Kite Strings

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=26007
THE CODE AMONGST ALL PILOTS

The Floating Baron - 2012/11/07 18:52:07 UTC
Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario

Even if someone is just hanging around and NOT a pilot, getting them to help you check your hook in and such is possible with a little direction and we sometimes just have to slow down and make sure everything is safe before we take to the air, things change from flight to flight, so it never hurts to double or triple check, it may take you a few extra min to get in the air but you will then be able to enjoy your time there and not be in a panic or worse about what you did not do or should have done up etc.

- ESPECIALLY if someone is just hanging around and NOT a "pilot". Your chances of having detected an intelligent life form just quintupled.

- What "and such"? What "and such" matters enough to be talking about at this point? How 'bout we give focusing entirely on unhooked launches a shot?

- We make sure "everything" is safe in the setup area. That's what the PREFLIGHT is for. On launch we need to stop thinking about the "everything" bullshit and start focusing on the one thing that:
-- matters - like critically
-- is easiest to fuck up
-- has a long and voluminous historical failure record

- The one thing that NEVER varies from foot launched flight to foot launched flight. The thing that's most likely to get you killed is a carabiner dangling behind your knees two seconds prior to launch.

- Yeah, double and triple check. Keep doing things to...

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.

...build in that sense of security you'll be needing a minute or two before commitment to flight.

- Yeah, when you get to the ramp you should take a few extra minutes to check your sidewires, feel along your leading edges for dents, make sure all of your bolts are safetied with split rings. The people standing in line behind you who DO have their shit together and are looking to get into the air before the thermals all evaporate won't mind.

- The discussion is about UNHOOKED LAUNCHES. THE check to protect against unhooked launches takes, at most, one second - NOT MINUTES.

- You got your rating from Mike Robertson, right?

J C thats me - 2013/01/03 00:48:33 UTC
Australia

Hey over here in oz we always hook our harness in first before getting into the glider that way you know you are hooked in.

That sounds SO FAMILIAR! Are you any relation to...

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=821
Fatal hang gliding accident

Sam Kellner - 2011/11/07 02:47:58 UTC

Preflight, Hangcheck, Know you're hooked in.

...Sam Kellner?

How 'bout...

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=802
AL's Second flight at Packsaddle how it went

Rick Masters - 2011/10/19 22:47:17 UTC

At that moment, I would banish all concern about launching unhooked. I had taken care of it. It was done. It was out of my mind.

Rick Masters?

We still do a hang check prior to launch EVERY TIME...

Of course you do. All you Aussie assholes do stuff PRIOR to launch EVERY TIME. And none of you Aussie assholes ever does anything *JUST* PRIOR to launch 'cause - hell - you just did a hang check five minutes ago so what would be the point?

...regardless of wether you have already done one before and if backing off launch the same applies if getting out of glider you are leaving the harness still hooked in.

Got that in your HGFA SOPs somewhere?

self launching is just a matter of turning around and checking the carabina is done up or even leaning forward .

- When I plug "carabina" into my dictionary it says:

No entries found. Did you mean?

carbine
carbon
Caribbean

It's not a fucking "carabina" or, as Pro-Toad Straub prefers, "carabinEEr". It's a fucking CARABINER or - reflecting its German etymology - karabiner. Try learning something about the English language before you start making proclamations about what everyone in your country does.

I still find it strange when i see photo's of pilots walking around with there harness on.

- See above regarding the English language.

- I still find it strange when I see videos of you wack jobs running off slopes with no final verification of hook-in status and watching your fellow flyers...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mX2HNwVr9g
Hang Gliding Fail
andyh0p - 2011/04/24 - dead
03-0325 - 06-0511
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18-0919 - 21-1025

...running off slopes with no final verification of hook-in status because everyone assumes he and everyone else has always gone through some stupid preflight ritual and nothing out of the ordinary has happened in the time between then and launch.

Cheers safe flying.

Save it.

