If we have the misfortune of colliding in the air, I will be sure to
comfort your grieving widow.




At 11:09 18 March 2015, Bruce Hoult wrote:
On Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at 10:00:05 PM UTC+13, Justin Craig wrote:
Surely it is safer to wear a chute than not? Is it not flawed logic to
fl=
y
one glider with a chute and another without?=20

It is even safer to stay on the ground.

But marginal increases in safety do not automatically trump all other
facto=
rs such as convenience, cost, excitement, and the satisfaction of
mastering=
skills. They have to be weighed up carefully, bearing in mind that no
matt=
er how careful we are we won't be here more than about 80 years on
average
=
.... and never more than about 110.

I've been a member of the same gliding club for 29 years now. It has
genera=
lly had 80 - 100 members. During that time no one has died flying a
glider.=
I'm pretty sure no one has used their parachute either. Several gliders
ha=
ve been written off, and one guy broke his ankle or lower leg. About 10 -
1=
5 of our members regularly take part in competition flying, and a number
of=
them have been national champion in various classes or undertaken record
a=
ttempts (some of them with Steve Fossett, who also didn't die in a
glider).

Certainly there is danger, but it's not like, say, motorcycling or
bicyclin=
g. I've lost a number of friends in both those.