Friday’s Terror Flight, Gust Front, wing collapse

[@davidyoung518]

If you're at a dead stop after landing and your wing keeps flying...it might be too windy!! Also, I was a little concerned about how heavy you were on your brake toggles throughout the flight. Thanks for posting and sharing!!

[@aricellis]

I was flying way up the Scioto river when that gust front came through. I was at 2,000 ft enjoying the smooth cool air and then all hell broke loose. I got sucked up to 3,200 ft at zero throttle. I had to spiral to lose altitude and I was getting tossed around like I've never experienced before. It took a long time to descend, but thankfully I ended up landing, more like taking an elevator ride down into a soybean field surrounded by corn. I never want to do that again! I'm glad I was flying a safer B wing that day, or it could have been worse.

[@jerryp9375]

@@aricellis that evening was crazy wild, and scary. Not sure how nobody got hurt

[@paramotorIRL]

I had to do the same and land off the other night! Was great until the last 5 minutes! 😂

[@MikeSparamotor]

Well that didn’t look like any fun. Glad you made it down safely

[@jerrydelyea5820]

Oh man. Not fun. I have been pg for 30+ and ppg on a tike for ten. Please!! Be careful. You get in air you don’t like on a trike… get on the ground. If you feel you are comfortable flying a trike in conditions rough enough to take a collapse I guess that’s up to you but trust me, if you get a big whack and get a line hooked on your buggy it’s going to o suck. “ weather” or not fly, I try to live by it. Also it looks like you are pulling a bit too much brake in the bumps, let that wing fly a little. Anyway. Glad ya got down. Stay safe , make good choices 👍✌️

[@jerryp9375]

@@jerrydelyea5820 None of us should have been up that evening. I had a chance to land at the field earlier, and did not take it. The gust came through, and then it was calm, so I made a mistake of thinking it was over. That was just the preliminary warning of what was coming. It was Purdin’s, and a lot of us got picked up by buddies, and they were still coming 2 or 3 loaded in pickup trucks late Been flying since the 90s, and never encountered anything like that. Never want to encounter it again. It was crazy, once I landed on the bean field my wing just kept flying, until I dropped it, then it jumped back up again. Crazy day. I want no more of those

[@jerrydelyea5820]

Holy shit lol. Well I must say, I know it happens. Years ago I was flying pg from my home site. Forecast was for thunder storms over night. We stood on launch for a few hours in ripping wind, our ride down had left and when it suddenly calmed off we decided to do the 13 minute sledder to the lz. I am in the Rockies in Canada for context. When we launched it was still clear, 7 pm. Five minutes from landing the gust front hit, where we were landing there is a 200 foot hill/ gravel pit. We were in the air for another 40 minutes, lol. I got blown back into town and landed at the 7-11. After taking many collapses. So I sure feel for ya lol. Anyway. Thanks for the reply and blue skies brother!!! 👍✌️🇨🇦🇺🇸

[@Alpha_Night]

noticed that there was no wind on the ground, I wanted to know if the air conditions were different or if it was a sudden situation. I also question whether the decision to leave the wing trimmed at 1/2 was on purpose, whether it helped maintain more control or whether it should have been completely closed to avoid collapse. I ask because it's my first wing and my instructor told me that it was very safe and good for students like me who have been flying for around 38 hours.

[@jerryp9375]

@@Alpha_Night there was a lot of wind on the ground. If you look closely, you can see the soy beans waving, but it was a sudden gust front. I had let the trims out a little, but not all the way, because I wanted use of the brakes, and wanted extra speed. Using brake on a full trimmed out wing will cause a collapse, while close trim makes the wing more sensitive to turbulence. None of us should have even been flying that evening. Our loose count was at least 25 pilots had to set down, and get rides back. I have been flying since the mid 90s, and never encountered these conditions.

[@Alpha_Night]

@@jerryp9375 thanks for the explanation and video!

[@David65702]

That looked fun do it again!! Hell No!! That was crazy took the fun right out of it. Good landing considering. How far from the LZ were you? How long did it take to find you?.

[@David65702]

@@jerryp9375 Damn that's crazy! Now were the ones that knew better than to fly in a hurricane sipping on a beer and laughing at you guys as you were coming in by the truck loads lol, Glad no one got hurt.

[@jerryp9375]

@@David65702 I landed next door to the race track, so after bagging the wing, I drove the bean road to the race track, across the parking lot, and waited about 15 minutes at the entrance for my friends to come get me. The joy of Flying with a group is we take care of each other. You get a lot strange looks driving around like that