Drove down to Manquin today (Sunday) to pick up my glider which Steve
Wendt repaired beautifully for less than his estimate (he also sold
my old reserve parachute, which shaved the price some more). Tex had
test-flown it and found no handling problems and neither did I. Wind
was from the east which made for burble coming over the trees and
isolated punchy thermals. Since I was coming off a long (6 weeks)
enforced hiatus from hang-gliding - and had only started towing the
U2 without a strap-on tailfin a month before the accident - I waited
until late afternoon when Tex pronounced it smooth enough and another
pilot took a tow with acceptable results. Yaw oscillations the
entire first half of the tow (Tex immediately diagnosed the problem
when we debriefed afterwards: cross-controlling - this could also
have contributed to my accident...). Gorgeous day with great
visibility at altitude. It felt great to be back in the air (in free
flight - been flying a regular airplane and the ultralite - but it
ain't the same). Little nervous flying without a vario (it's with
Steve Kroop in Florida being repaired/evaluated for scrapping - got
dinged in the accident) - yeah, I know it's a crutch, but Robertson's
Rules of Risk Management say not to change more than one thing at a
time and I was at a different flying site and flying a glider which
might have had changed flying characteristics - and working on a new
hand position to ensure good speed and better control during the
approach. In the event, Steve gave me a thumbs-up on my approach and
flare to landing. Had some oscillations on final - probably more
cross-controlling - gotta work on that - but keeping both hands on
the control bar all the way to ground effect worked well.
Doug Henderson was there swapping his Eagle for a Falcon 2. Also
talked to Jim Carrigan, the trike instructor. He is working on
getting his CFI so he can sign people off for flying trikes as Light
Sport Aircraft.
Attended the EAA fly-in at Petersburg Saturday. Took a class on
maintaining 2-stroke Rotax engines - Paul Gerhardt and I have our
work cut out for us doing the 150-hour service on the Phantom this
winter.
Everyone at Manquin is mourning the loss of Bill Priday at the
Tennessee Team Challenge yesterday. (He attempted to launch from a
cliff without being hooked-in to his glider and nobody caught it with
a pre-flight check.) Bill was an extraordinary individual and will
be sorely missed. I am also sorry for the Manquin/CHGPA group that
went to Tennessee - and for everyone at the meet who had to witness
that sickening accident.
I wish I could say that injuries and fatal accidents are rare in this
sport, but it's just not true. Yet there are people who have
survived in the sport for decades, probably through luck at first,
but later by developing really good judgment about risk management.
All aviation is unforgiving of error, and hang-gliding is even more
so. When people say "be careful", rather than just saying "yes,
I'll be careful", I've taken to bending their ear with a dissertation
on the elements of being careful (this applies to motorcycling as
well): keeping my equipment in top shape, buying and using
protective and safety gear, learning and consistently applying
correct technique and procedures, operating only in favorable
conditions - and when I am in good mental and physical condition for
an activity which requires all my faculties. I hope this conveys to
them that being careful isn't just a matter of being alert, although
that's part of it; there's some rigor to it.
Hugh
Back in the saddle
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
-
Lauren Tjaden
- Posts: 371
- Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2005 6:27 pm
Back in the saddle
It's great to have you back, Hugh!
And ditto about what you said about the pilots from our area who are at the Team Challenge. We are all thinking of you. Be strong, fly high and enjoy life.
Lauren
PS. Doesn't Steve Wendt have a strap-on fin for pilots to use?
mcelrah@verizon.net wrote:
Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
And ditto about what you said about the pilots from our area who are at the Team Challenge. We are all thinking of you. Be strong, fly high and enjoy life.
Lauren
PS. Doesn't Steve Wendt have a strap-on fin for pilots to use?
