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Thread: Youtube Hang Glider Pilot Cloud Flying

  1. #1

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    Youtube Hang Glider Pilot Cloud Flying


  2. #2

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    The pilot in that video doesn't think he is doing anything wrong in cloud flying. In reality, he puts many people at risk. The city you can glimpse below is a northern suburb of Los Angeles, Sylmer California.

  3. #3

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    First of all, he's near the clouds, not in them. He seems to have ground contact at all times, even if misty and judging by the sunny blue skies in most views, he has good vfr that way also. You can see a number of other hang gliders bellow him in the background also. So who is he putting at risk? Perhaps you are thinking of an ifr airplane coming through the clouds and hitting him. I dont know the exact area, but unliklely that ifr traffic, in real imc is that low in that spot or is going to insist on going in a cloud when it is blue skie a thousnd feet or so above. And as for as minimum clearanced distances from clouds, those regs may apply to airplanes and and hang glider is not withing those regs. I'll bet he knows where local plane traffic is, just like the hand and para gliders who come off the mountain here, and stay over and near town, not out where planes fly.
    I used to hang glide a little, its really fun and I can't ever recall even one accident of a person on the ground being injured by a falling hang glider or parachute. Probably about as common as getting rabies from a Bigfoot bite.
    Last edited by Bill Greenwood; 01-11-2020 at 09:45 AM.

  4. #4
    Mayhemxpc's Avatar
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    I agree with Bill. Note that the film is a compilation of nine different fights taken over several years. MVA is typically 2000 feet above charted obstacle height. Even though he may have been closer to the clouds that VFR rules would allow (it is hard to tell and mist is not a cloud), he doesn't appear to have been anywhere close to 2000 feet above the terrain in the areas depicted. Therefore, I do not believe that "he puts many people at risk." Please note that I have never done any hang gliding and have never had any desire to do so, but I firmly support those who choose that as their aviation activity.
    Chris Mayer
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    www.o2cricket.com

  5. #5

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    Part 103.23 says 1000 over, 500 under and 2000 horizontal. Hang gliders fly under Part 103.
    There is a reason the FAA doesn't want uls flying in clouds. These were repeated infractions to get youtube video and not accidental.
    Last edited by JBlack; 01-11-2020 at 03:05 PM.

  6. #6
    Sam Buchanan's Avatar
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    I suspect the FAA will not attempt to violate this hang glider pilot now.............
    Sam Buchanan
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  7. #7
    Dana's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JBlack View Post
    Part 103.23 says 1000 over, 500 under and 2000 horizontal. Hang gliders fly under Part 103.
    There is a reason the FAA doesn't want uls flying in clouds. These were repeated infractions to get youtube video and not accidental.
    In class G it's 1 mile viz and cost of clouds. As low as they look they're almost certainly in G.

  8. #8
    FlyingRon's Avatar
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    i disagree. He's in controlled airspace, he's higher than 1200 feet. I also believe he is actually in the clouds (and certainly loses ground contact) at several points.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by FlyingRon View Post
    i disagree. He's in controlled airspace, he's higher than 1200 feet. I also believe he is actually in the clouds (and certainly loses ground contact) at several points.
    If this had been a test question on a FAA exam, Ron was the only one to get it right. I suspect others didn't take it seriously.
    For Bill: If bird strikes can bring down an airliner, a 400 lb. meat sack wrapped in dacron and aluminium surely will.
    No comment on big foot but if someone says they saw one, who am I to disagree?

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sam Buchanan View Post
    I suspect the FAA will not attempt to violate this hang glider pilot now.............
    There were two pilots involved in this ongoing exploitation of these small convergence/condensation clouds. A predictable, local phenomenon, it seems.
    One of them gets a pass because something else killed him but the other pilot is still flying and still believes no harm was done.

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