Tree Landing tips in html and as PowerPoint TreeLanding Presentation ( 28MB)
From DHV Info translated ... Please throw your Reserve
Hat comes off
Wind dummies , Others taking off ?
1m/s is 3.6km/h. If you are clipped in, ready to go, and
got some doubts on the wind speed ... throw up some grass.
Throw up some grass, say 21, = 1 second, guess the meters,
more than 5 meters > too strong.
If the grass drops before your glider, ok, glider lines
are around 8m = 8 x 3.6 , lets say your lines are a bit
slack
, something like 25 - 30 km/h max. If the grass lands on
your
glider, bunch up and sit down .
In Portugal it happened one fatal accident when the pilot made
kiting
the glider in take-off place. The man, age 22, made the accidental
take-off
suspended by the hands in paragliders riser only. He was fall out of
the glider about 70 meters to the ground The take-off place is very
steep
and in
the hour of the day accident (about 16H30) the wind was moderated and
the thermal activity is to strong. After the accident it was known that
the
pilot habitually did the kiting procedure with the glider with the
hands only before the take-off for test the flying conditions. Sorry my
bad ingles.
Roq
While flying, keep a good lookout for pylons and poles of electrical and
telephone cables. One can see those from the air fairly easily as they are
bigger solid pieces than the cables themselves. After spotting one, check where
the pylons or poles on either side are, as it will tell you which
direction the cables are running. Watch out for "off-shoots" or changes in
direction (more pylons and poles) and multiple rows of cables.
Always cross only at a pylon or pole. They are the highest points in the line.
If it is not possible to cross there, land before it. It is almost
impossible to see all the lines from the air, especially the thin lightning
protection wire at the top of a set of electrical cables. Most "shocking"
accidents occurred because of collision with this wire. Or not correctly reading
the signs while flying (i.e. noticing the poles and pylons).
Look out for fences when planning to land in a field - again, fence poles are
more easily visible than the wires. Other give away signs are a "line"
in a field, sometimes with a path running next to it, slightly longer grass on
one side of the line than the other, a thin line of longer grass through
an open area, sitting birds suspended in the air, and so on. It is possible to
miss a fence in longer grass, but not so often when one is looking out
for it in advance. If I unexpectedly come upon a fence during landing, I would
aim for a pole, put my feet against it and hope to step over or bend
it that way. Need a volunteer to test this one. :-)
If you are on the ground, make sure you got your protection on
before
attaching yourself to that piece of cloth.
If you are clipped in , face the canopy, have your risers and toggles
in your hands, and when you notice a whirly, get close to your canopy.
Be ready to FALL ON TO IT.
If you are not attched to a canopy, assist other pilots. get closer
to their canopy, ready to grab the cloth.
Grabbing any line will just cut and burn your fingers.
Once in the air and low and you go through one, well I hang on to my
carabiners, risers.
And fly a docile canopy, eg a DHV 1 or 1-2.
Had one whirly at a winch launch attack me while on a winch
launch in 40m above the ground, grabbed my risers, my Effect staid
straight,
the winch operator slowed down, canopy sorted itself out, and we
continued
the launch once I went through it.
Had another whirly attack around 60 meters above the ground while
going for landing. First you stop dead in the air, go up like a
rocket,
then free fall as the canopy stalls. Hold on to the carabiners, big
swing
and then carry on with flying.
In my early days, on a hot glider, 100 meters AGL, went into a whirly.
With no idea what was going on, looking up to my canopy which was all
over
the show. Tried to correct the mess, overcontrolled, and came
down
those 100 meters with 6 collapses in 6 seconds and went splat. What put
me out of action for a while.
Best time to encounter whirly, my opinion, is when the air starts to
read trigger temperature, got enough heat built up to break through the
ground inversion.
And now is the time to kick of thermals.
That heated up air, held down by some inversion, starts punching a
few holes somewhere in that inversions.
And everything rushes through there.
Or if it is a no wind morning, that air gets warmed up, with no wind
pushing it towards a trigger point. Then a slight breeze , some
airmovement,
some convection starts and the next thing that overheated air explodes.
a bit like a coke bottle , shaken not stirred.
If your daily weather forecast gives you a 20 degree or more difference
between minimum and maximum temperature, expect a whirly day.
13.00 You have been parawaiting now since 11.00 on the
hill
and the wind is very light and cross. And now the windsock on the
bottom is turning.
Showing its starting to blow up. The hill slope is overgrown with
trees and bushes.
Time to jump into your kit?
Wait! That air in those trees and bushes on the slope has been
warmed up. And all this warmed up air is now avalanching up the
slope
towards you.
You might find the mother of all thermals coming up. You will be in
for a rough ride.
