there was a close call...
Can't find the reference now. Pretty sure it was at Quest, early last decade, Flytec comp, German pilot.Greg Fergus - 2014/04/01 01:58:03 UTC UTC
Frisco, Texas
Our AT administrator said there was a fatality a few years ago because one of the pins was left out of the base tube on an AT.
There were a bunch of those incidents right after Wills Wing came out with the AT hardware, Yours Truly included. One was during a landing flare, the worst was Pete Lehmann a couple hundred feet over Harbor Mountain north of Breezewood. The trees and an undeployed chest mounted chute reduced the damage to about a broken collar bone.Fletcher - 2014/04/01 02:10:44 UTC
The story I heard about why Wills Wing made the folding basetube.
A pilot flew his Sport, landed, set the glider down and the basetube slipped out of the fitting with the pin securely installed in the down tube fitting but NOT through the basetube.
Rumor has it that WW gave the first production model folding basetube to that pilot.
That is good enough for a lot of items.Tormod Helgesen - 2014/04/01 05:17:05 UTC
Oslo
I seldom see people do a preflight check, even at big gatherings with lots of experienced pilots I see them just throw on their harness and fly. I asked a guy once and he said that he checked the glider during setup and that was good enough.
Doesn't your national organization have SOPs and provisions for rating suspensions, reductions, revocations?I've tried to advocate preflight checks and gotten ridiculed as a wimp.
Then they shouldn't have ratings to begin with. And the fuckin' manuals tell the owners exactly what to look for and do.I also suspect many of those who do a check don't really know what to look for, so errors may remain undetected.
Bet he doesn't miss that one again.A few weeks ago a guy came down under a parachute because he didn't see the broken control cables on his rigid. Bad preflight check or just didn't know (didn't care to learn) what to look for?
Not good but shouldn't be a serious problem.I always assemble my glider carefully, but even so I've found errors or things that have happened after setup that would be dangerous to fly with. My list includes a partially installed pip-pin in the basebar...
BFD....batten tips flipped open...
Not serious....open zippers center and tip...
Right.and several others. Only a open zipper at the tip (Moyes) I flew with and that only created a mild turn.
Again. You don't have a rating system up there?I don't know why preflight checks isn't done, but maybe it's because most hang glider pilots have no connection to the rest of the aviation world and don't have the training or attitude towards equipment safety that's common there.
See above.Equipment checks is mandatory to teach students here, but somewhere on the way it's lost.
Whitty - 2014/04/01 06:22:29 UTC
I bet all these pilots did a careful PFC when they started flying. Familiarity breeds contempt. I have seen one pilot clip in and walk to launch with his sprogs flapping around under the wing. Another very experienced phantom pilot also recently forgot to attach is aileron control cables which didn't end well.
Don't you understand that all that engineered in complexity just dramatically increases the likelihood of a catastrophic inflight failure? Should be happening any day now.Bob Knop - 2014/04/01 06:47:40 UTC
Holland
Hi,
My wing has a bayonet mount, no pins or loose parts which can get lost in the grass.
When installing the bottembar, there is only one way to do it.
You cannot fly the thing when it is not correctly engaged because it than just dangles and hangs downwards.
It has a safety cable inside as well.
It is a Finsterwalder Funfex, this system is tested many years now and usable for any wing, if manufacturers are looking for an other solution.
You just became an excellent candidate for launching unhooked and neutralizing everything else you've previously done in your preflight, flying career, and maybe life.paicolman - 2014/04/01 07:38:59 UTC
We actually get from day 1 of training the "10-point check" in Switzerland. As you progress, you extend it, but if I'm not mistaken, the "basic" check goes something like:
1. Hang strap / carabiner is ok.
2. Downtube OK, down to the pin on left side (this is what I did not quite correctly).
3. Front side of left wing, upper and lower cables ok, front bars have no dells. Feet on cable and pull wing up, check the screws.
4. Back of left wing, luv lines not entangled and going straight to the kingpost.
5. Back of the wing: wires connected, no worn signals, pick glider up and check it looks symmetrical.
6. Back side of right wing, same as left.
7. Front side of right wing, same as left.
8. Nose: Nose wires ok, nose cone is on.
9. Downtube ok, right pin ok.
10. Reserve in place, secured correctly (pins are not about to get loose).
Of course, depending on your wing you add stuff like closing al zippers and and and, but for a beginners glider, like a Falcon, it's a good start... or should be
Then, just before start, the "5-point check" (I hope it's correct this way, it's a long time since):
1. I am Attached to glider
Good luck.2. Wings are level
3. AoA is ok
4. No traffic in front of takeoff (We fly mountain only here...)
5. Wind ok
GO!
I think he has been there almost every time I have flown the fort. Rip Raffi
