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Hangola June 9 - 14, 2004

Flight Reports

Today it was going up like crazy again. Ridiculously strong lift but not as much turbulence. Cloudbases were over 14 grand. Dustino and I flew up the valley west then cut straight upwind to see if we could reach this huge mountain spine to the North West. The mountains got higher, the snowfields got bigger, and the lift just kept getting stronger. 1 to 2k a minute could be found for a good part of every climb. Dustin got cold and headed back one ridge short of where I turned back. There was a huge mountain I wanted to tag but wussed out because of a big blue area. Hopping valleys is less stressful when you know you can cross them on glide without having to climb up the opposite side. Some of the competitors were a bit jealous we got to tour that majestic area. The usual north wind makes it tough to get to.

Hopefully this weather will hold out. A local competitor branded today one of the big 3 for the year. I will rig up my camera to take with me tomorrow. The stories just don't do the region justice.

Forecast for 92 degrees winds light swinging west late afternoon sounded like a possible Dickey's Day to me. Tried to talk Steve into the adventure but he opted for a pool side afternoon. So I loaded my falcon and headed out. I was set up about one o'clock. Winds were nil to 3mph with a bit of a west cross when it did blow. Launch cycles were short, 30 seconds at best, and they occurred about every thirty minutes or so. I finally launched about 3:45 and scratched below launch for about fifteen minutes before finally getting above launch. I stopped a few cars on the road as I was maybe fifty feet above the road side eking my way up. Topped out at 600 over and managed an hour flight. I had a good landing and a driver to pick me up.

It turned out to be a most enjoyable day.

Joe

By the way. The grass is tall on launch and in the LZ. I would say three feet to waist high in the LZ. It is not too thick so you can run in it somewhat. I will take my weed eater the next time I go to Dickey's to trim the launch area. By the end of the summer we may need to cut some bushes in the slot also. It is ok for now.

Joe

HANG ONE RATING!!!!! F**cking WhoooooooooooooEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE - Uppitty AND climbing! Watch out Ridgely Fly-in! I may not be rated high enough to tow, but I'll be tearing up the Ground Crews! My brand spankin' new H1, courtesy of Steve Wendt at Blue Sky: completed 15 tows this AM, one-on-one (best way to do it!). Winds WSW, 0-5 (mostly 0!) hot, humid and SWEEEEEEEEEET! Passed the written test with high marks (94) (I hate not being perfect...) The office never missed me this morning, (though they may notice my stinky, sweaty presence very shortly!) LOL! BOOWAH!

Saturday was awesome at Redwing with gains to over 6k. Lets hope for more of the same next week.

One of the crispest, coolest, mellow OR days' in recent memory. Started early with students Jim, Gary and Glen. Winds straight up. Had to hook a tow rope to the back of my Blazer to tow the infamous Outhouse out of the way, clearing the lower LZ. Once done, we were rockin'. LOL.

Conditions were perfect up until about 1 pm. Then it got switchy but still good with nice uphill cycles. George Tutor showed up and got some airtime in on my Falcon, and the other guys continued to rack flights as cycles permitted.

John Middleton showed up around noon and also had a good group and great flights. We all hung out until about 4pm.

Wish every teaching day was this good......

Rich Hays

Arrived to a lite turn out and lighter wind. Never did get stronger than occasionally wafting in. Eventually 8 pilots threw themselves off the mountain to an uncertain fate, some repeatedly. The ones that prevailed were rewarded with VERY lite sometimes very long lasting mellow thermals. Very very fun air, but, if you weren't going up you were really coming down. A real sink management day. Times to about 2 hours, gains to about 2500 over ( 4600 msl )......Bob.

Went to Bills today with Noah, PG pilot from Ohio. It was light and mangaed to get an extendo in light lift. Grass is very long in the LZ and on launch.

Owner of the land on the right of the house below launch (as you look at it from launch) wishes for us not to use it as an emergency landing LZ until he cuts it for hay in the next week or so.

Off to Jacks with Noah tomorrow. So there will be at least two PG wind technicians (wind dummies) before and if it gets strong. We will be there from 11am. Anyone else interested?

Dave Tymms

Shawn Ray and I joined Ben and LE for some afternoon flying at this really nice Mountaineer site. 1200' vertical SE facing. Shallow slope launch. Winds were 30-60 degrees left cross. I made 3 flights. After the 2nd flight, the LZ owner offered to let me land in his front yard, so on my last flight I landed right near his front door.

A shot of my 'restricted' LZ
http://community.webshots.com/photo/152145762/152149024zouImI

Shawn Ray flew too, with JR as observer, making a solid launch in light crossing winds and a respectable 'tall grass' landing, in spite of a downhill slope.

