Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe
Touchdown! Greaser!
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- Jun 7, 2008
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Light and Sporty Guy
Paraglider was riding a winch...
Remind me to keep an eye out foron the charts. Yikes, that was crazy close. After seeing that video of the Cirrus catching a towplane's tow cable and having to pull the chute I would never want to run into a cable ever.
Appears to be Sweden.where is that video?
I've seen the video you speak of, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a Cirrus; No flaming wreck. (only half joking)
Here's the one I'm thinking of:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG4nIeyaoek
I know some older high time pilots hate talking to someone while they are flying vfr but I honestly don't think i have ever flown without flight following and will not unless there is some reason i can't. It gives me a sense of security knowing that i will have traffic calls and don't have to worry about airpspace restrictions as much. Im extrordinarly conservative and always err on the side of caution and in some eyes maybe too much but if im not completely comfortable im not flying. Flying is supposed to be fun and being uncomfortable is not fun. If I know ATC is watching me it goes a long way in being more comfortable in my book.
Now in this scenario you would think ATC would be notified that it was active but if this were not a permanant winch system then maybe not?? I don't know anything about paragliding so that is really more of a question. SCARY AS HELL though!!
If that paraglider(or a hangglider, glider, or hot air balloon) is floating around in front of you ATC won't save you and they are not required to provide separation even for stuff they know about. Put down the radio and look out the window, take responsibility for yourself and you will be safer. It would be so funny to do a study equipping GA pilots with retina scanners and measuring the truth of how little they look outside.
in fact they ARE REQUIRED to notify you of ANY traffic that is within a certain distance from you (3 miles I think) no matter which way they are headed. That includes VFR traffic that they are not talking to but shows up on their radar.
My question is are paragliders (winch, power, or natural) and skydivers legally required in the US to let someone know this activity is going on? The only thing we ever see around us are jumpers. No real places to paraglide out here unless you have a power sail.
That is contrary to what I have read in the FAA publications - do you have a reference?
Part 103 operators are not required to notify ATC of their activities - no different than the rest of us.
You might have noticed that the paraglider in the video was operating off flat farmland. Probably not much different than where you are at.
Note 'in your judgement' used twice. They don't have to tell you anything, they might not see everything radar filters out slow targets such as I dunno paragliders maybe. Besides relying on ATC for traffic separation in VMC is worshiping a false god. And that'll get you smote from the skies.
Note 'in your judgement' used twice. They don't have to tell you anything, they might not see everything radar filters out slow targets such as I dunno paragliders maybe. Besides relying on ATC for traffic separation in VMC is worshiping a false god. And that'll get you smote from the skies.
Of course if they can't see a freaking plane on their radar they can't help but again this is not 1950 and most radars will pick up anything above 2500 ft or so no matter the speed. Unless you know of some random stealth planes flying around that I don't. No where did i say i rely on them for it as I don't rely on anybody but myself and my training for anything in a plane but to have them help when they can see via radar a hell of alot more than my eyes can see then why would you not have them helping you out.
I don't know why you guys are focusing on Ruthless53's comment about radar so much. He already said that he uses it to INCREASE safety, not as the sole solution for traffic avoidance. Whether ATC is required to notify your or not, you cannot debate that fact that having some chance that ATC will alert you to traffic you cannot see is an increase in safety factor.
As far as the video goes; that's scary stuff. I agree that the distance is likely an optical illusion, but it's still way too close!
Understand the faulty 'safety logic' Ohh winch launching is scary, good thing I use ATC. Only looking out the window will keep you from hitting a wire. Watch the video I posted above those guys pulled over and winched on the side of the road, I'd guess ATC wasn't notified and even if they can see the paraglider on radar they aren't going to see it soon enough(the whole launch doesn't take that long) to move you around it. No way ATC can alert you the thing that scares you in the OP's video.
I agree that the distance is likely an optical illusion, but it's still way too close!
I don't think there's any illusion at all. There's no parallax because you're looking right down the cable. Stop the video at 20 seconds and see how close that wingtip is to the wire.
Dan