A Tale of Two Takeoffs

On Friday, June 16, 2017 at 4:55:55 PM UTC-7, wrote:
I have a secret.

Well, like secrets in a Congressional Intelligence subcommittee, this one is probably known by several hundred people. But I haven’t written about it. Until now.

But first, the lead in. A few days ago on the last day at the Cordele nationals, I dropped a wing on takeoff. The ballast tanks were half full so although the tip didn’t go down hard, the water sloshed in that direction and the wing stayed down. My ASW 24 started to swing off to the right. I wasted no time in pulling the tow release. The glider continued to swing and I braked as I rolled off the asphalt runway into the grass and stopped..

No big deal. I’ve had a rule for many years that if the wing goes down early with ballast, I release. It's almost impossible to get the tip up again (more later). I’ve done it twice before--both times on grass--and it’s slightly embarrassing but uneventful except for blocking the launch. This time I actually rolled out of the way. Not much more than five minutes later, I had been retrieved with a golf cart, put back on the launch line, and was away without ever having to climb out of the cockpit.

The tailwind in Cordele was minimal; a few knots. At Nephi last year, IIRC it was more substantial: perhaps 10 kts. We gridded that way because the wind was forecast to (and did) become more of a headwind early in the launch.

The few launches before mine were uneventful. As is true with most things at contests, no one forces you to do anything: launch, start, fly the task, final glide low over unlandable terrain, whatever. It's always pilot's choice. Sometimes we put pressure on ourselves to exhibit the "right stuff" and carry on like everyone else.

Nephi has a single hard-surface runway so the alternative was gridding at the other end, then elephant walking the entire length after the early gliders had launched and the wind shifted. With three classes on the grid--including the Open Class birds at the back--that would have complicated matters even more. The launch operation had been slower than desired during the practice period so the last thing anyone wanted was a delay. I believe this was the day that someone on the radio reported a dust devil in the vicinity of the departure corridor just off the end of the runway. After a minute's reflection, the order came down, "Continue the launch!" Already airborne, I heard the next couple of pilots radio their alarm and unhappiness after they hit the turbulence. There was probably a bit too much "full speed ahead" on all our parts.

I've carried on way too long already but I'll add two more points that help explain where I went wrong. Back in 1982 at the Elmira 15M Nationals, I was #1 to take off. The wx forecast was good but there was a significant quartering tailwind. No way to launch in the opposite direction. The decision whether to cancel the day would be based on how my launch went. Pressure! I consulted more experienced pilots, including Elmira's Roy McMaster. I briefed my sister, Diane, how to run the wing. With partial ballast and a tailskid on my LS-3, I knew keeping the wings level and the fuselage aligned were both critical.

The initial roll went fine: wings level and straight. But as we rolled off the end of the hard surface onto the grass, neither I nor the tow plane was airborne. The grass eventually slopes down slightly at Harris Hill before falling off more sharply. Once we broke ground, all I had to do if things weren't progressing was coast out into the valley where I could glide to the big county airport. I was told we went out of sight still on the ground and disappeared. Many seconds later, when we reappeared far out in the valley, level with the top of the Hill and climbing, a big cheer went up! Most flew that day but one pilot's crew didn't seem to understand the concept of running with the wingtip as long as possible and he gave up after three aborted attempts.

I suspect I've been overconfident about non-standard take offs ever since....until last summer at Nephi.

The second point involved an aero retrieve at Region 4 the year before Nephi. The owner of the grass strip, a pilot himself, towed my ASW 24 back to the end of the runway and I briefed him on how to run the wing. My biggest caution: "Don't hold the wingtip back; let the trailing edge just fly out of your hand." Of course, he did the exact opposite and steered me right toward the fence. But with M-ASA's powerful Pawnee ahead, the glider responded almost instantly to full opposite rudder and I straightened out just before reaching for the release.

So at Nephi, with the confidence that I had dealt with similar situations in the past and seeing other guys take off just fine, I accepted the launch. And when the nose was pulled off track almost immediately, my first reaction was "I can do this (just like I did last year)." The difference was a much higher density altitude, full ballast, and a significant tailwind.

I did just about everything wrong, from the pre-flight planning all the way through the takeoff itself. I'm very fortunate I didn't ground loop when I rolled off the runway and do some real damage.

Now for real question no one has asked: would I accept the Nephi launch again? Yes, with my own wing runner and a commitment to pull the release as soon as anything went wrong. I was the only pilot in the "downwind" group who had a serious problem that day and I could have avoided it by executing my long-standing contingency plan.

As to why no one radioed about the landing light, I believe everyone thought I must have known and elected to continue anyway.

Chip Bearden
"JB"