"Err on the side of safety"
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Experience counts
If someone more experienced than you is not launching, there's
probably a good reason. If you are very experienced or know
the site well, please tell somebody that's getting ready to
launch if it's not good at the moment.
Know your limits
Everyone has a different skill level and a different skill set.
Know your limits and fly within those limits. Just because
everyone else is flying doesn't mean that you should fly.
Know the limits established by the U.S.H.G.A. for your
certification level and fly within those limits. Be wise.
Fly safely.
"I'm not saying that my limits are right, but when I was a fresh
P-2, I think my peak wind at BW was about 14mph. That's not base,
but the absolute max tip of the biggest cycle. If it was more than
that, I didn't launch. A year and a lot of flights later, my peak
was about 16 mph."
Often I see people launch just a few minutes before sunset.
In a perfect world, this is great. But remember the "what if's".
Launching is the most difficult part of paragliding. If
something goes wrong, there is very little sunlight left
to remedy any problems. Paraglider lines become invisible
very quickly after a setting sun.
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The tips document by Jérôme Daoust
contains a lot of useful flying information and safety tips.
Middle of the day thermal activity at Big Walker is something
to be respected. Unless you have a lot of thermal flying
experience, leave the middle of the day flying to the three
winter months. I launched on a beautiful April morning this
year and had a long, high altitude flight. When the air
started getting too rough, I headed to the LZ. It might have
taken me about 20 minutes to get to the LZ, and by then the
air was even rougher. Plus, getting bounced around at several
thousand feet is not bad. Getting bounced around at 10, 20,
or even 200 feet can be quite disconcerting. The approach
to the LZ was quite unpleasant, but fortunately I touched
down smoothly around 1pm. Lessons learned: 1) I had thought
that April was a bit early in the year for such thermal activity, but I
was wrong. 2) Land before it gets rough, because the LZ
will probably be even worse.
Why fly in marginal conditions? If you squeak off the mountain in marginal conditions
and barely make the LZ, what fun is that? If you launch in high wind, can hardly
penetrate, and you're worried the whole time about getting blown over the back,
what fun is that? Sit it out. There will be other days.
Your first flight at Big Walker should be supervised
by an experienced pilot familiar with the site.
To iterate a popular saying, "it's better to be on the ground wishing
you were in the sky than to be in the sky wishing you were on the ground."
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"If you're not going up, you're going out."
When you launch, plan your flight path as though the flight will be
a simple sled ride. If you happen to find lift, then you can chase
it. Don't follow the ridge if you're not finding lift hoping that
somehow you will be magically saved. Be sure you can reach a safe
landing area at all times.
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Incidents
Learn from the mistakes of others.
It's a lot less painful than learning from your own.
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For the benefit of all pilots, please submit any incidents you
have experienced at Big Walker. These do not need to involve injury
to self or equipment. Anything that would help others to learn,
gain respect for some aspect of the sport, or prevent a future
incident would be helpful.
These incident reports were cut and pasted from e-mails.
If you do not wish to broadcast your incident over the Buzzard list,
send me a direct e-mail. I'll post the incident without using names.
Please send a brief anecdote, what the specific error was, and how
one can learn from your mistake. E-mail to webmaster@flyroanoke.com.
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The wind had been between 13 to 23mph around 1:00pm. It was gradually
decreasing as the day progressed but was still at 11 to 17mph when I
unfortunately decided to launch. My first mistake was that I was the
least experienced one there but was the first to decide to launch. My
launch was fairly uneventful except for the fact that I started to
slowly go backwards as I climbed. My downfall was my inability to get
my speedbar under my feet which caused me to make my second mistake,
I held my brakes in one hand while I tried to get my speed bar which
caused me to back up even faster. In my frantic scramble for the speed
bar I didn't see the tree sneaking up behind me. The tree only caught
one line but that was enough to spin the glider around 180 deg into the
tree.
The fun wasn't over yet. The right side of the glider was
completely wrapped in the tree but the left was continuing to fly
which was trying to pull me back out of the tree. After trying a few
different things I had to cut my left riser to stop the glider from
trying to pull me out of the tree. I had a hook knife so that I
could cut the riser and a rope which enabled me to climb down.
