...she was really surprised when she was totally incapable of prying her Bailey backup release open under a max 29 percent towline tension in a lockout training exercise.Jim Rooney - 2011/08/26 17:34:33 UTC
Her hand slipped on the metal tube as she was expecting a light pull.
...she was really surprised when things started going seriously tits up after the first second.Lauren Tjaden - 2008/03/23 22:20:15 UTC
When Jim got me locked out to the right, I couldn't keep the pitch of the glider with one hand for more than a second (the pressure was a zillion pounds, more or less)...
...she was really surprised when it rotated away from her when she tried to hit it and the one handed lockout continued without interruption.Lauren Tjaden - 2008/03/23 22:20:15 UTC
...but the F'ing release slid around when I tried to hit it.
...of under coin toss odds in lighter tension exercises - and the people who trained her were ALSO total fucking morons - she had no fuckin' clue what a big favor Bobby Fucking-Genius Bailey accidentally did her...Jim Rooney - 2009/11/02 18:58:13 UTC
Oh yeah... an other fun fact for ya... ya know when it's far more likely to happen? During a lockout. When we're doing lockout training, the odds go from 1 in 1,000 to over 50/50.
...when he "designed" a secondary release with such pathetic load capacity...Rohan Holtkamp - 2008/04/21
Once again history has shown us that this thread-through system can hook up and the hang glider remains being towed by the keel only, with the bridle well out of reach of even a hook knife. I know of just one pilot to survive this type of hook-up, took him some twelve months to walk again though.
...that she couldn't even get it to function as a backup release.Lauren Tjaden - 2008/03/23 22:20:15 UTC
The barrel release wouldn't work because we had too much pressure on it.
...she continued using the same Industry Standard equipment and selling and endorsing it and assuring people that the weak link would save them if they got too far out of whack.Lauren Tjaden - 2008/03/23 22:20:15 UTC
Anyhow, the tandem can indeed perform big wingovers, as I demonstrated when I finally got separated from the tug.
...she was SHOCKED at how profoundly it had welded itself to a part of the towing system that was originally scheduled to stay and go down with the tug...Lauren Tjaden - 2011/07/29 15:16:29 UTC
I was flying a tandem this morning, and when I released (from the three point bridle) the line briefly released and then wrapped around the 'biner that we tow from. The sharp, strong pull almost immediately broke the weak link on the tug plane, which of course left me with the rope. I released the bridle from my shoulders (with the barrel release) and dropped the rope over the field without incident.
When I retrieved the rope and bridle after the flight, I was shocked at how profoundly the line had wrapped around the 'biner.
...and thought that other total fucking morons might be interested in seeing what can actually happen:I have heard about the line being able to wrap, but in thousands of aerotows I have never experienced it. I thought readers might be interested to see actually happens.
...she was just sick about the great tragedy of losing someone so young and vital...Lauren Tjaden - 2011/08/01 02:01:06 UTC
For whomever asked about the function of a weak link, it is to release the glider and plane from each other when the tow forces become greater than desirable -- whether that is due to a lockout or a malfunction of equipment or whatever. This can save a glider, a tow pilot, or more often, a hang glider pilot who does not get off of tow when he or she gets too far out of whack.
...when it did the precise opposite.Lauren Tjaden - 2013/02/07 23:56:42 UTC
I am posting the report my husband, Paul Tjaden, just wrote about Zach Marzec's death at Quest. It is a great tragedy to lose someone so young and vital. We are sick about it, and our hearts go out to his friends, family and loved ones.
Peter Holloway - 2018/01/02 14:36
There was no suggestion that she was expecting anything other that a routine landing.
