SAFA Skysailor Magazine

40 SKY SAILOR September | October 2021 metres before crossing over the railing south of the LZ on final approach, PIC experienced sudden and significant sink and clipped the railing with their lower leg resulting in a minor sprained right ankle. There was no damage to equipment or any other people. All pilots should be aware of the warning signs for katabatic conditions on top landing, whether at Stanwell or at any other site. If there is evidence or confirmation from pilots on the ground, abort the top landing and take the safest landing option. Time to change discipline to hang gliding. AIRS #1374 – Tunkalilla, SA, top landing accident PIC was making a second attempt to land their high-performance, topless hang-glider at Tunakalilla, a coastal site. They misjudged the correct height for their approach, hit sink in the last 10ft and attempted to land on the side of the hill. They were unable to flare and impacted terrain. A broken right downtube and strained shoulder resulted. Top landing at Tunkalilla in a high-perfor­ mance hang glider requires an approach with a high degree of precision – too high and you over-shoot with the sloping ground making it impossible to correct and resulting in a go-around; too low and you can undershoot into the turbulent air lower down or behind the crest of the hill. Crosswind landings, up-slope at this site, are always problematic, particularly so in topless hang gliders due to their glide ratio in ground effect. The site is rated appropriately. Pilots must be continually encouraged to risk-assess their top landing options, based on their experience of flying at this site, and land at the bottom of the hill when favourable conditions don’t exist and multiple attempts at top landing are made. Pilots should then take the safer option of landing in the paddock at the base of the hill, where conditions are more benign, but retrieval of gliders takes more time. It is likely that the longer retrieval time is a factor in pilots attepting to top land, even when conditions aren’t as favourable as they could be. AIRS #1314 – Failed HG launch PIC was returning to the sport after a 20-year absence and was flying a high-performance top-less wing. They had launched their HG from Rosin’s Lookout at Beechmont (SE Qld). As they left the ground, the right wing tip dropped and a turn towards launch occurred. The turn continued, and the glider impacted the right-side of the launch. There was damage to the wing and the pilot sustained bruising to torso and legs. They have since left the sport. Pilots returning to flying our aircraft after a break of some years must realise that the aircraft designers have made significant performance advances over the intervening period. While they may have had the ability to fly higher performing equipment back in the day, the jump in performance may come as an unpleasant surprise. Similarly, we as pilots, may not operate as well as we used to. Therefore, starting out on more benign equipment is highly advised to allow a greater margin for safety. AIRS Safety Wrap-up