mcelrah@verizon.net wrote:
Yahoo! for GoodDrove down to Manquin today (Sunday) to pick up my glider which Steve
Wendt repaired beautifully for less than his estimate (he also sold
my old reserve parachute, which shaved the price some more). Tex had
test-flown it and found no handling problems and neither did I. Wind
was from the east which made for burble coming over the trees and
isolated punchy thermals. Since I was coming off a long (6 weeks)
enforced hiatus from hang-gliding - and had only started towing the
U2 without a strap-on tailfin a month before the accident - I waited
until late afternoon when Tex pronounced it smooth enough and another
pilot took a tow with acceptable results. Yaw oscillations the
entire first half of the tow (Tex immediately diagnosed the problem
when we debriefed afterwards: cross-controlling - this could also
have contributed to my accident...). Gorgeous day with great
visibility at altitude. It felt great to be back in the air (in free
flight - been flying a regular airplane and the ultralite - but it
ain't the same). Little nervous flying without a vario (it's with
Steve Kroop in Florida being repaired/evaluated for scrapping - got
dinged in the accident) - yeah, I know it's a crutch, but Robertson's
Rules of Risk Management say not to change more than one thing at a
time and I was at a different flying site and flying a glider which
might have had changed flying characteristics - and working on a new
hand position to ensure good speed and better control during the
approach. In the event, Steve gave me a thumbs-up on my approach and
flare to landing. Had some oscillations on final - probably more
cross-controlling - gotta work on that - but keeping both hands on
the control bar all the way to ground effect worked well.
Doug Henderson was there swapping his Eagle for a Falcon 2. Also
talked to Jim Carrigan, the trike instructor. He is working on
getting his CFI so he can sign people off for flying trikes as Light
Sport Aircraft.
Attended the EAA fly-in at Petersburg Saturday. Took a class on
maintaining 2-stroke Rotax engines - Paul Gerhardt and I have our
work cut out for us doing the 150-hour service on the Phantom this
winter.
Everyone at Manquin is mourning the loss of Bill Priday at the
Tennessee Team Challenge yesterday. (He attempted to launch from a
cliff without being hooked-in to his glider and nobody caught it with
a pre-flight check.) Bill was an extraordinary individual and will
be sorely missed. I am also sorry for the Manquin/CHGPA group that
went to Tennessee - and for everyone at the meet who had to witness
that sickening accident.
I wish I could say that injuries and fatal accidents are rare in this
sport, but it's just not true. Yet there are people who have
survived in the sport for decades, probably through luck at first,
but later by developing really good judgment about risk management.
All aviation is unforgiving of error, and hang-gliding is even more
so. When people say "be careful", rather than just saying "yes,
I'll be careful", I've taken to bending their ear with a dissertation
on the elements of being careful (this applies to motorcycling as
well): keeping my equipment in top shape, buying and using
protective and safety gear, learning and consistently applying
correct technique and procedures, operating only in favorable
conditions - and when I am in good mental and physical condition for
an activity which requires all my faculties. I hope this conveys to
them that being careful isn't just a matter of being alert, although
that's part of it; there's some rigor to it.
Hugh
Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
Hugh wrote
wish I could say that injuries and fatal accidents are rare in this
sport, but it's just not true. Yet there are people who have
survived in the sport for decades, probably through luck at first,
but later by developing really good judgment about risk management.
All aviation is unforgiving of error, and hang-gliding is even more
so. When people say "be careful", rather than just saying "yes,
I'll be careful", I've taken to bending their ear with a dissertation
on the elements of being careful (this applies to motorcycling as
well): keeping my equipment in top shape, buying and using
protective and safety gear, learning and consistently applying
correct technique and procedures, operating only in favorable
conditions - and when I am in good mental and physical condition for
an activity which requires all my faculties. I hope this conveys to
them that being careful isn't just a matter of being alert, although
that's part of it; there's some rigor to it.
Excellent. I would add constantly monitoring your own performance. I find that I develop bad habits. As soon as I cure one another one springs up. Or at least it seems that way. Currently, in light air at HR, I am heaving the glider off in front of me and leaping after it. I really have to focus to avoid that. In a way it is unfortunate that it seems to be benign. If it scared the crap out of me once, it probably would go away instantly. Before this bad habit I was transitioning to the base tube both hands at once. Not good. Finally fixed that.
wish I could say that injuries and fatal accidents are rare in this
sport, but it's just not true. Yet there are people who have
survived in the sport for decades, probably through luck at first,
but later by developing really good judgment about risk management.
All aviation is unforgiving of error, and hang-gliding is even more
so. When people say "be careful", rather than just saying "yes,
I'll be careful", I've taken to bending their ear with a dissertation
on the elements of being careful (this applies to motorcycling as
well): keeping my equipment in top shape, buying and using
protective and safety gear, learning and consistently applying
correct technique and procedures, operating only in favorable
conditions - and when I am in good mental and physical condition for
an activity which requires all my faculties. I hope this conveys to
them that being careful isn't just a matter of being alert, although
that's part of it; there's some rigor to it.
