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Winch Yaw/roll incidents - releasing
I have started a new thread on this because it is an important subject.
I have read the article at https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...celeration.pdf The first thing to understand is that the wing drop is a symptom of a problem that has already occurred, it is not the primary cause of the problem. The problem, or rather the serious consequences, were almost unknown prior to the introduction of powerful winches with rapid acceleration. With less powerful winches wing drop did occur but this did not result in the airborne cartwheel which occurs off a powerful winch. The lack of acceleration gave the pilot plenty of time to react and release. The assertion that the accidents are caused by slow acceleration is incorrect, in fact the opposite is true. For many years I flew with the Air Cadet organisation and accidents of this type are almost unknown, certainly there has never been one where there has been death or injury. I suggest the reason for this is the strict limits put on the operation and the manpower available to move gliders around at the launch point. Air Cadet Gliding Squadrons employ staff cadets who do most of this work. I suggest the basic reason why there are fewer incidents, and the Air Cadet movement does as many winch launches in a year as the BGA clubs, is for the following reasons. 1. The Air Cadets operate to strict weather minima especially crosswind limits. 2. Gliders are always taken to cables, cables are never taken to aircraft. 3. If you are pulling out 6 cables at a time you have to keep them very straight. the MVG winch has 6 drums. 4. Of all the winches I have flown the MVG winch has the smoothest and most rapid acceleration, typically in a 15knot wind the glider (Grob103) would be airborne in it's own length. This operation reduces the factors which can contribute to yaw. The only incident I witnessed was caused by the pilot starting the launch with rudder applied anticipating yaw from a crosswind. The wing obligingly dropped as a result of the yaw produced. The glider was released before the wing struck the ground. With early low powered Eagle winches the procedure was to adopt a gentle climb to a safe height before entering the full climb. The procedure changed following the introduction of the MVG winch which had a very large diesel engine (8 litres if my memory serves) driving through a true torque converter so that if the gentle climb scenario was carried out or over done the speed increased very rapidly. The recommended procedure was to enter the the full climb provided that the glider was above the minimum speed and accelerating. This was the procedure I used in the 10 years I flew off the MVG winch. It was never ever suggested that the elevator should be anywhere other than at neutral prior to the launch. From what I have read in accident/incident reports the accidents have all occurred very rapidly and the acceleration is part of the problem in that it exacerbates the yaw/roll condition. One of the symptoms is wing drop. In most cases aileron is applied to try and level the wings, in the case of the accidents this is invariably unsuccessful. During a winch launch we are approaching the stall from the "Other" direction, we are accelerating through the stalled condition.If we think about what we tell people not to do with a glider which has a high angle of attack with yaw/roll and pitch present, aka spinning this might be a clue. Well tell them to keep the ailerons neutral, we tell them NOT to try and pick up the wing with aileron. Because the ground is so close once the yaw/roll has started the glider is irrecoverable and the only option is to release to lessen the impact, not to prevent it, it is already too late for that, but to try and prevent the glider from becoming airborne. Given the rapid acceleration of modern winches the time allowed to pull the release is very very short and that is the reason why my hand is always on the release ready to pull it if at any time there is roll over which I have no control. I cannot stress the importance of holding that release, it can be a lifesaver. My feeling is that the primary culprit in these cases is yaw, I am convinced that the roll is a symptom of this yaw. |
#2
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Winch Yaw/roll incidents - releasing
Don, I can't imagine roll or yaw happening if the glider is pointed at the winch and the wings balanced while the pilot holds neutral ailerons. My experience says by far the most likely cause of wing drops is the pilot unintentionally holding deflected ailerons. I've been known to grab a roll of wing tape to put a vertical white stripe down the center of the panel for a transition pilot - "THATS neutral aileron, put the stick there."
High acceleration puts a very large download on the tail wheel it so it strongly resists yaw as long as it's in contact with the runway - and it should remain there through lift-off. However, I absolutely agree that rudder input must be used sparingly and brought back amidships as the glider lifts off. Note the term "balanced" is not the same as "level". It means wing is tilted so the glider has no tendency to fall to the right or left. If this is done, and the ailerons are neutral, the glider just goes straight and true. On Sunday, October 13, 2013 7:15:26 PM UTC-6, Don Johnstone wrote: I have started a new thread on this because it is an important subject. I have read the article at https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...celeration.pdf The first thing to understand is that the wing drop is a symptom of a problem that has already occurred, it is not the primary cause of the problem. The problem, or rather the serious consequences, were almost unknown prior to the introduction of powerful winches with rapid acceleration. With less powerful winches wing drop did occur but this did not result in the airborne cartwheel which occurs off a powerful winch. The lack of acceleration gave the pilot plenty of time to react and release. The assertion that the accidents are caused by slow acceleration is incorrect, in fact the opposite is true. For many years I flew with the Air Cadet organisation and accidents of this type are almost unknown, certainly there has never been one where there has been death or injury. I suggest the reason for this is the strict limits put on the operation and the manpower available to move gliders around at the launch point. Air Cadet Gliding Squadrons employ staff cadets who do most of this work. I suggest the basic reason why there are fewer incidents, and the Air Cadet movement does as many winch launches in a year as the BGA clubs, is for the following reasons. 1. The Air Cadets operate to strict weather minima especially crosswind limits. 2. Gliders are always taken to cables, cables are never taken to aircraft.. 3. If you are pulling out 6 cables at a time you have to keep them very straight. the MVG winch has 6 drums. 