[Rick Masters]

Former PG nutcase foresees growing problem in Owens Valley corridor
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=69045

Pilots please read: A dangerous pattern keeps emerging from our flying community out here in the Sierra. We are having more and more new pilots coming to the scene, and someone is going to get hurt/killed from (their own) negligence. It's a rough thing to point out, but I hope through awareness of the subject, we will be become better safer pilots and avoid these probable injuries. Here is what I'm talking about...

Too many new/under experienced pilots are flying in our area without the basic understanding of flight mechanics, kiting experience, or proper instruction. I can give insight into what this means, as I too taught myself to fly back in 2010(mistake), and now understand what this means.

We have too many new, young pilots borrowing hybrid speed wings and paragliders, and taking high flights with them without a basic understanding of flight. Yeah, it might seem easy to take the FireFly for a spin, but it will come back to bite you as soon as you fly in bad conditons, encounter a deflation, or make a bad landing. I have seen too many 'pilots' around here recently who have never either opened a P2 booklet or studied flight mechanics, already hucking themselves from peak tops. Too many people going out without a basic knowledge of weather and forecasting ability, and then they call me when they are on launch and can't figure out whats happening with the wind, or even how to check the wind. Or even pilots who fly only a few times per year, coming and making flights from the summits without having kited or practiced before hand.

I know from experience that this is going to lead to injury or death. I have already seen beginners get hurt out here from what I speak about. With my own eyes I have see multiple broken backs out here, and gruesome crashes every year. I hope to prevent more 'accidents' like these by asking for all pilots who fly out here to take it seriously, and become informed and safer pilots through education, training, and utilizing resources.

The Sierra is an extremely difficult location to fly safely, and anyone flying here needs to recognize this. You wouldnt throw your life savings into the stock market without proper research and a solid background in this industry I would think, so why are so many people willing to throw their life on the roulette table out here when it comes to flying? I pounded in twice in my first six months due to exactly what I speak about, so I don't think that I'm just blowing hot air. I speak from painful experience.

I think it would be great to see all of these new pilots out here take flying more seriously. As an USHPA instructor I am in fear of what I see going on out here, and do not want to be associated as a contributing factor to this new issue. I am asking for change. None of these pilots have reached out to me for info, advice, study material, instructional videos, or lessons (this is not a plug for lessons).

Fatal, or unknown as yet?

Serious injuries to the commander. Light injuries to his girlfriend. No details. I've grown so cynical that I think that's doing pretty good.

[wingspan33]

Rick,

I took a look at the PG forum posting and responses. What shocks me is the apparent recognition (by participants in that thread) that people with inflatable canopies are coming into the possession of their canopies AS IF they (PGs) are being handed out down at the local (big box) Sporting Goods store. ( ? ? ? ).

Now, I know of untrained newbies who have picked up an old hang glider at a garage sale - and then tried to teach themselves how to fly. But this kind of Big Mountain PGing does not sound like people who want to fly, picking their stuff up at a local yard sale. This sounds like A LOT of low or no skill PG wannabes are making their way to one of the most dangerous places to fly a PG - with none of the qualifications to be there.

My Question Is:

Who is selling these people this equipment?

Interested parties need to ask, is this equipment being sold by schools employing USHPA Certified Instructors? Are various PG Shops/Schools (maybe) teaching a one day T-Hill lesson then selling their customers a $2K, $3K, $4K or $5K (beginner, intermediate or advanced) soaring parachutes or speed wings?

If the members of a Main Line PG Forum Web Site look with such acceptance upon the issue of inexperienced people endangering themselves with PG equipment - then the USHPA is failing, at least, in the enforcement of its PG rating program .

Beyond that, there is an implication here that the collapsible canopy manufacturers (AT MINIMUM) are failing (read: neglecting!) to recognize the USHPA as the overseeing body for the FAA in the US. If they were, then they would only be selling their "rigs" to reputable PG Instructors and Schools. Alternate Result: Only properly trained and rated soaring parachutists would be showing up in the Big Mountains.

Question # 2 -

Is there a US equivalent to the HGMA in the PGing world?

[Rick Masters]

this kind of Big Mountain PGing does not sound like people who want to fly, picking their stuff up at a local yard sale. This sounds like A LOT of low or no skill PG wannabes are making their way to one of the most dangerous places to fly a PG - with none of the qualifications to be there.

In my opinion, there are no qualifications suitable for flying a paraglider in the Owens Valley. They collapse.

Being outside and looking in at the paragliding game, it is clear to me that U$hPA-certified schools get newbies addicted, sell them a mild-performance soaring parachute, then some months later, encourage them to buy a "high-performance" model (like that of an old single-surface hang glider) and encourage them to venture inland. As far as I can tell, the U$hPA is now a promotional corporation for the enrichment of paraglider manufacturers. Sales of paragliders are the motivation. Anything else is public relations (lipstick on a pig). Restricting sales is antithetical. What happens after the sale is irrelevant.

