Jealous Friday

[timobarker]

My classroom looks directly at West Bowl to the VOR! Saw a few pilots up there and know a handful more were up there. Looking to fly from the couch this evening and bummed not to see a post yet. Let us couch flyers, fly!

[Faoro_Ron]

Chris Grantham had a thermaling class with newer pilots from the Bay area, Boise and Sun Valley, Idaho, Eugene, Oregon and North Carolina. Brendan and Magic and I went along for the ride to try Alternator. We immediately got up after launching at 11 AM, but found on eastward transition that the small thermals and troubling inversion ruled the day. We reached a little over 4K at La Cumbre Peak, R&R and Thermal Factory, but Montecito Peak was difficult and all three of us along with Andy Dainsberg headed out to East Beach from different locations. We had a little over an hour in the air.

[DeVietti_Marty]

Thanks for the post, I too was checking, and hoping to read something...glad you guys got it, and worked it.

Cheers,
Marty

[BobA]

Nothing to be jealous of here but possibly a lesson or two...after calling in sick, decided to go fly figuring some fresh air would do me good...hopped the eagle van to Skyport, launched in a decent cycle but floundered around launch level in bubbly pops not really coordinating in anything...about the third time well below launch, I headed out for the corner of the Thermal Factory...same thing, some bubbles popping me just above the brush above the road but nothing big enough to turn a 360 in...after a few passes, headed west parallel the lines until high enough to cross with some separation, on the other side light lift took me back up parallel the lines to nearly across from the bypass. I took the cue and headed to the notch between the Antena Farm and Round House. Out in front, Antena Farm building level, there were punchy pops around the front of the Antena Farm, but nothing great, never getting high enough to get over the buildings and antenas. Being rather impatient I began exploring farther out front on the spine toward the Rock but thought of getting below inversion level and further getting stuck, so turned around and headed back, just above building level to the East side of the Antena Farm. I contured the road just over the mountain side and turned out slightly between buildings when someone pulled the big flush lever. I had just popped up a bit in lift when shit hit the fan as I flew into a toliet bowl of air, whirlpool style. With a yank, I looked up to see the wing tucked into a frontal out in front above me at 50 degrees. The tips were in tack, the center 80% upside down, and it was laying out horizontal. The lines were slack and I was facing diagonally away from the slope. I pulled in some brake as I fell to underneath the wing, and with a jerk I slowed from rapid decent. I glanced up to see the left side of the wing flying and the right side dangling down caught in downdraft. It wasn't caught in the lines. It was then that I noted the rush of hillside going up around me as it spun by! Seemed to be in slow motion...I thought I was going down to hit on this moutainside! I didn't feel any Gs or feel a wind-up into a spiral, instead a flat spin. After a 360, the right side wing started to come back one cell at a time as I could feel each pop and I let up brake pressure sequentially as fast as they came until near the end when I went hands up on both sides and the outer wing tip popped open...of course the wing flew in front of me and I chased it around in a slight turn back into terrain. I came in under the wing level, skimming bushes, at about SSW, diagonally back into terrrain. Feeling both brakes, I skimmed one bush, missed my cue to brake hard, and smacked my butt squarely on a rock between bushes. The two liter Platypus water bladder exploded under my seat (above the reserve) and I bounced up and over the next bush and landed on my feet, fell to my knees with my hands out front but stopped on steep dirt mountain side fifty some feet below the road. I stood up fast but stopped and did a self assesment for injury...my ass was stinging! My legs were wet from water drenching my jeans and socks in tevas. I didn't feel adrenlin rush - but I was rushing. I climbed up to the road and I talked to Andy as he flew over, told him I was all right. I saw the van and figured Kevin would be driving down. I put it together and hiked to the road. I relaxed for awhile until Kevin flew over...Benson rode by and was glad to see me walking. I hiked back down to Parma and then drove to Mammoth.

[cortfly]

Wow, glad you're OK ! We spend so much time flying close to the terrain in the mountains here..I'm always amazed things like that don't happen more often. I'm trying to stay at least 300 over these days, but sometimes it's either get close or landout, so we roll the dice..

[DeVietti_Marty]

Dang, thanks for the detailed write up. Glad you walked away from that situation in one piece. Sounds like you were very cool and calm about the recovery and flew it every moment. It is the over-reacting pilot that often times gets hurt or makes things worse. Lessons for us all.

Cheers,

Marty

[BobA]

This all took place in about 7 seconds, not sure how things could have turned out if I was quicker on the controls...definitely under reacted twice - should have pulled left and lean left when right side wing was down and should have pulled hard brakes just before impact.

Should not have been flying low, and deep in typically a thermal shadow and even a lee side spot on west wind days. Should have stayed out front on south and south west facing ridges, spines, and bowls and not an east facing thermal shadow bowl. It was a light SW day, with a choppy looking laspse rate chart, potentially good if it heated up enough to smooth out the multiple inversions. Where I landed it was LnV on the ground with couple of cycles coming thru from the SE. It was consistent S on the front of the buildings and in the notch between the Round House and Ant Farm. It was a SW day at La Cumbre, and reports of W were coming thru when I was on the ground. The Ant Farm is consistent over the top of it, otherwise best to stay in front of it.