Blown Launch at Kagel
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:24 am
My name is Greg and I’m a launch blower. That’s twice now. The first time was 25 years ago on the training hill. The second time was Saturday at Kagel.
I attempted to launch from the paraglider launch in moderately gusty afternoon conditions. I waited a while until the wind was straight in and as steady as it was going to get. One or two steps into the launch run, I got turned pretty hard to the left. My instant decision at the time was that the turn was unrecoverable, so I tried to stop. That didn’t work. I had too much momentum. My feet came off the ground (I think) and I spun around to the left and rather gently pounded into the grassy slope. I wasn’t looking at it, but I’m pretty sure that my left tip was in the weeds for just about all of that.
I escaped without a scratch. The glider damage was limited to a folded right downtube (It’s always the VG side) and a small scuff on the sail (which I’m about to replace anyway). The biggest bummer was missing a good day of flying. I had to settle for a hike down the hill. Thanks Cathy and Neidra for helping and driving my glider down. I swapped out the downtube that day and flew (successfully) the next day. Now I’ve got one flight in a row without breaking anything.
There’s no video, but if there was, it would probably show the lamest launch attempt ever. In trying to stop, I think I let the nose come up. If there was a video and it got posted, the comments would probably be something like “That guy has poor launch skills. He needs pull in and run. Who sold him a topless glider?�
I’m not sure they’d be completely wrong. I know that I’ve never been very good at fixing a turn during a launch run. I’m usually hesitant to use a launch that doesn’t permit a bit of a turn (nor one that doesn’t permit a bit of a dive). I got complacent in choosing that launch. I’ve seen some beautiful lanches from there (and had some good ones myself), but there’s very little room for an unintended turn. I don’t have the statistics, but I’ll bet we’ve had as many blown launches from the paraglider launch as from the main launch and probably 1/10th the number of attempts. I might use that launch again, but not in gusty conditions.
As for my decision to abort the launch, I can’t say for sure what would have happened if I had instead reacted to the turn with good launch technique, but I think I would have just pounded in a little further down the hill and with a little more energy.
I’m still thinking about what might be a safe way to practice recovering from a lifted wing during a launch run that doesn’t involve driving all the way to Crestline.
I attempted to launch from the paraglider launch in moderately gusty afternoon conditions. I waited a while until the wind was straight in and as steady as it was going to get. One or two steps into the launch run, I got turned pretty hard to the left. My instant decision at the time was that the turn was unrecoverable, so I tried to stop. That didn’t work. I had too much momentum. My feet came off the ground (I think) and I spun around to the left and rather gently pounded into the grassy slope. I wasn’t looking at it, but I’m pretty sure that my left tip was in the weeds for just about all of that.
I escaped without a scratch. The glider damage was limited to a folded right downtube (It’s always the VG side) and a small scuff on the sail (which I’m about to replace anyway). The biggest bummer was missing a good day of flying. I had to settle for a hike down the hill. Thanks Cathy and Neidra for helping and driving my glider down. I swapped out the downtube that day and flew (successfully) the next day. Now I’ve got one flight in a row without breaking anything.
There’s no video, but if there was, it would probably show the lamest launch attempt ever. In trying to stop, I think I let the nose come up. If there was a video and it got posted, the comments would probably be something like “That guy has poor launch skills. He needs pull in and run. Who sold him a topless glider?�
I’m not sure they’d be completely wrong. I know that I’ve never been very good at fixing a turn during a launch run. I’m usually hesitant to use a launch that doesn’t permit a bit of a turn (nor one that doesn’t permit a bit of a dive). I got complacent in choosing that launch. I’ve seen some beautiful lanches from there (and had some good ones myself), but there’s very little room for an unintended turn. I don’t have the statistics, but I’ll bet we’ve had as many blown launches from the paraglider launch as from the main launch and probably 1/10th the number of attempts. I might use that launch again, but not in gusty conditions.
As for my decision to abort the launch, I can’t say for sure what would have happened if I had instead reacted to the turn with good launch technique, but I think I would have just pounded in a little further down the hill and with a little more energy.
I’m still thinking about what might be a safe way to practice recovering from a lifted wing during a launch run that doesn’t involve driving all the way to Crestline.