Post #107,446
6/26/03 9:36:50 PM
|
Re: Motorcycles is dangerous I think
No more so than voluntarily stepping out of a perfectly functioning aircraft at altitude.
Seriously, the best research I've read says that GA flight is roughly equivalent to motorcycle riding. IMHO, either one is inherently dangerous, but it's all about managing risk.
bcnu,
Mikem
The soul and substance of what customarily ranks as patriotism is moral cowardice and always has been...We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had-- the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he, by himself) believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism.
- Mark Twain, "Monarchical and Republican Patriotism"
|
Post #107,449
6/26/03 10:10:38 PM
|
Well, there are folks on waiting lists for liver transplants
praying for motocycle rider donors, usually guys who were in pretty good health.
Alex
"Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life." -- Eric Hoffer
|
Post #107,452
6/27/03 12:06:34 AM
|
As I tell my client . .
. . every time they try to interest me in a Ducati or Moto Guzi - I tend to skate way too close to the edge. It just wouldn't be a good idea.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
|
Post #107,453
6/27/03 12:15:52 AM
|
Guzzis are nice
Polaris is now making "Victory" motorcycles - they are retro and American and much better rides than Harleys. OHCs even. Starts at 13k. It reminded me of a Guzzi for no obvious reason (it's an inline V-twin like most cruisers) - it was big and solid and understated. Honda used to make the "Silver Wing". which was an opposed V-twin 500 but it always seemed like a caricature of a Guzzi. The cops had a lot of them.
-drl
|
Post #107,473
6/27/03 8:31:25 AM
|
flying presents zero risk
its that startup and shutdown thingy that has problems :-) Usually startups are from bad planning over or misloading plane, bad preflight etc or a wind sheer. Shutdown issues are also bad planning, very rarely an oops.
thanx,
bill
will work for cash and other incentives [link|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html|skill set]
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
As the Poets have mournfully sung.
Death takes the innocent young,
The rolling in money,
the screamingly funny,
And those who are very well hung.
W.H. Auden
|
Post #107,530
6/27/03 11:16:44 AM
|
"Failure to maintain altitude" will get you every time. :)
Alex
"Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life." -- Eric Hoffer
|
Post #107,542
6/27/03 12:04:38 PM
|
Re: "Failure to maintain altitude" will get you every time.
I always liked "CFIT" - controlled flight into terrain.
Happens a lot.
-drl
|
Post #107,976
6/30/03 11:55:39 PM
|
The biggest one is...
continued VFR into IMC. That's a hell of a lot easier to do than you might expect. First family XC about a month ago. Was trying to make it to Six Flags near Cleveland. Got withing 29 NM and it got shitty. Ceilings kept dropping, there I am with my entire family aboard and the thought did cross my mind, "Hell, I'll be there in 15 minutes, I can keep going even if I am only 600 AGL and 400 below MEL". Thankfully, those thoughts didn't stay in my head more than a few seconds before I realized, "This is fucking crazy. What the hell am I doing?" and I 180'd and landed. But it was tempting even for me. I learned a damned good lesson that day. There really is a "get-home-itis", even for low time pilots like me. Dangerous stuff.
bcnu,
Mikem
The soul and substance of what customarily ranks as patriotism is moral cowardice and always has been...We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had-- the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he, by himself) believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism.
- Mark Twain, "Monarchical and Republican Patriotism"
|
Post #107,550
6/27/03 12:26:22 PM
|
That, and excessive air in the fuel tanks ;-)
|
Post #107,974
6/30/03 11:48:16 PM
|
A) Speed B) Altitude Pick one.
But be damned sure you have one. ;0)
bcnu,
Mikem
The soul and substance of what customarily ranks as patriotism is moral cowardice and always has been...We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had-- the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he, by himself) believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism.
- Mark Twain, "Monarchical and Republican Patriotism"
|
Post #107,577
6/27/03 4:03:24 PM
|
Jumper scientist friend
did some risk analysis on skydiving and best equivalence she had was that 1 jump ~= driving 1000 miles on US roads.
Skydiving is about the safest "extreme" sport there is. Ahead of skiing, rock climbing, mountain biking, and hang gliding. There are hundreds of thousands of jumps every year and about 40 fatalities. Pretty good.
"One of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that,
lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination
of their C programs."
-- Robert Firth
|
Post #107,583
6/27/03 4:50:12 PM
|
Re: Jumper scientist friend
What causes most of the fatalities? Stupidity (controlled descent into terrain) or bad equipment?
-drl
|
Post #107,659
6/28/03 12:13:26 AM
|
Stupidity
specifically - failure to land perfectly functioning parachutes correctly. The transition time from intermediate to advanced seems to take out a lot of jumpers.
There are high performance canopies on the market that are under 100 square feet in size, that are jumped by 180 lb jumpers, and fly with max forward speeds of something like 30-40 mph. It takes some skill to flare these things on landing and convert speed to lift at the end. Misjudge the performance curve and you're toast.
I don't fly stuff like that but its considered "cool" to "swoop" your landings (dive to gain speed, pull out and convert speed to lift for a long "turf surf" a foot or two above the ground). Problem is, some people don't initiate the recovery from dive soon enough and pound in.
You don't have to fly stuff this zoomy - only if you wanna be "cool". I'm not cool.
"One of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that,
lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination
of their C programs."
-- Robert Firth
|
Post #107,973
6/30/03 11:46:49 PM
|
Huh. Interesting.
The transition time from intermediate to advanced seems to take out a lot of jumpers.
And pilots. Most accidents occur when the PIC has 150-200 hours.
bcnu,
Mikem
The soul and substance of what customarily ranks as patriotism is moral cowardice and always has been...We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had-- the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he, by himself) believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism.
- Mark Twain, "Monarchical and Republican Patriotism"
|
