[TVHGC Members] Spinning the Roulette Wheel of Risk

Hi there all, just another pause for thought from your Safety Officer. Before I go on, just a reminder that the Big Fat Repack is upon us and is better than ever. I don't need to tell you how important it is to get your kit checked out. Last year we found that 10% of reserves had errors in packing and that at least 3 would not have functioned at all!!! Sign up at http://www.tvhgc.co.uk/index.php/bfr

 

Anyway, back to that roulette wheel.

 

http://mmixgliding.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/from-hero-to-zero-day-ill-never-forget.html

 

I was reading this article by a young glider pilot the other day which is about the day he wrote off a £70,000 glider, but more importantly, acme to the realisation that he'd almost killed himself. Time after time he had carried out unsafe or risky manoeuvres but had 'got away with it'. A phrase comes to mind…. 'A superior pilot uses their superior judgement so they don't have to use their superior skill'. How often have you made a decision that required you to step up to the mark and make another, more rapid, decision or to start more actively flying the wing in order to stay safe? When this happens do you tell yourself the truth, that you got away with it this time but might not in the future? How often do you need to spin that particular roulette wheel before you land on double zero?

So what am I saying or asking here? That I'm a goody two-shoes that never takes a risk? No. That I don't get excited when flying XC? No. That the horns don't come out sometimes when the goal is in sight? No.

 

I only ask that we all take a good long hard look at our flying and recognise those times when we're increasing the risk level through poor decision making, but then made another decision or used our superior flying skill and…. nothing happened. Once you recognise those situations as being inherently risky then you can start to do something about it before you're forced to by an accident or incident.

 

Fly safe and I'll see you on the hill, and if you'd like to reply to this please use the address below and don't reply to the whole club!

 

Nick Smith

TVHGC Safety Officer

safety@tvhgc.co.uk

[TVHGC Members] London Wing, Tues 28th Feb and White Swan, Aldgate

Hi all,

When we did our survey, people wanted other venues to be tried and Tuesday was the second ranking day of preference for the meeting.

This month, we will be trying The White Swan, in Aldgate, near Aldgate East station. As usual, we'll be looking to start at 1900 but you can turn up earlier and get food there or head over to the curry house opposite.

Pub web site:

http://www.whiteswanaldgate.co.uk/

Location:

https://goo.gl/maps/vZyqr9cf2u92

Justyna, the manager, flies PG.

See you all there.

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[TVHGC Members] Big Fat Repack 2017

The Big Fat Repack is going to be held on the 26th March 2017.  To find out more and register, please go to:

http://www.tvhgc.co.uk/index.php/bfr

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[TVHGC Members] Paragliding YouTube Madness

Dear All,

It's amazing what you see on the internet!

There's always something that pops up and makes me want to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and last night, while idling through the videos that YouTube had suggested for me I came across a few little gems which I urge you to watch.

The first is a stunning chase-cam video in hi-def which makes me want to go out and see the whole world by paraglider, or at the very least go flying in the Dolomites! It's a fantastic advert for our sport and well worth a watch; I even forced Mrs S to sit through it to try and show her what it is that I love so much about flying.

The second involves a low-hours pilot doing some coastal soaring over the cliffs and landing in the rocky surf. It's a salutary lesson in landing options that can be equally applicable to inland sites as it is to coastal. While watching this see if you can decide on the moment where you would have given it up and headed for the beach and also the moment where he makes his key decisions. What worries me most about this video is the apparently lighthearted attitude they have towards what was a potentially life-threatening situation. He could easily have been dragged under by his harness and wing, even in a foot or so of water.

My final video recommendation of the day is another of those daredevil acro vids. Our man here is clearly highly skilled and knows the performance of his wing to within inches, which is a good job given what he's doing. That said, and I may be a bit of a boring stick-in-the-mud here, I think his margins are pretty damn close and he could easily have spanked in big-time on a couple of occasions. I've got no issues with him doing this on the beachfront in Rio of course, but here in the UK it would be against the law in terms of the Air Navigation Order and the rest of us mere mortals need to understand that this doesn't give us free licence to go showboating around our hills and putting ourselves, passers-by and the good name of our sport in danger.

Anyway, please enjoy these 3 vids for what they are and I really would like to invite your comment and discussion on each of them either on the JustParagliding Blog or the Facebook page (PLEASE DON'T REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL).

Happy landings,

Nick Smith

Safety Officer TVHGC

safety@tvhgc.co.uk