Broken arm Saturday for discussion

[Tad Eareckson]

Tell him that the video that came out of his last foray into aviation is an extremely valuable weapon in our battle against evil and that he has my undying gratitude. But it might be a good idea to let someone more deserving - Mark Knight ferinstance - star in the next one.

T** at K*** S******

P.S. Sure would be nice to get him on the team. Don't imagine I'd have much trouble convincing him of anything in this department.

[llwest@comcast.net]

Update.
Bryan never came back to un-powered foot launching. He bought a motor and a trike and only flies it now.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skysailingtowing/message/4593
Weaklinks

Peter Birren - 2005/02/08 19:22:49 UTC

What is the big issue? Re-launching? Oh, the wasted time! Oh, the hassle! Oh, the embarrassment! These are sure preferrable to Oh Shit!

Truck Tow Low Save

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZe522MRipY


Truck Towing in Birchip, Australia

What Could Go Wrong?
...
SHIT!! OMG!!!

Gawd how I'd love to have a figure for the total three decade cost of the global cult of hang gliding swallowing Donnell's lunatic strategy of using a weak link as a pitch and lockout limiter.

Relights, turnaround and soaring time, crashes, injuries, careers, deaths... Mind-boggling stupidity.

And on whose chests does USHGA pin the Safety Awards?

Oh well, at least Bryan's starting in his new flavor of aviation with an excellent understanding of the danger of engine failure on takeoff.

[llwest@comcast.net]

Lol. Yep. I bet he doesn't pop his nose on launch either.

[Tad Eareckson]

On a trike he's probably gonna hafta work a good bit to keep it down - but the good news is he'll be taking off (and landing) on wheels and he's gonna have and be able to keep his hands where they belong at all times.

[Steve Davy]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=27757
Tow Session and AT Clinic.....Anyone?

Mark Knight - 2013/01/18 03:21:59 UTC

You can come down here to Arizona and get your aero-tow rating anytime you want.

1:50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R27kKQIVNgw


Great. Do you also offer an aero-tow qualification program, or do I have to go elsewhere for that?

[Tad Eareckson]

AviationDad

Nicely done Greg! Quick response on the weak link too.

Bryan...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYe3YmdIQTM


Try starting with more altitude next time.

[miguel]

Goes for the big altitude as soon as his feet leave the ground. That seems to be standard operating procedure for hg. Why not climb slowly and build airspeed until safe airspeed obtained? Prolly works for weak, weak links, too.

[Tad Eareckson]

That seems to be standard operating procedure for hg.

It's standard operating procedure for ANY aircraft.

BUT...

- It's pretty much NEVER a good thing for an aircraft...



...to lose power on takeoff - despite what one continually hears from scum like Dennis Pagen, Peter Birren, Rooney, and damn near all Dragonfly drivers.

- A Hang Two doesn't deserve to have an arm broken in three places as punishment for a less than perfect launch and climbout.

- I don't give a rat's ass how perfect your launch and climbout is. You get hit by the wrong shit shortly after coming off the ground...

Dennis Pagen - 2005/01

Soon after lift-off the trike tug and I were hit by the mother of all thermals. Since I was much lighter, I rocketed up well above the tug, while the very experienced tug pilot, Neal Harris, said he was also lifted more than he had ever been in his heavy trike. I pulled in all the way, but could see that I wasn't going to come down unless something changed.

I hung on and resisted the tendency to roll to the side with as strong a roll input as I could, given that the bar was at my knees. I didn't want to release, because I was so close to the ground and I knew that the glider would be in a compromised attitude. In addition, there were hangars and trees on the left, which is the way the glider was tending.

...you are FUCKED. Mother Nature has this funny habit of taking options off the table every now and then - so it's a damn good idea to equip oneself with ones she has little or no control over.

- The decision of when to terminate a tow should be made by the PILOT...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=26870
weak links

Zack C - 2012/08/19 18:03

The decision of when to terminate a tow should be made by the pilot, not a piece of string.

...not a piece of string.

Prolly works for weak, weak links, too.

Anybody stupid enough to insist on weak, weak links at this point in our history deserves whatever the hell happens to him.

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=16265
weaklinks

Kinsley Sykes - 2010/03/18 19:42:19 UTC

In the old threads there was a lot of info from a guy named Tad. Tad had a very strong opinion on weak link strength and it was a lot higher than most folks care for. I'd focus carefully on what folks who tow a lot have to say. Or Jim Rooney who is an excellent tug pilot. I tow with the "park provided" weak links. I think they are 130 pound Greenspot.

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

Kinsley Sykes - 2011/08/31 11:35:36 UTC

Well actually he didn't. But if you don't want to listen to the folks that actually know what they are talking about, go ahead.
Feel free to go the the tow park that Tad runs...

And I'm gonna feel nothing but unbridled joy WHEN it does. The gene pool is one of my top two or three causes.

[miguel]

Early in my towing career, I went for the altitude as soon as my feet left the ground. I got high and was happy. When I got back on the ground, the instructor made an angry beeline to me. He was screaming and yelling the whole way. He explained rope break or weak link break, the nose points to the ground and you follow. Broken aluminum and broken bones follow that. I got about a 20 minute lecture. The mantra was build speed, shallow climb, then try for altitude at a safe airspeed and altitude. Sailplane folks did the same thing. I have had countless weaklink breaks and always had enough airspeed to make a decent landing.

Not everyone buys into push out when your feet leave the ground.