safer than power flying?

The following, from _Sails in the Sky_, caught my attention:



"Is sailplaning safer than power flying?" someone asked.

"We think so," said Jones. "You're not moving as fast, there is no
danger of an engine conking out, no chance of fire. And when you soar,
you have to keep your mind on what you're doing. In power flying some
pilots count on the throttle to get them home, and they get into
trouble. In soaring you know you have to keep mentally sharp to work
yourself back to the airport."



True? False?

Johan Larson

True to some degree, but since you are comparing oranges and apples,
it's not that easy to answer.

But gliders tend to fly in good weather only, and the number one cause
of accidents in GA airplanes is flying VFR in IMC conditions.
Running out of fuel comes fairly often too , which you won't see in
gliders obviously.

Are gliders safer?
Perhaps, but I take them just as seriously as when I am flying a jet,
for example....

Richard
ASW19
Phoenix, AZ

I think this is a case of asking the wrong question. 99% of accidents in
both gliders and GA airplanes are caused by pilot error. To quote Pogo, "we
have met the enemy and he is us".

Airplane pilot tend to fly more and, critically, make more landings than
glider pilots. Many glider pilots make fewer than 20 flights per year. The
relative lack of currency by glider pilots leads to a higher accident rate
than would otherwise be the case. If you compared pilots with equal
experience and currency, I think you would find glider flying would be
safer.

Although there are differences in the machines we fly and the conditions
under which we fly them, mechanical contributions to the accident rate are
swamped by pilot error.

Bill Daniels

<johan.larson@> wrote in message
news:1163510381.385210.289170@b28g2000cwb. o...
> The following, from _Sails in the Sky_, caught my attention:
>
>
>
> "Is sailplaning safer than power flying?" someone asked.
>
> "We think so," said Jones. "You're not moving as fast, there is no
> danger of an engine conking out, no chance of fire. And when you soar,
> you have to keep your mind on what you're doing. In power flying some
> pilots count on the throttle to get them home, and they get into
> trouble. In soaring you know you have to keep mentally sharp to work
> yourself back to the airport."
>
>
>
> True? False?
>
> Johan Larson
>

Sailplane flying should be safer than power flying--but it is not. There are
many ways to do yourself in with a glider. There are many ways to do it in a
powered plane also. There is some overlap, and there are some ways unique to
each. Some pilots are creative enough to do it in ways we haven't thought of
yet.

The answer is flying attitude---"Your next flight could kill or maim
you--what are you going to do about it?"

--
Hartley Falbaum
<johan.larson@> wrote in message
news:1163510381.385210.289170@b28g2000cwb. o...
> The following, from _Sails in the Sky_, caught my attention:
>
>
>
> "Is sailplaning safer than power flying?" someone asked.
>
> "We think so," said Jones. "You're not moving as fast, there is no
> danger of an engine conking out, no chance of fire. And when you soar,
> you have to keep your mind on what you're doing. In power flying some
> pilots count on the throttle to get them home, and they get into
> trouble. In soaring you know you have to keep mentally sharp to work
> yourself back to the airport."
>
>
>
> True? False?
>
> Johan Larson
>

I am surprised by this statement.=20
Do you have any evidence to support this?
Are you including commercial flying within power flying, or just
recreational power flying?
=20
Rory
=20
Author: Bob Kuykendall <bob@hpaircraft.com> <mailto:Bob Kuykendall
<bob@hpaircraft.com>>=20
Date/Time: 15:00 14 November 2006

________________________________


In terms of fatalities per participant hour, the statistics are pretty
clear that soaring is more dangerous than power flying.

> "Is sailplaning safer than power flying?" someone asked.
>
> "We think so," said Jones. "You're not moving as fast, there is no
> danger of an engine conking out, no chance of fire. And when you soar,
> you have to keep your mind on what you're doing. In power flying some
> pilots count on the throttle to get them home, and they get into
> trouble. In soaring you know you have to keep mentally sharp to work
> yourself back to the airport."

Some interesting perspective so far.And here (Hopefully) is some
more.Power pilots dont have to endure the aerotow or winch launch.I can
still remember the words of my old hang gliding instructor (In regards
to towing) "Just one more thing to go wrong".Someone pointed out the
statistical rate was worse for sailplanes.I wonder how much closer it
would be if one excluded the towing accidents.IMHO probably a little
more apples to apples.
K Urban

> Johan Larson

johan.larson@ wrote:

> The following, from _Sails in the Sky_, caught my attention:
>
> "Is sailplaning safer than power flying?" someone asked.
>
> "We think so," said Jones. "You're not moving as fast, there is no
> danger of an engine conking out, no chance of fire. And when you soar,
> you have to keep your mind on what you're doing. In power flying some
> pilots count on the throttle to get them home, and they get into
> trouble. In soaring you know you have to keep mentally sharp to work
> yourself back to the airport."
>
>
> True? False?


Hard to say for sure, but when we look at some numbers...

NTSB fatal US-reg. Schweizer glider accidents since 11/15/01 = 28;
NTSB fatal US-reg. Cessna 172/182 accidents since 11/15/01 = 232.

26,654 US registered Cessna 172/182's;
1,427 US registered Schweizer-glider.

26654/1427=18.678x28=522.984/232=2.254

If I have done this properly, then flying a Cessna 172/182 MAY be 2.5
times safer than flying a Schweizer-glider.

Draw your own conclusions, but the more I look at these and (lots of)
other numbers, the more I think that flying any glider is about as safe
as riding your motorcycle to the airport -- but not more so, and quite
possibly less safe.

Gliders are safer than parachutes. And parachutes are our back-up?

Whoa, dudes!


Jack

johan.larson@ wrote:
> The following, from _Sails in the Sky_, caught my attention:
>
>
>
> "Is sailplaning safer than power flying?" someone asked.
>
> "We think so," said Jones. "You're not moving as fast, there is no
> danger of an engine conking out, no chance of fire. And when you soar,
> you have to keep your mind on what you're doing. In power flying some
> pilots count on the throttle to get them home, and they get into
> trouble. In soaring you know you have to keep mentally sharp to work
> yourself back to the airport."
>
>
>
> True? False?
>
> Johan Larson
>
Who was it that said that the piper cub was the safest airplane ever
built? They went on to say "it can just barely kill you".