Re: The Bob Show
Posted: 2015/04/22 17:32:13 UTC
Trial?
A forum devoted to the scientific advancement of hang gliding
http://www.kitestrings.org/
Bob Kuczewski - 2013/03/10 18:20:34 UTC
I first learned about Tad Eareckson when I was Regional Director and the USHPA Board circulated a letter he had written (with intention to send?) to the FAA about some dangerous practices in hang gliding.
The Board's knee-jerk response was to try to take some kind of legal action to silence Tad. I indicated that I thought we shouldn't be sending our lawyers in as our first response, and that maybe we should have someone talk with him first. So Dennis Pagen volunteered, and I believe the matter was settled without any serious damage to the sport.
A few years later (when I was starting the US Hawks Hang Gliding Association), I actually wrote to Tad inviting him to our forum because I wanted to incorporate diverse views in our new association. Tad joined us, and for a while things were fine. But over time, it became obvious to me that he was more interested in just bashing people than trying to actually solve problems in the sport of hang gliding. For a long time, I tried to show him kindness on our forum and I gave him a lot of slack with regard to his profanity and his comments that he wished certain people would crash and kill themselves. Eventually (and for reasons that I won't full disclose here), it became necessary to ask Tad to leave the US Hawks forum, and he is currently the only person who's been completely banned from the US Hawks.
Having said all of that, I have to add that Tad has an incredible amount of energy, and I think it would be great if the sport of hang gliding could figure out how to harness it. He's done extensive work on towing releases and he has a library of photographs related to releases. I think he brings an important perspective to the sport, but his personality is so toxic that it's very difficult to gain any benefit from it. Indeed, I consider it a failing on my part that I wasn't able to help Tad get past some of his "personality" issues and become a good contributing member on the US Hawks forum.
I hope so. I always try to be interesting.Joe Faust - 2015/04/20 23:40:49 UTC
It will be interesting what you say safety wise about:
Wind, sorted strings... Here's Brad 'n' Zack's flight about 22 seconds in:1. Un-soil-anchored (or otherwise secondary-anchored or kill-lined) canopy wing in the vulnerability of the wind before Brad is harnessed and before he has his string sorted, especially while being steward for the boy.
Seemed to me like the airfield was complicated by two fewer people thanks to Brad choosing to stand up. Here they are about thirty seconds before we hear sirens:2. Not choosing to stand down but risking complicating the airfield while a accident is having to be faced by unknown assets.
How wide a path are you imagining a medevac chopper needs the get in and out of a hot zone?3. Not choosing to stand down even while twice recognizing that a helicopter might be needed in the environment.
Name some.In some cases even one second could make the difference between life or death...
Good thing she signed the waiver, huh?...or between less internal injury and more internal injury, or less brain damage or more brain damage by hemorrhage quantity.
032-081414The pilot's up here on top of the hill.
Would it have been OK if Zack 'n' Alec's mom had immediately bailed and started driving back home - thus complicating the congestion on the actual roads the actual emergency responders were navigating to respond? Wouldn't that have been much more likely to add a critical second or two to the critical response time?4. Not choosing to stand down when not knowing just how such incident scene will be affecting the tandem flight he was doing.
042-100223Of just how such scene...
044-100927...will affect the boy or the combination of himself and the boy.
045-101029Get me!
Seems to be getting over it - as well as can be expected anyway.Take a picture!
028-0500045. Handling and using the apparently unleashed cell phone.
Well, if he'd flown into another glider - a lot. But I'm thinking that the unleashed cell phone would be less of an issue than an unleashed leopard.How much loss of attention could make a difference for his tandem flight?
How much is needed? Compare/Contrast with a boy in a car with the steward turning the fan on and switching the vents to defog the windshield.How much focused attention is due to his stewardship of the boy?
What percentage of Kelly's available hands are you estimating that Kelly needed on the basetube while his glider was on its way to being slammed in by its towline? A hundred or fifty? Was fifty adequate enough to dedicate the other fifty to effect the easy reach required to disconnect the towline slamming them in?I am estimating that 100% of his attention should be on his flight once he was in the air, as the boy's life and well-being deserves 100% focus.
