Nice Pulpit day...with a minor incident.

[Scott]

Arrived at the Pulpit around 1pm to find Shawn Ray on the ramp (without his glider, of course) in honkin' winds (avg18, g23). Mark C and Carlos W had just left to drop a car in the LZ. Winds seemed to be backing down, though, so when Gene Towns, Rich Donahue, John Simon, Wesley Comerer, Cragin, and Brian VH showed up I drove down to the LZ to plant a sock.

Mark C was on the ramp ready to launch when I returned. Winds were down to around 15. Mark got above the ridge quickly, and was followed by Carlos and Wesley. I got set up while Cragin, John, and Shawn launched Rich. Then Cragin, Shawn and I launched John, and I launched next with help from Cragin, Shawn and Chris McKee, who was just spectating with a friend today---thanks guys.

BTW, Shawn Ray is puttin' some serious assistance money in the bank, so we'll all owe him once he's flying again (hopefully by January he says).

I found smooth lift on the ridge, punctuated by occasional light thermals, nothing very strong or punchy. Got to around 200-300' over, which of course wasn't as high as Mark. Not long after I launched, I heard Wesley (who had already landed) radio for help in the LZ. "I had a really bad landing and think I may have hurt myself pretty bad," he said. I thought "Oh no--not again! I'm a curse!"

Mark responded, asking Wesley if there was any bleeding. Wesley responded calmly, saying no bleeding, and he didn't think the injury was life-threatening, but that something was definitely very wrong with his arm, and he might have broken it.

Meanwhile, a radioless John Simon was worried sick because he saw Wesley whack hard on landing, and didn't see any movement under Wesley's glider for several minutes. John flew out to land as close to Wesley as possible, and was relieved to hear Wesley say "It's okay, I just hurt my arm bad." Mark, Cragin and Carlos all landed to help Wesley. By the time I landed, they were in the process of splinting Wesley's upper arm with a couple of tip battens and the velcro ties from his Eagle.

We got Wesley out of his harness, then Mark, Cragin and Carlos got him into Carlos' car while John and I broke down his glider and carried it to his car by the road. Fortunately, Wesley's parents live close by (Chambersburg), so they were able to drive over and carry Wesley to the hospital and drive his car home.

Wesley explained that he had a good approach and landing, but had to run out his touchdown a few steps and tripped when he stepped in a hole---this wasn't surprising, as he ended up close to the steep bank and uneven ground right between the upper and lower halves of the primary LZ. Bad luck!

So it was a beautiful day for flying, minus Wesley's unfortunate accident. We hope he'll let us know the damage and that he's okay! We're all hoping for a speedy recovery Wesley! I got 50 minutes on the ridge, and I think everyone else (including Wesley) got some decent airtime as well.

I really needed a good high flight---my first since Bill Priday's death. It was a major morale boost to get back in the air again.

Scott

[John Simon]

Just got a phone update from Wesley's Dad. He has a broken humorous, but
it's pretty badly broken as I understand it... busted in 3 places and his
father mentioned the possibility of nerve damage. He is to have surgery
tomorrow to have a plate put in. Wesley passed his thanks along to all who
were able to help out. I hope to have an update in a day or two but can't
be sure his Dad will continue to call my cell. I'm not sure which hospital
he went to but his family did mention one in Chambersburg.

From my perspective today was a beautiful flying day but with a pretty
strong inversion. We were all scraping along the ridge for some nice enough
flights about 700 or 800 over. On landing Wesley got tripped up in some
rolling terrain with some VERY large gopher holes and whacked pretty darn
hard trying to run it out. I immediately thought it was a hard enough
landing to be concerned about injury. I watched from 2000' or so and back
on the ridge to see if he'd pop up from it but nothing. The thing that
worried me was no movement under the glider and nobody moving towards him to
help. The place he landed shielded him from the view of anyone on the
ground and I think I was the only one in the air to see it. I headed out to
the LZ. Still took me a while to get there spiral down and do my own little
whack about 100' from him. By the time I got there all I had been looking
at for the last 10 minutes were a pair of non-moving legs sticking out and
as I ran over I was a little concerned what I might find. Wesley was matter
of fact and said "I think I broke my arm but I'm OK otherwise.... Thanks for
coming John, why don't you take a minute to catch your breath". Hah... I
was relieved and more help arrived soon to care for him.



