Kite Strings

Davis Straub - 2013/07/23 16:23:46 UTC

Jonny told me a lock out right off the cart.

Cognac: Sara Reynaud seriously injured in a hang-gliding accident
2013/07/22 10:13
charentelibnB.fr

Sara Reynaud, the youngest of the daughters of the Member of Parliament for the second constituency of Charente, Marie-Line Reynaud, was seriously injured in a hang gliding accident Sunday afternoon, in the Department of Eure-et-Loir.

"She is hospitalized in intensive care at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, she was particularly hit in the jaw and suffers from numerous bruises, I will know more this afternoon" said the parliamentarian.

The pilot flying with Sara Reynaud, a former hang gliding champion of France, aged 41 years, was killed in the accident. "I do not know him. I just know that he had promised to introduce Sara to hang gliding" explains Marie-Line Reynaud.

The reasons for this crash were still unexplained last night. "The weather conditions were suitable" stated Lieutenant-Colonel Gilles Le Bras, Commander of the company of police of Chateaudun told the Daily Echo Republican. "The hang glider with its two passengers was towed by an ultralight. Shortly after takeoff the glider stalled at a height of twenty meters.

Dave Pendzick (DAVE858) - 2013/07/29 14:15:01 UTC
Oregon

I was at Woodrat this weekend and launched around 1pm. Everything felt square prior to launch and I started to run. I felt the glider load the hang strap...

...and I reached down with my left hand to grab the basetube and upon doing this I dragged my left wingtip. This pointed me towards the trees and I corrected and narrowly missed hitting the treeline.

The air was really rough this day, it was hot and very turbulent and there really was not much lift around despite it being breezy. I scratched around a while and got one thermal that put me above launch. There was so much turbulence I actually got a little nauseated. I decided at that point to call it. I flew to the LZ and caught a rotor about ten feet up which dropped me like a stone and I bent a down tube...

I have been going over the entire situation and have learned several lessons. Dont be in a rush!

I had not flown in almost two weeks and I was hot for it and I did not want to wait until Glass Off to fly, which had I done so, I would have had an awesome two plus hour flight instead of a 45 minute flush-out that ended in a broken downtube.

I also should have waited until I was away from the hill a ways before placing one hand on the base tube... I was never taught to do this and the only reason I think I did was because I was in a hurry and wanted to be flying right away. This mistake almost killed me, it did not really sink in until well after the end of the day how serious this actually was.

Tom Emery - 2013/07/29 14:57:10 UTC
San Diego

Thanks for calling like it is. There are very few "accidents". Pilot error or equipment failure pretty much sums it up. "No Fault" insurance? It cracks me up.

Andy Long - 2013/08/12 22:29:11 UTC

And here's what awaits you if you encounter funky air when launching at St. John. No margin for error.

http://vimeo.com/71503420

NMERider - 2013/08/30 21:50:05 UTC

Steepness at the top will result in both a series of blown launches in nil wind and accidents in high winds. The ramp needs to be shaped more like a quarter cylinder where it is much shallower at the top and much steeper at the bottom.

Current flat-steep ramp shape:

In nil wind - pilots who launch from ramps that start out too steep at the top often have their angle of attach too high when they start their launch run (trot, shuffle leap) and become airborne at or below the MCA (minimum controllable airspeed) then are prone to getting turned back into the hillside while fully or partially stalled.

In high wind - nose wire assistants must choke up very close to the control bar and lose their ability to help yaw the glider to assist the pilot in keeping wings level.

Quarter-cylinder shape:

In nil wind - pilot accelerates gradually and does not become airborne at the steep portion until they have had time to gain airspeed and a chance to adjust angle of attack.

In high wind - nose wire assistant is safely able to stand farther out toward the nose which gives more leverage to help yaw the glider and more room to escape. Furthermore the airflow over the quarter-cylinder is much smoother and more predictable than the current flat-steep configuration with sharp bend at top.

There are many more reasons than I have stated above but if you look at the carefully engineered wooden ramps of the world they tend to be semi cylindrical in shape. Could there be a reason for this added complexity?

Obviously there are pilots in the club who can handle any ramp configuration but why add stress to an already critical aspect of flight when altering the shape of an Earthen ramp is readily within our reach?

Steve Murillo - 2013/10/07 22:20:53 UTC
SHGA - Safety Director

We had a pilot experience a blown launch on Sunday, Oct 6th. Little or no injuries were incurred. Pilot had this to say about his launch:

Simply and concisely, I screwed-up. While setting up the glider I felt winds from the south that were weak, but steady. But after going to launch the winds were almost nil.

I waited at launch for what seemed like about ten minutes watching the streamer occasionally indicate a few mph from the SW while hearing reports that the windsock showed northerly winds.

I saw the streamers begin to slightly blow straight in and heard persons I had been listening to for the windsock direction yell, "Go, Go, Go." I began my run and thought that I was not going to clear the bushes below launch, so I let up to rise over them. At that time I experienced a sharp right turn towards the mountain.

With my lack of speed I did not believe I could clear the hill by pulling in hard left, so I chose to slide sideways with my left wing into the hill and let the glider impact with my arms relaxed to avoid stiff arm injuries. As the left glider wheel impacted with the ground, my left shoulder hit the left downtube and my chest hit the ground, knocking the wind out of me.

My injuries were limited to a few brush scratches. So far the only damage to the glider that has been discovered is the left downtube. I plan to do a more thorough inspection when I replace the downtube.

In retrospect I should have waited for more favorable launch conditions and been more aggressive doing it. What I heard people telling me to go was actually pilots saying, "Don't go," warning me of a westerly dust devil coming at launch. And possibly if I had just pulled in hard to the left I could have cleared the hill.

Many thanks to all those who rescued me and my glider.