On Sunday, August 26, 2012 12:22:28 PM UTC-5, Gary Adams wrote:
Why?? Again and again. Why do we think it won't happen to me? Why do we wait too late to be prep'ed to land? Why do we keep hearing the same story? No, we don't know why Jim crashed for sure....but we know one possibility most of us actually never practice in our personal planes....sure we do it every 2 years in a BFR flying a 103, 2-33, or K-21....I will be honest and say I've never practiced a spin in my ASW-20CL with winglets....my memory of what the early '20's (of which I once co-owned, involved in a fatal crash in '80)was capable of doing....... low, slow, turning, with flaps in 4. Sad string of events. On Sunday, August 26, 2012 12:11:45 AM UTC-4, Jp Stewart wrote: From TA's Dansville contest write-up: "Unfortunately, we were also saddened to hear of yet another apparent stall-spin fatality; Jim Rizzo, Finger Lakes club president and FAA Designated Examiner for the area was killed when his glider crashed into a farmer’s field not far from the Dansville airport. Jim was not part of the contest and was just flying locally when the accident occurred. All we know is what the farmer said (and this is 3rd hand to me) that apparently Jim was trying to thermal away from a low altitude and spun in (sound familiar? – it should – this is the 3rd almost identical fatality this season here on the east coast)." http://soaringcafe.com/2012/08/day-6...ille-region-3/ JP

With all humility, maybe I can offer a plausible explanation. Yesterday I landed-out at an airport which was not my intended destination. After a 3.5 hr flight with lots of thermalling I was in the pattern at this airport working a very weak thermal before putting the gear down to land. Mind you I have flown the same '28 for the past 8 years. Normally I thermal around 50 kts but will go down to 45 kts on occasion. While working this weak thermal I shockingly noticed the airspeed in the low 40s. I don't recall the altitude at which it changes, but at high altitude while thermalling, the downward wing moves backwards in relation to the ground and at low altitude the wing moves forward in relation to the ground. Without strict airspeed discipline it tempting to make the downward wing stop moving forward so rapidly and airspeed can become too slow. My condolences to family and friends.

Tom