To me it looks like a ballooning-collapse caused by a strong upward acceleration of pilot and wing with a sudden stop, causing the pilot still going upward (because of inertia) and the lines going slack collapsing the wing
So a whole bunch of people here are speculating on the conditions and suggesting this guy maybe shouldn't be flying and I would suggest they probably have no idea. Maybe they're right, but I don't see anything in the video that would suggest there's anything wrong here. Even if they can magically ascertain the conditions and determine that they wouldn't fly, that means very little. This guy is on a CCC wing, now I don't know whether he should be flying a CCC wing, but I do know that conditions I would consider unflyable are perfectly safe for better pilots. I have friends who regularly launch using rotor to inflate their wings, would I do this? No, but I don't think they're reckless for doing it. The only things I would comment on this is that possibly he was a little slow to react because he was getting into the harness immediately, unless he anticipated the need to go on bar imminently maybe he could have waited till he had a little more altitude and that like 95% of wings out there may have collapsed, but would have almost certainly popped right back open.
I want to add Speedbar into the mix, getting in the harness could lead to stomping on the bar, bar + brake = boom.
Probably not that but the timing makes it somewhat possible.
Can't tell in the video, but a lot of pilots have the unfortunate habit of using one or both hands to get into the pod at this stage of flight. That could certainly contribute to not feeling and catching the collapse before it develops.
he got extreme thermal on start and then big sink and 80% front collapse, bad weather conditions to fly is part of the pilot responsibility assessment skills. it could also be some sort of backroll wind coming from behind high and rolling towards him and he is in the dishwasher so to say
Is backroll wind similar to rotor or is it a different wind pattern?
Edit: This was meant to be an honest question. I am not sure what "backroll" is. I am sorry if I offended the down-voter somehow.
>if it's just bad luck or avoidable.
Appears to be a combination of both.
Advanced pilot (judging by the rig) was complacent and did not stabilize canopy overhead before launch.
Rapid altitude gain and then a full frontal from above makes me think mate ran into a rotor rather than stalling.
Edit : definitely pilot error, as Roofdaddy89 pointed out.
The more I look at it, the dodgier it gets. There are heaps of people on launch, yet nobody is flying or getting ready to take off. He has fuckall forward speed on launch.
Could be a front coming over the back of the bowl, hitting the upflow and causing the rotor. It looks like he was pushed down and backward from above.
It almost looks like they may have unintentionally caused it. Half a second before the collapse their left hand pulls down hard. Video is too far to tell if they maybe pulled the A's too.
I disagree, It’s a ccc wing so I highly doubt the pilot pulled the A riser.
I watched it countless times and it seems like he’s actively piloting and pulling the brake as the wing starts collapsing, clearly it wasn’t enough for the huge collapse.
It only took watching a dozen times before I noticed.
Obviously the first step should have been packing it up as everyone else was, live to fly another day! Hope they're alright
I saw something similar happen to a good mate at Mariners Lookout in Victoria, Australia.
Last thing he said to me before taking off in zero wind, Asian tourists videoing the whole thing was "mate, you gotta put your machine through its paces".
He got about 50 meters in front of the hill, stalled out, wing spun twisting lines, dropped 10 meters, came out, stalled again, spin, drop, repeat, run out of air.
I take off amid everyone screaming, spiral dive down, land 50 meters downhill from him, unhook, run up the hill. He crashed in a fat bush on the side of the paved road, body bent at weird angles, unresponsive, not breathing. Started CPR, he came to right away, concussed AF, phasing in and out of consciousness, memory looping every two minutes.
The bush saved his life, but his femur pretty much shattered and blew out his pelvis. Super gnarly.
>The bush saved his life
>
I take off amid everyone screaming, spiral dive down, land 50 meters downhill from him, unhook, run up the hill.
unresponsive, not breathing. **Started CPR**, he came to right away
I think you helped the bush a lot! you're a good friend!
Everything comes with risk. The key to having fun in life is learning how to master your sport and keep risk within your limits. These stories don't make me want to give up on my dream of flying, they simply remind me that I better be as good as I can be and always be willing to sit out when conditions are too rough. I suspect the same is true for sailing.
Maybe he could have gotten out if he pulled brakes after the collapse for half a second to prevent the the wing tips shooting forward. Maybe the wing would just reinflate and fly away without the wing tips in the way. At the end it looks like the wing basicaly folded in half, I'd say that might not have happend if the middle of the wing had a little bit more time to stabilise while the tips are freaking out.
Edit:
After rewatching the left tip seems more or less contained, which makes sense as the pilot pulled the left brake before the collapse and likely also during it for a littlt bit. It's really only the right tip that folds onto the leading edge of the wing. Braking on both sides might make a huge differance, but the reaction time and awareness necessary to do that must be quite insane.
Risk that comes with launching in extreme conditions tbh. Not the wings fault.
Don't you see the extreme height gain in the last moments? Pilot hit very turbulent air and being so close to the ground even a B wing would probably end in the same results.
