Safety: Planes vs Bikes

"Charles Talleyrand" wrote in
ups.com:

I fly a small airplane (a Cessna 150) that is well maintained. I fly
over forests in good weather and typically during the day. My biggest
fear is the engine quits over the forest and I have no place to make a
deadstick landing except the tops of large trees.

I drive a moderate motorcycle (a Honda Nighthawk 750) at moderate
speeds through my small town and through the surrounding forests. My
biggest fears are either that I will slide on a patch of dirt on the
road and crash or someone will hit me with their car through
inattention.

I've been asked several times which of these things is more dangerous.
Can anyone provide some statistics on this?

-Thanks
-Charles Talleyrand


Sometimes I walk across a street. My biggest fear is either that I will trip
and crack my head on the asphalt, or that I will be mowed over by an
innatentive driver of a car or moderate motorcycle.

Other times I move my bowels. My biggest fear is that if I strain too hard, I
will suffer a heart attack and die, much like famed musician Elvis Presley.

Can you tell me which activity is more dangerous? My insurance forms don't
seem to care how frequently I cross streets (even though I do live in New
York), nor how frequently I take dumps. Yet somehow, I believe I will extend
my lifespan by refraining from one or both of these activities.

Judah wrote:
"Charles Talleyrand" wrote in
ups.com:

I fly a small airplane (a Cessna 150) that is well maintained. I fly
over forests in good weather and typically during the day. My biggest
fear is the engine quits over the forest and I have no place to make a
deadstick landing except the tops of large trees.

I drive a moderate motorcycle (a Honda Nighthawk 750) at moderate
speeds through my small town and through the surrounding forests. My
biggest fears are either that I will slide on a patch of dirt on the
road and crash or someone will hit me with their car through
inattention.

I've been asked several times which of these things is more dangerous.
Can anyone provide some statistics on this?

-Thanks
-Charles Talleyrand


Sometimes I walk across a street. My biggest fear is either that I will trip
and crack my head on the asphalt, or that I will be mowed over by an
innatentive driver of a car or moderate motorcycle.

Other times I move my bowels. My biggest fear is that if I strain too hard, I
will suffer a heart attack and die, much like famed musician Elvis Presley.

Can you tell me which activity is more dangerous? My insurance forms don't
seem to care how frequently I cross streets (even though I do live in New
York), nor how frequently I take dumps. Yet somehow, I believe I will extend
my lifespan by refraining from one or both of these activities.


If you don't eat, you don't ****....... you don't ****, you die!

On 24 Aug 2006 16:52:30 -0700, "Charles Talleyrand"
wrote:
I've been asked several times which of these things is more dangerous.
Can anyone provide some statistics on this?

Personal experience is that I've broken more bones on motorcycles than
I have in aircraft... So far, 5 bones on motorcycles, only 2 in an
aircraft... Most of the motorcycle incidents required me to be carried
away from the accident... I walked / hobbled away from the aircraft
incidents... As a side note, in both the motorcycle and the aircraft
incidents, I was wearing a full coverage helmets that sustained quite
noticeable damage... The damage to the motorcycle incident helmets
were considerably more severe though...

Given the choice between landing a Cessna 150/152 in the top of some
trees and having another motorcycle incident like some of my previous
ones, I would probably choose the Cessna 150/152... The crash speed is
quite a bit slower than any of the motorcycle incidents that I have
had over the years...

Regardless though, the one thing that I have learned is that GRAVITY
SUCKS...

Grumman-581 wrote:
On 24 Aug 2006 16:52:30 -0700, "Charles Talleyrand"
wrote:

I've been asked several times which of these things is more dangerous.
Can anyone provide some statistics on this?


Personal experience is that I've broken more bones on motorcycles than
I have in aircraft... So far, 5 bones on motorcycles, only 2 in an
aircraft... Most of the motorcycle incidents required me to be carried
away from the accident... I walked / hobbled away from the aircraft
incidents... As a side note, in both the motorcycle and the aircraft
incidents, I was wearing a full coverage helmets that sustained quite
noticeable damage... The damage to the motorcycle incident helmets
were considerably more severe though...

So you've established that you are a better pilot than you are a
motorcyclist, but you aren't very good at either. :-)

Matt (no broken bones from either riding or flying)

On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 12:37:51 GMT, Matt Whiting
wrote:
So you've established that you are a better pilot than you are a
motorcyclist, but you aren't very good at either. :-)

Not sure if that is the case... There might be an issue with regards
to acceptance of certain levels of risk that is not exactly prudent,
especially in my younger days... But then again, I rode bikes for many
years before being able to fly aircraft... More hours in a particular
type of vehicle might entail a higher probability of having an
incident... The aircraft broken bones were from an engine out incident
in a gyrocopter... The W&B was off and it wouldn't flare into the
landing without the engine running... Broke a rib and a bone in my
foot... No big deal compared to the bones and other injuries that I've
encountered while riding motorcycles...

http://grumman581.googlepages.com/injuries

"Charles Talleyrand" wrote in message
ups.com...
I fly a small airplane (a Cessna 150) that is well maintained. I fly
over forests in good weather and typically during the day. My biggest
fear is the engine quits over the forest and I have no place to make a
deadstick landing except the tops of large trees.

