I Miss Flying

[MikeP]

9-15-2007

A group of pilots arrived at Chief launch around 11:40. We unloaded and observed the weather for a while, determining that it could be a good day to go East. By 12:15 cycles had become good enough that Ron Faoro and passenger Dea launched.
At 12:21 I launched for the 26th time from Chief Peak, elevation 4750', above Ojai, California with the goal being Fillmore, about sixteen miles East.
We played over launch in light lift .My first climb took me to 5685' but I wanted more before heading out in a direction I hadn't taken before. About six minutes later I hooked into one that took me to 5900'. Oh well, lift wasn't strong but fairly abundant, not much wind, so I decided to head out.
Art had left first and Andy D was behind him with me following a few miles back.
I was fairly comfortable with the route, knowing the roads and terrain, having hiked and biked these canyons for years, especially Sisar Canyon.
Just past Sisar I found a thermal that took me back up to 4400'. Following the spine on the East side of Sisar Canyon (near Boyd's) I benched back to 4780'. This brought me nearer to the Topa Topa Bluffs so I opted to fly in closer for a photo of the bluffs and Andy, who was above me. It was fantastic, breezing over these areas, remembering the grueling mountain bike rides, the great views. I thought of coming in closer but was afraid of what I might find up next to those huge vertical rock faces so I turned back down the spine with 4500'. Minutes later I was at 5500' and on glide toward St Thomas Aquinas College at the mouth of Santa Paula Canyon, a possible LZ. I reached that area with 4000' and opted to press on and cross the canyon to Santa Paula Ridge. Seeing Art and Andy over there encouraged me. I made the crossing arriving with 3000' and finding the lift to be light and close to the spine. I kept moving East doing figure eights with a couple hundred feet of ground clearance until I was at 4100' then glided around the front of the peak, picked up a little something that boosted me from 3800' to 4200'. A mile and a half later I had caught up with Andy at the East end of Santa Paula Peak. I didn't see Art anywhere. So we floundered around a bit at around 3500' until I hooked into a good one that took me to over 4700'. I went on glide for Fillmore.
After a beautiful 15+ mile X-C flight I surveyed the town of Fillmore for LZs, spotting a large grassy field at Fillmore Middle School with no activity. Arriving in the vicinity, I turned West to observe what the valley winds were doing as I descended. As expected, the wind was increasing from the West, which is the norm for Fillmore/Santa Paula.
Picking up a 14-16 mph valley wind at around 500' AGL my concern was to stay upwind of the LZ so as not to get caught behind it and end up in a residential area.
I noted a row of large trees bounding the LZ running from NW to SE and knew to land as far back from them as possible.
When I had descended to about 200' AGL, I faded back in over the LZ and began a left turn to position myself for landing. But I must have turned too much and ended up in a quartering tailwind without realizing it and was headed for the ground sideways at 26 MPH with only 40 feet AGL. It looked like too much speed to effect a PLF so, I lifted my feet up and let the Gingo harness take the hit. I hit sitting upright and the harness did its' job of saving my ass but the momentum of my upper body drove my face into my crotch, folding me like one of my favorite foods, a taco, bursting my L1 vertebrae and fracturing the vertebra above and below L1.
I'll never know what the outcome would have been had I done a PLF. The doctors tell me, based on the damage caused by the impact, that I probably would have broken leg/s and back. This may be debatable. Expert pilots tell me it is best to keep the landing gear down because your legs have more travel than the foam in the harness.

It was my 435th flight and, upon landing (?), had logged 230 hours 15 minutes of precious airtime.
Distance 15.6 Mi. Max alt. 5991'
Vario: up@1100 fpm, down@780 fpm

So, now I'm three months into a busted back and real happy to say I'm progressing well, physically. No other injuries. Starting PT soon, I've began walking a couple of miles several times weekly already.
My thanks again to the people who helped Tammy and I, particularly Mark Pratt, who recovered my gear, the ever-present and upbeat Fast Eddy for co-ordinating with Tammy on returning my gear to me, Andy Dainsburg and Bobbi Seymour,(Tammy's mom) who stayed by my side and allowed Tammy to get away from the hospital for a few hours. And to the folks I've never met but who sent me messages, prayed and hoped for my recovery, thank you. I don't remember much about the week in the hospital. They tell me I was rather un-inhibited and entertaining at times and if I offended anyone, I apologize. And especially to my wife, Tammy, I'm sorry you had to go through this.
Meanwhile, in my spare time I upoaded a few photos to Flickr. I bought an X-Ray viewer on e-bay and digitized all my X-Rays as jpegs. Some of the good ones are there along with paragliding shots of the sites I have flown. It's a work-in-progress. I still have Pine and more of Skyport to put up. Sure would like to see a lot of hits on the site. http://www.flickr.com/photos/minimike/collections/
If you havent seen my video "El Perro Loco" featuring Chad and Kemo at Bates check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/ojaimike

MikeP

[Mark Miyahara]

Hi Mike,
I flew with you once with Dr. Mark Pratt in Fillmore. Not sure if you remember me. I talked with you after you completed the SIV clinic with Eagle Paragliding to get a low down of what you thought of it.

I was so sorry to hear of your accident, but thankful you detailed what happened for us fellow pilots to learn from.

You said, "But I must have turned too much and ended up in a quartering tailwind without realizing it ", I am not sure how to interpret that. Do you mean that you were flying a DBF with the base turning left, then as you turned left, the Downwind leg wind swirled to create a tailwind that caused your banking angle (of the Base) to become more steep, and then dove you you toward the ground before you ever got to the Final leg of your planned LZ approach? Sorry if this should be a "given" interpretation but I'm still pretty much a newbie, and had planned to try that LZ if conditions ever allowed.

[andy]

Hey Mike,
Glad to hear your progressing well! I still have pain in my back, but it gets better the more active I am, and flying/kiting helps keep it loose. I am resolved to the fact that I will always have to deal with the pain, but as long as I stay positive about it it never seems that bad.

As far as to use landing gear or not in my case it would probably been better. The legs are made to absorb impact and the back isn't. And for my part it would have been better for me to be mentally more prepared for landing rather than try to figure things out at the last minute. But, as I'm sure you've figured out, things do happen for a reason, and my crash brought the realization that I needed to work more on wing control and flight awareness.

I look forward to seeing you up in the air soon.......Andy

[Chip Bartley]

Hey Mike,

good to hear you are doing better. My mother in law just had the same type of surgery and I just had re-construction of my right knee with a cadavar ligament inserted. So, long story short, I have empathy for your situation. its great to hear that your friends and family are being supportive as that is the most inmportant thing in these situations. Keep your mind busy and the videos and pictures coming. We'll see you back out there soon i am sure. Happy Holidays.

Hang tight,

Chip

[andy dainsberg]

hey man ~ it was great flying w/ you that day. i've been impressed by your confidence on launch and if thats an indication of your tenacity and willingness to "step on up" i know you will keep improving. keep movin Mike!!!!