Quest Air 2018 - state of the art AT

[Tad Eareckson]

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Tad Eareckson - 2018/04/24 23:00:00 UTC

I've moved the following 50 consecutive posts (everything existing from that point on to date) discussing the 2018/03/23 Quest aerotow launch crash from "Releases" to consolidate them with this newly created "Quest Air" topic (based upon a 2018/04/16 Matt Pruett video in which a gold mine's worth of relevant / smoking gun evidence is revealed. (The last of those - from Brian - is what brought this video to my attention.) To skip over the old transplants and get to the new stuff starting at the top of Page 6:

http://www.kitestrings.org/post10952.html#p10952

Hit count on "Releases":
80392 - at the time of the first post addressing the 2018/03/23 Westmoreland launch crash
81084 - at the time of the transfer
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P.S - 2018/04/25 00:45:00 UTC

Screwed the pooch a substantial bit doing the transfer. Brian caught it before/while I was realizing that there was something majorly wrong with the pictures. (Somehow managed to miss about a page's worth.)
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P.P.S - 2018/04/27 16:05:00 UTC

Major overhaul yesterday. Try as one might it's IMPOSSIBLE to do the job totally right on the first pass on a project of this magnitude. Little gems inevitably get missed and details to which one initially perceives as having zilch significance can become totally epic as the analysis evolves with additional information, better understanding, older issues are recalled.

I replaced 102538 with 102443 (a similar but better from two and a half seconds prior nicely illustrating an issue) and amended the series with fifteen new stills which improved continuity and caught stuff I'd missed.

And that effort cost me another very long day - which ended in today's wee hours (with Yours Truly mostly blind). Total nightmare overhauling sequence numbers, time stamps, the archive, editing and proofreading relevant posts.

Note: I'll likely be making minor edits - like amending photos and narration segment transcripts - to the five video archive posts:

2018/04/24 20:00:01 UTC
2018/04/24 20:00:16 UTC
2018/04/24 20:00:45 UTC
2018/04/24 20:01:07 UTC
2018/04/24 20:01:27 UTC

without notification as we're pretty much just talking about providing more convenient looks at, listens to what's been publicly available on the video since 2018/04/16. Nothing's really being added to or subtracted from.
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http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=55583
Getting caught in the cart by your wheel

Davis Straub - 2018/03/28 11:54:07 UTC

Tipped up and over

A sequence of shots for a incident on launch:

1
http://c1.staticflickr.com/1/877/39383252930_69a1edef34_o.jpg


The right wing has been lifted. The pilot appears to be holding onto the hose on the right side and lifting the cart. The cart is heading off to the pilot's left side and not on the track that the cart should be taking behind the Dragonfly. The tow rope is pulling the pilot to the right. The prevailing wind had actually been a little bit from the left, but thermals can come through the field.

Two or more seconds (nine photos) later the pilot is no longer holding on to the hose on the right hand side (and doesn't appear to be holding on the left hand side either) as the cart has been dropped:

4
http://c1.staticflickr.com/1/791/41148936032_e4097df8cd_o.jpg


The glider is also now tipped forward as you can see by the fact that the tail is high off the back cradle. The pilot is pulled by the tow rope all the way over to the right in the control frame. You can see the tow rope still connected to him. The cart has gone way off to the left. The base tube appears to have slid off the left front cradle.

If you look at the left side of his base tube you can see that the left white wheel is below the height of the front tube of the cart. It may be caught under the tube. The glider is tipped up, and the base tube is just above the front cradles on the left (and quite a ways above on the right). This allows the left wheel to drop down to the side of the left cradle to below the front tube of the cart. If the wheel is caught under this tube, the pilot has no chance to recover.

5
http://c1.staticflickr.com/1/900/26320843187_42024d4ef3_o.jpg


The photos are being taken at a rate of 3 to 4 a second. This is the next photo. The glider's control frame is still jammed on the left side on the cart with the white wheel below the cart tubes . The glider and the cart are going in different directions. The pilot is reaching out to break his fall. He fractures his elbow with a dislocation. The glider is unhurt.

6
http://c1.staticflickr.com/1/865/26320837657_a2ea7a8803_o.jpg


Two photos later. The left white base tube wheel is jammed into the left corner of the cart. with the base tube on top of the front cart tube.

If the angle on the cart was too high, he would have been stalled before he was able to be pulled forward and had the keel raised up to get out of the stalled angle.

Photos by Bob Grant.

Tipped up and over

A sequence of shots for a incident on launch:

Oh. An INCIDENT. So surely we'll shortly be getting a report from the relevant flight park. They're obviously taking extra time in order to make double sure they get everything absolutely right down to the tiniest detail.

1
http://c1.staticflickr.com/1/877/39383252930_69a1edef34_o.jpg


The right wing has been lifted.

No fuckin' shit. It's tracking pretty much sideways to the pull from the tug. So how did that happen?

The pilot appears to be holding onto the hose on the right side and lifting the cart.

Like he's supposed to and everyone does?

The cart is heading off to the pilot's left side and not on the track that the cart should be taking behind the Dragonfly.

- Stupid cart.
- What Dragonfly? Who's driving it?
- Again... WHY?

The tow rope is pulling the pilot to the right.

No shit. He should be OK shortly because the weight shift will work to bring the high wing back down. Exactly like when you're foot launching and running under the high wing...

069-25104-reversed
http://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1572/26142964830_289bc3f2cb_o.png


...without any torque input applied through your hands. It's the sideways pull on the keel that gets the glider to respond in the desired manner.

1
http://c1.staticflickr.com/1/877/39383252930_69a1edef34_o.jpg

The prevailing wind had actually been a little bit from the left...