Excellent. I would add constantly monitoring your own performance. I find that I develop bad habits. As soon as I cure one another one springs up. Or at least it seems that way. Currently, in light air at HR, I am heaving the glider off in front of me and leaping after it. I really have to focus to avoid that. In a way it is unfortunate that it seems to be benign. If it scared the crap out of me once, it probably would go away instantly. Before this bad habit I was transitioning to the base tube both hands at once. Not good. Finally fixed that.
Back in the saddle
Steve does not have a strap-on fin available. It turned out OK - I'm so glad to have had Tex observe me in the rear-view mirror and tell me what I was doing wrong. Wanted to ditch work and work on it some more at Ridgely today, but I'm sore enough to prefer going to work to rest up. Wish I was a gentle-person of leisure like you so I could hit it every day and get really good (and get flying muscles in shape). Couple more years... - Hugh
>From: Lauren Tjaden <giddyupandglide@yahoo.com>
>Date: Mon Oct 03 07:41:43 CDT 2005
>To: hg_forum@chgpa.org
>Subject: Re: Back in the saddle
>
>It's great to have you back, Hugh!
> And ditto about what you said about the pilots from our area who are at the Team Challenge. We are all thinking of you. Be strong, fly high and enjoy life.
> Lauren
> PS. Doesn't Steve Wendt have a strap-on fin for pilots to use?
>
>mcelrah@verizon.net wrote:
>
>Quote:
>
>Drove down to Manquin today (Sunday) to pick up my glider which Steve
>Wendt repaired beautifully for less than his estimate (he also sold
>my old reserve parachute, which shaved the price some more). Tex had
>test-flown it and found no handling problems and neither did I. Wind
>was from the east which made for burble coming over the trees and
>isolated punchy thermals. Since I was coming off a long (6 weeks)
>enforced hiatus from hang-gliding - and had only started towing the
>U2 without a strap-on tailfin a month before the accident - I waited
>until late afternoon when Tex pronounced it smooth enough and another
>pilot took a tow with acceptable results. Yaw oscillations the
>entire first half of the tow (Tex immediately diagnosed the problem
>when we debriefed afterwards: cross-controlling - this could also
>have contributed to my accident...). Gorgeous day with great
>visibility at altitude. It felt great to be back in the air (in free
>flight - been flying a regular airplane and the ultralite - but it
>ain't the same). Little nervous flying without a vario (it's with
>Steve Kroop in Florida being repaired/evaluated for scrapping - got
>dinged in the accident) - yeah, I know it's a crutch, but Robertson's
>Rules of Risk Management say not to change more than one thing at a
>time and I was at a different flying site and flying a glider which
>might have had changed flying characteristics - and working on a new
>hand position to ensure good speed and better control during the
>approach. In the event, Steve gave me a thumbs-up on my approach and
>flare to landing. Had some oscillations on final - probably more
>cross-controlling - gotta work on that - but keeping both hands on
>the control bar all the way to ground effect worked well.
>
>Doug Henderson was there swapping his Eagle for a Falcon 2. Also
>talked to Jim Carrigan, the trike instructor. He is working on
>getting his CFI so he can sign people off for flying trikes as Light
>Sport Aircraft.
>
>Attended the EAA fly-in at Petersburg Saturday. Took a class on
>maintaining 2-stroke Rotax engines - Paul Gerhardt and I have our
>work cut out for us doing the 150-hour service on the Phantom this
>winter.
>
>Everyone at Manquin is mourning the loss of Bill Priday at the
>Tennessee Team Challenge yesterday. (He attempted to launch from a
>cliff without being hooked-in to his glider and nobody caught it with
>a pre-flight check.) Bill was an extraordinary individual and will
>be sorely missed. I am also sorry for the Manquin/CHGPA group that
>went to Tennessee - and for everyone at the meet who had to witness
>that sickening accident.
>
>I wish I could say that injuries and fatal accidents are rare in this
>sport, but it's just not true. Yet there are people who have
>survived in the sport for decades, probably through luck at first,
>but later by developing really good judgment about risk management.
