[Bob Kuczewski]

There was a mid-air collision between a hang glider and an RC glider at Torrey on August 29th, 2010.

Collision Sequence (taken from video frames):

collision.jpg (118 KiB) Viewed 11718 times

After landing:

wing_on_wire.jpg (48.35 KiB) Viewed 11927 times

[majiemae]

Here is the video of the collision betwen a hang glider and an RC plane.

[Bob Kuczewski]

Hi majiemae,

Thanks for the video. Some folks have had trouble with the ".mov" format that you posted, so I've converted it to an animated GIF which should play directly in this post on almost any browser. The only thing that's missing is the sound that I'll never forget. The collision ended up fracturing several of the bones in Ken's wrist and we could hear it like a gun shot ... even from that distance. Fortunately, Ken was a good enough pilot to land on top with a fractured wrist.

Thanks again for shooting the video.

Bob K.

(Note: Depending on your connection speed, this may load very slowly the first time, but it should loop at full speed after it's been loaded)

Collision on August 29th between HG and RC

aug_29_cropped_more.gif (2.89 MiB) Viewed 11759 times

[majiemae]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G92geHiE ... playnext=1

Here is the video for Ken's collision with the RC plane. His landing is also included.

[Bob Kuczewski]

Thanks for posting those on YouTube Margie.

I've separated them into two separate links for the crash and the landing:

• Link to collision with RC
• Link to landing after collision

This is the HTML to embed it according to YouTube ...

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DvITguK5fQQ?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DvITguK5fQQ?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

... but I haven't figured out how to generate that HTML through the forum markup yet. Let me try the "flash" code ...

[flash]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvITguK5fQQ&feature=BF&list=UL_rIaaTzSWiE&index=1[/flash]
[flash=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvITguK5fQQ&feature=BF&list=UL_rIaaTzSWiE&index=1][/flash]
[flash="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvITguK5fQQ&feature=BF&list=UL_rIaaTzSWiE&index=1"][/flash]

Hmmm... None of those seem to work (obviously!!).

[SamKellner]

Majiemae,

Thanks for posting those shots. Makes me wonder what the RC pilot was thinking???? Another game of "chicken"?

And I'd like to say thank You for takeing part in Bob's efforts. It helps us all.

Regards,
Sam Kellner
SW Texas Hang Gliders
Torrey Hawk

[Bob Kuczewski]

... but I haven't figured out how to generate that HTML through the forum markup yet ...

Well, I finally got around to researching how to embed YouTube videos and here are the results:

  

Here are the tags used to embed these (with square brackets replaced by curly brackets):

{youtube}DvITguK5fQQ{/youtube}    {youtube}G92geHiET7Q{/youtube}

We have YouTube on the US Hawks!!

[Craig Muhonen]

Hello Hawks, my dad and I (both fixed wing pilots of old) played allot of golf at Torre Pines, over the years, and watched all the 'flyers' at the glider port. We often wondered about the 'right of way options' that each of the different aircraft have in that 'ridge lift'. We know about the right of way the small boat, and big boat sailors use, is there something similar in the air?

[Bob Kuczewski]

Hello Hawks, my dad and I (both fixed wing pilots of old) played allot of golf at Torre Pines, over the years, and watched all the 'flyers' at the glider port. We often wondered about the 'right of way options' that each of the different aircraft have in that 'ridge lift'. We know about the right of way the small boat, and big boat sailors use, is there something similar in the air?

We generally follow all the standard rules. Pass to the right of approaching aircraft, etc.

The sailplanes haven't flown there in over a decade, but we would generally clear the launch window when they were towing up. They had a loud horn on the winch that would notify everyone when launching.

When Remote Control gliders (RC's) are flying, we're supposed to blow a whistle whenever entering their normal flight "window" from any direction (including launching). We're also supposed to only have one manned glider in the window when RC's are flying.

The concessionaire has had a long history of various "special unwritten rules" designed to maximize their income. For example, they had a ridiculous "tandem right of way" rule that they claimed superseded all other rules (including the universal "pass on the right" rule). Tandems are the big money maker at Torrey. They also had an unwritten rule that their students (another money maker) had priority over non-students when it got crowded (again favoring income over safety). Both of those rules have been "officially" rescinded, but I've still heard their instructors quoting those "rescinded" rules since that time.

Some of these "special rules" (particularly the "tandem right of way rule") have been the cause of accidents. That's just another reason (of many) that I have been calling for oversight since 2007.

[Craig Muhonen]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aXrTvVh4N ... =emb_title

Tandem "right of way" issue. Who makes the decision ??? When lives are at stake???

THIS IS ....

Exactly why the "soaring council" must be brought back, to once again properly "guide" the many, many pilots through to, happy and SAFE flying.
"Air ports" have "qualified" professionals as air TRAFFIC controllers for a reason.

Human nature has a bullying side to it.
To my eye, if the sailboat pilot would have been sailing alone, he would have made the right decision. When it becomes a "pay to ride" scenario, then multiple human natures conflict, and "conformation bias"takes over.

" PUBLIC OPPINION" must overrule "private "ego" opinion" at Torrey (is it a public park????) and Bob Kuczewski is a hero for leading the right way in this complex "right of way" issue.

The "T" still stands for truth. And

"T"hank "Y"ou Bob.

With much respect, Craig Muhonen