GLIDING INTERNATIONAL -- RESEARCH

On Sun, 10 Nov 2019 10:19:57 -0800, uneekcowgirl wrote:

Now that would be irony..... get killed in a car wreck due to
inattention caused by trying to scout landing fields so as not to kill
ones self on an off field landing lol.

Actually, its not that bad. Our field is surrounded by crops of various
types - typically maize(corn), cereals, setaside or rapeseed(canola), so
the final half mile of entrance track lets us assess crop state, and once
in the air, the green&growing/ripe/harvested field split is obvious and
setaside is generally OK since its formerly ploughed land thats been left
to grow weeds., i.e. flat surface with stalky stuff on it. Big Scotch
thistles would be a problem but they're easily seen from the air if
they're on setaside fields.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

On Sunday, November 3, 2019 at 3:04:36 AM UTC-5, wrote:
We at Gliding International have just completed a three months study on the accident sitution in regard to our sport. We have examined (in detail) the 96 reported accidents which show that our problematic area of soaring flight relates to the landing phase.

We took note of all accidents from 1/1/2019 to 31/08/2019 which indicates for sure (on the conservative side) that fatalities for the calendar year of 2019 will be 43. No organisation or sport should turn a blind eye to what is obviously a totally unacceptable situation.

We haven't got an answer to this problem but we are open to discussion and be a catalyst for change.

Also in our November issue is a report from Sebastian Kawa who has personally set out to explain his recent serious accident. An uphill landing into a very questionable landing zone with no options. He must be complimented for writing his report on the accident for our sport enthusiasts. He tells all how to avoid a repetition of the problem. Basically the accident emanated from the failure of his motor to start. He has quoted the number of experiences he has personally experienced with motor failures and has started a war on brands of motors that must be regarded as totally unreliable.

JOHN ROAKE
EDITOR

Agreed, nature of one's drive to the airfield can be tense or relaxing.Here, in
central Onario, outside the cities and off major highways, one can survey the fields. It is important to note the colour difference between say, corn (maize)
and soybeans.
JMF

Maybe this is why most cross country pilots started with hang gliders. In a hang glider almost every cross country flight end with an off field landing. One must be totally comfortable with the idea of off field landing to be able to fly cross country safely.

Ramy

Electric motor gliders are much more reliable than my Pik-20E. However, even these can suffer from a single failure.

Most electric VTOL designs use multiple motors and completely redundant systems. They can resume safe flight after the failure of a motor, prop, battery, or speed controller.

I think that it would be game-changer to have this type of redundancy in an electric motor glider. With sufficient reliability, it would be possible to soar in some amazing places, without the need for safe landing options.

I think its a reach to say “ most xc fliers started with hang gliders�. Out of about 40 guys I know who fly xc on a regular basis, theres only one who did any hang glided. But your point about being comfortable with out field landings is spot on.

David Shelton wrote on 11/10/2019 2:44 PM:
Electric motor gliders are much more reliable than my Pik-20E. However, even these can suffer from a single failure.

Most electric VTOL designs use multiple motors and completely redundant systems. They can resume safe flight after the failure of a motor, prop, battery, or speed controller.

I think that it would be game-changer to have this type of redundancy in an electric motor glider. With sufficient reliability, it would be possible to soar in some amazing places, without the need for safe landing options.

An FES system and a mast mounted electric motor system that are completely
independent: separate motors, batteries, controllers, wiring. Expensive but
redundant.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1

On Sunday, November 10, 2019 at 1:55:11 PM UTC-8, Ramy wrote:
Maybe this is why most cross country pilots started with hang gliders. In a hang glider almost every cross country flight end with an off field landing. One must be totally comfortable with the idea of off field landing to be able to fly cross country safely.

Ramy

Big difference though, between an off field landing in a hang glider and one in a sailplane as you know. Some of the newer hang gliders are a little hotter landing, but back in the day - if necessary - a tree landing in a hang glider was considered a landing, not a crash. You can put even a high aspect Rogallo into a very small and confined space in relative safety. A 21m sailplane, not so much.

Out west, even an airfield landing can be treacherous: there may be berm on the sides, the sage may have grown 4' tall since you walked it last, the snow stakes might be set up for a Cessna or small span power plane.

No doubt a hang glider can land in much more restricted area. But the idea is that you don’t have this umbilical cord from day one. At least this is how I felt. The longer you stay connected to your airfield (or couple airfields in the area) the harder it gets to get comfortable to cut the umbilical cord. You need to get comfortable flying cross country and land out from early on. (But never too comfortable which may turn into complacency).

Ramy

FFS most of the rest of the world uses a tried and tested way of
training for off airport landings - the use of a motorglider -why do you
North Americans have to do everything the hard way.........

Why? Because we can and we always do things our independent way lol.

EU uses motorgliders because GA aviation is only for the very rich over there and your not gonna find any tom-dick-harry with a light plane, only clubs, rick guys and partnerships.

Here in North America for $150 bucks or a bbq lunch for a friend with a plane, a guy can spend an hour up in the air scouting fields and simulating off field approaches. It being a motor glider is not essential.