Album - http://community.webshots.com/album/152145762IJSUUS

'Spark

It was overcast most of the day at Blue Sky today. I got back to my Lite Sport for a couple short soaring flights. The crowd was small and Saturday was the day to fly. Too good landings and I even stayed on tow all the way up today. Joe

Bob you should have come to ridgly flyinn soaring from 12 till 7pm last pilot down fly till just too tired people doing triangles out and returns spot landings great food beer and drinks made in the gas powered blender highest alt I heard about was 5700 longest duration 5 hrs John hope got 2plus hour with no instruments.

Craig w.

After everyone had landed on Saturday I counted 41 gliders in the setup area and I think every pilot that was attached to one of those gliders soared. John Muldoon took off at 12:30 and landed back at Ridgely a little after 6:00 for a new duration record at the park. Dennis Pagen won the spot landing and the Speed gliding contest. John ? from Virginia, won the XC with a 34 or 37 mile triangle.

They had three tugs going all day so the lines were never long.

The food on Saturday night was fantastic and plentiful. So plentiful that we were eating it for lunch the next day. Bruce holds the duration record for manning the grill.

We even had one naked fire jumper, and with the Highland fires being so large and unruly, I heard it was quite the effort.

Present or past Club members in attendance: Craig, john and Jackie W., Ken C., Pat and Laura F., Christian T., Judy, Dave Starbuck, and Jim R.. Sorry if I missed anyone.

The Highland crew did a fantastic job. This one will be hard to beat. The Bubble lives.

john h

Spent two-and-a-half days hang-waiting at Blue Sky this weekend for my first high solo flight. Didn't happen. (Winds never calmed down enough.) Very frustrating, even though I know it's part of the sport. I'm about burned-out on sitting around staring up at other pilots and listening to everyone go on and on about their flights. Enough vicarious participation---I'm ready to do it! (No criticism of Steve W. though---I'm grateful he's so conservative when it comes to first-flight conditions.)

I'll carry on though---and hope for good conditions later this week!

Got my new custom-fit Z5 harness and chute though...that was some consolation. Hung in it for an hour and felt great!

Still waiting and hoping,
Scott

<snip>

Saturday at Ridgely was great. My first flight was kind of humbling when I landed after 20 minutes to see about 7 gliders stacked up in the thermal I thought had vanished. My second flight was a personal best for me; 1:05 and 5,000 agl. Sometimes even the low-airtime H2 has a good day.

Soon you'll reporting your soaring adventures too.

Dave

Saturday at Oregon Ridge where the winds weren't quite as good as expected but was flyable and was beneficial for all the students. Sunday at Taylors where the grass is fine (for a cow pasture) and the wind was quite cooperative with one student (Chris Donahue) earning their Hang 1 and others getting a lot of practice. One of the nicest training days there for a long time. Sure been a while since I have been able to teach 2 days in a row.

- john middleton

SUBJ/HANG GLIDING AEROTOW HAZREP//
POC/MCKEE, CHRISTOPHER

RMKS/ 1. THIS REPORT CONCERNS A POSSIBLE HAZARD TO HANG GLIDING AERO-TOW OPERATIONS.

SUMMARY: HIGH ENERGY I-TRACER HARNESS ZIPPER PULL-UP CORD BECAME ENTANGLED IN TAIL SUPPORT OF AEROTOW TOW-CART AND WAS PULLED AIRBORNE DURING TAKEOFF OPERATIONS.

2. NARRATIVE: NORMAL AEROTOW TAKEOFF AT HIGHLAND AEROSPORTS ANNUAL FLY-IN. AS I ROTATED OFF THE CART AND BECAME AIRBORNE, THE WEAK LINK BROKE AT APPROXIMATELY 40-50' OF ALTITUDE. FOLLOWING STANDARD PROCEDURE, I IMMEDIATELY PULLED IN FOR AIRSPEED AND EVALUATED THAT THE BEST COURSE OF ACTION WOULD BE TO DO A STANDARD LANDING STRAIGHT AHEAD AS I HAD PLENTY OF OPEN SPACE AND SHORT GRASS IN FRONT OF ME. AS I WENT UPRIGHT ON THE DOWNTUBES AND PULLED MY FEET OUT OF THE HARNESS, I LOOKED DOWN AND NOTICED THE TOW-CART WAS STILL ATTACHED AND OSCILLATING DIRECTLY BELOW ME. I MADE THE IMMEDIATE DECISION TO GO BACK PRONE AND PULL IN FOR AIRSPEED AND FLY THE GLIDER DOWN TO THE GROUND AND ATTEMPT A FASTER THAN NORMAL ROLL ON LANDING. ASSUMING THE CART WAS BELOW ME, I BELIEVED THE CART WOULD IMPACT THE GROUND FIRST AND SEPARATE FROM THE GLIDER AND ALLOW A STANDARD ROLL ON LANDING. UPON EXECUTION, THE TOW CART REMAINED ATTACHED UPON IMPACT BUT DID NOT HINDER THE LANDING, ALTHOUGH SLIGHT BACK PRESSURE ON THE CONTROL FRAME CAUSED CONCERN WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF THE NOSE TUCKING DURING LANDING. THE CART REMAINED ATTACHED UNTIL THE GLIDER CAME TO A STOP AND THE CART WAS PHYSICALLY REMOVED.

