Please note that this summary will be amended if further information becomes available. This is a preliminary summary and may not be totally accurate. Please take a moment to read about wing over and spiral phenomenon and preferred emergency procedures.
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An experienced pilot who may have been practicing wing overs ended up in a very aggressive, high G spiral by accident. Most accounts point to the idea that he passed out in the spiral. His injuries were substantial but he is expected to make a full recovery.
Pilots are reminded that wing overs can be insidious. They can be the very same for years and then, one day, pilots change the maneuvers by a small margin and the outcome can be totally different.
For example: been doing wing overs for years, never had a deflation. Then, one day, the equipment, air or intensity is 1% different and the pilot takes a deflation to collapse ( and/ or the tip sticks in < cravat > and/ or the glider spirals uncontrollably ).
Next, the inadvertent spiral is a formidable phenomenon. The mantra is:
"one spiral turn that I didn't plan, don't understand and can't exit and I will throw my reserve."
This is to prevent the aforementioned scenario where the high G's preclude the pilot from throwing the reserve.
Finally, here are the top three or four things to know about spirals:
1) if you get into one and let off smoothly on the brakes - the glider will accelerate ( this is not a case for "hands up, the glider will take care of me" )
2) if you pull outside brake, that's great but if you got so stiff and scared during the spiral that your inside brake is still being pulled, ---> the combination of the two will manifest in an accelerated spiral
be very clear, the move to stop a high intensity spiral is to connect with the outside brake, let off the inside one - imagine you have a kayak paddle in your hands and you are trying to slap the water on the outside brake side
3) it's very clear that in low intensity spirals, the outside brake is the high side BUT years of maneuvers training have proven that roughly half of the people practicing spirals will get confused ( about half the time ) about which is the outside brake as the glider points straight down and beyond.
That's right. Inside brake - outside brake confusion is real. What makes it more confusing is that as the pilot pulls the wrong brake, the glider does respond. It's not the correct response but it is a response and it leads the pilot to believe that they do have some level of control ( i.e. they think that they will figure it out and that they don't need to throw ).
Please remember that certification is nice but when test pilots manifest a max intensity spiral, their job is to let off, relax and let the glider demonstrate it's recovery. That is nothing short of super hero. The average pilot will do nothing of the sort. They will stiffen up, maybe pull the wrong brake. The one thing that they won't do is what the test pilots do during the certification.
Certification is of little use and so is spiral practice where you make hard round spirals and then finesse the glider out. Finessing the glider out is not full proof ( it can work many times in a row and then not work ).
Asymmetric spiral practice where the spiral is actively moderated by the outside hand on each rotation. That is the skill to have - it is spiral insurance.
