Page 104 of 176

Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Posted: 2014/06/26 23:36:08 UTC
by Tad Eareckson
http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=31462
Newbie on list
Craig Hassan - 2014/06/26 18:08:08 UTC

Joe,
You didn't know, now you do.
How could he POSSIBLY not know? Why wouldn't ANYONE who wanted to know what the site rules were not click on "Wiki"?
SG leaves this place run as a self moderated site.
Yeah, sure he does. If by "leaves" you mean "stays on top of", "this place" you mean "his place", "self" you mean "HIMself", "moderated" you mean "dictated", "site" you mean "shit heap".
I just wanted to point it out. You stated you came here to advertise, and advertising is not on the agenda here.
What IS on the agenda there is selling hang gliding and the pigfuckers who infest and control it as it's always been and brutally suppressing anybody with the slightest interest in fixing or reforming it.
Discuss it until your heart is content. Just don't become a Tad about it.
Up your ass the whole six inches to your walnut sized brain - pigfucker. You quote me one punctuation mark in which I tried to sell anything, offered to sell anything, expressed any interest in selling anything, did anything other than offer for free technology I developed and unlimited help for anyone who was interested in duplicating or building on it.
Post a classified ad if you want to sell it.
Give Jack Show members a special rate - twenty times what you'd sell for if you wanted the new owner to live.
If your release is the next big thing we'll all be discussing it sooner or later anyway.
What was the LAST big thing you pieces of shit ever discussed? Paul Hurless's imaginary cocktail napkin sketch? Bent pin barrel releases made with RED webbing? Double surface gliders? Reflex bridles? The new orange stuff Morningside decided they were happy with?
Happy days!
I so love it whenever any of you Jack Show assholes snaps something in half. Same warm and fuzzy feeling I get when the container of acid some True Believer is planning on splashing in the face of a fourteen year old schoolgirl starts leaking in his pocket.

Go ahead, Jonathan...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=13745
Good News vs Sad News
NMERider - 2009/10/01 22:31:04 UTC

IIRC - Tad has already worn out his welcome on the Oz Report over his AT release mechanism, and so it seems he has come here to preach his gospel of safety according to Tad. The prize of course will either be delivered by the HMS Beagle or can be found on the Gallapagos Islands.
Say something. Or don't say anything. Either way I'm just fine.

Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Posted: 2014/06/27 23:24:59 UTC
by Tad Eareckson
Jump to next post:
http://www.kitestrings.org/post6207.html#p6207

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uegD4QeAc58
Hang Glider Crash - Emergency Chute deployment
Andrew Talmage - 2009/03/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uegD4QeAc58


Details of Incident -

Pilot - Toby 'Drogue' Houldsworth
Glider - Moyes XT 165
Parachute - Unknown brand (but quite obviously effective)
Location - Wylkatchem, Western Australia
Injuries - Slight bruising and a new nickname (Drogue).

Details - Pilot was static line towing in a competition. During his preflight routine he was interrupted by a technical problem with his instruments, after correcting the problem the pilot continued his preflight not realising the the tow bridle (which he had previously checked was clear) was now underneath his right arm.

On launch the tow bridle flicked past his harness pulling the release for his emergency parachute. The bridle also pulled his right hand off the upright but he quickly corrected and continued unaware that his reserve chute was released. The parachute deployed and inflated snapping the safety 'weak-link' and causing the glider to pendulum down into the ground.

Damage Report. Glider: Two uprights, basebar, small hole in the undersurface, and possibly will need a new keel. And a really good inspection before flying again. Pilot: Only minor bruising and a new nickname. Lessons learnt: Pilot was a novice with around 10hrs flying time. He conducted his prelaunch checks correctly but then stepped forward to adjust his instruments. When he stepped back he didn't realise his tow-bridle was under his arm and launched. Bridle caught the parachute release.

Afterwards - Pilot set up a spare gilder (a Fun 190) and flew it for the remainder of the competition. He finished in first place in the novice section with some very impressive flights. The XT has been repaired (new control frame and keel, sail patched on undersurface).

Footage - Andrew 'Pantyman' Talmage and Trevor 'Danger'.
This one's a lot more interesting than I'd been thinking until today when I started harvesting stills and really reading the report and comments - including ones which accrued in the years subsequent to the posting. The bad news is the resolution (640x360) sucks but if you blow up your screen or the photos you can really see what's going on with this one - 'specially from Camera B.
---
2016/07/30 09:00:00 UTC

I've been reworking a lot of stills projects recently. In the course of re-saving frames in order to check and document the frame sequences I found I was getting MUCH better resolution - 854x480 - than I did on the first effort and so have uploaded much better quality images. Have no freakin' clue what I was doing / was going wrong a couple years ago (2014/06/27).
---
So to start off let's watch from Frames A1 (01-0321) and B1 (38-1822) to when the parachute - in its deployment bag - hits the ground. In the B series you can pretty easily see the:

- bridle misrouting (Bob Buxton comes to mind}

- bridle scraping up Toby's right side (and right side installed parachute container), knocking him of balance to his left, and ripping his right arm off the downtube.

