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Denis Walker
19 hrs
Cascade and Tree landing below Bradwell on Sunday
I have traced and been talking with the pilot involved in the above incident, seen by many on the edge, when he suffered a serious series of collapses and was saved from injury by landing in a tree. He is an experienced and current pilot who lives and mainly flies down south but who has been a member of our club for 15 years and who flies up here several times each year. He is not on facebook but has given me permission to post here and to use information from an email which will be the essence of his incident report. The issues raised are too important to wait for a Bhpa report.
He launched after many others and flew for around 30 minutes. He was flying a high end b rated wing with a recently acquired top end pod harness. Having no intention of going xc and not enjoying the rough conditions much he decided to land in the bottom field as his car was in the village. He flew out from the ridge but found it difficult to get down, using several 360s to do so. He stopped circling and found himself still going up and only slowly approaching the landing. A few seconds later he encountered extremely rough air causing a series of large asymmetrics and spins which he tried to control, each not seeming too bad! He thought himself too low to throw his reserve and on the point of regaining control when he hit the tree which he had not seen and which saved him from serious injury. His helmet was torn off as he slid down to the ground, perhaps by a line entangled around a vario he had velcroed to it, but he landed quite gently and his back protection did its job, saving him from any injury. He is aware how lucky he is to not even have scratches and bruises!
I witnessed most of the cascade, my attention like that of many others being drawn by some sound and I have talked through with him what I and others obseved. I would like to reiterate the following points that came out of the discussion.
He was not as low as he thought and had plenty of time to throw his reserve, people on the hill were shouting to him to do so and repeated it at least three times before he hit the tree...of course he couldn't hear but a reserve could have been deployed and open in the time it took!
It was noted by people on the hill that the pod harness seemed to be yawing and adding to some of the problems he was having with asymmetrics. It is a seatboard type of harness and can be flown in the upright position but he failed to "break" it and lessen the inertia of the swings. This is not really a criticism of the pilot as he had a lot else on his mind but if you fly a pod you need to be aware of the issue and how to best respond in the specific harness you have.
Of most general relevance to other club members this is another case of a pilot experiencing extremely rough conditions on approaching the bottom landing field at Bradwell in strong and thermic conditions.
You should be wary of seeing this as your safest option especially if the wind is off the hill or there are other signs of possible turbulence such as strong thermals passing through(he was ecountering strong lift on his approach and just after there was a mighty gust on the hill) or maybe wave conditions(lots of wind but little lift on the hill?) . There is mounting evidence that in such conditions there are good reasons to seek a safer landing option.
Looks like Pod harnesses are becoming ubiquitous.
May be DSC members would like to here from our members that fly with Pods?
How to set up a pod harness for comfort / vision? Speed bar?
How to get in and out of a pod. When to get in and out of a pod?
How the pod effects collapses? Spins? Asymmetric tuck?
Pod harness, is it better with more open risers?
Seat plate or not for weight shift?
It took me many years before I transitioned to a pod harness. Before I went down the pod route, I had flown in very rough air many times in a seated harness, and experienced collapses both big and small. These experiences over many years I believe had instilled a 'muscle memory' of how to actively fly a wing in rough air to prevent most collapses, as well as the immediate, instinctive and precise reactions that are required when a large collapse does occur. These reactions cannot be learned by reading forums; they have to be learned either in a relatively safe environment (Pilotage/SIV course), or by extremely cautious personal learning over several years. You basically have to 'program' your subconscious to do the right thing without conscious thought.
I would advise all pilots considering moving to a pod to consider whether they have those necessary reactions, because a pod is certainly going to make your wing more difficult to recover from a collapse. Having said there is nothing to replace experience, it is still worth reading and trying to understand the techniques involved. There are plenty of threads on paragliding forum discussing active flying techniques, correct response to collapses, videos of incorrect responses etc, so I don't think there is any need to repeat this huge international encyclopedia of knowledge on this local forum, as there is just so much good information out there, and it is all very easy to find.
Personally, I chose a pod with a seat plate that allows me to fly it seated, in an upright position when the air gets rough, with my legs either inside the pod and tucked underneath me ('breaking' the pod as Denis posted), or legs out of the pod altogether to allow for quick and more effective weight-shifting if required.
Andy