Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron Branham[_2_]
On Tuesday, March 16, 2021 at 1:51:11 PM UTC-5, John Good wrote:
At around 12:54 today, Thomas Johnson (V12 - MiniNumbus) was injured in a takeoff groundloop accident. He was airlifted to an Orlando hospital, where he'll be met by his wife.
This is what happened to Tom Johnson. V12. One of our club members is Tom’s partner in the Mini-Nimbus. He posted this on our email site as we are all anxious to hear about Tom’s status.
“V12 has a CG hook which is less directionally stable during the initial takeoff. Apparently the left wing dropped to the ground maybe due to propwash from the towplane. The left wingtip on the ground turned the glider about 30 degrees to the East where it departed the runway, crossed the service road and collided with a truck that one of the other contestants had parked next to the runway in violation of contest procedures. The glider submarined the body of the truck.”
Please keep Tom in your prayers a quick recovery, and full recovery.
Ron Branham
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Best wishes to Tom for a complete recovery. It should be the responsibility of EVERYONE at an event such as this to look for infractions that could inhibit the safety of the launch. Whether it be something over which one could trip to something that might result in a fatality the contest director, launch crew, flag man/woman/person, tow pilot, VP, manager and airport dog should all be aware of and enforcing the rules. I would imagine that submarining the truck was what resulted in the pilot's injuries. An avoidable situation for sure.
Walt Connelly
Former Tow Pilot
Now Happy Helicopter Pilot