On Monday, February 10, 2014 8:49:58 AM UTC-5, kirk.stant wrote:
However, since kiting upsets are pretty much limited to older, low wing loading gliders, the problem is somewhat limited. In the US, my guess is that it is a threat from mainly 1-26s and 2-33s. My solution: careful briefing of 1-26 pilots, and chop up all the remaining 2-33s.
Are you saying that high performance gliders are incapable of kiting, or that the pilot of a high performance glider will never pull back on the stick at launch in ground effect?
Here is a kiting fatality with a Grob 103 Twin
http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/br...11X11267&key=2
Both pilots were experienced and current. Excerpt from the NTSB narrative:
"The pilot of the tow plane reported 5,078 hours of total flight experience, 1,245 hours of which were in the Cessna 305A. The (tow ed.) pilot reported 80 hours of flight experience in the 90 days prior to the accident, and 25 hours in the 30 days prior; all in the Cessna 305A. On October 5, 1998, the pilot performed 13 glider tows prior to the accident flight.
The glider pilot held a commercial pilot's certificate with ratings for airplane single engine land, glider, and instrument airplane. His most recent FAA second class medical certificate was issued June 26, 1997. The pilot reported 440 hours of flight experience on that date. A review of the glider pilot's logbook revealed 859 hours of total flight experience, of which 121 hours were in gliders."