At the last SHGA board meeting, the directors approved a request by the safety director to move the beginning of the runway (white dotted limit line or "numbers") 100 ft. further south from its current location. This change was made on Tuesday, August 17th.
This will provide a longer and safer land short area, north of the white dots, and help prevent landing on dangerous boulders both in the river bed and just short of the defined runway.
Hang 2's are still expected to try to land in the sandy area of the wash (south of the new limit line and north of the new grass strip, and H3 pilots are now approved to land as far south as the new rectangular grass strip (but short of the grass circle). As before, H4's may land on the runway wherever they choose.
Of course safety comes first, so all pilots may land wherever necessary for their safety, or that of the public.
Putting more traffic further south on the runway may lead to more landing traffic conflicts, so everyone should plan, and monitor their vertical separation from other gliders long before arrival.
H2/3 Runway changes
Moderator: Chip
H2/3 Runway changes
Safety is a book, not a word
Michael Robertson
Michael Robertson
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addicted2climbing
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Joe,
So are you saying that while on final that the H2 numbers will now be 100' farther up toward the landing area? Not having them so close to the boulders is nice should I undershoot like I did last Saturday.
After that flight I did some thinking and was curious how the much shortened runway we have will work should we have to land in the other direction due to a wind change. What seems a bit scary is that after the grass the landing area slopes downward into the wash which will cause people to not touch down until somewhere in the sand and now due to the wash eroding away the landing area the sand portion is much shorter. Since I have never had to land in this direction, in your opinion, do we have enough runway in the other direction to touch down before the boulders? Just curious.
Marc
So are you saying that while on final that the H2 numbers will now be 100' farther up toward the landing area? Not having them so close to the boulders is nice should I undershoot like I did last Saturday.
After that flight I did some thinking and was curious how the much shortened runway we have will work should we have to land in the other direction due to a wind change. What seems a bit scary is that after the grass the landing area slopes downward into the wash which will cause people to not touch down until somewhere in the sand and now due to the wash eroding away the landing area the sand portion is much shorter. Since I have never had to land in this direction, in your opinion, do we have enough runway in the other direction to touch down before the boulders? Just curious.
Marc
Yes Marc,
the H2 numbers are now 100 ft further up towards the breakdown area. We (the club) still expects H2's to land within 200 ft. of these numbers whenever possible. It's my job to keep students in lessons until they are capable of landing on the first 1/3rd of the runway.
When landing from the south to the north, it's true there's a stretch where you glide down hill. That's just a short section, however and there's still more than one hundred yards of runway north of that slope. Better yet, north of the downhill slope, the runway slopes slightly uphill.
If you find yourself forced to make a landing to the north, place your approach numbers right across the grass circle and try to round out at that spot. That will certainly cause you to glide downhill into the sand, but you have plenty of runway ahead. By placing your numbers at the grass circle, you also have a safe stretch to land on, just in case you come up a little short.
the H2 numbers are now 100 ft further up towards the breakdown area. We (the club) still expects H2's to land within 200 ft. of these numbers whenever possible. It's my job to keep students in lessons until they are capable of landing on the first 1/3rd of the runway.
When landing from the south to the north, it's true there's a stretch where you glide down hill. That's just a short section, however and there's still more than one hundred yards of runway north of that slope. Better yet, north of the downhill slope, the runway slopes slightly uphill.
If you find yourself forced to make a landing to the north, place your approach numbers right across the grass circle and try to round out at that spot. That will certainly cause you to glide downhill into the sand, but you have plenty of runway ahead. By placing your numbers at the grass circle, you also have a safe stretch to land on, just in case you come up a little short.
Safety is a book, not a word
Michael Robertson
Michael Robertson