Knowledgeable soaring parachutists know to avoid the Owens Valley in the summertime. The contests, if they are held at all, are scheduled in September when the season winds down to avoid the "killer thermals," no pun intended. Dave Turner, the subject of my last post, is a speedflyer who came to the Owens a few years ago and ceaselessly invited other soaring parachutists to come up.

It's very easy to pop off a thermal in front of you when landing in the Owens, even on a clean, high-performance hang glider. The thermal lifts off, triggered by your drag, pulling in the air behind it. As you approach this suddenly rising thermal, your airspeed falls to nothing and your wing stalls - often in turbulence or cross-currents - and you fall off on a tip and ground loop. Luckily for hang glider pilots, we carry a lot of kinetic energy when we land hot and this helps us maintain control in such conditions. Paragliders do not have a prayer.

Something else a paraglider cannot do is this advanced desert landing technique taught to be by Carlos Miralles, designer of the Aolus. Choose your landing area and approach it at a very high rate of speed. Fly over it at 30 feet or so, then 360 back and make your approach. If there was a thermal there ready to break loose, it will be gone and things will be settling down as you land. I know this works and it became my standard landing technique when I got drilled in the early afternoon. I have also used it to break thermals off for 10,000-foot altitude gains in front of astounded retrieval drivers.

Needless to say, paragliders don't have a prayer for this technique, either.

I know what it's like to advance to such a level of competence and skill that it seems the world above is opening up before you. You want to share it. We were lucky in the Owens Valley with hang gliding because it took a great deal of effort to reach that plateau of ability. The relative novices stayed away. Not so with paragliding. I don't blame Dave and it's good to see him maturing. The backlash he is fomenting among the irresponsible young PG daredevils will be fun to watch. Hopefully, he'll transition to hang gliding. He'd make one hell of a hang glider pilot.

[AirNut]

The backlash he is fomenting among the irresponsible young PG daredevils will be fun to watch.

I've had a read through that thread on the PG forum and he's already copped some negative karma. As wingspan said, it was pretty sobering to read about some of the attitudes in the PG world (freely admitted), particularly in speed flying...a bit like the early days of hang gliding I suppose. But I'd like to think that most of us (and hang gliding as a sport) have grown up a bit.

[Rick Masters]

... like the early days of hang gliding I suppose.

I would compare it more to the advent of powered hang gliders. Many of these people came from a different place. The motors did away with the need for a knowledge of micrometeorology and in a great part, even knowledge of aviation itself. We saw motorcylists, hotrodders, powerboat enthusiasts - all without flying knowledge - suddenly dying in droves. That was the first death threat to the USHGA and after a short period of initial guidance and flirtation with being taken over by ultralights, the hang glider pilots rose up and kicked power out of the USHGA, saving the organization.

Rick Masters, Letter to Hang Gliding Magazine, May 1981
It is now obvious that the honorable task which the USHGA took on several years ago, that of shepherding the ultralight powered aircraft craze through its infancy, has been successfully accomplished. The time is overdue for the representative organization of those who practice the art of hang gliding, the USHGA, to regain its focus and return exclusively to the pursuit of its original purpose.
Two powerful factors are working to estrange the USHGA from its defined path. The first is economic. The market potential for small powered aircraft is much greater than for hang gliders. Predictably, the hang gliding industry is rushing to fill this need. Caught up in this rush are a great many of those who are responsible for guiding hang gliding through the years to its present astounding level of accomplishment. Now blind with enthusiasm, they tend to pressure the USHGA down a different road.
The second factor has to do with the desires that motivate people to fly. Powered ultralight aircraft provide the pilot with unlimited airtime and unlimited mileage. The majority of pilots have no desire for engineless flight. Even hang glider pilots are turning to powered flight in droves. Screaming through the sky, motors snarling scant inches from their heads, they choose their destinations at will and claim they are hang gliding with engines. Blind with enthusiasm, they would take the USHGA with them.
It is indeed a sorry day that I must remind the members and officers of the USHGA, and the staff of its publication, Hang Gliding Magazine, what hang gliding is.
Hang gliding is the simplest form of flight. Our wings are light and maneuverable. Micrometeorology holds great meaning to us. We challenge the wind to games of skill. When we win, our rewards are airtime, distance and tremendous exhilaration. We desire the serenity of the sky. We are a breed apart.
Get power out of the USHGA or get the USHGA out of hang gliding!

The second time, we weren't so lucky...

[AirNut]

I hope this is not getting too far off topic, but I think that a big part of the whole HG vs PG thing (apart from the equipment), is attitude. To distill that right down, I'll borrow from the old "the world is divided into two types of people" argument:

From my observation, sport pilots are divided into two types of people: those that fly for themselves, and those that fly for others.

