Some good news

My harness is stitched together at the waist such that, even if the leg
straps are not connected, the loop that the arms fit through is a closed
loop. Therefore, even with the leg straps not connected, there is a
bottom web that would support me at the armpits. That's the fact of
construction, however I'd consider it very lucky that I would be quick
acting enough to realize that the load was being taken by my armpits
rather than by my thighs and cross my arms tightly enough to retain the
parachute through the opening shock. I imagine it'd get tiring hanging
on while waiting for the ground to come up to meet me as well. And it
would be foolish, if not impossible to let go with one arm and try to
hook up the leg straps.

Would the lucky person who completed this bailout please try to describe
the total event, including getting out of the glider, deploying the
parachute, exactly when you realized something was not right, how you
handled the opening and descent, was any control possible, and how about
the landing. I think this information would be most appreciated by all.

Dan

BTW, so glad that you're alive to tell about it!

On 10/21/2015 9:42 AM, kirk.stant wrote:
On Wednesday, October 21, 2015 at 7:55:01 AM UTC-5, wrote:
Sean, My (most, all?) Security chute does not have a chest trap. There are only two straps that come from the seat and loop through on one side and snap to the opposite side.
That's an Aerobatic chute harness - designed to keep the hardware away from the lab belt during negative Gs. I have the same setup on my Long Softie (and had it on the Security I had before)- I like it better than the normal chest + leg straps as it gets the hardware up and out of the way.

Most chutes use the classic chest strap and separate leg straps.

Kirk

--
Dan, 5J

On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:34:10 PM UTC-4, Karl Striedieck wrote:
The Mt Washington wave camp last week was a great success with plenty of wave flights, one of which (Evan Ludeman) reached 31K.

On another day a couple gliders were in wave when a slug of moisture closed the windows trapping them on top. One turned down wind and rode the undulations to drier air in Maine and landed.

The other attempted to spoiler (drag flap) down through the clouds, which were too thick and low at this point, and chose to bail out. The nylon letdown was successful and the pilot unscathed.

As happy an ending as this was, there is more to be thankful about. When the pilot bailed out his parachute leg straps were not buckled, yet he was able to take the opening shock and descent with his arm pits!

Is this good news or what!! Say hallelujah, say Amen brother!!

KS

Karl, I think a quote from your website is highly appropriate here.

"We do not what we ought;
What we ought not, we do;
And lean upon the thought
That chance will bring us through."
(Matthew Arnold)

On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:34:10 PM UTC-4, Karl Striedieck wrote:
The Mt Washington wave camp last week was a great success with plenty of wave flights, one of which (Evan Ludeman) reached 31K.

On another day a couple gliders were in wave when a slug of moisture closed the windows trapping them on top. One turned down wind and rode the undulations to drier air in Maine and landed.

The other attempted to spoiler (drag flap) down through the clouds, which were too thick and low at this point, and chose to bail out. The nylon letdown was successful and the pilot unscathed.

As happy an ending as this was, there is more to be thankful about. When the pilot bailed out his parachute leg straps were not buckled, yet he was able to take the opening shock and descent with his arm pits!

Is this good news or what!! Say hallelujah, say Amen brother!!

KS

We're certainly glad to have Chris back safely on earth. The "Hallelujah!"s were brief and quickly followed by words that might be laundered into "We've gotten by on sheer, dumb luck". There are many well-smitten and furrowed brows in New England today. You see, it wasn't just about Chris.

Only five glider flights departed Gorham the day that Chris bailed out. Only *one* of those flights was according to the basic plan of "take off at Gorham, go soaring, don't get scared, land at Gorham". One managed a nice "take off at Gorham, go soaring, get trapped on top, go land elsewhere" flight that turned out fine, but we hope the pilot is a little bit sheepish for getting up on top in such crummy conditions in the first place. Three gliders were damaged. One abandoned in flight, one damaged in flight, one damaged in an off airport landing. That's some bad odds. We're very happy that no one was injured.

How did this happen?

All of the glider pilots flying that day were (as far as I know) low to medium experience at Mt Wash. All are a little more experienced now!

The more experienced MW wave guys were mostly off doing other things, because (at least according to the forecast and current ADDS weather I looked at that day) it was a pretty crummy day for wave flying. I was at work thinking "Well, at least I'm not missing much!". Others were doing errands in Gorham or amusing themselves with non-aviation related pursuits. One friend -- who is no stranger to challenging weather and has as much MW wave experience as anyone -- heard the tow plane flying while in downtown Gorham and had the thought "What the heck are they doing that for?".

We brief on the myriad of hazards you can find at Mt Washington when the wind blows. The wet wave and what do do about it figure prominently in those briefs. We point out that even on wet wave days the weather will be reliably VFR and usually clear to scattered over Maine (due to adiabatic heating of the airmass as it descends to lower terrain), and that one can glide a *long* way into Maine and to a number of excellent airports from 18000'.

Much to think about til next year.

best regards,

Evan Ludeman / T8

On Wednesday, October 21, 2015 at 1:09:00 PM UTC-4, Tango Eight wrote:
On Monday, October 19, 2015 at 9:34:10 PM UTC-4, Karl Striedieck wrote:
The Mt Washington wave camp last week was a great success with plenty of wave flights, one of which (Evan Ludeman) reached 31K.

