The Downward Spiral

[Guest guest]

Achieving a measure of experience in Hang Gliding brings up the

question:

" What is my responsibility to others in this sport? "

Having an understanding the characteristics of proper flying

techniques allowed " diagnosis " of dysfunctional habits of pilots who

were marginally under control, even at great distances.

People who were flying " badly " often had no idea how close to

disaster they were simply because they hadn't crashed yet.

In fact they were usually convinced that they must be doing things

pretty well since they hadn't yet.

Nobody particularly likes to have someone walk up and warn them of

bad technique or dangerous habits when they think they've got it

pretty well under control, so approaching the subject isn't easy.

Not only that, but you've got your own flight to take care of and

don't really want to be stuck as the bearer of bad news anyway.

So to relieve yourself of the burden of " not having said anything "

if someone should crash, it was customary to give a fairly curt and

minimalist 'take it or leave it' type of warning.

If the advice is rejected because of lack of tact, tough! for them!,

since the person who didn't recognize that the warning represented a

real danger is only hurting themselves if they reject it (unless

they crash on top of someone else, but that was rare)

Well, in mold illness, we have a situation in which those who

survived the crash are uniquely qualified to perceive the problem

and warn others who are spiraling downward in a similar circumstance.

If your glider is stuck in a spin, there comes a time when you have

to give up trying to regain control and throw your parachute.

If you saw someone stuck in a spiral dive fight for control all the

way down to impact, wouldn't you be screaming " THROW YOUR CHUTE "

and then,

" Why didn't he use his parachute? Couldn't he see that the glider

wasn't coming out of the spin and the ground was getting too close

for a successful parachute deployment? "

For those who are stuck in that downward spiral by trying to

survive in a moldy place, it may sound callous and unsympathetic to

hear the equivalent of " Throw your chute! Get out - you fool " , but

if you view this advice from the perspective of those who've seen

what it looks like after the spiral dive ends in an impact, you'd

know just how sympathetic and caring this warning truly is.

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