incident report

[Lauren Tjaden]

Incident Report
?
Well. I was going to write about the Highland Fly in (a great success) but I thought it would be too complex to include my accident along with it, so I'll just lay it out separately. This is the story.
Experience: I am rated a hang four, and have been flying for 3 1/2 years. I moved up from my Eagle last winter to the Sport 2. I have well over 200 hours total and have about 70 on the Sport, and feel very competent flying it.
I have?been considering buying?a more advanced glider and took advantage of the chance to demo the WW gliders at Highland before and during the fly in.
Thursday, June 16th I flew the 145 WW U2. I am a little light on it (my body weight is about 135) but within range. I flew it starting about 11 AM, and flew it 6 times, continuing through the evening, for a total of 2 hours. I?put a fin on it for the first flight, moved it up the keel for the next couple, and removed it after that.
My first flight I realized many small differences about the glider. The VG moves the bar position (unlike the VG on my Sport) and I needed to fly with my hands further underneath my body, and also spread them wider apart as I initially had too little roll authority. I also needed to keep my hands spread wider throughout my flights on it as I found it more difficult to turn. I also needed to focus on bar position to determine speed, as opposed to bar pressure, since the U2 has much less bar pressure.
The glide was much longer than I am used to, and the approaches were my biggest challenge. I tried to fly DBF approaches as the wind was extremely light. I became slightly more accurate but was invariably high throughout most of the day. I fixed?my high approaches?by?changing to a?figure eight approach at the end of what had been intended as my base leg. I didn't want to be turning too low, particularly since my turns lacked?precise control, due somewhat to the glider's size but also due to my lack of experience with it, but nevertheless some of the turns were lower than ideal (though not horribly). On one of my approaches the wind switched (it was extremely variable throughout the day) and I ended up with a significant tail wind. That, combined with my high approach, had me skidding in on my belly on the paved taxiway (this is not the incident). I ground off pieces of my harness and tennis shoes, but the landing was very gentle and the glider and I both were fine.
I resolved to fly better and my last 2 approaches and subsequent landings were good, although I was told I should have flown with a little more speed (that bar position thing).
The next day?I flew the U2 twice is crosswind conditions of perhaps 10 mph?and "chunky" air. Both of my approaches worked well and my landings were good. I deliberately flew figure 8 approaches with the higher winds. The glide on final was much more what I was used to with the wind.
I?did not fly the U2 but my own glider for the cross country competition on Saturday, but decided to fly it again yesterday (Sunday evening) in order to work out the approaches. I flew at about 5 PM in only mildly textured air, with?light winds (0-5) coming consistently from the SE?and enjoyed a short soaring flight. I decided to land in the field to the west of the normal landing field, so I would have more room to set up an approach without over flying the gliders set up and the swamp.
OK, let's get to it. I thought I spotted my angles fine, but as I turned on base I saw I was a little high. I didn't think it was much. I pushed as far out towards the runway as I could, thinking I would lose enough altitude to begin final without adding a turn. In continuing straight?ahead I boxed myself into a position where I was going to be aimed more south than SE, since I had reached the furthest end of the field and had not lost much altitude. I turned final when I thought I was OK?but I quickly realized my glide still might easily result in overshooting the field. I added a quick turn, quite low. I always transition to a one hand up and one down position as I begin final. I believed my turn was completed and believe I tried to transition (I am slightly fuzzy on this part). The glider continued turning past where I had anticipated it straightening, and I had one hand in the air (transitioning) as it continued turning. I tried hard to straighten it but impacted hard with the?right wing in a turn. My body swung left?through the left down tube and the injuries to the glider were all on that side (like mine).
Actually this is interesting talking to Paul this morning. I know I tried to turn right to add a loop but apparently the glider turned left after that and then right again. So maybe these were oscillations but I obviously lost control of the glider. When the right wing impacted it wrapped up hard that way and it might have partly been because of the gradient. Really weird how I don't know what happened totally.?I thought the left wing impacted?until Paul reminded me it was the right and now I remember it fine.
I escaped without significant injury, though?I am extremely sore in my left leg and arm, and in my?neck. The glider had a broken down tube, a stretched tang and will need the side wire replaced, oh, I guess the corner bracket too. The sprog zipper pull was also ripped off and I am unsure what else will need to be replaced since I did not help break down the glider. I was very lucky; this was a pretty good crash. Sorry Rob.
The cause was, obviously, 100 percent pilot error. I think Pete Lehmann said best; that I was not being as conservative as?I thought?I was being, because?I assumed the U2 would respond in a way similar to my Sport. I should have aimed to land at the very?starting point?of the field, and if anything?I should have aimed more to the east, since this would have given me much more room and?I could have easily turned slightly south at any point.
I will obviously continue flying but I am questioning what is most enjoyable about the sport to me, as well as my ability to successfully transition to a more difficult glider and continue flying it as safely as?I have my Sport. I am very confused really and of course very unhappy with myself and my performance.
My thanks to Adam Elchin, Danny Brotto, Dave Proctor, Daniel Broxterman and all the others who helped (I am so sorry, I really don't know who was there); my thanks especially to Pete for listening to my tearful, drunk ramblings, and my apologies to Highland for leaving everyone with a bad taste in their mouths after such a wonderful weekend.
Lauren

