Blown launch, 2 May 2014

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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mrobin604
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Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2006 11:26 am

Blown launch, 2 May 2014

Post by mrobin604 »

(Per request of Steve Murillo I'm putting my report here.)

It was blowing in mid teens with some strong cross gusts coming through frequently. My right wing started to lift as my wire man cleared the nose, and I launched in a turn before I took my first step. I should have aborted the launch at this time but I thought I could correct, not realizing how much I'd been turned. I was in the air within a few steps and turned back into the hill. I walked away without a scratch, there was no airframe damage, but rather substantial damage to the sail.

My takeaways are that I need to do a better job of keeping my eyes up and on the target, I need to be more diligent about assessing conditions, and I need to back off launch if anything about launch conditions makes me uncertain of having a good launch. I thought hand position might have been a factor too but after reviewing the video it did not seem contributory. Also as an intermediate pilot I should probably have a full wire crew on strong thermal days like Friday.
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Steve90266
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Blown Launch

Post by Steve90266 »

Thank you for posting this, Marshall. We are very glad you are OK. We can all learn something from this incident. See you in the skies soon!
Steve Murillo
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