Puchacz reviews

What did happen?

Marc

- Lack of awareness of operational restrictions with the pilots (Vwinch
max)
- Local customs different than at homefield (black is standard in Germany.
In The Netherlands borwn is. As you state black is not within
manufacturer's specs)
- Complacency (on the instructors' part)
- Poor local winch driver training (highlighting the danger of slow
launches, but omitting dangers of overload during launch)
- Poor winch lay-out (small gas handle which made distributing the power
input difficult)
- And another couple of minor things, all combined make for a good
combination of overstressing a glider.

It was operated (very) regularly outside limits, and this came to light
during the next annual when I found significant spanwise cracking in the
wing nose structure. Went back to the factory for extensive GRP repairs to
both leadings edges before it was cleared for flight again.

1. As another (late) subscriber wrote, you will only find spin accidents in gliders that spin, and more frequently in those that spin easily when the inputs cause departure. Hence lots more spin fatalities in Puchacz than in K7/K13/K21. It does not mean that the Puchacz is in itself dangerous, but if abused, if not correct recovery, and if too low, yes it can kill. So can anything in one way or another if stupidly flown.


2. My understanding of the BGA guidance/advice about winch launch limitation speed is that IN THE LOWER AND MIDDLE PART of a winch launch, when the cabale is far from in line with the glider's weight and so adding only partly to the bending load on the wings, it is not dangerous to exceed the winch launch speed limit by a modest margin. IN THE TOP PART OF THE CLIMB however, when the cable is close to in line with the gravitational load and its vector is substantially additive, the winch launch speed should be respected. If too fast, at least lower the nose and reduce the load, or pull off. (Open to correction by current instructors etc., if the guidance is now pull off regardless.)

Chris N