John



-----Original Message-----
From: Scott [mailto:sw@shadepine.com]
Sent: Sunday, October 30, 2005 7:45 PM
To: hg_forum@chgpa.org
Subject: Nice Pulpit day...with a minor incident.


Arrived at the Pulpit around 1pm to find Shawn Ray on the ramp (without his
glider, of course) in honkin' winds (avg18, g23). Mark C and Carlos W had
just left to drop a car in the LZ. Winds seemed to be backing down, though,
so when Gene Towns, Rich Donahue, John Simon, Wesley Comerer, Cragin, and
Brian VH showed up I drove down to the LZ to plant a sock.

Mark C was on the ramp ready to launch when I returned. Winds were down to
around 15. Mark got above the ridge quickly, and was followed by Carlos and
Wesley. I got set up while Cragin, John, and Shawn launched Rich. Then
Cragin, Shawn and I launched John, and I launched next with help from
Cragin, Shawn and Chris McKee, who was just spectating with a friend
today---thanks guys.

BTW, Shawn Ray is puttin' some serious assistance money in the bank, so
we'll all owe him once he's flying again (hopefully by January he says).

I found smooth lift on the ridge, punctuated by occasional light thermals,
nothing very strong or punchy. Got to around 200-300' over, which of course
wasn't as high as Mark. Not long after I launched, I heard Wesley (who
had already landed) radio for help in the LZ. "I had a really bad landing
and think I may have hurt myself pretty bad," he said. I thought "Oh no--not
again! I'm a curse!"

Mark responded, asking Wesley if there was any bleeding. Wesley responded
calmly, saying no bleeding, and he didn't think the injury was
life-threatening, but that something was definitely very wrong with his arm,
and he might have broken it.

Meanwhile, a radioless John Simon was worried sick because he saw Wesley
whack hard on landing, and didn't see any movement under Wesley's glider for
several minutes. John flew out to land as close to Wesley as possible, and
was relieved to hear Wesley say "It's okay, I just hurt my arm bad." Mark,
Cragin and Carlos all landed to help Wesley. By the time I landed, they were
in the process of splinting Wesley's upper arm with a couple of tip battens
and the velcro ties from his Eagle.

We got Wesley out of his harness, then Mark, Cragin and Carlos got him into
Carlos' car while John and I broke down his glider and carried it to his car
by the road. Fortunately, Wesley's parents live close by (Chambersburg), so
they were able to drive over and carry Wesley to the hospital and drive his
car home.

Wesley explained that he had a good approach and landing, but had to run out
his touchdown a few steps and tripped when he stepped in a hole---this
wasn't surprising, as he ended up close to the steep bank and uneven ground
right between the upper and lower halves of the primary LZ. Bad luck!

So it was a beautiful day for flying, minus Wesley's unfortunate accident.
We hope he'll let us know the damage and that he's okay! We're all hoping
for a speedy recovery Wesley! I got 50 minutes on the ridge, and I think
everyone else (including Wesley) got some decent airtime as well.

I really needed a good high flight---my first since Bill Priday's death. It
was a major morale boost to get back in the air again.

Scott

[Spark]

I can sympathize sincerely with Wesely, having broken my Humerus in three places in 1989 during a down-wind whack in boulder-strewn terrain. I hope and pray that he doesn't have any nerve damage and can recuperate quickly. My recovery took nearly 6 months.

I also enjoyed a flight at the Pulpit in the PG, albeit late in the day.

I started at Smithsburg a bit after noon. When I arrived, Richard Hays was already there with a group of students. Shortly after I laid out my wing, winds began to blow more from the WSW and became much lighter.

Daniel Broxterman and I flew PG for a couple of hours. Jens B. showed up around 2pm for more of the same.

Afterwards Daniel and I went to the Pulpit, where winds had backed down considerably.

With assistance from Shawn and Rich on the wind meters, we waited for winds to back off to between 10 and 12mph, after which Daniel made a perfect launch for his very first mountain flight! Although it was still soarable, Daniel wisely chose to use his altitude to examine the secondary LZ and practice turns.

I launched last (with my camera) and flew hands-off, snapping photos until the light ran out.

Congrats to Daniel for his first PG Mountain Flight!