The helmet was totally cool under the new Bob Kuczewski Mandatory Helmet At All Times While Hooked Into A Glider Regulation. Just says a helmet - doesn't say it's gotta fit or can't be lined with concrete.6. The multiple times of the boy's self-adjusting the too-large helmet was distractive even watching the video.
1. I dunno... Any chance he'll be picking his nose?Will the boy be adjusting his helmet when he needs to focus on the hand positions instructed in pre-launch?
Which would've been next week? Probably not.Could Brad have aborted the joy-thrill ride until a proper helmet was available?
None if you don't crash. And if you DO crash it's a crap shoot regarding what kind of outcome you're gonna have relative to the helmet you are or aren't using. I'll bet there's a scenario in which you're better off with a real loosely fitting helmet like that one.Of course. How many points of risk are involved with having a too-large helmet over such a young neck?
1. Why would you wanna avoid less neck injury?And why are there not helmets that integrate with torso and spine to avoid less neck injury?
Why was that not specified in the new Bob Kuczewski Mandatory Helmet At All Times While Hooked Into A Glider Regulation? (Please don't give him any ideas.)Why was the boy not fitted with a neck-space-filler torus?
1. As opposed to elbow biting another PG's LE?7. The offing of PIC helmet while paying attention to mouth bite another PG's LE ?
Probably goes up a little. Guessing it peaks out at about 0.01 percent of trying to foot land a hang glider in light air.What occurs to the risk portfolio during close-contact with another PG?
I didn't say SIGNIFICANT risk.Does adding the significant risk of such contact flying...
I'm guessing it WOULD. ONE of the parents had watched a paraglider slam in after an LZ midair and get very seriously fucked up one minute before her kid Zack would've lifted off, two minutes before Zack DID lift off, seven minutes before her other kid Alec lifts off and doesn't have a problem. She says:...a matter that would be approved by the parents?
And Zack's OK.Zack... You OK?
Didn't see anything.By the tandem SOP's of instructor certification?
Didn't see anything there either.Does such arrangements of two PGs fall within the FAA tandem waiver expectation?
Yeah. Just like he did when he took off with the kid. Just like Mom did when she threw Zack and Alec in the car for the drive to the gliderport. They'd have all been safer - and gotten healthier workouts - if they'd stayed home and played badminton in the backyard that day. But the way things went they got experiences beyond description and memories that'll last them the rest of their lives.Did Brad increase risks to the boy's life and well being by choosing to enter the PG-to-PG complex?
093-1906248. On the second coupling of PG-to-PG where Brad grabs lines of the other PG....
I won't know until after I hear about an actual snag incident resulting from somebody pulling this trick. Don't hold you're breath waiting for good crunchable data....how much risk was tolerating added with regard to snag-line potential.
Compared to thousands of people using Davis Links as the focal points of their safe towing systems for hundreds of thousands of tows for a couple of decades. How much risk of me getting eaten by a Polar Bear coming back from the mailbox?Risk adding for at least three persons: how much?
List the three most serious injuries resulting from paragliders falling on people on the ground.Falling PGs are risks to people on the ground also.
Blowback comes to mind immediately. Probably a good idea to have a face shielded helmet if you're gonna make that a regular feature of your lessons.9. What are the potential problems of teaching a boy to spit into the open air;
We're not. That's why I always do so closedly from low points in the air. I end up crashing into trees and powerlines a lot more that way but the law's the law.I did not think we are permitted to openly spit from high points in the air.
I don't think he needed to. Looked like a pretty high quality spitting situation to me.I did not hear Brad qualifying the spitting situation.
I hope so. I love watching Californians who are convinced that vaccinations cause autism writhing in agonizing death throes when they get hit by easily preventable diseases.Will the spit carry what potential germs to people on the ground and in the houses?
'Cause then you've gotta launder one's sweat shirt and California doesn't have enough water to do that - thanks to this global warming that's not happening.Why not spit into one's sweat shirt?
Yeah, but they never actual ENFORCE laws against pilots who harm others. If they did there'd be lotsa tuggies doing very long prison sentences.FAA requires that pilots do no harm to others.
DUDE! I never...We do not know the health quotient of the boy's spit.
104-192718Check out these pelicans.
Probably not many. The spitting Special Skill signoff is an extra thirty bucks.And now one can wonder how many students Brad has told about spitting.
