Paraglider survives after soaring to 32,000 feet

[ContestID67]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17185299/

[[email protected]]

On Feb 19, 5:41 pm, "ContestID67" > wrote:
> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17185299/


Yesterday's news.

[Paul Repacholi]

writes:

> On Feb 19, 5:41 pm, "ContestID67" > wrote:
>> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17185299/

> Yesterday's news.

Todays new is that the NSW Police have said that the Paraglider
who died took a lightning hit. :(

[mart]

read all about it and see some pics of the clouds those dumbasses flew under at www.ozreport.com

Mart

[bumper]

Mart,

I looked, but couldn't find any pictures of the storm, can you provide an
extended url link?

Also, I think the term "dumbasses" is far too harsh. We are all capable of
mistakes, even the best of us. Perhaps you didn't mean to sound so harsh?

all the best,

bumper
"mart" > wrote in message
...
>
> read all about it and see some pics of the clouds those dumbasses flew
> under at www.ozreport.com
>
> Mart
>
>
>
>
> --
> mart

[Peter Harvey]

http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/irrs/Manilla_14_02_07/?actio
n=view&current=IMG_1059.jpg

Is the extended URL from Ozreport.com
With a max paraspeed of about 50kph, I'd say dumbass
is a pretty fair description for these nutters!
Cheers
Pete H



At 18:54 21 February 2007, Bumper wrote:
>Mart,
>
>I looked, but couldn't find any pictures of the storm,
>can you provide an
>extended url link?
>
>Also, I think the term 'dumbasses' is far too harsh.
>We are all capable of
>mistakes, even the best of us. Perhaps you didn't mean
>to sound so harsh?
>
>all the best,
>
>bumper
>'mart' wrote in message
...
>>
>> read all about it and see some pics of the clouds
>>those dumbasses flew
>> under at www.ozreport.com
>>
>> Mart
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> mart
>
>
>

[Shawn[_3_]]

Peter Harvey wrote:
> http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/irrs/Manilla_14_02_07/?actio
> n=view&current=IMG_1059.jpg

That's Miller Time.




Shawn

[Markus Graeber]

Here a link to the related discussion on the paraglider forum:

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=10608

Interestingly enough the day of the incident was apparently an open
task where you can go wherever you like, the pilot with the longest
flight wins. Looking at the photo posted above I must say that I
wouldn't want to be where some of them went in a glider that makes 250
km/h or more if needed. Yet they choose to go that way (instead of
other directions that had awesome CUs all over the place - photos
posted elsewhere on the OZReport) in something that is limited to 50
km/h or so and can easily collapse in turbulence that we would
probably consider no big deal...

I wonder what they teach these guys about CuNims and risk assesment,
seeing a dozen or so supposedly world class paraglider pilots in a
place like that with the inherent limitations they have when they
could have gone any other way makes you wonder... Enough said,

Markus

[Markus Graeber]

> Looking at the photo posted above I must say that I
> wouldn't want to be where some of them went in a glider that makes 250
> km/h or more if needed. Yet they choose to go that way (instead of
> other directions that had awesome CUs all over the place - photos
> posted elsewhere on the OZReport)...

Here the photos I was refering to showing the "hard" choices they had
to make:

http://www.ozreport.com/11.034.9

Going West instead towards the thunderstorms up North would have
looked like this:

http://www.ozreport.com/11.034.9

Not sure what was wrong with checking out those CUs.

Markus

[Markus Graeber]

Ups, wrong link, West looked like this:

http://flygirl.co.za/gallery/albums/Manilla/normal_ManillaXC-Open2007_15.JPG

Markus

[Eric Greenwell]

Peter Harvey wrote:
> http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/irrs/Manilla_14_02_07/?actio
> n=view&current=IMG_1059.jpg
>
> Is the extended URL from Ozreport.com
> With a max paraspeed of about 50kph, I'd say dumbass
> is a pretty fair description for these nutters!

At first I thought I had dirt specks on my monitor, then I realized it
was paragliders! Yikes. Maybe "dumbass" isn't wrong. That is one scary
looking cloud.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
* "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org

[Kilo Charlie]

"Eric Greenwell" > wrote in message
news:US7Dh.4119$_O1.3414@trndny04...
> Peter Harvey wrote:
>> http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/irrs/Manilla_14_02_07/?actio
>> n=view&current=IMG_1059.jpg
>>
>> Is the extended URL from Ozreport.com
>> With a max paraspeed of about 50kph, I'd say dumbass
>> is a pretty fair description for these nutters!
>
> At first I thought I had dirt specks on my monitor, then I realized it was
> paragliders! Yikes. Maybe "dumbass" isn't wrong. That is one scary looking
> cloud.

