US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

Speaking of Namby-Pamby Pilots tied to your mother’s apron strings, would it be considered a Part 107 Drone Rules Operation where the student pilot is equipped with a headset and receiving instructions from their instructor on the ground.

Would this not be a voice activated human-hydraulic drone?

Namby-Pamby Link

Since the beginning, I've thought of tandem as a way for a pilot to risk the life of someone else to show them how much fun he's having.
That's it in a nutshell.
Everything that grew out of the FAR 103 exemption evolved from that.
Radio instruction makes more sense to me.
But even that was unnecessary if you did your homework and progressed carefully.
I never used a radio to learn how to fly.
I did ask a lot of questions on the ground.

As a libertarian, I thought that would be okay as long as both parties accepted the risks but...
The equipment was often inadequate and the responsibility on the part of the pilot was often lacking and the knowledge of risk held by the passenger was often nonexistent.
The first time I became aware of tandem in the Owens Valley serves as an example.
Some guy, no doubt a capable pilot, talked his wife into flying with him off a mountain.
I don't think she was a pilot.
He just wanted to share the thrill.
It was written up in Hang Gliding magazine.
At the time, I'd given very little thought to tandem.
I figured that if you had really strong arms, you'd do okay.
But the guy was using just his regular parachute.
If they had gotten into trouble, high up in that thin air, they both would have died.
Still, I figured it was their risk.
You couldn't actually make people wear parachutes or helmets.
I remember watching the long-haired wildman Mike Habersham launch off Paiute buck naked.
Things were pretty crazy, back then.
But the cross-country attempts brought a new seriousness to the sport in the early eighties.
Tandem? We didn't even think about it.
That was stuff you did at the beach.
I think some of the best pilots tried a little XC for world record distance but that eventually got squashed by the FARs in the U.S.

Yeah, you saw some competent instruction going on under the FAR exemption but I could never figure out what it was for,
insofar as hang gliding was concerned.
Obviously, nobody needed it.
You didn't need tandem to learn.
It had to be for something else.
Joyriding, mostly.
Hang gliding bums making money off the sport.
Some were quite professional.
I had one friend who made his living in the Alps doing it.
I'm convinced the whole exemption thing was pushed by the USHGA so hang gliding bums could make money hang gliding.
I always thought that endangered the sport.
Endangered its survival by bringing poorly-motivated people into commercial schools.
Hang gliding takes work and dedication and knowledge.
There are no shortcuts.
Looking back, the a$$ociation started to veer off into the ozone around that time.
I'm a purist. Clearly a vanishing breed. Not endangered, just rare.
Like I've said many times, hang gliding is running off a mountain with a wing on your back and challenging God to a chess match.
All that other stuff - towing, tandem - that's not something I cared about.