[hepcat1989]

It was a vibrant day to be in the mountains. I love this time of year, my favorite.I was camping at cowans gap all weekend. My wife and I and another couple rented a cabin, I highly recommend it.We went up to launch saturday afternoon. It was coming straight in, but strong as hell.Sunday I got unpacked, and headed to the pulpit to see if I could help out. I got there at 12:30 to much of the same as saturday-STRONG, but it was gradually backing down.Pilots started arriving by the bus load!Mark lead the charge, and pilots started doing the conga line to launch.Thanks to Cragin for observing Rich B. off launch. He was thankful, man!!! I didn't know about Wesley's mishap until I got home that night.( DAMMIT!) If he is still in the hospital I may stop by, and see him after I go to my doctor's visit today. Hey Brian, who was your friend?She was waiting patiently to retrieve your ass! You ole rascal. Daniel, congrats on your flight, well done! Peace, Shawn. I had fun!

[hepcat1989]

I just talked to Wesley in the hospital. He is going into surgery this afternoon.I am going to visit him today or this evening. He sounded good, just waiting to be cut open. His room number is 279, Chambersburg hospital.
Shawn.

[brianvh]

By the time I launched there was only one glider left in the air, so didn't bother to put on the radio - sure glad others did and that John had the good sense to respond when he didn't see motion.

So I launched and flew without knowing anything about Wesley's incident. Flew quite happily all alone for awhile after Gene landed, but then got lonely and started harassing the PG to launch. Eventually landed in the field to find nothing but a whole group of gliders still setup. Except for Gene it was silient as a grave. Seemed strange to me but I didn't clue in. The guys finally all arrived and started breaking down. Matthew called to get a flying report, and Cragin reported that he landed early to deal with a broken arm. Ha, ha, very funny Cragin, must've been a bear launching with it.

Oh, what, you were serious? No...somebody else's broken arm? Sheesh. Glad to know it was a gopher hole instead of a serious error in flying technique. Could've happened to anyone, Wesley, hope things come out okay. Corn's coming down, should be able to land in the lower field soon.

And shawn: she's married. They've taken me caving a couple times, thought she needed to see a real sport.

[hang_pilot]

Congrats to Daniel for his first PG Mountain Flight!

Thanks, Spark, it was a blast! Thanks for all of your help. Felt like I was moving in slow motion compared to HG even though I spent most of the flight with no pull on the brakes.

Had a short talk w. Wesley, short because they were about to stick tubes in him (his phrase). He's pre-op but the nurse is prep-ing him now. Sounds like he's doing o.k. because he wanted to talk about why they weren't able to climb high yesterday. The guy breaks his arm in three places and wants to know if there was an inversion.

We talked a little about his landing. He says he'll write it up. I feel awful for him. He's been flying great. He has good judgment and after landing should have been talking with an observer about signing off on his H3. Instead he was having his broken arm velcro'd to a set of battens!

Thanks to everyone that helped out: Cragin, Mark, Brian, Gene, John & Carlos.

Did anyone notice that Gene finally got some mtn air time? His launch looked strong. Congrats to Gene!

~Daniel

[brianvh]

Brian and Gene didn't help out because we didn't know anything had happened...please don't give me undeserved credit. John was first responder and Cragin had the insight to use glider parts to splint an arm - good folks to have around. I think I'll leave the radio on from now on even if there doesn't seem to be anyone to talk to.

[Spark]

Photos from last Sunday at the Pulpit - Daniel's first paraglider flight from a mountain - fall colors.

http://community.webshots.com/album/491137121iVrOCI

[Gene]

We missed all the action in the LZ by being the last two to launch. And I left my radio too thinking it was going to be a short flight. Brian and I was just yacking away in the field wondering why everybody flew to the corner to make a long haul out. Had we have known, we would've been there. Then I was on my way to the secondary to retrieve the PG'ers and called Sparky, half way up he said that Shawn was getting them. Speedy recovery to Wesley, wish I could have been more help. Gene

[stevek]

Wow. He has been seriously injured. He was really doing well -- Good solid launches and approaches. I have flown with him quite a lot. We flew XC together down to Stausburg to drink Joe Schad's beer a while ago. Hope he gets out of this w/o pemanent damage.

I don't like the Pulpit LZ and rarely fly the place unless I am thinking of gettin up and outta there.