Another glider crash?

On Tuesday, September 22, 2015 at 2:57:14 PM UTC-4, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
I did have the little symbol of glider with wheel down and up, while I have perfect distance vision and did not need reading glasses at that time, I could not quite make out which symbol was which.

I have the official symbols as well. But it's not immediately obvious without a pretty careful look which picture shows the wheel down. I really like the idea of supplemental Green/Red arrows.

On Tuesday, September 22, 2015 at 2:13:04 PM UTC-5, Papa3 wrote:
On Tuesday, September 22, 2015 at 2:57:14 PM UTC-4, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
I did have the little symbol of glider with wheel down and up, while I have perfect distance vision and did not need reading glasses at that time, I could not quite make out which symbol was which.

I have the official symbols as well. But it's not immediately obvious without a pretty careful look which picture shows the wheel down. I really like the idea of supplemental Green/Red arrows.

Label maker: Big font "UP" and "DOWN" in the appropriate place. Easy to read, no thinking "what does green mean?" required.

Like Dan, I like the LS solution better.

As a side note - I raise the gear at 500' agl on tow (nose hook), to prevent forgetting it after release in the rush to find a thermal, etc. I also tow in thermalling flaps (+5), so when I release in lift there is nothing to do but climb...

And my landing checklist is short: Wind (direction for pattern), Water (ballast gone or fly faster), Wheel (down and locked).

Kirk
66

Green vs Red, Up vs Down; both do seem like extremely simple matters to interpret into a correct action of the control. And for most of us they almost always would be. Problems can arise when the landing has issues such that the pilot becomes 99.9% focused on people walking across the runway, strong crosswinds, low altitude or any of a number of other special circumstances or combinations of distractions. The remaining 0.1% mental processing power that's reserved for matters of routine may be less than sufficient to correctly establish where the landing gear control should be set.

A better way, I think, is to provide yourself with checklist instruction requiring no interpretation whatsoever: Ballast Lever Forward; Landing Gear Forward.

This still leaves the crucial problem of getting onto the right control. But, at least, there is no processing required to get the sense correct.

In my glider the gear up position is
marked with hot pink duct tape as well as
the landing flap position and the spoiler
and gear handles as additional reminders
to check the gear.

There's a 4x4" green vinyl square at the
gear down position.

The gear handle is tucked down by my
thigh when up. It's now easy to see it's
down.

The LS gear is even better as it will shred
your knuckles if you pull spoilers with the
gear up.

It was reported that the pilot tried to make 3 landing attempts..........where did he get the energy to do that? More likely he hade a high-speed low pass, then pulled up, turned around and grabbed the wrong lever (gear handle instead of spoilers) flew the entire length of the runway wondering why the ship wasn't descending, then tried to turn around a second time and probably entered a stall-spin scenario as evidenced by the crumpled mess shown in the photo.
There is something missing here,
JJ

A few people have mentioned 'tunnel vision'.

I've heard of 'tunnel vision' associated with hypoxia, and also with the 'fight or flight adrenaline response' where vision is literally narrowed to the center of the visual field. Tunnel vision is like you're looking through a tube. The field of vision is narrowed to a few degrees.

But in this case, are people actually suggesting 'mental fixation' where the mind is unable to switch to an alternate course of action or alternate explanation for what is happening? For example, pilot becomes fixated on the idea that the spoilers are malfunctioning and fails to realize that he is holding the gear lever? This metaphoric, but not literal 'tunnel vision'.

My reason for asking is that I'm wondering whether 'mental fixation' is more likely during the 'fight or flight adrenaline response'? Is there any training or habits of mind that will reduce the tendency to mental fixation. Is a tendency to 'mentally fixate' a part of the normal aging process? Does fatigue increase the tendency to mentally fixate?

These questions have general medical/technical answers, but it would be useful hear anecdotes of how individuals have been tripped up by mental fixation in the context of soaring. I'd like to think about how I might find myself fixating while piloting and how I might spot that when it is happening and 'snap out of it'. Knowing about the case of 'grabbing the gear handle and thinking it is the spoiler handle' might pop into my mind if I'm ever in that situation. It would be useful to know of other common cases of fixation in piloting gliders.

You are correct.

Before ever flying as PIC in a military aircraft, I and my
contemporaries were subjected to a blindfold cockpit check. It was
mandatory to know where every control and switch was located without
looking. Grabbing the wrong handle is, in my opinion, simply evidence
of poor knowledge of the aircraft.

In gliders there's no doubt that the aircraft will land (no go-around)
and the pilot needs to be comfortable with that and not get fixated on
why it won't land where he expects it to. Know where the controls are
and when and how to use them. Have no doubts and you won't have
difficulty. You may not land where you want, but you WILL land.

On 9/22/2015 9:39 PM, son_of_flubber wrote:
A few people have mentioned 'tunnel vision'.

I've heard of 'tunnel vision' associated with hypoxia, and also with the 'fight or flight adrenaline response' where vision is literally narrowed to the center of the visual field. Tunnel vision is like you're looking through a tube. The field of vision is narrowed to a few degrees.

But in this case, are people actually suggesting 'mental fixation' where the mind is unable to switch to an alternate course of action or alternate explanation for what is happening? For example, pilot becomes fixated on the idea that the spoilers are malfunctioning and fails to realize that he is holding the gear lever? This metaphoric, but not literal 'tunnel vision'.

My reason for asking is that I'm wondering whether 'mental fixation' is more likely during the 'fight or flight adrenaline response'? Is there any training or habits of mind that will reduce the tendency to mental fixation. Is a tendency to 'mentally fixate' a part of the normal aging process? Does fatigue increase the tendency to mentally fixate?

These questions have general medical/technical answers, but it would be useful hear anecdotes of how individuals have been tripped up by mental fixation in the context of soaring. I'd like to think about how I might find myself fixating while piloting and how I might spot that when it is happening and 'snap out of it'. Knowing about the case of 'grabbing the gear handle and thinking it is the spoiler handle' might pop into my mind if I'm ever in that situation. It would be useful to know of other common cases of fixation in piloting gliders.




--
Dan, 5J

The LS gear is even better as it will shred
your knuckles if you pull spoilers with the
gear up.



I believe that this is true for the LS4, LS4a and LS4b only.

Jim

And, I think, the '3 and '3a.

On 9/22/2015 7:28 PM, 3j wrote:
The LS gear is even better as it will shred
your knuckles if you pull spoilers with the
gear up.


I believe that this is true for the LS4, LS4a and LS4b only.

Jim


--
Dan, 5J

I fresh idea. I shall paint a half dollar size green dot in the wheel down and locked position and a red square in the wheel retracted position. Less confusing than arrows or just color, square does not roll.

It was not until my most recent BFR that the instructor was requiring a visual check of the airbrakes and also required the airbrakes to be check full open as he explained there have been several incidents where the airbrakes became locked in the full up position. So now I check the airbrakes in the fully deployed position where if they became locked in the full up I could still make some type of pattern to land. I also added a tubular gauze to the airbrake handle to change the tactile feel from the flaps.