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A turning point has been reached. Graeme Henderson (GH) publicly confirmed that he is dropping out of the conversation. And we have that JD forever hides from any but those drooling over what GH dishes. So, after years of several people trying to engage GH in logical and polite and scholarly conversation, he feels like he "won" history; his contribution is a mixed bag of raw data exposed on JD and a set of serious claims that are thought by many to be untenable, including myself. GH does not let counterexamples have air in logical discourse; rather dismissive and bullying and deeply rude blasts have been a habit for years. One is teased by the hope to have a good JD story, but such is deliberately mixed with claims that are thought by some and me as untenable. So, controversy; fine; but closure of conversation using rational means is regularly stopped; and now he formally says he stopped; but he may return at any moment.
So, there will be infamy and ever a caution flag up when linking to his text on JD; all must be suspect, as open discussion has ended with GH; he sits on the suspect claims and hopes everyone will believe the claims just because the claims are surrounded by goodies, eye candy, and facts. Well, the "GH Test" is a facing the various claims and deciding where one stands on the matter; such test taking will be done at a zero level or super expert level, depending on the individual. That is, some in hang gliding community will simply have a nil relation with the GH Test; others will take the GH Test with great energy; my personal case is that I have been taking the GH Test now for years with investment of thousands of hours. My GH Test taking has brought a deeper appreciation of hang glider history, structures, professional invention matters, professional patent issues, and more for consolation; and more, the effort has had a result of bringing to view more about people and their projects. Gradually there was some give in the GH controlled sites about JD, but there remains a set of untenables, I think, that are injuring hang glider history and the creative spaces in hang gliding; the fallacious all-to-one-JD-point bias is rampant. Tanking the GH Test forms one person as he or she takes the test. If ever enough people in hang gliding take the GH Test AND find abhorrent some untenables, then just maybe a grass roots movement could sway orgs to take the GH Test and perhaps make alterations in the org's statements of past and present and future, and perhaps raise the bar for scrutinizing hang glider historical statements. At least those who sincerely take the GH Test will probably make changes in themselves; benefits can be had by taking the GH Test.
This thread invites a tracking of the GH Test space. Right now the matter is in an announcement and clarification stage. People are invited to find and list the claims and statements in the GH-JD world that have counterexamples; try to state and reference counterexamples. GH is free to survey the production and adjust his text as he sees fit; perhaps gradually he will tweak his text to be very polished and sound---such is my wish for his text, as then the body of work could be of high service. As it stands now, every single statement in his text, for me, is suspect of being biased just to support has huge meta untenable claims; so, even tiny facts on JD have that suspect air around them. However, a million clear and sound factoids dressing a meta false claim is a putting to work innocent pawns into a slavery of non-sequitor chains or proof by being in the same room as another (Sally is happy because all the other people in the one room are happy. Rather, soundly, the other three in the room are happy does not mean Sally is happy; she might not be happy!) One of GH arms is Terry Aspinall; treat his text as part of the GH Test and keep your best critical thinking cap on while in the Terry-served pages; Terry is struggling to get past the deep tutoring by GH; feel free to suggest corrections of any kind to Terry's pages. Feel free to send suggestions to GH and Terry Aspinall for improvements, facts, etc. The GH machine is not going to go away; so consider helping polish their works by inputs. Or state the suggestions also in this topic thread as you spend some time doing the GH Test.
At some point I will not be around to keep taking the GH Test. Others are taking the test and helping on the project to undo damages we perceive has been installed in many of our organizational statements. The orgs' organ editors seem to hardly care; it looks to me grass roots sharpening will be the effective place to have benefits from taking the GH Test. Gradually sharper and sharper authors will produce articles that support great hang glider history, I hope. GH operated over a sleepy hang gliding community caught off guard for the kinds of tactics he use; his walking past slumbering clubs and orgs combined with an arsenal of threats and bullying has resulted, in my view, in a flat face for hang glider history. Will the hang gliding community take the GH Test at a rate that might lead to energies of change, renewal, and installation of means to prevent bullies to take our face and do with what they want despite the soundness of the claims pressed.
Aspinall shows some signs that he now understands that an early claim by GH is false; that is the one about JD inventing weight-shift control; that early untenable seems to be place aside, as Aspinall finally realized that weight-shift control has been understood and practice in gliding craft since Sir George Cayley, at least! There are other claims in GH text as silly as that weight-shift control. It is up for this thread to expose untenable statements in service of the project to sharpen hang gliding history literature. Authors repeat the errors found on the Internet, unfortunately, and so instruct newbies. I cringe when I find newbies believing solemnly that JD invented the Rogallo Hang Glider, for example. Who will show that newbie that Rogallo Hang Glider existed even before JD started tinkering up his kites? Who?
Starting with an easy one for Terry Aspinall doing one of my GH Test sessions:
[ ] Terry, check the spelling on Dave Kilbourne's name.
[ ] GH, consider changing the caption where the caption reads first Skiplane shown, as a photo note by Mike Burns in a photo on the Flex-Wing Hang Glider Gold Award page will show a version that makes the extant caption off. http://www.energykitesystems.net/WHGA/F ... Award.html
When you take the GH Test, post some things in this thread that might help polish Terry's and GH's JD stream.
PS: Your suggestions over any of my text is equally welcome to be sent to me, or start a topic thread for such posting. Such would be welcome help.