As I know many other sailplane pilots do throughout the world, we fly in
monsoon season here in Arizona and there is no fricking way that I would
ever consider heading anywhere near that cell. It doesn't even have a shelf
that looks possible. As someone else has asked.....does the paraglider
community know much about weather and the potential energy that
thunderstorms have??? That cloud has lightening, hail and microburst
written all over it. Maybe it was the lemming effect......a couple head
that way and the rest follow. As the one pilot said on the OZ report.....it
ain't worth it.....no matter how many points it would possibly yield.

Casey Lenox
KC
Phoenix

[Mike the Strike]

snip..... As someone else has asked.....does the paraglider
> community know much about weather and the potential energy that
> thunderstorms have???


They do now!

Mike

[Bruce Greef]

Mike the Strike wrote:
> snip..... As someone else has asked.....does the paraglider
>
>>community know much about weather and the potential energy that
>>thunderstorms have???
>
>
>
> They do now!
>
> Mike
>
>
>
It all depends on why you are doing what you are doing I think.

I had a customer who was a national level contest paraglider.

While obviously not stupid - running a successful little electronics design
company - he seemed completely unable to grasp the safety perspective...

I concluded that it must be a predisposition thing - I certainly would not trust
a paraglider in any weather strong enough to allow decent cross country.

Had a this re-inforced a while ago when a group of paraglider types decided that
our airfield was just the perfect place to winch launch from. It's a public
field, and we are inclined to welcome anyone in aviation, but:
They arrived, set up and commenced operations on the runway without any
consideration of our operations.
More than once we had one of them standing in front of a 15m+ glider with cable
attached - and wondering what the fuss was about - having just watched numerous
winch launches. "What's the problem, I'll get out of the way when it moves."

One fine day I watched one of them turn base at 400 feet or so and crab
determinedly across two active runways to do a vertical landing among our parked
gliders. During this procedure, one power aircraft landed beneath the paraglider
- in the absence of radio calls I assume he had not noticed. Similarly one of
our gliders had to do a 360 degree turn on base to allow separation.
Deciding that this was enough, I drew their chairman aside and said something
along the lines of -
As Safety officer here I am concerned with the way we are operating. When you
first arrived here , I gave you a copy of our Standard Operating Procedures.
Please be so kind as to provide me with your plan for how you are going to
operate safely from the field. They never returned. Too much paperwork I suppose...

Maybe you just have to be incapable of actively managing your personal safety to
fly paragliders competitively. Same sort of problem we sometimes get with insane
low finishes? My perception is that the glider pilots are at least trying to
reduce risk, not looking for it.

On the other hand we have had complaints from the non-competition paragliding
community about sailplanes being operated in too close proximity to them,
especially on ridges, where the turbulence from the high speed glider can have a
paraglider collapsing and landing it's pilot in the weeds at injury causing
speeds. So - probably a normal distribution curve but the paragliders centre is
shifted towards the higher risk taking side, compared to glider pilots, who are
shifted to the risk taking side compared to couch potatoes...

[FreeFlight107]

So - probably a normal distribution curve but the paragliders centre
is
> shifted towards the higher risk taking side, compared to glider pilots, who are
> shifted to the risk taking side compared to couch potatoes...

My observations support the above as well as I've heard comments like
"What can go wrong? You're going so slow and you have a built in
Parachute!!!!"
remember, it' a non-licensed activity with varying levels of
instruction.
FreeFlight

[Tony Verhulst]

> I had a customer who was a national level contest paraglider.

The machine is the paraglider. The person is the paraglider pilot.

Tony V.

[Bruce Greef]

Tony Verhulst wrote:
>
>> I had a customer who was a national level contest paraglider.
>
>
> The machine is the paraglider. The person is the paraglider pilot.
>
> Tony V.
Not so sure - sometimes, given the apparent lack of thought involved I think
"passenger" would be more descriptive. ;-)

Point taken on the poor nomenclature.

[Tony Verhulst]

Bruce Greef wrote:
> Tony Verhulst wrote:
>>
>>> I had a customer who was a national level contest paraglider.
>>
>>
>> The machine is the paraglider. The person is the paraglider pilot.
>>
>> Tony V.
> Not so sure - sometimes, given the apparent lack of thought involved I
> think "passenger" would be more descriptive. ;-)

LOL.

> Point taken on the poor nomenclature.

Don't mind me, it's one of my "buttons". A bunch of decades ago I got
kind of tired of being called a hang glider.

Tony "6N"