3. DATA:
A: HANGLIDER MODEL - WILLS WING ULTRASPORT 166 W/ TAIL FIN ATTACHED
B: HARNESS MODEL - HIGH ENERGY I-TRACER W/ TOE PROTECTOR
C: CART MODEL - UNDETERMINED AT THIS TIME
D: PILOT RATING - H3
E: ENVIRONMENT:
1. DATE: 12 JUN 03
2. TIME: 1600L EST
3. LOCN: HIGHLAND AEROSPORTS, RIDGELY, MD
4. WX: UNDETERMINED AT THIS TIME

4. ANALYSIS: THE ZIPPER PULL-UP CORD WAS NOT FULLY RETRACTED AND HAD ENOUGH EXCESS CORD TO BECOME LOOPED AROUND THE TOW CART TAIL SUPPORT SOMETIME BETWEEN BEGINNING OF TAKEOFF ROLL AND ROTATION OFF OF THE CART. AS THE GLIDER BEGAN FLYING AND THE TOW CART CAME OFF THE GROUND, THE ZIPPER PULL-UP CORD SLID UNDERNEATH THE VELCRO ATTACHED SKID PLATE TOE PROTECTOR AND PULLED THE CORD TIGHT AROUND THE CART. IT IS MY BELIEF THAT THIS ADDED WEIGHT AND DRAG CAUSED THE WEAK LINK TO BREAK SOON AFTER TAKE-OFF. PERFORMING A RUN-ON LANDING KEPT THE CART BEHIND THE GLIDER CAUSING NO DAMAGE TO THE PILOT, GLIDER, OR CART.

5. RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. REMOVAL OF THE SKID PLATE TOE PROTECTOR DURING AEROTOW OPERATIONS: WITHOUT THE "TOE-NAIL" ATTACHED, THE LOOP WOULD NOT OF PULLED TIGHT AND MOST LIKELY WOULD OF ALLOWED THE CART TO COME FREE PRIOR TO ROTATION, OR AT LEAST ALLOWED THE CART TO SEPARATE FROM THE HANG GLIDER UPON GROUND IMPACT.

2. CHECKING FOR EXCESS CORD DURING AEROTOW HANG CHECK: BY PULLING EXCESS CORD FROM THE BOOT OF THE HARNESS, THERE WILL BE LESS PROBABILITY FOR ENTANGLEMENT ON THE CART OR OUTSIDE INFLUENCES.

3. IN CASE OF CART ENTANGLEMENT, PERFORM RUN-ON LANDING VICE STANDARD FLARE. IT IS MY OPINION THAT EXECUTING A STANDARD FLARE LANDING WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN THE CART SWINGING UNDER THE GLIDER WITH THE PILOT COMING DOWN ON IT. WITH THE CART HANGING BELOW THE GLIDER, PERFORMING A RUN-ON LANDING ALLOWS THE CART TO IMPACT FIRST INCREASING THE PROBABLILITY OF SEPARATION AND MAINTAINING THE CART POSITION BEHIND THE GLIDER MINIMIZING INJURY OR DAMAGE TO PILOT OR GLIDER.//

Ridgely Fly-In - 6/12/2004

Cast of thousands made it out for a beautiful sunny day in the mid-70's and East winds of 5-10. I didn't bother bringing my glider because I couldn't get it out of the basement by myself and Karen has a broken arm and can't help. But who needs to bring a glider when there's demos to be flown and you can't go all that far with East winds anyway?

I flew the new WW Sport 2 155 at about noon. Caught one thermal at 1500' and took it up to 3300 feet. It was freaking cold and I only wore my T-shirt. I was drifting away from the field so I came back only to find sink all of the way down to the ground: 23 minutes. The glider handled nicely and landed fairly easily. But I wasn't very impressed with the performance. I put my jacket and gloves on and joked that this would guarantee me a sled. I released from tow on the second flight in the Sport 2 and had sink alarm and 800-1800 down sink all the way to the ground. It was the worst sink of my life and my shortest flight ever at Ridgely (other than times when the weak link broke). To make matters worse, I flared too high off the ground and nosed over my landing. I was so disheartened by the flight that I hopped on my bicycle and went for a 23 mile ride just to get away from flying. Of course this is when it turned on and I watched a gaggle beam out as I rode along the back roads near Ridgely. I could see Ellis at the top of the stack. She got 2 hours and over 5K. Just about everyone got 5K. Jeesh!!!

