are pretty clear-cut; but the process might be of some interest to
others, so I thought I'd provide some details.
Conditions at High Rock (Sat28Feb) had picked up by about 1:00 due
to a frontal passage. Definitely rock-and-roll... the early wave of
pilots had landed because conditions were getting strong and the fun
factor was low. Up top, we (Spark, Carlos, myself) were seeing 15-20,
with gusts to 25+; clearly not flyable. I ran a shuttle with Carlos,
and then the waiting around began. An all-too-familar pattern lately,
eh?
Conditions were forecast to start backing off after 2:00. At 3:00,
I started to see some 12-15mph lulls that were tempting. Based on clouds
and birds, I figured that the flying itself would probably be pretty
fun, I just needed to get off safely.
(And this turned out to be true, at least on my U2. I got about 2 hours,
no penetration problems, 1300' over a few times, a great flight!)
But the strong cycles were still gusting to 20+ and the direction
was sometimes significantly cross-left: good judgement and
technique would be required. I watched a few more of the lulls, and
finally geared up around 3:30 with a definite picture of exactly what
I wanted: a lull on the pine trees to the left and right; no gusts
visible/audible; enough time to get out to the edge; enough time to
pick the glider up and get balanced.
But that's not what happened. I launched unbalanced with a lifted
left wing, and had one of those can't-believe-he-got-away-with-it
launches, with my right wingtip clearing the pillar and/or tree by maybe
a couple of feet.
Given that I knew the challenges I was facing, how did I let this come
to pass? *This* is the interesting part....
Two things come to mind:
- the inherent stress/anxiety of launching in those conditions
- a desire to fly that compromised my safety-conscious decisions
made minutes before
It was strong. The primary wire crew were roped in; they were
both backed up by someone holding onto them, and I had a keel assist.
We waited out gusts at the back of the cube. Then slid forward during
a likely lull; I would try to pick up, but no go; so back off and wait.
We did this twice. On the third try, even though the lull was not
the 12-15 I was looking for, I chose to go. And on that third trip
out, I did not have my right wing forward, as conditions demanded.
I think that I simply *forgot* to do this, given everything else
that was going on (watching/listening/wire-crew feedback/trying
to balance the glider/trying to get to the edge). That's just LAME!
Adding to this was my desire to "make something happen". I've been out
there a lot lately: cold crappy weather without much of a pay-off in
terms of airtime. So there I was, willing to launch in winds that were
not comparable to the halfway-decent cycles which had gotten me up
there in the first place! Geez, am I really that air-horny??? I guess so....
I'm not going to say that I will never try to launch in similar
conditions in the future. So, what change in behavior might help
prevent me from the failures of technique and judgement of this launch?
One idea (Spark's) is to set a limit on the amount of time that I'm
willing to hang out on launch. If I can't launch in 10/15/whatever
minutes, back off of the cube, unhook/climb-out, and "reset" for another
try after re-examining conditions.
Another idea (mine) is to try to 'break the ice' somehow. You've
gotten out there, had to pull back because things weren't working...
Ok, so come up with the mental equivalent of backing off of launch,
sort of a 'time-out' on the stresses of the situation. If you've got
a wire crew that's willing to hang out for a bit and continue giving
you a hand, well... tell 'em that you're just going to sit and watch
things for a while. Chill out! Tell a joke! I know it sounds trite, but...
RELAX!
Many thanks to Spark, Carlos, Danny, and Wesley (and whoever I'm
forgetting) for helping me launch. For all the new pilots who were
there : I hope this gives you some insight into my thought process,
but remember, your choices must always be your own. Think about what
the day was like, talk to other pilots, talk to your observer, think
of the types of conditions you've launched in... and let it all sink in!
