SAFA Skysailor Magazine

32 SKY SAILOR May | June 2020 S ome good news to hand though. SAFA Board members Alistair Dickie (ACT) and Adam Stott (SA) attended the recent Bright and Corryong PG competitions and report that these were extremely well and professionally conducted with nil safety incidents throughout either event. Now to some of the recent AIRS reports we’ve processed. There have been a couple of rooftop landings come through the system. In AIRS #1220 a visiting international pilot launched from Mystic (Bright, VIC), and headed over to Little Mystic. Unable to find any lift, the pilot ended up on the eastern side. Continuing to scratch while looking for lift to no avail, the pilot ended up at the floor of the valley. At this stage, the only option was to glide to a good landing and the pilot lined up to land in a vacant block in a housing estate. This plan failed, when a wind gust on final approach caused a landing on the roof of a house. The owner assisted the pilot in dismounting from the roof and drove the pilot to the LZ. There was no damage or injury. A similar event occurred to yours truly in AIRS #1243, while I was attending a THPA PG XC Clinic in Bright very recently. On the last flight of the day, a few of us were seeking lift over Emily Spur, but the air was shutting down. In such circumstances at Mystic I normally head straight to Shuey’s, to arrive with good height and make an easy, safe landing. This time though, against all my own rules, I followed advice from a local pilot hoping to catch something, and headed towards Krustie’s and then over to the toilet block looking for that elusive and rare beast, the Low Save. It did not go well. Consequently, I reached the town end of Shuey’s at, or just below, tree top height, with a following light breeze (2kt), under a new wing (low/mid B), and with the windsock at the stile flicking in from Mystic LZ. Reluctant to try a turn under such condi- tions, I continued on, and in the process discovered just how floaty the wing was, before eventually skidding into the fence at the other end. No damage or injury. The take-away from these two? As we’ve seen before, if you are presented with a safe, easy landing, take it. If not, make sure you have a plan B, C or D. Don’t exhaust all your options and end up hemmed into a potentially very dangerous situation. Another roof landing occurred over in South Aus- tralia in AIRS #1219. Another visiting international pilot was at Seaford, a west facing cliff with a tricky launch. The pilot had 40 to 50 hours airtime, mainly at UK hill sites and was being advised by a local PG3 pilot. The pilot launched with assistance on his EN-A wing in reasonable conditions, however, evidence out to sea indicated that stronger conditions were coming. The pilot was hit by the stronger winds, applied speed-bar to try and maintain penetration, but was blown back over the road behind launch and landed on a solar panel installation on a rooftop. The installation was being assessed by technicians at the time of the report being lodged, and the pilot has offered to pay for repairs. This could have quite easily ended up being far more serious and there are a couple of aspects that deserve close examination. Pilots used to inland flying need to be aware that coastal conditions can change very quickly, and due attention must be paid to warning signs such as wind lines on the water surface. If these are present and moving towards launch, delay getting into the air until you’ve had a chance to assess these new conditions. This is especially so if flying an EN-A wing which may not be able to penetrate into wind – the risk of being blown back, even on full speedbar, is considerable. Local pilots advising visiting pilots need to bear all of these factors in mind, and especially if you are a supervising pilot. As pointed out by local AIRS Manager Mark Elston, the site guide for Seaford has several provisos and advisories that must be observed and adhered to: ➲ ➲ PG2 and PG3 pilots are to only fly under the supervision of a duty pilot, safety officer or PG5 pilot; and ➲ ➲ For new pilots: if speedbar is required to maintain penetration, land on the beach immediately. Obviously, this case shows a breakdown in procedures. The PG3 pilot who was providing advice has been counselled by the SAHPGA safety officers. There’s been a couple of events at Manilla in NSW recently. AIRS Safety Wrap-up Greetings fellow pilots. As I write this, we are experiencing some of the greatest upheaval in society that many of us have ever experienced. Covid-19 is breaking on us and the scale of disruption is changing seemingly hour by hour. Currently I’m in quarantine after returning to Tassie from Bright, and today (30/03/2020), we in the THPA have made the difficult decision to suspend operations in Tasmania for four weeks as a response to announcements made by the Premier of Tasmania this morning. By the time you read this, I can only speculate what the world will look like. A pointless exercise. by Iain Clarke, Safety Management Officer Coastal conditions can change rapidly, and due attention must be paid to warning signs such as wind lines on the water surface. Avoiding the white room, Albany, WA Photo: Lewis Winter