Flight report, Bingen

[Larry Haffner]

Flying at Bingen today had its normal challenges with light wind at the top and increasing wind on the river. I almost had to back in flying two hours before this incident.  At the end of the day things took an unexpected turn for the worse when a guest pilot went into the the river 150 yards out. Jim Arnold, his friend and an accomplished Kite boarder and surf border swam out with no flotation gear to assist. I arrived when Jim was about 100 yards from shore and discovered a park guest had alread called 911. I also called and immediately raced to the boat basin to see if there was any active boats. There was none. I raced to town while talking to the 911 operator and was informed that the rescue boat had to come from the Hood River boat basin. This really caused me alarm and I raced into town to find anyone with a boat parked out front. there were none. By now it had been twenty minutes since I saw Jim in the water. I raced back and prayed that both would still be afloat. When I arrived it had been nearly 30 minutes since they entered the water and the canopy was completely out of sight but Jim and his friend were still treading water. A large pleasure boat actually picked them up within a few minutes and the Sherif was still not there. They did arrive after the rescue. This was a VERY close call for both of them and an answer to prayer. I saw them when they got off the boat and the flyer was obviously in shock. Jim looked worse than I had ever seen him. I really think he was the hero in this situation.

Now for my personal comment. As a club we MUST seriously consider having a boat posted while flying bingen on anything over a 10 MPH gustiy day. I suggested this to senior club members over a year ago and no one seemed to take me seriously. This year alone there has been three in the water, one in the trees and at least three nearly in the water. Do we have to watch someone drown to finally do something? I,. for one, will keep two life vests in my car from now on when flying Bingen. One for me and one for whoever needs the assist. If we would all start doing this hopefully we will not have a fatality at this site.

 

Larry Haffner

503 695 5644 

[Steve Roti]

Thanks for the report Larry, and yes it sure sounds like Jim was the hero today.

My personal comment is this: As a club we should follow the Bingen site guide which says, "With south and west launches it works best sunny & calm, but also works in very light east or west winds (under 10 mph)." In other words don't fly there if the wind is over 10 mph. The site guide was written by two experienced paraglider pilots and windsurfers who have lived in the Gorge a long time. They know what they're talking about and we should listen to them.

http://www.cascadeparaglidingclub.org/pages/bingen.php 

Steve

[Ancil Nance]

Instead of relying on prayer and life jackets, why not just use better judgment on when to fly or not? Demand a greater margin for error, especially when wind is likely to increase or get gusty.

Why fly when the wind is likely to go above 10 mph? This is not a ridge soaring site that allows for easy recovery from mistakes. Try a dune for high wind ridge soaring.

[Jon Malmberg]

I have to agree with Ancil on this one...  Those of us that fly out here on a regular basis are not the ones going in.  Please pay attention to the valley effect that is greatly amplified right off of the LZ.  Make sure your taking a good hard look at water texture from launch both at the LZ and up river.  Also, there are plenty of bail outs near the road going into the park and just west of the Insitu buildings.  When in doubt use them and land out. 

 

One of my students had two great flights there yesterday and packed up the second the wind even thought about ramping up.

 

Big thanks to Jim and his friend for taking the plunge...

 

Jon Malmberg

On Monday, July 16, 2012 11:04:33 PM UTC-7, Larry Haffner wrote:

[David Cantrell]

In our basic P2 training we are taught to make our own decision to fly or not. In the Rat Race events the weather conditions are presented to us, the task for the day is presented to us but, it is made very clear that the individual pilot is responsible for making the decision to fly or not. 

 

Bottom line, pilots need to take responsibility for their own decision making.  If a new pilot or guest is flying we can offer them a site introduction.

 

As for special gear, a hook knife is a valuable tool to always have on your harness. When flying around water, an inflatable life preserver is useful and affordable. When flying in mountains over canyons and trees, a tree saw and self rescue tree kit is advisable.   

 

Food for thought.

