Scary final glide: Will I clear the ridge?

[@TangoSoaring]

Hey Ben - great video - losing glide slope by taking weak thermals into a strong headwind is a really nasty feeling in forbidding terrain. Very hard to fight the instinct to thermal for safety. That area of Utah is stunning and intimidating. You did exactly the right thing - didn't do anything dumb, and had a safe and memorable retrieve. This is what soaring is all about. Well done.

[@8OrangePants]

Indeed very memorable...won't forget that adventure for a long time!

[@BenHirashima]

Thanks, Peter. I'm glad I didn't try to make it. The stress alone would have ruined the experience.

[@contessa.adella]

Any landing you can walk away from…right! It is good that most folk are so understanding about landing on their land…When you consider how territorial some can be about uninvited strangers on their property. Great vid, thanks for sharing.

[@aphlyp]

Fantastic video Ben and great job with the landout! I really enjoyed your commentary and the mix of in-flight video, 3D flight path playback, and flight computer playback. Subscribed, keep the videos coming!

[@PureGlide]

Awesome work, that really is good decision making. My advice: if you're not sure about something, don't do it. e.g. Am I absolutely sure I can cross that ridge? If the answer isn't yes, then don't try.

[@BenHirashima]

Agreed! Conversely, if doing something would make you scared, don't do it.

[@eatsleepplay]

Great breakdown of the flight, Ben! Good use of the tools, picturing well the flight, terrain and conditions. I'm happy to admit I would also choose a safe landout rather than making a sketchy jump over a ridge into a headwind with possibility of strong downdrafts on the lee side. I have an experience of landing in soft fields. It's not the best option for the finish on the belly or the bottom side of the tail, but I flown with those scratches for a couple of seasons without any issue.) Will not hesitate to land on a field again, I'll just make sure there are no telephone wires hanging across it :)

[@Sara_PY]

Ben, what a terrific video! Thank you!

[@Sara_PY]

And, I really appreciated the thoughtful commentary. It's very educational to follow the decision making process of an experienced pilot during a flight. Thanks for doing that!

[@havenrich]

Thank you for this excellent presentation. Nice to have friends like Phillip for the retrieval!

[@surf_thermals]

Thanks for this. Learning so much!

[@ljs94550]

Great video, Ben!

[@dwprather1]

Great video Ben and very sound decision making!

[@Scooby2606]

You made the right decision, especially considering you were not familiar with the area. Subscribed

[@Alex-Livingston]

I did a SEL cross country a couple months ago through Nephi! It has been one of my favorite flights to date so far. I considered asking the glider pilots how the wave was that day but the frequency was busy unfortunately

[@timtaylor9339]

Well done Ben. Nice video and good choice on the field. Never a mistake to take the safe option, especially when new to the area. You asked what locals would have done. I would have continued on towards Spanish Fork from where you turned around. There are several reasons. As you stated there are canyons that run all the way to Spanish Fork so you would not get trapped behind a ridge. Second, just a few km ahead of where you turned around you would have cleared the main north-south ridge and been on the west side. This would have allowed you to ridge soar the west facing slopes and likely gain altitude if needed. I did a very similar final glide on July 1st, 2019 (on OLC). Great video and hope you come back to Utah for more flights.

[@BenHirashima]

Aha, just as I suspected! Local knowledge is the key sometimes, and I didn't have it that day. Thanks for confirming, Tim. I'll check out your flight on OLC.

[@TommyOlsson]

Thanks for this nice and interesting video. Good to see that both you and the glider was OK.

[@michaelmix430]

great field and great decision making...

[@johnfoster1201]

Great video. Appreciate your commentary.

[@dpwinfla]

Thanks!

[@BenHirashima]

Thanks again!

[@schaeferaviation]

Great video!

[@JHenri-s6j]

Great video! Just found your channel.

[@76Raby]

It is always better to chicken out than be a hero. Nice analysis BTW.

[@MarcoNierop]

Good decision to turn around, I would have done the same.

[@mattmatt245]

What's the difference between yellow and pink line on the glide slope ?

[@BenHirashima]

The yellow line is the MacCready 0 glide slope and the pink line is the current MacCready glide slope. In this case, I was using MC4. The gray line is your current achieved glide slope over the past 20 seconds, or whatever time you have set it to.

[@felizardow]

Thanks for this video, Ben! I'm a newbie (getting first solo soon), and your video was very good for me to understand more about how XC works! What is this flight computer you used? I want something similar for Condor

[@BenHirashima]

Welcome to soaring! You're going to love it. The flight computer shown is a desktop simulator of an LXNav 9050, which is what I have in my glider. It doesn't work with Condor, but XCSoar is similar and does work with Condor.

[@felizardow]

Thank you! I'll try XCSoar with Condor :)

[@RichardRichmond123]

Hi Ben, I live in Reno and just purchased a Ventus C. It will be based at Minden. Your narration and videos are excellent. Would you mind telling me what camera and settings you use to get such great videos? I'm guessing a Insta360 X3.

[@BenHirashima]

That's correct, it's an Insta 360 X3. I'll be doing a video on my camera setup soon. Congrats on the new ship!

[@RichardRichmond123]

Thanks Ben, hope to met you soon and fly together. @@BenHirashima

[@teachermike4831]

Totally great decision making and perfect in everyway with a great landing. Great piloting........WN....past competition glider pilot Mich., Ionia USA.