WHOSE left, motherfucker? His or ours? (He means HIS. But he doesn't know what port and starboard mean so he can't make things unambiguous.)

...but thermals can come through the field.

- No shit. Got that, people of varying ages? Thermals can come through the field. Who'da thunk?

- I thought we'd learned from the Zack Marzec incident from just up the road a bit over five years ago not to tow in thermal conditions.

- So Davis gives us this bullshit statement and the people who don't know how to read Davis start assuming that this glider got rolled onto its wingtip by some monster thermal that nobody's confirming while all the gliders in the background are sitting around just fine.

- Note that there's no cart monkey...

17-10028
http://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8296/29265106491_d6fba10d47_o.png


...running the glider up to speed. And that if there HAD been it's an absolute no brainer that this glider would've gotten safely airborne.

And note the "ranch hand":

1
http://c1.staticflickr.com/1/877/39383252930_69a1edef34_o.jpg


on the ATV doing cart retrieval duty.

- The idea that this crash was the consequence of a thermal putting things on the path south is absolutely absurd. And although a powerful gust of some kind could MAYBE lift a wing - although the only other weak example that comes to mind is John Claytor trying to launch at Ridgely on 2014/06/02 in that insane gusting crosswind - it could not POSSIBLY explain the cart tracking away from the tug at something around a 45 degree angle. What we're seeing here is the first on-the-surface rolling lockout in the history of hang glider aerotowing.

http://www.wallaby.com/aerotow_primer.php
Aerotow Primer for Experienced Pilots

The Wallaby Ranch Aerotowing Primer for Experienced Pilots - 2018/03/28

Launching
A Ranch Hand will assist you.

Also note that there's no mention of there having been no cart monkey.

Two or more seconds (nine photos) later the pilot is no longer holding on to the hose on the right hand side (and doesn't appear to be holding on the left hand side either) as the cart has been dropped:

4
http://c1.staticflickr.com/1/791/41148936032_e4097df8cd_o.jpg

Dropped the cart but didn't release. Go figure. Must've been trying to fix a bad thing and not wanting to start over. Guess the tug driver was thinking the same thing 'cause I've heard they can fix whatever's going on back there by giving the glider the rope.

(Note that the towline is lined up pretty much perfectly with the top wire of the chain-link fence in the background. But what we're seeing is indeed all towline.)

The glider is also now tipped forward as you can see by the fact that the tail is high off the back cradle.

Really? I was under the impression that...

http://www.wallaby.com/aerotow_primer.php
Aerotow Primer for Experienced Pilots

The Wallaby Ranch Aerotowing Primer for Experienced Pilots - 2018/03/28

If you fail to maintain the correct tow position (centered, with the wheels of the tug on the horizon), the weak link will break before you can get into too much trouble.

...If you fail to maintain the correct tow position (centered, with the wheels of the tug on the horizon), the weak link will break before you can get into too much trouble.

The pilot is pulled by the tow rope all the way over to the right in the control frame. You can see the tow rope still connected to him.

Can't imagine why that wing hasn't come back down yet.

The cart has gone way off to the left. The base tube appears to have slid off the left front cradle.

Or why both pilots are still trying to salvage that tow.

If you look at the left side of his base tube you can see that the left white wheel is below the height of the front tube of the cart.

Who gives a flying fuck at this point?

- My guess is that the wheels weren't set to line up with the tow in the first place.

- There was no cart monkey to ensure that the cart started rolling in the right direction.

- The pro toad douchebag on the glider had the usual zero possibility of blowing his easily reachable placebo release as the emergency situation progressed.

- The fuckin' douchebag on the Dragonfly didn't bother to squeeze the lever on his joystick.

It may be caught under the tube.

Yawn...

The glider is tipped up, and the base tube is just above the front cradles on the left (and quite a ways above on the right). This allows the left wheel to drop down to the side of the left cradle to below the front tube of the cart. If the wheel is caught under this tube, the pilot has no chance to recover.

- Or release. Right...


http://ozreport.com/pub/images/fingerlakesaccident2.jpg
http://ozreport.com/pub/images/fingerlakesaccident3.jpg


...Davis?

- Must be using a Tad-O-Link. Too bad Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney ain't around no more to give us his expert analysis regarding what's going on - and telling all us stupid muppets what a stupid muppet the guy on the back end is.

- Yeah Davis. Keep burying us with all this useless bullshit to keep us from thinking about how this cluster fuck was precipitated in the first place.

5
http://c1.staticflickr.com/1/900/26320843187_42024d4ef3_o.jpg


The photos are being taken at a rate of 3 to 4 a second. This is the next photo. The glider's control frame is still jammed on the left side on the cart with the white wheel below the cart tubes . The glider and the cart are going in different directions. The pilot is reaching out to break his fall.

How very strange it is that he's not reaching out to blow his...

http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3391
More on Zapata and weak link

Paul Tjaden - 2008/07/22 04:32:22 UTC

I have never had a lockout situation happen so quickly and dramatically and had no chance to release as I have always thought I could do.

...easily reachable bent pin barrel release - the one designed by Bobby Fucking-Genius Bailey. And that the tug is still maintaining the tow at this point. No wait...

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=9084
Aerotow problem/question:Properly washed, I think

Jim Gaar - 2008/10/28 15:55:22 UTC

We always told towed pilots that the first 500 feet belonged to the tug pilot. They have enough to do to keep themselves safe.

Jim Rooney - 2008/12/11 18:45:01 UTC

Yup, the first 500ft are mine. Try to keep up. Your tugger generally REALLY wants to help you, and will do all that he can to do so, but he's got trees to stay out of as well.

He can't do anything to fix whatever's going on back there below five hundred feet because he's got trees to stay out of.

He fractures his elbow with a dislocation.