When you fly for yourself (i.e. for your own internal goals and ambitions), I think you tend to be more introspective and analytical about your flying. When you fly for others (i.e. driven by peer pressure and what's 'cool'), your giving up on risk management and merely being carried along for the ride.

It seems to me that the PG community has more of this attitude than the HG community does. As an example, I was at Stanwell (Australia) last Friday, and there was a PG pilot show-boating in front of the launch for about half an hour. This guy was doing low altitude (ten feet) swoops and passes continuously, completely blocking the launch. Admittedly, as soon as someone was ready to take off, he'd move off down the ridge by a couple of hundred meters or so, but as soon as they were clear of the hill, he'd move right back. Here was someone clearly flying for effect and doing the hero thing in front of the spectators (there are a lot of spectators at Stanwell, it is a major tourist attraction) and IMO doing so without courtesy or regard for the other pilots. It was also interesting that a few of the HG pilots were muttering and grumbling about this, but none of the PG pilots appeared to be bothered.

[AirNut]

... like the early days of hang gliding I suppose.

I would compare it more to the advent of powered hang gliders. Many of these people came from a different place. The motors did away with the need for a knowledge of micrometeorology and in a great part, even knowledge of aviation itself.

That nails it.

As even someone said on the PG forum, a big problem with PGs is that they are too easy. People can be be flying in some serious situations so quickly that there's not enough time to accumulate proper risk-management habits or even basic airmanship (like the PG launch-hogger I described above). At least in HG, because of the long (compared to PG) learning process, by the time a pilot is flying in 'serious' situations, the bad attitudes have been tempered (hopefully) by experience, peer pressure (the good kind), and community culture.

[wingspan33]

Very well said! And it also fits perfectly with the USHGA's adoption of the PGing faction.

Rick Masters, Letter to Hang Gliding Magazine, May 1981
It is now obvious that the honorable task which the USHGA took on several years ago, that of shepherding the ultralight powered aircraft craze through its infancy, has been successfully accomplished. The time is overdue for the representative organization of those who practice the art of hang gliding, the USHGA, to regain its focus and return exclusively to the pursuit of its original purpose.

Two powerful factors are working to estrange the USHGA from its defined path. The first is economic. The market potential for small powered aircraft is much greater than for hang gliders. Predictably, the hang gliding industry is rushing to fill this need. Caught up in this rush are a great many of those who are responsible for guiding hang gliding through the years to its present astounding level of accomplishment. Now blind with enthusiasm, they tend to pressure the USHGA down a different road.

The second factor has to do with the desires that motivate people to fly. Powered ultralight aircraft provide the pilot with unlimited airtime and unlimited mileage. The majority of pilots have no desire for engineless flight. Even hang glider pilots are turning to powered flight in droves. Screaming through the sky, motors snarling scant inches from their heads, they choose their destinations at will and claim they are hang gliding with engines. Blind with enthusiasm, they would take the USHGA with them.

It is indeed a sorry day that I must remind the members and officers of the USHGA, and the staff of its publication, Hang Gliding Magazine, what hang gliding is.
Hang gliding is the simplest form of flight. Our wings are light and maneuverable. Micrometeorology holds great meaning to us. We challenge the wind to games of skill. When we win, our rewards are airtime, distance and tremendous exhilaration. We desire the serenity of the sky. We are a breed apart.
Get power out of the USHGA or get the USHGA out of hang gliding!

[Rick Masters]

And then there was Skyman's somewhat less-guarded, purist viewpoint in the same issue of Hang Gliding.

I am really tired of people trying to be considerate about this whole powered thing and I want to come right out and say what real hang glider pilots think of power people. We consider you power people to be a crass collection of of scum-suck rat-bags – a conglomerate of weak, lazy, fat and ignorant leach heads whose only brain functions are uncontrolable muscle spasms. Your type is easy to spot; all you have to do is start one of those noisy, rude and smelly little chain saw motors in a crowd and look for the guy who is salivating uncontrollably as visions of buzzing sporting events and spoiling hang gliding sites pass before his gin-glazed eyes. Well look, damn it, we've had enough. The last three surveys taken of the hang gliding community have all agreed. We don't want you. Get out. Take your nasty, loud and obtrusive machines to Nebraska and crop dust the sugar beets, consider voluntary euthanasia, but get out.

The USHGA listened.

[Rick Masters]

I lost 12 friends in those years. All but one died in ultralight crashes. They had all been pretty good hang glider pilots. Like paragliding, the engine - the "iron thermal," as Don Partridge called it - was a siren call.

siren call - the enticing appeal of something alluring but potentially dangerous; "he succumbed to the siren call of the wilderness"
-- Free Dictionary