Free Flight Vol Libre
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Apr/May 2/04 free flight • vol libre Priorities Phil Stade A quick look at the Big Picture ... The recent Annual General Meeting in Calgary was an opportunity to share information and ideas and to remind ourselves that SAC and all the member clubs are not “them”, but rather “us”. We share similar goals and challenges. The more substantial issues discussed in Calgary included SAC’s finances, our safety and accident record, insurance costs and options, and methods of attracting and retaining members. SAC needs a steady and growing income to remain available to assist clubs by funding programs such as marketing and safety initiatives. These two areas are strongly related since few newcomers will want to join a group which may be getting prohibitively expensive and unsafe. Who is SAC anyway ...? SAC is a corporation of clubs and club affiliated members joined together: • to promote soaring flight in Canada, • to research soaring flight and soaring aircraft, • to represent the interests of soaring pilots to government departments, • to encourage soaring competitions, • to be a central organization to record and distribute soaring information. The mandate SAC accepted and the authority it has are the creation and extension of its member clubs. I have noted that individual clubs can and do choose to accept or reject that authority. Insurance reality: we have it or we don’t fly! Soaring attracts individuals who value solitude, work alone, are wrapped up in their own thoughts and seek to go higher and farther than others. This mindset can make some of us unwilling to participate in such activities as effective spring checks. It can lead to individual pilots and entire clubs focussing only on their needs. Our Flight Training & Safety committee has been struggling with how to make our flying safer. Clearly, all the rules we can dream up won’t create safer flying operations. That will only come from the acceptance, understanding and implementation of safe flying practices by all pilots. The challenge ... The cooperation of each SAC club is required since it is within clubs that the authority lies to demand change. Ensure that you and your fellow pilots participate in effective review and upgrading of flying knowledge and skills. Our record of accidents indicates that it is time for clubs to take the lead in this area. The FT&SC will soon be presenting a new safety initiative to support your club in its goal to fly safely. Please be prepared to participate. The opportunity to continue enjoying this sport may well depend on how seriously we take this challenge. 2 free flight 2/04 free flight • vol libre The journal of the Soaring Association of Canada 2/04 – Apr/May Le journal de l’Association Canadienne de Vol à Voile ISSN 0827 – 2557 safety report for 2003 4 accidents and analysis Dan Cook cross-country flight in the 6 a detailed guide Vaughan Allan southern Alberta lee waves probing for the smoking gun 12 thoughts on the Ivans/Engen Nimbus 4DB accident Stan Hall competition psychology 15 what makes a racing pilot? Chris Davison a 2020 km O&R 16 the record flight that wasn’t Wolfgang Thiele checklist for a sport 18 questions, questions, questions Andy Gough & Steve Newfield soaring to Pemberton 21 motorgliding to Pemberton Ken Armstrong DEPARTMENTS 22 Club News — Leonard Douglas obituary 24 Safety & Training — the instructor’s guide to safety, two winch accidents revisited 25 SAC News — CD’s report on 2003 Nationals Cover Looking west across the Purcell Mountains just north of Invermere, BC. Photo was taken in June 2002 and shows the still subtantial snow levels for early summer that year. please check your Clubs — photo: Tim Wood contact information on the back page and send me corrections 2/04 free flight 3 Safety report for 2003 Dan Cook Safety Officer, FT&S committee The SOARING ASSOCIATION of CANADA is a non-profit organization of enthusiasts who THIS YEAR we experienced 17 accidents of which two involved fatalities and one serious seek to foster and promote all phases of glid- injury, and five aircraft were destroyed. There was some major difficulty in gathering infor- ing and soaring on a national and interna- tional basis. The association is a member of mation as only three accidents were reported to SAC on the Flight Training & Safety com- the Aero Club of Canada (ACC), the Canadian mittee’s Accident Form. This may be a result of the Insurance Accident Claim form being national aero club representing Canada in the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), similar in design to the FT&SC form and pilots think that it isn’t necessary to inform both the world sport aviation governing body com- groups. Unfortunately, sharing of insurance information with the committee is not seam- posed of national aero clubs. The ACC del- less and we are NOT getting the