>All aviation is unforgiving of error, and hang-gliding is even more
>so. When people say "be careful", rather than just saying "yes,
>I'll be careful", I've taken to bending their ear with a dissertation
>on the elements of being careful (this applies to motorcycling as
>well): keeping my equipment in top shape, buying and using
>protective and safety gear, learning and consistently applying
>correct technique and procedures, operating only in favorable
>conditions - and when I am in good mental and physical condition for
>an activity which requires all my faculties. I hope this conveys to
>them that being careful isn't just a matter of being alert, although
>that's part of it; there's some rigor to it.
>
>Hugh
>
>
>
>(end of quote)
>
> Yahoo! for Good
> Click here to donate (http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/) to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
>From: Lauren Tjaden <giddyupandglide@yahoo.com>
>Date: Mon Oct 03 07:41:43 CDT 2005
>To: hg_forum@chgpa.org
>Subject: Re: Back in the saddle
>
>It's great to have you back, Hugh!
> And ditto about what you said about the pilots from our area who are at the Team Challenge. We are all thinking of you. Be strong, fly high and enjoy life.
> Lauren
> PS. Doesn't Steve Wendt have a strap-on fin for pilots to use?
>
>mcelrah@verizon.net wrote:
>
>Quote:
>
>Drove down to Manquin today (Sunday) to pick up my glider which Steve
>Wendt repaired beautifully for less than his estimate (he also sold
>my old reserve parachute, which shaved the price some more). Tex had
>test-flown it and found no handling problems and neither did I. Wind
>was from the east which made for burble coming over the trees and
>isolated punchy thermals. Since I was coming off a long (6 weeks)
>enforced hiatus from hang-gliding - and had only started towing the
>U2 without a strap-on tailfin a month before the accident - I waited
>until late afternoon when Tex pronounced it smooth enough and another
>pilot took a tow with acceptable results. Yaw oscillations the
>entire first half of the tow (Tex immediately diagnosed the problem
>when we debriefed afterwards: cross-controlling - this could also
>have contributed to my accident...). Gorgeous day with great
>visibility at altitude. It felt great to be back in the air (in free
>flight - been flying a regular airplane and the ultralite - but it
>ain't the same). Little nervous flying without a vario (it's with
>Steve Kroop in Florida being repaired/evaluated for scrapping - got
>dinged in the accident) - yeah, I know it's a crutch, but Robertson's
>Rules of Risk Management say not to change more than one thing at a
>time and I was at a different flying site and flying a glider which
>might have had changed flying characteristics - and working on a new
>hand position to ensure good speed and better control during the
>approach. In the event, Steve gave me a thumbs-up on my approach and
>flare to landing. Had some oscillations on final - probably more
>cross-controlling - gotta work on that - but keeping both hands on
>the control bar all the way to ground effect worked well.
>
>Doug Henderson was there swapping his Eagle for a Falcon 2. Also
>talked to Jim Carrigan, the trike instructor. He is working on
>getting his CFI so he can sign people off for flying trikes as Light
>Sport Aircraft.
>
>Attended the EAA fly-in at Petersburg Saturday. Took a class on
>maintaining 2-stroke Rotax engines - Paul Gerhardt and I have our
>work cut out for us doing the 150-hour service on the Phantom this
>winter.
>
>Everyone at Manquin is mourning the loss of Bill Priday at the
>Tennessee Team Challenge yesterday. (He attempted to launch from a
>cliff without being hooked-in to his glider and nobody caught it with
>a pre-flight check.) Bill was an extraordinary individual and will
>be sorely missed. I am also sorry for the Manquin/CHGPA group that
>went to Tennessee - and for everyone at the meet who had to witness
>that sickening accident.
>
>I wish I could say that injuries and fatal accidents are rare in this
>sport, but it's just not true. Yet there are people who have
>survived in the sport for decades, probably through luck at first,
>but later by developing really good judgment about risk management.
>All aviation is unforgiving of error, and hang-gliding is even more
>so. When people say "be careful", rather than just saying "yes,
>I'll be careful", I've taken to bending their ear with a dissertation
>on the elements of being careful (this applies to motorcycling as
>well): keeping my equipment in top shape, buying and using
>protective and safety gear, learning and consistently applying
>correct technique and procedures, operating only in favorable
>conditions - and when I am in good mental and physical condition for
>an activity which requires all my faculties. I hope this conveys to
>them that being careful isn't just a matter of being alert, although
>that's part of it; there's some rigor to it.
>
>Hugh
>
>
>
>(end of quote)
>
> Yahoo! for Good
> Click here to donate (http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/) to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.