[Bob Kuczewski]

I've been having a good discussion with Tad Eareckson about hook in failures. The discussion has been mostly over the phone. Tad has some solid ideas about verifying hook in just prior to launch, and they're worth reading. Here's a link to some of his discussions on "KiteStrings":

http://kitestrings.prophpbb.com/topic9.html

Also, in one of the posts, Tad links to a video of a pilot launching unhooked. Fortunately, he's not hurt. Here's the link, and a snapshot from the launch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mX2HNwVr9g

unhooked_001.jpg (29.54 KiB) Viewed 14111 times

Thanks for your work, Tad.

Bondy
Perth, Western Australia

Sad to hear.

Last weekend this Aussie here in Western Australia (not me) who launched unhooked was lucky not to hurt himself, just his pride. Goes to show us Aussies are far from perfect, still happens here as well.

Hang Gliding Crash - Don't Forget your Hang Check!
2011/04/24
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mX2HNwVr9g

Yeah. The Magic Land Of Oz... Where there's an entire - albeit small - continent of people totally incapable of conceiving of a situation in which a pilot could be at launch under a glider that he's not hooked into - so NOBODY *EVER* does or looks for a hook-in check.

In this case there's a pilot, a couple of observers, and a cameraman.

[TadEareckson]

Thanks zillions for getting involved with this but lemme start right off with my bad cop thing.

Failure to Hook In

1. FAILURE TO HOOK IN IS *NOT* THE PROBLEM!!!

2. FAILURE TO HOOK IN IS A MINOR AND RARE *SYMPTOM* OF THE PROBLEM.

3. THE *PROBLEM* IS FAILURE TO *CHECK* THAT ONE - OR ONE'S FRIEND - IS HOOKED IN NO MORE THAN TWO SECONDS BEFORE *EVERY* LAUNCH ONE *EVER* DOES - OR OBSERVES - IN A COURSE OF AN ENTIRE HANG GLIDING CAREER!!!

Tad has some solid ideas about verifying hook in just prior to launch...

THESE ARE NOT TAD'S IDEAS!!!

1. These ideas predate Tad's participation in the sport by at least two and a half years. The first reference I can find to a proper hook-in check (improperly executed unfortunately - but without serious consequence) is in the 1977/10 issue of Hang Gliding magazine.

2. In 1981/05 these "ideas" ceased being ideas and became USHGA *REGULATIONS*. For every foot launched flight you ever do you are REQUIRED to verify your connection *JUST* *PRIOR* *TO* *LAUNCH*. Read the freakin' requirements for whatever rating you have or ever got (subsequent to that date).

And NO, that does not mean you're good to go if you just did a hang check thirty seconds ago and/or you NEVER get into your harness unless it's connected to your glider. It means check JUST PRIOR TO LAUNCH.

Fortunately, he's not hurt.

1. I'm starting not to care. Most of these people that do this have probably had access to the critical information and have chosen to disregard it - for years.

2. And I haven't heard this guy getting on the wire - which he should have an hour after he got home and took the glider off the racks - and making an effort to keep the same thing from happening to someone else on a harder, steeper slope.

3. And I'm also noticing that Ido did NOTHING by way of responding to my contact to keep Perth from setting himself up for a rerun.

unhooked_001.jpg

That's not the important part of the video. The important part of the video was the very first two seconds before the glider starts moving forward. And they're not about what happens but entirely about what doesn't happen.

For the purpose of the exercise this was a KILL - the second of this flavor we know about in the space of a thirteen day period (and the previous was an actual kill).

So are we gonna hear any chatter here from anyone besides me and Bob about making sure we and our fellow pilots never assume they're hooked in at the moment of launch? We're WAY overdue for another US fatal (as if another Bille Floyd wouldn't be plenty bad enough). Are we gonna do something before something happens AGAIN or are we gonna wait for the next "wake-up call" to briefly fire up our microscopic attention spans?

[TadEareckson]

Al Hernandez - 2011/06/03
San Antonio

San Antonio Pilots Attack Packsaddle

What was the point? John Seward didn't hit it hard enough on 2010/06/26?

Me and Martin Apopot headed out early from San Antonio to Packsaddle on Wednesday morning. We signed our lives away at the gate and deposited the waivers in a mailbox... There was no turning back now. As an unrated pilot, even I know that hesitation can get you hurt or killed once you commit to a launch and start your run. You are obligated as hell to continue - the point of no return is in effect until you are up and in the air and at a safe distance from the ground or cliff. This includes towing.

Yeah Al, don't ever abort a tow. Always wait until after you've been dragged for a while, been pulled off the cart and face-planted or swung into the keel after the power whack, locked out, or are dangling from the basetube like your idiot friend was on 2010/01/17.

Martin set up and inspected his 145 Wills Wing, single surface, and gear, did his hang check at the foot of the launch and stepped up to the fly plate. I was on the nose making sure that the glider was straight, balanced, and nosed into the wind, holding it steady making sure that he was not blown off to one side.

Yeah Al, why bother looking at his suspension? Y'all JUST DID a hang check, right?

He yelled "Clear", I released the nose and dove off to the side, he shot straight up to about 75 feet, flew straight out then off to the west a bit, and stayed up for about five minutes.

Flight 2

Martin did another hang check and I helped on the nose. The winds picked up just a bit and were SSE. Martin yelled "Clear", I dove off to the side, and Martin shot straight up this time to about 1800 feet.

The last flight of the day.