When deciding whether or not to launch take everything into account.
Glider capabilities, glide rate, min and max weight, glider speed, and
what's in front, beside, and behind that could interfere with launch.
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...The lift was great from launch so I thought I could make a run down
the ridge. I made it down to the power lines and decided to turn
around. What was troubling was my lack of planning. I was not going
to make it back and I hadn't planned ahead for that. I kept finding
lift so I was getting complacent about it. I entered another little
valley between fingers from the ridge and was seeing the ridge level
with me while I was in the middle of the valley. I should have
turned then......I still thought I would find lift. I was just shy
of clearing the finger and I landed in some small trees which
thankfully weren't very dense either. They broke my fall enough to
land safely on the ground. So I was a good 2/5 up the mountain and
had to hike my way down after finally unleashing my wing from the
hungry trees. Luckily it didn't take too long and I was fortunate to
enter one of the Amish farms where they let me leave my wing to pick
up later. My radio was spent from the whole day of flying and was
having trouble talking to other pilots. I was trying
to call pilots' cell phones but got a message
saying the phone was off or out of range.
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...I felt there
was enough lift to keep me out of the trees. I was flying over a spot that is
particularly steep, so I figured I could always turn out quickly if I needed
to. I was barely out of the trees. Not smart.
I don't know exactly what happened, but somehow I ended up in them. It wasn't
like I hit a lot of sink, it was simply a brain fart. Anyway, as
my feet crashed into the tall trees and I flared, I was thinking "Hey, I'm
using up all my flare and these trees are maybe 40 feet high." Not a good
thing. I crashed into the tops and as I tumbled down through them, I was
grabbing every little branch I could.
I was lucky. I ended up without a scratch or bruise, and my glider was fine.
Even if you have everything planned in your head (steady wind, gentle lift,
steep slope), things don't go as planned. Never skim the tree tops
no matter how perfect the conditions appear to be.
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When I watch someone launch, I'll point out any problem with the wing that
looks significant, but the small problems tend to shake themselves out so
they go unmentioned. However, someone launched with a minor problem at the
leading edge. Several of us saw the problem when the pilot pulled up the
glider, but none of us thought it was significant enough to mention. The wing
didn't fly correctly, and the pilot ended up in the brush and rock in front
of launch at Big Walker.
What might be a minor problem at the trailing edge can be a major problem at
the leading edge. I was amazed that his wing wouldn't fly with what appeared
to be a very minor problem. For some reason, one of the cell openings was a
little smaller than normal. It apparently made a
huge difference. I'd expected the problem to pop right out, but it didn't.
I think all of us that witnessed the incident will be quicker to point out a
problem in a glider before a pilot launches.
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This is not an incident from Big Walker, but it deserves mentioning.
This is a report of the accident at Moore Mountain, Thanksgiving Day 2000.
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Skill isn't worth much, even dangerous, without the judgment to go
with it. Judgment is just as important for the launch help as it is
for the pilot attempting to launch. The launching pilot has a million
things going through his head, as he gets ready to become the hero of
the day, not once wondering why the best pilots are in the LZ kiting.
They don't call it "wind dummy" for nothing. So it falls onto the
other pilots on launch to look at conditions and speak up if they
think it is not safe. Of course it is the main responsibility of the
launching pilot, but the result of every flight can effect us all.
I know it is easy for me and everyone that wasn't at the launch to
say, "I would have stopped them if I had been there!" Would we? We
have all been in that situation, kept our mouth shut, and the
outcome is usually OK. The reason we didn't say anything is because
1.) We don't want to piss the guy or gal off. It is their call; and
2.) They are going to show me what it is like up there with no risk
to my butt. But when conditions are questionable, it should be a
group decision because it will effect us all.
Because of the 2 reasons above, ask others, "why aren't you
getting ready?", or when you are on launch ready to takeoff, ask
"well guys, what do you think?" You ask them their opinion and I
guarantee that they will think hard before answering, for they
don't want it to come back and haunt them. We have to look out for
each other.
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We are trying to avoid having rules at Big Walker. Flying is a
free spirited activity, and people don't want rules. So make
good judgements. Know your limits and fly within them.
Do not have accidents. Err on the side of safety.
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