Not this one, Joe. I'm more worried about eleven year olds being slammed in on terrain like this:And one wonders about Brad's spitting record.
Can't imagine why the Torrey Pines instructor wasn't similarly grateful.Rick Masters - 2015/04/25 02:46:51 UTC
Bob,
I want to thank you for pointing out to the Torrey Pines instructor that he was training paragliding students while hooked in without wearing a helmet.
Course it is and does, Rick - you just told us all it is and does. And who are we muppets to disagree?This casual approach to training is non-professional and reflects poorly on the sport.
And Bob's ALWAYS been deeply concerned about making all aspects of these sports less dangerousAs you know, it is also dangerous.
And from that snippet we can all safely assume that:I just came across this article. It makes the point.http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-7151267.htmlParaglider injured by a gust of wind
Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
GENOLA -- A paraglider suffered severe head injuries Wednesday when a gust of wind picked him up on takeoff and slammed him into the ground, according to the Utah County Sheriff's Office. The man's identity wasn't released, pending notification of relatives.
As you certainly know, being attached to a paraglider without a helmet is an unnecessary risk.
We ALL are, Rick. I just don't know how any of us managed to survive as long as we did without Bob's selfless and tireless dedication to safety and intervention on our behalf.I'm sure the instructor was grateful.
...least eighty percent of which could've been prevented by the new Bob Kuczewski Mandatory Helmet At All Times While Hooked Into A Glider Regulation...As well, I'm sure, was your Regional Director and the members of the USHPA Board of Directors, should they come to hear of it. With so many deaths and injuries at Torrey Pines over the years...
Yeah, Rick. Real bitch that Bob and his Bob Kuczewski Mandatory Helmet At All Times While Hooked Into A Glider Regulation wasn't around when your buddy Bob...I am sure the USHPA wants to keep bad publicity for the sport at a minimum. And it's only through pilots like you Bob, who keep a sharp eye out for bad behavior, that this is possible.
...Dunn decided to skip the hook-in check and run off Plowshare. Then he'd have been wearing a helmet and would've been just fine.Rick Masters - 2011/10/26 23:07:48 UTC
My good friends Bob Dunn and Dave Butz both launched unhooked. Bob held on to his base tube all the way down from Plowshare. The impact split his skull and he suffered terribly until he died during the night, alone.
And past, current, and future total asshole.Thanks again,
Rick Masters
- President, Cross Country Pilots Association (1983-85)
- former FAI Observer and USHGA Special Observer
u$hPa - meaning Tim Herr and all his sellout cocksuckers - will NEVER allow an SOP which ADDRESSES AN ACTUAL PROBLEM to go on the books - PERIOD.Mark G. Forbes - 2012/12/20 06:21:33 UTC
We're re-working the accident reporting system, but again it's a matter of getting the reports submitted and having a volunteer willing to do the detail work necessary to get them posted. There are also numerous legal issues associated with accident reports, which we're still wrestling with. It's a trade-off between informing our members so they can avoid those kinds of accidents in the future, and exposing ourselves to even more lawsuits by giving plaintiff's attorneys more ammunition to shoot at us.
Imagine a report that concludes, "If we'd had a procedure "x" in place, then it would have probably prevented this accident. And we're going to put that procedure in place at the next BOD meeting." Good info, and what we want to be able to convey. But what comes out at trial is, "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, my client suffered injury because USHPA knew or should have known that a safety procedure was not in place, and was therefore negligent and at fault." We're constantly walking this line between full disclosure and handing out nooses at the hangmen's convention.
..."GUIDELINES".Jim Rooney - 2011/08/26 10:11:31 UTC
Oh, btw... before you go there, cuz it is where you're headed... please note the word "Guidelines".
As I said.
Been through this shit a million freaking times.
Please quit trying to educate me about my job.
not one single instructor has EVER implemented it. And nobody's EVER been fucked up or killed because he didn't do a hook-in check. He just wasn't FOCUSED enough to do the hang check - which has NEVER been a u$hPa SOP.1981/05
With each flight, demonstrates a method of establishing that the pilot is hooked in just prior to launch.
http://www.rmhpa.org/messageboard/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4258Ryan Voight - 2012/08/28 06:14:06 UTC
What USHPA reg are you referencing specifically?