Aeschna - 2013/01/03 02:49:03 UTC
Stratham, New Hampshire

Re: Failing to hook in

Best habit I was ever taught is to Always Always Always lift the control frame a bit just before you step out onto launch and make sure that you feel a tug in your leg loops.

Yeah, do it before you step out onto launch. What could POSSIBLY happen between the time you step up on the back of the ramp and the time you run off the front of the ramp? And the SOP which requires the pilot to check JUST PRIOR TO LAUNCH really means just before you step out onto launch. That was OBVIOUSLY its intent.

I do this even if I've had a hang check, and I'll repeat it if I set the glider down for a minute to wait for a better cycle. Just want to be absolutely certain that when the glider gets airborne, I'm going up with it.

That's funny, whenever I launch I just want to be scared shitless that my carabiner is dangling. That way I'm way more inclined to comply with the fucking regulation instead of a check I did a minute or two ago.

K C Benn - 2013/01/03 03:09:24
Ogden

Ditto to what Aeschna says. Been flying a long time and never had a close call on hooking in. I always lift my glider up until I feel my leg loops tighten. This tells me I am hooked to my glider.
-
H-4. Flying since 1975

- Aeschna says NOTHING about doing a check JUST PRIOR TO LAUNCH.

- Wow. You've been flying since 1975 and do a lift and tug before each and every flight and have nevertheless survived all the horrors Bob assures us will result from that procedure. Amazing.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=27961
(5) Bought some cameras, need some help

Christopher (cnalbers) - 2013/01/05 03:27:32 UTC
Atlanta

I bought a couple of Contour HD Roams ($99 @ Target right now) to document my training. I need some advice on mounting them. Of course, I'll be using these on LMFP's training glider, so the mount needs to be easy on/off. I figured I'd mount one behind on the keel and one to the side (don't know where, exactly).

Need advice on where/how to mount and a good source to purchase.

Many thanks.

Christopher

Ryan Voight - 2013/01/05 03:56:56 UTC

Focus on your training. Every flight you'll be asking yourself if you remembered to press record, rather than asking if you're hooked in.

You'll say you won't... But it's inevitable. Cameras are a distraction!

Considering that Matt and his Bozo instructors don't teach hook-in checks, but rather...

Matt Taber - 1990

After you hook in, you must perform what's known as a hang check. The hang check ensures that you're hooked in to the glider, and that your harness and support system are correct. Hang checks are a vital part of as safe pilot's routine. Never take off without doing a hang check.

...hang checks, and to assume you're hooked in from that point forward, I'd say keeping distractions to a minimum is probably a good idea.

Yeah Christopher, listen to Ryan and get through your excellent Lockout Mountain Flight Park training before you start dealing with distractions like cameras. Once you're a solid Two with a couple dozen ramp launches under your belt there's no fuckin' way you're gonna end up as a gliderless and lifeless heap on the rocks after you've done your hang check...

Doug Hildreth - 1991/04

Werner Graf, a Long Beach, California pilot was vacationing in Switzerland in October 1990. He prepared to launch, but unhooked to adjust his camera. He then proceeded to launch without hooking back in.

...due to a camera issue.

P.S. Anybody wanna make any bets about where Long Beach, California pilot Werner Graf got his training and signoffs?

http://windsports.com/lessons.html

Windsports has been teaching hang gliding in Los Angeles for nearly forty years.

My money's on Grebloville. It's gotta be either that or...

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

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

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.

...High Adventure.

P.P.S. Anybody ever notice how when some newish flyer scores a notable XC flight, altitude gain, or competition standing we frequently hear about the great instructor or school that helped make it happen. But when someone ends up as a gliderless and lifeless heap on the rocks below launch after he's done - or thinks he's done - his hang check we almost never do.

http://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3729/13148945555_cea849a8eb_o.png


No:
- launch dolly
- hook-in check
-- performed by flyer
-- required by driver
- ability of flyer to abort

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9G8ERElpjM


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Eric has yet to be enlightened by Tom's wisdom.

And/But, unfortunately, Eric's wisdom appears to be mostly a dead end.

