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Seniors Contest
No scores or news about the crash, what's up? If Charly is not at the
contest, we may never hear. |
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...Huh? I suppose this is in the US? Please bear in mind that this is an
international newsgroup, they may even listen in from other planets as well ;-) Lars Peder DG-600, Denmark -- -- Lars P. Hansen "Bob Fidler" wrote in message ... No scores or news about the crash, what's up? If Charly is not at the contest, we may never hear. |
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It's up on the ssa website as of 11am cdt. Look for Charlie's coments
in the "news" section not the "results" section. John Cochrane |
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The report, on the SSA website, www.ssa.org, is under
the 'Members Only' section, then under 'Contest Reports,' then under 'Contest News.' Maybe it can be found somewhere outside of the 'Members Only' section? If so, I haven't been successful. Ray Lovinggood Carrboro, North Carolina, USA At 17:00 07 March 2005, Bb wrote: It's up on the ssa website as of 11am cdt. Look for Charlie's coments in the 'news' section not the 'results' section. John Cochrane |
#5
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Yes, it appears that the contest reports are under the news section for
which you must log in with SSA member number and password. I have written Dennis Wright a note suggesting that both the reports and scores should be posted under the Contest Button so that anyone can access the scores and reports. I know that I enjoy reading contest reports and scores from other contries and feel that we should make this information universally available. If you feel as I do, please write Dennis a note. David Martin ASW27 BV |
#6
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It doesn't say anything anyway, just that there was a crash on practice
day. |
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#8
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I know it's a dead horse, but I can't help but point out that this is
exactly the sort of accident that would be a lot less frequent with a 500 foot one mile circle finish. 70-80 kts right over the center of the airport at 51 feet is about the worst place you can be -- too much to land straight, too little to do a pattern. 70 knots, 501 feet, one mile out gives you a lot of time to think about what you're going to do next. 70 knots, 300 feet, one mile out means you're not going to make the flying finish at 500 feet, so you must roll. That decision is over, now use the whole mile to figure out how to land. Yes, pilots should think ahead to the pattern while also managing the stress of a tight glide. Yes, they should decide to do a rolling finish rather than focus entirely on the finishline and then wake up to the fact they have to land the darn thing. But everyone knows this advice, it's repeated over and over at the safety meetings, and we still get a crash like this once every few years -- usually with much worse results. A lower workload reduces the chances any of us will screw up. John Cochrane BB |
#9
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Another thought on this subject from a non-completing
pilots perspective is the additional complication brought on by the fact that other recreational pilots (some without radios) may also be in landing patterns. If there were a way to run contests to eliminate this possibility then it’s only an issue for the competing pilots. Other wise it’s an issue for everyone using the airport. At 05:30 10 March 2005, Eric Greenwell wrote: Kilo Charlie wrote: I've been flying for 34 years Eric and racing for 12. I see that you are ranked 232 and I am 121....does that make me better able to judge racing rules?! Let's talk about the facts and not get into a ****ing match about experience. My experience was not mentioned in the post - I was wondering about yours. I still make no claim about my experience. I was responding to your comment: I am unaware of there ever being a mishap with the gate finish Marc. I first assumed you had been racing for a while, but it then seemed unlikely, since you weren't aware of finish gate problems. I'm surprised you've raced for 12 years without witnessing or at least hearing about accidents and close calls. I'd appreciate the details of any and all mishaps that you or others know about that you feel are a result of finish gates. I've seen several gear up landings, at least once with pilots going head-on at each other because one finished backwards, some slow speed pullups leading to a scary low turn to final a whisker away from cartwheeling, a pilot landing short in a rock-filled field because the 'rolling finish' didn't make it to the pavement. There's more that will come to me after a bit, but those are some that I've witnessed. Thankfully, no bad injuries or fatalities. I'm with Marc - I think I'm safer with the new high finish cylinders than the traditional ground-based gate. It was a thrill bombing through it at 50 feet off the ground, but I'm over that now. -- Change 'netto' to 'net' to email me directly Eric Greenwell Washington State USA |
#10
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Mark,
