Glider pilot rolls inverted and exits at 1400 feet AGL

On Sunday, August 3, 2014 3:49:20 PM UTC-4, Martin Gregorie wrote:
Has anybody bailed out from a Libelle or knows anybody who has?

IIRC Steve Dedman bailed out of a Libelle circa 1992.
I've lost touch with him; JS - do you know if he's
still in Camden (Oz)?

I'm sure a few others must have bailed out of Libelles.

I'm just wondering if the two rear pins act as a
pseudo Roeger Hook and/or if you need to guard against
the canopy clobbering your head as it departs

Sorry, don't know...
Be careful out there (and for heaven's sake use FLARM),
Best Regards, Dave

On Tue, 05 Aug 2014 03:58:02 -0700, Dave Nadler wrote:

On Sunday, August 3, 2014 3:49:20 PM UTC-4, Martin Gregorie wrote:
Has anybody bailed out from a Libelle or knows anybody who has?

IIRC Steve Dedman bailed out of a Libelle circa 1992.
I've lost touch with him; JS - do you know if he's still in Camden (Oz)?

I'm sure a few others must have bailed out of Libelles.

I'm just wondering if the two rear pins act as a pseudo Roeger Hook
and/or if you need to guard against the canopy clobbering your head as
it departs

Sorry, don't know...
Be careful out there (and for heaven's sake use FLARM),

Of course, though its only an LX RedBox with the default display, which
is all I have panel space for. I've taken care to use the range analysis
tool on the FLARM website to fine-tune my antenna installation. I
regularly use it to check that coverage is adequate.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

My guess, tail section not working, maybe broken fuselage, but ailerons still working. If elevator is stuck, and you are ready to bail, why NOT roll the ship to make it easier to get out?

Us fat guys joke about this all the time (having to get inverted to pry ourselves out)

On 2014-08-25 17:11:14 +0000, flgliderpilot said:

My guess, tail section not working, maybe broken fuselage, but ailerons
still working. If elevator is stuck, and you are ready to bail, why NOT
roll the ship to make it easier to get out?

Us fat guys joke about this all the time (having to get inverted to pry
ourselves out)

If the elevator is stuck then which way up you are is not going to make
any difference to the force keeping you in the cockpit -- only speed is.

Rolling inverted is going to put you into a half loop, with the initial
G force the same as it was the right way up, and then buiding.

If you don't have control of the elevator then you may well overspeed.
Or pull too many Gs. Or both.

It'll be easier to get out of the cockpit once the wings are gone.

If the elevator is stuck then which way up you are is not going to make

any difference to the force keeping you in the cockpit -- only speed is.



Rolling inverted is going to put you into a half loop, with the initial

G force the same as it was the right way up, and then buiding.

Not entirely true, he may have had a little elevator, or some elevator with very heavy control resistance, and took planned departure at minimum bailout altitude rather than chance landing and losing elevator entirely below 1000'.

I agree though that damage may have contributed to the roll and that it may not have been not 100% intentional!

On Tuesday, July 29, 2014 12:11:28 AM UTC-4, Steve Koerner wrote:
On Monday, July 28, 2014 8:55:12 PM UTC-7, Ramy wrote:

Pushing the stick hard forward (assuming you still have some control) is one of the best advice I heard for exiting the cockpit. Probably something to add to mental bailout practices, as it may not be intuitive during bail out. Thanks Kirk for that advice.







Ramy



I agree. I've never heard that advise before and it makes darn good sense. I've been doing 40 dips, 3 times a week to make sure that I have a fighting chance to get out of the cockpit. Pushing the stick forward sounds a heck of a lot easier than all those damn dips that I do.

what about the potential to injured your legs under the panel, or bang your head on the fuselage on the way out? no, i say climbing out is still probably the best way.

On 8/29/2014 1:45 PM, ND wrote:
On Tuesday, July 29, 2014 12:11:28 AM UTC-4, Steve Koerner wrote:
On Monday, July 28, 2014 8:55:12 PM UTC-7, Ramy wrote:

Pushing the stick hard forward (assuming you still have some control)
is one of the best advice I heard for exiting the cockpit. Probably
something to add to mental bailout practices, as it may not be
intuitive during bail out. Thanks Kirk for that advice.

Ramy


I agree. I've never heard that advise before and it makes darn good
sense. I've been doing 40 dips, 3 times a week to make sure that I have
a fighting chance to get out of the cockpit. Pushing the stick forward
sounds a heck of a lot easier than all those damn dips that I do.

what about the potential to injured your legs under the panel, or bang your
head on the fuselage on the way out? no, i say climbing out is still
probably the best way.


Priorities matter in a time-sensitive emergency. I know three people who've
made emergency, personal-'chute-aided bailouts, one from a glider, two from
high-wing power planes.

All recommend unbuckling your seat belt (NOT your 'chute harness [duh!]), then
doing whatever it takes to get the heck out of the plane ASAP. One still has
shin lumps from scraping 'em on the leg hole cutouts of a metal panel 39 years
ago...never a big deal to him, physically or philosophically.

Develop an exit sequence/plan. Should it be necessary, don't hesitate to
attempt to implement it. Be prepared to ad-lib on your plan if necessary, but
the first priority should be to get the heck out of the aircraft, in a
physical condition capable of pulling the D-ring. Potential
non-life-threatening secondary injuries traded against a longer exit time? Not
so wise, but in your emergency, YOU'RE the judge. Mother Earth is the jury, and...

Bob W.

On Friday, August 29, 2014 2:45:24 PM UTC-5, ND wrote:

what about the potential to injured your legs under the panel, or bang your head on the fuselage on the way out? no, i say climbing out is still probably the best way.

The point is that under G, YOU CAN'T CLIMB OUT! Sure, you might get hurt. The option is getting dead, which (last time I checked) doesn't heal very good.

If you can casually climb out of the cockpit, sure, go ahead and enjoy the experience.

Kirk