- black bulge on his right side start slowly migrating south (or, in that part of the world, north probably)

01-0321
- 01 - chronological order
- 03 - seconds
- 21 - frame (25 fps)

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Stay tuned.

Jump to top:
http://www.kitestrings.org/post6206.html#p6206

Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Posted: 2014/06/28 00:43:53 UTC
by Tad Eareckson
Jump to next post:
http://www.kitestrings.org/post6208.html#p6208

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uegD4QeAc58
Hang Glider Crash - Emergency Chute deployment
Andrew Talmage - 2009/03/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uegD4QeAc58
Ken de Russy
Anacortes

Maybe the greatest benefit resulting from this incident being caught on video is the opportunity for this pilot to see how appallingly he lets the bar out immediately after breaking ground.
Did you read the report?
Should tow pressure...
Do you know the differences between PRESSURE and TENSION? Just kidding.
...drop at that point it could be fatal.
- How? All that would happen would be a stall and we all know that stalls are nothing to be feared.

- Lucky him! His safety 'weak-link' held until he was high enough to be able to get away with just a lot of glider damage.

- Bullshit. A drop in tow pressure is never more than an inconvenience.

- So? Don't people who appallingly let bars out immediately after breaking ground all DESERVE to die?

- Fuck you, Ken. We've been going through this Hewett Link bullshit...

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1563
Platform Launching (PL) Draft suggestions needed
Bill Cummings - 2014/06/05 20:44:19 UTC

The weak-link sleeping dog has been hashed out on other forums akin to whipping a dead horse. Some moderators have even lock down threads about weak-links rather than go stark raving mad.
...for over a third of a century, we're putting hundreds of thousands of aerotow flights up on Davis Links and crashing tens of thousands of gliders with them, and you come over here on this freak incident and warn that a drop in tow pressure could be fatal. I repeat: Fuck you.
Such errors captured indisputably and unambiguously on video can be far more persuasive than a verbal assessment provided to him.
I think he got TONS of persuasion on that one - even before watching the video and/or reading your comments.
He is a lucky man.
How 'bout these:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8143/7462005802_bbc0ac66ac_o.jpg
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http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bRrpHNa68iY/UQ6Pv9gRZyI/AAAAAAAAjTg/Hc22bx5122Q/s2048/20943781_BG1.jpg

two? I missed your comments on them.
Ken de Russy

The front view reveals a possible reason why the bar came out.
Do ya think?
It has always been my feeling that the grapevine grip leaves one with reduced pitch authority during the grip switch to Coke Bottle. I never felt a lack of control using Coke Bottle as has been suggested by proponents of the Grapevine style, taught Coke Bottle for the twenty years I taught HG and was never persuaded of a better way.
How 'bout with both hands on the basetube proned out on a dolly - asshole?
I no longer teach and am no longer vested in defending that position.
That's alright. I have every confidence that you did your bit for twenty years defending that position - while studiously ignoring the fuck out of the mountains of crap we have in this sport that actually matter.
Andrew Talmage

Hi Ken, Thanks for the comments. When these things happen and are fortunate enough to get caught on tape it is always good to get feedback and learn as much as we can from them.
Did you learn that if you assholes had made a half assed effort to do things right - or even partially right - that wouldn't have happened?
- launch cart
- Koch two stage release
- bridle ends terminated at tow loops
- launch assistant giving the situation half a glance before going live
- pretensioning the system before hitting the gas

Any one of the above and that wouldn't have happened.
In this particular case I don't think the grip had much to do with the crash.
Fuck the grip.
The pilot...
...dope on a rope...
...couldn't control the pitch of the nose because the bridle pulled up underneath his arm forcing him to release his grip with his right arm. In truth he did well to recover and not to crash then...
Would've probably gotten off a lot cheaper if he had.
...unfortunately the chute was out.
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24846
Is this a joke ?
Jim Rooney - 2011/09/02 23:09:12 UTC

Yeah, damn those pesky safety devices!
Remember kids, always blame the equipment.
Andrew Talmage