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[Matthew]

Great write-up Lauren. Thanks. And congrats on your longest XC flight on Saturday. I wish more people would be as forthcoming as you and report on their incidents and not just their accomplishments. It really helps to read incident reports, think about them, visualize them and then store the info somewhere in the back of your brain in case a similar fate occurs to you.

Matthew

[rancerupp]

Lauren,

I'm glad you're all right. Like Matthew, thanks for your honesty in reporting this.

Each time I read one of these, I ask myself "Could this happen to me?". I then determine if I need to make adjustments to my judgment calls or flying styles to help to prevent me from ending up in a similar situation. We all get away with some mistakes from time to time, flying too low, too slow, misjudged approaches, etc. Hopefully we realize when we've made one and then make some adjustments to help prevent it in the future.

Thanks again for the report.

Rance

[Scott]

Man, after what Holly's been through I was scared to death when I saw your post Lauren! But the fact you were writing it calmed me down a little. I'm very sorry to hear about your accident, and REALLY glad you're okay! Get well soon and back in the air!

Scott

[silverwings]

Lauren,
First, I am glad that you are OK even though you are miffed about your accident. When I saw you earlier in the day you indicated that you had been flying a lot lately and was tired so that you needed a rest/break from flying. That was a good evaluation but you didn't follow through with it! One of the things that I have my students do as part of their hang 2 requirements is to chart a couple days of flying with Roberstons Windividual chart to potentially give them some insight as to how their physical and mental condition might affect their flying. It appeared to me that you were mentally and physically fatigued when I saw you early Sunday afternoon. If in fact that was true, it very well may have affected your flying and contributed to your accident. Sometimes it is difficult to just say NO to flying (especially if others are having nice flights) but may be necessary for your well being. Remember, there will be other days to fly. So don't beat yourself up from this, but try to learn from it and thanks for posting.

[hang_pilot]

Lauren and others might be interested to know that Wills Wing has a guide to landing the U2 in the manual for that wing.? It is available online at http://willswing.com/pdf/pdf_man.asp?theModel=u2 ??(It mentions the dangers of slipping a turn that Kevin described.)
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[Lauren wrote] I found it more difficult to turn.? The glider continued turning past where I had anticipated it straightening
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[Daniel responds] Agreed! U2 has more weight at wing tips than the Sport 2 => more inertia => more force required to initiate and terminate a turn.
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I am also transitioning to the U2 and am getting used to the handling? I wouldn’t say the handling is more difficult (Rance, Scott) – it’s predictable/stable – just different than the gliders I have previously flown.? ?
?
Curious how Lauren had her VG set?
?