As we set up the single surface, more San Antonio pilots showed - Jay Fisher, Sport 2 155, white, black, and red and Dave D., Falcon 195.

At about 16:45 I helped Martin conduct a proper hang check at the foot of the platform, and got his glider up on it. Dave was on the nose, I was on the camera. Martin yelled "Clear", Dave dove to the side, and Martin went straight up.

Out of the places he has been, like Lookout Mountain Flight Park and spending mega cash on aerotowing, this was one of his better flights. 2:45 - and he could have stayed up longer if he wanted to.

Sam Kellner - 2011/06/04

Big Al,

Thanks for all your efforts to promote HG and to support us here in SW Tx. Sounds like you all did a good job.

Everyone safe and good flights.

Congrats especially to Martin for his ~2hr45min flight. You musta given good instructions.

You should sign him off for AWCL, assisted windy cliff launch.

Preflight, Hangcheck,
Sam

Yeah Sam, as long as nobody crashed we can count all the flights as safe and good. That's how we manage to rack up the stellar safety records we have - especially in South Texas where we haven't had a reported unhooked launch for two days short of eight months, a lockout death for the better part of nine months, a Packsaddle death for over eleven months, and an unhooked Martin Apopot tow launch with a broken back for almost seventeen months.

So as long as we do that preflight and hang check at the back of the ramp - just like Matt teaches at Lookout - we can safely assume we - and the people we're wiring - are hooked in at the front of the ramp.

And we can disregard all this bothersome USHGA rating requirement crap that nobody bothers to read anyway...

The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, Inc.

Standard Operating Procedure
12. Rating System
02. Pilot Proficiency System
02. Rating Requirements
03. Witnessed Tasks for Launch Skill Requirement - Foot Launch

04. Beginner Hang Gliding Rating (H-1)
-B. Required Witnessed Tasks
03. With each flight, demonstrate method(s) of establishing that pilot is hooked in just prior to launch.

05. Novice Hang Gliding Rating (H-2)
-B. Required Witnessed Tasks
02. Demonstrated Skills and Knowledge
-c. With each flight, demonstrates method of establishing that pilot is hooked in just prior to launch.

06. Intermediate Hang Gliding Rating (H-3)
-B. Required Witnessed Tasks
02. Demonstrated Skills and Knowledge
-e. With each flight, demonstrates a method of establishing that the pilot is hooked in just prior to launch.

07. Advanced Hang Gliding Rating (H-4)
-B. Required Witnessed Tasks
02. Demonstrated Skills and Knowledge
-d. With each flight, demonstrates a method of establishing that pilot is hooked in just prior to launch.

'Cause really, what are the chances that somebody who did a hang check before getting on the ramp is gonna be unhooked at launch time?

Allen Sparks - 2010/09/06
Evergreen Colorado

Oscar,

I'm very happy you weren't injured.

Helen,

Thanks for the Tad 'lift and tug' reminder.

I have launched unhooked and experienced the horror of hanging by my fingers over jagged rocks ... and the surreal result - i.e. not being significantly injured.

I am a firm believer in 'lift and tug' and the mindset of assuming I am not hooked in. It is motivated by the recurring memory of my own experience ... and the tragic deaths and life-altering injuries of good friends.
-
H4, OBS
WW Sport 2 155
WW Falcon 2 225

And I'm SO TOTALLY with you on getting Martin signed off for cliff launches - and encouraging him to do as many as possible. 'Cause for every two people who get killed I can usually manage to get through to one worth saving. And if you hafta kill someone it might as well be a total asshole like Martin.

[Bob Kuczewski]

Hi Sam,

Let me translate what I think Tad was trying to say ... without the sarcasm and bitterness:

Hi Sam,

It's great that pilots are getting some air time in SW Texas.

But I noticed you didn't mention the "lift and tug" method being used just before launch. I hope you're all using that method because it's one of the most (if not THE most) effective ways of preventing unhooked launches. Preflight, Hangcheck, and Lift/Tug Hook In Check is the total safety package.

Keep up the good work!!

[TadEareckson]

Hi Bob,

I tend to get a little more sarcastic and bitter every time I hafta repeat this to someone without getting anything in the way of a response.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=463&p=1644
2011/04/10 16:54:05 UTC

It's great that pilots are getting some air time in SW Texas.

I strongly disagree with this.

1. Nobody assisting with or witnessing any of Martin's launches was a PILOT. The ability to hang out at cloudbase all afternoon does not make one a pilot. Kinda like showing up in the driveway with a White-Tail in the back of the truck doesn't make one a hunter if he got it by firing the .306 at something that was rustling in the brush thirty yards away.

2. It's only a little greater that these guys are getting airtime than it is the .306 guy getting a deer. They're all getting rewarded for dangerous irresponsible behavior and setting crappy examples.

But I noticed you didn't mention the "lift and tug" method being used just before launch.

1. Lift and tug is MANDATORY *IF* you can physically do it - there's NO legitimate excuse for not doing it. Somebody make a case otherwise.

2. Some glider/pilot/harness combos are problematic. There are lotsa other acceptable hook-in checks you can do that aren't as good but a HANG CHECK is NOT one of them.

3. Any time anyone uses the words "hang check" and/or "Aussie Method" it can be safely assumed that he means "Skip the hook-in check." (Correct me if I'm wrong here, Sam.)

I hope you're all using that method...

