Date:
June
24,
2019
Cummulative
flights to date:
31
Site:
Cape
Kiwanda
Vertical to
LZ:
70
ft
Conditions:
18-20+
NNW and gusty at about 2/3 way up. Sunny and 70+
Harness
configuration:
shoulder
lifters only
Assistance:
none
Launch:
launched
about 2PM
The flights:
1
Video/Photos:
none
Landing:
Did
not get into the cage. Wind on the beach was around 10-12 so no
flare. One to two step landing.
Narrative:
Spent
what I’m guessing was about 45 minutes climbing up to the first top
and encountering what felt like 18-20+ where I really had to stay on
it to maintain control. I decided going up further was risky. I
lost control on a gust and ended up with the right wing pinned to the
sand. I had to unhook from my shoulder lifters to avoid ending up
attached if the wing blew over. I was able to reconnect in a lull.
I started slowly decending to the front ridge. When I reached it I
didn’t feel like I’d have enough altitude to get into the cage
and make the right turn right off launch. I slowly started inching
further up. At
about 2/3 to the top I launched in a N cycle so as to minimize how
much of a turn I’d need to make. Made 2 attempts to get into the
cage which failed (I had not felt it necessary to move the step all
the way down which was a mistake). Had bled off airspeed in these
attempts and had to move forward to pick up speed as I initiated my
right turn. Had to make several directional corrections on the way
to the beach but came in lined up well and made a smooth landing.
Take aways:
Kiwanda can be gusty. One can lose control if not right on it all
the time in strong conditions. Once a wing is down (tip on the
ground) it is nearly impossible to lift it back up. The rudder will
not do it ( I deployed full left rudder while pinned on the right and
got no reaction).
Post-flight
note:
The main purpose for
this trip was to practice flares in what I’d hoped would be very
light conditions. I was unable to accomplish this because of the
strong wind. I noticed no adverse flight characteristics after my
hard nose in at Dog which was the previous flight.