Dave

[Stuart Caruk]

We MUST have a boat ready to fly a site near the water? Are you kidding? I thought we were supposed to be pilots after all. You know, those individuals that have some measure of control over their destiny. There's an old saying in aviation…

 

A Superior pilot uses his/her superior judgment, to overcome the need to use his/her superior skills.

 

Let's forget for a bit that we all make mistakes. I too have made the mistake of assuming the winds on launch has any passing resemblance to the winds in the valley 3500 feet below me. I learned all about outflow valley winds shortly after I launched in dead calm conditions once, only to realize the valley winds were blowing 25 - 30 MPH plus. Making a mistake is one think compounding it with poor planning is another. There are loads of places to land near Bingen that don't involve the river. The pilot had to actively maneuver themselves into a position where a water landing was inevitable. How about they just chose a better flight path?

 

Do we really need to post people at all sites to stop pilots just in case they get drug through the power lines behind launch? Or have people standing by with ladder vehicles just in case someone lands in a tree? A boat at the ready, just in case people land in the water? Please, we already have this. We have people all over the country who have paragliding towboats that are designed to pick people out of the water. If you can't miss the water, perhaps you should stick to flying at such a venue where rescue is expected.

 

A pilot in the water is a VERY dangerous thing to recover if you don't have some specific skills and experience, and it would be easy for a would be rescuer to end up as part of the rescue effort.

 

The real solution requires that we plan ahead, so as to keep our options open. Failing to plan means planning to fail, which in this case is apparently what happened. I'm glad everyone came out alive.

 

On the issues of planning ahead, you guys also failed to use the readily available flotation devices as a rescue aid. My guess is there were dozens around you at the time…. It's the spare tire we (should) all carry in our vehicle. Magically, it floats, and can support an enormous amount of weight.   If you're tempted to go help, a flotation device (preferably that you can keep between you and your victim) is always handy.

 

Some pilots carry tree kits, just in case. There are places where pilots carry inflatable life preservers. You might try them if you don't think you can tell the difference between ground and water on a clear day. Ah, and for the rest of us, next time you're bored and go to the lake wearing a pair of pants, it's a good idea to try the impromptu life preserver technique. Imaging that you tried the big water crossing and stuffed it up, and you are going into the water. Assuming you survive the landing, stay calm and don't tangle up in your lines, did you know that your pants make a pretty good life preserver? I'm not going to describe how it's done, although I've practiced it many times and it works very well. try Googling something like this…

 

http://voices.yahoo.com/no-life-jacket-pants-save-you-6173940.html

 

For the record, I vote no on the rescue vehicle requirement.

 

Stu

 

 

From: cp...@googlegroups.com [mailto:cp...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Larry Haffner
Sent: Monday, July 16, 2012 11:05 PM
To: cp...@googlegroups.com
Subject: CPC: Flight report, Bingen

 

Flying at Bingen today had its normal challenges with light wind at the top and increasing wind on the river. I almost had to back in flying two hours before this incident.  At the end of the day things took an unexpected turn for the worse when a guest pilot went into the the river 150 yards out. Jim Arnold, his friend and an accomplished Kite boarder and surf border swam out with no flotation gear to assist. I arrived when Jim was about 100 yards from shore and discovered a park guest had alread called 911. I also called and immediately raced to the boat basin to see if there was any active boats. There was none. I raced to town while talking to the 911 operator and was informed that the rescue boat had to come from the Hood River boat basin. This really caused me alarm and I raced into town to find anyone with a boat parked out front. there were none. By now it had been twenty minutes since I saw Jim in the water. I raced back and prayed that both would still be afloat. When I arrived it had been nearly 30 minutes since they entered the water and the canopy was completely out of sight but Jim and his friend were still treading water. A large pleasure boat actually picked them up within a few minutes and the Sherif was still not there. They did arrive after the rescue. This was a VERY close call for both of them and an answer to prayer. I saw them when they got off the boat and the flyer was obviously in shock. Jim looked worse than I had ever seen him. I really think he was the hero in this situation.

