A fairly new P2 pilot had recently shortened his brakes in an effort to make his glider "more responsive". A few days later, the glider was tested by his instructor, he was immediately warned that they were too short and could result in a spin or stall while attempting to make normal inputs. He had also been warned to discontinue practice of wing-overs until further coaching could be done high over water with a qualified instructor.
Late in the morning on the South Side, in thermic conditions, the pilot was sinking out part way down the hill. Once he realized that he wasn't going to make it back up for a top landing, he started doing wing-overs near the terrain to quickly kill altitude before a landing at the bottom. Upon exit of his last wing-over, his glider surged forward and his inputs (with unreasonably short brake lines) put the glider into a spin. He fell from aprox 25' and impacted the flats at the foot of the hill.
He suffered a broken wrist, bruised hip and fairly serious concussion.
Thanks for posting these. Very helpful on some of them and others are baffling at some people's actions.
ReplyDeleteAnyway. Thanks for doing these.