[wingspan33]

What I'm wondering about the below info is, . . . it doesn't mention anything about truck towing. The web page text is from an outfit in Las Vegas, NV but I can't find any mention (in the media) of the company doing the truck towing.

Rick, is it known that the below company (via that web site link) was the outfit doing the truck tow tandems?

The thing that gets me in this case is the absence of an observer on the back of the truck. While it is possible to do without an observer - I wouldn't call it a good idea at all. I've done a couple hundred truck tows using the Air Time of Lubbock (or ATOL) system and we ALWAYS had a observer in the back of the truck. And he was outfitted with a hook knife to cut the line if anything went wrong (such as an inability of the pilot to release).

Could be that the FAA needs to step in and make SERIOUS guidelines regarding the procedures involved with ANY Part 103 Tandem Exemption flight. Requirements such as mandatory HD recording of each flight. Mandatory in truck observers/spotters during truck towing situations. Radio communications between pilot and tow craft (truck or aero).

Of course no new regulations could be imposed and the Tandem Exemption could be pulled. Or nothing done on anybody's part and people keep dieing.

An emphasis needs to be made STRONGLY that tandem screw ups should NEVER happen. "Never" should be the mind set at least!

What to Expect During Your First Tandem Hang Gliding Experience

In the "good ol' days" of hang gliding, enthusiasts would literally run and jump off of cliffs to launch their hang glider. Imagine how intimidating that could be for a first-time pilot. But there's no need to panic! There are two basic and extremely safe methods for getting started as a beginning hang gliding pilot.

Lessons are available which involve instruction on training, or "bunny," hills. The bunny hills allow the novice to experience hang gliding from only several feet above the ground. Training entails practice from the bunny hills under a controlled environment with certified instructors. Your instructor will help you become familiar with the equipment you will be using. Then you will practice solo control of the hang glider by flying no higher than 10 to 20 feet in the air, after which you and the instructor will embark on your tandem adventure by foot-launching the hang glider from a much steeper hill.

As an alternative, you may choose an aerotow high-altitude hang glide lesson, sure to make your cloud-bustin' adventure stress-free and exciting! After some brief general instruction you'll be fitted into your harness, and you and the instructor will be elevated by an ultralight plane to up to 3000 feet in the air!

The plane will then release you, and the sound of the engine fading away will soon be replaced by the sound of the wind whooshing by you as you gracefully soar along on pillows of air. Your instructor will teach you how to speed up, slow down, or change the direction of your hang glider.

But don't get too involved in steering your hang glider that you don't notice the landscape above and below you! The stress of everyday life melts away, with not a cubicle or file cabinet in sight! Only the sloping hills of trees.never-ending blue skies.perhaps a mighty eagle or two.

After an exhilarating flight, your instructor will prepare for a smooth and soft landing. Your hang gliding adventure is over!
http://www.weaty.com/HangGliding/Hanggl ... glide.html

[brianscharp]

Simulator/platform tow rig.
http://lasvegashanggliding.org/simulator.htm

http://www.kitestrings.org/post7633.html#p7633

[Bob Kuczewski]

This short quote from hanggliding.org says a lot.

We have a very experienced tow administrator (Mitch Shipley) headed to Las Vegas to do an accident investigation, and when we learn what really happened we'll convey that information to our members. He'll be working with two of the local instructors there to get to the truth.

Yea right....More like fighting over who gets to eat the video card.

[Rick Masters]

Your hang gliding adventure is over!

see http://krqe.com/2015/03/28/11-year-old- ... -accident/

[wingspan33]

Here's a question for everybody -

The FAA regulates General Aviation. It investigates accidents and issues reports. It doesn't worry about being sued regarding what it uncovers. The over-all General Aviation Community learns from the process and safety is increased.

What makes the u$hPa so different?

Guess what? The difference just POPPED into my mind.

Well, the FAA doesn't offer pilot and site insurance - the u$hPa DOES!

The u$hPa's biggest problem ( i.e., liability) as an organization is that it offers its members and Chapters Liability Insurance. If a pilot is involved in an accident, and they've got insurance coverage, people sue them (and the u$hPa!!!) to get $ to cover their damages. That is, they sue if they think that the pilot (or the u$hPa) is at fault or, if their lawyer thinks that the pilot (or the u$hPa) can be proven to be at fault).

If CC and HG pilots could only get (by their own means) insurance to cover themselves, then some National Organization could not be sued over such claims.** The Nat Org is no longer in the "middle man" position.

But then there's Site Insurance. Why is it that a National Assoc. can't simply suggest that land owners get signed up with liability insurance on their own? But how does the land owner pay the bill - or better WHY should they pay the bill? They could just kick the CC and HG pilots off their land.

Well, when I pay an insurance bill the insurance company doesn't need to know where I got the money to pay that bill. A group of local pilots might "help" a land owner pay a Site Insurance bill and no "middle man" (the Nat Org) can be claimed as being liable for anything.

So, . . . Remove LIABILITY Insurance from the table and a Hang Gliding organization can REALLY act to promote SAFETY. A Hang Gliding organization only needs to document and help to develop advancements in safe operating procedures as history teaches - and make that information available to its community of pilots. How does somebody get sued for sharing and updating "best known practices"? Sounds a bit like what the FAA does, eh?


