Highland sept 28-29
NOT SURE YOU COULD RELEASE?!?! With your glider level and under control with zilch line tension using aerotow equipment...Felix Cantesanu - 2013/10/03 13:15:42 UTC
Yeah, that tow sure was interesting to say the least.
I remember thinking "I probably need to release NOW" when I saw Jim waaay down there, however with the rope being slack and not sure I could release...
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...that Quest has been perfecting for twenty years?! Did you ever think what could happen if you were that high on the tug during takeoff? Shouldn't you be looking into equipment that would increase the safety of the towing operation for BOTH of you - even if you ARE using a single loop of 130 pound Greenspot to keep the tug safe if you're a solo or a double loop of 130 pound Greenspot to keep the tug safe if you're a tandem?
Hey Zack...
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When was the last time you went up behind a tug with anything less than total confidence in your ability to blow tow immediately in the course of ANY difficult or emergency situation?
So Felix...
- Were you unsure of your ability to release in that situation because you're a clueless weekend warrior muppet...
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31052
Poll on weaklinks
...like Jim says or because you're using the total crap that Jim sold you as release equipment?Jim Rooney - 2013/03/05 01:32:20 UTC
Btw, it's nothing to do with you "counting" on the weaklink breaking... Its about me not trusting you to hit the release.
If it were only about what you want, then you could use what you like.
You want the strongest weaklink you can have.
I want you to have the weakest one practical.. I don't care how much it inconveniences you.
I don't trust you as a rule. You Trust you , but I don't and shouldn't.
- Do you expect in the future to be in the same situation with the same equipment and - because of the greater experience you've gained - more confidence in your ability to release?
- How come there's no response from Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney and/or any of the other fine professional staffers at Ridgely about this serious concern of yours? How come they haven't suggested that you attend one of their free monthly emergency release clinics to help you with your problem?
- Have they suggested that you use one of the releases they provide which would...
...comply with the BHPA equipment regulation for tandem towing and, above and beyond that regulation, actually...British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association Technical Manual - 2003/04
On tow the Pilot in Command must have his hand actually on the release at all times. 'Near' the release is not close enough! When you have two hands completely full of locked-out glider, taking one off to go looking for the release guarantees that your situation is going to get worse before it gets better.
...WORK when you needed it to?Matt Taber - 2009/07/12
GT Manufacturing Inc. (GT) and Lookout Mountain Flight Park Inc. (LMFP) make no claim of serviceability of this tow equipment. There is no product liability insurance covering this gear and we do not warrant this gear as suitable for towing anything.
Zack Marzec was in a very similar situation he was trying to fix and...I tried to fix it and it worked...
...it didn't work - and nobody seems to be able to understand why. Any thoughts on the differences between your situations and the reasons for the vastly differing outcomes?
What? Two or three more inches than you were...I pulled in all the way...
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...already pulled in just to stay level with the tug before it hit the thermal?
Like your barrel release pin....and tried to stay right behind him while keeping enough slack in the rope so I don't pull his tail up (there was no tension on the rope, it was well curved...
Yeah, ain't it great when your 130 pound test Pilot In Command doesn't interfere with YOUR flight plan....and so his tail never got pulled upwards), when he finally started climbing I did my best to maintain a somewhat slack line and get behind him so I don't suffer a shock when the line got tensioned again - it all worked out great, no weak link break, no nothing.
He was just being modest. A lesser individual would've been toast in a situation like that.Jim said it was interesting but no problems at all.
He must be. Everybody's always saying so. 'Specially Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney - and it's his opinions to which we should give credence above all others. How very sad it is that there aren't any...He's an awesome tug pilot.
http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2871
speed link
...videos documenting this undisputed awesomeness.Jim Rooney - 2007/12/13 18:07:02 UTC
Wow, so this is what I get when I try to be civil?
Oh well, very nice. Enjoy being pissed. I don't care.
As they often say here on the internet....
Pics or it didn't happen.
