How dangerous is soaring?

Patrick....connecting their death with your flying is not a good
approach. Their death , and I would bet the vast majority, was due to
their failure. I don't recall reading about a death due to mechanical
failure, going back 30 or so years.
So, throw all the crap about living life in the can and ask yourself
if you are a good airman. If you suck, you'll probably kill yourself
and I would suggest you find a simpler hobbie.
If you're good, prove it to the rest of us by not doing something that
got your friends killed.
Perhaps you're just getting old and are looking for a reason to quit.
"Take up slack"
R

To R...

I recall couple of Nimbus 4's failing in flight. And one LS-6
(fluttered)




On 31 loka, 00:42, " wrote:
Patrick....connecting their death with your flying is not a good
approach. Their death , and I would bet the vast majority, was due to
their failure. I don't recall reading about a death due to mechanical
failure, going back 30 or so years.
So, throw all the crap about living life in the can and ask yourself
if you are a good airman. If you suck, you'll probably kill yourself
and I would suggest you find a simpler hobbie.
If you're good, prove it to the rest of us by not doing something that
got your friends killed.
Perhaps you're just getting old and are looking for a reason to quit.
"Take up slack"
R

Yes, and a 1-34 or two as well.

We should remember that what we do has some risk. The management of that
risk is what we are about. We can manage more of the risk than, say, a
motorcyclist or a full contact karate participant.

When we get the feeling that what we are about to do is a bit dumb, we
should decide if it is worth it or not. We should know where the traps are,
such as a very marginal final glide in the hope that we will make it
(especially if we have done this before and got away with it)

Of all the forms of "evidence" in Medical and Sociologic research, anecdotal
evidence (I know 3 people who were killed in gliders last year) is the
next-to-last in value.

We all know how to behave---If we just do it we minimize the risk.

I think it is worth it!
--
Hartley Falbaum
DG808C "KF" USA

wrote in message
ps.com...
To R...

I recall couple of Nimbus 4's failing in flight. And one LS-6
(fluttered)




On 31 loka, 00:42, " wrote:
Patrick....connecting their death with your flying is not a good
approach. Their death , and I would bet the vast majority, was due to
their failure. I don't recall reading about a death due to mechanical
failure, going back 30 or so years.
So, throw all the crap about living life in the can and ask yourself
if you are a good airman. If you suck, you'll probably kill yourself
and I would suggest you find a simpler hobbie.
If you're good, prove it to the rest of us by not doing something that
got your friends killed.
Perhaps you're just getting old and are looking for a reason to quit.
"Take up slack"
R

At my present age, my risk of dying on any given day is in the range
of 1 in 80. The additional risk I take on when flying is, by
comparison, relatively small. That said, there's little question that
soaring is more risky than generally believed. When the annual number
of deaths relative to the likely number of soaring participants (hours
would be a better denominator, but the data isn't available) is toted
up, soaring appears to rank right up there with motor racing or
serving in Iraq.

As to the fact that many fatalities involve highly experienced pilots,
it's worth considering that we accumulate age while aquiring
experience; one is protective, the other with it's accompanying loss
of neurologic competence is not.

The choice to participate should be made with a clear understanding of
the risks; for me the rewards are sufficient compensation. Your
milage may vary.

Ray Warshaw
1LK

gliding is not dangerous, but it can be highly unforgiving.

Every decision should be a consious one.

"Is it safe to fly in that direction?"

"should I fly with a audio vario or flarm?"

"did I do a good preflight check?"

Sometimes when I am confrontated with a difficult decision , I pretend that I ask my girlfriend ( flies too) would do. That it itself is already a reason to look for other options.
I also found that it is often not the super pilot that takes the most chances , but more the sub-top "wanna-be's ".

I can't understand your rudeness 'R'. I believe you haven't been on a
same situaiton than I am. I have flown almost everywhere and I have
flown numerous competitions plus I have been instructing since 1992.
So I believe I am qualified to fly glider just fine and write about
it.

I am not sure if you guys understood my consern.What happened to those
extremely skillfull pilots ie Geoff Loyns? can the same thing happen
to my other friends or myself. Is it worth trying the thin ice
anymore?