- We see no evidence whatsoever...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j3Me-XqJ-4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oyDBpMKomw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIhSM7BNBn4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeOTt6qDXsg


...that he's teaching his students - in accordance with what he himself does and in compliance with USHGA regulations - to defend themselves against this most deadly of all of hang gliding's fuckups.

- We haven't had any help from him battling assholes like Rooney, Davis, Ryan, and Tom in any of the recent discussions following relevant pooch screws - including last spring's epic Mount Woodside disaster. (Anybody else find it a bit odd that anyone heavily involved in hang gliding WOULDN'T have something to say on that one?)

- If he's doing anything remotely resembling a solid job with his students - like Ashley's dad here:

Terry Strahl (deeprecon1)
- 90719
- H3 - 2011/07/29 - Eric Hinrichs
- FL 360 CL FSL TUR

...then where the hell are THEY when we're battling assholes like Rooney, Davis, Ryan, and Tom?

Let's take a critical look at this statement of Eric's - one of the most searing indictments of Aussie Methodist lunacy bullshit ever made:

http://http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=21868
Don't Forget your Hang Check!

Eric Hinrichs - 2011/05/13 21:31:06 UTC

I went to Chelan for the Nationals in '95 as a free flyer. They were requiring everyone to use the Australian method, and you were also not allowed to carry a glider without being hooked in.

This was different for me, I hook in and do a full hang check just behind launch right before I go. I was also taught to do a hooked in check right before starting my run, lifting or letting the wind lift the glider to feel the tug of the leg loops.

So I used their method and I'm hooked in, carrying my glider to launch and someone yells "Dust devil!" Everyone around runs for their gliders (most of which are tied down) and I'm left standing alone in the middle of the butte with a huge monster wandering around. I heard later that it was well over three hundred feet tall, and some saw lightning at the top. After that it was clear that no one is going to decide for me or deride me for my own safety methods, someone else's could have easily got me killed.

- He refers to:

...my own safety methods...

Those aren't HIS OWN safety methods. A hook in check JUST PRIOR TO LAUNCH is a USHGA REGULATION for every flight of every rating - and something that he pretty obviously isn't teaching or requiring for signoffs.

Thus I'd say that he really isn't much more concerned about the safety of his fellow flyers and students than any of those Aussie Methodist slimeballs who ran to protect their tied down gliders and stranded him with his and a real good chance of getting killed.

And given that he was put in a real good position to get killed by a bunch of Aussie Methodist slimeballs in 1995 I find it very telling that when an Aussie Methodist slimeball makes a statement like THIS:

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=924
Tragedy at Team Challenge

Davis Straub - 2005/10/01 23:12:07 UTC

Well, very simply we could make a new rule for competition. If you are seen in your harness but not hooked into your glider you are automatically disqualified.

a decade later Eric isn't very publicly and emphatically telling him to go fuck himself.

- He says:

...I hook in and do a full hang check just behind launch right before I go.

People who really understand this issue...

Rob Kells - 2005/12

Not one of us regularly uses either of the two most popular methods outlined above.

...don't do hang checks or...

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.

...attach any importance to them.

- He says:

I was also taught to do a hooked in check right before starting my run...

I was ALSO *TAUGHT* to do a hooked in check right before starting my run.

-- Lift and tug is NOT an ALSO. It's THE procedure one uses to make sure he won't die within the next five seconds.

-- If you understand its importance you don't do it because you were TAUGHT to. You do it because you understand it's THE procedure you use to make sure you won't die within the next five seconds.

A couple of Octobers ago I said:

Tad Eareckson - 2011/10/05 15:07:08 UTC

EVERYBODY teaches EVERYBODY to HANG CHECK - which appears NOWHERE in ANY of the rating requirements. But NOBODY teaches ANYBODY to ESTABLISH THAT HE IS HOOKED IN *JUST* *PRIOR* *TO* *LAUNCH* - which appears in ALL of the rating requirements.

and Bob had a field day with:

Bob Kuczewski - 2011/11/18 09:00:58 UTC

This is why people can't believe you Tad.