[Dan Wells]

I can’t imagine how much it would cost or how CPC could afford to have a person and boat on standby. 

 

Dan

Dan Wells

503 804-1077

danb...@comcast.net

[Ancil Nance]

Do we really need to post people at all sites to stop pilots just in case they get drug through the power lines behind launch? 

Please, people, we can't "get drug" any place. Drug is not now and never has been a verb to indicate having been dragged.

Think of it this way: drag, dragged, was dragged, dragging, but not drug, drugging  or was drugged when speaking of being taken off your feet against your will.

[Stuart Caruk]

I tripped and fell on landing and as I was being drug in a Southerly direction, with the wind blowing from the North, I failed to take not as to the general direction of travel, but realized my impending doom was approaching, because of the wind turbines to the South that I was being Drug towards… I failed to care whether my use of a noun verb or adverb was correct because like Bogart said, frankly Scarlett I don't give a damn…..

[Cloudsurf Paragliding]

U guys R to funny. Tyler and me are goin 2 fly tomorow if u wont too join. I'm knot sure weather were goin 2 Cape Mears? Petersons? IDK... The break calipers on my car are alot loser then their supposed to be. Expecially the rite side. Shoud be exceptable tho, expecially if we ware our seatbelts.

[Jim Donaldson]

you guys have a long way to go, so you might
appreciate this language page, from which comes:
<http://www.justanyone.com/allanguish.html>

(mary had a little lamb for the verbally warped.)

Marry hatter ladle limb
Itch fleas worse widest snore.
An ever-wear debt Marry win
Door limb worse shorter gore.

- jim

At 11:14 AM 7/20/2012, Cloudsurf Paragliding wrote:

>U guys R to funny. Tyler and me are goin 2 fly
>tomorow if u wont too join. I'm knot sure
>weather were goin 2 Cape Mears? Petersons?
>IDK... The break calipers on my car are alot
>loser then their supposed to be. Expecially the
>rite side. Shoud be exceptable tho, expecially if we ware our seatbelts.
>On Jul 17, 2012 6:54 PM, "Stuart Caruk"

[CB]

if I could get a drug and took it; would I be dragged??? that just does not sound right.

Think of it this way: drag, dragged,

On Monday, July 16, 2012 11:04:33 PM UTC-7, Larry Haffner wrote:

[C E]

"Write". Sheesh.

[Ancil Nance]

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

Some people care about how they speak and write, others could care less. That is OK with me, of couse. I offer mild corrections  to those who seem to write well for the most part out of choice, but often repeat a mistake. This usually indicates a lack of knowledge. When people point to my errors I say thanks and move on. No big deal. I always appreciate learning new things.  

Having respect for yourself and your readers is something that was taught to me early on. Helpful hints can easily ignored by anyone not wishing to speak or write in the old fashioned way. Pioneers in the written and spoken word are always coining new phrases a words for us to enjoy.

Reading is difficult for many people and we should make it as easy as possible, not as creative as possible. It is the reader that counts, not the ego of the writer.

Writers who know how to correctly say things can get away with fun things. If the point is fun and parody, then there is no limit.

I offer tweaks to the writers who seem to care, as evidenced by their usually well written communications. As in everything, if it is worth doing, it is worth doing as well as one can. Otherwise, what's the point?

We all enjoy good writing by someone who respects the art. Well, almost all.

[Ancil Nance]

If you think you are good enough, try your hand at writing something like this:

http://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/ladle/

Take your creative genius to new levels and go to work.

This was written by someone who knew the rules and was not just being lazy.

On Jul 21, 2012, at 11:02 AM, C E wrote:

[C E]

I bought that, back in like 1990 at the Exploratorium!

 

FYI folks I should have put a smiley or something after "write..sheesh" .. sorry. It was intended to be clever.

 

Curt

[Steve Seibel]

Eye think we shud awl try hard to sound less dum