Sylmar Hang Gliding Association

As a hang 2 who has flown the 180 Eagle 4 times now, 1 at S, 3 at Kagel I am passing this info on the chance someone will benefit.

I wacked in the rocks adjacent to the hang2 numbers on Thursday March 16 causing leading edge damage to the glider. It is marked as damaged, don't fly it.

What went wrong? 2 of my three flights on the Eagle at Kagel including yesterdays wack, have been 90 degree east cross wind landings. But these landings were made unsafe because of my behavior, not the conditions. What I learned from these bad landings is that this is a serious sport which must be taken seriously.

Thursdays (3/16) landing I adjusted for the east cross by shortening my base and lined up correctly for the numbers, however after making the final turn I noticed that my glide path was going to put me down short of the numbers so... I slowed down.

Yeah, I know... Slowing down was clearly a stupid thing to do for every reason least of which not helping me reach the numbers but that is really not the core of the issue.

The problem is that I forgot to do a number of the things Joe taught us to do for landings. I had my body upright, and low hands, but I did not consistently keep my eyes on the numbers. I did not fly at the chosen speed appropriate for the conditions. I did not fully consider the conditions because I forgot about the rotor that sets up in east winds and approached too low. I did all of these things because I was too concerned about making a "on the numbers landing" and forgot about making a safe landing.

Due to my slowing down the right wing lifted and I pitched toward the boulders in the wash. Luckly I was able to pull in and control the glider but since my eyes were off the numbers and on the brush and rocks on the other side of the runway that's where I landed.

It was a good wack with a slightly bent downtube. However, because of the rocks the leading edge was damaged.

It could have been much worse. This landing happened because over time I let my guard down. It is not that overnight I just stopped doing the right thing, I got complacent.

I like to live and breath. I like to walk and run. So, BLES is my mantra.

Joseph, glad to hear your OK and "brave" enough to tell the story - many others would/have not.

I too have had less than stellar landings with that Eagle - maybe its the glider ! I had a similar discussion with Joe on Wednesday regarding my landing - slowed to "make the numbers" rather than a safe landing. We discussed the proper method of downwind, base & final with an East Wind - you should have been there !

Take care and see you soon.

I am responsible for the accident. I was his wire-man.

I begged Joseph not to fly. "Think of the gophers!" I pleaded.

With an imperious baritone he barked: "CLEAR! CRETIN!"

And off he went. Pilot-in-Command. The launch was good.

Think about it..........

When the wind is coming from a direction that is more easterly than the predominate southerly direction, your base leg is going to feel more like the downwind section of your approach (in terms of groundspeed, meaning your gonna eat up some distance during the base, usually further than you normally expect to travel when the wind is more from the south).

I flew yesterday and could see that the final approach was going to have a mostly crosswind component to it . I decided to make sure that when I transitioned to my base leg I would carry a little more speed so I didn't come sliding out of the air when I turned onto final.

Generally, on landings like yesterday, I like to have a little extra of two things, Speed and Altitude.

Thinking about it, and having done it, I believe there is a predictable sequence in this particular landing problem. Recognizing it early may help.

1. If you are too low on the base leg, you will also be too slow.
No way you can dive. You're trying to maintain altitude. You have no choice. And you already know you're screwed.

2. You're screwed because a 90-degree left turn is coming up and you have neither altitude or speed. To make the turn to final you cant even bank much--you're too low. So you yaw the turn, mushing and sinking and flaring all at once--if you're lucky it works. If not lucky you wind up off the runway to the west (rocks and bushes and a no-cross line) or the east (very big rocks).

3. If really low and slow on base leg at Kagel LZ, I believe it is better to land straight ahead, footdragging bellyflop, rather than stall into the river bed. (I'm happy to be corrected on this)

Chip gives the solution--higher and faster in easterly conditions. The kagel H2 runway is very unforgiving of low and slow base legs.

Christian has a point. On lower end gliders especially, just come in a bit higher. Then you can also fly a bit faster. Speed is safe. Safe is good. Thus, speed is good.

Also, think of this. IF your landing spot is in the H2 area, landing short can be an issue. However, landing a bit long is not a big deal. SO, come in a bit higher and fly a bit faster. That should put you right were you want to be, and even if you overshoot a bit, you are landing on runway and not rocks, bushes, trees, water, gophers, etc.. OK, maybe gophers.

Of course the whole issue gets tougher when you have a higher end glider, but on one of those you REALLY don't want to be too slow.

One further comment: The trick to being the right height and position on approach is to make LOTS of LITTLE corrections. A little too high? Fix it NOW. (Dive, widen turn, small deviations from straight flight etc. If high, even another 360.) A little too low? Fix it NOW. (Shorten turn, fly very straight, fly at best L/D unless low.) If you are 10 degrees off at 500 feet, then you are far off. But you have pleney of room to fix it. If you are 10 degrees off at 20 feet, you are very close to being right on, which is good, because you can no longer fix it by much. The earlier you make the corrections, the more you stay inside the "Cone of Safety". If you can stay within 10 degrees of the right angle for your "Numbers" then you will get closer and closer to being right as you approach the runway! All large corrections should happen at altitude, not on base or final! Low turns are dangerous for many reasons.

And last but not least, a downwind landing is (usually) better than a ground-loop. Never make a turn where your wing might hit the ground or a bush/tree/rock. But it is best not to have to make that decision...