The LGC Safety Page
Three of our K21's have recently been damaged (all nose wheels busted) as a result of instructors taking over too late.
You may think that this will happen to inexperienced instructors. Two of the P1's were very experienced full cat instructors and the other was a very keen and quite experienced assistant.
If the pupil makes a mistake do not let the situation develop to a point where you cannot recover it.
Of course these accidents happened in such a way that the instructor thought that they could recover the situation. Please be cautious we are running out of gliders.
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Crossing the cables can be a very dangerous practise. I am trying very hard to stop this from continuing. Please support me in this.
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Tugs and motor gliders have to to avoid taking their rotating propellers into an area behind the launch point where people are. Gliders being towed and pedestrians can go round the back and avoid the cables.
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Following a dreadfull accident involving a free fall parachutist and a Ka8, I would emphasise the need to avoid Parachute Drop Zones. They are clearly indicated on the half million maps and their frequencies are also available on the same charts. If you try to speak to them and get no reply assume that they are active. Please also let me know if you get no reply as it is broadly felt that they should man a radio if active.
First day for a long time that the winch was out. Nice hill day too!
Pupil tells instructor that he is almost ready for solo. Launch starts and goes off like a home sick angel. Onlookers thought it was near vertical. By the time that the instructor has his eye balls back into the front of his head the cable has broken and the airspeed is rapidly approaching zero with the nose pointing at the sky. During the recovery the right wing had dropped a little causing the glider to be pointing vertically downwards with the trailer rack and/or Otley building ahead!
At windsock height the instructor shut his eyes, pulled back and floated to the far side of the trailer rack with no damage to him, his pupil or the glider.
Could you be caught out like that? Are you current on the winch? How much notice do you take of what the pupil tells you.
In this case the instructor knew that he was not current on the winch and took the precaution of flying with another senior instructor before flying that day - good for him! Would you have done so?
Do you cage the stick and airbrakes at the start of the winch launch?
How steep will you let the launch get before taking control?
Please think about these points before flying the winch as P1. This will make the instructor whos heart nearly stopped have gone through the experience for the benefit of us.
As always I would be happy to discuss this in more depth with any interested parties.
It is of great importance that daily inspections are carried out well. Missing important things are dangerous to you and other that fly the aircraft. Below is a picture of a tailwheel tyre which was likely to blow at any time but passed two DI's whilst the wheel was rubbing on the fairing.
On a blue day in September A few gliders set off, mid-week, on a 300km task. 3 gliders flew the task together and turned the first turn point. They headed south towards Lasham. The ASW27 and Discus arrived at a good thermal at similar heights with the Discus just behind the 27.
The Discus pilot saw the 27 make a turn (into the thermal) and decided to initiate an turn in the same direction, turning tightly to avoid the other glider.
At this point neither pilot could see the other glider. There was a very loud bang and both gliders were damaged to an extent that both pilots had to jump out. Fortunately both pilots landed safely. The pilot of the third glider landed at Lasham in order to assist.
Pilots at the Lasham launch point heard the crash but none saw the accident. Our friends at Lasham were very good to our pilots and very professional in the way that they dealt with the whole event. Many thanks guys and girls.
So what might be learned?
If you follow another glider leave sufficient room to take avoiding action that does not involve loosing sight of the "threat".
Make sure that your parachute is serviceable.
(No comment here is intended to attribute blame. There is no right and wrong established. We are lucky to still be able to enjoy the company of two of our friends. Let us hope that their misfortune allows us to enjoy our sport more safely)
During august we had a fatal winch launch accident. The conditions were hot and blue and the day was better suited to "Deck Chairs and Pimms" than to cross country flying. A few of the Pundits had set off but not that many were interested. There was virtually no wind and we were launching from the SW run launch point.
The LS7 joined the Winch Launch queue and spent some time adjusting the rudder pedals before accepting the cable for the launch. The ground run was normal for the conditions - ie extended a little due to no head wind. The glider just got clear of the ground before rotating far too steeply. The glider reached about 100ft, stalled and departed from controlled flight to the left. The cable back released and the glider struck the ground, left wing tip just before the nose and slightly beyond the vertical. The pilot was critically injured and died in hospital that night from his wounds.
We await the report of the official findings however there is something that MAY have been a contributing factor. It would appear that the pilot had adjusted his seat back to the aft most position before the flight. This may have been the reason that he needed to adjust the rudder pedals before flight. It is possible that the seat back now sat against a speaker box installed in the glider rather than against the bulkhead as it had in the slightly forward position. If the seatback had thus become insecure it might have slipped back under the loads of the acceleration and caused the pilot to fall back a small amount starting an irreversible process of moving the stick aft and steepening the climb.
The pilot was very, very current and proficient on winch launching in K21's, the LS7 and the Duo Discus, which he had recently been cleared to fly solo. Please ensure the security of your seat back before launching.