down and I always thought Chris was pretty clueless.)