Cloud Suck, White Out, High-G Spiral & Deployment

Please tell what happened and how it might have been avoided. Names should be ommitted. This forum should help others learn from mistakes that caused or nearly caused a mishap.
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JD
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Cloud Suck, White Out, High-G Spiral & Deployment

Post by JD »

This happened to my XC partner, Southside on Saturday at Pine Mtn in Ojai. I was crossing the 5 Fwy at the time and didn't know about it until I was over by the cement plant. Later I flew a big triangle to relay radio messages until the helicopter picked him up. He's fine but we still need to get his glider out and find his vario.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=5JAVTy5xy0w[/youtube]
Uploaded by extopaflyer on Aug 28, 2011

I was going to write about my thought process leading up to this incident, but I decided that it would be just an exercise in excuse making for my bad decisions, including my disregard of FAA rules regarding ultralight aircraft and clouds. The bottom line is that I wanted have my cake and eat it too: I thought I could scoot under that cloud line and purposely cut it close in order to maximize my altitude for the long glide out into the desert.

Once in the cloud the instinct was to fly fast and straight to get to the other side. However, afraid of PIO I popped the VG and tried to slow down. But the video doesn't capture the surge of lift I was experiencing. At one point the base tube was almost ripped from my hand. Soon after that I no longer had control of the glider and the G forces seemed to be building so I thought the safest course of action would be to throw the chute. Fortunately, it worked out.
If you watch the full video of my flight including the extra scenes at the end you'll get a much better idea of what the cloud looked like and an idea of the turbulence. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTjNdg09RHE
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Don
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What would happen...?

Post by Don »

I often wondered if you were in significant cloud suck if you deployed your chute would you descend or continue to rise with the lift. It appears at least in this instance that the pilot was descending. An analysis of this tacklog would be interesting.

Thanks for letting us view this.
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Glenn
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Post by Glenn »

What's the altitude at cloud base here?
Flyyyyy
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JD
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Post by JD »

Glenn wrote:What's the altitude at cloud base here?
My guess is 13,500'. Why?
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Glenn
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Post by Glenn »

It just looks really high. The lens reminds you of the curvature of the earth, as if he's in the mesosphere. That 13.5 is nice and high, but it looks even higher. Spooky video. Very glad it worked out. It's reassuring to see the reserve chute function so well, first hand.

I'm impressed with his decision to share it. Thanks for posting.
Flyyyyy
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JD
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Post by JD »

Glenn wrote:....I'm impressed with his decision to share it. Thanks for posting.
Hopefully, this will give would-be cloud-flying pilots pause to reconsider both the legality and the wisdom of their prospective, wispy decisions. I still had a terrific flight from Pine in spite of having to fly a 19-mile triangle and coordinate the rescue from the air. Pine mountain can be a wonderful launch point for epic XC flights, however, you have to fly over the back to get to the good bailouts and then there's 7 miles of no-man's land before you hit Lockwood Valley, and another large chuck of tiger country before you cross the 5 Fwy and finally make it into the wide open spaces.

Like Mt Laguna near San Diego, it's an underutilized XC site and both are pretty challenging but potentially rewarding. There's interesting although rather scathing discussion of the cloud event mirrored here: http://sonomawingsbb.yuku.com/topic/396 ... t-in-cloud
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Post by jcflies »

and for anyone wanting to gossip about southside quitting hg as a result of this flight, it's, quite simply, a wrong construction of events. although this flight and the resultant retrieval (and possible repair) of his glider and reserve may be a contributing factor, he cites the fact that he's only flown 4 times in the past year, and the time effort, energy and money involved in re-acquiring his gear as the principal hindrance. he also says that the "door is not entirely closed." let's hope this excellent pilot, whose generosity with his time and expertise, continues to fly, whether its once, twice, three times or more per year!
janyce

"You HAVE to make it..."
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OP
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Post by OP »

Seems to me with all the satalite wiz bangs and what nots, we could have a hang glider vacuum powered, gyroscopic, artificial horizon.

Its about time I say.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCq3EjF1iZ4[/youtube]
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Glenn
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Post by Glenn »

Certainly doable technically, but the law says you should never need one.
Flyyyyy
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JD
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Post by JD »

OP wrote:Seems to me with all the satalite wiz bangs and what nots, we could have a hang glider vacuum powered, gyroscopic, artificial horizon.
You're close OP. Some friends of mine in the Pac NW build Piezo-electric turn-rate indicators that are pretty effective in unexpected low visibility emergency situations.
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