I got back from my ride at 3:30 and took a spin on the U2. What a great glider-- easy to tow, great handling, great performance and the easiest glider I ever landed. I caught a slow climbing thermal at 850 and took it up to 3200. Again, the drift took me to the east and I made the mistake of heading back to the field only to find sink: 24 minutes.

I was going to try the Sport 2 again. But Beard was in line to fly it. Paul Tjaden told me to try the slick looking black and gray Lightspeed S. It looked intimidating with the carbon fiber basetube and no wheels. But after some prodding, I took it for a spin at 5:55pm expecting just a sled. What fun! It towed easily and handles great. I caught a light thermal and started to slowly climb, using one third VG. I released the VG and the thing went into up mode. I climbed up faster and faster and up through Jack Williamson who shared the thermal with me. I topped out at 3991. This time I didn't fly back to the runway but instead hunted for more thermals on either side of the west end of the runway. Found another and climbed back up again. Jack missed this next train and went into land. The tug taxied back to the hanger and from then on I had the sky to myself. I kept repeating the process until I got tired and landed after an hour and ten minutes even though very light thermals were still kicking off at the end of the runway. For a while I just flew around at random in zero sink as though part of the sky had gone magic. With full VG on, the thing flies like a truck. It's almost impossible to turn and pitch inputs just make it go faster and not down. With VG off, it turns on a dime but doesn't wrap up into slipping turns. And it's easy to land. The down side is that it costs 8000 bucks and weighs a ton. Oh well.

Matthew Graham

The wind only occasionally rippled Saturday (from the East, mostly), and turbulence was minimal. The clouds disappeared early, so we had blue sky conditions, but the ceiling was high as the moon and the lift was as strong as the smell of dog sh**. Pilots soared for over an hour as early as 10 AM.

I learned that I suck without a vario. The first time I sunk to 1700 feet before I flipped it on, but I was so far from the airport I had to bolt for home. I tucked in my lips and barely squeaked into the field. Without clouds to guide me, and in an area without other pilots, and further, without enough wind to make the lift form into streets, I felt lost. I pulled the same stunt a second time, but I managed to find some lift with the help of the beeping once I turned on my trusty friend again, and then easily soared to around 5000. I landed in a flush cycle with many others after a long flight. The sink felt unbelievable. I tried to turn 90 degrees to escape it but it lurked everywhere. Larry Huffman had reminded me (via email) not to do pushups on the bar, so I didn't feel tired after all the flying, though. Thanks, Larry!

I flew again late, but I needed to go to the bathroom before I launched and I didn't. Found weak lift but was satiated from flying and didn't try very hard. I landed after maybe a half an hour that time, rushed to the toilet. More than you wanted to know?

Felt OK about the lessons I learned and my flights until I listened to everyone else. Then I felt as pathetic as a sparrow on a chicken farm. John Claytor flew a triangle of over 30 miles (and it was longer than this, sorry, I have forgotten details), as well as Chris from Manquin. John Muldoon flew for FIVE AND a HALF HOURS!!! Paul Adamis managed over two hours without a vario, the friggin' cheater. Everyone I chatted with had broken personal records. The boys and girls at Highland -- Kristen, Windsor, Sea, Sunny, Adam and Jim -- did themselves proud, as did all the pilots. Barb and Bruce barbecued hamburgers, kebobs, and chicken. NY Ken whipped up some of his strawberry and rhubarb pies.

Greg Dewolf showed videos of all of us landing. I wasn't stellar on Saturday. Reverted to my old never-whack but run-too-much technique. I have been too busy to concentrate with my usual AM visualizing session. This is what I call a "loser's limp", though. Excuses are bull. Prepare to win, not lose.

Greg's advice and film proved useful to me, though, and I'm sure to many others, too. Then Greg shot video of us all showing our butts to Bo in a group moon, in order to make him feel even more sick than he already does. Very cute, really, forty asses reflecting the sunset. Big and small and hairy, will let you guess which one I was.

I left for my sleeping bag at about 10 PM, since Sunday's forecast looked spectacular and Dennis P. said he would let me tag along XC in the morning. Amazing how helpful everyone always is. When it becomes evident I am willing to accept advice, the most talented, famous pilots somehow still seem happy to lend me help. I would love to fly XC with anyone. The only one I ever flew with is Paul, on that one most joyous and bitter flight. How fantastic to be able to fly with others, with experience, to get input on the decisions I make, instantly.