On another day a couple gliders were in wave when a slug of moisture closed the windows trapping them on top. One turned down wind and rode the undulations to drier air in Maine and landed.

The other attempted to spoiler (drag flap) down through the clouds, which were too thick and low at this point, and chose to bail out. The nylon letdown was successful and the pilot unscathed.

As happy an ending as this was, there is more to be thankful about. When the pilot bailed out his parachute leg straps were not buckled, yet he was able to take the opening shock and descent with his arm pits!

Is this good news or what!! Say hallelujah, say Amen brother!!

KS

We're certainly glad to have Chris back safely on earth. The "Hallelujah!"s were brief and quickly followed by words that might be laundered into "We've gotten by on sheer, dumb luck". There are many well-smitten and furrowed brows in New England today. You see, it wasn't just about Chris.

Only five glider flights departed Gorham the day that Chris bailed out. Only *one* of those flights was according to the basic plan of "take off at Gorham, go soaring, don't get scared, land at Gorham". One managed a nice "take off at Gorham, go soaring, get trapped on top, go land elsewhere" flight that turned out fine, but we hope the pilot is a little bit sheepish for getting up on top in such crummy conditions in the first place. Three gliders were damaged. One abandoned in flight, one damaged in flight, one damaged in an off airport landing. That's some bad odds. We're very happy that no one was injured.

How did this happen?

All of the glider pilots flying that day were (as far as I know) low to medium experience at Mt Wash. All are a little more experienced now!

The more experienced MW wave guys were mostly off doing other things, because (at least according to the forecast and current ADDS weather I looked at that day) it was a pretty crummy day for wave flying. I was at work thinking "Well, at least I'm not missing much!". Others were doing errands in Gorham or amusing themselves with non-aviation related pursuits. One friend -- who is no stranger to challenging weather and has as much MW wave experience as anyone -- heard the tow plane flying while in downtown Gorham and had the thought "What the heck are they doing that for?".

We brief on the myriad of hazards you can find at Mt Washington when the wind blows. The wet wave and what do do about it figure prominently in those briefs. We point out that even on wet wave days the weather will be reliably VFR and usually clear to scattered over Maine (due to adiabatic heating of the airmass as it descends to lower terrain), and that one can glide a *long* way into Maine and to a number of excellent airports from 18000'.

Much to think about til next year.

best regards,

Evan Ludeman / T8

I've been having an interesting off line discussion with several guys about the events of the day... and one guy whose wx assessment is pretty much as good as it gets and was at Gorham airport during the launch tells me -- essentially -- that I've let my imagination fill in a few blanks for me. He maintains that the first four launches, including Chris', were completely safe and reasonable under the prevailing wx conditions of the moment.

He also points out that getting too caught up on the launch / no launch decision might well distract us from more important lessons (such as: how best to deal with a sudden change for the worse in flight).

best,
Evan Ludeman

On Wednesday, October 21, 2015 at 1:09:00 PM UTC-4, Tango Eight wrote:
... Three gliders were damaged. ... one damaged in flight,

Rotor?

On Thursday, October 22, 2015 at 12:25:20 AM UTC-4, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Wednesday, October 21, 2015 at 1:09:00 PM UTC-4, Tango Eight wrote:
... Three gliders were damaged. ... one damaged in flight,

Rotor?

One bail out in IMC.
One hit a tree on the mountain and then flew home.
One landed at the base of the mountain road in a very poor "field" with minor ground loop damage.
UH

On 10/22/2015 7:53 AM, wrote:
On Thursday, October 22, 2015 at 12:25:20 AM UTC-4, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Wednesday, October 21, 2015 at 1:09:00 PM UTC-4, Tango Eight wrote:
... Three gliders were damaged. ... one damaged in flight,

Rotor?

One bail out in IMC. One hit a tree on the mountain and then flew home. One
landed at the base of the mountain road in a very poor "field" with minor
ground loop damage. UH


Mercy! Life on the edge/gotta be some sort of record...

Bob W.

Wow! I think the one hitting the tree in flight and then landing back safely at the airport should buy the lottery ticket! There should be another good story there.

Ramy

On Thursday, October 22, 2015 at 12:09:50 PM UTC-4, Ramy wrote:
Wow! I think the one hitting the tree in flight and then landing back safely at the airport should buy the lottery ticket! There should be another good story there.

Ramy

Hopefully not to be discussed on RAS, just like I hope no one discusses the time I flew less than 500 feet below a cloud on a public forum...

Rotor is the Boogie Man.

In the Air Force flight training they showed us movies of a B-52 whose
vertical tail had been torn off in an encounter with rotor. I feared
rotor, too, until encountering it for the first time /in a glider/ with
the airspeed well within the green arc. Yes, it's bumpy, but
maintaining control is a non-event. Using rotor to climb into the wave
is sometimes the only way to get there. There's a terrific mix of up
and down but, if you stay on the upwind side of the rotor, the net is
up. You climb in rough air and then, all of a sudden, it becomes silky
smooth and the rate of climb increases rapidly. What a treat! Having
said that, I still have enough sense not to fly through rotor with the
airspeed in the yellow!

On 10/21/2015 10:25 PM, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Wednesday, October 21, 2015 at 1:09:00 PM UTC-4, Tango Eight wrote:
... Three gliders were damaged. ... one damaged in flight,
Rotor?


--
Dan, 5J