Good thing he reached out to break his fall. No telling how badly he'd have been hurt otherwise.

The glider is unhurt.

Cool. Somebody else will be able to fly it while this guy's on the mend.

6
http://c1.staticflickr.com/1/865/26320837657_a2ea7a8803_o.jpg

And that he was using a pro toad bridle. If he'd been using a three point the carabineer would've slid up towards the top and have REALLY hammered the glider into the ground.

Two photos later. The left white base tube wheel is jammed into the left corner of the cart. with the base tube on top of the front cart tube.

And the towline and tow ring are recoiling obviously from a back end weak link blow. And note the conspicuously absent mentions of ANYTHING concerning the placebo release(s) and Infallible Weak Link. Even the separation - 'cause that would draw attention to the release and weak link issues.

If the angle on the cart was too high...

...it would been:
- primarily due to the negligence of the launch crew.
- totally fucking irrelevant - as ALL gliders are set some degree of nose high and the glider will properly trim itself as soon as it begins to lift.

...he would have been stalled before he was able to be pulled forward...

Bull fucking shit. He can pull himself way the fuck forward five minutes before he connects to the tug.

...and had the keel raised up to get out of the stalled angle.

The glider was undamaged - right? So why wasn't it set back on the cart to determine EXACTLY what the trim setting was? 'Cause Wallaby was in its usual total ass covering mode?

Photos by Bob Grant.

Meaning Wallaby. And funny the mention of the operation is also so conspicuously absent.

Leading Edge - 2018/03/28 14:42:23 UTC

Proof that wheels make you safer...

Suck my dick.

The danger, danger warning goes off when you see a fin on an upper intermediate wing.

You mean the...

6
http://c1.staticflickr.com/1/865/26320837657_a2ea7a8803_o.jpg


...Wills Wing fin installed on the Wills Wing glider that isn't designed to be motorized, tethered, or towed? Like what Dr. Trisa Tilletti pretty much forced everyone to use at their now extinct AT operation in Michigan?

Pretty clever of you to have picked up on this warning sign that everybody at Wallaby - operators and fly-in participants - seem to have missed.

Asshole.
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P.S. - 2018/03/28 21:00:00 UTC

Just checked out:

http://www.skydogsports.com/A-HG/2018-Wallaby-March.htm
Wallaby-March-2018

looking for the photos and maybe additional information (but, rather strangely, came up empty). This could be Quest - although it really doesn't matter much.

[Tad Eareckson]

Oh. looks like we have an amendment to Davis's sterling report and first post...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=55583
Getting caught in the cart by your wheel

Davis Straub - 2018/03/28 11:54:07 UTC

The pilot writes:

The right wing was lifted early on tow. By holding on to the cart, the added weight of the cart and with weight shift, I tried to get the right wing down and get the glider back in line with the tow. The desired result never happened. The glider continued to turn left and I considered my release but felt that with the glider banked as it was, removing my hand from the base tube would accelerate the turn, possibly spinning the glider. With everything happening so fast, I wasn't aware until later that my wheel had hooked under the launch cart while the glider was turning left.

My injuries upon initial medical examination indicate a fractured left elbow and fractured left wrist.

The keel of the glider was bent at the control frame attachment point and broken in two behind the control frame attachment. Mark Dowsett can confirm this as he helped me pack up my glider. Any other damage to the glider will require a more detailed inspection which I'm unable to do. I will contact Mark to request his assistance with this.

I haven't downloaded the video from my glider camera yet but will do so, and I'll also ask my brother for his phone video.

I agree to sharing information USHPA safety coordinator for the purpose of improving safety in the sport of hang gliding.

Davis Straub - 2018/03/28 11:54:07 UTC

The pilot writes:

The "pilot"? Are you sure? We never saw him actually flying or controlling anything.

The right wing was lifted early on tow.

Extremely early I'd say.

By holding on to the cart, the added weight of the cart and with weight shift, I tried to get the right wing down and get the glider back in line with the tow. The desired result never happened.

Doesn't the accuracy of that statement depend a lot on individual perspective? Yours Truly for example... I'm always extremely disappointed when assholes like you get away with using the cheap shoddy crap you do.

The glider continued to turn left...

See what can happen when you try to fix a bad thing because you don't wanna release and start over?

...and I considered my release but...

...it was one of those cheap bent pin pieces of crap that nobody's ever been able to access in any emergency situation and won't function under any kind of load so I figured if I was gonna take hand off the control bar I'd be better off using it to help cushion the impact - at the minor expense of a fractured elbow and wrist.

...felt that with the glider banked as it was, removing my hand from the base tube would accelerate the turn, possibly spinning the glider.

Wow! You figured all that out in the course of a lockout emergency a second and a half prior to impact? And they say that Bobby Bailey is a fucking genius when it comes to this shit!

With everything happening so fast, I wasn't aware until later that my wheel had hooked under the launch cart while the glider was turning left.

- And they say that wheels make you SAFER. (Notice that a week ago when Davis posted the video of Sarah Kurtz pancaking down into the Pacific surf at Funston this "Leading Edge" asshole didn't make any cracks about locking carabiners.)

- Were you also aware that the fucking dickhead on the Dragonfly in front of you who felt it would be perfectly OK to pull you in thermal conditions in pro toad configuration with this cheap bent pin shit you have masquerading as a release system was watching you go sideways in the mirror and not bothering to squeeze the dump lever on his joystick?

My injuries upon initial medical examination indicate a fractured left elbow and fractured left wrist.

Too bad you didn't break your fuckin' neck, get quaded', and have a half a century to contemplate how things would be going otherwise if you'd bothered to equip yourself with one of those hundred dollar Kaluzhin releases we all bent over backwards to make available to assholes like you.