I think the front view does show the reason but it's not his grip. He is using a tow leg, one line up to the keel of his glider the other to him, he starts the flight with it under his right arm as tension comes on it pings up pulling his arm up and probably contacting with the chute handle on the way past.
Didn't you say that already in the report? Why don't you just tell him to go back and please read it before he starts babbling about his stupid pet peeve. Reminds me of useless fucking Danny Brotto and his obsession with making sure your helmet's buckled before flying lethal Industry Standard aerotow equipment.
It seems poor preflight checks are to blame.
Bullshit. He DID a good preflight checks on the crap you were sending him up on. He got distracted. Preflight checks are crap defenses against distraction. If you assholes had done some effective launch sequence procedures...
Leonardo G. Gagliardi

I think there is another version of the video, a full one, where can be seen the pilot scraping the chute bag and the handle against the cables some seconds before, which probably opened the container.
No.
If it were not exactly this accident it was another very very similar. In every takeoff everything must be equal to all the takeoffs we know, and anything we note or feel different must be carefully analyzed.
Yeah? Did you catch idiot Ken's comment about the likelihood of a drop in tow pressure...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kGn7ITFfHc

06-2902
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5511/14529373085_380c966a20_o.png
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http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3853/14342741440_a980fd6050_o.png
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http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3889/14529370985_784a6693b9_o.png
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...being fatal? Can you please explain to me why you're going up on a tow bridle so badly worn that it pops when your towing perfectly in perfect position in totally dead air?
Peter Birren

Part of my routine for static tow launching with any type of bridle is to call for initial tow tension of twenty or so pounds. The pre-tension lets the pilot (and observers) quickly determine whether the bridle and towline are in their proper positions. Glad he wasn't hurt.
Yeah Peter. Just make goddam sure you don't do a similar check...

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14-03129

...for a much more critical issue.

http://ozreport.com/forum/files/copy_2_of_imgp1239_197.jpg
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http://kiteboarder3.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/opener-532x800.jpg

And I bloody well know you don't 'cause you've never uttered a single syllable promoting it - including when we were discussing Bille Floyd's little moment of overconfidence.

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Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Posted: 2014/06/28 02:31:16 UTC
by Tad Eareckson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uegD4QeAc58
Hang Glider Crash - Emergency Chute deployment
Andrew Talmage - 2009/03/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uegD4QeAc58
Leonardo G. Gagliardi

I agree weak links are useful...
For WHAT?
...and increase the (tug plane) safety in aerotowing.
- Have you got any data to support that statement? Can you quote one single tuggie saying, "THANK GOD that weak link broke! Only reason I'm still here today!" And, no, you can't count tugs flying with crap like THIS:
Rob Kells - 1985/09

The trike release had been tested by the manufacturer for a straight pull of 300 lbs.
that killed Chris Bulger and almost killed Dave Farkas along with Bill Bennett and Mike Del Signore. And you also can't count total douchebags...
Towing Aloft 1998/01

I witnessed a tug pilot descend low over trees. His towline hit the trees and caught. His weak link broke but the bridle whipped around the towline and held it fast. The pilot was saved by the fact that the towline broke!
...too fuckin' stupid to have weak links on BOTH bridle ends.

- Yeah. ANY aircraft is better off after dumping weight and/or drag. Passenger jets could land a lot more easily and safely if they jettisoned all passengers, luggage, and service crew at ten thousand feet. The fuckin' tug doesn't exist to keep ITSELF safe. It exists to SAFELY deliver GLIDERS to two thousand feet. And it's physically impossible to do that with the cheap shit fishing line you've got in the tow system.

In REAL aviation...
Dr. Trisa Tilletti - 2012/06

You and I have flown sailplanes for almost as long as we have flown hang gliders. We own two sailplanes and have two airplanes that we use for towing full-size sailplanes. In all the time that we have flown and towed sailplanes, we have not experienced or even seen a sailplane weak link break.
...weak links have pretty much ZERO effect on the safety of EITHER aircraft. When there's a tow crash the reason is NEVER the result of a weak link not breaking or not breaking soon enough.

Fuck the goddam tug.

- I notice you didn't say:
...and increase the (glider) safety in aerotowing.
You sure got that much right, dude. Probably comes from experience - correct me if I'm wrong - from flying on the BACK end of the string.
But, do you think the weak link is useful in winch or land towing?
I dunno... Is a HELMET useful in winch or land towing? Probably/Hopefully not. The idea is to never let yourself get into a situation in which it MIGHT be. And that ain't all that hard to do.

YES, a fuckin' weak link is useful in winch or land towing. It guarantees that in a worst case scenario / if you totally fail to do your job as a pilot you will AT LEAST be able to be able to:
- operate your release
- end the tow with an intact aircraft (assuming you haven't already hit the ground

It does NOT, however, guarantee you that you you'll still be alive a second or two after it blows.
Because it's cut out didn't allow the winch pilot to put down the HG pilot softly like in a parasailing trip.
- What winch and HG pilots? The fishing line was Pilot In Command in that situation. IT was the one that made and executed the most critical of decisions. The guys on the winch and glider were just spectators at that point. The winch pilot could've been a brick on the gas pedal and the glider pilot could've been a sack of potatoes, right?

