Glider Fatality in WA

Although we can focus on the maneuvers that occurred in the last seconds
before the crash, we shouldn't forget that there were mistakes leading
up to that point that should be considered. What was his altitude at
the IP, was he checking things along the way (TLAR)? Did he turn in too
soon (turn to base). It's rarely one single mistake that leads to
accidents, but a compilation.

Mark Nyberg wrote:
On Sunday afternoon June 19th Joseph Patton died in a glider accident
at Bergseth Field near Enumclaw, WA. Joe had been flying for a few
hours in his motorglider, came in for landing with too much altitude,
stalled and crashed. Joe died instantly.

There will be a visitation (opportunity to pay last respects and talk
with his family) on Friday June 25th from 4 to 8 PM at the
Bonney-Watson Funeral Home. The funeral home is located at 1732
Broadway (between Denny and Pine, across the street from the Seattle
Central Community College) in Seattle on Capitol Hill. Parking is
available on the north side of the funeral home.

Funeral Services will be held in the chapel at that same funeral home
on Saturday June 26th at 11:00 AM.

"Mark Zivley" wrote in message
m...
Although we can focus on the maneuvers that occurred in the last seconds
before the crash, we shouldn't forget that there were mistakes leading
up to that point that should be considered. What was his altitude at
the IP, was he checking things along the way (TLAR)? Did he turn in too
soon (turn to base). It's rarely one single mistake that leads to
accidents, but a compilation.

Exactly: Speaking about pattern planning in general, rather than this sad
incident in particular...

One problem with glider flying is that by the time you get in a position to
properly read the wind sock, your options may already be starting to narrow.

But what if you are so sure about the wind direction that you forget to
check the sock at all?

Suppose for just a moment that you manage to enter your downwind leg
without noticing that there has been a 180-degree wind shift since your launch.
On "downwind", you notice excessive altitude loss due to the undiagnosed
headwind and (thinking you had hit sink) turn base early. That headwind on your
"downwind" leg will now turn into an unexpected tailwind as soon as you turn
final from base--a base leg that is suddenly very close to the fence because the
wind has blown you towards the runway, rather than away from it as you expected.
You now find yourself high, with a high groundspeed, and already over the fence
with significant runway quickly disappearing behind you.

Now your options have REALLY narrowed!


Vaughn

On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 00:54:36 UTC, "Vaughn"
wrote:

: Suppose for just a moment that you manage to enter your downwind leg
: without noticing that there has been a 180-degree wind shift since your launch.

I confess. I have been there and done that. Those sea breeze fronts
can come through damn fast. And I did check the windsock, but only to
register the orientation of the wee orange triangle relative to the
runway. Realising that the ground was passing roughly 25 kt faster
than I expected at round out was a character building moment.

Ian


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