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JoeF wrote:1. My firm vote is that canopy gliding kites are usually high-aspect ratio wings that do easily wrap and collapse when facing normal windfield helicities; when such occurs within a zone where there is not time and altitude to calmly use a parachute, then injury and disaster occurs far too often. http://www.cometclones.com collects ONLY A SUB-FULL collection of the fatalities since 2002, that is, there is evidence that counts are missed; the incomplete total of lost brothers and sisters is over 900 now since 2002.
I'm sorry to say that your link to http://www.cometclones.com currently reports this:
Forbidden
You don't have permission to access / on this server.
We seem to have lost the collection of information that Rick had been accumulating at that site. I hope this is only temporary, but if not, I might be willing to host that information if Rick can provide it in a suitable format.
JoeF wrote:Any hesitation on the part of the airframed hang glider community that uses mostly the stiffened airframe and a short hang line with pilot grasping the airframe for control of pilot mass position, --to form its own focused org like, say, US Hawks, will delay a rich coming growing of airframed hang gliding as advanced new airframed hang glider designs surface.
Thanks Joe.
JoeF wrote:Canopy parachutes for humans are safer when they are not high aspect ratio gliders; to build high participation for sport and hobby in the use of high aspect ratio canopies tethered by long lines is asking for the constant flow of injuries and deaths that will occur from the collapses and wraps from meshing with normal windfield helicities within the wide zone above ground roughly studied under the name of PDMC
I think the PDMC work of Rick Masters was certainly controversial to the paraglider crowd, but the recent death at Torrey Pines was likely due to a collapse too low for recovery ... exactly as Rick has been preaching with his PDMC.
JoeF wrote:En mass, all airframers might consider forming new separate organizations around the world; coordinate with third-party insurers if wanted about the big change. Let the extant canopy-focus orgs be honest enough to alter their names to reflect the exodus; to help the exodus, the new HG orgs (though having mixed feelings) might strongly set bylaws to focus on being without unairframed long-multiple-tethered canopy gliding kites while being with and for framed hang gliders where pilot holds the airframe for control and hangs by tethers short enough to allow such airframe control. It is time to see that there is a bifurcation needing firming in policy. The culture of handling the launch environment is starkly different in the two branches; there will be very much more launch area opportunities for the airframers than for the canopy gliding kites.
I do believe that USHPA will become a primarily paragliding organization in the near future. The latest issue of USHPA Magazine (June 2012) shows the ratings issued in February:
23 Hang Gliding Ratings
77 Paragliding Ratings
That's more than 3 new PG ratings for each new HG rating. I am not against paragliding (I fly them myself), but all those PG pilots will tend to elect PG Directors and those PG Directors will tend to vote for PG issues. Just recently, USHPA tried to pass a rule that no USHPA Chapters could be hang gliding only clubs. I challenged that rule regarding the Torrey Hawks, and our Chapter status was renewed for 2012. But the handwriting is on the wall at USHPA, and if hang gliding wants to have an organization to defend our sport, we're going to need to find one. With your help and support, I am hoping the US Hawks will take on that role.
