Bad Launch, Broken Glider

[CraginS]

Blew my launch at HR yesterday. Based on witness accounts and how the glider acted, I pushed out very slightly as I left the rock, initiating a stall. The right wing lifted, turing me toward the trees to the left.Then it appears I was not aggressive enough in pulling in for speed, because I gained no control as I swung to the right; the left turn continued unabated.
I ended up in the trees immediately below launch. able to stand on a rock ledge.
Crew came down immediately to get me unhooked, fold up the glider, and carry it up to the top for me.
Only very minor injuries: bruised and scraped left shoulder and right forearm. Known glider damage includes both downtubes and at least one segment of leading edge.

Many thanks to everyone who helped out- Tom, Jon, Glenn, Amy, Mark, even a couple of wuffos. Rather nice to have an EMT and a paramedic both on hand at the launch. Amy the paramedic made sure I was ok, then went on to her very first HR flight. Go, Amy!

[markc]

Very glad you are ok and that the damage is mostly to the glider Craig! I wasn't there, so I can't give you any feedback about your launch. However, I've been in a scrape or two myself (including a blown launch that left me in the trees), and one of my take-away observations is that it can be difficult to correct with the aggressive inputs that are called for when things are going south.

For me, I've noted a tendency to delay ("Huh? What the F?"), and then a tendency to "finesse" the corrective action, rather than REALLY jumping on it. While there is a risk of being too aggressive and making things worse when the sh%t is hitting the fan, I think I'll take that risk over the alternative.

A practice from the days at the training hill can be of help: "Focus on your target" . If you have decided "That's where I'm going" while at launch, having that target in mind might improve reaction time if something goes wrong.

Just a couple of 0.01 for thought. I hope that the glider damage can be fixed and that you'll be back in the air soon.

MarkC

[XCanytime]

First of all, I am glad that you were not seriously hurt. You got off real easy. Being a closet accident investigator, I am going to put forth some facts that may be valuable in analyzing what went wrong yesterday. Any accident has multiple parameters that can and do occur simultaneously, factoring into the outcome. It was HOT yesterday. HOT air is THIN air. It's harder to get flying in thinner air. Wing loading is another parameter to be considered. A heavier wing loading means the stall speed is higher than a lighter wing loading. With these two parameters acting in tandem to raise the minimum flying speed of the wing, the choice of the cycle is critical in attaining flying speed quickly after launching from the cube. Judging from the video provided, minimum flying control speed was not attained. The weight shift towards the high wing had no control effect since minimum flying control speed was not attained. I don't think the glider ever achieved even minimum flying speed, so sinking into the tree canopy was inevitable. So what could have prevented the incident? A stronger cycle would have provided much needed airspeed for free before departing the cube. Pulling in slightly instead of pushing out slightly would have made a major difference in the airspeed; an addition of 5 MPH airspeed may have been enough for minimum flying control speed to arrest the roll and decrease the sink rate. The decrease in the sink rate may have been enough to clear the tree canopy. We must be extra vigilant when launching in hot, dry conditions. Extra care in picking a cycle that provides plenty of airspeed for free before launching must be exercised. The AOA that adds airspeed right after launch must be maintained until plenty of clearance from solid objects is achieved. Bacil

[A0213]

Cragin,

Glad we could be there to help! I am assuming that you are pretty sore today. But, thankfully, your glider absorbed most of the energy, not your bones!!!!

Thanks for posting your write up and video. As a new pilot, I try to use the forum as a learning opportunity... and I know your incident is a very real situation that a pilot could find him/herself in. The chats we had after the incident and Bacil's incident analysis could prevent me (or another pilot) from making a similar error.

Take care, and rest up!

Amy

PS- Jon is a paramedic as well... in fact, he has been at it longer than I have!!

[dbodner]

Looks like a cherry tree that broke your fall.

That's a tough break but a RELATIVELY low-cost reminder of what could happen to any of us. I hope you and your glider heal fast.

[Ward Odenwald]

Cragin, I’m happy that you’re okay but like many of us who want to avoid similar misfortune I have questions about what happened yesterday that your post did not cover.

The video indicates that you had very little forward momentum when you left the platform.

Did you consider running off the platform?

What was your takeoff strategy?

What weather/wind conditions just before launch suggested to you that there was enough lift beyond the platform for such a slow start?

Bacil mentioned wing-loading and low-density/hot air as a possible factor.

I believe that you’re flying a WW U2 160, what was your hook in weight yesterday?

