The worst PPG mistake I've made so far | Avery Flies

Pilot error extends to pre-flight activities too. I did not do my due diligence in checking weather forecasts, and I luckily landed about a mile from my LZ. This could've been much worse. I always say, if I mess up on camera, you will see it in a video, so here it is. Don't skimp on your checks and pre-flights, and don't just go because others are going. Check everything, always, and have hard limits in place - then stick by those limits.
The other pilot I was flying with took several collapses and at one point was in an involuntary wingover, but recovered uncomfortably low and landed successfully with no damage or injury.
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[@AveryFlies]

Hopefully this can serve as an example to the new pilots, and a wake up call to the seasoned ones. It wasn't weird that the weather changed, it was dumb that I didn't check the weather.

[@grejen711]

I use the reports to decide whether or not to go to the field. Would you have even gone to your LZ given the full forecasting had you checked more closely? The conditions on the field when you launch and for the duration of your flight, are what matter when you launch. Just the other day I'd done all my normal checks and the reports were for flyable winds. When I launched I was immediately regretting it. I did not take a small collapse as you did but I was rocked badly and when I got back over my LZ I was pinned just a few hundred yards downwind of it at several hundred feet up. Dropping lower I started to move forward and landed ok after a go around (pretty tight spot I have).

[@AveryFlies]

@grejen711 hard to say if I would've gone to the field. Now, after this flight, no. Back then, even with a full weather check, maybe? I knew weather was coming for the rest of the week but my margin of flyable time before rain hit was too narrow. It was a learning and teaching experience for sure

[@theskiviking9007]

Good call. Good lesson wrapped in a reminder for all of us.

[@ParamotorNC]

I had one flight where I saw a set of dark clouds in an otherwise clear sky. I wondered if the clouds could be be indicative of a gust front traveling ahead. So I landed early and sure enough, a moderate gust front pushed through just 10 minutes after I landed. Tree tops bent over... Yikes. Glad you handled that landing nicely.

[@rule1dontgosplat]

I did that kiting one day... It was pretty calm and I was practicing kiting around. It started getting a little breezy so I put the glider away. Before I could get it back to the car, the wind was blowing hard enough that I probably would have lifted off without a motor.

[@ryanpotter787]

This is a great video to remind people that don’t have 400+ flights the importance of active pilot skills and triple checking the weather.

[@AveryFlies]

I would say even more important for the more experienced guys. Complacency can kill.

[@stix2you]

Great weather resources! Really good information about how to use them, which I think is even more important. Back when I was flying GA, I would call 1 800 WX BRIEF on the drive out to the field. We have the time to kill in the car anyway, and if you have a hands-free setup, it's the perfect thing to slot in to your preflight routine. You get to talk to an experienced weather briefer too, it's one of the best and most underutilized resources we have as pilots. Also, I feel like the more we utilize established resources in a responsible way, the better it is for the PPG community. We all know the clowns who wreck it for us. But that works the opposite way too. Every good interaction with the larger aviation community is a boost for all of us. The way Avery handled the emergency landing on those people's driveway is a perfect example. That person learned a lot about the PPG community from that interaction, and Avery made it a "10."

[@grejen711]

Bingo sir.

[@theskiviking9007]

Kudos Avery for your accountability and humility. I didn't hear you mention this, but the sky warned you. There's verga off your right shoulder behind you at 2:38. When cold heavy rain goes down, displaced air rushed along the ground. Think of pouring out a bucket of water that rushes out in all directions when it hits the ground. Also the week of bad weather coming in means you're low pressure with storms converging on your location= turbulence. I fly desert tundra. And it's one of the things I really watch out for. It can go from "10" to "1 or 0" real quick.

[@AveryFlies]

Yep. I should've seen it coming.

[@wolfhound665]

As someone who is taking their first lesson tomorrow your video, and Anthony's crash videos, are very sobering but they are also reminders that staying alert and sticking to a preflight checklist is more important than getting out there. Thanks you for sharing.

[@AveryFlies]

Flying is absolutely worth it. Let this and other incident videos increase your respect of the dangers of the sport, but don't let these scare you from flying.

[@overthetop97]

Thank you for posting this. Very helpful.

