Sylmar Hang Gliding Association

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKyhz6jlLCg[/youtube]

After a 2+ hour flight and failed attempts to climb above Mt Lukens and climb out over Big Tujunga then fly home to Sylmar Flight Park, I headed back to the Big T wash where I have had many safe landings. The lift had pretty much turned off for the day and there was very little wind. I flew out over the beautiful running waters in the wash and enjoyed a lovely afternoon display of nature. When I got low enough I doubled back along the stream then set up my approach as low as I could safely cross the large bush at the North end of the bailout landing zone. I figured I would set it down in a gentle running landing 200 feet from the bush like I've always done in the past.

As I crossed over the bush, the ground level air lifted off all at once and my T2C began to climb. There are utility lines all along the left and a boulder strewn running stream on my right. The graded strip of wash where we land splits in two with the right-hand fork going 200 feet farther before it becomes unsafe. There is a tree at the end of each strip as well. When I initially got lofted, I pushed the nose up and forced my T2C into a full mush to lose altitude without turning. I held the mush steady until I felt I was close enough to the ground to drop the nose and glide out to land. When I did this the wind either stopped or came up from my rear as the glider just took off down the wash in ground effect. The trees were coming up fast and I was unaware that I was heading straight for a large pile of broken concrete with a steel beam protruding up.

As I approached my flare window I spied the pile of debris and realized that this was my landing spot. I aborted the flare and floated over the debris pile with just enough airspeed left to run out my landing. During the process, my left side wire lopped off the top of a bush, as you will see. I cleared the debris pile and set my left foot down to run out my landing but it was onto a large chunk of broken concrete and I stumbled. My base bar hit a soft patch of wash and I tried to tuck in both arms and ball up but couldn't quite pull it off in the process of stumbling. My right shoulder may have taken out the right down tube but I'm not certain. I ended up face down on the ground after my right knee and thigh took some bruising along the way.

Needless to say, I was pissed off and imagined the worst for my glider. The carbon base bar was twisted about 25 degrees due to the broken down tube. I lifted the glider to a clear area and did a quick inspection with the camera. It looks like there’s no damage to the glider other than a crease in the nose cone and the broken down tube. I still have to replace the down tube and will carefully inspect the base bar at that time.

The video image is cockeyed because my experimental camera mount rolled over 15 minutes into the flight. The experiment yielded nice results and I will use that camera position in the future. See the attached frame still.

I am posting this account as a cautionary statement to others as well as myself that: hang gliding is an inherently dangerous sport and that this event can happen to others. It's best to be prepared and to minimize the risks. In this case I could have deployed my drogue chute. I also had not walked the entire length of the wash since the recent storms. Had I done so, I might have noted that the right fork of graded wash had a 200 foot longer run out than the left. Either one of these choices would have kept me away from the debris pile.

I could have also done a full flare over the debris pile and descended vertically. I believed that doing so might have resulted in a snapped keel stinger and damage to my ankles and shins. I had only a fraction of a second to make the decision. Hopefully, no one reading this and watching the video seriously thinks that he or she is above have something like this happen to him or to her. There is a Darwin Award with your name on it just waiting for you if you do. I never fly XC or push the limits without being fully cognizant of the risks of flying a glider and having only a minuscule amount of crash protection.

The good news is that the next day (Sunday 1/30/2010) I flew the 10 miles to Mt Lukens on my Falcon 3 195 and another 10 miles all the way back to the Sylmar landing zone. To my knowledge this has never been done and it was on a day with marginal lift and a ceiling of 5400'. As I climbed out over Mt Lukens and hit cloudbase I pondered whether to continue Eastward to the Eaton Canyon Wash and land at JPL. It was in reach and I haven't walked the JPL parking lot or the Eaton Wash since the rains. As wisps of cloud passed by my wings I pondered yesterday's pound-in and thought better of it. I did a no-wind, no-step landing onto soft compost and was thrilled.

Editing of that flight video is currently in process.

Take Care!

