Big thanks to Chris and Kelly for the retrieve from this little field that I've been eye-balling from the air for the past three years and have now become well acquainted.
Must say its got to be one of your most exciting approach & landing in turbulent conditions.
_________________ WW U2-160
Enables one to get high, physically & mentally.
Nice video, and flying. I do like different camera angles
Beautiful area.Looks like a hot spot, with all those swimming pools around.
Not many of those over here
Jan
Nice video, and flying. I do like different camera angles
Beautiful area.Looks like a hot spot, with all those swimming pools around.
Not many of those over here
Jan
Thanks Jan. I've forgotten just how many backyards pools there are in SoCal. The things we stop noticing.
Cheers, Jonathan
I ran the number on this bailout field as follows:
According to Google Earth this field drops 25' in the 423' I used to land. That's a 17:1 slope. My sensor has ~10:1 glide w/ VG off. Do the math. My effective glide angle now becomes 24:1
That means I had to come in no more than 17' above the lip of the field in order not to overshoot the tree. From the air I could see that a portion of the field was either level or sloped up. GE shows this as actually nearly level. Landing upslope rather than down yields the risk of overshooting into the drainage ditch North of the field. I'd rather hit the dead tree than do that.
Normally, I look for ridge fingers to land on going upslope and just figure on hiking down. This is a reminder to always make that a priority over the convenience of landing next to homes and businesses. These are the hazards of XC on HG in the LA Basin.
That means I had to come in no more than 17' above the lip of the field in order not to overshoot the tree.
Or land in another direction?
NMERider wrote:
Landing upslope rather than down yields the risk of overshooting...
Hmmm... okayyy?
NMERider wrote:
This is a reminder to always make that a priority over the convenience of landing next to homes and businesses. These are the hazards of XC on HG in the LA Basin.
These are the hazards of Jonothan Dietch's decision making... You should really own that, not pass it off. I really don't know *anyone* that has incidents with the frequency you do. Notice I say incidents, not accidents. You have been really lucky so far, very few of your incidents resulted in actual accidents.... but...
I know Jonno will not hear what I say, so please note that these comments are for OTHER readers benefit- I hope people can look at the video, what he said, and think for themselves on whether this landing could have gone very differently, with a larger margin for safety. _________________ Ryan Voight
BLOG: www.AIRTHUG.com
VIDEOS: http://vimeo.com/AIRTHUG
That means I had to come in no more than 17' above the lip of the field in order not to overshoot the tree.
Or land in another direction?
NMERider wrote:
Landing upslope rather than down yields the risk of overshooting...
Hmmm... okayyy?
NMERider wrote:
This is a reminder to always make that a priority over the convenience of landing next to homes and businesses. These are the hazards of XC on HG in the LA Basin.
These are the hazards of Jonothan Dietch's decision making... You should really own that, not pass it off. I really don't know *anyone* that has incidents with the frequency you do. Notice I say incidents, not accidents. You have been really lucky so far, very few of your incidents resulted in actual accidents.... but...
I know Jonno will not hear what I say, so please note that these comments are for OTHER readers benefit- I hope people can look at the video, what he said, and think for themselves on whether this landing could have gone very differently, with a larger margin for safety.
All of Ryan's points have validity. Anyone should feel free to use this and related videos and my comments as cautionary illustration regarding hazards of XC flying in the LA Basin and similar locales.
I try to post without conceit or self-justification. I do this simply because I enjoy the flying along w/ producing a micro-documentary and vicarious expereince for the viewer. I enjoy and appreciate all the videos by Jeb Corliss and his peers but have no interest or desire to fly a wing suit. There's a lot of good POV video out there that gives vicarious experiences of many things I'll never pursue. This is my small contribution to the pool of media.
OTOH I like flying in smooth evening winds which is why I went back up afterwards for another flight to relax and get away from the stress of XC flying and be able to land in predictable conditions for a change: http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=26754
That means I had to come in no more than 17' above the lip of the field in order not to overshoot the tree.
Or land in another direction?
NMERider wrote:
Landing upslope rather than down yields the risk of overshooting...
Hmmm... okayyy?
NMERider wrote:
This is a reminder to always make that a priority over the convenience of landing next to homes and businesses. These are the hazards of XC on HG in the LA Basin.
These are the hazards of Jonothan Dietch's decision making... You should really own that, not pass it off. I really don't know *anyone* that has incidents with the frequency you do. Notice I say incidents, not accidents. You have been really lucky so far, very few of your incidents resulted in actual accidents.... but...
I know Jonno will not hear what I say, so please note that these comments are for OTHER readers benefit- I hope people can look at the video, what he said, and think for themselves on whether this landing could have gone very differently, with a larger margin for safety.
Rayan , You havn't been flying XC long enough to brush the dust off Mr. Dietch 's sneakers !
...
Rayan , You havn't been flying XC long enough to brush the dust off Mr. Dietch 's sneakers !
Dave
To Ryan's credit Dave, this was a worthwhile post and was not antagonistic. Hopefully the trend continues and I'll try not to bait. Ryan has a responsibility as an instructor, RD and contributor to the USHPA mag to promote safety. At least he's stepping up to the plate.
...
Rayan , You havn't been flying XC long enough to brush the dust off Mr. Dietch 's sneakers !
Dave
To Ryan's credit Dave, this was a worthwhile post and was not antagonistic. Hopefully the trend continues and I'll try not to bait. Ryan has a responsibility as an instructor, RD and contributor to the USHPA mag to promote safety. At least he's stepping up to the plate.
sheess, his head will swell up and not fit his helmet.
There is no doubt that if you fly XC every day that you may find your self faced with a challenging LZ. Keeping a calm head and flying the glider to the end gets us through it safely . We can in hind sight say we made a bad decision and try to be more conservitive in the future. We do have to set some limits. I keep trying.
You're right, there's way too much dust on Dietch's shoes for me
And you're also right, people won't always perform perfectly. There will be errors in decision making, errors in execution... It's human. But like you said, in hind-sight we need to be able to say we made a bad decision. It's how we learn, how we grow...
Jonno actually did the opposite, reinforcing his decision to land downhill. I just wanted to amend that thought for others who may be trying to learn.
Glad Jon took it well- no offense is meant, just trying to help people see how they can increase their margin of safety... Like you said, humans make mistakes. One of the biggest ones is not leaving enough margin to be human _________________ Ryan Voight
BLOG: www.AIRTHUG.com
VIDEOS: http://vimeo.com/AIRTHUG
That means I had to come in no more than 17' above the lip of the field in order not to overshoot the tree. From the air I could see that a portion of the field was either level or sloped up. GE shows this as actually nearly level. Landing upslope rather than down yields the risk of overshooting into the drainage ditch North of the field. I'd rather hit the dead tree than do that.
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