I did "bother" to look at your pics. They're cryptic at best. How would I know they were component shots otherwise? Wasting pixels? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Riiiiight. Pics or it didn't happen pal.
- Doesn't the glider driver - since his:We've been in dicey situations before and managed to fix it without problems.
-- plane is:
--- the one relying on thrust:
---- supplied by another plane 250 feet away
---- being transmitted through a length of chintzy fishing line determined/mandated/limited by the other plane
---- which can become lethally misaligned to the point of no return in a heartbeat
--- weight shift controlled such that he has shit control authority in comparison to the other plane
--- equipped with whatever known lethal garbage the asshole on the other plane sells and mandates
--- being towed through its control system and is thus roll unstable as hell
-- flight path / climb rate is determined by the other plane
-- life can get easily ended if the towline comes down attached to the front end of his plane rather than the back end of the other plane
damn fucking near always need to be a much more awesome pilot than the tug driver to get through dicey situations?
- How come we NEVER hear about any awesome back end pilots? Everybody and his fuckin' dog knows - or SHOULD - that tugs are NEVER getting crashed as consequences of anything the glider's are - or aren't - doing. Not so AT ALL with respect to the converse.
- Why don't you tell us all about the tug pilots who've pulled you who totally sucked by comparison and what Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney was able to do that they either didn't or did backwards. Give us their names so's we can avoid them like the plague. Keavy Nenninger - OBVIOUSLY - but she was a self correcting problem. (Sunny and Adam concur with Rooney's assessment on that one, right? They told you she sucked bigtime and really had no business flying Dragonflies - on or off tow - right?)
How many tug drivers have you flown behind under...
...the same conditions and at how many different places?Rattiest tow for me yet...
Lemme tell ya sumpin', motherfucker...
The guy on the back end needs to have his shit together ten times better than the guy on the front end. But even then there's not a thimble's worth of piss difference between a solid Hang 2.5 with a couple dozen tows under his belt and a Hang 5.5 with a couple thousand tows under his belt.
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The glider's roll unstable, there are pretty narrow limits to what anybody can do with it or make it do on tow, and NONE OF IT requires any more skill or experience than what's needed to go up, down, left, right to stay pointed at the fuckin' tug.
And a thermal blast on one wing can instantly point you in a direction different from the one the tug's heading...
...and it don't give a flying fuck what your rating is and/or how highly regarded you are by your peers.Bill Bryden - 2000/02
Dennis Pagen informed me several years ago about an aerotow lockout that he experienced. One moment he was correcting a bit of alignment with the tug and the next moment he was nearly upside down. He was stunned at the rapidity. I have heard similar stories from two other aerotow pilots.
You're flying pro toad:
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Do you really think that you can remove the upper bridle attachment point...
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...and have some asshole...
http://www.ozreport.com/9.133
Lesson from an aerotow accident report
...teach you how to fly just as safely as you could with it?USHGA Accident Report Summary
Pilot: Holly Korzilius
Reporter: Steve Wendt, USHGA Instructor # 19528
Date : 5/29/05
Holly for some reason chose to fly her Litesport, she has always towed it with proper releases and weak links and usually seeked advice from me when unsure of something.
This time she couldn't find her v-bridle top line with her weak link installed for her priimary keel release. She chose to tow anyway, and just go from the shoulders, which to my knowledge she had never done before, nor had she been trained to understand potential problems. This could have been done with a short clinic and if we thought it a possibility, been done under supervised conditions in the evening air.
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Ever see a truly awesome tug pilot like Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney flying his Dragonfly...
http://www.zenadsl2877.zen.co.uk/mf-aerotow/8-GermanDF-AWier.jpg
...pro toad? Ever wonder why not?
Ever hear any tug drivers say:
Ever see any tug drivers going up with slapped on crap for a release...I remember thinking "I probably need to release NOW" when I saw Felix waaay up there, however with the rope being slack and not sure I could release...
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...within easy reach? Ever wonder why not?