I drive a moderate motorcycle (a Honda Nighthawk 750) at moderate
speeds through my small town and through the surrounding forests. My
biggest fears are either that I will slide on a patch of dirt on the
road and crash or someone will hit me with their car through
inattention.

I've been asked several times which of these things is more dangerous.
Can anyone provide some statistics on this?

What I have heard and believe myself is that the risk of death is similar
for both activities on average. Hazards are different. Private pilots tend
to do themselve in with their own mistakes. Riders get got by others a lot
more.

NrDg wrote:

"Charles Talleyrand" wrote in message
ups.com...

I fly a small airplane (a Cessna 150) that is well maintained. I fly
over forests in good weather and typically during the day. My biggest
fear is the engine quits over the forest and I have no place to make a
deadstick landing except the tops of large trees.

I drive a moderate motorcycle (a Honda Nighthawk 750) at moderate
speeds through my small town and through the surrounding forests. My
biggest fears are either that I will slide on a patch of dirt on the
road and crash or someone will hit me with their car through
inattention.

I've been asked several times which of these things is more dangerous.
Can anyone provide some statistics on this?


What I have heard and believe myself is that the risk of death is similar
for both activities on average. Hazards are different. Private pilots tend
to do themselve in with their own mistakes. Riders get got by others a lot
more.

It has been a while, but my recollection is that the Hurt report doesn't
bear out the claim that motorcycles are more often done in by others. I
believe more than 50% of the motorcycle fatalities involved only the
motorcyclist.

Matt

On 8/25/2006 8:39 AM Matt Whiting mumbled something about the following:
NrDg wrote:

"Charles Talleyrand" wrote in message
ups.com...

I fly a small airplane (a Cessna 150) that is well maintained. I fly
over forests in good weather and typically during the day. My biggest
fear is the engine quits over the forest and I have no place to make a
deadstick landing except the tops of large trees.

I drive a moderate motorcycle (a Honda Nighthawk 750) at moderate
speeds through my small town and through the surrounding forests. My
biggest fears are either that I will slide on a patch of dirt on the
road and crash or someone will hit me with their car through
inattention.

I've been asked several times which of these things is more dangerous.
Can anyone provide some statistics on this?


What I have heard and believe myself is that the risk of death is
similar for both activities on average. Hazards are different. Private
pilots tend to do themselve in with their own mistakes. Riders get got
by others a lot more.

It has been a while, but my recollection is that the Hurt report doesn't
bear out the claim that motorcycles are more often done in by others. I
believe more than 50% of the motorcycle fatalities involved only the
motorcyclist.

Matt

His statement is correct. More motorcyclists are done in by others than
pilots are done in by others. He didn't claim that the majority of
motorcycle fatalities are the result of other motorists.

If only 45% of motorcycle fatalities are by other motorists, that's a
much larger percentage of airplane fatalities by other pilots.

"NrDg" wrote in message
m...
What I have heard and believe myself is that the risk of death is similar
for both activities on average. Hazards are different. Private pilots tend
to do themselve in with their own mistakes. Riders get got by others a lot
more.

That pretty well agrees with what I managed to piece
together the last time I looked into this. Having some
interest in both activities I tried to figure it out as best
I could, but there definitely ARE a lot of conflicting
statistics out there. Actually, I got into riding because
recreational flying was just getting to be SO damned
expensive (I know, if you really wanna do it, you'll
find a way - I guess I just didn't want it enough), and is
certainly a hell of a lot less able to satisfy the "I wanna go
for a ride NOW" sort of spontaneity that I can get with
the bike.

But it IS a different sort of risk, as you said. In flying,
probably 99% of the time your fate is completely in
YOUR hands - if something bad happens, it is almost
always going to be your own fault. That's certainly a
lot less true on a motorcycle, but I also like to think that
there's a lot I can do to minimize my own risk such that
it's not really as high as the statistics would make it seem.
You get to do that in flying as well, but I tend to think that
the statistics there really do reflect the actual risk to the
average, conscientious pilot pretty well.

Bob M.

"Bob Myers" wrote in message
...

"NrDg" wrote in message
m...
What I have heard and believe myself is that the risk of death is similar
for both activities on average. Hazards are different. Private pilots
tend to do themselve in with their own mistakes. Riders get got by others
a lot more.

I just got to jump in on this. I've been both ways - motorcycles and light
planes.

In flying, you can make a lot of small mistakes with pleanty of time to
correct them. If you are a careful pilot and do everything right, your
chances of dying at an advanced age in bed are very good. Chances of
mechanical failure are very rare today, and a midair is even more rare. The
careful pilot MIGHT be run down by a descending airliner.

On a motorcycle, you can do everything EXACTLY right, and still have a good
chance of disaster. Road conditions around a curve, driver pulling in front
of you, crowding you in passing. During the summer here in East Tennessee,
seldom a week goes by that there isn't a fatality reported in the paper.
Ever ride on a country road in the fall after leaves cover the road, and wet
with rain? These things are killing machines - talk to anyone in an
emergence room. But, hell yes they are fun.

I gave up the bikes volunterally. Old age took my plane away.