Saturday's epic flying had a not so epic moment

[Spitfire]

Thought I would share a bad moment of my flight on Saturday which could have turned out a lot worse. I was behind the launch ridge and at altitude, maintaining at least a 45 degree angle to the ridge. At one point I turned and found myself behind the ridge and behind the spine (facing the dam), and despite pulling in, I was barely moving forward, but was sinking fast. It was bad judgement that got me to this position in the first place. I finally got over the ridge and got back up again, despite hitting rotor behind the spine which I tried to fly as effectively as I could - pull in when sinking, push out when the rotor gave lift - at a safe distance from the ground. Not the best idea perhaps but it got me the glide I needed in the strong headwind. I didn't know it at the time but at launch it was blowing 20-25.

As scary as it was, apparently it looked a lot worse from the launch. Thanks to the ladies that (help) launch - Nancy, Kat and Kaitlyn for sharing their concerns and not staying quiet about it in the LZ.

Moral of the story, do not get stuck behind the launch ridge! (especially in a falcon)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2wLe0e4 ... ature=plcp[/youtube]

[nzlinus]

Woah! That happened fast! Any dry-mouth at the end of that? Nice job of not panicking, and working your way back out front.

[Mike Blankenhorn]

Yeah, that did not work out for me so well a while back.

[Spitfire]

Woah! That happened fast! Any dry-mouth at the end of that? Nice job of not panicking, and working your way back out front.

Yeah the whole thing took me by surprise. Fortunately I had an ice cool camelbak in my harness to help with the dry mouth I hooked a smooth thermal from 3,800 to 7,500 ft shortly thereafter which was nice too.

Yeah, that did not work out for me so well a while back.

Can you share some details?

[Glenn]

Yea, once you tun downwind, you cover a lot of ground very quickly, and you are way back there in no time at all.

I'm interested to know what experienced pilots would recommend if that got much worse, and there was no way to get over the ridge.

Fly the low terrain over the dam where there might be venturi, top land, head north, buy a vowel, call your mom?

[JD]

Woah! That happened fast! Any dry-mouth at the end of that? Nice job of not panicking, and working your way back out front.

Yeah the whole thing took me by surprise. Fortunately I had an ice cool camelbak in my harness to help with the dry mouth I hooked a smooth thermal from 3,800 to 7,500 ft shortly thereafter which was nice too.

Yeah, that did not work out for me so well a while back.

Can you share some details?

The story is here:
http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=7947
&
http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=7956
Read it and weep!

[Rome Dodson]

walter briant got stuck there and the brush is almost inpenatrable. he was torn up so bad ,(hospital) it it led to his demise.. so don't get low there. my plan (you all should have a plan) was to fly toward the dam , not close to the ridge (rotar) and if to low to get over dam fly to no. end of h20 , nice sandy areas. rome

[Spitfire]

The story is here:
http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=7947
&
http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=7956
Read it and weep!

Thanks for the links. Reaffirms what Andy Beem told me when I landed which is "don't get back there!"

walter briant got stuck there and the brush is almost inpenatrable. he was torn up so bad ,(hospital) it it led to his demise.. so don't get low there. my plan (you all should have a plan) was to fly toward the dam , not close to the ridge (rotar) and if to low to get over dam fly to no. end of h20 , nice sandy areas. rome

My plan was to get close to the spine (while on the side of the dam). In retrospect, it may have been better to stay away from the ridge and avoid the rotor, although the rotor did give me the lift I needed to get up and over the spine.

[JD]

With big lift comes even bigger sink!

...Thanks for the links. Reaffirms what Andy Beem told me when I landed which is "don't get back there!"...

Mike, The well-established rule is to never get more than 45 degree behind the spine on a Falcon. We have already had one pilot land behind the dam on his Falcon and it was no easy trick for him to get himself or his gear out of there.

....although the rotor did give me the lift I needed to get up and over the spine.

I seriously doubt this. It was a very unstable day and a thermal is what got you out of there.

I heard Phill on the radio urging the Falcon pilot with the black leading edge to get out from behind the ridge. We could have easily had multiple Falcons go down behind Kagel in what I saw as a sad case of "Monkey See--Monkey Do" It could have been a real mess to get everyone safely out of there and a black eye to the club, had there been a mass flush cycle.

I witnessed and shot video of multiple Falcons flying where they did not belong and where it wasn't even necessary to be as there was plenty of lift out front. Later, I have Linden recorded on radio saying how he was 9,000' above Kagel.