I think what you are getting at is what we in the UK call a control point, a final turnpoint that must be rounded in the normal way, but is only maybe 5-10 km from the airfield, each glider is a few hundred feet (or more depending on the pilots saftey margins) up at this point and after turning the control point, competitors turn to the airfield and dive to a known linear finish gate. There is generally no minimun finish height so often the gate is crossed under 50 ft but as all competitors are coming in from a fixed direction towards a small and clear area of land it eliminates the vast majority of head to head at low altitude issues and I've never seen congestion at a control point myself (altough as my own competition experience is rather limited I won't say it never happens). As for non comp gliders, everywhere I've been competing the daily briefing for non-comp pilots always stressed the comps procedures as well as use of the radio to ensure separation in launch, landing and finishing. As long as the finish gate is suitably chosen to be away from the main landing area and obstacles with space to land after as well as an easy entry into circuit for those with the speed to do so it can be both a safe and an exciting way to finish without the artificial complications of raised finish lines. John, Whilst some of those accidents are attributable to finish gates, I'd certainly question your thinking the last three. Taking the Discus crash for example, in a Discus (in which I have a reasonable if not spectacular amount of time), 500' is adequate, if not totally comfortable, for a decent enough circuit, that crash, as well as the others, from the reports seem to be the whole 'slightly low in the circuit leads to a poor turn leading to a spin in' issue. Where the blame in that lies is the topic for another thread but that, like the other last three, does not seem to be attributable directly to finish gate issues as surely a pilot just making it over a 500' 1 mile finish gate would be in exactly the same situation as someone who has just got a few hundred feet of height from a competition pullup? The others seem to be 'insufficient speed, insufficient time to recover from the spin', afaiks the same situation as trying to scrabble over a start gate at 450' and screwing up. It's been said before but unfortunately you can't legislate good judgement. Cheers Jamie Denton At 18:30 10 March 2005, Mark James Boyd wrote: John, Wow! Good job finding these. They are very enlightening. I did a high-speed low pass pullup 180 once. Just once. I was low energy on the last 30 degrees of turn back and didn't like it. Fortunately there was nobody around to see my cross-runway landing. I don't think I'll do it again. Other than this, it seems like the accidents involve other aircraft in the pattern. If they aren't part of the competition, that could be a big problem. One of our contest pilots mentioned the FAA X out the runway for some contests to prevent non-contest pilots from landing. He recalled this from one competition. I wonder about the cylinder finish with the center of the cylinder at the airport, however. Pardon me (not a contest pilot) but doesn't a remote cylinder or maybe a remote final turnpoint make more sense? Then everyone is coming from the same direction inbound. It seems like it is much easier to see others this way than during closure from random directions. Some remote entry point, perhaps? I'm sure this has been thought of and used before. Any comments on the results? Sure, this would cause congestion at the entry point, but I'd rather have congestion with other gliders at 500 feet than congestion with cars and kids and glide calculation and water AND head-on gliders at 50 feet. But this is armchair from me. I'm interested in what you guys think, and if you've experienced remote finish points/cylinders... By this I mean the 'competition' part is over at 500-1000 feet and gliders enter the pattern at a well-known, same entry point. In article , BB wrote: I'd appreciate the details of any and all mishaps that you or others know about that you feel are a result of finish gates. A small sample of serious finish accidents. 1. NTSB Identification: FTW94LA237 . The docket is stored in the Docket Management System (DMS). Please contact Public Inquiries 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation Accident occurred Saturday, July 16, 1994 in LITTLEFIELD, TX Probable Cause Approval Date: 1/12/1995 Aircraft: SCHWEIZER SGS 1-26E, registration: N33915 Injuries: 1 Serious. WITNESSES SAID THE PILOT COMPLETED A GLIDER COMPETITION LOW AND SLOW AT THE FINISH. THE PILOT TURNED LEFT ONTO THE DOWNWIND LEG, FOLLOWED BY A STEEP LEFT TURN AND NOSE PITCH DOWN. IMPACT OCCURRED NOSE LOW STILL TURNING LEFT. 2. NTSB Identification: FTW86FRG30 . The docket is stored on NTSB microfiche number 32434. 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation Accident occurred Monday, August 04, 1986 in UVALDE, TX Aircraft: SCHLEICHER ASW-20, registration: N20TS Injuries: 1 Serious. ACFT WAS COMPETING IN THE NATL SOARING CHAMPIONSHIPS AND HAD JUST CROSSED THE FINISH LINE AT 50' AGL AND 85 KNS A/S WHEN IT ENTERED A MANEUVER TO REVERSE DIRECTION AND CLIMB TO PATTERN ALT FOR LANDING. DURING THE TURN THE ACFT STALLED AND STRUCK A POWER LINE DURING THE SUBSEQUENT DESCENT. AFTER IMPACT, THE ACFT SLID INTO A VEHICLE. THE PLT MAY HAVE BEEN DISTRACTED BY OTHER ACFT OPERATING IN THE PATTERN. 