Saturday night I didn't sleep as well as I usually do. Let's just leave it at that, but I felt like crap on Sunday. No sleep at all. I actually was grateful the sky looked overcast and that Dennis decided the weather was too grim for a XC. Though Ginny was set up, Paul and I adventured out on a house hunt.

This part is off topic. We just sold our farm, if you didn't know. Paul is looking forward. He says we will experience the best years of our lives now. I will learn to fly our new plane, and I get to take the best of the horses, my beautiful Vincent, with me. If we stayed here, he would almost certainly have to be sold, to help support the farm. And if I get to fly my glider every day, I will almost certainly gain more advanced skills. I love the adventure of XC and would like to become more competent.

But Sid (one of the horses) is shipping out to Indiana tonight. Harrison left this afternoon, just up the road. Beau and Oz will leave for Connecticut in a few weeks, and Levi will leave for Ohio, too. Panache is in limbo, but she will have to leave for someplace. I spend my life with these animals, dedicate my life to teaching them and developing relationships with them. They are all leaving. I asked Paul what I should do with his saddles, and he said to sell them. I asked if he didn't want to keep at least one, just in case. But he doesn't.

Ah, I am stuck in the past. How many lives -- if I had another to spend -- would I spend on this sport that has crippled me and burned me out, that has little financial benefit? One, or two, or all of them? But I am eager to move on, too, though not so eager I will sell my little horse. He will come with me, as much a part of me as my skin.

OK, enough. Sorry. On to Sunday. I didn't fly due to the overcast and the fact I felt exhausted. The Fifis shone, though. Sheila and Judy both ventured back into the air, and fared well. Ellis flew her first HG flights of the year (she had a layoff due to past injuries) on Saturday, and beat me both for altitude and duration. And Linda wangled a tandem. She has the attitude and the confidence to be a great pilot. I think she should be president of the CHGPA when I bow out this year.

Congratulations to all of you who flew in a most spectacular manner, or who accomplished personal records, or who just had fun. This is the best sport. An eagle flashed her talons at me on Saturday and then decided to circle with me. Can you believe this incredible stuff we get to do?

Lauren Tjaden

In my inexperienced flying career, I finally got the flight I've been dreaming about for all these years. I flew the first time at 12:30 on Saturday. The thermals were already strong, but they were a bit too small for me to be able to use effectively. After 30 minutes, I finally had to come down only to get back in line and was back up again at 2:00.

Sunny dropped me off in tremendous lift with one or two pilots already in it. Since I have only soared with other pilots a handfull of times and never with most of the pilots at Ridgely that day, I chose to stay a little ways away from them since the lift was widespread. Earlier this week, I sat down with a pen and drew out different ways of centering on thermals and came up with a strategy which seemed effective yet relatively simple. When I hit the best lift, I would wait two seconds, turn tightly, immediately flatten out my turn and hold it, regardless of sink, until I came back around to the best lift again.

Finally, in my trolling for the core, my inside wing slammed up and I knew this would be my chance. After a couple of attempts of using my technique, I soon discovered it was working, but the core was much smaller than I expected. I ended up having to turn at a 60 degree bank, barely managing bumps in either direction to keep myself centered. My vario was beeping like crazy and I watched as I shot well above a number of other pilots now in the area. I topped out at 5500 feet and stayed in the same thermal for over 45 minutes. As I drifted past the town, I felt a bit uncomfortable getting so far downwind in my Falcon, even though I knew I had plenty of glide to get back. I dropped below 5000 feet and decided to get back to the airport with enough altitude to try and hook another one.

Not long after I left, another pilot did the same and quickly passed me. I was able to watch his glide to avoid the sink and made it back with 3500 feet to spare and the beautiful site of two pilots circling up. The lift was smaller this time so I got in closer to the group. We rode it up to 4600 where I began to not want to get too far downwind again and came back to the airport. Not long afterwards, the lift turned off and I came down to land after 90 minutes, the first time I've broken an hour. I was marked at 45 feet from the spot, so I decided to see if I could make my three landings within 50 feet. The lift was light and the sink was plentiful, but I still managed 20 minutes on each and hit 35 and then 24 feet from the spot. Sunny didn't witness them for my hang 3, but at least I now know that I can do it.

I broke pretty much every personal best I had. I finally got a flight over an hour, a new high altitude of 5500 feet, landed 24 feet from the spot, and no broken weak links, bent downtubes, or whacks. To put some icing on the cake, John and some other pilots were wondering how the heck a pilot flying a blue Falcon was skying out over them.

