sad news

[Lauren Tjaden]

I guess someone should post the bad news, so here it is. After 6 days of spectacular flying, Chris Muller was injured crossing goal when he reached for the "grab bag" and impacted the ground at high speed. He died a short while later.
The grab bag is a bag hung perhaps 3 feet off of the ground that one of the first pilots reaching goal can pick up. It typically contains a prize such as $100. It has been thought of as a fun idea that adds interest for the spectators. In retrospect I guess it was a disaster waiting to happen. Obviously I am sure it will never be used again. It also obviously is pilot decision as to whether or not to try for the bag.
I was not a long time friend of Chris as so many of the pilots attending the meet were. I have only known him for the past couple of weeks, but he was one of the instructors in the clinic that I flew with. This young man was an unbelievable talent who offered me only kindness, and who had a smile for everyone. It is impossible to think he is gone.
Lauren

[tomceunen]

Chris was an exceptional talented free flight pilot. I hope he can fly for ever now up there.

That they never do that 100USD trick again.

Paragliding Comp pilots tend to reach goal flying on speedbar. Pushing the speedbar makes the glider more sensitive for collapses if turbulance is hit. Therefore the FAI (I believe it is FAI) gave the option for a double goal line. The first has to be crossed at a save alititude and counts as race time and the second is just to cross to make the task valid. This avoids having the risk of flying low at high speed over the goal line to have a good race time. Although few incidents and accidents happened the last years, I do not know any competition who implemented these two goal lines as the finish.

[stevek]

Was Chris any relation to Willi Muller?

[Flying Lobster]

Yup--Willie was his dad and one of the true fathers of free flight in North America in a family dedicated to hang gliding and paragliding. Willie was tragically killed in a paragliding accident roughly 7 years ago. Chris and Willie ran a successful operation in Golden BC and were equally adept on both hang gliders and paragliders. Chris I think started flying at the ripe old age of about 11 years and exhibited special talent right from the start.

marc

[Paul Tjaden]

I believe that Wili Muller was Chris' father. His wife, Vincene, was here at Quest last night for the somewhat subdued last night party and for the?first viewing of the?Flytec 2005 video?in which Chris was a prominent participant.?She is a very strong woman who lost both her husband? (Wili was killed in a paragliding accident at Chelan in '99) and now her son to the sport of free flying. I didn't know Wili but have been told he was very much like Chris with perhaps too much of a desire for pushing the envelope.
?
Paul
?
BTW, Vincene seems to harbor no ill feelings for the sport and instead recognizes the incredible importance it held for her men. Not certain how to express this but she has?enormous class. I am so sorry that both of these guys couldn't have backed it off a notch or two and stuck around to enjoy a few more years with her.

[Joe Schad]

Truely sad news about Chris Muller. Unfortunately it reinforces my belief that we should have a lot more emphasis on safe procedures in these comps. I fully expect more sad days.

Joe

[Matthew]

In light of the recent accident where Chris substained facial injuries during his crash because he wasn't wearing a full-face helmet and Paul Adamaz's comments on how his full face helmet prevented serious facial injuries during his crash at Highland, it seems insane that full face hemets are not required at comps. I understand that not everyone wants to wear a full face helmet and that full face helets interefere with communication during tandem flights. FINE! But at comps there is an elevated risk of injury just due to the numbers and our sport is being showcased to the public. Thus, safety is a critical issue and full face helmets should be required. The helmets should have a minimum safety standard of CEN Standard EN 966, which is a European testing standard specifically designed for helmets used for sport aviation. There are numerous helmets that meet this requirement. And, of course, motorcross helmets exceed this requirement. If someone doesn't want to wear a full face helmet, then that is their choice. They can still fly. They just won't be able to fly at the competiton. Some might think this is a pretty radical and invasive requirement. But that is also insane. I did a sailbaot race a couple of years ago and we had 4 pages of safety requirements for the boat and crew and had to add all kinds of stuff to the boat that we'd never need. Most other sports have standards for safety equipment during competition too.

I'm going to contact USHGA with this proposal. And to lead the way, I propose that we require full face helmets for all pilots flying at the Pulpit Fly-In.

So go ahead, let the flamefest begin. I've heard it all before. I don't have good peripheral vision with a full face helmet. It's too heavy. I don't land on my face. You can't make me where one. Flying is a free sport and I can do what I want. You have no proof that full face helmets are safer. Etc. Etc. Etc.

For more info, see--

http://www.performancedriversclub.org/a ... rticleID=8

Matthew

[hang_pilot]

As safety should be the first concern of any sport aviation event organizer and as the McConnellsburg Hang Gliding Festival is the only flying event run by CHGPA, I am in favor of mandating the use by pilots of full-face helmets at McC-burg.

USHGA, as the authorized affiliate of the National Aeronautic Association, is the sanctioning organization for domestic competitions. For those of you who believe the use of full-face helmets should be mandatory at sanctioned competitions, I strongly encourage you to express your opinion to your USHGA representatives, the Region 9 Directors, and request that they take appropriate action:

David "Randy" Leggett (R - 05)
ias@ot.com (ias@ot.com)

Felipe Amunategui (R - 06)
Dr.amunategui@att.net (dr.amunategui@att.net)

Dennis Pagen (L - 06)
pagenbks@lazerlink.com (pagenbks@lazerlink.com)

Art Greenfield-NAA (X)
awgreenfield@naa-usa.org (awgreenfield@naa-usa.org)

My condolences go out to anyone reading this who is a friend of the Muller?s.

Daniel

[Spark]

I write this without any strong emotion and it is not intended to offend or
show disrespect to anyone.

I wear a full-face helmet. When flying a hang glider, I use a heavy
motorcycle helmet.

I think it is a serious mistake to try to 'legislate' common sense.