- Sounds to me like you're...

http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2467
weak links
Jim Rooney - 2007/08/01 19:49:30 UTC

It's more of this crappy argument that being on tow is somehow safer than being off tow.
...making more of this crappy argument that being on tow is somehow safer than being off tow.

- Bullshit. Whatever's going on with the glider the winch pilot can fix by...
Wills Wing / Blue Sky / Steve Wendt / Ryan Voight Productions - 2007/03

NEVER CUT THE POWER...

Image

Reduce Gradually
Increase Gradually
...giving it the rope.

- You're calling the guy on the winch a PILOT?! That's bullshit. If he were a PILOT he'd hafta understand stuff like power regulation and the effects/consequences of increasing, easing, chopping it; be able to assess what's going on with the glider at all times; share in the responsibility for the safety of the tow.
Peter Birren

If you stumbled on launch, how far would you like the tow vehicle to pull you before realizing you're digging a furrow with your face?
That would NEVER happen to me, Peter. As I was going down I'd just let go of the control bar and swipe the lanyard tied to my shoulder and leave it to my Linknife to do the rest. Those things are AWESOME!!! The more towline tension the more effective they are. And when you're getting dragged down the airstrip digging a furrow with your face you've got LOTSA tension! UNPARALLELED effectiveness!
And in parasailing, the boat driver is in charge of the Carnival Ride; in HG, it's the pilot who is in command...
Yeah...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skysailingtowing/message/6726
Weaklinks
Peter Birren - 2008/10/27 23:41:49 UTC

You trying to tell me the pilot had time to release? Not a prayer.

I know about this type of accident because it happened to me, breaking 4 ribs and my larynx... and I was aerotowing using a dolly. The sh*t happened so fast there was no room for thought much less action. But I wasn't dragged because the weaklink did its job and broke immediately on impact.

Imagine if you will, just coming off the cart and center punching a thermal which takes you instantly straight up while the tug is still on the ground. Know what happens? VERY high towline forces and an over-the-top lockout. You'll have both hands on the basetube pulling it well past your knees but the glider doesn't come down and still the weaklink doesn't break (.8G). So you pull whatever release you have but the one hand still on the basetube isn't enough to hold the nose down and you pop up and over into an unplanned semi-loop. Been there, done that... at maybe 200 feet agl.
Sure. Fuckin' useless goddam dope on a rope.
...and the driver does as he's told (within reason).
Save me! SAVE ME!!! PLEEEAASE SAVE ME!!!!! My award winning Linknife only works when I DON'T need it to! Whenever the shit hits the fan I'm totally dependent upon drivers who do what they're told and fishing line that breaks when it's supposed to and doesn't inconvenience me too much.

Pathetic useless little goddam piece of shit.

And furthermore - you stupid arrogant douchebag - I don't wanna fly with a DRIVER who does as he's told (within reason). I want a PILOT - whether or not his or her feet have ever been off the ground - who knows what the fuck he or she is doing on his or her end just as well as or better than I know what I'm doing on mine. 'Cause when the shit hits the fan I'm not gonna have any more ability to relay him or her instructions than you do to get to your totally useless fucking miracle release.

Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Posted: 2014/06/28 04:00:43 UTC
by Tad Eareckson
Jump to next post:
http://www.kitestrings.org/post6215.html#p6215

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uegD4QeAc58
Hang Glider Crash - Emergency Chute deployment
Andrew Talmage - 2009/03/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uegD4QeAc58
Richard von Schauzen

Did anybody mention how the big crash would have been avoided?
No...
abelardo m laguna m

crashing 101 let go the frame! roll into a ball. let the hangy take the hit. seem that he held to the frame till the end, lucky lucky
This is hang gliding so the focus tends to be a lot more on the best way to SURVIVE the crash. And we always seem to get the best advice in that department from the people who've had the least success in not crashing.
If the winch operator did not have cut the power, just firmly decrease it, the plane could have sunk a couple hundred meters further.
Bullshit! Can't you READ?! The winch operator didn't cut the power! A good winch operator would...
Wills Wing / Blue Sky / Steve Wendt / Ryan Voight Productions - 2007/03

NEVER CUT THE POWER...

Image

Reduce Gradually
Increase Gradually
...NEVER do anything like that! The safety link cut the power and made things safer!
It is a good issue to practice: hook an old parachute on the rope and winch it. You will see, it can be landed smoothly and slow, and the winch driver can practice handle the rope quite gently. As I always say to a student winch driver: push it as gently as you would fuck a horse!!! :) Try it! Ricsi
All very well and good, dude, but you're not listening to me. The SAFETY LINK broke. Here, I'll show ya...