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I was packing up yesterday and did not witness either Lauren or Ken’s hard landings.? I was with them both immediately afterward and from what they and others said, took away some personal lessons that I thought I would share.? I am not analyzing the contributing factors, just relating how I personally processed things.
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Some of the possible approaches at Highland are less than ideal due to obstacles and lack of Plan B’s.? There may not be enough room for a long, straight final. Lately, I have found myself making turns closer to the ground at Highland than I would prefer.? Lauren’s experience makes me more focused on avoiding those situations.
?
When Lauren landed winds were more easterly, when New York Ken landed more southerly.? He set up his final across the short (N-S) axis of the windsock field.? From what I was told, it looked like he was flying fast, went long, panicked, flared early and zoomed up.?
?
In south winds, unless there’s a glider conflict, I am going to line up my final on a course that runs east of the hangers.? If I go long, I can land in the grass field behind the building. ?A longer walk to the break down area but no stress.
?
Ken’s experience has also reminded me that it is possible to fly too fast on approach. You can see me doing this in the first frames of this sequence: http://photos.sickinger.net/ecc05/32.unknown/index.html? It was difficult to hold in pitch when I went for the downtubes (you can see I climbed out a bit). The extra speed really paid out in horizontal distance. At 1/3 of the way across the field, my feet are less than three feet above the ground and yet I still landed close to the far end.
?
Paul Adamez took Ken to Easton to get checked out.? Paul’s a helluva nice guy!
?
Daniel
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P.S.? Sunday’s flight: 2:58 with a max altitude of 4815, a personal best for duration.? Special thrill was coring the same thermal as the person who taught me to fly, John Middleton.? Good times.? ?
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[Scott]

Good post Daniel!

Some of the possible approaches at Highland are less than ideal due to obstacles and lack of Plan B?s. There may not be enough room for a long, straight final. Lately, I have found myself making turns closer to the ground at Highland than I would prefer.

I dealt with a similar issue on an approach at Blue Sky. I had everything planned in my head, then had to re-think fast when the wind shifted. I was too low (150-200') for my plan B to put me down on the spot, which totally discombobulated me. Ended up blowing my final and flare timing and bellied in after several perfect approaches and landings. Ticked me off! A good lesson though---and a reminder that no matter what else, you've got to fly the glider. (I also learned that at 150', you're running out of time and options fast!)

Ken?s experience has also reminded me that it is possible to fly too fast on approach. You can see me doing this in the first frames of this sequence <snip> It was difficult to hold in pitch when I went for the downtubes (you can see I climbed out a bit).

For what it's worth, Steve W. says you can't fly too fast on approach, and really emphasizes getting fully upright early on final with both hands still on the basetube...so when you transition up the downtubes, you don't pop the nose in the process (since you're already upright).

Scott

[batmanh3]

In theory, you CAN fly to fast, especially as you move up into hi-performance wings. Where in flying a Falcon or Eagle type of glider, you can pull in if you are too high and speed will bleed off quickly while altitude drops. In a U2 or Topless, you pull in ... speed increases yet you do not lose altitude. If you continue to pull in, the potential for a PIO greatly increases as well as you are trying to fly the pattern. Joe Gregor sums it up as you tend to land a hi-per wing more like an aircraft in the sense that you fly airspeeds high enough to maintain controlability, yet slow enough that it will put you on an established descending glideslope. If you plan on putting a Topless glider down in any sort of LZ, you have to manage airspeed. Burning it in isn't as effective.

[brianvh]

Yeah, last time I attempted to burn in a Formula I ended up in a heap on
the ground. Or rather, it ended up in a heap around me on the ground.

Brian Vant-Hull
301-646-1149

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005, batmanh3 wrote:

> In theory, you CAN fly to fast, especially as you move up into hi-performance wings. Where in flying a Falcon or Eagle type of glider, you can pull in if you are too high and speed will bleed off quickly while altitude drops. In a U2 or Topless, you pull in ... speed increases yet you do not lose altitude. If you continue to pull in, the potential for a PIO greatly increases as well as you are trying to fly the pattern. Joe Gregor sums it up as you tend to land a hi-per wing more like an aircraft in the sense that you fly airspeeds high enough to maintain controlability, yet slow enough that it will put you on an established descending glideslope. If you plan on putting a Topless glider down in any sort of LZ, you have to manage airspeed. Burning it in isn't as effective.Christopher

[Scott]

Yeah, when Steve W. said you can't fly too fast, I'm sure he was talking about a Falcon/Eagle-level glider. (Though there's a pretty big difference between even those two gliders---I wouldn't say the Eagle has quite the "down button" that the Falcon has!)

Scott