The Pulpit fly-in is NOT a national competition. Are we prepared to tell
visiting pilots that they cannot fly unless they have a full-face helmet?
What about local pilots who don't wear full-face helmets? Are we saying
they are not welcome at our fly-in?

How about having a visor, should we make that a requirement? What about
the certification level for the helmet? What about knee-pads .. a
requirement? What about flying a glider that is older than 5 years old?

If we truly care about safety, shouldn't we require that EVERYONE be current
(whatever that means) in foot launch before they come to the Pulpit, or High
Rock, Woodstock?

As long as we don't have 'grab bags', or other *obvious* potential hazards,
I think we can feel confident we are not 'compromising' safety.

Let's keep the freedom in our 'free flight' sport.

'Spark
(h) 301.766.0485
(c) 301.462.8320

http://community.webshots.com/user/sparkozoid

[Matthew]

The Pulpit proposal isn't about legislating common sense. It's about setting an example of safety for two days per year. It's about trying to make a difference and show the rest of the hang gliding community that our club is serious about safety. Like I said before, competition is different from regular flying and just about every competition in every other sport has safety requirements for competing in the event. It's not legislating anything. It's making rules regarding safety for a competition. And even though the Pulpit Fly-In is a fun competition. It's still a competition and we can still set and be an example of safety in the sport of hang gliding.

BTW-- Competition flying isn't free flying. It's the exact opposite. Competition is not about being free and getting away from it all. Think about it.

Matthew

[heaviek]

Gotta chime in on the helmet flame fest.

Every pilot should be required to fly falcons, every
pilot should be required to wear full face motocross
helmets and full body armour. Every pilot should be
required to fly with knee pads. No pilot shall fly in
winds greater then 13 mph or lift stronger then
300fpm. No pilot shall bank their glider past 45
degrees. No pilot shall be permitted to engage in any
sort of intimate activity without appropriate
prophelactic devices. Actually, to assure safety of
our pilots I think we should require all pilots to
stay on the ground. That way we can assure their
safety.

If you haven't flown in a large gaggle, I don't think
you are qualified to comment on the safety advantage
of an open face helmet. If you lack the experience to
fly high performance gliders then maybe you should
more appropriately quantify comments on the dangers of
flying them versus single surface wings.

Since Chris' accident is being used as a justification
for a rule, who can comment on the EXACT nature of his
inuries and what effect they had on the terminal
nature of his accident? Did the lack of jaw
protection have anything to do with his internal
inuries? Since he impacted with significant
horizontal velocity, how did his neck hold up? If you
are going to use this incedent to prop up your
argument, maybe some facts should be included.


So my point....

Given the aging nature of our sport and the effect
aging has on vision, does everyone really think it
would be SAFER to force normally lone pilots to limit
their vision when they will be flying in crowded
skies?

I fly with a full face helmet AND a face shield. I
also fly with 2 parachutes. I like that I have the
freedom to chose what safety equipment will best
protect me.

Just my 2 cents

Kev C

[Matthew]

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for your concerns about safety. I can't wait to see your great arguments made to USHGA.


Matthew

[dbodner]

I'm going to disagree. Granted, competition can entice people to take
risks they otherwise wouldn't. But, I think our competitions are a
whole lot friendlier than they are serious. And if they do start
trending toward the serious, then we ought to change that.

On Monday, April 25, 2005, at 10:06 AM, Matthew wrote:

> I'm going to contact USHGA with this proposal. And to lead the way, I
> propose that we require full face helmets for all pilots flying at the
> Pulpit Fly-In.

[Flying Lobster]

Speaking of helmets, is it morally correct to allow non-Christians to fly?
marc

[mcelrah]

Would a full-face helmet have saved Chris' life? I already wear 'em,
but I'm primarily worried about pain and disfigurement - plus there's a
comfort factor in the winter, when I also fit a visor. If you hit hard
enough to kill, will the chin guard make any difference? I presume the
key is protecting the brain, which is up behind the forehead (and the
eyes, which are unprotected by a "full-face" helmet unless there's also
a clear visor). Not that 1/16 inch of Lexan is going to stop anything
serious... - Hugh

[markc]

I'm sorry, I have to jump in on the 'sad news' thread, and make a
point about common courtesy/respect. Please read to the end before
flaming.

The web version of our CHGPA forums is completely public. Everything
you post (email or web) is visible to both the casually curious and the
flying community at large.

In the absence of an accident investigation, it really isn't very cool to
speculate on what factors may, or may not, have contributed to an
incident that resulted in the loss of a pilot.

Likewise, it is not appropriate to make flippant replies on a topic as
serious as a fatal accident. Or to start a quasi-political debate about
the nature of "free" flying, whatever that is.

Imagine yourself as a good friend or family member of Chris Muller,
and someone informs you that CHGPA pilots are discussing his
accident at:

http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=419

How would you feel about some of the content that you see there?

How would you feel about the rather off-hand discussion about what
might, or might not, have ameliorated his injuries?

Certainly, some of the issues that have been brought up are worth
serious discussion, and our forums/listservs are appropriate
venues to toss them around in...

But, for an event of this magnitude, please consider creating a
separate topic in which to discuss those issues.

Ya know?????

[mchevalier]

Lauren Tjaden wrote:

I guess someone should post the bad news, so here it is. After 6 days of spectacular flying, Chris Muller was injured crossing goal when he reached for the "grab bag" and impacted the ground at high speed. He died a short while later.
The grab bag is a bag hung perhaps 3 feet off of the ground that one of the first pilots reaching goal can pick up. It typically contains a prize......

Definately a disaster waiting to happen. Who's @#$%ing bright idea was it anyway? How about they put it on a 20 ft knockoverable bamboo pole, wouldn't that make it much safer? MC