** Odd how the u$hPa gets sued, when it's their insurance company from whom the victims want their money. Shouldn't the insurance company be footing that bill? Why do members of the u$hPa pay big amounts of their dues money toward paying for law suits against its insurance company? Is the u$hPa effectively "protecting" its own insurance company with its memberships' dollars ?

Mark G. Forbes - 2011/09/30 23:21:56 UTC

Here's how it really works:

- Member submits an accident report. Could be the pilot who had the accident, or some other witness.

- Accident report is sent to Tim to maintain legal privilege. Tim reviews the report and determines whether there's significant legal risk associated with it. He may redact certain parts (personally identifiable information, etc.) if in his opinion exposure of that information poses a risk to us. If the report is very risky, he may decide that it can't be shared further, and will notify the ED about it. He may also notify our insurers if he sees a potential for a claim, as is normal practice for any incident where we are aware of such a potential.

- Redacted report goes to the accident review chairs, for incorporation into periodic articles in the magazine. Articles focus on root causes of accidents, not on personal narratives or details.

What a lovely image of the U$hPa consigliere redacting accident reports. Dickens couldn't write stuff that nasty. And of course delusional to think that in this day and age information can be manipulated and controlled so readily. Lawyers protecting pilots from lawyers. It's clear who the winners are in this arrangement.

[Bob Kuczewski]

Hi Scott,

If you hover over your post link, you'll find that it's post number 11111 on the US Hawks.

I happened to notice it because I needed the link to post on the Oz Forum:

Wingspan33 just posted an insightful observation on the US Hawks forum. He points out that USHPA's role as an insurance provider for our sport creates a conflict of interest with their supposed role to provide safety and information for our sport. This manifests itself in the recent Jean Lake crash where USHPA rushes in to do "damage control" (suppression of information) to protect against claims and it also manifests itself in this topic where USHPA is using my own testimony in an ongoing injury court case as justification to expel me (another attempt at suppression of information).

In both cases, USHPA's alignment with the insurance carrier creates a clear conflict of interest with their role as our national hang gliding and paragliding organization.

Very good observation Wingspan!!

Let me say it again here ... Very good observation Scott!!   

[wingspan33]

Rick,

About those pictures you posted, . . .

The ATOL truck tow system we used back in the later 80s and early 90s looked PROFESSIONAL. And 98% of its use was for single place (uShPa rated) HG pilots who were basically friends of the owner. No Huge reason to look professional - except maybe the "safety factor".

But the rig these guys in Nevada were using looks like a cobbled together piece of junk!

Imagine going rafting down some river on half sunk rafts with torn life jackets and rusty paddles! What kind of an operation was this!

A tourist based business - out of Las Vegas no less - had no higher standards than that? Holy _ _ _ _

[Free]

Rick,

About those pictures you posted, . . .

The ATOL truck tow system we used back in the later 80s and early 90s looked PROFESSIONAL. And 98% of its use was for single place (uShPa rated) HG pilots who were basically friends of the owner. No Huge reason to look professional - except maybe the "safety factor".

But the rig these guys in Nevada were using looks like a cobbled together piece of junk!

Imagine going rafting down some river on half sunk rafts with torn life jackets and rusty paddles! What kind of an operation was this!

A tourist based business - out of Las Vegas no less - had no higher standards than that? Holy _ _ _ _

Slow down a bit, Scott. A friend and I had an ATOL back in the 80's and they don't pay out any different and maybe not as well as a large spool homemade rig because of spool diameter physics. The ATOL has a wider drum of smaller diameter and uses a level wind to lay the rope in a pattern on the drum. A larger spool has leverage advantage to make the spool spin more consistently on payout.

A larger spool without a level wind could be more prone to stop paying out if the previous rewind was loose or sloppy but that doesn't seem to be what happened here. The rope supposedly went slack instead of locking up which is what a rope snag would produce. The launch platform on an old pickup bed doesn't make any difference.

I can't see how the rope went slack without the truck stopping first.
The question is why Kelly didn't or couldn't release before out-flying the slack?
Where is the video card on this one? We'll probably never see it.

[Merlin]

So, . . . Remove LIABILITY Insurance from the table and a Hang Gliding organization can REALLY act to promote SAFETY.

Via Tad's "archive"...

http://www.kitestrings.org/post7111.html#p7111

Mark G. Forbes - 2011/09/29 02:26:23

We can establish rules which we think will improve pilot safety, but our attorney is right. USHPA is not in the business of keeping pilots "safe" and it can't be. Stepping into that morass is a recipe for extinction of our association.

Well, sadly, sometimes these pilots have passengers. If you are indifferent to the pilots safety it may have further consequences.
Yes, somewhere along the way promoting safety was changed into maintaining plausable deniabiliy. So from this perspective, Bob's adventure at Torrey is an existential threat to the organization.

[Bob Kuczewski]

I have very little experience with towing, but I think we still don't know enough to understand what happened here.

What concerns me (as others have pointed out) is that given USHPA's willingness to suppress information, we might never really know what happened here. The sport of hang gliding needs an independent review mechanism, and Scott's point makes it clear that USHPA doesn't have the impartiality to provide it.

Yes, somewhere along the way promoting safety was changed into maintaining plausable deniabiliy. So from this perspective, Bob's adventure at Torrey is an existential threat to the organization.

Well said.