Do you think that the low-density conditions were a factor?

A quick check of your forum posts indicates that your last non-tow flight was almost 7 months ago at the Taylor training hill on February 6th.

Did you have any other more recent foot-launch flights and/or did you do any ground training - simulated running talk-offs to prepare for yesterday’s cliff launch?

Respectfully, Ward

[carweill]

[Cragin I'm glad your are fine. Thanks for sharing this]

I didn't see the launch because I was on the other side of the ridge.
My opinion is that most off us don't use the site as often as we use to.
The most typical mistake is to pop the nose once the wing is exposed to more wind.
I did that on my previous launch but luckily recovered after scaring my wire crew.
This time I followed Tom's recommendation to get close to the edge and had Glen on the keel to avoid drastic pitch changes.
Fot that is best to inform wire crew were you intend to launch, in case someone needs a rope to secure themselves.

Maybe we should run a cliff launch clinic to get us all making safe launches.

Carlos

[CraginS]

OK, so my daughter and her best friend watched the video today. Their comment?
"That's a pretty tree!"

[RichH]

Its hard to tell much from your video and since I wasn't there I can only give thoughts on possibly things to avoid. There are typically a few major circumstances that lead to a blown launch at HR..
* Launching with pitch/nose too high: this is probably the most common mistake..pilots sometimes in the excitement of a cliff launch will try to transition too early and let the nose come up right during or after leaving the ramp..
* too little momentum or speed during the launch..or tip toeing : depending on the wind velocity will usually determine how much or little launch velocity you will need..even when you are a step away from the edge that step in some instances needs to be aggressive.
*launching with one wing too high or too low or possibly too far back from the edge..and basically stalling a tip off a launch resulting in a roll to the right or left immediately during/after the launch phase..this becomes a tricky affair if the winds are crossing from the n or the s and I have seen pilots making mistakes in adjusting their angle placing one wing tip too far back from the edge and in effect stalling it by placing it in a lee rotor or wind shadow from the edge..
* positioning on the ramp for the appropriate conditions: this is also a common mistake and since I have not flown HR in many moons I'm hesitant to give advice on this only to say watching and flying with more experienced pilots will help you gain the insights on this question..I have seen pilots try to launch too far back from the edge in moderate to even strong conditions..with bad results..
Again we all learn from our mistakes.. I know HR can be a very forgiving launch but it can also be one of the more difficult if conditions are not optimum..I hope you don't mind me throwing out some points ..I'm very glad it turned out well for you..Rich Hiegel

[mikel]

Craig,

Just Glad to hear that you are alright....take care buddy.

Mike

[Lauren Tjaden]

Glad you're okay, hon!!
Lauren Tjaden

[brianvh]

Wow, High Rock blown launches fall neatly into two categories: cheap and amazing to expensive and amazing (talking both glider and body); glad you fell into the first category.

I think Carlos's comment about not flying the cliff as often as we used to is very pertinent. I don't fly anything as much as I used to and so have experienced sagely (and perhaps smugly) commenting on other people's incidents, only to be humbled when it happens to me because I just haven't been out that much and things slip. So yeah, when the angle of the air rotates to a steeper angle at a cliff, the nose has to follow it. You can fall off the rock and have a safe launch if you just keep your nose down, assuming you remember what that feels like. Most likely it will be me next time, not having launched there for years and wisely dispensing cliff launch advice right up to the moment I go in the trees.

Oh hey - congratulations Amy!

-Brian.

[theflyingdude]

Craig, It's hard to tell your body position from the camera angle, but generally speaking, when doing a cliff-launch with any wind, you should be leaning forward and pulled in from the the outset of your launch since you're basically starting near the edge and there's no running involved. Glad you're OK and that you'll get another shot at it.

JR

[brianvh]

BTW, I don't think any of us feels we're giving Cragin advice he doesn't already know, just reminding those with less cliff launch experience, and reminding ourselves who haven't done it in a while of the finer points to keep in mind.

[Flying Lobster]

Your daughter and her friend have contacted me about joining PETT (People for the ethical treatment of trees). Have you consider counseling for arboreal abuse?

Better glider and tree broken than you!

Marc

[CraginS]

To finish out my report on the accident, please see my OZ forum post in this thread
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24742

My post is on the second page. Be sure to read the thread highlights from the beginning to understand some of the remarks in my post.

[Ashley Groves]

Glad you are OK and thanks for posting.