And no, in a thread titled "Critique my radial ramp launch" that video is also pretty much entirely off topic.
You want to discuss/debate/dictate people's pre-launch habits, great, just don't hijack someone else's thread about radial ramp technique.
Since this video starts with him on launch, we don't know if he did a hook-in check already, a hang check, a preflight, took a pee before putting his harness on, or drove a hybrid car to launch... Why are you critiquing what you don't know, didn't see, didn't ask about, and isn't what he asked for critique on??? WTF?
On the other hand... FORCING pilots to do stupid dangerous shit like...Tom Galvin - 2012/10/31 22:17:21 UTC
I don't teach lift and tug, as it gives a false sense of security.
...standup spot landings is never a problem 'cause WHEN they get fucked up or killed the reason will ALWAYS be that they hadn't practiced / weren't good enough.Jim Rooney - 2011/06/12 13:57:58 UTC
Most common HG injury... spiral fracture of the humerus.
Tad Eareckson - 2015/04/25 08:52:05 UTC
broken link
Jean Lake, Page 5:
http://www.ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1802&start=40
Warren's 2015/04/03 03:47:33 UTC post.
This:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8737/16790136379_b3f1b660be_c.jpg
was the image address for a screen shot with which I had to make do until I got ahold of a YouTube video and was able to do the job right.
This one:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8737/16790136379_a8f8fceb9a_c.jpg
same frame, is the functioning replacement.
(Full resolution:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8737/16790136379_c1c17b2f86_o.png)
Bob Kuczewski - 2015/04/26 01:27:19 UTC
Hi Tad,
Thanks for the update, but I really hate to see people breaking things on the web. You may have no idea how many people have linked to that picture, and it's a shame to see them all coming up broken.
My suggestion is that people leave things the way they are and just add new stuff. Otherwise it's a nightmare to propagate all those changes throughout the web.
I'll pass your message on to Warren and ask him what he wants me to do (if anything) to his posts.
Bob
Bob Kuczewski - 2015/04/26 01:33:29 UTC
Hi Tad,
Here's the PM that I just sent to Warren.
BobHi Warren,
Thanks for your help in building the US Hawks!!!!
I got an email message from Tad with the following quote directed at your posts:It looks like he's updated his pictures and removed the old ones which broke your links to his photos. Please take a look and let me know if you'd like me to make any changes to your posts to refer to the new photos or make any other changes....
Thanks again.
Bob
- It's the fuckin' web - get used to it. Links get broken, photos disappear, videos and forums are locked down and made inaccessible. And, while I think of it, DO please pass on my thanks to Scott for giving Davis a justification he could use to delete the entire "SGAA Coup d'état Almost Complete" thread.Thanks for the update, but I really hate to see people breaking things on the web.
But I DO. My idea is ONE. You're more than welcome to prove me wrong.You may have no idea how many people have linked to that picture...
Yeah Bob. That's why I went to the trouble of writing you and providing you with the fix to just paste in and click "Submit"....and it's a shame to see them all coming up broken.
Thank you very much for your suggestion. My suggestion is that people constantly revise resource material to fix typos and spelling and grammar issues, minimize redundancy, improve readability and documentation, better illustrate points - all without altering meanings, intent - and patch broken links to restore original material when possible and provide reasonable or better facsimiles when not.My suggestion is that people leave things the way they are and just add new stuff.
It would be a lot less of a nightmare if you'd just fix the fuckin' post to have it back the way it was when the author submitted and as he intended it.Otherwise it's a nightmare to propagate all those changes throughout the web.
Wonderful.I'll pass your message on to Warren and ask him what he wants me to do (if anything) to his posts.
Yeah Warren. You should expect to start seeing some there there any day now.Thanks for your help in building the US Hawks!!!!
- No, it looks like he replaced a video still with a better quality one from the same frame. And Flickr's providing this service to me/us for free and I don't wanna add to their storage expense and my cataloging headaches with shitloads of virtually identical duplicates.It looks like he's updated his pictures and removed the old ones which broke your links to his photos.
I'd be shocked if he didn't want the new link and the ability to add it himself.I'll pass your message on to Warren and ask him what he wants me to do (if anything) to his posts.