4. Of all the winches I have flown the MVG winch has the smoothest and most rapid acceleration, typically in a 15knot wind the glider (Grob103) would be airborne in it's own length. This operation reduces the factors which can contribute to yaw. The only incident I witnessed was caused by the pilot starting the launch with rudder applied anticipating yaw from a crosswind. The wing obligingly dropped as a result of the yaw produced. The glider was released before the wing struck the ground. With early low powered Eagle winches the procedure was to adopt a gentle climb to a safe height before entering the full climb. The procedure changed following the introduction of the MVG winch which had a very large diesel engine (8 litres if my memory serves) driving through a true torque converter so that if the gentle climb scenario was carried out or over done the speed increased very rapidly. The recommended procedure was to enter the the full climb provided that the glider was above the minimum speed and accelerating. This was the procedure I used in the 10 years I flew off the MVG winch. It was never ever suggested that the elevator should be anywhere other than at neutral prior to the launch. From what I have read in accident/incident reports the accidents have all occurred very rapidly and the acceleration is part of the problem in that it exacerbates the yaw/roll condition. One of the symptoms is wing drop. In most cases aileron is applied to try and level the wings, in the case of the accidents this is invariably unsuccessful. During a winch launch we are approaching the stall from the "Other" direction, we are accelerating through the stalled condition.If we think about what we tell people not to do with a glider which has a high angle of attack with yaw/roll and pitch present, aka spinning this might be a clue. Well tell them to keep the ailerons neutral, we tell them NOT to try and pick up the wing with aileron. Because the ground is so close once the yaw/roll has started the glider is irrecoverable and the only option is to release to lessen the impact, not to prevent it, it is already too late for that, but to try and prevent the glider from becoming airborne. Given the rapid acceleration of modern winches the time allowed to pull the release is very very short and that is the reason why my hand is always on the release ready to pull it if at any time there is roll over which I have no control. I cannot stress the importance of holding that release, it can be a lifesaver. My feeling is that the primary culprit in these cases is yaw, I am convinced that the roll is a symptom of this yaw. |
#3
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Winch Yaw/roll incidents - releasing
The few wing drops I have personally witnessed in my long
gliding career have always occurred in gusty crosswind conditions. None of these led to accidents. Either the pilot pulled off or managed to get the wing back up by the use of opposite aileron and rudder. One of the problems with this scenario is that 9 out of 10 times you will probably get away with it, but the 10th time you won't. This is one were the pilots did get away with it. http://flightbox.net/galleries/wingdrop/wingdrop_1.htm N,B, the instructor in this incident tried to pull off, but at his first attempt his gloved hand slipped round the release knob. His second attempt was successful, but the glider had already lifted off by then. Pulling off under full load may require a much harder pull than normal. Derek Copeland At 01:15 14 October 2013, Don Johnstone wrote: I have started a new thread on this because it is an important subject. I have read the article at https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...Acceleration.p df The first thing to understand is that the wing drop is a symptom of a problem that has already occurred, it is not the primary cause of the problem. The problem, or rather the serious consequences, were almost unknown prior to the introduction of powerful winches with rapid acceleration. With less powerful winches wing drop did occur but this did not result in the airborne cartwheel which occurs off a powerful winch. The lack of acceleration gave the pilot plenty of time to react and release. The assertion that the accidents are caused by slow acceleration is incorrect, in fact the opposite is true. For many years I flew with the Air Cadet organisation and accidents of this type are almost unknown, certainly there has never been one where there has been death or injury. I suggest the reason for this is the strict limits put on the operation and the manpower available to move gliders around at the launch point. Air Cadet Gliding Squadrons employ staff cadets who do most of this work. I suggest the basic reason why there are fewer incidents, and the Air Cadet movement does as many winch launches in a year as the BGA clubs, is for the following reasons. 1. The Air Cadets operate to strict weather minima especially crosswind limits. 2. Gliders are always taken to cables, cables are never taken to aircraft. 3. If you are pulling out 6 cables at a time you have to keep them very straight. the MVG winch has 6 drums. 4. Of all the winches I have flown the MVG winch has the smoothest and most rapid acceleration, typically in a 15knot wind the glider (Grob103) would be airborne in it's own length. This operation reduces the factors which can contribute to yaw. The only incident I witnessed was caused by the pilot starting the launch with rudder applied anticipating yaw from a crosswind. The wing obligingly dropped as a result of the yaw produced. The glider was released before the wing struck the ground. With early low powered Eagle winches the procedure was to adopt a gentle climb to a safe height before entering the full climb. The procedure changed following the introduction of the MVG winch which had a very large diesel engine (8 litres if my memory serves) driving through a true torque converter so that if the gentle climb scenario was carried out or over done the speed increased very rapidly. The recommended procedure was to enter the the full climb provided that the glider was above the minimum speed and accelerating. This was the procedure I used in the 10 years I flew off the MVG winch. It was never ever suggested that the elevator should be anywhere other than at neutral prior to the launch. From what I have read in accident/incident reports the accidents have all occurred very rapidly and the acceleration is part of the problem in that it exacerbates the yaw/roll condition. One of the symptoms is wing drop. In most cases aileron is applied to try and level the wings, in the case of the accidents this is invariably unsuccessful. During a winch launch we are approaching the stall from the "Other" direction, we are accelerating through the stalled condition.If we think about what we tell people not to do with a glider which has a high angle of attack with yaw/roll and pitch present, aka spinning this might be a clue. Well tell them to keep the ailerons neutral, we tell them NOT to try and pick up the wing with aileron. Because the ground is so close once the yaw/roll has started the glider is irrecoverable and the only option is to release to lessen the impact, not to prevent it, it is already too late for that, but to try and prevent the glider from becoming airborne. Given the rapid acceleration of modern winches the time allowed to pull the release is very very short and that is the reason why my hand is always on the release ready to pull it if at any time there is roll over which I have no control. I cannot stress the importance of holding that release, it can be a lifesaver. My feeling is that the primary culprit in these cases is yaw, I am convinced that the roll is a symptom of this yaw. |
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