That who said that soaring is not dangerous is wrong. You can get
killed without your own reason. You can just thermal on a 10 footer
and some one who is joining the lift, hits you from behind. Maybe he
didn't see you at all. That has happened numerous times. Luckily most
of them has survived, few didn't.

PS


On 31 loka, 09:24, mart wrote:
gliding is not dangerous, but it can be highly unforgiving.

Every decision should be a consious one.

"Is it safe to fly in that direction?"

"should I fly with a audio vario or flarm?"

"did I do a good preflight check?"

Sometimes when I am confrontated with a difficult decision , I pretend
that I ask my girlfriend ( flies too) would do. That it itself is
already a reason to look for other options.
I also found that it is often not the super pilot that takes the most
chances , but more the sub-top "wanna-be's ".

--
mart

Hello,

I just suggest to read the following

http://www.ls-flugzeugbau.de/safety-comes-first-e.html

and make your own opinion.

Robert

Have you thought about increasing your odds of survival in an incident like
this by installing a Ballistic Recovery Chut in your glider?

Mike Schumann

wrote in message
oups.com...
I can't understand your rudeness 'R'. I believe you haven't been on a
same situaiton than I am. I have flown almost everywhere and I have
flown numerous competitions plus I have been instructing since 1992.
So I believe I am qualified to fly glider just fine and write about
it.

I am not sure if you guys understood my consern.What happened to those
extremely skillfull pilots ie Geoff Loyns? can the same thing happen
to my other friends or myself. Is it worth trying the thin ice
anymore?

That who said that soaring is not dangerous is wrong. You can get
killed without your own reason. You can just thermal on a 10 footer
and some one who is joining the lift, hits you from behind. Maybe he
didn't see you at all. That has happened numerous times. Luckily most
of them has survived, few didn't.

PS


On 31 loka, 09:24, mart wrote:
gliding is not dangerous, but it can be highly unforgiving.

Every decision should be a consious one.

"Is it safe to fly in that direction?"

"should I fly with a audio vario or flarm?"

"did I do a good preflight check?"

Sometimes when I am confrontated with a difficult decision , I pretend
that I ask my girlfriend ( flies too) would do. That it itself is
already a reason to look for other options.
I also found that it is often not the super pilot that takes the most
chances , but more the sub-top "wanna-be's ".

--
mart





--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

My rudeness Patrick worked in getting you to cut to the chase. You
have no business in an aircraft if you equate it to skating on thin
ice. I figured you scared the crap out of yourself after doing
something stupid. That or you're stringing us along. Maybe you're
looking for attention. God knows.
Go buy a chainsaw and cut down a tree. When you're done , you'll know
what to do.
R

wrote:
I can't understand your rudeness 'R'. I believe you haven't been on a
same situaiton than I am. I have flown almost everywhere and I have
flown numerous competitions plus I have been instructing since 1992.
So I believe I am qualified to fly glider just fine and write about
it.

I am not sure if you guys understood my consern.What happened to those
extremely skillfull pilots ie Geoff Loyns? can the same thing happen
to my other friends or myself. Is it worth trying the thin ice
anymore?

That who said that soaring is not dangerous is wrong. You can get
killed without your own reason. You can just thermal on a 10 footer
and some one who is joining the lift, hits you from behind. Maybe he
didn't see you at all. That has happened numerous times. Luckily most
of them has survived, few didn't.


The only reliable way we have to determine how dangerous is soaring is
to look at the statistics, and at the qualifications required of and
supplied by the people whose flights make up those statistics.

We know something about many of the rare failures to have a safe flight,
and little or nothing about the thousands of safely executed flights,
and one could be expected to have understood that quite well before the
question was asked. Therefor we can only conclude that the questioner
does not really expect to get a solid answer.

Does he want reassurance? He has it from those who have said in effect,
"Go out and fly as safely as you know how, and you will be very safe."

Does he want a reason to seek a more mundane pastime? He has it from
those who have listed the many threats, expounded upon the uncertainty
of life in general, and wondered at the occasional loss of a highly
experienced and proficient pilot.

The greater curiosity is why those brave and hard-working tow pilots do
what they do. The dangers are at least as great, and the satisfactions
far less obvious.


Jack