I would recommend you very carefully consider the circumstances, your
experience level, glider, and maybe opt to sit and watch.
And take the next cycle a few minutes later, once the conditions have
settled down.
If you are airborne and you see those indications of a gust front ,
come down fast. Eeeh, somthing like go and land? No, really fast.
How about tucking ears? That's a step in te right direction but it
will still not get you down fast enough from the time you see the dust
approaching until it hits you.
I mean B-Line, Spiral down. Get out of the sky now.
Once you are caught in it, from what I observed looking at pilots who
walked away from this, once you are low, land with big ears, and PLF in
the ground, with C or Ds pulled down on impact to maximum. Do not go
for
your normal flare landing.
If you are on the ground, to pack away your kit, forget about
rolling,
folding up your glider in a nice way.
Just roll it up from the windward side into one long sausage and then
stuff it in the bag.
Another indication for a gust front, or rain, ... you take off with
a nice Northerly, and a minute later the windsock has died. Next minute
it turned South.
Also no time to loose. Especially if there is some "shockwave" visible
in the clouds above you.
There has been a recurring theme of "landed perfectly (on C risers),
but
while I was getting out of the harness, the wind grabbed the glider
and I
was dragged across the field and ............." with varying
degrees of
line burn, roasties, or other (more serious) injuries.
Anton was also dragged after his epic 215 km flight at De Aar end of 2003. Same story.
I was one of those who got dragged on the strong wind day at Dasklip
when
there were many stories of being dragged on landing! And that while
I knew
the answer. Just shows how easy it is to forget what to do.
The solution is so simple - having done the 'perfect' landing and
while
heaving a sigh of relief, just walk or run around the glider to stand
behind
the canopy. One usually has a few seconds after landing before the
wind gets
hold of the canopy again, or before the next gust comes through.
Should the wind then grab the glider, it can go nowhere, and there
is
no
chance of dragging the pilot. It allows one to bunch the glider or
get out
of the harness feeling perfectly calm (apart from the adrenaline rush
of
having landed in such strong wind). It is not always simple to try
and bunch
the glider in strong wind while standing in a normal landing position,
which
is why we usually rather try and get out of the harness as soon as
possible.
Having repeated this strategy on the second last flying day at
Dasklip
(also
strong wind) as well as at De Aar (the same day and time as Antons
215km and a 164 km flight by a pilot who got a broken arm from getting
dragged), I guarantee that it works!
Reasons for using Big Ears , from Laura Nelson
The collapsing of the wing tips in a symmetrical fashion reduces the
surface area of the glider, thereby increasing the wing loading. This
then
causes the glider to have a higher sink rate and to come down faster.
By
pushing speedbar the effect can be increased.
One would use this manoeuvre to avoid going into controlled air
space
in
thermic conditions, or to try and get out of mild cloudsuck. Due to
the
decreased glide angle and increased sink rate, one can also use it
to get
into a smaller landing area, or to do top landings.
Dangers
There have been many reports from around the world that Big Ears
have
resulted in serious accidents. An investigation by the British Hang
Gliding
& Paragliding Association (BHPA) resulted in all pilots being
warned
that
Big Ears can be extremely dangerous. These accidents mostly occur when
the
Big Ears are released near the ground. Dangers that have been reported
are
?
1. Glider going parachutal on release of the Big
Ears.
It is most likely
to occur when the landing area has strong wind gradient or wind shadow.
This is especially true when the landing area is situated between
trees.
It
is not limited to that, though, and parachutal has been reported at
altitude as well. Some gliders may go parachutal while still on Big
Ears.
2. Glider inflating unequally and spinning around,
causing the pilot to
crash. Have happened a number of times on top landings, but also
elsewhere
near the ground. It can also occur at altitude.
The only way to avoid any accident happening is either to open them
higher
than 100m above the ground, or to land with them, should one descend
to
below 100m AGL, or pull them in below 100m AGL. Should any of the above
situations occur below 100m, the chances are small that the glider
could
recover in time for the pilot to have a good landing.
Instruction
Brief the student carefully on why the manoeuvre is necessary, as
well
as
what the dangers are. Explain that it is necessary to keep the Big
Ears in
below 100m AGL, as it is possible that something could go wrong below
that,
and that there could be too little time to correct the problem.
Explain and demonstrate how to pull Big Ears ? stretching up,
grabbing
the
outer A-lines and twisting them while pulling down, or taking the
correct
split A-riser. Show them the movement on the ground while holding up
the
risers and lines.
Explain how to steer with only weight shift and that one can assist
the
turn
by pulling a bit more on the inner lines and letting out a little on
the
outer side. Care must be taken not to release them completely.
