Session #22

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.