SAFA Skysailor Magazine

35 July | August 2024 SKY SAILOR AIRS Safety Wrap-up – June 2024 by Iain Clarke – SAFA Safety Management Officer Greetings fellow pilots. I want to start off with a bit of housekeeping and a request. In the last issue under #1557, I said that the North End of Sunrise Beach was open. This is incorrect. Despite what the Australian National Site Guide says, the North End of Sunshine Beach site is also CLOSED. Now, a request from a distressed dairy farmer in Gippsland (Vic). Please, if you see a concentration of livestock, in a paddock or on a pad, DO NOT FLY OVER THEM, particularly if you’re powered. I took a phone call from this farmer who told me that a couple of powered aircraft – from his description they appear to have been weight-shift microlights – had flown over the pad at his dairy which had 800 cows on it waiting to be milked. This spooked the cattle, causing a major disturbance and nearly causing serious injury to workers and cattle alike. Imagine if you will, the consequence of a burst udder. Now multiply that by a few hundred… Not pretty! Care must be taken when livestock are about. Spooked horses and cattle can inflict significant damage on themselves, property and bystanders. Those consequences could in turn end up in our lap via a claim against our public liability insurance policies, and we will all end up paying for that. So please, steer clear of livestock, and remember, fly neighbourly. Now to this issue’s reports. We’ll start off with a brace of reports involving hang gliders. #1350 – HG landing incident in Flying Fox Valley, Qld/S PIC launched their hang glider from Beechmont (Qld/S). Whilst assessing con- ditions in the Flying Fox Valley for a landing, they encountered light winds and small, punchy thermals. They made five S-turns at the end of the field to lose height, then lined up onto final approach for landing. They had their hands on the uprights and in an upright position when the glider was turned 90 degrees to the left, at a height of 30ft AGL. They made a full correction to the right and pulled the bar in for speed. The glider responded initially, but was then violently turned again and pushed from behind. The air noise went quiet, the glider was stalled. They pulled in slightly, but the glider fell quickly and as it just started to fly again, their right knee hit the ground pulling them away from the A-frame. The glider hit a half-second later, nosing in hard, and PIC then went forward through the A-frame grazing their head and face on the ground before hitting the sail of the wing to the right of the keel. The entire sequence took approximately three seconds. Their right kneecap was dislocated, and soft tissue damage, as well as minor lacerations to the face occurred. Any combination of thermic conditions and turbulent valley winds need extra vigilance. Always maintain a higher approach speed. A wing flying close to stall speed is subject to stall if the speed reduces in turbulence. If possible, maintain contact with retrieve drivers