Explain how to pump out the Big Ears if above 100m AGL. Be sure that
he
understands that it is important to allow the glider to surge forwards
after the pumping out, in other words the hands must be raised to zero
input, after which it can be taken back to 25% if necessary. Make sure
that
the pilot knows how to rectify the problem if anything should occur
above
100m AGL.
Explain how to land with the Big Ears in. The pilot holds the Big
Ears,
sets up the approach as usual, and should remember that he will arrive
with
more speed and sooner at ground level. On his final glide he must be
out of
the harness. It will be more difficult to do weightshift in an upright
position, so he should straighten out earlier than normal. At
the normal
flare height, he must release the Big Ears while he flares
simultaneously.
He must not release the Big Ears before he flares.
Reasons for flying with back risers from Laura Nelson
It becomes necessary to use the back risers when the toggles have
become
unusable due to the steering/toggle line breaking, or being tangled
in the
risers. There have been numerous occasions where this has happened,
but it
should not be a reason for a pilot losing control. Unfortunately, there
have been situations where the pilot crashed due to NOT using back
risers
when he was unable to use his toggle(s).
Dangers
As it is very easy to over-control with the back risers, it is
important
that the pilot is briefed very carefully on how to steer with the back
risers. There are two main dangers -
1) The pilot can give too much input while flying,
thereby causing one
half of the wing to stall in flight, which can lead to a spiral dive,
or
large pendulums and/or full stalls through trying to correct
incorrectly.
2) The pilot can flare too hard and too high on
landing
approach, and
can have an extremely hard landing, which can cause back injuries.
Mostly
the pilot falls very hard on his back.
Warning: It is easy to demonstrate back riser control with the
inflated
glider while standing on the ground, but it can give the student the
wrong
impression ? much more input is required while the pilot is standing
on the
ground, and the student may over-control more easily in flight.
Instruction
Brief the pilot carefully on why the manoeuvre is necessary, as well
as
what the dangers are. Explain that it is necessary to execute each
movement
very carefully by pulling gently on, or gently twisting, the riser,
feeling
how much input is required to get the desired reaction. Explain that
every
glider will have different characteristics to another, therefore the
pilot
must feel how much input he needs from the reaction of the glider.
Also
explain that the pilot can increase the amount of reaction with
weight shift
rather than increased pull. Turbulence can be controlled by holding
both
risers down a little until the glider is settled.
Explain the manner in which landing must be executed: set up
approach
as
usual, and get out of the seat early, as usual. Control any pendulums
on
approach with small movements, never hard. The flare should be executed
on
the normal height above ground. On landing the hands must never be
pulled
down more than shoulder height during the flare and it is better to
do so
progressively. Once the pilot's feet are on the ground, the flare can
be
completed to hands all the way down, in order to drop the glider behind
the
pilot. The pilot can also turn around at this point, if necessary.
(This
method also works well for C-riser landings in strong winds.)
Spiral gone wrong see spiral.txt
See also
http://eternitypress.co.za/freshair/loresivm.htm
Some points to ensure you can come back and fly there again
- airband radio is a must.
- get permission first form the town council or whoever is in
charge
- if necessary arrange a self cancelling Notam with flight
briefing
in JHB
- And stay off the runways, keep them clear. Do not have your
cars racing around on them, the kids riding their bikes up and down.
Runways are sacred ground and the unwritten rule is that
one does not hang around on them unnecessary.
Why? There is always a slight chance that some big plane in
distress without any power has to come in on an emergency, expecting
the
runway to be clear.
- Have ligths on when travelling on the runways.
- Stop before crossing or entering a runway, scan the sky for
any aircraft then cross fast.
- aircrafts got rigth of way
- have someone with an radio operators certificate for VFR operating the airband radio. a fellow who can talk the talk.
- when winch launching and you traffic is around, make an announcement, like " xyz traffic paraglider to be winch launched on 33 grass runway 33". Only when there is a plane that has announced its intention to use the airfield. Do not announce every launch with no other plane around which would be interested in this.
- when other traffic calls, make them aware of winch launch
activity
, or airborne PG or HG
When ridge soaring or flying close to a fellow pilot you can feel those bumps when crossing behind them
Every wing creates a vortex. A spiral of air going of the wingtips. The bigger the wing, the bigger the vortex.
You are flying in the vicinity of a major airport. Like around
Johannesburg
under the TMA at The Dam or Dunnottar. And you are close to
ceiling.
The incoming or outgoing traffic from JHB International, which gets
routed
above you can generate vortices which can make you tumble out of the
sky.
From
http://128.173.204.63/courses/cee5614/cee5614_pub/acft_classifications.pdf
A Vortex of a big plane can have up to 100m diameter and there a 5-7 m/s rotation speed.
