Sylmar Hang Gliding Association

Well, this is over a week old now, but I thought I'd post it so others can learn from my misfortune.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sLpmAXbVD0[/youtube]

On Saturday, May 25, I had gone up on the 10 o'clock truck for an early flight. By the the time we got up the hill and set up it was about noon. When I carried my glider to launch the wind was straight in at about 12 mph and had been very smooth the whole time we were on the mountain. I was assisted by one wireman who had just moved to the left side wire. Everything seemed good, and I lifted the glider and called "clear." At this point I missed some indication on the lower streamers that a gust was coming. The wireman did see the signs and tried to give me some warning. However, at the time I was thinking more about the launch and I just thought he was informing me that he was clear of my wires. Before I started my run the gust hit, lifting the left wing and pulling me forward and to the right. Thinking that I was launching, the wireman hesitated to grab the side wire, and I did not react quickly enough to ask for his help. I was unable to control the glider, and I was ultimately dragged about 15 feet down and to the right of launch. The glider turned to the right, the nose went into the hill side, and the glider was flipped over with me dangling like a rag doll from my hang loop draped over a down tube.

As things stand, I got off very easy. The only damage was two new tears in my leading edge and a small dent in my pride. After pulling all the battens and carefully inspecting the glider, I was able to launch a while later and enjoy a nice flight.

So, what did I learn from all this? First of all, even a seemingly trivial launch can jump up and bite you if you aren't paying attention to all the signs and if you're not ready to act quickly. You cannot be complacent, even in what appear to be benign conditions. I had not felt a gust all day, but it only took one to flip me over. Second, when you have something like our streamers below launch, make sure you use them. They can give you a bit of an advance warning, but only if you watch them. Third, the instant you know you need help from the wireman say something to let him know. This is particularly true if you have already called "clear." Finally, after an incident like this check your equipment very carefully. It took me a couple of flights to fully realize that the position of my hang loop had shifted, and my trim point had been pushed down to mushing region of a stall.

I'm sure there are more things to be learned from this. So, feel free to offer your advice.

Thanks for sharing. Every flight is a learning experience.

Glad to hear your OK - I need you to teach me how to fly XC

Thanks for having the courage to post.

Just a thought, take it for what it is worth (It is not directed at Tom): I've seen a lot of complacency in launches. You do it fine for a long time. So you must have good launches, right? Even if you don't, you'll usually get away with it until you don't, so you think you are fine.

I have this wierd, annoying but useful habit. If there is a competent pilot that I trust watching me launch, I try and remember to ask them what they thought about it after I land. We often get landing feedback, but seldom get launch feedback.

Sometimes I get useful information by asking. Sometimes I get confirmation of information that I wasn't completely sure about. Either way, I have nothing to lose except "face" and that's way less important than my life, body parts, or even glider parts. And many pilots will think more of you, not less, if you ask such questions. Heck, you lose less face by asking than by messing up, that's for sure. I can think of a couple of times I should have asked...

Once I took 2 steps and the wings were not level so I halted my run. The glider had too much momentum to stop. I quickly realized that and to avoid dragging on my feet down the hill I pulled in all the way and gave it an aggressive run. Half way down the hill I felt the wings level out from the speed and had a good launch. Another time 2 steps into my run my right wing was lifted a bit. This time I ran down the launch ramp about 20 degrees to the left of center while pulling in aggressively. Again the wings leveled out fine.

One thing I learned from Vrezh while he was assisting my launch once was to be ready to spring back in after you yell clear. He saved me from the exact same situation. That was a rowdier day though and I clearly looked at him and asked for his assistance after he cleared "Hey!!" .

Now I watch the streamers, even the far west one.

Doug

Maybe I should post my mistake at Marshall a month or two ago....

I was in a hurry to launch. I was late getting there, later setting up, and antsy about getting off the hill. I had seen someone launch from the upper area that the PG's use earlier, and it looked fine. I'd never done it, but the launch looked fine, but shallow. It was also hot, and I was a bit overheated and thus tired.

