Dear Niki...

General discussion about the sport of hang gliding
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Tad Eareckson
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Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC

Re: Dear Niki...

Post by Tad Eareckson »

http://www.facebook.com/niki.longshore
(38) Niki Longshore
Niki Longshore - 2018/01/01 19:46

The way I was spiraling down compared to where I had landed and how gentle it was, my guardian angel was looking over me. Power lines behind me, a fence and trees in front. I was saved.

I don't know what happened, why it did, or why I'm here, but I'm here to tell you I believe it was my guardian angel. ???? Thank you Jesus for another day.
Are you even AWARE that another participant in this comp bought the fuckin' farm on Forbes Flatlands Day 2 two days ago? A flyer of your gender and close to your age and victim of the total shit and fairly local training program?

Why do ya think? They were running low on guardian angels? Jesus looked at your backgrounds and found you more deserving?

How 'bout that little kid south of Vegas close to three years ago? What shortcomings do you think he had that merited him getting passed over?

My take on your incident... You were flying too fast in the world class violently unstable air to which gliders flock from all points of the planet. And hang gliders have some really dangerous limitations that conventional certified sailplanes don't. And...
Conditions: It's Forbes, baby. We come here for these conditions! I did feel a bit scared on practice day and I flew very conservatively exiting the thermals, gliding no more than 80kph in between thermals, and keeping VG 3/4 or less. I talked to the boys afterwards who did not feel it was rough, so that night I had a cup of concrete to harden up. (Insert Chopper emoji here). Yeww! Get it intya.

Confidence: I grew more confident each day as I adapted to the hardcore air. The concrete was doing me good. On the day of the tumble I was gliding over 90 kph to catch up to Jonny and Attila and ditch the gaggle behind. I kept my VG mostly at 3/4, sometimes in the red. When I pulled away from the gaggle, I was in the red when I tumbled.
You know this. (Group intelligence component going on.)

Emma, on the other hand, was just doing what she'd been brainwashed to from Day One, Flight One and got hit by the same kinda shit at an altitude at which a parachute wasn't a problem.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=53018
Niki Longshore makes Brasilia fund raising goal
Boorune - 2017/06/29 17:35:51 UTC

Because old bastards that I'm friends with keep popping up in my news feed, commenting on her posts. I see the attraction but claiming her achievements are worthy of drool says more about your standards.

My only point is if she looked like an old bastard she wouldn't even raise enough for new down tube.

If I had her assets, I'd be fleecing you all too.
Partially guilty here. Ya watch those early videos, see all that cute-little-kid type enthusiasm, remember what it was like decades ago at that stage.

And I'm seeing releases and beautiful landings with both hands on the control bar - the glider in certified configuration from dolly launched start to finish. And I get my hopes up and drop my guard.

And Niki, I know this wouldn't matter at all to you 'cause you've only logged in here once - 2014/07/08 22:45:47 UTC - right after I connected your wire (2014/07/07 16:15:34 UTC) but I've been on the verge of cutting it for the past couple days.

I'll leave it at this for now instead. You're not gonna leave the sport one molecule's worth better than you found it. (And it's not gonna survive on the path it's now speeding along.)

And note, people of varying ages, that after over 38 years since the advent of the UP Comet our gliders have gotten a fair bit faster, cleaner, better handling but they'll still do what Niki's did when the shit really hits the fan. And that was just a hair's breadth and a good bit of luck away from being another fatal.
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