information from pilots or clubs. In addition, Transport egates to SAC the supervision of FAI-related soaring activities such as competition sanc- Canada will not share information on accidents with non-governmental sources due to tions, issuing FAI badges, record attempts, Privacy Act considerations. Unless the information is sent to the FT&SC through SAC we and the selection of Canadian team pilots for world soaring championships. will be limited in our ability to do analysis and therefore have difficulty learning from our mistakes. Based on limited data, the following are the “highlights” of accidents in 2003. free flight is the official journal of SAC. Material published in free flight is contributed • Fatal, serious injury, write-off LS-1C & PW-5. Mid-air collision occurred around by individuals or clubs for the enjoyment of Canadian soaring enthusiasts. The accuracy circuit height over glider port. One pilot seriously injured, the other fatal. of the material is the responsibility of the • Fatal & write-off. Ventus. Glider missing in Rocky Mountains and presumed crashed. contributor. No payment is offered for sub- mitted material. All individuals and clubs are • Write-off, L-33. Wing struck trees on final approach during off-field landing attempt. invited to contribute articles, reports, club activities, and photos of soaring interest. An • Write-off, L-23. A windstorm destroyed glider while it was tied down at the gliderport. e-mail in any common word processing for- mat is welcome (preferably as a text file). All • Substantial damage. US-registered glider experienced a hard landing. material is subject to editing to the space requirements and the quality standards of • Substantial damage, 2-33. Tow cable became tangled in the tail wheel and the the magazine. glider was pulled into the air prematurely on launch. Images may be sent as photo prints or as hi- resolution greyscale/colour .jpg or .tif files. • Substantial damage, L-19. Wind gust lifted the wing after normal touch down Prints returned on request. and the opposite wing tip contacted turf runway. Control regained after gust. free flight also serves as a forum for opinion • Substantial damage, Grob Twin. After a low circuit, airbrakes were opened on final on soaring matters and will publish letters to and the glider wing struck the top of a fence. the editor as space permits. Publication of ideas and opinion in free flight does not im- • Substantial damage, SZD Junior. Right wing contacted a bail of hay in an off-field ply endorsement by SAC. Correspondents who wish formal action on their concerns landing attempt in adjoining field after a vehicle was observed blocking the runway. should contact their Zone Director. • Substantial damage, L-23. On rollout after landing, the glider stuck a danger sign. Material from free flight may be reprinted without prior permission, but SAC requests • Substantial damage, 7GGAA. Hard landing and propeller ground strike. that both the magazine and the author be • Substantial damage, ASW-24. Glider was being towed by a ground vehicle when given acknowledgement. the wing tip dropped into a grassy ditch. For change of address and subscriptions for non-SAC members ($26/$47/$65 for 1/2/3 • Substantial damage, Grob-103. Crack in leading edge of wing was detected when years, US$26/$47/$65 in USA & overseas), glider was inspected. Overstress or impact related? contact the SAC office at the address below. • Substantial damage, DG-300. The wing of another glider was moved during ground handling in the hangar and it struck the canopy of the DG. • Minor damage, L-13. The glider was landed with improper use of spoilers and President Phil Stade contacted tail first damaging the tail wheel assembly attachment. Vice President John Toles Exec Director Jim McCollum • Minor damage, Russia Gear collapse on striking hard rut in landout field. Treasurer Jim McCollum Legal Counsel Robert Wappel • Minor damage, Krosno. The glider was landed by the instructor after taking control. Secretary vacant Directional control was not maintained on a soft field and the aircraft yawed 90°. The SAC office: 107 – 1025 Richmond Rd. wing tip dropped and was slightly damaged when it made contact in the mud. Ottawa, ON K2B 8G8 tel: (613) 829-0536 fax: 829-9497 e-mail: [email protected] Analysis web site: www.sac.ca There are no surprises in terms of what may have been the major factors in the cause of Deadline for contributions: most of these accidents. Stall/spin (loss of controlled flight), mid-air collisions, and off-field th January, March landing attempts still lead the accident categories. Again, most accidents are made by ex- May, July perienced pilots. The number of recent accidents in the Rocky Mountains and other moun- 5 September, November 4 free flight 2/04 tainous countries highlight that this type of flying has more risks, and special precautions and training is required.