So, I stepped over to the side just a hair to keep out of the way of the PGs and got ready to launch (after my hang check, of course!) I did my hook-in check, and noticed that the streamer was consistently from the right. It hadn't been that way when the previous guy launched.

Well, I'll just wait for it to straighten out, I thought. My dear wife had reminded me that it was not only cross where I was, but down below too. I didn't let myself hear the subtle disaproval in her voice. (I recognized it after the launch, but ignored it at the time.) I waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, it did straighten and looked smooth, so I started running.

This launch is quite shallow (shallower than I thought). You must run a ways before you are actually flying with sufficient airspeed to have some margin. You can fly earlier, but then you are just barely flying, and just barely above the ground.

Just as I was fully committed to my run, the wind switched back. And it got gusty again. I "fixed" it as I ran, with constant changes. I kept my feet down, kept running, and fixing and running and fixing. Finally, the ground dropped away and I was in clear air. Yes, I did all the right things to fix it. But I counted on years of practice, a long stride and perhaps a bit of luck to fix a problem that a simple short walk would have avoided. Foolish of me. I admit it.

If it had been straight in, that would have been a different thing. A shallow slope launch, yes, but a clean one. I chose a shallow slope launch in a gusty-crosswind, when there was a better option available just a few hundred feed away: One that was steeper, faced better into the wind, and was out of most of the cross-wind. And I knew these facts before I launched, having flown from the lower launch many times.

Laziness? Complacency? Arrogance? Too hurried? Maybe a little of each? (I think I've listed them in order of how much they influenced me, but I could be wrong.)

For all intents and purposes it was a launch at a new site. Yet I didn't give it the extra care that should be accorded such launches. I didn't listen to my own concern about the cross wind. I didn't listen to the concern in my launch crew's voice. Yet I clearly heard it, because after I launced, I realized it was there. I didn't take the safer route, when the only cost would have been a couple of minutes, and a few calories expended.

I don't do this kind of thing often, but it does happen. Even those of us who think we are being extra careful need to be reminded from time to time.

To paraphrase Yoda: "Complacency. Laziness. Rush. Distraction. These are the path to the dark side. Complacency leads to mistakes. Mistakes lead to impacts. Impacts lead to pain."

Geez, George, what a blessing that you're a Hang V and able to handle these tricky conditions. Any lowly IIs, IIIs, or IV would have been lost to the vagaries of the wind gods.

On a more serious note to wire-assist staff: I've helped quite a few pilots at launch and, at least once, I've been able to help a pilot avert potential problems by moving from the front or side wires to the keel. I just keep my hand under the keel in case the nose should pop up. There is a lot of leverage at the end of the keel. On the one event it helped, a gust surprised the pilot, the nose went up and a wing with it. I pushed the keel up and in the opposite direction of the rising wing (moving the nose more into the wind) until the pilot pulled in and started his run. I don't hold on to the tubing, just allow it to rest in an up-turned palm.

I leave it to the experts to vet this technique and tell me what they think. I have little feed-back as most pilots don't know when I'm there.

That's a useful video Tom. It would help to have the wing lifting part in slow motion too. Under the circumstances it appears that this could have been avoided by being aware of all the streamers and bushes in at least a 45 arc to either side of the ramp.

George mentioned shallow upper slope at Marshall Peak where the PGs launch. That's my favorite place to launch and it can be interesting to say the least. It teaches good pitch and yaw control as well as an effective stride. The part about it that I like the most is how it reminds me of my early days in the sport where my glide ratio was barely above the slope angle. Ah, those early flying feelings. There's nothing like it.

JT wrote:Geez, George, what a blessing that you're a Hang V and able to handle these tricky conditions. Any lowly IIs, IIIs, or IV would have been lost to the vagaries of the wind gods......

Cute Jim! I laughed out loud. (LOL) Sorry if it came off as a brag. I was just trying to show that it was right on the edge all the way through the launch, which was quite long.