The keel of the glider was bent at the control frame attachment point and broken in two behind the control frame attachment.

- And here I was thinking that...

Davis Straub - 2018/03/28 11:54:07 UTC

The glider is unhurt.

...there was no damage to the glider.

- Ever stop to contemplate what kinda shape you'd be in now if the nose had planted itself...

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...on the back of your neck just prior to the initiation of all that keel damage?

Mark Dowsett can confirm this as he helped me pack up my glider.

Mark Dowsett can suck my dick. (That indicates the launch attempt was at Quest for the Green Swamp Classic.)

Any other damage to the glider will require a more detailed inspection which I'm unable to do.

Take a guess as to the total dollar figure on this one. Include trip costs and how your injuries will affect your life in the near and long term futures.

I will contact Mark to request his assistance with this.

See above about Mark.

I haven't downloaded the video from my glider camera yet but will do so, and I'll also ask my brother for his phone video.

Thank you. We have a match from the comp results:
- USA - Wills Wing U2 145 - Westmoreland, Richard
- USA - Wills Wing U2 160 - Westmoreland, James

(Mark Dowsett is Ontario but that's far from a deal breaker and Canada's got near zilch representation anyway.)

I agree to sharing information USHPA safety coordinator...

Tim Herr.

...for the purpose of improving safety in the sport of hang gliding.

- Make sure you keep copies of everything for yourself safely archived.

- Name the last time a u$hPa safety coordinator did something in the way of IMPROVING safety in the sport of hang gliding. Go back as many decades as you like.

- Total fucking asshole. Got EXACTLY what he deserved.

Swift - 2018/03/29 01:03:23 UTC

If there was only a release that you did not have to take your hands off the base tube to operate.

If only. But...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30971
Zach Marzec

Jim Rooney - 2013/02/12 18:00:27 UTC

I just buried my friend and you want me to have a nice little discussion about pure speculation about his accident so that some dude that's got a pet project wants to push his theories?

Deltaman loves his mouth release.
BFD

I get tired as hell "refuting" all these mouth release and "strong link" arguments. Dig through the forums if you want that. I've been doing it for years but unfortunately the peddlers are religious in their beliefs so they find justification any way they can to "prove" their stuff. This is known as "Confirmation Bias"... seeking data to support your theory... it's back-asswards. Guess what? The shit doesn't work. If it did, we'd be using it everywhere. But it doesn't stand the test of reality.

The shit doesn't work.

20-22804
http://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8262/29074014833_6b92a0f6d7_o.png


If it did, we'd be using it everywhere.

Gerry Grossnegger - 2018/03/29 1:14:10 UTC

A voice-activated one would be great, and it could just be hardwired to detect the universal phrase "Oh Shit!".

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Good one, Gerry! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Davis Straub - 2018/03/29 11:33:37 UTC

This is a case where the mouth release would have been the preferred alternative.

Wow! That was so incredibly profound, Davis. But obviously there are so many other cases where the mouth release WOULDN'T have been the preferred alternative. So let's just keep using the cheap crap you sell and force everybody to use and see how long it takes for the next guy to get killed or quaded.

By the way, Davis...

http://ozreport.com/9.177
Another bad launch off the cart

Davis Straub - 2005/08/28

And another good outcome that we can learn from.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/sets/788578/
Bad launch good recovery

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35642942/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35642828/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35642837/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35642853/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35642875/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35642889/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35642904/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35642917/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaneyman/35642816/


Tim Meaney has published a series of photos which show a poor launch by an Exxtacy pilot at the 2005 Big Spring Open. The Exxtacy's right wing has come up while the pilot is still on the cart. In addition, the right wing has come up so high that the right side of the control frame has also come off the cart and isn't being held horizontal. This means that the spoileron on the right side isn't deployed, or deployed as much as it would be if the pilot had held (or been able to hold) the control frame onto the cart. If the spoileron had been deployed, the right wing would have had a tendency to come back down. In this case, it didn't.

In the second frame the left wing is dragging on the runway and the weaklink has broken. This is a good thing. The pilot is in trouble and you want that weaklink broken so that he isn't dragged down the runway. Notice that he hasn't moved his hands at all, and doesn't throughout this sequence of photos. The weak weaklink does the heavy lifting for him. Use a properly sized weaklink!

How come we're so conspicuously not hearing anything about his obvious failure to use a properly sized weak link? Or, more to the point, the total failure of the meet heads and tug pilot to ensure that he was using a properly sized weak link?

Mark Dowsett - 2018/03/29 12:35:13 UTC

Unfortunately, there was damage. It sheared the keel in half behind the sleeve. We have yet to inspect the rest.

I don't like seeing the above comment about dissing him for using a fun. It is irrelevant to the accident and dissuedes people from using them (machismo).

Well stated and written, Mark. The more people we have using funs the safer aerotow launching will be. And now that Dr. Trisa Tilletti and Cloud 9 are extinct as far as hang gliding is concerned we need all the help we can get advocating for funs and totally ignoring all issues relating to sane releases.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=55583
Getting caught in the cart by your wheel

Mark Dowsett - 2018/03/29 12:45:28 UTC

I have also thought about using the Get-Off primary release as a barrel release on the shoulder loop.

Yeah?

http://instinct.pro
Empowering Everyday People to Live Their Dreams of Free-Flight - Instinct Windsports

I notice you don't stock any at Instinct Windsports.

It gives you a pull-string to keep in your hand on your basetube. It's barrel is rather large so it may be clunky.

Speaking of clunky... Any thoughts on the Quallaby butchered Wichard spinnaker shackle adaptations or the crap Matt puts out at Lockout Mountain Flight Park?

And the release cable may bug the pilot for the rest of the flight...

