Drogue Chute - Near Disaster At Kagel LZ

[JD]

I recently heard about this incident first hand when riding up the Kagel just after the fires. Guess who?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgWdQljmccI[/youtube]

[Chip]

Unmistakable glider. If he would have pounded in he wouldn't be too far from where he lives.

Glad to see he was OK. Wonder why the glider dove the way it did?

[abinder]

Unmistakable glider. If he would have pounded in he wouldn't be too far from where he lives.

Glad to see he was OK. Wonder why the glider dove the way it did?

Looks like the glider did a right turn. Maybe the chute was deployed with the left hand and the person mistakenly pulled in with the right hand without realizing it.

Just a thought.

[JBBenson]

I think the deployment just stalled the glider.

The wind gradient must have been a major factor. Because of the hillside, the gradient rose up to meet him as he deployed. Bad timing.

The rising terrain may also make the dive appear more severe than it was.

[skygeek AKA Seabass]

I think the load in his pants as he was screaming to the ground changed his angle of attack & saved him. I sure am glad he pulled that off.

[Don]

That lose of altitude immediately upon deployment was unbelievable.

Once he came out of the turn and back onto the base leg the chute appears to drag of the ground a couple of times.

Maybe someone that has a lot of experience with chutes can help explain what/why what happened.

[JD]

............Maybe someone that has a lot of experience with chutes can help explain what/why what happened.

There's a fair amount of discussion here: http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13989 including some of our very own own members

[skygeek AKA Seabass]

Look at the video closely the chute snags a bush first, deflates a little then scapes the ground.

[greblo]

It's really quite simple. The pilot was flying at a high angle of attack (near stall angle) when he deployed his drag chute. What happens next is exactly what the drag chute is designed to do; steepen the flight path. But the moment the flight path steepens, the direction of the relative wind is now coming up at a steeper angle also; thus the stall. Remember, angle of attack is the angle of the airflow to the chord line. If either the airflow direction (relative wind) or the chord line direction changes, then the angle of attack changes. The glider's not smart enough to know if the pilot pushed the nose up, or if the direction of the relative wind has changed. In the case of the video, it was the latter.

A similar event occurs when a weak link breaks when towing at high angles of attack, or an ultralight's engine failure during a steep climb out after take-off. The glider's trajectory suddenly changes from an ascent to a descent. This significant change in flight direction creates a sudden change in the angel of attack, often resulting in a deep stall.

The message is simple. Don't deploy a drag chute near the terrain at a high angle of attack. Pulling the nose down just before deploying the drag chute can also cause problems. The bar pressures associated with faster flight can cause a serious turn when the pilot releases just one of the hands in order to deploy the chute.

I have dozens of landings with drogue chutes and find them a viable tool to remedy one of the modern hang glider's most serious flaws (the inability of the pilot to control his glide slope without significantly changing airspeed). There are dangers with drag chutes as well, so no one should attempt to use one without careful preparation and training. I agree completely with Rob McKenzie's post on the Oz Report Forum regarding when to deploy the drag chute; essentially well before entering any segment of the approach.

[Frederick]

Now, it seems like that's a great video of how much altitude loss there is with a stall and recovery -- something I hadn't a great sense for before.

Sure glad he made it. I don't want to do any more memorial services.

[ericbrown]

I was thinking the same thing Freddy. I wonder, if he had done this at half the altitude and found himself in a stall recovery headed straight for the ground is there any exit from that? Is it possible to flare going uphill/downwind when in a deep stall like that? Does it depend on which part of the stall you're in?

[Malury]

WOW! That's scary. I think a stall is a stall is a stall and there is just not enough energy in the glider to flare. Even so, after pulling in for recovery, I would flare it as hard as possible before impact. What else can you do? Land fast dude.