Any details on the Uvalde mid-air / bailout?

We don't have many contest mid-airs. *The last one I heard of was
also
at Uvalde, also in a thermal, but that resulted in much less damage
and both pilots got home ok.

I would tend to agree that we don't have too many mid-air collisions
in competition, one about every 4 years in my experience; Minden (2),
Ephratea (2), Tulare, Cal City, Uvalde (2). Lots of ships and good
soaring conditions are some factors that make mid-airs more likely to
occur. When entering a thermal, I slow up outside the circle then
merge in the side. Pulling up in the thermal has been the culprit in
about half the above mishaps and sadly, 3 pilots are no longer with
us!
JJ

On Aug 13, 7:31*am, JJ Sinclair wrote:
*We don't have many contest mid-airs. *The last one I heard of was
also

at Uvalde, also in a thermal, but that resulted in much less damage
and both pilots got home ok.

I would tend to agree that we don't have too many mid-air collisions
in competition, one about every 4 years in my experience; Minden (2),
Ephratea (2), Tulare, Cal City, Uvalde (2). Lots of ships and good
soaring conditions are some factors that make mid-airs more likely to
occur. When entering a thermal, I slow up outside the circle then
merge in the side. Pulling up in the thermal has been the culprit in
about half the above mishaps and sadly, 3 pilots are no longer with
us!
JJ

I think the new changes in the rules covering the start gate have help
spread out the field. It did not help in this situation since it
occured on course. Flying at Montague I know I came close to two
gliders during the start. It is especially critical as everyone is at
the top of the start gate. On course you can think you are all alone
but often I am surprised when I see another glider. Looking outside
is something I need to keep working on!

All,

This is not a private channel. If you love soaring in the US and want
to be allowed to continue it the way we do now, which is conducted
overwhelmingly in accordance with the FARs and safe flying practices
and is statistically quite safe, then be careful about saying things
that are not fact based or have the effect of making us seem more like
daredevils and less like the safety-conscious pilots most of us really
are.

I was at Uvalde a few years ago when a towplane experienced a problem
that caused the pilot of the fully-loaded glider to release before
reaching the end of the runway just to be safe. No big deal but the
write up here or on the SSA contest report site included a line or two
that might have made it sound more dramatic than it really was (I
watched it happen and spoke to both pilots afterward so I have some
facts). Imagine my surprise when, the next morning while I was staging
my ASW 24 on the grid, two gentlemen from the FAA's San Antonio FSDO
showed up asked questions. One fellow was very polite, extremely
knowledgeable, and--not incidentally--an experienced glider pilot who
owed a high-performance ship. The other one was, well, more in the
mold of the stereotypes we love to hang on government employees. But
both had a job to do and that was to investigate a report (ours) that
something had been done not in compliance with all the applicable
regulations. I chatted amicably with them for at least 15 minutes and
then they wandered off to find one of the organizers (who I
immediately telephoned so he would be able to allocate adequate time
to be interviewed by these gentlemen). All turned out fine, as we
expected it would.

But the lesson is that anything you say on this forum will likely be
read by other glider pilots, non pilots, and the FAA. So statements
like "we have lots of mid-airs" and "I came close to other gliders"
and so forth are incendiary. I don't believe the former is true. I've
been at contests where a mid-air occurred and am aware of a few
others, but I suspect the statistics comparing those incidents to the
number of contest flights or hours or whatever look very good. As for
the latter, I agree it's great to learn from each others' mistakes--
and I've written up some of my own--but this isn't the place for
confession without context and details.

Just my [typically long-winded] opinion.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"
USA