And certainly don't bother consider the remote barrel and multi-string technology T** at K*** S****** has developed and made available. (And still no mention of the Kaluzhin release.) Or the two point stuff if you want built-in clean and think there may be a downside to having to start out and continue with the bar at your knees and praying you don't get hit by anything below parachute deployment altitude.

...but if it works well...

- IF it works well. It's not like it was thoroughly bench tested or anything prior to being made publicly available.

- What if it DOESN'T work well? Tell me how it could possibly have been any worse than the crap he was using that effectively welded him to the tug until the instant of keel exploding and arm breaking impact?

...I am sure he would have wished he had it as an option.

Then let the fucking douchebag come on, identify himself, and engage in the discussion.

http://www.getoffrelease.com

Leading Edge - 2018/03/29 13:17:14 UTC

There is nothing bad about the fin.

Oh really? It increases yaw stability beyond that with which the glider was certified. Can you think of some scenario in which there might be some downside to delayed response for a desired heading change?

They are great learning tools, even on gliders renowned for great towing characteristics.

Yeah. Mostly great learning tools for learning not to use them.

However, a fin does signal that the pilot is either new at towing, not comfortable with towing, or both.

Anybody who's comfortable aerotowing a hang glider in thermal conditions even with the best possible equipment is a total moron. It's a lot like being comfortable with the hook-in procedure you did back in the staging area as you're approaching the ramp.

You know, things that signal "danger, danger - this pilot may not have the space of mind to look out for details."

Yeah motherfucker? What DETAILS did he miss that weren't equally missed by the meet heads, tug driver, every other asshole participating in that comp?

No machismo needed and I resent the assumption that because someone has less protective gear they are "machismo".

You mean the one you made in your previous post?

He who knows a lot needs little. All of these safety things make more steps and layers in the system. In this case, they conspired with chance to make a blown launch.

Suck my dick. We don't even have a good account of how/why the glider got out of kilter in the first place. And in thermal conditions all bets are off for anybody you wanna name until the kill zone is cleared.

Fin + pro-tow set up = danger, danger

- There's no such thing as a pro-tow setup - anonymous Davis Show dickhead.
- And absolutely no comment about the piece o' shit placebo release.

Happy all are safe and sound.

All are NOT safe and sound - you semiliterate total moron. The glider got twenty percent destroyed and the guy got fairly seriously injured and will probably be feeling some downsides for the rest of his life.

[<BS>]

My injuries upon initial medical examination indicate a fractured left elbow and fractured left wrist.

That sounds less complicated than one that includes a dislocation.

P.S. Girls just wanna have funs, they just wanna.

[Tad Eareckson]

Yeah, both before and after the crash simplicity is the name of the game.

http://www.ejectionsite.com/thunderbird6.htm
Thunderbird 6, the Ejection: The Ejection Site

The Ejection Site
Thunderbird 6, The Ejection


USAF Photo by SSGT Bennie J. Davis III

The above photo shows dramatically the ejection of CAPT Chris Stricklin of the Thunderbirds ejecting from the opposing solo, Thunderbird 6 on September 14, 2003 at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho during the "Gunfighter Skies, 2003" airshow. The photo was taken by SSGT Bennie J. Davis III, an Air Force photographer stationed on the observation deck of the control tower. SSGT Davis snapped the shot as he already had realized something was seriously wrong as the F-16 was not lined up on the show line, but instead headed towards the tower. Although it appears from the photo that the plane is threatening the cars in the background, that is an artifact of the long lens used by SSGT Davis. He was using a Nikon D1X with a 300mm lens. The photo was taken at 1/1000 or 1/2000 of a second. The cars are actually about a half mile behind where the aircraft impacted the ground.

CAPT. Stricklin had taken off into a maneuver called a Reverse Half Cuban Eight. He pulled up into a sharp climb, rolled inverted, and then pulled over the top into a partial loop. Unfortunately he based his safety calculations on an incorrect field altitude, and was unable to safely end the maneuver. On realizing the aircraft was unrecoverable he turned the aircraft slightly away from the show line, and then ejected. He initiated ejection with his left hand at 140ft of altitude, with a descent rate of about 8400 feet per minute. His airspeed was about 225kts which is about 260 miles per hour. Technically this was probably an out of envelope ejection due to the high descent rate and low altitude.

Upon actuation the initiators on the seat sent hot gas out to the canopy jettison system. The canopy was released and rockets ignited pushing it up and back to where the airflow helped tear it off the jet as it reached the point where the hinges release. After the canopy had moved about ten feet away from the jet a pair of lanyards attached to the canopy caused the egress system to continue its sequence by having hot gas directed back into the seat via another hose on the other side. This gas initiated the catapult. This is a ballistic charge, akin to a large shotgun shell that drove the rocket section of the ROCAT and pushed the seat up the seat track assembly until the point where a port was unmasked allowing hot gas to enter the rocket section and ignite it. The rocket then continued driving the seat up the rails and out of the cockpit. This took some time, perhaps about four tenths of a second, during which time the aircraft continued to descend. The seat left the aircraft at somewhere around 50-75 feet of altitude above the ground.

CAPT Stricklin suffered only minor injuries due to the ejection. The aircraft was destroyed. Analyzing the photo gives some interesting insight into the ACES II ejection sequence. The following photo is a blow up of the center of the photo.