3. NTSB Identification: LAX90FA310 . The docket is stored on NTSB microfiche number 45117. 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation Accident occurred Sunday, September 02, 1990 in CALIFORNIA CITY, CA Probable Cause Approval Date: 12/30/1992 Aircraft: Schempp-Hirth NIMBUS-2C, registration: N39285 Injuries: 1 Fatal. THE PILOT WAS PARTICIPATING IN A ROUND-ROBIN SOARING CHAMPIONSHIP CONTEST. WHEN THE GLIDER WAS ABOUT 2 MILES EAST OF THE FINISH LINE THE PILOT RADIOED THAT HE WAS INBOUND. WHEN THE GLIDER WAS ABOUT 1/4 OF A MILE EAST OF THE FINISH LINE WITNESSES OBSERVED ITS AIRSPEED APPEARED TO BE LESS THAN NORMAL. AFTER CROSSING THE FINISH LINE THE GLIDER ENTERED INTO A CLIMBING RIGHT TURN. WHEN THE GLIDER COMPLETED ABOUT A 180 DEGREE TURN, IT STALLED AND ENTERED INTO A SPIN. A GLIDER PILOT WHO OVERTOOK THE ACCIDENT GLIDER REPORTED THAT THE ACCIDENT PILOT BEGAN TO PREMATURELY DISPERSE HIS WATER BALLAST ABOUT 10 MILES EAST OF THE AIRPORT FINISH LINE. The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows: THE PILOT'S IMPROPER DECISION TO EXECUTE THE RAPID CLIMBING TURN MANEUVER AT AN INSUFFICIENT AIRSPEED. CONTRIBUTING TO THIS ACCIDENT WAS THE PREMATURE DUMPING OF THE GLIDER'S WATER BALLAST. 4. NYC00LA171 On June 19, 2000, about 1630 Eastern Daylight Time, a Schempp-Hirth, Ventus 2CM motorglider, N800PF, was substantially damaged while maneuvering to land at the Warren-Sugarbush Airport, Warren, Vermont. The certificated commercial pilot was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the personal local flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. According to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, the pilot was participating in a glider race at the airport. The race was to be conducted without motorized power and the motorglider was towed to altitude. According to the pilot, after crossing the finish line at the end of the race, he received a radio call from the airport that the winds had changed direction and landings were being conducted on Runway 22. The pilot executed a 180-degree turn and entered the traffic pattern for the runway. While turning base to final, the pilot was unable to stop the turn with full opposite aileron due to turbulence. As the motorglider descended, the pilot was able to level the wings, but was 90 degrees to the runway and 'into the trees.' The pilot raised the nose of the glider to decrease airspeed, and the motorglider stalled, impacting trees short of the runway. The winds reported by an airport located about 13 miles east of the accident, at 1651, were from 350 degrees at 7 knots. Two more, not contest participants, but fatalities doing contest finishes. 5. NYC01FA071 HISTORY OF FLIGHT On January 28, 2001, a Schempp-Hirth, Discus CS glider, N814CU, was substantially damaged while attempting to land at Wurtsboro Airport, Wurtsboro, New York. The certificated private pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight. No flight plan had been filed for the local flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. ..... The pilot performed a high-speed pass down runway 23, and either touched the runway momentarily, or was very close to it. He then pulled up to about 500 feet agl, and entered a left crosswind, followed by a downwind for runway 23. The traffic pattern appeared normal to the observers. While on base leg, the glider was observed to enter a left turn prior to having reached a position from which the turn to final would normally have been made. The left turn increased in bank angle, the nose dropped and the glider disappeared from view. Some of the witnesses said the glider appeared slow and was in a nose up attitude. The bank angle was estimated to be in excess of 60 degrees, and the nose down attitude at least 45 degrees. ... 6. This was on the rest day of 15 meter nationals NTSB Identification: FTW01LA179. The docket is stored in the Docket Management System (DMS). Please contact Public Inquiries 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation Accident occurred Sunday, August 12, 2001 in Uvalde, TX Probable Cause Approval Date: 2/20/2002 Aircraft: PDPS PZL-Bielsko SZD-55-1, registration: N55VW Injuries: 1 Fatal. The commercial pilot was completing the third leg of a soaring 300 km triangle. The glider owner, who was in contact with the pilot via radio, reported that the pilot stated he had the field in sight approximately 8 miles from the airport. The glider entered the traffic pattern for runway 15 and was turning base when the owner observed it enter a spin. A witness reported that the glider banked, 'appeared to have stalled, and spiraled counter-clockwise' in a nose low attitude into the ground. Another witness, located approximately a block from the accident site, stated that she 'looked up and saw the glider spinning counter clockwise very fast and falling nose first.' The glider impacted the ground and came to rest approximately 1/4 mile from the approach end of runway. The pilot had accumulated approximately 270 total glider flight hours and 5 flight hours in the same make and model as the accident aircraft. No pre-impact anomalies were noted with the glider during the examination. (There was a low pass here too, though not mentioned in the official report. I guess pilots are smart enough not to talk too much to the FAA and NTSB!) John Cochrane BB -- ------------+ Mark J. Boyd |
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