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Old 20th Dec 2013, 10:37
  #22 (permalink)  
cockney steve
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: lancs.UK
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Riding a motorcycle is not, of itself, dangerous....sharing an environment with a load of unaware, incompetent, minimally trained motorists is the killer.

Pilots are trained to a much higher standard of competency, though there are many who learn to jump through the hoops without really understanding much in depth.....It's a lot safer up there! less crowded, better -trained,all the others have the same awarenes as you, IE...A collision could be fatal, you can't pull into a layby if the donkey stops.....
Here's where I agree with the O.P's choice...A TMG , whilst not being the fastest of flying-machines, has an excellent glide-ratio and a relatively low landing-speed. the laws of physics dictate that a low-speed landing has alower chance of death or injury, than a higher-speed arrival at Terra -firma.

I started a thread on this very subject( why aren't Motor-gliders more popular)
Generally , apart from the large wingspan and ground-handling issues which can limit small-field use, they seem to have a lot of benign characteristics which go a long way to mitigating the risks of Aviating...there again, Flexwing Microlighting would also appear to be in the "slow, safe, low wing-loading" category.

As a kid, I was walking home from Sunday-school (Church ) I turned round to call my sister and was hit from behind by a woman -learner on a motorcycle, thrown over a fence and fortunately landed on long grass. the lady wound up with her motorcycle embedded in the Church's chain-link wire-mesh fence...she was more shook up than me! that's about the time Religion and I went off in opposite directions.
First-hand experience that , sometimes, you have no control over risk.
I subsequently learned to ride a motorcycle and still walk on pavements alongside cars, motorcyclists and bicyclists..also , of course, theres the hordes of other pedestrians busy poking buttons on their I-phone thingies, who think it's MY fault I get in their way!...(hope they walk into a lamp-post and argue with that!. )
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