It shows the seat atop the flame from the three rockets of the seat, the CKU-5 Rocket Catapult (main propulsion), the STAPAC (STAbiliztion PACkage, keeps the seat from pitching excessively), and the Yaw rocket. The seat appears to be no more than four feet above the cockpit rails, and is already clearly yawed slightly to the left. This is to help clear the vertical tail. The blur over the pilot's helmet is the parachute box that has just been mortared off the seat. The mortar fires at 0.2 seconds after seat sequencer is activated by a striker near the top of the cockpit rails (seat track assembly). This indicates that the photo was taken only a few hundredths of a second after that time period. The headbox shape is pretty clearly visible with the pitot tubes protruding on either side of the top, and the flaps on the bottom are slightly spread as the parachute shroud lines are begining to be extracted from the stowaged tunnels on the inside of the flaps. The white blur above the left knee appears to be notes or maps blown loose by the relative wind. CAPT Stricklin's body position is nearly optimal for the ejection, even though analysis of the downlinked video from in the cockpit shows that he initiated ejection with his left hand while his right was still on the Flight Control Stick. As the canopy jettisoned he moved his right hand to the seat firing handle.

Other images show the aircraft sliding on the ground as seat separation occurs. This would be about 0.45 seconds after sequencer start, hence if CAPT Stricklin had delayed even a half second, he would likely not have survived the mishap. The Goodrich ACES II seat worked exactly as expected, and saved the pilot in a situation that would have been fatal for any earlier generation seat. The mortared parachute allowed for the pilot to have a fully deployed parachute which decellerated him to a safe landing speed despite the low altitude and high sink rate of the ejection. The seat selected Mode 1 based on the pressure of the relative wind as measured by the pitot tubes on each side of the headrest compared to the ambient pressure from the Environmental Sensor Unit (ESU) on the back of the seat. In this mode the sequencer orders the parachute deployment nearly immediately, allowing for exceptionally fast recovery of the airman.

The more parts/complexity the greater the chances of something going wrong. Stay the hell away from the kind of Rube Goldberg lunacy that T** at K*** S****** tries to promote.

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Simple is always best.

http://www.ejectionsite.com
The Ejection Site

Welcome to The Ejection Site. This sites goal is to educate and entertain people of all interests with details on one of the most interesting fields of engineering. People often ask me why I say that, and here is my answer. Egress systems are nearly unique in the world of technology as they are intended to exist for extended periods and then at need perform an extremely complex and often precise series of events to save a persons life. These systems must work 100% of the time when called upon, whether or not they have been recently checked out or not. They are in an environment where they are exposed to extremes of vibration and G-forces, heat and cold, and must still work.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=55583
Getting caught in the cart by your wheel

Filthy - 2018/03/29 15:11:36 UTC

So Davis, are you thinking that no matter what, hold on to the cart?

Yep...


http://ozreport.com/pub/images/fingerlakesaccident2.jpg
http://ozreport.com/pub/images/fingerlakesaccident3.jpg


As long as you keep holding onto that cart it's virtually impossible for anything bad to happen.

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So just keep using the same cheap bent pin crap you are as an excuse for aerotow equipment and focus on keeping a death grip on the cart. You'll be fine.

Angelo Mantas - 2018/03/29 15:15:09 UTC

That wheel/arm combination can get stuck under a tube much easier than a wheel that's back around the base tube.

Problem solved. This launch:

Davis Straub - 2018/03/28 11:54:07 UTC

A sequence of shots for a incident on launch:

1
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The right wing has been lifted. The pilot appears to be holding onto the hose on the right side and lifting the cart.

is obviously on its way to coming off swimmingly - save for that nasty wheel catch a frame or two later.

Davis Straub - 2018/03/29 16:38:58 UTC

The only thing that would have helped is releasing way earlier.

Yep. Age old problem of pilots making no effort to release as things start to go south.

Joe Gregor - 2004/09

There is no evidence that the pilot made an attempt to release from tow prior to the weak link break, the gate was found closed on the Wallaby-style tow release.

Just like Mike Haas at Hang Glide Chicago. Right Angelo? Also a case of the tug driver ALSO making no attempt to release. Right Angelo?

Also putting up the back cradle so that the glider wasn't in the stall position to begin with.

Hey Davis... Why don't you shove that back up your ass until we have some actual evidence of it being a factor? And if it actually WERE a factor then we need to hear more about the launch crew, meet heads, and flight park operators.

Harald Steen - 2018/03/29 16:58:41 UTC

Is the whole launch in the photo series? from when the dolly started moving till impact .

Davis Straub - 2018/03/29 17:13:29 UTC

No. The first photo is the earliest. Bob started taking 3 to 4 shots per second as soon as he noted something was wrong.

Something's been wrong with every flight you Quallaby/Dragonfly dickheads have ever launched. Multiple somethings - as a matter o' fact.

Davis Straub - 2018/03/29 17:14:14 UTC

I hope to have two videos (one on board and the other camera phone shot by his brother) soon.

Yeah, I hope we do too, motherfucker. Plus some actual names.

Then some semiliterate drivel from Ben Reese I'm not gonna waste my time commenting on.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=55583
Getting caught in the cart by your wheel

Hiflier - 2018/03/29 18:00:28 UTC

Tow line release or weak link break

In the last photo, the tow line is not taut. Just curious, was it released or (more likely) did the weak link break?

- He got to his easily reachable bent pin barrel release and blew tow one and a half milliseconds prior to impact.

- Here's what he says:

The glider continued to turn left and I considered my release but felt that with the glider banked as it was, removing my hand from the base tube would accelerate the turn, possibly spinning the glider.

See anything in there about releasing?

- You're not allowed to say anything about weak links anymore on mainstream hang gliding forums. But Standard Aerotow Weak Links tend not to still be holding when:

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They tend to break six times in a row with everything going fine in light morning conditions.

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14-03123

Increases the safety of the towing operation. PERIOD.

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(You're not allowed to say anything about Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney either. (Someday we need to find out when the last post about him on a mainstream glider forum appeared.))

How did the tug respond?

