Bill Gawthrop "F8" Accident - Sun 07/13/2014 - His Status

On Monday, July 21, 2014 7:42:30 PM UTC-7, SoaringXCellence wrote:
On Monday, July 21, 2014 7:07:36 PM UTC-7, wrote:

On Monday, July 21, 2014 6:06:26 PM UTC-7, JJ Sinclair wrote:



FOUR pilots have hit the cliff at Truckee, two in G-103's, one in a DG-200 and Bill.







I know a DG-300 hit the cliff, if there was a DG-200 it was yet another incident. To be fair, one of those G103s had the spoilers jam full open on final, and a DG-400 also hit the cliff with one spoiler jammed open. One should also include those who stalled and pancaked in at the threshold of 19/20 during a low approach, I would be one (cracked the tailwheel and delaminated the lower rudder hinge), another was a 2-33 (pretty extensively damaged), and I vaguely remember at least one more.



OK, I'm convinced, Truckee is off my list!

In the 20+ years over which these 4 incidents have occurred, Soar Truckee has conducted something like 18,000 glider operations, nearly all of them landing on runway 20 (used to be 19). While 4 incidents is 4 too many, it is not a high percentage of operations. All of those 4 would have been prevented by planning a high, full spoiler final, even the ones with mechanical malfunctions. There are certainly many popular soaring sites with more challenging airport conditions (and worse safety records) than Truckee.