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Pilot Details

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Gear Details

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Incident Details

April 17, 2011 Location of the incident: , Type of Incident:

This past Sunday afternoon I went to Surfside to fly for a couple of hours but things did not turn out so well and I’ve ended up with 5 broken bones in my right foot. I arrived about 2pm and set up in a wash out area where there were no dunes. The wind was coming out of the North about 8-10. I set up my wind sock and watched it and some nearby kites for about 30 min. to get a feel for the wind before ever getting my wing out. The wind was steady, just as steady as if it was coming off the water. I knew not to fly when the wind was blowing directly offshore and in this location it was blowing at about 45 deg. to the beach so I felt ok with that. With the wind at 8-10 I let my trimmers out a couple of notches to get the wing overhead quicker. I pulled up a reverse, kited for a bit and all was steady. I turned, made a few steps and I was in the air just fine. As I rolled right and went to get in my seat I felt a sharp bump followed by a loss of forward motion then a vertical lift. The vertical lift stopped and I lost control and fell straight down…40, 50 maybe 60 feet. After I hit the ground I got drug backward a bit but I was able to grab one of my risers and pull one side of the wing to me until I could get unclipped. A bystander who happened to be a helicopter pilot came to my aid and said he saw the takeoff, then the vertical lift said the right side of my wing collapsed and folded. I hoped this day would never have come and I’ve tried to be very conservative in my flying and what bugs me most is I cannot fully understand what caused this incident….maybe I was hit by a gust and/or thermal, did I just make a bad call flying in the North wind, not sure. I could have and probably should have been hurt much worse but I was spared. I went to see Doc **** on Monday and he said I may or may not need surgery on my foot but I’ll be out of commission and on crutches for at least 2 months. I was supposed to leave for Cambodia with my daughter this morning on a mission trip with our church but I had to let her go without me. The following is a critique by a USPPA instructor: 8-10 is the PPG2 limit for winds. Free flight we will go 12mph base winds but we don’t have the motor to deal with. The actual numbers are 12 mph with no more than 5 mph change in 5 minutes-pretty rock steady winds. We fly the beach at much much higher winds yes but they are a much more different set of conditions. I’ll give my breakdown best as I can: 2pm – early for inland winds – thermals kicking. Remember that cool temperatures don’t negate thermals. It’s the temp differential that causes them when the sun heats the ground. North 8-10 – Not really the North component itself an issue but we are in the time of year when fronts are moving through and the air is unstable. North for a five day stretch with steady winds is different from North where the wind speeds and direction are changing all day. Get used to looking at winds aloft as well to see if the winds just above you are fast and/or moving opposite directions. This where we really look to see how risky it is flying the beach on a North wind. trimmers out a couple of notches – this one bit you. What I always tell students is that it is much better to lose some penetration or maybe risk your pride and a scraped knee dragging a bit than to risk taking a low altitude collapse. Trimmers are for higher altitude cruising. You can slip just a little (.5 inch) to help out but as a rule I say none. went to get in my seat– second bite. With trim out we needed to keep the glider pressurized with brake input. Without active brake input we are vulnerable to frontals and in the process of getting in our seat most pilots leave themselves open. Best practice is to use a kick-in strap if a butt wiggle doesn’t get you in. Second is a one handed steering technique. Third point on this is be high enough before you get in your seat to be able to react/recover. lift/bump/down part – this is where the magic took place and it comes together. Thermic bump/gust and lift – angle of attack increases (wing gets behind us) and wing surges forward and tucks in front. It happens fast and if it’s timed as we are getting in our seats we can’t react. We need altitude to let the wing recover. In our mind we play it out and we see ourselves catching everything and making good. In reality it happens quick and we are on the ground sorting out our senses before we have time to analyse.

Flight Window: Wind Speed: Type: Phase of Flight: Type of Injury: Collateral Damage: Analysis of the incident (additional input by the incident investigation team): Photos (if available):

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