- By continuing to drag the glider to what very easily could've been his instant death. But you're only supposed to notice what a total douchebag the glider guy was for not immediately actuating his easily reachable bent pin release.

- You're not supposed to ask anything about the tug pilot or know who the fuck he was. Just try to focus...



...on the wheel snagging after everything had gone to hell - the way Davis, Quest, u$hPa want you to.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=55583
Getting caught in the cart by your wheel

Vrezh Tumanyan - 2018/03/30 02:47:55 UTC

The whole idea of the wheels pointing forward on the control bar seems counter-intuitive.

- Good job, Vrezh. You got everybody's attention back off the shit that actually matters to the fake wheel issue that Davis used to keep everybody's attention off the shit that actually matters.

- They're not castering wheels, you moron.

Why are they designed that way, is there a reason?

- Maybe to get them farther FORWARD of the center of mass to make the glider LESS likely no nose in?

- How 'bout the stupid pro toad bent pin crap that he's using for a release system? Is there the slightest evidence that any of it was designed to do anything at all?

What's wrong with pointing them backwards?

See above, idiot.

Wouldn't that be more "natural"?

Yes. And when you wanna get two hundred pound monkeys soaring around like vultures thousands of feet off the deck your first consideration is to have everything as "natural" as possible. And now that I think about it... There aren't many really good examples of birds using wheels to assist in landings so we should probably eliminate them altogether.

Safer for sure.

Definitely. You fuckin' nailed it.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31052
Poll on weaklinks

Jim Rooney - 2013/03/05 21:40:02 UTC

You're afraid of breaking off with a high AOA? Good... tow with a WEAKER weaklink... you won't be able to achieve a high AOA. Problem solved.

Problem solved.

[Tad Eareckson]

These Oz Report "REPORTS" are always such disingenuous obfuscatory loads of total SHIT that one ALWAYS gets overwhelmed and misses stuff on the early passes. So...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=55583
Getting caught in the cart by your wheel

Davis Straub - 2018/03/28 11:54:07 UTC

Tipped up and over

A sequence of shots for a incident on launch:

Yes.
- "A" sequence of shots - incomplete and low resolution
- "A" incident on launch

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The right wing has been lifted. The pilot appears to be holding onto the hose on the right side and lifting the cart. The cart is heading off to the pilot's left side and not on the track that the cart should be taking behind the Dragonfly.

Duh.

The tow rope is pulling the pilot to the right. The prevailing wind had actually been a little bit from the left, but thermals can come through the field.

Duh.

- Name some fields on the inhabitable surface of the planet that thermals CAN'T come through.

- Isn't that why everybody's crammed in at launch for the Green Swamp Classic? The EXPECTATION that strong thermals will be coming through the field?

- So what you're saying is that if one of these freak thermals that can come through this particular field catches a launching glider then THIS:

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is the inevitable consequence. And there's no way to prevent or safely respond to that situation - monitoring of wind indicators, cart monkey on a sidewire ready to pull down or lift as necessary, non shit tow equipment on the glider, tug driver aware that he's got a glider behind him as he accelerates down the runway. Right Davis?

- And we know that the glider's welded onto to by the cheap pro toad bent pin crap you Quallaby motherfuckers sell and force everyone to use for these competitions but...

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7509/15659143120_a9aae8f7bd_o.jpg


...what's stopping the conspicuously unidentified Dragonfly jockey from squeezing his little joystick mounted lever?

Two or more seconds (nine photos) later the pilot...

What "PILOT"? Why aren't you naming or telling us anything about him?

http://www.witn.com/content/news/Tourists-soaring-through-the-summer-at-the-Outer-Banks-388330242.html
Tourists 'soaring' through the summer at the Outer Banks

Lindsay Oliver - 2016/07/26 23:15 UTC

"The Wright brothers flew here, I think that's the biggest reason people enjoy coming out," says Richard Westmoreland, an advanced instructor with Kitty Hawk Kites.

I think we've got the brother nailed down. Industry operative. Bullshit:

I agree to sharing information USHPA safety coordinator for the purpose of improving safety in the sport of hang gliding.

Can't afford to be identified 'cause his job is plopping muppets down on carts at Currituck and telling them how perfectly safe this shit is.

...is no longer holding on to the hose on the right hand side (and doesn't appear to be holding on the left hand side either) as the cart has been dropped:

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The glider is also now tipped forward as you can see by the fact that the tail is high off the back cradle.

Yeah, it's a good thing we can see that the tail is high off the back cradle. Otherwise we might think that the glider wasn't now tipped forward and that everything was going just fine.

The pilot is pulled by the tow rope all the way over to the right in the control frame. You can see the tow rope still connected to him.

Yeah. Both ends. Go figure.

The cart has gone way off to the left.

As the Dragonfly continues down the runway at full takeoff power.

The base tube appears to have slid off the left front cradle.

Who gives a rat's ass?

If you look at the left side of his base tube you can see that the left white wheel is below the height of the front tube of the cart. It may be caught under the tube. The glider is tipped up, and the base tube is just above the front cradles on the left (and quite a ways above on the right). This allows the left wheel to drop down to the side of the left cradle to below the front tube of the cart. If the wheel is caught under this tube, the pilot has no chance to recover.

Yeah Davis. At THIS point:

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if only the wheel hadn't been caught under this tube, it would have been pretty much a no brainer that the pilot would've recovered just fine, got back in line, continued the tow as if nothing had happened. Maybe even worked up in one of those thermals that can come through the field you alerted us about.

First frame:

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That glider is TOTALLY LOCKED OUT. There is ZERO chance of "RECOVERY". Only a safely aborted launch. Shoot the fuckin' wheels off before anything has a chance to snag and there's still gonna be a violent lockout impact.