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Full inflation.
armandin2048

LOL those small PDAs open really fast!!
Goddam right! You think a proper safety link is gonna survive a shockload like THAT? (That's not a PDA - by the way.)

And then Toby starts this dangerous swing back onto the runway...

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Don't you think that if the winch driver COULD do anything to arrest that plummet he WOULD?

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Glider's majorly trashed at this point. Lucky the pilot wasn't as well.

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Let's take a look from Camera B...

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We're seeing the tensioned bridle in all of these...

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OK, we're just about at opening shock...

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There. That shoulda done it. No, wait... There's still a dark diagonal line running across that little cloud in front of him. Oh well, we should be seeing the recoil in the next frame fer sure...

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DAMN! That line is STILL THERE.

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Damn.

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Damn.

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Damn.

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Damn.

Sorry, looks like you were totally right about that. But, in all fairness, Andrew DID say:
The parachute deployed and inflated snapping the safety 'weak-link' and causing the glider to pendulum down into the ground.
Probably breaking in a new guy and didn't wanna embarrass him too much. Might've gotten ahold of a copy of an early edition of the excellent book, Towing Aloft, by Dennis Pagen and Bill Bryden, and been confused by some of the more dated Pro Tips.

But on the other hand... Nobody's contradicting you and and it seems like they're letting Toby - who's also a new guy - take pretty much all the hits for this one.

And then there's also the issue of why the safety link didn't break when it was supposed to. Maybe someone who didn't get the word installed a Tad-O-Link like the one that almost killed Paul and Russell. And then maybe the shock of seeing it not break 'caused the driver to forget what he was doing and cut the power.

Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.

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Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Posted: 2014/06/29 13:11:42 UTC
by Tad Eareckson
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38010
Carnage in Annecy
Davis Straub - 2014/06/27 15:32:27 UTC

One after another

The Worlds with over 100 pilots are being held along with the regular paraglider and hang glider traffic at Annecy. So today we had a German ATOS pilot collide with a paraglider midair.
But if an Atos had collided with another Atos that wouldn't have been because the Worlds with over a hundred pilots were being held along with the regular paraglider and hang glider traffic at Annecy.
Both deployed their chutes and are okay.
Then we had a paraglider spiral into the LZ. He's still alive.
Then we had a Russian girl (not Julia) slam into a light post at the paraglider bomb out field, fall to the road below. She's okay.
Be sure that your sprogs are set correctly.
http://ozreport.com/9.032
The Worlds - weaklinks
Rohan Holtkamp - 2005/02/07

After viewing video evidence of the entire flight, even a 80kg weaklink would have made little difference. His actual weaklink did test to be stronger than 180kg, but that was not the primary cause of his accident. Release failure was, same as Mike Nooy's accident. A full lockout can be propagated with less than forty kg of tension. Read "Taming the beast" on our website and/or come have a look at the video if you doubt this in any way.
http://ozreport.com/9.009
2005 Worlds
Davis Straub - 2005/01/11

Rohan Holtkamp did an analysis of the accident, in particular the bridle and weaklink, which never broke. The weaklink was caught on the release mechanism, a standard spinnaker release found on bridle systems used at Lookout Mountain, Moyes, Wallaby Ranch, and Quest Air. The release clamp has an arm that is thicker at the release point and this held onto the weaklink which consisted of multiple loops of thick line. This type of release mechanism has been banned (at least for a short while) from the Worlds at Hay.
And in the meantime and after the three day penalty ban on the Bailey designed release mechanism expires be sure that...

http://ozreport.com/12.081
Weaklinks - the HGFA rules
Davis Straub - 2008/04/22 14:47:00 UTC
Pilots must use weaklinks provided by the meet organizers and in a manner approved by the meet organizers. All weaklinks will be checked and use of inappropriate weaklinks will require the pilot to go to the end of the launch line to change the weaklink.

Weaklinks will consist of a single loop of Cortland 130 lb. Greenspot braided Dacron Tolling line and should be placed at one end of a shoulder bridle.
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24846
Is this a joke ?
Davis Straub - 2011/08/28 15:26:28 UTC

Then again, Russell Brown had us double up behind him after six breaks in a row at Zapata. We couldn't figure out why we had so many breaks so quickly. Maybe just coincidence.
http://ozreport.com/18.115
2014 East Coast Championship
John Claytor - 2014/06/13 16:42:43 UTC

I pushed out to release myself and the glider from the cart. At this point the angle was increasing and the right wing tip hit the ground. My head was at about chest high, accelerating in what could be described as a low level lock-out, with no good control. I saw that I was going to hit the ground nearly head first and balled-up for impact.
...you use an approved Davis Dead-On Straub lockout protector.

