Essex CO6 3AQ Tel: (01206) 242596
glide[at]esgc.co.uk
"essexandsuffolkglidingclub" |
Wormingford Airfield, Fordham Road, Wormingford, Colchester, Essex CO6 3AQ Tel: (01206) 242596 glide[at]esgc.co.uk "essexandsuffolkglidingclub" |
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A few reminders...
Annual checks: must be done by 30th April - don't leave it until the last minute.
New edition charts: I have put a notice on the board (1:500,000 unless you tell me otherwise) - I will remove the notice next weekend.
Parachutes: The usual annual plea to take care of parachutes. Tim Moran will be coming on to re-pack any chutes that remain to be done.
Launch Procedure: It's important to be alert, particularly when we have changes later in the year as the new land is brought into use. Please also read my briefing notes of June 2001 - they are all on the web site, or I can print you a copy if you like. The main points which I'd like to emphasise are:
1. When launching a glider on the first cable, always attach the second parachute, and take it well clear to the side so that the launching glider's wing cannot drop onto it. Ideally, drag the second cable parachute to beyond the south edge of the track.
2. In the "all clear above and behind", also look above and near the winch. I was launched last year at a glider that I'd not seen over the winch, and I wasn't the only one it happened to. Similarly, don't fly over the runway or near the winch assuming the ground crew have seen you.
3. Do not launch if there is any possibility of a cable landing on a glider on the ground. I regret to say that have even seen students take off with instructors in a crosswind assuming that the cable won't break. This is one time where trying to increase the launch rate is unacceptable, so please get two gliders ready to go, one after the other, and the problem of landed gliders under the cable drop-zone will be much less.
4. In nil-wind or cross-wind days, and especially with any tailwind, wing runners must prepare to run further and faster with the wing. I have seen even experienced wing runners just let go of the wing without running, and if there is any hesitation in the all-out, the wing will drop, which could cause a very nasty crash.
5. If launching a glider on the first cable, after you release the wing, train yourself to step positively away from the second cable. I have seen people walk over the second cable while a launch is in progress on the first. Standing at the launch point, I have only ever seen one chute catch up on the first. It gave no warning at all, and was 30 feet in the air before I realised what had happened.
Launch Marshals: Can I appeal to everyone again to implement the club policy, which is that if there are more than four gliders on the grid, duty instructors should appoint a Launch Marshal? I estimate that a Launch Marshal increases the launch rate by anywhere between 30% and 100%. Ideal Launch Marshals are, of course, Full Cat instructors, but anyone with half a brain will do. This year, with new land and new procedures, we will need to be vigilant and help each other make things run smoothly.
Vehicle driving: There is a list of changes to who may drive vehicles in the launch vehicle, but the basic change is that now no-one under 16 is allowed to drive the tractor. If you are not sure whether you have permission then it is up to you to check with a committee member first. All driving on site must be slow, careful and responsible, and please drive the buggies very slowly over bumps. They are not indestructible.
GASIL: The CAA sent me a note asking if we continue to want a hard copy of GASIL. I told them it was useful to have a copy we could hang up, so I hope you all do read it. Also I hope you all avidly read the accident reports in S&G. Same old accidents, year in, year out, though spinning accidents are less common now due to better training and awareness - the ones to watch for in particular now are still mid-air collisions, so maintain a good lookout, please. Remember that in the famous words of the BGA instructor's manual you need to look "above and below the horizon, as well as on it, pausing from time to time". Wildly rotating your eyes around the sky will achieve nothing, and you must train yourself to look out constantly - it's not a natural thing. Remember that the things that are stationary with respect to the background are the hardest to see, and the most likely to hit you. Launch Abandonment: A reminder to pilots trained more than a couple of years ago, that to abandon a launch you do NOT lower the nose before releasing the cable - simply pull the release. Actively lowering the nose may fly you into the parachute. Once the cable is well below the glider (about half a second after release) you can lower the nose to regain flying speed. My usual circuit moans. Two things: 1. Circuits that are too close: Give yourself a long base leg so that you can position your final turn accurately. 2. Badly controlled approaches: It demonstrates poor circuit planning in a fairly obvious way to open the brakes for the final turn, and even worse to open them immediately after the final turn just because it seems the thing to do - what instructors call "landing lever syndrome". I've seen the brakes open fully just after the final turn, only to disappear again almost immediately! If you don't need the brakes immediately, why open them? Current thinking is that the perfect circuit is wide and open, has a longer base leg than most of you are doing now, followed by a final turn with brakes closed, then a short period of level flight until you intercept the two-thirds airbrake approach. Then you can positively decide to open the brakes - i.e. don't make opening them an automatic process. Finally: Practice makes perfect, or as near to perfect as any of us can ever hope to get, so fly as often as you can and have a good and safe season!
Andy Sanderson
Safety Officer, ESGC