Finding out about my GF's best friend's mom who got hit by a car and is being buried as I type this, plus my risk assessment knowledge gained from HG convinced me to give up riding on busy roads where cars were missing me by an inch or two. Side roads and bike paths for me from now on.OP wrote:I'm not sure if a visor would have helped. I'm just glad with the results. I don't even want to imagine what my face would have looked like without the full face helmet. Makes me want to rethink my commuter bike helmet.
Crestline mid-air on Saturday?
Not yet Chip. An accident report is still in progress.Chip wrote:But what of the mid air has been published? Haven't seen any information on it anywhere.
Sure, guess the lesson always is, clear your turns, know where you are, know right of way rules.
From what I do know, the lesson will be the same regardless of the outcome of the report and is exactly as you describe above.
Always clear your turns
Be mindful of the overtaking rules when following behind another HG especially while in its blind spot
I wear a helmet every time when riding the bicycle. I've clunked a few low hanging tree branches. You can duck to miss one but a second one sometimes is waiting. A helmet also came in handy in the 70s when a Motocross bike stalled out on a steep hill from a mis-gaped sparkplug. I rode down backwards until it flipped. A helmet gives you one less this to worry about protecting. It can also be used as a weapon, or to collect water in the desert using your sail as a dew collector. Maybe it would be safe to remove your helmet when you have reached a safe cruising altitude but wear it when within 1000' feet of the ground. Maybe an airbag on the basetube would prove more effective for safety.
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gregangsten
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mid-air
Do we even know if the guy who crashed is the guy you are talking about?
Re: mid-air
Steve is talking about two different sets of pilots. I know all 4 pilots and the mid-airs have nothing to do with the others.gregangsten wrote:Do we even know if the guy who crashed is the guy you are talking about?
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Steve90266
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Mid air
Correct, NME. Two separate incidents. My apologies if I confused anyone. Not my intent.
Steve Murillo
I can confirm that the accident did indeed happen.
I spoke with one of the pilots. An eager new pilot who is getting his training and equipment in the least expensive ways.
Even he is confused about what actually happened but it is clear that neither pilot cleared his turns. They collided head on and my acquaintance had his left leading edge broken. Both pilots came down on parachute. My friend said he tried 4 times to find the parachute handle. Deploying successfully just above the treetops. Coming to rest in the trees north of Crestline launch.
I saw this happen before at Ave. S. It usually takes more then one failure to bring down an aircraft and I think either of these pilots could have prevented this by maintaining separation. I goofed up like this once but Joey F was alert and avoided me.
I spoke with one of the pilots. An eager new pilot who is getting his training and equipment in the least expensive ways.
Even he is confused about what actually happened but it is clear that neither pilot cleared his turns. They collided head on and my acquaintance had his left leading edge broken. Both pilots came down on parachute. My friend said he tried 4 times to find the parachute handle. Deploying successfully just above the treetops. Coming to rest in the trees north of Crestline launch.
I saw this happen before at Ave. S. It usually takes more then one failure to bring down an aircraft and I think either of these pilots could have prevented this by maintaining separation. I goofed up like this once but Joey F was alert and avoided me.
I just want to clarify as follows from the actual data: It was not a head-on collision. The glider in question was fully intact until impact with the trees and then the leading edge broke. The other glider tumbled into the trees and I believe broke on the way down. It is a miracle that the only injury was a broken arm. Neither pilot reacted in a manner that would have allowed either or both to fly out from the collision which was not very hard. The gliders mainly got tangled then separated. One went into a spin and the other whip-stalled. At least one pilot pushed all the way which worsened its situation rather than to pull-in, dive and recover. There should be some kind of more detailed public report at some time in the future.Chip wrote:.....I dont get it. It takes 2 full pages to get to this. What on earth is "wrong" with siting "eyewitness" accounts.....
IMHO - I know that spins are frowned upon but this is precisely the type of situation where spin training may make the difference between reacting in a manner that facilitates rapid recovery or going into panic mode and exacerbating the situation.
The real lesson here is always clear your turns and be alert when in traffic. Case in point...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGEgdmhbqIk[/youtube]