Sylmar Hang Gliding Association

Here's my accident report i submitted to USHPA about my Garlock flight:

4th flight on a new glider on an XC day in the north desert outside of LA. Preflight and launch were good, immediately found lift and climbed 2k over launch. Other pilots were leaving on course so i left as well even though i was 2k below them. Went 8 miles down the ridge, finding lift at each peak but progressively finding myself lower and lower. At furthest peak i made it to, i found myself scratching low and finally made decision to land. Did not head instructor's advice about having plenty of altitude for setting up an approach and basically flew directly away from the mountain into final. Flew slow to extend glide to get closer to the road. Under 100' was sharply turned 180 by turbulence. Found myself 10-20 feet off the ground headed downwind in 5-10 winds. Aimed for a bush and braced for impact. Hit hard causing right leading edge and right downtube to break cleanly. Luckily only scratches and bruising on the arms.

Causes:
1. Left ridge too late to set up a proper approach.
2. Slow approach speed in strong desert air left me susceptible to being turned
3. Inexperience with new glider

Thanks for a pro report, succinct and useful to others. I can't help feeling that plenty of guys have done just this and called it "whaddayagonnado, got popped but no stitches, that's real flying for ya."

Metal's easy to replace, low price for experience.

I talked to Eric and what I'm about to mention didn't seem to play any part in his accident. However, I thought I'd mention it, since it happens a lot at Garlock.

The prevailing winds (especially later in the day) at Garlock are strong and crossing from the right (Westerly). Often, once you get up, they seem fine. But if you get lower and close to the fingers (or even sometimes the flats below) there is this rolling rotor that sets up along the mountains. It can be very very nasty. Big sink, big turbulence, very unpleasant. I know from (two!) personal experiences there. I've seen the same thing elsewhere (Panamints, Owens, Others), but never so bad as at Garlock.

The key is to remember that if the wind is cross, then being "downwind" of a finger is like being behind the ridge. And if the ridges are just the right distance apart, the rotor can get reinforced. It is kind of like a miniature "wave".

I'm not saying don't fly Garlock. I'm just saying to be aware of this phenomenon there and elsewhere. When the wind is crosss, keep your distance from the terrain. The more wind, the more distance. The more cross, the more distance.

Christian wrote:I can't help feeling that plenty of guys have done just this and called it "whaddayagonnado, got popped but no stitches, that's real flying for ya."

I can't help feeling that alot of people would call it "breaking a downtube on landing"

Eric is calling it what it was: a crash.

I am glad he is O.K. I almost broke a wrist landing downwind at Garlock. Wheels saved me the inconvenience.

yeah, i dunno, something about seeing the right wing broken and dangling there made it seem much more intense than a typical bad landing. then the whole thing collapsed into the dust under its own weight. i hope windsports can being her back to her full glory.

Oh, just realized you broke the LE as well. Yes, that was worse.

Ever seen a bird dragging a broken wing? Saddest sight in the world....

Thanks to Eric for the report and George for his valuable comments. My flight was just like yours in nearly all respects except for lower elevations and shorter duration. My glider and experience and skills are almost identical.

The finger I was following out ended abruptly and that left me with enough elevation to manage a downwind leg and a 180 to final. I didn't have to stretch but I didn't have much time to choose an LZ either. I did come in fast enough, and landed sloppy in the Creosote bushes, wacking my new glider.

It was the uniqueness of the site, not my skills that made the difference for me.

Come out high if you are landing out!

Based on George's comments I started to think if the "wave" concept of rotor/sink was what happened after I headed East from the Radar Domes area. I went back to my downloaded flight and saw that I had steady and significant sink after passing the radio domes on my way towards hwy 395. I picked the service road that heads up to the Domes as a place to land. With the ground being uphill (more than I had expected), flying into a wind and significant sink when I made my hard 180 onto final I didn't have much time to "cherry pick" my exact landing spot. I was lucky to have avoided the two sign posts along the somewhat paved road and ended up flaring as I was going over a dead bush. The dead bush is now somewhat flattened. It was not pretty and I won't get a H4 sign-off for it - but it was effective.

I can say that I learned alot more from this short 12 mile flight and I did on the 32 mile flight from Garlock back on 7/4/07.