US Hawks Hang Gliding Association • View topic

by **Rick Masters** » Tue Jul 12, 2016 7:33 pm

On July 12, 2015, a search party found the body of a soaring parachutist on the Langeflue massif in Switzerland.
Yesterday a joyriding "instructor" died as he was giving a ride to a 22-year-old thrill-seeking female tourist in Spain.
This marked 114 paragliding fatalities worldwide during that one-year period for which I have records.
I have no doubt that my information remains incomplete.
This indicates to me that there have never been overall effective improvements in paragliding safety.
How could there be? Without an airframe, all paragliders are subject to collapse in turbulence.
Paragliders frequently kill their helpless falling occupants by unexpected collapse in turbulence within the zone of altitude between about 300 to 10 feet,
where emergency deployment of the reserve is less effective or ineffective.
I have defined this zone of no recourse as the Paraglider Dead Man's Curve.

This means that soaring parachutists, regardless of their skill, are gambling with their lives below 300 feet.
Take off. Landing. Ridge soaring.
Soaring parachutes remain - by absolute fatality numbers - by far, the most dangerous form of parachuting.

Hang glider pilots frequently kill themselves by pilot error.
This means fatalities can be reduced through better training.
Unfortunately, with the advent of paragliding, emphasis on hang gliding safety appears to have markedly decreased.
This should be unacceptable to all hang glider pilots.
A key element in this downturn is the lack of a national hang gliding organization where "safety" means hang glider safety.

This points out a huge difference in the level of risk that participants in these two sports are willing to accept.
Those considering entering one sport or the other should be clear in their minds about this level of risk.

by **Rick Masters** » Wed Jul 13, 2016 7:01 am

Man jumps out of perfectly good parachute.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/mans-150-foot-fall-paraglider-caught-video-florida/story?id=40528140
He had just returned from Spain where he had won the Kitesurfing World Championship.
A missed opportunity for the RRG?

by **Rick Masters** » Thu Jul 14, 2016 10:40 am

July 13, 2016 Washington
A man has died after a paragliding accident near Samish Overlook on Blanchard Mountain in Skagit County Wednesday afternoon, July 13. Fire District 14 in Skagit County responded to the accident at about 3 p.m., said Chief David Skrinde. The man, who has not been identified, had taken off from the overlook’s launch area when the glider’s sail collapsed. He fell to the ground, Skrinde said, but he could not say how far the fall was.
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article89579852.html

This is the one thousand, four hundred and ninety eighth soaring parachutist to be killed that I am aware of, excluding towing fatalities. Hang gliding should not be intimately associated with this low-IQ sport.

Pmurdoch, Paragliding Forum:
Rick Masters is a fool with an agenda. He knows that his stats are misleading and incomplete. There are other better sources which have been cited. Virtually all incidents are a result of the pilot doing something wrong. Collapses rarely just happen in benign conditions.
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=42084

Paul Murdoch is the head of the United States Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association, Inc.

by **eagle** » Sun Jul 17, 2016 10:45 am

Do You support this at a public recreational flight park
Bragging about having special clearance & training special forces ...
Both in America & overseas, Using Gliders, Paragliders & ParaMotors to spy and breach borders

The Big Mouth Punk Kid, Bragging about his VIP status & his pay check ... Any guesses who this might be

Para War is Not a Joke ~
~ Dangerous Commando Infiltration ~

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by **Rick Masters** » Sun Jul 17, 2016 11:30 am

Alert sounded after paraglider spotted close to Indo-Pak border in Kaluchak
Army sources inform that an alert was received last evening that a blue and white coloured paraglider had been spotted by troops deployed along the border in Kaluchak area at around 5 pm.
...With the intelligence agencies having earlier sounded an alert that terrorists might try to infiltrate from Pakistan using a paraglider, parachute etc in order to carry out an attack deep inside Indian territory, a high-level alert was immediately sounded.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/alert-sounded-after-paraglider-spotted-close-to-indo-pak-border-in-kaluchak/

by **eagle** » Sun Jul 17, 2016 7:09 pm

AIRCRAFT HITS FOUR BUILDINGS
Air Show Disaster at West ZWICK'S ISLAND PARK , BELLEVILLE , ONTARIO , CANADA.
It just shows the dangers of attending these events.

The pilot at low level had no control over his aircraft.
It narrowly misses a crowd gathered for the air show and slams into four buildings.

One can only imagine the horror of the occupants inside those buildings.
No one was killed, but it probably scared the s*** out of them.

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by **Rick Masters** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 4:40 pm

Visiting paraglider victim of theft
http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/news/387844532.html

What a lucky break! The thief may have saved this man's life.
He should run out and buy a used hang glider and learn to fly it.
They don't collapse.