How difficult, Jeb Corliss wing suit stunt?

On Feb 13, 1:45*pm, "
wrote:

Pot meet kettle. *US glider pilots aren't in a statistically sound
position to criticize BASE jumpers right now...

I don't think that that is a particularly constructive way to address
that avenue of discussion.

As bad a couple of years as soaring has had for 2010 and 2011, I'd put
our safety numbers in incidents per hour of exposure or even incidents
per exposure cycle up against those of BASE jumping any day of the
week and twice on Sunday.

Thanks, Bob K.

On 2/14/2012 11:10 AM, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
On Feb 13, 1:45 pm,
wrote:

Pot meet kettle. US glider pilots aren't in a statistically sound
position to criticize BASE jumpers right now...
I don't think that that is a particularly constructive way to address
that avenue of discussion.

As bad a couple of years as soaring has had for 2010 and 2011, I'd put
our safety numbers in incidents per hour of exposure or even incidents
per exposure cycle up against those of BASE jumping any day of the
week and twice on Sunday.

Thanks, Bob K.
Perhaps you should consider the numbers of BASE jumpers against the
numbers of solo glider pilots with a Silver 'C' badge level of experience...
Aviation, no matter what or how we fly, is inherently dangerous.

On Feb 13, 5:30*pm, George152 wrote:
On 2/14/2012 11:10 AM, Bob Kuykendall wrote: On Feb 13, 1:45 pm,
wrote:

Pot meet kettle. *US glider pilots aren't in a statistically sound
position to criticize BASE jumpers right now...
I don't think that that is a particularly constructive way to address
that avenue of discussion.

As bad a couple of years as soaring has had for 2010 and 2011, I'd put
our safety numbers in incidents per hour of exposure or even incidents
per exposure cycle up against those of BASE jumping any day of the
week and twice on Sunday.

Thanks, Bob K.

Perhaps you should consider the numbers of BASE jumpers against the
numbers of solo glider pilots with a Silver 'C' badge level of experience....
Aviation, no matter what or how we fly, is inherently dangerous.

You are wrong. Aviation or at least commercial aviation is inherently
safe.

On Feb 13, 4:40*pm, Dean Markley wrote:

You are wrong. *Aviation or at least commercial aviation is inherently
safe.

I don't necessarily agree with that. The phrase I use to describe
aviation is "statistically safe, but inherently unforgiving."

To me, the phrase "inherently safe" refers to an activity that has few
if any operational modes where constant alertness and engagement is a
prerequisite for continued survival. I think that something is
"inherently safe" when you can turn your back on it, go to sleep, and
expect to wake up an hour later in good health. That covers the vast
majority of aviation passengers, but certainly not pilots. As the old
joke goes, I want to die in my sleep like grandpa, not screaming in
terror like his passengers.

Thanks, Bob K.

On Feb 13, 2:30*pm, George152 wrote:

Perhaps you should consider the numbers of BASE jumpers against the
numbers of solo glider pilots with a Silver 'C' badge level of experience....
Aviation, no matter what or how we fly, is inherently dangerous.

I never said soaring was perfectly safe. I wouldn't say that, because
I'm pretty sure it's not true. All I asserted was that BASE jumping is
less safe than soaring in terms of per-hour or per-cycle exposure.

If you can cite peer-reviewed statistics that demonstrate otherwise, I
am certainly open to changing my mind on this.

Thanks, Bob K.

On Feb 13, 8:05*pm, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
On Feb 13, 2:30*pm, George152 wrote:

Perhaps you should consider the numbers of BASE jumpers against the
numbers of solo glider pilots with a Silver 'C' badge level of experience...
Aviation, no matter what or how we fly, is inherently dangerous.

I never said soaring was perfectly safe. I wouldn't say that, because
I'm pretty sure it's not true. All I asserted was that BASE jumping is
less safe than soaring in terms of per-hour or per-cycle exposure.

If you can cite peer-reviewed statistics that demonstrate otherwise, I
am certainly open to changing my mind on this.

Thanks, Bob K.