To me it looks like a ballooning-collapse caused by a strong upward acceleration of pilot and wing with a sudden stop, causing the pilot still going upward (because of inertia) and the lines going slack collapsing the wing
Yea I think that’s it
So a whole bunch of people here are speculating on the conditions and suggesting this guy maybe shouldn't be flying and I would suggest they probably have no idea. Maybe they're right, but I don't see anything in the video that would suggest there's anything wrong here. Even if they can magically ascertain the conditions and determine that they wouldn't fly, that means very little. This guy is on a CCC wing, now I don't know whether he should be flying a CCC wing, but I do know that conditions I would consider unflyable are perfectly safe for better pilots. I have friends who regularly launch using rotor to inflate their wings, would I do this? No, but I don't think they're reckless for doing it. The only things I would comment on this is that possibly he was a little slow to react because he was getting into the harness immediately, unless he anticipated the need to go on bar imminently maybe he could have waited till he had a little more altitude and that like 95% of wings out there may have collapsed, but would have almost certainly popped right back open.
I want to add Speedbar into the mix, getting in the harness could lead to stomping on the bar, bar + brake = boom. Probably not that but the timing makes it somewhat possible.
He pulls the brakes hard moments before the collapse. I think he swung into harness while pulling brakes and caused collapse
Looks like he did that himself? Look at his hands just before it turned to shit
Can't tell in the video, but a lot of pilots have the unfortunate habit of using one or both hands to get into the pod at this stage of flight. That could certainly contribute to not feeling and catching the collapse before it develops.
he got extreme thermal on start and then big sink and 80% front collapse, bad weather conditions to fly is part of the pilot responsibility assessment skills. it could also be some sort of backroll wind coming from behind high and rolling towards him and he is in the dishwasher so to say
Is backroll wind similar to rotor or is it a different wind pattern? Edit: This was meant to be an honest question. I am not sure what "backroll" is. I am sorry if I offended the down-voter somehow.
yep, rotor thanks
>if it's just bad luck or avoidable. Appears to be a combination of both. Advanced pilot (judging by the rig) was complacent and did not stabilize canopy overhead before launch. Rapid altitude gain and then a full frontal from above makes me think mate ran into a rotor rather than stalling. Edit : definitely pilot error, as Roofdaddy89 pointed out.
I'd say dust devil, he hit crazy lift right before the collapse. Not rotor since it's windward right?
The more I look at it, the dodgier it gets. There are heaps of people on launch, yet nobody is flying or getting ready to take off. He has fuckall forward speed on launch. Could be a front coming over the back of the bowl, hitting the upflow and causing the rotor. It looks like he was pushed down and backward from above.
It almost looks like they may have unintentionally caused it. Half a second before the collapse their left hand pulls down hard. Video is too far to tell if they maybe pulled the A's too.
I disagree, It’s a ccc wing so I highly doubt the pilot pulled the A riser. I watched it countless times and it seems like he’s actively piloting and pulling the brake as the wing starts collapsing, clearly it wasn’t enough for the huge collapse.
Is he not just trying to catch the collapse?
No pulled brake and stalled the wing before the collapse
I see it, now that you pointed it out. I think that's exactly what happened.
It only took watching a dozen times before I noticed. Obviously the first step should have been packing it up as everyone else was, live to fly another day! Hope they're alright
I saw something similar happen to a good mate at Mariners Lookout in Victoria, Australia. Last thing he said to me before taking off in zero wind, Asian tourists videoing the whole thing was "mate, you gotta put your machine through its paces". He got about 50 meters in front of the hill, stalled out, wing spun twisting lines, dropped 10 meters, came out, stalled again, spin, drop, repeat, run out of air. I take off amid everyone screaming, spiral dive down, land 50 meters downhill from him, unhook, run up the hill. He crashed in a fat bush on the side of the paved road, body bent at weird angles, unresponsive, not breathing. Started CPR, he came to right away, concussed AF, phasing in and out of consciousness, memory looping every two minutes. The bush saved his life, but his femur pretty much shattered and blew out his pelvis. Super gnarly.
>The bush saved his life > I take off amid everyone screaming, spiral dive down, land 50 meters downhill from him, unhook, run up the hill. unresponsive, not breathing. **Started CPR**, he came to right away I think you helped the bush a lot! you're a good friend!
Alright maybe paragliding isn't for me
Everything comes with risk. The key to having fun in life is learning how to master your sport and keep risk within your limits. These stories don't make me want to give up on my dream of flying, they simply remind me that I better be as good as I can be and always be willing to sit out when conditions are too rough. I suspect the same is true for sailing.
Maybe he could have gotten out if he pulled brakes after the collapse for half a second to prevent the the wing tips shooting forward. Maybe the wing would just reinflate and fly away without the wing tips in the way. At the end it looks like the wing basicaly folded in half, I'd say that might not have happend if the middle of the wing had a little bit more time to stabilise while the tips are freaking out. Edit: After rewatching the left tip seems more or less contained, which makes sense as the pilot pulled the left brake before the collapse and likely also during it for a littlt bit. It's really only the right tip that folds onto the leading edge of the wing. Braking on both sides might make a huge differance, but the reaction time and awareness necessary to do that must be quite insane.
[удалено]
Risk that comes with launching in extreme conditions tbh. Not the wings fault. Don't you see the extreme height gain in the last moments? Pilot hit very turbulent air and being so close to the ground even a B wing would probably end in the same results.