Jonathan

it's NOT bowling, you know? comes with the territory. glad you're ok!

Jonathan to me looks like if you pulled up that the landing gear for a second or two you might pulled it off.Any landing you walk away from is a good landing at least that's what I hear

NMERider wrote: .......
The good news is that the next day (Sunday 1/30/2010) I flew the 10 miles to Mt Lukens on my Falcon 3 195 and another 10 miles all the way back to the Sylmar landing zone. To my knowledge this has never been done and it was on a day with marginal lift and a ceiling of 5400'. ......

Jonathan

Great flight, Jonathan. A rare one for sure. But not unique. It has been done before.

Back before the dawn of time, when Pteradactyls ruled the skies and I was a Hang 2, I flew a single surface glider to Lukens and back. Not due to any special skill, I was just there on the right day. I wasn't exactly at Lukens, but out front and past it. I was at 9 grand, and this was years before GPSs, so I'm not sure exactly where I was. Convergence can make the difficult seem easy.

And I know that at least a few others have done the same thing on convergence days. (An old buddy of mine, named JR for one.) I suspect (but don't know for sure) that there have been a couple of other cases on non-convergence days. Greblo, maybe?

Nonetheless, you seriously kicked boo-tay on that flight. Congratulations.

stebbins wrote:..............Nonetheless, you seriously kicked boo-tay on that flight. Congratulations.

Thanks George. On good convergence days you and I could fly Seagull 3s to Lukens and back, seated. We still need to follow-up on our idea of having a Falcon League day in the Owens Valley in mild conditions. If Dizzy can fly his Axis Venus paraglider 103 miles for the flight of the day against all manner of topless and an Atos VX, then we should be able to do it justice on our floaters. I factory test flew the Moyes Mega II that George Worthington set a distance record of 121 miles.

Ken Andrews' original sales pitch for having the Falcon League is very true to life as evidenced Saturday's flights by Jason and me. And Jason did his flight considerably lower than me, more in keeping with Ken's premise that we can go the distance during Summer inversions. I think it just takes some getting used to and a great deal of willingness to land anywhere. BTW - How was your landing? Are you ready to get back on your LS w/ fresh sail?

Had I not been pooped out from Friday's melee and my hands so cold at damp 5,300' cloudbase, I would have tried for JPL and beyond, But Friday's painful lesson was learned and heeded as I made a conscious call in my head to turn back so as not to risk an encore performance.

Cheers, Jonathan

My landing was good, Jonathan. But it hasn't been my landings, but my approaches that were the issue. Luckily, I had a good approach even with a conflict. Don't know if it was the extra focus required because of the conflict, that I'm getting back in practice, or that my equilibrium issue is finally clearing up. A few more tests are required first, and a flight on an intermediate glider. Then back to the lightspeed! (Unfortunately I have a bunch of personal stuff that might get in the way soon, but maybe not. We shall see.)

I hope to be flying more again soon. But sadly, I am unlikely to fly as often as you!

Again, great flight.

OH, and I do intend to fly the Falcon in the Owens if possible this late Spring.

We still need to follow-up on our idea of having a Falcon League day in the Owens Valley in mild conditions

I do intend to fly the Falcon in the Owens if possible this late Spring

I'm in. We can go as soon as they will open Horseshoe Meadows Road (May?), but going on Memorial Day weekend could benefit with more thermal markers along the route and easier retrieval, but with disadvantage of crowdedness. Last year at 9:00 am there was already no space on launch.

Depending on the snow-pack and budget, the USFS opens Horseshoe Meadows road sometime before Memorial Day. Sometimes just before Memorial Day. (They try hard to get it open by then because of the horse facilities that count on that busy weekend for a good chunk of their income.)

I'm planning on going up, weather, road and personal stuff permitting. Falcon or not, I wish to go up early this year and have some Spring flying while there is still a lot of snow in the Sierras, and more mellow conditions.

And so what if it is crowded on launch. Last time I went up, there were a total of 3 pilots. I'd rather it was not that empty!