1. If you're flying with a USHGA ticket this is NOT a freakin' OPTION. It's MANDATORY for EVERY FLIGHT you EVER DO. Again, it doesn't hafta be that method but it has to be SOMETHING at launch position "JUST PRIOR TO LAUNCH" - not a goddam hang check at the back of the ramp.

2. We're supposed to be "self regulated". This, of course, means teach, sign off, and do whatever the hell you want 'cause there will be no administrative consequences. Let's make US Hawks be ACTUALLY self regulated.

A. If you allow a student under your supervision to launch without doing a hook-in check within the previous five seconds you will lose instructor certification for three years on the first offense, permanently on the second.

B. If you launch without doing a hook-in check within the previous five seconds you will have your rating suspended for three months on the first offense, one year on the second, and permanently revoked on the third.

C. If you witness noncompliant launches without reporting them within 48 hours you will be penalized to the same extent as if you yourself violated the protocol from One to Three.

Think that might work a little better than thirty years worth of talking about it?

...because it's one of the most (if not THE most) effective ways to prevent launching unhooked.

It's the ONLY way. Anything else - hang check, Aussie Method, gadget - just INCREASES the probability of a catastrophe.

And also note that launching unhooked is THE easiest, most effective, and probably single most common way we have to kill people in this sport and it's prevention is the simplest, easiest, cheapest, biggest no-brainer in the entire history of aviation.

Preflight, Hangcheck, and Lift/Tug Hook In Check is the total safety package.

No.

Preflight and hook-in check... Yes. Mandatory.

Hang check... NO. It has NOTHING to do with safety. It's good and necessary for ONE THING and ONE THING *ONLY* - checking your clearance. That - for all intents and purposes - is NOT a safety issue. Cite me an example of anyone in the entire history of hang gliding who was scratched because his clearance was off a foot one way or the other and maybe I'll think about modifying my statement.

When people say "hang check" they mean do a hang check then relax 'cause now you can assume you're hooked in.

Cragin Shelton - 2005/10/03

As we were walking Bill up to the old ramp, with me on right wing and Hank on nose, Hank asked bill if he wanted a hang check. Bill's reply was something like, "No thanks, I'm good." Hank then pointed out that he was not hooked in. I remarked that 'you are not hooked in until after the hang check.' We ran Bill through a routine lay-down hang check at the back of the ramp, and he had a fine launch.

That asshole helped get Bill killed EXACTLY two weeks later.

Steve Kinsley - 2005/10/02

I already see where the anger and grief take us. We need to do hang checks, double hang checks. And who was on Bill's wire crew? How could they let that happen?

When Bob Gillisse got hurt I suggested that our local institution of the hang check is more the problem than the solution. I still believe that. It subverts the pilots responsibility to perform a hook-in check. I often do not see pilots doing a hook-in check. Why should they? They just did a hang check and they are surrounded by friends who will make sure this box is checked.

But what if there is no hang check and you are used to one?

DO A HOOK-IN CHECK. You need a system that you do every time regardless of how many hang checks you have been subjected to that assures you are hooked in.

Cragin's a moron, Steve's a genius. (Note the dates on those two posts.) Go with the genius. The hang check is not the solution - it's the problem.

At the Spectacular a couple of weekends a competitor did a hang check and completed a flight connected to the keel only by the intermeshing of velcro - and was doing a hang check for a second run when the problem was picked up on by an assistant. If the diver had used the time and energy he wasted on the goddam hang check to visually preflight the connection that would've been much less likely to happen.

Keep up the good work!!

Good work in aviation means 100.00 percent (at a minimum). Aviation is pass/fail and 99.99 percent is FAIL. We gotta start it before we can keep it up.

[Bob Kuczewski]

Hi Tad,

I don't have time to respond to everything right now, but I think a big part of the problem here might be differences in what a "hang check" is supposed to accomplish. You seem to think its only purpose is to verify clearance. You also seem to think that a hang check means no hook-in check:

3. Any time anyone uses the words "hang check" and/or "Aussie Method" it can be safely assumed that he means "Skip the hook-in check."

I don't know what every school teaches, but I know that Joe Greblo teaches "the 4 C's" as part of a hang check:

Chinstrap (be sure you have helmet and it's fastened)
Crotch (ensure that your legs are going through the legloops)
Clearance (ensure proper height above the bar)
Connection (visually ensure that you are properly connected to the glider)

In addition to this, Joe teaches that a hook-in check should be done immediately prior to launch - ALWAYS. There is no incompatibility between a hang check and a hook-in check.

So just because Sam says that someone did a hang check does NOT mean that they didn't do a hook-in check. That conclusion is not supported by the statements presented, and that's why it would have been preferable for you to use the post I had suggested rather than to simply launch into a bashing of Sam or anyone else. I suspect you have another agenda here, and that concerns me.

Finally, your approach leads me to ask you for an honest answer about which is your higher goal:

A) To have people adopt safer practices
- or -
B) To prove your intellectual superiority and beat others into the ground

If you really want (A), then I don't think your approach is working. All you're doing is causing fewer and fewer people to want to read what you write. That does not accomplish (A) at all. That's why I suggested the wording that I offered. Please think about this and honestly ask yourself what you're trying to accomplish.

Thanks.
Bob Kuczewski

[TadEareckson]

You seem to think its only purpose is to verify clearance.

No. FOUR purposes. In ascending order of importance:

1. Verification of clearance.

2. Justification for pilot skipping hook-in check at moment of launch.

3. Justification for crew to concentrate on the all important task of getting the glider into the air and not EVER look for hook-in check.