Image
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Stephane Malbos - 2014/06/27 16:44:15 UTC

Carnage... Very subtle... Thanks for your support.
Davis Straub - 2014/06/27 21:40:24 UTC

Did I forget to mention the two major accidents on day one?
Probably not, Davis. But I didn't see any posts titled "Carnage on the Delmarva Peninsula" coming out of this year's ECC.
Stephane Malbos - 2014/06/28 07:49:28 UTC

Your Carnage title is worthy of the worst of the trash press.
So how long have you been reading the crap Davis publishes - and allows to be published?
It's having the organisation here laugh quite a bit : pilots were so happy with the Carnage day task. Truth does not interest you, only the buzz, whatever it takes to get it.
Truth is whatever Davis finds convenient to define as truth.
I won't go through the description of the Carnage here since day 1 and its reasons. Just be aware that when asked today at their meeting if they thought that the competition was in any way unsafe, team leaders were unanimous that it was not. They also applauded the good work done by the volunteers here and laughed when I reported on your comment on the volunteer dinner table.

The conclusion of this was offered by one of the team leaders: never wrestle with a pig, you both get dirty and the pig loves it.

So this is it for me, Davis, no more comment on any of your post, I am turning the Oz report off.
Don't do that. We need as many people as possible monitoring the motherfucker and documenting the contradictions, lies, hypocrisy.
Davis Straub - 2014/06/28 14:24:29 UTC

Gee, I hope that the German Atos pilot who suffered when the wires on his crashed glider pressed on his throat and will require surgery hears you.
And I haven't written even worse stories about the competition because I am told things under confidence.
But of course for that to happen some other piece of shit would have to be on speaking terms with you.
Graeme Henderson - 2014/06/28 22:15:54 UTC

I thought pilots were responsible for their person safety when flying.
- And swimming.

- But only Davis gets to dictate what towing equipment they will use - coincidentally the towing equipment he and his sleazy motherfucker friends sell.
If people are not capable of flying in strong conditions then they should stay on the ground.
Then why have meet heads making go / no go calls on the days?
Pilots who are not capable of flying in in strong conditions but who do fly and who then get hurt should lose their ratings and be sent back to the training hill.
How 'bout the assholes who signed their ratings off in the first place? You sign off a rating you're vouching for the person's understanding of theory, skills, proficiency, judgment. How come USHGA presents Steve Wendt and Instructor of the Year Award and does NOTHING by way of comparable recognition when one of his students runs off a cliff without his glider a few months later?
After all, Tom's crash at the ECC...
Did I miss one? I heard about the crashes of Dan, Joe, and a couple of Johns but no Tom. Maybe that was something told to Davis in confidence?
...was not Straub's fault...
But if things had gone swimmingly Davis would've been congratulated for running such a safe and fun competition.
Tom thought he was qualified but in the end it turned out he didn't know the things advanced pilots are expected to know.
- Who the fuck is Tom? Are you talking about Joe?

- It turned out Joe didn't know the things Hang Ones are REQUIRED to know.

- Yeah, he DIDN'T know the things Hang Ones are REQUIRED to know. So how come neither you nor any other of you motherfuckers is talking about a revocation of Steve Exceptionally-Knowledgeable Wendt's instructor certifications?

He refuses to teach the required hook-in checks, at least two of his products have run off launch minus their gliders, one was a fatal solo, one was a near fatal tandem that went into the powerlines, he didn't engage in ONE WORD of the resulting discussions that exploded all over the web or have any response to or adopt any of the recommendations from a major magazine article that appeared in response to the fatal, and everybody continues to treat him - as they always have - as the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Luckily he knows that now.
LUCKILY? With Sunny, Adam, Davis, everybody and his dog watching the crash real-time and an excellent publicly available video LUCKILY is the best we can do?

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37786
Joe on plowing
Graeme Henderson - 2014/06/17 06:09:41 UTC

Wind shadow

When growing trees for windbreaks on farms the rule of thumb was that the benefit was ten times the height of the hedge. Now that varies from a flying point of view as wind speed and lapse rate have quite dramatic impacts on the density of the wind. Also the density of the tree line. However it is a good place to start, closer than ten times the height and you have to start calculating things.
You might try balloons and or soap bubbles and or smoke at a site to give you an indicator of what it looks like in reality. You will also get an idea just walking around with a wind indicator on a stick. And then you could consult the Dennis Pagen books, his advice and sketches on things like this kept many of us from learning the hard way.
Good luck,
Graeme
He was too fuckin' slow, Graeme. HE, after much ignoring of the few people with functional brains...
Joe Schmucker - 2014/06/16 02:14:13 UTC

I think that you guys are right. It had nothing to do with rotor...

