Hang gliding is safe. Selling your old harness.....evidently ........ is not.
O.K. - I can proudly claim that I have over 25 years of flying to my credit with my worst injury being a skinned knee.
Yesterday, I went outside to take some pics of a harness to send to a fellow pilot back east who is looking for one. Had the wifey take a nice shot of me from the front, wearing the harness. Threw in a couple of additional shots from the side view and rear view for a complete visual description. And hey ...... how about a shot of me hanging from the breezeway rafters in the harness??? Threw a rope over the rafter chord, doubled it up, and clipped in the 'beaner .......... l was lying down prone, about 24 inches, off the cold, hard concrete floor.
"Honey, are you ready with the camera?"
Fast forward about 30 seconds.
I lift my face off the floor....... slowly. Where is all that blood coming from??? And whose is it?? The wife is screaming hysterically. I stagger to my feet, dazed and somewhat confused. I noticed at that time, that the blood appeared to be coming.... from me! Specifically my nose and forehead.
I now know what it must feel like to be on the receiving end of a well executed Mike Tyson left hook.
And I can proudly say, I can take it.
A quick trip to the ER room confirmed no serious damage done. They were still laughing about how it occurred as I was leaving.
I am writing this today, one day later, with 2 black eyes and a gash at the bridge of my nose and another just above my left eyebrow. Nice goose egg on the forehead too .....
3 weeks ago I fell off a 4 foot step ladder and broke my wrist. My conclusion is that being close to the ground is dangerous. _________________ See ya up there!
First flight 6/72-free flight standard 17'. free flight Sierra, 1,2,& 3. wills wing swallowtail, quicksilver 3, icaro relax, wills wing U2, h4 then back to h4 now. with my head in the clouds.
SKYROWG, maybe you should have been wearing a full-face helmet around the house? I wear one at home because if I happen to trip, it may reduce facial injuries and emergency Whaaaaambulance calls.
i feel for you bro. this spring i stepped on a gum ball (product of a sycamore tree/ a type of seed pod) fell and broke my hand. delayed the start of my flying season. must remember how to walk
I saw a video last year of a chute clinic where the same thing happened, rope broke, did not look pretty. I now wear my helmet when I do my practice chute throw. _________________ Sonic 165
Lightsport 3
Malibu 188
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http://www.youtube.com/user/relate2#p/u
My worst hang gliding injuries have come from walking into the ladder mounted on the roof of my car. I've got a scar on my forehead from one of those. _________________ H4 + various skills (only foot-launch so far)
WW UltraSport 147, WW Falcon2 170, PacAir Vision Mark IV 17
My HG wiki profile and my flying blog
I saw a video last year of a chute clinic where the same thing happened, rope broke, did not look pretty. I now wear my helmet when I do my practice chute throw.
Yeah, that was me! The strap looked kinda old, but it had held a guy bigger than me in a mosquito harness and two other deployers before me. I was fully prone and 4' off the ground when the strap broke. I was wearing my FF helmet and only had a bruised nose for a head injury. That fall really did a number my shoulder, however, and I flew in pain for the next 5 months.
Yeah, that was me! The strap looked kinda old, but it had held a guy bigger than me in a mosquito harness and two other deployers before me. I was fully prone and 4' off the ground when the strap broke.
Alas, twas I who provided the "hang strap of pain" from wenst RM plummeted to the ground during the chute clinic that our Sonoma Wings club was hosting.
RM's "flight" begins at 4:22. If you watch the video, you'll see that the twisting is what does it. So here's a tip: Only use super strong, totally over the top gear to hang your friends from.
Or better yet, don't provide any hang strap material during a chute clinic. Let someone else do it!
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