The food and the company were great as well. Thanks to the entire Highland crew for a perfectly run event and the best flying day I've had yet!

Hey, just a quick note to the Highland staff, crew and misc. support folks. I had a spectacular time at the Fly-in. Great flying, great food, great weather, great people, great organization. I still haven't made it back to the LZ (in my mind that is).

Thanks again for all the hard work. Thanks, Thanks, Thanks!

Thanks to the Ridgley crew for putting on a great Fly-in!

The Fly-in was an even better success due to the great weather on Saturday. Over 40 pilots flew & then partied til ? (I'm getting to old to stay up that late, so I don't know when it ended, past 1am anyway). Camping was prime due to the 55 degree temps Saturday night. that also helped make the bon fire more than just a light show. Got some good landing videos too.

Anyone have the e-mail or phone of the videographer? Think his name was Gary.

-- Pat F.

Synopsis: 12 June, XC from Ridgely, Talon150, H4 Pilot, Downwind Landing.

Summary: Launched into boowaah conditions on the Saturday of the Ridgely Fly-In. Climbed to +5k and quickly decided to execute the XC task. Harness zipper blows out for the second time just 20 mins into the flight. I soldier on. Winds on at the airport were out of the east. Drift aloft was due north! I decide on the triangle task and fly down to Easton Airport with a low save from 900 ft on the way. I couldn't have been in the air for an hour, yet my arms were killing me and I found myself doing push-ups on the bar just to get my head up enough to see. Had to settle for thermalling at 30 mph, flying with my arms hung over the bar whenever able. Had great difficulty contemplating making it all the way back to Ridgely before conking out. Climbed to +5k again over Easton Airport and flew a 1 1/2 - 2 mile leg to the east before turning back for Ridgely. Glider in sight way ahead reportedly climbing to 5k. Sink alarm all the way down to 600 AGL, no relief jinking left or right. Too tired to care much at this point. Picked a huge light dirt field obviously not in crop. Decided to save my smoke bomb as it looked essentially calm on the ground. Assumed that winds in the LZ were out of the east like at RDY. Bad assumption.

Rounded out, got upright, and found myself zooming across the ground. I been here before - downwind. Quickly decided that the landing was not likely saveable, and simply let go on impact without attempting much of a flare. And impact it was. Right wheel dug a 2 inch deep divit into the soft earth. Blew through both downtubes - clean breaks at the center of each - and tore the right one clean from it's corner bracket for good measure. Tore off one of the velcro straps holding my instruments on the other side. Six people immediately come running onto the field to see if I'm still alive. Add terminal embarressment to the bill of damages.

The pilot came through essentially unscathed. I later found a bump on my arm, which little Marky kissed and made "ALL better." No glider damage beyond the two downtubes.

Analysis: I had broken a downtube on the previous flight. The first one I'd broken since getting this new easy to land glider. This was a 30 min flight at the end of which I was, again, so tired I had great difficulty flying the glider near the end. The clue light finally flickers on and I take stock of the changes I made to my harness configuration prior to these last two flights: 1) a new hang strap putting me 2 1/2 inches closer to the basetube (I was hanging way high), 2) a new harness cord running from shoulder straps to boot. I hang myself in a tree at Highland the next day and Sunny shortens the cord on my harness a good 8 inches to change me from an inverted-U to a straight line. A quick pattern tow shows this new configuration to be much more comfortable.

Probable Cause: Failure of the pilot to establish accurate wind direction before executing the approach. I assumed the wind direction on the ground without searching very hard for confirmation. There was a flag at the house directly across the street from where I landed. It variously showed north, east, west, and null as I broke down my glider. Had I seen it earlier, it might have told me I what I needed to know. Had I thrown my precious smoke, I certainly would have known what I needed to know.

But these is a second lesson here. Flying hang gliders is a physical pursuit. One must have the physical energy to perform the required maneuvers with alacrity in order to fly safely under any but the most benign conditions. I attributed my fatigue on the previous flight to the difficulty of conditions that day. I should have looked further for another explanation. While fatigue was not a direct cause for this accident, it was the direct cause of my previous broken DT, which came as a result of trying to land in a small thermally field over which I had just failed to hook a thermal while very low (does this scenario sound familiar to anyone?). Almost too tired to properly control the glider, I get popped and end up having to cross diagonal to remain clear of obstructions at the end, putting me downwind of a large house/garage/tree complex on a strong windy day. I had a choice to land in a large field next door that was in 6 inch corn. That would have been the smart move, crops or no.

And there is a third lesson (I been collecting them up). It concerns motivation. Many of us fly for personal enjoyment and relaxation. This is an inherently safe motivation. If you stop having fun, you stop doing it. Many of us fly to prove ourselves; to become one of the best. Competition brings this out, to one degree or another, in almost everyone. This motivation is a double edged sword. You will improve your piloting skills much more quickly. You are also much more likely to injure yourself in the process.

