SAFA SkySailor Magazine

34 SKY SAILOR March | April 2024 AIRS Safety Wrap-up a landing but impacted some branches of a dead tree on the ground with their arm. A fractured ulna resulted. Pilots are advised to always maintain situational awareness of proximity to terrain and obstructions. Always turn away from the hill unless you have sufficient horizontal and vertical separation taking into account the wind strength and direction. #1663 – PG ground-handling, Derwent Entertainment Centre, Tas PIC (PG2) arrived at the Derwent Enter- tainment Centre (Tas) to ground-handle. They observed small white caps on the water and assessed the conditions as suitable. They set up their glider and performed safety checks (helmet, harness, wing), then set themselves up in the middle of an area (20-30m 2 ). PIC launched the glider in a slight lull, and at around a 75-degree angle walked under it. The glider continued to shift backwards towards the road. With the glider approaching the road and a light post, they decided to kill the wing, but in doing so the left wingtip wrapped itself around the top of the pole with lines tangled. The wind was increasing and the pilot moved under the pole, only to have the glider begin to lift them up off then drop back down to the ground. They unclipped from the free-side carabiner and began to work on removing the stuck tip using A and C risers to inflate the stuck cells. A shift in wind direction allowed cells above the stuck area to inflate, lifting the glider free from its position. The wing was then packed away. Take care to choose a site for ground- handling that is free from obstructions, given the wind strength and direction. We’ll conclude our Tassie reports with two involving yours truly. #1763 – PG near miss, Tas PIC while gearing up to launch their paraglider at Winton (Tas), saw two PG2s who had just arrived. PIC got out of their gear and assisted the two PG2s into the air. PIC then geared back up, keeping an eye on one of the PG2s, and prepared for launch, including checking A lines were clear. When pulling up the wing in a reverse launch, PIC was pulled backwards diagonally up the hill and then picked up into the air still facing backwards. While turning themselves around to face the direction of flight, the wing turned and ended up facing across the slope and slightly downwind. Once facing the direction of flight, PIC noticed there was friction in the right-side brake line, let go of the brake handle, and the risers corrected themselves. PIC then picked up the brake again, landed safely behind the hill and decided not to relaunch. Postscript: A similar event occurred a couple of days later. PIC this time relaunched, then noticed that their new speedbar was activated by approximately 7cm of travel. Incorrect placement of markings had occurred whilst setting up a new speedbar. Once rectified, normal inflation and launch behaviour of the wing was restored.