4. Elimination of any responsibility on the parts of the instructor(s) and USHGA for smashing another pilot to a lifeless pulp at the bottom of the escarpment.

I don't know what every school teaches...

Scott Wilkinson - 2005/10/05

We visited Steve Wendt yesterday, who was visibly choked up over Bill's death. For Steve, it all comes down to one thing: you've got to hook in. Period. Steve's second point of emphasis is distractions. The more distractions, the greater the chance of error.

Scott Wilkinson - 2005/10/13

Steve Wendt (Bill's instructor) (and USHGA's 2004 Instructor of the Year Award recipient - TE) has already talked about instituting preflight hang checks (meaning literally getting down on the ground and hanging in your harness, just like you'd do in the mountains) for all of his students at the flight park - just to get them into the habit of doing it - even if they don't need to do it for a towed launch.

60ishBOB - 2006/05/06
Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Does anybody know the condition of the hang glider pilot injured in an accident at the Torrey Pines Gliderport on Friday? We saw him go off the cliff and hit the beach 200 feet below but had to fly back to Missouri before we learned his status. Praying for a good report.

Tad (no relation) Hurst - 2006/06/01
San Diego

I came upon this Forum rather accidentally.

I am the pilot that crashed on 2006/05/05 at Torrey. This was a failure-to-hook-in event. I hung on the glider all the way to the beach. Since I was hanging on the base tube, I obviously had no pitch control and the glider was in a steep dive. I did manage a turn to the right to line up with the dry sand.

I did a PLF on the beach at an estimated 50-60 MPH and 30 degree incline. Broken pelvis only.

I am recovering - I have been back at work for the last two weeks, and I can drive the car. I should be walking without crutches in 3.5 weeks.

I am in better shape than I have any right to be.

Joe Gregor - 2007/05
USHGA Accident Review Committee Chairman

An advanced pilot launched unhooked. The pilot was able to hold on and effect a landing on the beach below, but suffered a broken pelvis and internal bleeding. It is extremely fortunate that this pilot had the strength to hold on for the duration of the flight, and it's amazing that these were the only injuries suffered. Lesson learned: HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK! Your life will most often depend on it.

Every school is obviously teaching students to do hang checks in the setup area or at the back of the ramp so they can assume they're hooked in at the front of the ramp. The percentage of the time I'm gonna be wrong about that blanket statement is gonna be so microscopic that I can't be bothered to worry about it.

...but I know that Joe Greblo teaches "the 4 C's" as part of a hang check:

Chinstrap (be sure you have helmet and it's fastened)
Crotch (ensure that your legs are going through the legloops)
Clearance (ensure proper height above the bar)
Connection (visually ensure that you are properly connected to the glider)

Why stop there?

Cell phone (in harness pocket)
Car keys (not in pocket and with driver)
Cash / credit card (in wallet)
Cumulus clouds (in position over launch)
Children (cleared from inside double surface - or distributed symmetrically)

Is it more important to have a helmet on and buckled than a good pair of wheels?

Besides clearance, which of those items needs to be done while you're proned out wasting someone's time holding your nose?

Is the inspection of your connection gonna be as effective while you're hanging and trying to rotate your head like an owl - but doing it more like Linda Blair? (I think that question was answered pretty conclusively at Jockeys Ridge last month.)

In addition to this, Joe teaches that a hook-in check should be done immediately prior to launch - ALWAYS.

In addition to...

You're securely hooked in now but this quaint little hook-in check...

...should...

...SHOULD...

...if you remember and - aren't too busy doing a radio check, going over the launch sequence with the wuffo you've recruited for your left wire, unclipping to do a final positioning check on your wing camera...

...also be done before you run off the ramp.

Sorry, doesn't cut it for me - even with a capital "always" at the end. The mindset has gotta be that, even though you did a good job and preflighted the hell out of everything - including a hang check if you think there's some reason you need to verify your clearance, YOU ARE NOT HOOKED IN.

I like Steve Kinsley's take on this A LOT better...

When Bob Gillisse got hurt I suggested that our local institution of the hang check is more the problem than the solution.

There is no incompatibility between a hang check and a hook-in check.

There's no incompatibility between a parachute repack and a hook-in check. But a parachute repack is rarely necessary, will rarely do you any good, and may distract you from taking care of something that commonly is and will.

So just because Sam says that someone did a hang check...

Sam DID NOT SAY that someone did a hang check. Sam wasn't any more there than I was.

...does NOT mean that they didn't do a hook-in check.

Al Hernandez - 2011/06/03

Martin set up and inspected his 145 Wills Wing, single surface, and gear, did his hang check at the foot of the launch and stepped up to the fly plate.

Martin did another hang check and I helped on the nose.

At about 16:45 I helped Martin conduct a proper hang check at the foot of the platform...

He needs to check his clearance three times in one day on the same glider/harness combo? They're not doing hook-in checks.

Nestle Shane

Here is some of the report submitted to USHPA regarding the (2010/06/26) death of John Seward at Packsaddle Mountain.

...

We then unfastened the glider and moved out to the beginning of the ramp where we did a hang check and made sure he had plenty of clearance over the bar and his chute was not interfering with his forward movement. Dan and Lori were with us to watch his launch while Nathan and Johnny were up checking out Nathan's new glider.

