Scudrunners

Got a kick out to the one comment: "And here we can see the fierce territorial battles of the wild ultralight in it's natural habitat."

Holy macaroni, at that point he should probably just do three more laps and really make the video difficult to match.

I don't think most instructors had this scenario in mind when they yelled 'RIGHT RUDDER, MORE RIGHT RUDDER' at me, but I guess the advice is still applicable

I'm sorry I keep posting this, but it never gets old:

It didn't look like an issue of right rudder, looked like ultralight a decides for reasons to taxi onto a runway already occupied by ultralight b, realizes there's no room to get around ultralight b with the oddly placed runway berm, but only realizes that after needing to get close enough to probably necessitate getting out and pushing back. Ultralight b either doesn't know his path is blocked, or thinks he can do a take off that involves a sharp zig zag to start, or is so pissed off by the lack of courtesy be ultralight a that he decides to ram his way through. The usual kind of thing that happens when one idiot meets a bigger idiot and they have an old fashioned stupid-off.

This is why I love digits so much.

Another 10/10 joke!

If the pilot of the offending collision ultralight used enough right rudder, they might have still crashed, possibly going off the side of the runway, but wouldn’t have hit the other craft.

I believe you are on to something with, “decides to ram” ten years ago I would not believe that could be something a pilot would do but unfortunately now…

Kind of like why I don't ride motorbikes (although want to)
I trust myself, but I don't trust anyone else on the road and there ain't much between me and them on a bike.

Riding a motorcycle is fun and easy.

Riding a motorcycle in traffic is stressful, dangerous and unforgiving. No one sees you. If someone does see you, they will try to kill you. That’s not 100% true but it will suffice as a first approximation.

Generally every time I ride a motorcycle at least two people try to kill me. It’s important to not take it personally, like when TC spends decades hounding you. It’s just what they do.

In traffic, you need to realize that the left turners will kill you, either coming straight on, or on your right. Their velocity vector is your problem. Same physics as surface acro (top gate) but no one gives a shit about physics that will kill you.

You can try to make them see you. A couple of my bikes are insanely loud which you can use as a weapon. If people can’t see you, maybe they can hear you. If loud pipes save lives, I’m gonna live forever.

Once you decide to rise to the challenge- ride in traffic, or not having your life destroyed by bullies at TC - there are rewards.

I legally lane split through heavy traffic here, past all the stopped Ferrari’s and Lamboghini’s and Porsche’s. I spend a lot of time looking at front tires.

And I can park anywhere, which is impossible in any four wheeled vehicle let alone some megabuck European supercar which you can't park anywhere anyways, because you're terrified of door dings or vandalism.

Not being hobbled by traffic (or parking) immensely improves your life. Far more than owning the fastest, most exotic car in the world, which if you think about it, is an exercise in posing. You could go fast if you own one, but you never will. How many people that own 200 mph cars, have ever driven them 200 mph? At least in North America, that number is zero.

Oddly while there are schools to learn to ride a motorcycle, there are no schools to teach people to ride motorcycles in traffic, which is what kills them. I find that puzzling. In World War One, pilots were not taught fly in traffic and their life expectancy on squadron was abysmal. They had to teach themselves to fly in combat or die.

This horrifies me. We have not made much progress in the last 109 years.

Recently a couple of Cessnas collided not too far from here and everyone got all emotional. I said that it was too bad they didn’t ride motorcycles because that would have developed skills that would have kept them alive. That observation was not well-received despite it’s merits.

Oddly no one is interested in developing skills to avoid future accidents and stay alive. They just want to dramatically emote about past events like the death of Princess Diana. I don’t get it. It’s like I’m surrounded by excitable children, some of whom are really into playing dress-up.

Oddly no one is interested in developing skills to avoid future accidents and stay alive.

The best advice is simple on that matter. Keep your head up and pay attention. Its good advice on motorcycles, its good advice playing hockey, its good advice flying airplanes, its good advice in the workplace. It will keep you alive, and hopefully long enough to learn some stuff. Pay attention for people who have their heads down. In hockey you get to punish them, which has a certain satisfaction, which maybe comes from knowing you taught someone a valuable life lesson. Everywhere else, those people are trying to kill you. Really watch out for people with their heads down operating power tools or motor vehicles.

The only time keeping your head down is good advice is maybe if you find yourself in a foxhole, hopefully that doesn't happen to you.