On these days where the lift is big, the sink is even bigger. This is why the 45 degree rule must be adhered to even if the wind is dead calm. I was hitting steady sink up to 1400 fpm during my extended flight which is enough to reduce the effective glide of a Falcon down to 1.5:1 or a 30 degree angle. My glide angle on full race gear was a low as 4:1 with no head wind.

I hope that all Falcon pilots take these words seriously. This has been a very bad year for needless injury and death. I know a lot of pilot around the country and elsewhere and there has been far more than you will ever see in print or read about. 100% of it was easily avoidable including my own fractured ankle from September 20th (in Yucaipa), which is why I did not attend the Dahlston cup.

So, please encourage yourself and your buddies to stick to the 45 degree behind-the-spine rule or just don't go back there.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[Spitfire]

With big lift comes even bigger sink!

Very true!

Mike, The well-established rule is to never get more than 45 degree behind the spine on a Falcon. We have already had one pilot land behind the dam on his Falcon and it was no easy trick for him to get himself or his gear out of there.

My initial problem wasn't being behind the spine but the launch ridge itself. I actually tried to keep at least a 45 degree angle at all times on both. I think I must have hit some serious sink or at least a big headwind that gave me no penetration to get my angle so low. Or I could have just had a slip of concentration at a moment I couldn't afford. Andy Beem says never get behind the launch ridge at any angle (on a Falcon).

although the rotor did give me the lift I needed to get up and over the spine. I seriously doubt this. It was a very unstable day and a thermal is what got you out of there.

It could be. To put it simply I hit sink so pulled in, then a second or so later hit lift and pushed out etc etc. I'm not experienced to know if this was caused by rotor or not, but by slowing down in sink, it gave me what I needed to get in front of the launch ridge and then the spine.

I heard Phill on the radio urging the Falcon pilot with the black leading edge to get out from behind the ridge.

Rafi? Or Ari?

So, please encourage yourself and your buddies to stick to the 45 degree behind-the-spine rule or just don't go back there.

Thanks,
Jonathan

Yes completely agree and I always try my best to adhere to that. With the ridge (i.e the one we launch from), I'm thinking it's best to never get behind there on a Falcon.

[JD]

....It could be. To put it simply I hit sink so pulled in, then a second or so later hit lift and pushed out etc etc. I'm not experienced to know if this was caused by rotor or not, but by slowing down in sink, it gave me what I needed to get in front of the launch ridge and then the spine...

Thermals are often surrounded by rotor or what I like to call cascading edges. Somewhere I have a video of drifting back behind Kagel while climbing in fairly strong winds. I make it back but just barely. It nicely illustrates what it's like. The narration is live IIRC. It needs to be uploaded if I can find it.

[Rome Dodson]

or you could buy my 170 freedom and not worry. rome

[Malury]

This is one of the reasons Greblo urges pilots to be alert for changing conditions. Getting behind obstacles may be OK for awhile and then, in the same flight, it is not OK. In fact it is unsafe.

Andy's advice is best.

Rome's emergency plan seems reasonable but risky and a hard retrieve.

Half a decade ago an advanced pilot launched his Atos off the back of Kagel. Faced with a possible water landing behind the dam, he decided to land it in the brush, way down low. His loyal pals struggled to bring his glider back up. He was uninjured.

[Spitfire]

or you could buy my 170 freedom and not worry. rome

I'll see your Freedom and raise you an ultrasport (still waiting to be flown by me though). It's priced well - surprised it hasn't sold yet.

This is one of the reasons Greblo urges pilots to be alert for changing conditions. Getting behind obstacles may be OK for awhile and then, in the same flight, it is not OK. In fact it is unsafe.

Andy's advice is best.

Rome's emergency plan seems reasonable but risky and a hard retrieve.

Half a decade ago an advanced pilot launched his Atos off the back of Kagel. Faced with a possible water landing behind the dam, he decided to land it in the brush, way down low. His loyal pals struggled to bring his glider back up. He was uninjured.

That sounds like it could have been an expensive crash. Glad the pilot got out OK. I've decided I'm sticking to an angle of around 70ish degrees at the least when behind the launch ridge unless the glider allows more. More angle the lower I am.

[Fat Fred]

When I learned from Windsports, the rule of thumb was to always be able to see the front side of the mountain.