Polling threads

Moderators: sg, mods

flying alone?!

It's okay
58
68%
It's not okay
19
22%
The third option
8
9%
User avatar
By FMAN
#338843
My vote is it's not okay to do. I feel from my experiences that it's really irresponsible in most all instances and an injustice to the community and warrants some discussion.
Last edited by FMAN on Fri Nov 22, 2013 4:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
By Jason
#338844
FMAN wrote:My vote is it's not okay to do. I feel from my experiences that it's really irresponsible in most all instances and an injustice to the community and warrants some discussion.
well you're poll doesn't let people vote for "its ok"
User avatar
By FMAN
#338845
:chair:

Fixed!
User avatar
By Jason
#338846
I voted, "its ok"

only because I do from time to time fly alone.
By old newbie
#338847
Unless you're tandem you're always alone.



Steve Forslund
User avatar
By remmoore
#338850
I'm not clear on the question - do you mean "launching alone"?

If so, I've done it very rarely. There are only a few places where I would do it, and they all have frequent visitors to the launch area. I've got a buddy who occasionally used to ask me to monitor him on the radio as he launched alone. He knew that I would make a 911 call if I didn't hear from him in the moments after launching.

If you truly mean "flying alone" I've done that many times. It's not as fun as flying with my buddies, but it's a lot better than staying on the ground!

RM
By Phoenix
#338853
...
Last edited by Phoenix on Sun Nov 24, 2013 5:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
By FMAN
#338857
10-4 remmore, I'm referring to flying alone.

I used to do that quite a lot. At Hull primarily, but I've flown other sites around here alone before.

Pheonix laid out a prime example of why not to fly alone. If there were other pilots or wuffos around, Tahir might be able to tell a story for us to learn from.
Last edited by FMAN on Fri Nov 22, 2013 5:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
By Zeph
#338858
It's not the best but depending on where you live and how many other pilots there are to fly with............
User avatar
By FMAN
#338859
Zeph wrote:It's not the best but depending on where you live and how many other pilots there are to fly with............
That's why I enabled a third poll option for people who have no choice and those who actually have a valid reason to do so. There's only a handful of individuals that qualify to fit into that category.
User avatar
By DAVE858
#338860
If the proper precautions are taken I.E. tell someone where you are going & when you plan to be back, then I dont see any issue with it. I recently had a friend die in a speedflying accident who was launching & flying alone. He took all the proper precautions & was able to alert EMS to his position with an Ispot emergency locater system. Unfortunately he succumed to his injuries before help arrived. The results would have been the same regardless of wether there was someone with him or not. If you are deciding to launch & fly alone, the biggest thing you have controll over is your own personal limits & wether to go or not go. BASE jumping taught me a lot about this. I have probably climbed down & not jumped almost as many times that I have jumped. No shame in it.
User avatar
By CAL
#338861
well though i think you should always try to fly with someone around, if the weather is great and you can't, go for it, that is why i bought a motorcycle and a bumper rack for the cycle, i can drop my motorcycle off at the LZ drive to launch, fly, land and drive my motorcycle to launch, put her on the bumper and drive back down.

looking at it logically having someone there will not help you fly any better, if you did get hurt the only avantage would be someone could help you, i know the risk of flying alone, but willing to take it

i couldn't vote it is ok to do and couldn't vote it is not ok, just know the risk assosiated with it, if i ever get hurt alone and didn't have anyone around to help and i was in a lot of pain you can bet i would vote it is not ok
User avatar
By FMAN
#338862
DAVE858 wrote:If the proper precautions are taken I.E. tell someone where you are going & when you plan to be back, then I dont see any issue with it. I recently had a friend die in a speedflying accident who was launching & flying alone. He took all the proper precautions & was able to alert EMS to his position with an Ispot emergency locater system. Unfortunately he succumed to his injuries before help arrived. The results would have been the same regardless of wether there was someone with him or not. If you are deciding to launch & fly alone, the biggest thing you have controll over is your own personal limits & wether to go or not go. BASE jumping taught me a lot about this. I have probably climbed down & not jumped almost as many times that I have jumped. No shame in it.
I assume you're referring to Walden Grindle. His death was unnecessary, foolish, and has given the general public a poor reflection of the local flying community to some degree. I heard the sirens that afternoon..
By Phoenix
#338863
...
Last edited by Phoenix on Sun Nov 24, 2013 5:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
By pjwings
#338864
All things being equal, who are we to tell someone what to do with their life?

I'm a very conscientious pilot. I've got kids and I won't fly alone because I want to take every option I can to make flying safer. Having buddies to fly with not only helps in getting help fast if you do have an incident, but it also helps to have more eyes on the weather, on conditions in the LZ, etc. However, just because that's the choice for me doesn't mean that has to be the choice for someone else. Definitely take into account the impact your actions may have on the site, or the PR of the region, etc. At the end of the day, it's my life and I'm going to do what I want with it. I think everyone deserves the same rights.
User avatar
By FMAN
#338865
pjwings wrote:All things being equal, who are we to tell someone what to do with their life?
That's a very valid point. Hopefully this thread will encourage others to evaluate the risks wholly and make an unbiased decision on their own without someone having to tell them it's foolish to fly alone.
User avatar
By DAVE858
#338866
FMAN wrote:
DAVE858 wrote:If the proper precautions are taken I.E. tell someone where you are going & when you plan to be back, then I dont see any issue with it. I recently had a friend die in a speedflying accident who was launching & flying alone. He took all the proper precautions & was able to alert EMS to his position with an Ispot emergency locater system. Unfortunately he succumed to his injuries before help arrived. The results would have been the same regardless of wether there was someone with him or not. If you are deciding to launch & fly alone, the biggest thing you have controll over is your own personal limits & wether to go or not go. BASE jumping taught me a lot about this. I have probably climbed down & not jumped almost as many times that I have jumped. No shame in it.
I assume you're referring to Walden Grindle. His death was unnecessary, foolish, and has given the general public a poor reflection of the local flying community to some degree. I heard the sirens that afternoon..
Hard to hear that about one of your friends. Could you have worded that a little less harsh?
User avatar
By CAL
#338867
pjwings wrote:All things being equal, who are we to tell someone what to do with their life?

I'm a very conscientious pilot. I've got kids and I won't fly alone because I want to take every option I can to make flying safer. Having buddies to fly with not only helps in getting help fast if you do have an incident, but it also helps to have more eyes on the weather, on conditions in the LZ, etc. However, just because that's the choice for me doesn't mean that has to be the choice for someone else. Definitely take into account the impact your actions may have on the site, or the PR of the region, etc. At the end of the day, it's my life and I'm going to do what I want with it. I think everyone deserves the same rights.
i agree PJ i think you and i are on the same page, when we have disscussions, i would hope nobody thinks i am telling one what to do, everyone IS on there own when it comes down to what they should do, i just like to try to point out he risk, much as you have done, i like the weather reason, i never thought of that one, it is always better to have a second opinion
User avatar
By Felix
#338869
I think it's totally OK, as long as the "Pilot in charge" - as in YOU - made a decision to go for it, after careful thought.
And yes, we always fly alone (except tandem flights).
I did it this year and it made a huge stint on the local forum...ridiculous.
If you are OK with flying alone do it, if you're not OK with flying alone don't do it.
We are not all the same and one cannot judge everyone else based only on personal level/experience/capabilities/confidence/etc.


Hey, great topic FMAN!