Flying until you are too tired to execute a crisp approach in difficult conditions is one symptom that perhaps you are pressing too hard. Thermalling close enough to make even Joe Gregor feel nervous, is most defintely another symptom. A long string of minor accidents is another telltale symptom. All symptoms that you are flying at the edge of your personal envelope. Each and every one of us has an envelope within which we can operate safely. Some people's envelopes are bigger (much bigger) than others. All are the same in one important respect - venture outside, and the results won't look pretty.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that your envelope is bigger than it currently is. Don't try to stretch that envelope too quickly, you might bust right through.

-- Joe

I was able to enjoy two more personal bests at mfp Saturday. When I got there I was somewhat shocked in that the sky looked booming but I did not see any other pilots. I knew Scott and Holly were planning on being there. I think many had chosen Ridgely because of the fly-in. Some did start to trickle in though.

Only having aerotowed my Pulse just once before, I decided to tow again with the same tow bridle setup before changing it. The brisker air showed me that I definitely had to have Steve change this for my future flights. The bar pressure all the way up was significant to me. That, along with the additional bumps that come in the middle of the day made it a REAL workout on tow.

Tex towed me to the normal upwind position and waved me off at 2600. I soon found some lift and moved up to 3900. I'm still learning how to 'center' myself in the core of the lift. Seems that there's always a liftier side of the circles that I'm making.

Getting downwind a little, I decided to head back upwind. On that glide I lost what I thought was a lot of altitude. I ended up close to the pond so I searched for another flight extender. Thought I was going to have to give up so I prepared to land. However, at 650 above the field, I found some bubbles that I was able to work to maintain in, then it turned into actual lift. I rode that back up to 2500 before it peetered out. Again I took a sinking glide with the headwind back to the airfield. Right now I'm more concerned with the sinking glides than I am with the thermalling. I guess that will come in time too. Had a good one-stepper to top it all off.

All in all I managed 92 minutes of fun. I broke last weekend's 54 min time and also have a new pb in altitude at the flight park. Flat-land flying sure makes you think differently when you don't have that 'insurance' of ridge lift. Lots of fun was had. I can't wait to get back to the mountains again soon.

Rance

Just wanted to add my 'Had a wonderful time' to the chorus. It was great seeing such a large crowd of enthusiastic pilots. The food was great especially the kabobs and the strawberry & rhubarb pie. The Highland Crew did a fantastic job of keeping it moving. Thanks, Sonny, for helping me with the downtube change (for once, not the VG downtube). I will remember to put on the VG for the tow now.

I loved doing my first real out and return (Easton, 13.6 miles direct each way). I must say that not being able to read the wind from the air helped keep me in the air.

Now all I need to do is get the landings down, and get another harness. The Airwave Race 2 is starting to deviate too much from my body, not to mention it coming apart here and there.

Christy

<snip>

Great time at Ridgely, I only wish Friday and Monday would have been flyable. Got to 5200 on Saturday and landed where 50 crosses the river near Cambridge. Steve Padget showed up before I was broken down. Sunday was cloudy, I sledded and went back later for a second. Got a weak thermal to 3000 and still climbing at a couple miles out. I could have gone for it but my phone, map, GPS, water and glider bag were back in the truck. So I came back.

Left Sunday night and drove to Cumberland. Monday to Columbia MO. Yesterday to home. Worst drive day ever, 16 hours. Lost count of the dead animals at 892. Saw 2 tornadoes near Limon CO.

MC

Sorry for the late post, but my computer is out being upgraded to handle a new video editor.

Last weekend's Highland Fly-in was the first time I have flown at a real H-G event other than "Demo Days" at Wallaby Ranch in 2003. So, of course on my first tow, (also my first tow of the year) with everybody watching, I hit enough turbulence to break my weak link. #%*&! At around 100' I'm too far along to just land into the wind, it's too low and there's not enough room to make it to the LZ and turn back into the wind. I quickly do a 180 with the initial speed of recovering from the broken link, and then look for a way to avoid the downwind landing that I've been reading so much about. Seeing I would be able to make it at least back to the LZ east of the "spot", my best option is to fly back as far as I can with enough altitude for a safe turn before attempting a crosswind landing. I end up just past the east side of the LZ where they park sailplanes before making my final to the south. As expected, crosswind is the best I can manage, so I come in with plenty of air speed in anticipation of rotor coming off the eastern tree-line, and run out my landing without trouble.