I was in wind shadow and I did not have enough airspeed after I made my ninety degree turn. WOW. It seems so obvious now!!!! I basically stalled and hit the ground.
...eventually figured that out. I don't see one word in your idiot post about speed. And coming in as he did things could've still been pretty ugly if the there hadn't been so much as an upwind sapling within ten miles.
Just because you are in a competition does not remove your responsibilities as pilot in control of an aircraft.
The ECC was a TOW meet, Graeme.

http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3600
Weak link question
Jim Rooney - 2008/11/24 05:18:15 UTC

Well, I'm assuming there was some guff about the tug pilot's right of refusal?
Gee, didn't think we'd have to delve into "pilot in command"... I figured that one's pretty well understood in a flying community.

It's quite simple.
The tug is a certified aircraft... the glider is an unpowered ultralight vehicle. The tug pilot is the pilot in command. You are a passenger. You have the same rights and responsibilities as a skydiver.
It's a bitter pill I'm sure, but there you have it.
Until the Davis Link increases the safety of the towing operation by dumping the glider back into the runway the only PILOT In CONTROL of anything is the one at the FRONT end of the string. So how come nobody's talking about pulling the rating of the asshole - hopefully Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney - on the Dragonfly who's one hundred percent responsible for slamming John Claytor in?

And it sounds to me like you're saying the fuckin' meet heads have ZERO responsibility for any carnage that happens on their watch. So then, in that case...

- What was Davis's point in stacking a "Safety Committee"?

- Why did Davis's Safety Committee decide that launch conditions were perfectly safe prior to John Claytor - apparently through zero fault or misjudgment of his own - slamming in and bending his neck and immediately afterwards decide that the identical launch conditions were unacceptably dangerous?

Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Posted: 2014/06/29 15:50:18 UTC
by Tad Eareckson
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38035
Attacking the messenger - The French suck big time
Davis Straub - 2014/06/28 17:16:00 UTC

Well, at least Stephane Malbos does, but there are others.

In case you weren't aware of this, hang gliding is dangerous.
I'm aware of it, Davis. Mainly 'cause sleazy pigfuckers like you are committed to making and keeping it a hundred times more dangerous than it needs to be.
If you've been following the Oz Report reports on the 2014 East Coast Championship, you'll remember the stories of the accidents there and the reasons for them...
I remember the STORIES - really convenient ones - of the "ACCIDENTS" and the bullshit reasons for them.
...especially the long series with Joe Schmucker...
Used very successfully to virtually totally divert attention from the John Claytor lockout.
...and his attempt to get back to the airport.
His attempt to get back to the airport had no more to do with the crash than his drive to the airport the day before - pigfucker.
I convinced him to write about it and after much begging got him to publish his video.
How much begging would it take to get you to republish the Robin Strid video? I'd offer to suck your dick but Rooney's got that base covered pretty well already.
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37786
Joe on plowing
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37685
Joe plows

Please remember that I was the meet director at the ECC.
Yeah, we could tell by the crash rate. Besides, how many meets are there of which you're not the director in one way or another anyway?
Lately I've published reports from on site observers on some accidents and difficult conditions at Annecy at the Sport Class Worlds, etc. Well, it appears that this is making the organization very unhappy (they told pilots to stop being so negative in social media postings).
REALLY?! They were trying to influence the tone of the information getting out? That's really DISGUSTING!
I'm not the only one publishing reports that might not be totally flattering.
And speaking of reports that might not be flattering...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=990
Interesting article involving Davis Straub
You can find the reports on Facebook and in personal blogs that I've linked to.
Like, for example the self serving cover-up bullshit from your buddy Paul Tjaden published on Facebook on the Zack Marzec fatality?
Even the Annecy safety director has reported:
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=131232#131232
Which, of course, you can only read and comment on if you have permission from Davis.
That was before he pulled out of the Oz Report forum. Interesting.
Yeah. As a matter of fact it's pretty interesting...

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1041
"Sharing" of Hang Gliding Information ?!?
Merlin - 2012/05/26 13:22:30 UTC

I confess to previously having a bit of an Oz Report habit, but the forced login thing has turned me off permanently, and I am in fact grateful. Frankly, the site had pretty much been reduced to a few dedicated sycophants in any case.
...when ANYTHING interesting happens on the Oz Report forum.
Now I've looked back over some blog postings from on site observers and checked to see what has happened to them and found them to be scrubbed of bad news, the news that I quoted.
But I notice you're not posting any examples of these to support your accusations.
Can you say censorship?
Not a tiny fraction as well...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=592
Linknife
Davis Straub - 2010/04/03 12:46:26 UTC

Tad is gone.
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22660
What can be learned from this "scooter" towing accident?
Davis Straub - 2011/02/07 19:21:29 UTC

