On Saturday, February 10, 2018 at 5:46:59 AM UTC-7, Bruce Hoult wrote:
On Saturday, February 10, 2018 at 9:17:17 AM UTC+3, wrote:
On Saturday, February 10, 2018 at 5:49:33 AM UTC, Mike the Strike wrote:
On Friday, February 9, 2018 at 12:41:53 PM UTC-7, Frank Whiteley wrote:
Hill top sites are not uncommon in the UK. Winds can create what I call 'curl' over such sites. My first glider was lost when a partner got caught in the downside of such curl on his downwind and despite abbreviating the circuit failed to make the airfield and crashed in the valley. This was in East Anglia. I once took a winch launch and upon turning final chased the ASI to the ground and a very abrupt stop 50 yards short of the runway in standing barley. This was at Enstone, another hill top site. There is nearly a 400ft difference in elevation between the river bottom west of Exeter and the Dartmoor site, which would result in pretty squirrelly conditions. Having learned soaring in the UK, I'm a bit surprised about some aspects of the event.

Matt's videos are wonderful and I'd just watched Chasing Diamonds a few days prior to hearing of his accident. As I'd flown from Lleweni Parc a few times, including out over the Irish Sea, I really enjoyed this video..

Frank Whiteley

"The Clutching Hand"!

Mike


Read the account closely regarding airspeeds, attitudes and known control inputs in the seconds after the cable break. I am surprised about what is not included in this report.

Yes. That's an extremely low airspeed to commence a turn in such known boisterous conditions. I'd probably be wanting to fly finals at 65-70, and the same in the circuit. With that kind of headwind, your ground speed (into wind) is the same or lower than on a calm day and much steeper descent angles are available due to more effective airbrakes at speed, so there's no good reason *not* to.

It's very puzzling that such an experienced pilot would do that.

In turbulent air near the ground, I think it's quite possible he was descending into a curl, vortex, or rolling air that momentarily could have been a gradient with a tail wind component, thus no gain in airspeed despite the nose down attitude.

As I described in my Enstone experience, I kept pushing the stick forward, chasing the ASI until all I could do was round out. The ASI never got above 50kts despite the steep nose down attitude and the sensation was like falling out of the sky. The pilot behind me, Libelle 201B, said he was pegged at -10kts. Thus I was 150 yards short of the intended touch down point.

Frank Whiteley