Afterwards I was feeling quite a mix of emotions. Part of me was a little spooked about having had a failure, even one as routine as a weak link. As a fairly new pilot I was also not pleased about bringing attention to myself with any sort of "incident". I also felt some satisfaction at having made use my training, and having made a quick decision that worked out. Later, while I was watching Chris fly off with the tow cart, my weak link seemed pretty tame. Yeah, Hang-gliding is a great sport, but once again it's pretty obvious that there are risks that we can minimize, but never eliminate. My thanks again to all of the veteran pilots and instructors who have spent time talking to me about all the things I need to think about.

Rich

Alrighty.... with all the accident reports and talks of weak link breaks and my previous post about my Litesport being a little bit more challenging to fly on tow, I suppose I oughta spill my guts:-)

I set up the Litesport and got a truck tow in last Saturday evening. I figured a truck tow would be a good thing since it was my first flight on my Litesport this year. All went well and I played around on my way back to earth.

Sunday, I got a couple ATs in. My first one had an exciting start... I came out of the dolly fine and all was good until the tug lifted off the ground. I got a little low and pushed out to stay with the tug. Next thing I know, I get locked out, the weak link snapped (I think folks heard the weak link break in the next county, it snapped with such force) and I did a really cool lookin' wing over/stall recovery from about 150 feet over the corn to the east of the N/S runway. I was so low after recovering from the stall and preoccupied with setting up to land that I didn't have time to take off the 1/2 VG I had on, so I did a cross wind landing w/ the ground zoomin' past me. I flared fine and took a few quick steps in the low alfalfa before the glider settled to the ground. I was annoyed at not being able to correct my glider's attitude prior to the weaklink break. I thought I had been giving the proper roll input, but was later told by Steve that I was cross controllin' like crazy. This has been a minor problem in the past and with this more serious manifestation, I paused to reflect.

Actually, the reflection took place later on Sunday. I took another entirely uneventful tow right after I landed and Tex took me to 2300 ft. I came down a bit (to 1900) and found some lift to take me back up to about 2200 before loosing it and coming back to earth.

Anyway... Steve and I chatted about my lock out situation a bit and I think we pieced together all that happened. Getting low behind the tug that close to the ground was error #1 as this put me in a position where I needed to push out (thus slow down) to catch up with the tug. Error #2: Without sufficient airspeed, my 1/2 as*ed control inputs proved worthless. Error #3: Additionally, since I have a tendency to lead w/ my head a bit, given the rapidly worsening turn, my hips fell to the inside of the turn while my head stayed high thus exacerbating the problem (nasty cross control). While thermalling on my second flight, I took greater note of how I was initiating control inputs and the greater amount of effort/stength required to move my hips to initiate a roll, and even greater effort needed to carve figure 8's.

So... lessons learned are:
a.. Stay a little high behind the tug until I get a few hundred feet above the ground to avoid a situation where I have to push out/get slow to climb with the tug
b.. Be more aware of my airspeed and don't fly slow
c.. Stop initiating turns with my head, no matter how slight the movement; get my feet and hips over and keep my head centered
d.. I need to fly more so that I can develop greater strength in my "flying muscles" :-)

The good news is I learned a few lessons, got to fly the Litesport, and proved to myself that I'm not going to kill myself in the process:-)

Holly

I know I'm posting this late but I just wanted to say what an AWESOME time I had at the Highland fly-in! I hadn't flown in 17 months (9 pregnant, baby is 8 mos) and in many ways (mentally and physically) needed to work on getting back in the air. I figured Ridgely would be a good place because I could run around on the ground with my glider then work on my landings with pattern tows.

Adam suggested a check-out ride which really calmed my nerves - I did that Saturday morning. Since I had a brain-freeze on my approach he suggested one more pattern landing check-out which I did Sunday and did fine. After that I had two solos (pattern tows) on Brian's Falcon (THANK YOU!) and one on my Ultrasport. All landings were on my feet! By then I was pretty exhausted from using all those muscles I haven't used in ages so I had to call it a weekend.

Bridget (2 3/4) and I came together while Mark sacrificed to stay home with Charlotte (8 mos.) Bridget seemed to be interested in the fact that mommy flies too (she kept saying just daddy flew hanggliders). She also wanted a ride on one - "maybe next time mama". Of course she had a lot more fun playing with Mark Jozsef and Janet. HUGE thanks to Adam and the crew for an awesome fly-in, to Janet for keeping an eye on Bridget and to all my wonderful friends for the figurative and literal "hand-holding" as I was going through the "flying again jitters". It really is amazing how hg'ing is like riding a bike - it all felt right again (although I need work). It was GREAT to see everyone again and meet new faces (Linda)! Also, major congratulations to Judy and Ellis on getting back in the air!

Sheila

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This page last updated June 23, 2004