[DarthVader]

But isn't Jim Rooney the kind of guy that forgets to hook into his H-glider tooooooooo

By now I am sure that he has learned his lesson

[terryJm]

Say Al, do you happen to have anything exciting, new, or entertaining to post. How about some videos of 'good' landings, or stories about good experiences in hang gliding. My family and friends are interested in seeing what I love about this sport, and i'm reluctant to guide them to a disaster scene blog full of sadness and grief. We really are wanting to see the positive side, without argument or insult. And thanks again for all your help with the scooter tow, hope to see you on it soon, Terry

[DarthVader]

According to Tad you are never hooked in with that thought in mind you may live a little longer... I was told by Jeffo, even if I know that I am hook into the Glider it is good to ask your wire man or the guys around you to check, four to six eyes are better than two you can yell I am hooked in you would hope to notice someone else look your way to check that you are hooked in or you can ask for a second or third inspection of your hook in before launch.

Waht I do:

1.You have done your pre-flight... Next you want to make sure that you have your harness on right that your legs are in the loops and everything should be where it needs to be, even it mean hanging from a tree to make sure your harness in on right you would not want to slip out of it 2. You have walked your glider to the launch area, and you know that you are unhooked, this should be an automatic Alert for every pilot. 3. You get the the foot of the launch and turn around and hook your carabiner to the hang strap and lock it.... You tell your wireman to hold the glider's nose, while you do hook in check turn around and check again too see that you are hanging and check hang loops too... You pick the glider up and let it fly till you feel the tug on your back... I then put the glider down and do a step foward to feel another tug on my back at that point I ask the wireman to check my hang straps for a second look I am on the ramp ready to launch feeling the tug on my back waiting for the right cycle to blow by for my launch

[SamKellner]

According to Tad

According to Tad, you must look to verify, every 5, five, seconds.

Your procedure does not comply, Al. What are you going to do about that.

[Rick Masters]

Like many posters here, I have observed tandem flying from the earliest days. When tandem hang gliding began, it was a joyous sharing experience between the pilot and a close friend, male or female. The pilot had extreme PERSONAL concern for the safety of his passenger, who he knew well and cared deeply for. The double check, the triple check, was automatic. Because the pilot cared deeply about his passenger, he held an innate and overriding concern about safety. This concern was not diluted by any other interest such as MONEY.

But the entire purpose of tandem flying moved to almost pure commercialization in the 1990s to the present. The innate concern for a close friend's safety transformed into a sometimes fallible mental checklist for a professional commercial endeavor. The unnecessary endorsement of the national organizations for the myth of tandem "in$truction" has been a strong element in the transformation of the sport of free flight into a commercial business where pilots often made hundreds of dollars for every flight. Worse, the influence of too much MONEY led the USHGA toward other promises of income -- and we ended up selling the USHGA to the paragliding business. Worse, we hang glider pilots effectively lost our representative organization.

Let's call a spade a spade. Tandem commercial hang gliding helped lead to the destruction of the national hang gliding organizations worldwide which were subsequently taken over by paragliding interests. MONEY talks. The only way to shut MONEY up -- and we could do it anytime with a simple vote -- is to BAN COMMERCIAL TANDEM OPERATIONS in both sports.

I won't miss it. And you won't believe how fast things will change when we get rid of it.

Also, I agree entirely with ALL of Joe's observations. Most pilots, it seems to me, have lost sight of what hang gliding really is.