Soaring Accident in Washington State

On 10/16/11 7:19 AM, Andy wrote:
A reasonable scenario for the shoot would have been for the glider to
become airborne for a few seconds and then release to land ahead while
the truck accelerated out of the way. On the face of it the risks
seem manageable and no worse than the initial segment of an aerotow
from the same runway.

Perhaps the intent was to do the equivalent of a telephoto compression
looking head on at an auto tow with a reasonable length rope, say 1000'.

But they picked a short field so decided to use a short rope and catch
the first 100' of climb. This would require a reasonable pitch-up in
order to look "cool". But pitching up on a short rope like this will
result in a nearly instant climb ...and the rest is history.

A gentle climb using the nose hook seems like the only sane thing that
could be done with a 200' rope. But I'm not sure it would look very
exciting on video.

-Tom

On Oct 18, 10:02*am, JJ Sinclair wrote:
If the DG-1000 uses the same hokey torque-tube that they used in the
DG-300 to drive the spoilers with the over-center lock mounted on a
thin root-rib, that flexed easily under load...............the one
open, one closed would be near normal situation.

Hmm. I've rigged and derigged DG1000 a number of times and never had
to do anything special with the airbrake lever and the brakes stay
locked with the wing off the plane so, yeah, the overcenter lock must
be inside each wing. Never thought about that.

Both airbrakes and ailerons are definitely driven (at least initially)
by torque tubes with self-aligning V-shaped slots.

On Oct 16, 11:55*pm, Ventus_a
wrote:
'Andy[_1_ Wrote:









;787526']On Oct 15, 4:34*pm, Michael Dewitt Allen
wrote:-
How could
anyone use a 200' tow rope on a Automobile launch on a 2,500 strip and
hope to have ANY leeway to recover from ANY deviation from
perfection ?-

Since this is all speculation I'll add mine. * Differences between
starting a launch on a 200ft rope behind a tow plane and the same
launch behind a powerful truck a

1. the lack of prop wash and
2. the potential for greatly increased initial acceleration

A reasonable scenario for the shoot would have been for the glider to
become airborne for a few seconds and then release to land ahead while
the truck accelerated out of the way. *On the face of it the risks
seem manageable and no worse than the initial segment of an aerotow
from the same runway.

I wonder how much the combination of high initial acceleration and
short rope contributed to this accident. *A key factor may be whether
the launch used a nose hook or a CG hook. *If the plan was to land
ahead with no attempt to gain significant altitude then the nose hook
may have been the right choice.

People are questioning the experience of the glider pilot. *Maybe the
experience of the truck driver is just as important?

Andy
(aerotow, winch and ground launch in my log)

I do wonder if high initial acceleration would be an issue as I have not
seen any vehicle that can accelerate a glider as fast as a medium to
high powered winch. *The one at my club will accelerate a light glider
to 60 mph in about 3.5 seconds (super car territory) if given abrupt
full throttle and a Dg 1000 isn't that light

Colin

--
Ventus_a

The comparison was between auto and aero tows, not between auto and
winch.

Andy

Does anyone have, or know where I could find, the remote control unit for
an LX 8000 or 9000 that gets mounted on the stick? I'm interested in a new
or used one. Thanks.

Mitch Polinsky
[for private replies]

On Oct 18, 11:01*am, Mitch Polinsky wrote:
Does anyone have, or know where I could find, the remote control unit for
an LX 8000 or 9000 that gets mounted on the stick? *I'm interested in a new
or used one. *Thanks.

Mitch Polinsky
*[for private replies]