All checks being completed we then moved out to the edge of the ramp. He had mentioned earlier that he had felt rushed when he was being helped last week. He also felt like he was being pulled down the ramp by the winds, so he was nervous about being too close to the transition from flat to sloped. Once we got on the ramp I let him feel it out and get accustomed to the wind direction and speed. It was SSE to SE and about 10-15 MPH at the ramp. Very smooth as well. We talked about where the lift band was going to be and that the best lift would be on the SE point. We then went through the launch procedures where I told him I would call "clear" when I was completely out of the way. Because the LZ had hay bales in it, I advised that he should land down in the lowest field that had not been cut or baled, or simply in the clearings directly below launch and before the parking area.

Because he had felt rushed last time, I was cognizant of letting him feel the air and take time to relax. He kept backing away from the edge of the ramp, still feeling the winds were pulling the glider down the ramp. I kept coaxing him back to the edge to help keep his glider at the proper angle of attack for takeoff. After five minutes or so he yelled, "Clear!" I cleared the ramp and responded, "Clear!" His launch was only a couple of steps...

Got that?

ALL CHECKS BEING COMPLETED we then moved out to the edge of the ramp.

AFTER FIVE MINUTES OR SO he yelled, "Clear!"

These guys don't do hook-in checks...

Zack C - 2010/11/06

B and I showed up around 10:00. The weather was ideal...just the right temperature, sunny skies, and light wind (less forgiving so good for practice). We filmed each other's flights...not all of them, but the ones we got are here (password = 'red'):

http://www.vimeo.com/16572592

I'd guess we each got maybe six flights. Well, B's glider got six...one flight didn't include him (same password):

http://www.vimeo.com/16572582

He was uninjured and the glider undamaged, but I still consider this a serious failure on the part of us both, especially given how much we've discussed this recently.

Other than that, it was a fun day.

Dave Williams - 2010/11/09

Re: [HHPA] Tad Poll

I was almost speechless that within a short space of time yet another failure to clip in INCIDENT (no accident) and we're trying to ban Tad from our daily email delight.

One of the three things Tad is very forthright on is the hang check/clip in. I was very concerned that the most recent failure to clip in was glossed over as if it was totally unimportant. Whilst anyone in this group displays this complacent attitude we need at least one Tad with regular inputs, most of which are safety oriented. So my input is that we absolutely need Tad, at least until we can learn to do the basics.

Zack C - 2010/11/10

[HHPA] Re: Safety - Hook-in Incident

We discussed FTHI at the meeting tonight. From my perspective, this seemed to be the consensus:

- We need to help each other more.
- There is no difference between a hang check and a hook-in check.
- Checking your connection status five minutes before you launch is no less acceptable than two seconds (and five minutes probably qualifies as 'just prior' for USHPA's ratings).
- It is preposterous to suggest that hang checks are dangerous.
- The Aussie method is one way to prevent FTHI.

Those there can add to or correct this recap as necessary.

They're too busy banning people who insist that they do and therefore threaten their time-honored traditions and very way of life.

That conclusion is not supported by the statements presented...

When you hear hoofbeats...

...and that's why it would have been preferable for you to use the post I had suggested rather than to simply launch into a bashing of Sam...

I missed the part where I bashed Sam.

...or anyone else.

Anyone else I got reasons with which I'm pretty satisfied.

I suspect you have another agenda here, and that concerns me.

Gene pool.

Finally, your approach leads me to ask you for an honest answer about which is your higher goal:

A) To have people adopt safer practices
- or -
B) To prove your intellectual superiority and beat others into the ground

C) To have SOME people adopt safer practices...

Jason Rogers - 2008/10/14
New South Wales

Thanks for this discussion. I spent most of my flying time at a rounded hill takeoff, where this really isn't that much of an issue. I don't think I was placing the right sort of importance on being hooked in... So now that I'm flying less "forgiving" sites, you may well have saved my life.

Mike B - 2009/01/25
Monrovia, California

Persuasive argument Tad, I am sold on your points. I intend to always confirm "leg loops" and "hooked in" immediately before launch.

Paul Farina - 2009/02/04
Ohio

Some may not like your comments, but that means nothing to me. You've helped raise awareness of two very critical issues (hook-in and releases). Thank you.

Freedomspyder - 2009/02/14

I've found your posts on both hook-in checks and releases very interesting and well thought out.

Best of luck dealing with the Oz Report forum cult and its leader.

enormydude - 2010/01/11
New South Wales

Lift and Tug - identified my absent leg loop - thank you!

Helen McKerral - 2010/09/04
South Australia

I'm almost afraid to mention this... four words:

"Tad's Lift and Tug."

Zack C - 2010/10/15
Houston

Speaking of which, while I can fault Tad's approach, I can't fault his logic, nor have I seen anyone here try to refute it. You may not like the messenger, but that is no reason to reject the message.

...and let gene pool crud prove my intellectual superiority while beating itself into the ground...

The Press - 2006/03/15
Queenstown

The Civil Aviation Authority is urgently pushing for new hang gliding industry standards after learning a pilot who suffered serious injuries in a crash three weeks ago had not clipped himself on to the glider.

Extreme Air tandem gliding pilot James (Jim) Rooney safely clipped his passenger into the glider before departing from the Coronet Peak launch site, near Queenstown, CAA sports and recreation manager Rex Kenny said yesterday.

However, he took off without attaching himself.

In a video, he was seen to hold on to the glider for about fifty meters before hitting power lines.

...while I'm laughing myself stupid to even things up a tiny bit.

If you really want (A), then I don't think your approach is working.

Maybe not.