You say that NOBODY teaches ANYBODY to ESTABLISH THAT HE IS HOOKED IN *JUST* *PRIOR* *TO* *LAUNCH*.

I'm sorry, but there are instructors who do teach that. So you're either lying or delusional or interpreting the regulation the way you want to interpret it without pointing out that others may interpret it differently (or using some childish play-on-words with the name "Nobody").

This is why people should rightfully doubt everything you say ... because you exaggerate to the point of saying things that are factually untrue to support whatever you want to prove.

and Zack had to explain:

Zack C - 2011/11/19 13:24:52 UTC

He didn't mean 'nobody' in a literal sense. It's like saying 'nobody obeys the speed limit'. If this is the best you can get him on, I don't think his credibility is at risk.

But now I think - as far as USHGA certified instruction is concerned at least - that is LITERALLY TRUE.

When I asked Bob to "Name two." he came back with "Joe Greblo and Andy Beem." and that whole Windsports operation totally sucks on this issue and has the track record to prove it in no uncertain terms. And Pat Denevan doesn't do a whole lot better.

What Eric does is textbook - pretty much impossible to find better examples on video. But I'm pretty sure he's teaching Ashley to...

...I hook in and do a full hang check just behind launch right before I go.

...hook in and do a full hang check just behind launch "right before" she goes - and NOTHING ELSE. And if this guy's not teaching in compliance with the regulation then who the hell is and where the hell are his students?

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SDHGPA/message/2966

Rich Regal (lite_wings) - 2006/05/05 22:15

Glider Pilot Rescue at Torrey on Local News

I was just watching the local news report of a glider pilot rescue at Torrey Pines Glider port. It said a fifty year old man was rescued from the lower cliffs after crashing and sustaining a broken leg. They showed video of the pilot face obviously in pain being moved on a stretcher.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SDHGPA/message/2995

Tad (No Relation) Hurst - 2006/05/11 17:51

Hi Rich - it was me. I am the new record holder for fastest time to the beach. On Friday afternoon, I managed to launch without attaching.

Yeah Tad? You also managed to launch without doing a hook-in check. So how come we're not hearing about that? So routine it's not worth mentioning?

The rest of the fight went very quickly. I was hanging from the left down tube and the base tube at the very first. The dropped to both hands on the base tube.

I almost hit the edge of the rock I hit before (my other bad HG accident).

This wasn't an accident - and I really doubt that the cause of you getting hurt the other time was an accident.

I pulled my feet up and brushed over it. I then continued down toward the beach in a deep, fast dive. I never had much clearance from the cliff. I make a light right turn to line up with the sand, and then the PLF.

Pretty good work flying while dangling from the basetube. But I guess there was just no way you could've managed to lift or float the glider up until the suspension was tensioned a couple of seconds BEFORE running off the cliff.

I have a deep, bone bruise on my right foot, and some deep bruises on my right thigh. I broke the right side of my pelvis. I embedded sand in every possible orifice - I was blowing out of my nose two days later. Other than sand damage, there were no significant injuries above the waist.

I had some bad internal bleeding from the iliac artery. This was stopped in emergency surgery. Then they put by pelvis back together. I had broken the sacrum, and separated the pubic symphysis. These are all reattached, but they are not happy about it.

I am up walking on crutches, and I use the pain to remind about how lucky am just to be here.

And many thanks to those who helped get the rescue team there - particularly Ki Hong who flew down on a small PG, and David Jebb who assisted me up the hill in the lifeguard truck, and to the hospital in the ambulance.

Ya know, Tad...

It was seven months and four days since Bill Priday - student of Instructor of the Year Steve Wendt - killed himself by running off of Whitwell without his glider. And there was a significant article in the 2005/12 issue of the magazine by Rob Kells - reminiscent of the 1981/05 one by George Whitehill - explaining how the delay between the hang check and the launch was REAL problematic and recommending that people do the fucking hook-in check...

Always lift the glider vertically and feel the tug on the leg straps when the harness mains go tight, just before you start your launch run. I always use this test.