Small aircraft should stay 20 km away from a big aircraft to
avoid the wake turbulence
http://avstop.com/Stories/AIRCRAFTWAKETURBULENCE.htm
http://www.nightstop.freeola.com/wake%20turbulence/WAKE%20TURBULENCE1.htm
Also if you winch on an airfield with other planes busy taking off
or
landing.
The vortices travel on the ground with the wind.
Best is to winch upwind from the main runway. But since we winch into
wind we can run the danger of encountering a vortex from a plane which
has taken off or landed a minute ago.
When a glider enters wind shadow (or wind gradient, for that matter), it has x amount of airspeed. Provided the pilot does not pull any brakes, the glider will endeavour to MAINTAIN its airspeed by pitching forward a bit. What does increase because of the lower windspeed in that area is the GROUNDSPEED. This often gives rise to the feeling that the airspeed has increased, or that the glider is in a dive, or that the ground is going to smack the pilot in the face. Why does the glider pitch? My theory is that when the paraglider enters the lower windspeed area, it has to adjust its angle of attack to be able maintain its airspeed. As a paraglider's trim is not self-adjustable to allow a change of angle of attack, it tends to pendulum (a little) around its force (the pilot weight), and that causes the dive effect. The amount of the pitch will vary with the decrease in wind speed - greater difference in wind speed will cause more pitch.
A hang glider has the same reaction when flying into wind gradient. Often the pilot will push out instead of allowing the angle of attack to change. This commonly leads to stalls in windgradient and wind shadow.
If one has enough height when entering a wind shadow or windgradient area and the pilot gives no input (flies hands up), the glider will resume straight and level flight, still at the same airspeed, but a much higher ground speed.
The problem comes when there is not so much ground clearance when the wing enters the windgradient/windshadow area. If the pilot does not control the pitch forward, then it is very easy to pendulum into the ground (the weight always has to be under the wing for proper control - at any angle away from the perpendicular it takes longer to react).
Pagen describes it a bit differently, but with the same result. He says the wing LOSES airspeed as it goes into windshadow, and has to pitch to regain the original airspeed. He claims that a paraglider can properly stall in wind gradient (fall backwards). In all the years of flying I have not seen a paraglider stall backwards in wind gradient without pilot input, but he does not mention that. (On that I will still take him up.)
He says that groundspeed has nothing to do with it, and that is true. What groundspeed does cause for many people is to misjudge their airspeed. As the groundspeed increases due to the decreased windspeed, the pilots have flared too early and/or too high. We all have seen people fall out the sky doing that. By understanding that the ground will move faster beneath them, it is easier to allow the wing to keep its airspeed, and it is easy to make a good landing. In the hang gliding book he warns against judging one's airspeed from one's groundspeed. Unfortunately he missed that in the paragliding book, and it is as relevant in paragliding as in hang gliding, especially in windgradient and wind shadow.
In neither of the two approaches to this does the wing increase
airspeed
on entering wind shadow. It simply maintains or regains its previous
airspeed
with the pitch.
It is with concern that it has been noted that paragliding students
are
often not taught to keep landing areas clear after landing.
This is a call to instructors to teach their students, especially
paragliding students, to take their gliders to the edge of the field
before
packing up, rather than pack up where they have landed in the middle
of the
field, close to the windsock, etc. Many of our pilots lack the courtesy
to
clear the official landing area, and thereby can endanger other
paraglider
pilots and specifically hang glider pilots on landing. When there are
many
of these thoughtless pilots they block the landing areas for others
without
further care. Especially should no one be packing up in an area where
pilots
are trying to spot land next to a windsock, a marked area, or in a
shared
landing area with hang glider pilots, etc.
In some fields it may not be a big problem or may not seem to be,
but
on
others and/or later in their careers, these students may be the direct
or
indirect cause of landing accidents. Instructors failing to teach this
requirement to their students, are failing to teach the student all
the
aspects of airmanship.
As they have no idea about the problems they cause, they may even
drive
onto
a landing area and park there to collect mates, causing an obstruction
on
the field and endangering the students and other pilots trying to land
there.
An incident report was recently received of a pilot hitting a
vehicle
on
landing, due to the vehicle driving into the middle of the field and
parking
next to the windsock, obscuring the windsock. Fortunately in this case
the
student was not injured, but there have been many such accidents in
the past
where the pilot had broken both legs and/or their backs, and/or damaged
the
vehicle quite extensively. Please ensure that retrieve drivers also
understand the importance of keeping the landing area free of
obstacles.
Reserve Parachute related Info
Reverse launch, turning the wrong way, taking off twisted .....
Links to the Funwings website
More info on flying Paragliders in South Africa at
http://www.funwings.com