Okay, enough. On to new threads.
--LOCKED--
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27494
The exciting bits
Steve Davy - 2012/04/27 01:55:17 UTC

Why did you delete my post?
Davis Straub - 2012/04/27 02:42:02

Tad's name.
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31383
Enough of this.
Davis Straub - 2013/03/12 18:32:37 UTC

Okay, folks, this forum us beginning to turn into a cesspool.
Stop it now or I start kicking people out of here.
...as well as you can.
What are these guys afraid of?
I dunno. You haven't provided a single scrap of evidence to back your claims and every fiber of your being is and always has been geared towards suppressing and distorting truth in order to protect and bolster the reputations of you and your total sleazebag friends.
CIVL has an incident database that they ask meet directors to contribute to. I wrote to all the pilots that had incidents at the ECC and had them fill out reports. One wasn't able to at first as the CIVL database was down.
So? Kite Strings was down from about 19:00 to midnight local time last night. That didn't happen because I wanted to slow down my attacks on you or prevent the public from seeing the existing ones.
One wasn't able to at first as the CIVL database was down.
Really grasping at straws, aren't we Davis? A database was down for an hour and that's supposed to be more evidence of CIVL malfeasance to add to the malfeasance for which you've provided zero evidence? And coming from a vile pigfucker such as yourself whose middle name is Malfeasance?
Will the meet organizers continue to put pressure on pilots to keep smiling?
The way you do when you pull crap like THIS:

http://ozreport.com/12.081
Weaklinks - the HGFA rules
Davis Straub - 2008/04/22 14:47:00 UTC

At the 2008 Forbes Flatlands Greenspot for the first time was used as the standard weaklink material (thanks in large part to the efforts of Bobby Bailey). We applaud these efforts to improve the safety of aerotowing by using a better weaklink material.

Getting pilots into the air quickly is also safer as it reduces the stress that pilots feel on the ground and keeps them focused on their job which is to launch safely and without hassling the ground crew or themselves. When we look at safety we have to look at the whole system, not just one component of that system. One pilot may feel that one component is unsafe from his point of view and desire a different approach, but accommodating one pilot can reduce the overall safety of the system.
out of your ass and force everybody to eat it?

Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Posted: 2014/07/01 01:02:00 UTC
by Tad Eareckson
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38035
Attacking the messenger - The French suck big time
Gordon Marshall - 2014/06/30 23:08:41 UTC

I think that you should go one further Davis-- make sure that you keep a record of your sprog settings this enhances safety far more than the actual settings.

We keep coming back to read the Oz report because of you, and how you present the news--warts'n'all--some to bitch about it but most to be entertained and be educated.
I doubt very much that anyone would be able to sensor Davis and nor do I want them to.
Yeah, that's about the quality of literacy one would expect from a Davis / Davis Show fan.

And, of course, the "we" thing. I totally DESPISE *ANYONE* who uses that pronoun under anything other than the most guarded of circumstances.

Great to see that this is totally consistent with everything else that's ever brought you to my attention - asshole.

Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Posted: 2014/07/01 02:47:39 UTC
by Tad Eareckson
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38035
Attacking the messenger - The French suck big time
Davis Straub - 2014/07/01 02:24:16 UTC

Thanks.
Take it...

http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1041
"Sharing" of Hang Gliding Information ?!?
Merlin - 2012/05/26 13:22:30 UTC

I confess to previously having a bit of an Oz Report habit, but the forced login thing has turned me off permanently, and I am in fact grateful. Frankly, the site had pretty much been reduced to a few dedicated sycophants in any case.
...for what it's worth, Davis.
The headline, of course, was a bit of a joke.
Whole fuckin' Davis Show...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24846
Is this a joke ?

...is a joke.
I had two French guys (the Annecy safety director, who I've had a good relation with, and the other the CIVL guy and head of communication for Annecy) pull completely out of the Oz Report, vowing never to come back.

You can't please every one.
'Specially when...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24534
It's a wrap
Davis Straub - 2011/07/30 19:51:54 UTC

I'm very happy with the way Quest Air (Bobby Bailey designed) does it now.
...your entire existence is dedicated to brown nosing all the other shits running the show.

Speaking of the French...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=21377
AT several Questions
deltaman - 2011/04/05 14:06:20 UTC

Thanks,
So now I know I can stay in France :)

Re: instructors and other qualified pilot fiends

Posted: 2014/07/01 03:05:18 UTC
by Tad Eareckson
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38022
US 2014 fatalities
Jim Rooney - 2014/07/01 02:15:12 UTC

I guess the Atos's don't need help being "Brought to the ground"... they do a pretty good job all on their own ;)
Ditto for Dragonflies. Boy it's fun watching you continually not saying anything about Mark Knight's Rookie Mistake.