...like it says in the fucking regulations just prior to EVERY launch.

Did you bother to read it? Anything sink in? Just kidding.

Tad - Glad to be here - Hurst

Yeah, I'm thrilled too.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SDHGPA/message/2997

Brian McMahon (brianatnet70) - 2006/05/11 18:19

Wow, remind me to never turn down a hang check!

OK Brian. Never turn down a hang check. All set now?

And how 'bout the reminder that Bill got from one of our local assholes exactly two weeks before he was killed...

Cragin Shelton - 2005/09/17

You are not hooked in until after the hang check.

And how 'bout the reminder in the magazine from another one of our local assholes and USHGA's Accident Review Chairman in response to Tad's launch a bit under a year after the fact:

http://www.kitestrings.org/post351.html#p351

Lesson learned: HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK! Your life will most often depend on it.

Glad it's some temporary damage and not an obituary we're reading.

It was enough damage to end his flying career.

Yeah Brian, just like Joe Gregor said when he reported on this one in the magazine...

Glad it's some temporary damage and not an obituary we're reading.

1. It was permanent enough to end his flying career.

2. If it HAD BEEN an obituary what would've been the lesson learned...

Lesson learned: HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK! Your life will most often depend on it.

...and strategy to prevent a rerun? HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK? Keep doing the same thing and expecting better relults?

Brian McMahon - 2011/10/24 21:04:17 UTC

Once, just prior to launch.

3. I never heard you comment on THIS:

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


despicable bullshit and the scumbags who put it together.

http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=2082

Jeff Chipman - 2012/05/01 17:01
Sylmar

Wire crew, if you're gonna help, then insist on checking the 5 C's (is that it Greblo?)

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 5 seconds would easily elapse between that check and getting the glider back into position to launch.

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

Bob Kuczewski - 2011/07/22 21:30:23 UTC

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.

http://www.kitestrings.org/post975.html#p975

Bob Kuczewski - 2011/11/19 06:03:56 UTC

Joe Greblo and Andy Beem.

There, now you've been proved to be either lying or delusional or interpreting the regulation the way you want to interpret it without pointing out that others may interpret it differently. You cannot say that NOBODY teaches ANYBODY to ESTABLISH THAT HE IS HOOKED IN *JUST* *PRIOR* *TO* *LAUNCH* because I know those two instructors do it. I'm sure there are many more. So people just can't believe what you write because you lied right there.

http://www.rmhpa.org/messageboard/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4258
HG accident in Vancouver

Tom Galvin - 2012/10/31 22:17:21 UTC

I teach hook-in checks. I don't teach lift and tug, as it gives a false sense of security.

http://vimeo.com/39514151


http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=354
Greblo on Launching Unhooked, What to Do If

George Stebbins - 2006/09/22 18:21:41 UTC
Palmdale

Just for information to all club members.

On the very day that Joe was teaching folks what to do if you don't hook in, I was flying the Condor at the beach. Trying to soar, I let myself get distracted and started my launch run unhooked.

http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=3355
Failure to hook in 6/29/12

Gregory Jones - 2012/06/30 03:51:41 UTC

I attempted to launch unhooked from the Towers today. Within a couple of steps the base bar was at my chest and I had that "Oh s&%t!" feeling. My weight below the base bar pulled the glider back down and I crashed into the bushes fifty to sixty feet below launch.

I've spent a few hours trying to pinpoint the exact breakdown or distraction which allowed to me to walk up to launch unhooked (which I typically don't do) and have concluded that all it takes is the slightest deviation from a routine to put one in that position.

I usually check again on launch, but also failed to do so. I was very lucky to come away from this incident with a few scrapes and bruises and no obvious damage to my glider. I honestly thought that I had my launch regiment dialed in and that I would never do this.

Another example of how vigilant and aware we all need to be about hooking in. You seriously cannot check too many times!