But you guys wouldn't have done such a stupid thing as I did (I hope.) The point wasn't that I pulled it off, through experience and/or luck, but that I shouldn't have done it. That launch is fine, if unforgiving, in the right conditions. But I ignored the fact that they weren't right when I lanuched. And I ignored both my own and the (experienced) launch crew's uneasiness with the conditions.

BTW, I've known several H2s who could have "saved" the situation, and many 4s (and at least one 5) who couldn't. I'd bet you can think of some yourself.

As Jonathan notes in his post, that kind of launch takes very good control, good strides, and no mistakes, even in clean conditions. (It also takes an attitude of "I'm not giving up.") That isn't always from long years of experience, or higher hang ratings. We all know that the rating isn't always the best measure of launch skills, just an indicator.

Jeff O'Brien just posted a very timely blog topic about launching: http://www.willswing.com/blogs/PilotBlo ... on-it.aspx

stebbins wrote:..........Marshall a month or two ago....
.........This launch is quite shallow..........You must run a ways before you are actually flying with sufficient airspeed to have some margin. You can fly earlier, but then you are just barely flying, and just barely above the ground.............

Here's a good example of an acceptable but not great launch at Marshall that I did in the Spring. The air was pretty smooth and it was a no-brainer really. I kept it close to the terrain before I pulled away with plenty of airspeed.
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=ywG5MvPAF9c[/youtube]

Nice, Jonathan.

I particularly like that you kept your feet down for a while even after becoming airborn. Good common sense, since on that shallow slope, you could end up needing to run again suddenly.

Much better than that guy at Kind Mountain that did a shuffle, then push out (with his feet up!) See the OZ Report for those who are interested - I think the thread name is "Crash at King Mountain" or something similar.

I'm pretty sure that I had to run much farther. Maybe I had less wind. Maybe I was "fixing" roll and yaw issues, and needed longer to get fully flying. Maybe all that messing made me keep the nose a bit lower for control. Or maybe I was nervous enough that I don't remember correctly! Nonetheless, your launch looks quite nice, as far as I can tell from the video.

stebbins wrote:...........I particularly like that you kept your feet down for a while even after becoming airborn...........I'm pretty sure that I had to run much farther...........

George,
The upper slope at Marshall can be a cake walk or bite you in the lower anatomy. I have had to run hard 3/4 of the way down the slope or gotten airborne in a few steps and turned into a thermal and climbed out before crossing the normal launch ramp. The air coming up that shallow slope can be very buoyant or seriously sinky or very mixed. I generally hold my glider up and use it to feel the air. Not just the wind. I recall a friend of mine who weighs 110# and flies a Sport 2 135 and a small thermal came up and just picked him up and then dropped him sideways while he was standing there, resulting in a broken DT. I guess every launch point has its own idiosyncrasies and Jeff O'Brien's advice should be headed: Launch like your life depends on it...

My Unsafe Kagel Launch: It had been blowing strong and gusting stronger. It made me nervous. Imagine my delight when I came to launch and it went calm. Seizing the "opportunity" I launched quickly. Two steps into launch and my left wing is rising fast, can't pull it down. Committed to running, I instinctively ran to my right, away from the problem, nose full down. Launching in a full right turn, I crossed the PG launch area and turned left. Had there been any obstacles I surely would have hit 'em.

My take on what went wrong: I didn't take the time to understand why conditions had changed. I believe there was a thermal just below launch and it was blocking the wind. Had I waited for it to blow through, I think the wind would have returned to what I had expected. Backing off would have saved me, waiting and watching would have saved me too. In this case only an aggressive run and lots of open space saved me. Launch like your life depends on it.

Malury wrote:..........Launch like your life depends on it.

I suppose that would include being patient and either waiting or driving back down. Glad you weren't hurt in that incident.
Here's another Marshall Peak shallow slope launch. Sorry about the camera shake. It hangs from the side wire which is slack until flying. Note how long the run takes me. I was in a very light right-hand crosswind and the glider was crabbing down the slope. The hand position may look poor but I had a lot of speed and control because of the cocoon harness.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh3eo1aQA94[/youtube]