All you're doing is causing fewer and fewer people to want to read what you write.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15337

6327 hits to date. AND I got to make Davis look like the idiot he is.

That does not accomplish (A) at all. That's why I suggested the wording that I offered. Please think about this and honestly ask yourself what you're trying to accomplish.

1. I work my a** off on this issue and every time someone says "hang check" the job gets a little harder and the ramp gets A LOT more dangerous.

2. Preempt me next time.

[TadEareckson]

Preflight, Hangcheck, and Lift/Tug Hook In Check is the total safety package.

I've made this point before but...

Words - more than anything else - save and kill in this sport. We use them to relay concepts and train people how to understand and use equipment, fly, respond to situations, compensate for being human. Flying is pretty much all math and physics and there's almost always ONE right/best answer for any specific procedure or set of circumstances so we can/should/must have pretty specific and uniform language to cover it.

There are a few procedures you need to do to get a glider off of the racks and safely off of the ramp at Whitwell and they need to be properly defined, understood, adhered to, and CATEGORIZED.

The categories are:

1. ASSEMBLY
2. PREFLIGHT
3. LAUNCH

You turn the folded down and base tubes into a control frame by installing a pin at a down/base tube junction.

As you're installing the pin you're looking at it. It's not bent or cracked, you've completed the PREFLIGHT inspection for that component.

You insert and secure the pin, you've completed the ASSEMBLY of the control frame.

After the glider's all together and tensioned you look for things you've stupidly done and stupidly not done and you check to make sure the pin is in and properly secured... That's PREFLIGHT.

In MOST situations it's better to connect the harness to the glider before getting into it 'cause you're less likely to screw up the critical connection (which I HAVE done) or get something twisted or misrouted (ASSEMBLY) and you can better check the connection and suspension (PREFLIGHT).

It can be inconvenient or - much as Aussie Methodist nut cases like to deny it (despite actual data) - DANGEROUS to be in your harness and connected to your glider prior to arriving at launch. So let's take a worst case scenario...

The glider itself has been fully ASSEMBLED and PREFLIGHTED behind the ramp.

You've wiggled into your harness, buckled your buckles, and zipped your jacket area zipper (ASSEMBLY) and verified that you caught your leg loops (PREFLIGHT).

IF it's a new or different glider/harness combo you should do a hang check to determine the clearance (so you can do something shoddy and mildly dangerous to compensate if it's off). In the setup area, behind the ramp, on the ramp - that's a relatively unimportant PREFLIGHT inspection item. It tells you clearance. It DOES NOT EVER tell you - OR ANYONE ELSE - you're clipped in after you've rotated back out of prone, picked up the glider, and moved into launch position.

So back to...

Preflight, Hangcheck, and Lift/Tug Hook In Check is the total safety package.

Before you get to the second comma the language is wrong. A hang check is NOT a stand-alone item. It's an optional, mostly or worse than useless component of the PREFLIGHT inspection procedure that REAL pilots - the dozen or so we have in hang gliding - tend not to do.

Rob Kells - 2005/12

Master's Tips
Pre-Flight, Distractions, and Hooking In

Two of the most dangerous, yet easily preventable, mistakes in hang gliding are taking off with an improperly assembled aircraft and launching without hooking in.

Accidents of this type usually involve a distraction of some kind to the pilot's normal pre-flight routine. Be it a camera mounted on the glider, a film crew, radio, new instrument, changing weather conditions, or a contest, the pilot is usually distracted by something different that catches his attention and contributes to her or him making a serious mistake.

A Comprehensive Pre-Flight Check

Most test flights we do at the factory are on production or prototype gliders that have never been flown before. It's essential that a complete and thorough preflight be conducted to ensure the glider is properly assembled. I pre-flight a hang glider the same way I was taught to pre-flight an airplane: Start at the nose, check the center section, and then work around the glider in a consistent manner. My preflight covers every assembly, cable, tube, nut, bolt, pin, safety ring, strap, zipper, Mylar insert, sprog, washout strut, nose cone and stitch on the glider. I personally believe that it is very important to actually touch each item as I check it. If interrupted by someone or something during the pre-flight, I go back to the beginning and start again.

Hooked In, Or Not?

Following a recent fatal accident caused by the pilot launching unhooked, there has been a discussion on how to guarantee that you are hooked in. The two main methods are:

1. Always do a hang check before launch; and/or

2. Always hook your harness into the glider before you get into the harness.

Interestingly, NEITHER of these methods GUARANTEES that you will not launch unhooked some day. Let's add a third one:

3. Always lift the glider vertically and feel the tug on the leg straps when the harness mains go tight, just before you start your launch run.

I always use this test.

A hang check seems to be a very reasonable way to ensure that you are hooked in, your lines are straight, and that you are the proper distance from the base bar. However, it does not ensure that you are in your leg loops. I know most pilots include the leg loops as part of their hang check, but remember the point about distractions. Several pilots have launched unhooked after doing a hang check because they were distracted and unhooked from the glider, and then, remembering having done a hang check earlier, ran off the hill unhooked. If you unhook for any reason after your hang check, and a hang check is your way to be sure you are hooked in, you must always do another hang check! In some conditions, though, it's difficult to do a hang check, e.g. if you are the last pilot to launch.

