[TadEareckson]

We'll either build it together...

Whacking stuff to see if it holds together is at least half the model building process.

Matt spent three percent of his extremely limited abilities building his "release", ninety-seven percent marketing and covering his a**, and zero percent whacking.

I spent a few hundred times all that just building my whacker:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aerotowrelease/3349879328/

That's how come my stuff works and his doesn't.

You come up with something solid that holds up pretty well I'll help you tweak it if necessary. You start using numbers and variables based upon bogus assumptions...

I am fairly confident that a hang check + hook in check will be statistically safer than either one alone.

1. I'm totally confident that you NEED proper PREFLIGHT and LAUNCH SEQUENCE procedures to consistently keep from hitting the rocks.

2. I'm totally confident that the hang check is a lousy inefficient and ineffective preflight procedure.

3. I am extremely totally confident that WHEN the hang check is used as confirmation or reassurance that people are hooked in fatality rates WILL go up.

Christian Williams - 2006/09/19

Joe 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.

Whether Joe taught that or not Christian came away with the right message.

[TadEareckson]

Al Hernandez - 2011/10/07

I did my hang check, made damn sure that I was hooked in...

George Whitehill - 1981/05

Just Doing a Hang Check is not Enough

Rob Kells - 2005/12

Following a recent fatal accident (Bill Priday - 2005/10/01, not an 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.

Christian Williams - 2006/09/19

Joe 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.

So Al, how did you make damn sure that you were hooked in?

And PLEASE don't tell me your hang check, which is what Bill Priday, Rooney, and Martin all have - or had - in common.

[soar8hours]

In 40 years of hang gliding I've never launched unhooked.
And no pilot while I'm on launch never has either.
Or even came close. A hang check just prior to each launch is my routine.
What's my secret?

Know your ABC's and visually check as you say...

A = Already hooked in
B = Both hang loops
C - Carabiner locked

Some newer gliders have one double hang strap.
But I still say both hang loops.
I do this to each pilot stepping up to takeoff.
I know it sounds corny.
It's easy to remember & such a simple check list.
So simple a child can remember it.

Tommy

[brianscharp]

'Lift and Tug Before You Get Off' - PSA video from Heli1
http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=33076
http://vimeo.com/124963665

[Rick Masters]

Both died.

[Bob Kuczewski]

Here's a sobering video about the "failure to hook in" issue:

https://youtu.be/csDRdqMH3Kk


That video recently appeared on both Oz and hg.org:

      Lucky to be alive…
          http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=61505

      Make sure what you hooked in to is attached correctly - Holy S*** this was a close one.
          http://forum.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?f=16&p=408622

Here's the video by TheFjordflier (posted in 2015 by Brian 2 posts back):

http://vimeo.com/124963665


It's a great video, but do you see the problem? If TheFjordflier had hooked in with a "velcro only" connection, his video would NOT have ended nearly so happily.

There is nothing wrong with doing a "lift and tug" hook-in check while launching, and I encourage it when it doesn't add additional risk (as it might in certain launch situations). But the "lift and tug" has its own failure modes as seen in the improper "velcro only" connection video. That velcro connection was obviously strong enough to support the pilot's weight (at least for a little while) so it would have certainly passed the "lift and tug" test. That failure mode would likely have been fatal if it happened in TheFjordflier's video.

My point here is that any one check alone is insufficient. A good part of this topic was spent trying to stress the value of a thorough hang check (including an inspection of the connection point as in Joe Greblo's Four C's) along with a "just prior to launch" hook in check. They are BOTH needed. The velcro connection video is proof that a hook-in check alone (such as "lift and tug") just prior to launch isn't enough.

Aviation requires careful discipline. That's why there was a printed check list in every airplane I've ever flown. A careful hang check should be part of our check list and a hook in check immediately before launch should also be part of our check list. They do different things, and they are BOTH important.

[Craig Muhonen]

I agree 100% with you Bob. Our Military training gave us precise check lists, and the "buddy" system. As the pilot was doing his hang checks and adjustments, the "wire guy" should have been Behind him , in verbal "check", and a very physical "double check" tug on the harness. I suppose when you fly alone, there is The old stand by "tripple check"......me, myself, and I.

The "buddie" system........... ..'wanna fight ME,,???, buddy!!!.......................
................
...........there's me buddy....

Craig

[Frank Colver]

One of the things I like about flying seated is that I can just tilt my head up a little and see my hook-in point.

Frank