Whiteout incident report 12/27/2020

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Whiteout incident report 12/27/2020

Postby sangwonsuh » Fri Jan 01, 2021 7:20 pm

I launched from EJ at 11:40am hoping to be able to complete the Dec Hoedown task. By the time of launch it was 4-6mph S with occasional wind gusts perhaps 10mph. I got up, moved to La Cumbre peak, reached 4,600ft, and moved to Thermal Factory, which was the first cylinder of the Dec task. I tagged Thermal factory, back to EJ, Alternator, and Sage (but really VOR) and was ready to cruise down to the last cylinder, Montecito Peak. I chose to use a lower altitude route: No Name, West Bowl, Cathedral, Tit, RR, Thermal factory, and Montecito Peak.

As I was leaving West Bowl at around 3,000ft, I saw a layer of clouds forming and coming fast toward me. It was about the midpoint between T and Parma, and I didn’t know whether the cloud would clear up in 10 sec or whether it would last for the next 2 hours. I decided to head to the general direction toward Parma (SW), as I know the terrain fairly well. At 1:07pm I was completely surrounded by clouds at 3,000ft altitude with no visibility. From thereof, I had to rely on Oudie 4, Flyskyhy, and a compass (yup, those were still visible). Although I was pretty familiar with our local terrains and knew that there were no mountains to hit in the direction that I was headed to, flying without visuals was a nerve-breaking experience. At around 1:11pm, I could see the glimpse of land mass around Inspiration point. From there, I tried to fly close to the terrain toward Parma for a better visibility. At 1:15pm, I spotted St. Mary’s through the mists, and I landed there safely at 1:16pm.

It was about 9min of whiteout, but it felt more like 20min. I packed up and walked to Parma.

I feel fortunate that I wasn’t injured. But I hope to learn how to avoid whiteouts in the future. I know that Cedar and Brian launched before me and landed in Parma much earlier. Cedar and Brian, did you expect that the cloud was coming and therefore you decided to land sooner? I also saw a blue hang glider around West Bowl and I wonder how the pilot managed the situation.
sangwonsuh
 
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