"Knowing" that if you are in your harness you must be hooked in, means that if something comes up that causes you to unhook for any reason, you are actually in greater danger of thinking you are hooked in when you are not. This happened to a pilot who used the Oz Method for several years and then went to the training hill for some practice flights. He unhooked from the glider to carry it up the hill. At the top, sitting under the glider with his harness on, he picked up the glider and launched unhooked. Fortunately he was not hurt... but I bet he was very surprised.

My partners (Steve Pearson and Mike Meier) and I have over 25,000 hang glider flights between us and have managed (so far) to have hooked in every time. I also spoke with test pilots Ken Howells and Peter Swanson about their methods (another 5000 flights). Not one of us regularly uses either of the two most popular methods outlined above.

Got that everyone? This pinnacle of competence - anal to the max on PREFLIGHT inspection - doesn't do the goddam useless hang check UNLESS (reading between the lines) - he needs to check the clearance.

And since - according to the High Priests of the goddam lunatic Aussie Methodist cult - if you ever once in your life get into a harness unless it's connected to a glider you're not using the goddam lunatic Aussie Method, he doesn't use the goddam lunatic Aussie Method at all. Period.

Ditto the above with respect to his Wills Wing colleagues.

Following a recent fatal accident caused by the pilot launching unhooked...

This was Bill Priday, murdered on 2005/10/01 by the Blue Sky / Lookout / CHGA / Ridgely hang check cartel.

And again, back to...

Preflight, Hangcheck, and Lift/Tug Hook In Check is the total safety package.

You, or some buddies, have gotten your glider onto the ramp and you've hooked in. Maybe you've done a(nother) hang check - or rubbed your lucky rabbit's foot if that instead makes you happy.

You're standing with the glider on your shoulders at launch position. You've completed ASSEMBLY and PREFLIGHT and are about to commence your LAUNCH SEQUENCE.

YOU ARE NOT HOOKED IN.

Not sure about that pin in your control frame corner? Fine. Look down at the pin to verify. You just dropped back into PREFLIGHT mode.

It's OK, so now you're again ready to commence your LAUNCH SEQUENCE.

YOU ARE NOT HOOKED IN.

Show time.

Commence LAUNCH SEQUENCE.

Check ribbons.

LIFT the glider until it stops as you feel the TUG on your leg loops.

NOW you're MAYBE hooked in...

...and can clear your crew, accelerate, et cetera.

Steve Kinsley - 2005/10/04

The way it oughta be

One last attempt.

We have now rounded up all the usual suspects and promised renewed vigilance, 9 page checklists, hang checks every 6 ft etc. Bob G redux.

A hang check is part of preflighting your equipment. You do it in the setup area, not on the launch or the ramp. When you get in line you are hooked in and ready to go. No going down for a hang check cum hook-in check. A hook-in check is a procedure that every pilot performs on his own. Having another pilot hold the nose is not an acceptable hook-in check (because it requires another person). Your wire crew does not ask you anything unless they see something wrong. "Do you know you are not hooked in?"

The point is to emphasize that this is all the pilot's responsibility; that you cannot rely on other people. We are better off promoting that ethic.

Hook in failure in New Zealand

Christian Williams - 2006/09/19

Greblo teaches a hook-in check the instant before launch. To him, a hang check is part of the preflight and has no value in confirming that you are hooked in at the moment of launch.

Unhooked Death Again - Change our Methods Now?

JBBenson - 2009/01/25

I get what Tad is saying, but it took some translation:

HANG CHECK is part of the preflight, to verify that all the harness lines etc. are straight.

HOOK-IN CHECK is to verify connection to the glider five seconds before takeoff.

They are separate actions, neither interchangeable nor meant to replace one another. They are not two ways to do the same thing.

We're about due for another US fatal. The last one was 2008/08/30, Mingus, Kunio Yoshimura, in front of the screaming wife and kids. Since then we've had a sprinkling of inconsequentials and a couple of serious injuries.

WHEN the next one happens it WILL BE an idiot hang checker with a small flock of other idiot hang checkers crewing and/or looking on. So please try to delay it as much as possible by NEVER encouraging anyone to do an idiot hang check.

Or, if you wanna go totally nuts and try to prevent it altogether, start talking about and insisting that your fellow flyers start doing proper launch sequences. Might also be a good idea to start doing them yourself in order that your words (not to mention your glider) carry a little more weight.

Nah, just kidding. Let's just not discuss this until after the next one, then do the usual talk about what a blow it was to the hang gliding community, how deeply we feel for the family, how we need to be more vigilant about hang checks and serious about treating the glider and harness AS A UNIT, the importance of letting go of the glider the INSTANT you realize you're not hooked in, and how to throw your parachute with one hand while hanging onto the basetube with the other.

Great flights, dudes!

[Bob Kuczewski]

Tad,

If I understand our disagreement here, I think it amounts to this.

I claim that the following is a good procedure:

    - Preflight
    - Hangcheck
    - Hook-In Check (Lift and Tug, for example)

You seem to prefer eliminating the hang check to give this:

    - Preflight
    - Hook-In Check (Lift and Tug only)

Does that sum up our differences on this topic?

[TadEareckson]

Steve Kinsley - 2005/10/04

One last attempt.

A hang check is part of preflighting your equipment.

Christian Williams - 2006/09/19

Greblo teaches a hook-in check the instant before launch. To him, a hang check is part of the preflight and has no value in confirming that you are hooked in at the moment of launch.

JBBenson - 2009/01/25

HANG CHECK is part of the preflight, to verify that all the harness lines etc. are straight.

It's PART of the PREFLIGHT - IF you do it (which, unless you're doing different glider/harness combos, you probably shouldn't).

