On Wednesday, October 30, 2019 at 7:57:36 PM UTC-6, Dave Nadler wrote:
On Wednesday, October 30, 2019 at 8:49:22 PM UTC-4, wrote:
For those who haven’t seen it....
https://chessintheair.com/the-risk-o...-what-we-love/

Interesting stats. Counts of friends I've lost a few different ways:
- driving: 0
- motorcycle: 0
- bicycling: 1
- medical malpractice: 2
- hang-gliding (where I don't know so many): a couple
- general aviation: a few
- gliding: 25

After the first few friends I lost in gliding, I wrote this (recently reprinted in Soaring):
http://www.nadler.com/public/Nadler_...g_May_1987.pdf

Be careful out there,
Best Regards, Dave

I personally quit riding (and racing) motorcycles in 1973 after losing three friends in one summer. The BBC had an interesting series on motorcycle racing, following eight young racers as they entered the sport. IIRC, the final episode had an epilogue that stated all eight were deceased within two years, all due to motorcycle accidents. To my mind, racing motorcycles is far more dangerous than racing gliders.

That said, the number of soaring pilots I've known that have come to grief I could count on one hand for many years. That number has jumped, but that's because I know more pilots than I did formerly. The rate has not shown much variation though. Few were racing, unless you count racing the sun or the clock.

There was an actuarial table published many years ago that listed the chance of accidental death, which was 1/1500 overall. Death in a glider was listed as 1/1800. Haven't been able to find anything similar in recent years.

So, in the years since I've quit riding/racing motorcycles, I've known only one additional fatality on a motorcycle.

Since I've been in SSA leadership and paying attention, far more glider pilots are succumbing to age and infirmities than in flight accidents. It's the company you keep.

You all fly safely and sanely now and please, only fly if you are fit to do so.

Happy landings,

Frank Whiteley