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The photos are being taken at a rate of 3 to 4 a second. This is the next photo. The glider's control frame is still jammed on the left side on the cart with the white wheel below the cart tubes .

And the cart weighs something like 35 pounds and is bouncing around on its wheels - the front ones castering - and not offering all that much resistance so it's total bullshit to keep talking about this snag as a worthwhile factor in this stupid crash of this stupid unidentified Industry douchebag.

The glider and the cart are going in different directions.

Bullshit. You've been going on and on through this whole bogus report emphasizing how this wheel has welded the cart to the glider. So tell us how the glider and cart can POSSIBLY be going in different directions.

The pilot is reaching out to break his fall.

Still welded to the cart that was supposed to have been going in a different direction.

He fractures his elbow with a dislocation. The glider is unhurt.

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Two photos later.

And the cart which was supposed to have been going in a different direction at the previous posted photo is strangely still jammed onto the glider.

The left white base tube wheel is jammed into the left corner of the cart.

Period. End of sentence.

with the base tube on top of the front cart tube.

Apparently not.

If the angle on the cart was too high,

And because you say "If the angle on the cart was too high" we're all supposed to think that things started going south because the angle on the cart WAS too high - lethally so in fact. That this Kitty Hawk Kites advanced instructor whose day job is to set muppets on launch carts at Currituck and keep them alive long enough for him to sign them off on their AT ratings was totally fucking clueless setting things up for his own U2 glider on this second to last scheduled comp day of this week long competition.

Also... We can CLEARLY SEE:

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two obvious launch staffers standing around with their thumbs up their asses watching the progression of this train wreck. And here I was under the impression that you had Quest employees / comp staffers at the heads of launch lines making sure that all the competitors were using appropriate bridles and weak links and were otherwise properly and safely set up on the carts ready for action.

...he would have been stalled before he was able to be pulled forward and had the keel raised up to get out of the stalled angle.

Suck my dick, Davis. Neither this motherfucker, a launch monkey, any of the hordes of competitors crammed in at the front of the launch lines reported the slightest hint of anything of the sort. And if there HAD been anything of the sort the launch officials should've been identified and had their ratings and appointments promptly revoked.

Photos by Bob Grant.

Yeah. Let's move on to Bob Grant.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=55583
Getting caught in the cart by your wheel

Davis Straub - 2018/03/29 17:13:29 UTC

No. The first photo is the earliest. Bob started taking 3 to 4 shots per second as soon as he noted something was wrong.

Bob Grant - who's identified as the photographer - has got time to note something was wrong, get his camera aimed and stabilized, start popping off good quality photos to document this Quest/Davis clusterfuck. Meanwhile, the tug driver - who isn't identified by ANYBODY and isn't coming forward to comment on the guy he broke up and came reasonably close to killing - is happily accelerating down the runway with the turbocharger kicked in with his PASSENGER (see Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney concerning the Pilot In Command Issue for hang glider aerotowing) going sideways but fast.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=35949
2018 Green Swamp Sport Klassic All Photos and Stories.

Bob Grant - 2018/03/30 00:14:29 UTC

2018 Green Swamp Sport Klassic All Photos and Stories.

http://www.skydogsports.com/A-HG/2018-Green-Swamp-Sport-Klassic.htm

http://www.skydogsports.com/A-HG/2018-Green-Swamp-Sport-Klassic.htm
greenswamp2018

Skydog Sports
Florida Trip
The 2018 Green Swamp Sport Klassic
If you can help me out with names please send them to -
caskdog@...
The Skydog Report
Green Swamp Challenge Photos & Stories Friday March 23, 2018
Friday March 23, 2018 and Maureen and I go to Quest Air to take photos at The Green Swamp Sport Klassic. I set up my T2C and at one pm Jon Thompson tows me up and into a nice thermal at the north end of the field and I take it up to 3 grand and go searching for others and get down to 900 feet but finally catch another thermal and take it up to 2,800 feet. I am able to bobble around for a total of 51 minutes and the view with sixty gliders below waiting to get the day started at two o'clock was amazing. As I landed the comp pilots were taking off and Maureen and I grabbed cameras and were able to catch most of the take offs. Many of the comp pilots were able to get up and away with only a few coming in for relights. It will take me a few days to go through the many photos and post them here.
Photos Below


1051

So we have a nicer higher resolution shot from the sequence (and a lot of conspicuously absent ones), a date, and an assortment of tug drivers on hand:
- Bobby Fucking-Genius Bailey
- Russell Brown
- Jonny Thompson
- Jim Prahl
- Evgeniya Laritskaya

And we know that at least one of those motherfuckers has towed a comp pilot he could've easily and safely released at just about any point in the tow - made problematic by all the total shit back end equipment - to his instant violent lockout death and never put a single syllable on the incident into any record anybody's ever heard anything about.

But here's the shot he's catalogued at 1050 (one before):



http://www.airport-data.com/
One-stop Aviation Information - Airport and Aircraft information

Tail: N2650C - 1994 Bailey-Moyes Dragonfly - Serial: 0019 - Engines: 1 - Seats: 1 - FL, United States

Pretty good guess. Probably rolling up into position to hook up to his/her next passenger/victim.

And by looking at clothing on positively identified drivers in close shots in the extensive collection and the process of elimination...

Evgeniya Laritskaya Tug Pilot and Retrieval

I think we have a match. (Blow up the face in the Dragonfly shot and look at / compare the sunglasses.) And a proud pin bending moron who happily advertises the fact.

And if I've accused her totally unfairly I'd welcome a correction - or even a contradiction - with open arms. But that ain't never gonna happen 'cause all those motherfuckers know the many reasons WHY I'd welcome a correction or contradiction with open arms.