So at the very least you need to change this:

- Preflight
- Hangcheck
- Hook-In Check (Lift and Tug, for example)

to this:

- Preflight
-- Hangcheck
- Hook-In Check (Lift and Tug, for example)

But from a practical standpoint we should actually be doing something like this:

- Preflight
-- Shoes Tied
-- Hangcheck
- Hook-In Check (Lift and Tug, for example)

'cause the pilot CAN get hurt as a result of tripping during the launch run but CAN'T as a result of being a foot too high or low.

But what's the point of telling someone over the age of about four that he needs to have his shoes tied before he goes out to play?

Why are we wasting paper, bandwidth, breath, and time telling people they need to check their clearance from the basetube? Is there anybody over the age of four who's flown a glider more than once that doesn't know that already?

"Whoa, I forgot to check my clearance at launch! I was so high/low that I could barely reach the basetube! Thank GOD I was able to get down OK! We've really gotta start watching out for each other a lot better and getting the word out about hang checks!"

How many times have you heard somebody say that? How many times have you heard of anybody being far enough off that it mattered a rat's a**'s worth?

I got news for ya... NOBODY who cautions fellow pilots to do hang checks means "Make sure you have proper clearance from the bar." The intent of EVERYBODY who uses the words "hang check" is to caution pilots not to launch unhooked. Unfortunately, as Steve Kinsley so astutely deduced, the hang check has the PRECISE OPPOSITE EFFECT.

Scott Wilkinson - 2005/10/05

We visited Steve Wendt yesterday, who was visibly choked up over Bill's death. For Steve, it all comes down to one thing: you've got to hook in. Period.

Well freakin' DUH!!!

If ONLY Bill had understood that! How do we get this message out to other pilots to prevent a recurrence of this tragedy?

"Dude, you're not hooked in!"

"Huh?"

"You need to connect your carabiner to that webbing up there."

"Why?"

"So you don't fall out of your glider and kill yourself."

"HOLY SHITT!!! I never thought of that! So THAT'S what this stuff is for! It'll probably make flying a lot easier too! When wuffos have been asking me 'Don't your arms get tired?' I've been answering 'HELL YES!' Owe ya BIGTIME, buddy! Got some cold ones in the back. Help yourself."

Scott Wilkinson - 2005/10/13

Steve has already talked about instituting preflight hang checks (meaning literally getting down on the ground and hanging in your harness, just like you'd do in the mountains) for all of his students at the flight park - just to get them into the habit of doing it - even if they don't need to do it for a towed launch.

What these morons mean is "Don't forget the hang check 'cause that's what'll keep you from launching unhooked."

It doesn't.

You can do a hang check at the back of the ramp and go off the front unhooked 'cause stuff can and does happen in the time it takes to get there.

You can accurately remember doing a hang check at the back of the ramp and go off the front unhooked 'cause the one you accurately remembered doing was last Sunday.

It's real hard to do a lift and tug at the front of the ramp five or fewer seconds before launch and go off unhooked but you can count the people in the world who get that on one hand 'cause damn near everyone else is using the Packsaddle protocol - or something similar.

Bille Floyd UNDOUBTEDLY did a hang check prior to the first his first flight on the Falcon he got from Spark 'cause he needed to check his clearance on the newly acquired bird. He may VERY WELL have done a hang check
before the second flight as well but...

The wind died for a long time so I unhooked and set the keel on the ground, then sat on the control bar and waited maybe 5-8 min for another cycle.

And you know the rest of the story.

So do we really need to be telling this guy:

Sam Kellner - 2011/06/04

Preflight, Hangcheck

or:

Joe Gregor - 2007/05

HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK, HANG CHECK! Your life will most often depend on it.

?

Sorry, I gotta go with:

---
ALWAYS assume you are NOT hooked in.
---

That's what I always did and I've got fewer cracked vertebra than Martin and two more legs than Bille. (And a whole lot more brains than both of them put together and cloned half a dozen times.)

So back to this...

- Preflight
- Hangcheck
- Hook-In Check (Lift and Tug, for example)

What good do you think it does to include Items One and Two on that list?

Let's assume, for the sake of argument, (like everyone does anyway) that "Hangcheck" has a useful function.

1. Are people deliberately NOT preflighting and hang checking?

2. By writing/repeating those items are more people gonna preflight and hang check better and more frequently?

The words "hang" and "check" put together in that order are the two most dangerous in the sport.

---
ALWAYS assume you are NOT hooked in.
---

Seven words (you CAN say on television) and one punctuation mark. That's the most bang for the buck we can get and that's the message we need to get out above any other - 'cause damn near everyone and his dog is doing just the opposite.

You seem to prefer eliminating the hang check to give this:

- Preflight
- Hook-In Check (Lift and Tug only)

Eliminate the hang check...

Yes. If they need to do it they don't need to be told to do it. If they need to do it and don't it won't make a helluva lotta difference.

Preflight...

Yes. Lift and tug tells you your carabiner is engaging the hang strap. It doesn't tell you that your carabiner is CLOSED AROUND the hang strap (btdt).

Hook-In Check...

IF YOU DO *NOTHING* ELSE.

Lift and Tug...

If at all possible.

only...

It's not possible for everyone - Zack fer instance. But then SOMETHING, at launch position and within low single digit seconds.

Does that sum up our differences on this topic?

Maybe. But let's try to keep coming up with stuff. Gets boring as hell otherwise.