Sports

Letter to the Editor: 'Superdell' Hurts Flying People Everywhere

"The man is a renegade and needs to be stopped before he ruins things for everyone," a paramotor pilot said.

This letter was written by Jim Lewis, an ultralight vehicle (UV) pilot in Hampshire, England. On Thursday IB Patch in response to rooftop flights by Dell Schanze last month.

I write this all the way from the nice little island of England In response to the Dell Schanze story.

I am a paramotor pilot and cannot help but feel as many others in my sport do that Mr. Schanze is bad for our sport.

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His many videos and comments on forums do nothing to promote the sport in a safe and decent manner and make it harder for law abiding pilots all over the world. Just watch some of his youtube videos.

In the past year alone I have been told I cannot fly from certain places because the landowner has seen his videos and believe that is how pilots in my sport fly.

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On top of this he pushes wings and motors to newbie pilots that are not suitable for them or others. I feel he is a disgrace to our amazing sport and does nothing to further safety and good understanding between pilots and the authorities. I would love to see this man banned from our sport but fear it could not happen.

Even in England we have certain pilots that break the rules you can never get away from them. The blatant gung-ho attitude he posseses will only endanger other people. They see him and think oh the aircraft can do that and try it themselves only to get hurt, hurt others or even scare themselves so badly they might give up the sport. The man is a renegade and needs to be stopped before he ruins things for everyone. Many ultralight pilots as you mention in the article have already been stopped from flying over San Diego.

How many more people will he have to get banned before people finally realize that he is only doing it for his own good publicitry and not for the good of our beloved sport?


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