Blown Launch at Woodstock 5/24

[XCanytime]

I blew my launch at Woodstock around 1P on Saturday 5/24. I sustained abrasions on my inner left leg and outer right leg, abrasions on my right elbow, and a cut on the fleshy part of the right elbow requiring 2 staples. The glider sustained 2 broken downtubes and some trailing edge sail scuff near the left wingtip. Thanks to Allan for helping me get the glider back up the slot up to the setup area. After breaking down the glider, Allan helped me carry out everything back to the truck. I then drove myself to Shenandoah Memorial Hospital to get my abrasions cleaned and the staples in the right elbow. It took about an hour and a half to get everything done. I drove back to launch to check in w/ Allan and Will. It was pretty strong when I got back to launch around 4:30P. Felix had shown up from the PG crew. After chewing the fat a little w/ the pilots, I headed home. Wouldn't you know it, I got a puncture in the passenger side rear tire somewhere that resulted in the TPMS chime ringing after crossing the Potomac at Harpers Ferry. By the time I got close to home, the PSI reading had dropped to 40 PSI (truck tire 72 PSI). Filled it up w/ air, got some beer for the pain, and set up the jack to keep the tire from going completely flat in the driveway. Painful crawling under the truck.

So what happened? First, I violated my personal windspeed envelope for launching at Woodstock. After a previous launch mishap at Woodstock on 1/1/19, I avoided flying Woodstock for 2.5 years. But I returned in the fall of 2021, w/ regular flying for the next 3+ years. The launches were within the personal windspeed envelope I had set for myself of a minimum of 12+ MPH before launching. Some of the launches were just below that initial minimum parameter, and a few of those had scary moments of sinking after a good launch in gradient pockets unseen in the lower part of the slot. But overall, the best launches had the most free airspeed of 12+ MPH.

Saturday I had grandiose plans of going XC towards the Lost Griz Aerodrome, located 30 miles from the Front Royal Airport, where I have been consistently landing since 2007. Arriving at 9:30A, the sky looked awesome, and I set up and waited for Allan Bawell to arrive after 11A+. The only other pilot coming was Wil Hnyla, and he wasn't set to arrive until 3P+. After Allan's arrival just before noon, we discussed me either launching now or waiting for Wil. We decided to wait for Wil, but then at the last moment I changed my mind, as conditions were light to moderate in the slot. I staged at the 2nd gravel area (all other pilots stage higher in the slot at the 1st gravel area, 3 to 4 steps added to the launch run). Conditions were real light. Way below the threshold I had set at 12 MPH. The streamers looked good. Not the 12 MPH I desired, didn't sound great, but I decided to give it a go. The nose was too high, and I got lifted off of the ground prematurely. The glider sank back towards the ground; the Finsterwalder pneumatic wheels did not contact the ground. The glider veered left, either from the left wing dropping or the glider weathervaning into the relative wind it saw. It mushed in terrain follow mode over the rocky hillside. The control frame struck rock(s), and the glider came to a sudden stop, facing back up the slot. I was relatively OK, save for the abrasions mentioned earlier. Didn't discover the elbow gash until Allan mentioned it in the setup area.

After a long talk w/ a pilot friend, I am acquiring an S3 155 w/ a custom 135 control frame. Being a stubborn knucklehead, I should've been flying a 155 since 2012, when I acquired my 1st S2 135. I was just over the 200 lb max hook in weight by ~ 10 lbs at that time. At this point I'm 15 lbs. heavier than I was in 2012, so I'm ~ 25 lbs. over the max hook in weight, and have been for the last couple of years. It's time to finally fly a glider that has a hook in weight range that I don't violate the max # of lbs. I imagine launch and landing will be much easier, as long as you execute the fundamentals of safe flying. I look forward to being more conservative and safe in the next chapter of my flying hang gliders.

The reason I said earlier in this post "doesn't sound great, but we'll give it a go" is because these are the exact words of the Cessna Citation pilot to ATC who struck power lines and crashed into a San Diego neighborhood just 1 week+ ago, killing himself and 5 others on board the aircraft. Bacil

[dbodner]

Bacil,

Sorry about your incident. It's quite fortunate you didn't get more hurt. Do you have an estimated wind speed?

Let me know if you'd like to take a Sport 2 155 with standard control frame on short- or long-term loan.

[XCanytime]

Bacil,

Sorry about your incident. It's quite fortunate you didn't get more hurt. Do you have an estimated wind speed?

Let me know if you'd like to take a Sport 2 155 with standard control frame on short- or long-term loan.

Allan estimated 6 to 8 MPH. Thanks for the reply and the offer.