It used to be that we had to go 300 miles if we wanted to go for
the cash with our rigid wings. But after a little persuasion Campbell decided
that we needed to take it down a notch to encourage more pilots to give this
hard task a try. You must start your flight from Quest Air.
With the La Nina conditions and a number of hot pilots showing up soon, there
should be a lot of long flights in Florida to report about.
The MalibuLaunchSystem (MLS) has received some nice upgrades
during the off season. A gas powered rewind system replaces electric for even
higher tows.
With such a strong La Nina, continued drought in Texas, and a very dry time in
Florida and Arizona we are looking for a very strong World Record Encampment
season in Zapata, Texas. The current plan is to start towing pilots up on June
14th and through July 27th (http://ozreport.com/texas20062007.php).
Manfred Ruhmer is committed to come in June. Pete Lehmann and I'll be there for
sure. We are looking for a few good pilots to come this year. If you are
interested contact David Glover at < david>. The cost has yet to be determined. There is as yet no
sponsorship for this event, so it could be $1000 per pilot. We have to
keep the number of pilots down relative to the number of tugs so that everyone
gets a chance to go far.
On January 3rd I moved from Byron, Illinois which was my home for
28 years to Wrightsville, Pa to take on a new job. I checked out the not so
local sites and decided that I'd fly at Highland Aerosports in Ridgely, MD to
get familiar with the area. Three weeks ago I had my first flight and was
surprised to see that the club is similar to Free Flight Aviations in
Whitewater, WI; a nice facility with friendly pilots and a solid operation.
Unfortunately I had not adequately charged my instrument deck and had to resort
to pimping off of the other pilots in the air. I did manage to stay on top for
most of the day but it is fairly easy with an ATOS VR.
On Sunday the conditions were post frontal which means dry air and usually good
conditions. I wasn't so sure though and checked the blip maps that didn't look
all that promising. I headed to Ridgely anyway not knowing when I would get a
chance to fly before the Quest meet. The winds were out of the N when I arrived
and not too strong. It was shaping up to be a good day. I launched first at 1:00
and towed into a good thermal drifting south before topping out at 3500'.
A line of clouds formed off to the west so I headed that way. I had no driver
and although I did link up with Steve (Talon pilot) on a radio frequency before
I took off, I was not able to reach him all day. Once under the good street I
decided to see how far I could go and worry about retrieve later. I was topping
out at 4800' and soon crossed the Tuckahoe and then Choptank rivers hopping from
cloud to cloud.
The line was taking me too close to the Chesapeake Bay so I diverted to the SSE
to keep from crossing any larger bodies of water. The clouds were working
however I did get down to 2500' near the Marshyhope river.
I headed west to a good looking cloud over a small lake and hit a nice thermal
over a huge gaggle of gulls. It was interesting watching them bunch up into a
tight core providing an excellent marker of stronger lift. I flew parallel to
the Marshyhope river before crossing the Nanticoke river near Sharptown.
So far the lift was solid at 400-500 fpm with an occasional strong core upwards
of 700 fpm. South of Sharptown I headed back east to a good line of clouds and
had a great run for the next 20 miles to the southeast of Salisbury cruising at
45-50 mph ground speed. The clouds in this area had broadened out and the lift
was getting turbulent. I flew for a few miles in solid lift and realized I was
in convergence.
Looking further south the skies had dried out; it was decision time. Should I
keep going or turn back to make the retrieve easier (if there would be one)?
This was the only time I let the distraction of not having a driver affect me.
That and the clouds to the north still looked strong so the decision was easy. I
did an about face and headed back toward Ridgely.
The air was feeling ratty, the glider was getting bounced around as the air
masses mixed. It was the first time I didn't have a solid feel in this glider.
About two miles north I pitched over hard and could feel the tail force the nose
back up! What a wake up call! I visually checked the location of the chute
handle multiple times and had a death grip on the bar for next 20 minutes.
The air changed quickly however and several thermals later I was down less than
2000' for the first time just north of Salisbury. The wind had died out and I
climbed in a smooth 500 fpm core to 5400' the highest all day. I was 30 miles
out and I knew I would need two more thermals to get back home. The sky cleared
out and I slowed down a little looking for likely sources of lift. Down to 1300'
I hit my last thermal and topped out at 4800' before gliding and landing within
11 miles of the airport.
What a great day! I ended up in the air for 5 hours and 15 minutes and flew 107
miles. Thanks to Mark for the short retrieve and Sunny and Adam for getting me
in the air. See you all next time!
On Saturday April 1, the Adventure AirSports Dragonfly was
involved in an accident. Most important is that the pilot only received minor,
blunt force injuries to his lower back and is recovering quickly.
The Dragonfly tug was performing a routine operation, towing a training glider
with an instructor and student on board. The wind was straight down the runway
at approximately 10 mph, the sky was clear. The tug had just completed a
previous tow and was functioning normally. Soon after liftoff the tug pilot felt
what seemed to be a loss of thrust or lift and immediately released the towrope.
Despite what seemed to be a normally functioning engine at full power the tug
pilot felt no control authority as the tug sank, nosed over and impacted the
ground from a height of about 10 feet. The right landing gear and pilot cage
absorbed most of the energy of the slow-motion impact leaving just enough energy
to bring the tail forward and flip the aircraft upside-down. The glider on tow
made a safe and uneventful landing on the runway near the tug.
Our best guess at this time regarding the cause of the accident is that the tug
flew into wake turbulence from a light aircraft that had previously departed a
cross runway upwind of the tug. We are putting together a detailed report with
all the specifics of the accident and will release it when it is complete. Len
Smith will file an accident report with the United States Hang Gliding,
Paragliding Association. I will be providing Len with a report, as I was a key
witness. There were 3 other witnesses to the accident. I will try to get
statements from those involved to make sure we have as much information as
possible to help us understand this accident.
The front end and undercarriage of the Dragonfly tug were significantly damaged.
Over the next few weeks the Partners in Adventure AirSports will be assessing
the damage and deciding if we will rebuild the tug and resume aerotowing
operations, or pursue other methods of launching gliders and providing
instruction (possibly including liquidating the LLC's assets).
We have been very blessed to have the tow pilot involved as a part of our flying
club and we know he feels badly about this accident. He is a well-qualified
general aviation private pilot and is certified ATP with over 170 tows in a
Dragonfly. If AAS decides to resume aerotowing operations, we sincerely hope he
will get "back in the saddle" again and put this all behind him, along with a
lot more aerotows. He has already indicated that this is the path he wants to
help AAS take.
Please give us time to get a complete, detailed report together.
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The Oz Report, a near-daily, world wide hang gliding news ezine, with reports on competitions, pilot rankings, political issues, fly-ins, the latest technology, ultralight sailplanes, reader feedback and anything else from within the global HG community worthy of coverage. Hang gliding, paragliding, hang gliders, paragliders, aerotowing, hang glide, paraglide, platform towing, competitions, fly-ins. Hang gliding and paragliding news from around the world, by Davis Straub.
