Re: Releases
Posted: 2011/03/15 18:31:00 UTC
http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=21242
Mouth Release - Where / How can I get one ???
EXTREMELY disturbing about the Koch two stage. I guess you're right, Zack. You really CAN'T trust anyone in this sport - not even the Germans. I never load tested the thing myself. I knew it wasn't very mechanically efficient but it still looked like overkill. What tension were you pulling and what weak link were you using.
Mike, you better get in touch with that guy not a million miles away.
Well, she didn't actually lose any teeth but it took fifteen hours of surgery to replace and repair just about everything else in her face. Try giving it a shot with an open face helmet.
Best o' luck.
Yeah, it's a dead man's switch. It's beautiful.
Octopii... Yeah they got lotsa legs - but not that many "i"s.
Yeah, you SHOULD always be prepared for an "accidental" release.
But there's no more such thing as an "accidental" release as there is an "accident".
Or? Forget "or". Work on "even if". There can be situations in which you can be as bloody well "prepared" as possible and you're still gonna be dead. We killed two young pilots in 1996 that way - and didn't learn shit from either one. Keep fearing them and make sure you never have one - even if they're almost never BFDs.
Your head isn't immobile. You can look around as much as you need to. But you have to be the one to decide what your priorities are gonna be.
Mouth Release - Where / How can I get one ???
Zack C - 2011/03/15 12:49:57 UTC
Houston
You beat me to it, Chad...I was about to post this exact topic. I currently use a Lookout release also but due to events I'll spare you all I may have to aerotow launch on foot rather than off a dolly in the near future and the Lookout release isn't going to cut it. Since foot launching involves transitioning hands a mouth release would be ideal.
I'd also like to use one for platform towing if this can be done...I'm not aware of any platform tow release that doesn't require the pilot to take a hand off the bar.
I suck mechanically, though, so I'd really like something off-the-shelf...
Where do you fly? Steve lives in DC and was using that thing every tow at Ridgely last I knew.Brad Barkley - 2011/03/15 14:04:49 UTC
Frostburg
I could find only this:
http://ozreport.com/docs/squidlinks.htm
You could make the Linknife work - as long as you didn't do anything insane like using a bungee as a lanyard. Use Dacron (low stretch) leechline or better for this and all lanyards.Al Dicken (aqua) - 2011/03/15 14:04:49 UTC
British Columbia
I thought about using a Linknife release with a short bungy, and holding a tab between the teeth. Just an idea, never tried it. As I have a truck driver / air brake license, the beauty of a system operating on the lack of pressure (etc) is interesting.
I use a Finsterwalder Koch 2-step release; a fine piece of equipment, but one needs to take a hand off the control frame to activate it.
The one release problem I had was with a different mechanical release and a dyslectic rookie (scooter) winch operator. I was signalling "less pressure! less pressure!" and he's giving more and more. There was alot of tension on the release, and it wouldn't let go. Three times I had to take my hand off the control frame trying to release. No fun, just about s--- myself! All the while I was swearing and yelling! A mouth release would have worked like a dream!
EXTREMELY disturbing about the Koch two stage. I guess you're right, Zack. You really CAN'T trust anyone in this sport - not even the Germans. I never load tested the thing myself. I knew it wasn't very mechanically efficient but it still looked like overkill. What tension were you pulling and what weak link were you using.
Mike, you better get in touch with that guy not a million miles away.
You wanna good way to get rid of teeth? Talk to Holly and use and use one of those very very reliable bent pin releases Steve Wendt and Davis sell.Dennis Wood (peanuts) - 2011/03/15 14:36:55 UTC
Suffolk, Virginia
looks like a way to get rid of my other two teeth. now if someone would just come up with a transportation aid, perhaps round and with the ability to rotate around a shaft or axle through its center...
Well, she didn't actually lose any teeth but it took fifteen hours of surgery to replace and repair just about everything else in her face. Try giving it a shot with an open face helmet.
Best o' luck.
I don't think Steve (Kinsley) has been on the Oz rag for half a dozen years. But if you get in touch with me I can probably put you in touch with him.Chad May - 2011/03/15 14:39:01 UTC
I tried to contact the "squidlinks" guy... wrote him an email via Oz. He may have never got it... don't know what became of his effort.
Yeah, a "dead man's switch" as Red calls it, seems only logical. And we don't have enough hands as it is in HG. Feet are busy doing something else... kinda only leaves our mouth.
I wonder if on some planet, octopii have learned to fly... bet they don't have this problem... I can't believe I just wrote that... it rhymes anyway.
For all those who fear accidental release... my understanding is that you should always be prepared for this anyway. Or?
Now back to work.
Yeah, it's a dead man's switch. It's beautiful.
Octopii... Yeah they got lotsa legs - but not that many "i"s.
Yeah, you SHOULD always be prepared for an "accidental" release.
But there's no more such thing as an "accidental" release as there is an "accident".
Or? Forget "or". Work on "even if". There can be situations in which you can be as bloody well "prepared" as possible and you're still gonna be dead. We killed two young pilots in 1996 that way - and didn't learn shit from either one. Keep fearing them and make sure you never have one - even if they're almost never BFDs.
Casey Cox - 2011/03/15 16:10:52 UTC
I don't know about safer. I would not like my head immobile.
If you really wanna get your head immobilized then use a Davis Release. Otherwise put up with two hundred feet's worth of not being able to look behind you like an owl. Then if you wanna look behind you like an owl lock it and spit out the trigger line.The Herald on Sunday - 2009/01/10
Hurt hang glider pilot joked bravely with friends after a crash landing, unaware that his injuries were fatal.
But he began losing consciousness as he awaited the arrival of paramedics.
Aucklander Stephen Elliot, 48, was taking part in the Forbes Flatland Hang Gliding Championship in Sydney last Saturday (2009/01/03) when he landed (dolly launched) badly.
Elliot shattered four bones in his neck and damaged several blood vessels that supplied blood to the brain. He was flown to the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney and put into an induced coma but died on Monday.
Police said the Australian Transport Safety Bureau was investigating the accident.
Your head isn't immobile. You can look around as much as you need to. But you have to be the one to decide what your priorities are gonna be.