NMERider - 2012/07/02 23:36:49 UTC

I'm giving you my Whack Award that Phill 'Unhooked @ Towers' Bloom awarded me at the Spring Air. The fact that you and Phill both managed to survive launching unhooked with that steep hillside without having to glide away in a dive then reach for your reserve handles is amazing.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4247
Hook in failure in New Zealand

Christian Williams - 2006/09/24 22:30:14 UTC

A hook-in check is not a hang check. It is a specific, simple, action:
Before picking up the glider to launch, step through the control frame, turn and observe that the carabiner is properly connected.
It is the last-second, final confirmation.
Yes, my club has the same number of unhooked launches as anybody else--maybe more. At least one each summer. More than that, probably.
Nevertheless, it is obvious that a hook-in check will prevent launching unhooked.

Joe, Andy, Jeff, George, Jonathan, Phill, Greg, Bob, Christian...

Keep up the great work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9G8ERElpjM

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http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4247
Hook in failure in New Zealand

Christian Williams - 2006/09/24 22:30:14 UTC

Before picking up the glider to launch, step through the control frame, turn and observe that the carabiner is properly connected.
It is the last-second, final confirmation.
Yes, my club has the same number of unhooked launches as anybody else--maybe more. At least one each summer. More than that, probably.

Yes, Christian, I'm pretty sure that in Grebloville - where everybody believes that he's launching within a second of picking up the glider, regardless of how far he has to walk after picking up the glider - you actually DO have more unhooked launches, as a percentage of foot launch flights, than anybody else. The reason...

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.

The crap that Joe and his goons teach as a hook-in check is NOT a hook-in check. A hook-in check is something that's conducted from launch position within a couple of seconds of launch with the glider being supported by the pilot, crew, or wind. And Windsports is teaching people to do a preflight inspection of the suspension before picking up the glider, moving to launch position, trimming, waiting for a cycle, and checking traffic.

Here's Loony Bob doing a Windsports hook-in check in the staging area at Crestline:

before he strolls down to launch position and runs off the mountain about forty-five seconds later:

on the assumption that he's (still) connected to his glider.

And here's Greblo victim Greg Jones launching unhooked:

http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=3355
Failure to hook in 6/29/12

Gregory Jones - 2012/06/30 03:51:41 UTC

I attempted to launch unhooked from the Towers today. Within a couple of steps the base bar was at my chest and I had that "Oh s&%t!" feeling. My weight below the base bar pulled the glider back down and I crashed into the bushes fifty to sixty feet below launch.

I've spent a few hours trying to pinpoint the exact breakdown or distraction which allowed to me to walk up to launch unhooked (which I typically don't do) and have concluded that all it takes is the slightest deviation from a routine to put one in that position.

I usually check again on launch, but also failed to do so. I was very lucky to come away from this incident with a few scrapes and bruises and no obvious damage to my glider. I honestly thought that I had my launch regiment dialed in and that I would never do this.

Another example of how vigilant and aware we all need to be about hooking in. You seriously cannot check too many times!

BELIEVING he had done a Windsports hook-in check in the staging area some time before strolling down to launch position - and concluding that the more times you reassure yourself that you're hooked in the less likely you are to launch unhooked.

A walk-through combined with a turn and inspection is a vastly superior PREFLIGHT check than a hang check.

It:
- is:
-- easier and quicker
-- easily executed unassisted
- picks up partial hook-ins and other assembly problems that a hang check misses

Note that when, fifty-eight seconds before her first run off the ramp, Judy Phillips starts feeling less than a hundred percent confident about the hang check she did just before she got on it, she doesn't do another hang check.

http://vimeo.com/53779513


She does a couple of turns with visual and tactile checks and a walk-through to bolster her confidence.

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.

The better the preflight check, the more confident the glider diver will be following it - and/or believing he followed it - and thus the more likely he is to launch unhooked.

And I think we're getting real good evidence that that's EXACTLY what's going on in Southern California.

If you prohibited people from doing ANY preflight checks of the suspension the rate of unhooked launches would PLUMMET (as poor a choice of words as that is).

Similar dynamic to what happens at Glacier and Makapu'u Points - nobody approaches launch hooked in, nobody launches unhooked.