There were 2 BASE fatalities in the US last year. Soaring is far more
dangerous then we give it credit for.

On Feb 13, 5:27*pm, "
wrote:

There were 2 BASE fatalities in the US last year. *Soaring is far more
dangerous then we give it credit for.

There's the thing: the plural of "anecdote" is not "data."

You won't get me to disagree with the idea that soaring does not have
a substantial element of risk. We do have to recognize that the
majority of the risks in soaring can be mitigated by careful
operation, but I think that might be a discussion for a different
thread.

I have raced Formula road bikes, done an appreciable amount of rock
climbing, and flown sailplanes, sometimes competitively, for a little
less than forty years. In that time, soaring has been the single
greatest contributor to the number of memorial services I have
attended. So, yeah, I have an idea of how safe soaring is in both
objective and subjective terms.

To put those two BASE fatalities in perspective, we'd need to know how
many BASE jumpers were active in the sport for the year in the US, how
many jumps they made, and how much time they spent participating in
the sport.

Furthermore, to put the year in perspective we'd need to compare it
with other years, and also take into consideration factors that may
account for where it stands in comparison with other years.

And to put the US fatalities in perspective, you would need to compare
them with the rates for other countries in measurable terms such as
fatalities per cycle and per participant-hour.

Based on the reliable statistics I've seen so far, as inherently
unforgiving as soaring is, BASE jumping is around an order of
magnitude less forgiving. But again, if you have well-documented
statistics that show otherwise, I'm certainly open to revising my
assessment.

Thanks, Bob K.

On Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:05:56 -0800 (PST), Bob Kuykendall wrote:

On Feb 13, 2:30*pm, George152 wrote:

Perhaps you should consider the numbers of BASE jumpers against the
numbers of solo glider pilots with a Silver 'C' badge level of experience...
Aviation, no matter what or how we fly, is inherently dangerous.

I never said soaring was perfectly safe. I wouldn't say that, because
I'm pretty sure it's not true. All I asserted was that BASE jumping is
less safe than soaring in terms of per-hour or per-cycle exposure.

If you can cite peer-reviewed statistics that demonstrate otherwise, I
am certainly open to changing my mind on this.

Thanks, Bob K.
Please get your story straight and don't post drunk.

On 2/14/2012 7:03 PM, George152 wrote:
On Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:05:56 -0800 (PST), Bob Kuykendall wrote:

On Feb 13, 2:30 pm, wrote:

Perhaps you should consider the numbers of BASE jumpers against the
numbers of solo glider pilots with a Silver 'C' badge level of experience...
Aviation, no matter what or how we fly, is inherently dangerous.
I never said soaring was perfectly safe. I wouldn't say that, because
I'm pretty sure it's not true. All I asserted was that BASE jumping is
less safe than soaring in terms of per-hour or per-cycle exposure.

If you can cite peer-reviewed statistics that demonstrate otherwise, I
am certainly open to changing my mind on this.

Thanks, Bob K.
Please get your story straight and don't post drunk.
Some-one posting playing silly buggers.

On Feb 14, 11:13*am, George152 wrote:
On 2/14/2012 7:03 PM, George152 wrote:







On Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:05:56 -0800 (PST), Bob Kuykendall wrote:

On Feb 13, 2:30 pm, *wrote:

Perhaps you should consider the numbers of BASE jumpers against the
numbers of solo glider pilots with a Silver 'C' badge level of experience...
Aviation, no matter what or how we fly, is inherently dangerous.
I never said soaring was perfectly safe. I wouldn't say that, because
I'm pretty sure it's not true. All I asserted was that BASE jumping is
less safe than soaring in terms of per-hour or per-cycle exposure.

If you can cite peer-reviewed statistics that demonstrate otherwise, I
am certainly open to changing my mind on this.

Thanks, Bob K.
Please get your story straight and don't post drunk.

Some-one posting playing silly buggers.

George,

don't you have to run and hide from an in-coming asteroid?

better run along now and let the sailplane guys argue about sailplane
stuff, leave the base-jumping topics to a relevant forum.........ok?

Brad