[@Chipenvous]

Great reminders, Avery. I must admit, I am super diligent at checking multiple weather sources for some type of reliable convergence on expectations. Certainly can't blame you for what you did, especially since the winds weren't predicted too high and it was pretty much just overcast. Seeing the rain in the distance on your video would have given me second thoughts for sure once I was at the field. I know with the slew of PPG incidents this spring, I have have been uber cautious in my pre-flights and thankfully so because I caught a line over in my first inflation before hooking in my risers on my last flight. Keep up the good work and stay safe buddy!

[@DavidNCPPG-1962]

Thank you so much for this. It's important that we not become complacent, being a new pilot, I look for these experiences, not just because they are interesting, but that I stay humble and realize that even the most experienced and best pilots get in tuff situation, it's what they do in that situation that's important. Sure if I fly long enough, and hope I do, I will run into a situations like this. Seeing how to react from other experienced pilots gives me very valuable, and possibly life saving, information. Please keep up the good work Avery, you're the best my friend. Oh ya, and your videos are getting better and better, keep up the good work.

[@adam-newbloom]

Excellent pointers, thanks for sharing this experience.

[@warrenkral6562]

Oh man that was wild. Glad you're OK!

[@2etime]

Scary man! That was very humbling even for myself! I have a bad habit of looking at 1 or 2 sources (mainly the wind speed). Thank you for being an honest/transparent KZbinr! On a separate note surrounding Anthony. I went out flying yesterday and spent a solid minute looking over each one of my lines shortly after takeoff thanks to him. It was uncomfortable to look straight up, but he experienced the lesson so I could learn from it. This video has definitely done the same for my mindset. Thanks again :)

[@Para_Ninja]

It can be a shock when the weather changes from smooth to collapses in less than a minute. When I think of all those weird unexplained experienced paramotor pilot deaths I imagine that's probably what happened. Specifically thinking of that famous youtuber where they never released the footage to actual ppg pilots but the cop who saw it said "it appears he hit some kind of weather issue at 300ft" glad you got on the ground quick enough, my recent gust front experience it kept sucking me back up into the bad air.

[@mikec4114]

Also those clouds are indicating a weather change aloft. Always look at the clouds too when showing up to fly. They look unsettled. (Airline pilot 34 years, about 2.5 years paramotor, skydiver, r/c pilot.) Take care.

[@gerrycollins9409]

Great video!

[@flierbill]

I'm glad you are okay. Thanks for sharing. I've had friends that landed out because of gust fronts.

[@AveryFlies]

Id rather land out than collapse and end up in some trees.

[@Brian.Garceau]

Good video @AveryFlies. I would add that weather ahead of a storm event is always of a concern. Clouds like that indicate lots of energy and storm fronts as I have read can have an effect up to 50miles ahead of the actual storm. Visible rain, rain that does not make it to the ground ("Virga") or precip that you may not even see, cools the surrounding air leading to downdrafts - very dangerous! Over time just looking up to note the cloud structure can be enough to quickly to stay on the ground. "Angry" clouds are difficult to miss. Then things generally calm down after the storm and so is (again generally) a better time to fly. So many great points and reminders in this one. Appreciate your contunuing to share your experiences and the knowledge. Really like the channel!

[@AveryFlies]

Happy to show my screw ups if it helps others 😅

[@rule1dontgosplat]

Don't forget the rear flank downdrafts... those bursts of cold air blasting down at the back side of the storm.

[@rule1dontgosplat]

@@AveryFlies I have the same attitude. When I started learning, I started filming my progress and committed to showing my goods and my bads. There's plenty of video out there of the @TuckerGott types with a lot of experience doing perfect flights, but not as many making little screw ups or learning, or doing dumb, preventable things that might save other people.

[@AveryFlies]

@@rule1dontgosplat I posted this video on Reddit and just got called wish.com tucker videos 😅

[@1978sjt]

@@AveryFlies riiiight, because he's the only paramotor guy on the internet 🤣

[@rule1dontgosplat]

The only thing I'll criticize is the fact that you went up at all in that weather. Knowing SC/NC weather as I do, stratus clouds will often hide the occasional cumulus cloud, complete with its updrafts, downdrafts, and requisite turbulence. When you got up and there was rain shafts on the horizon I immediately said "nope. that weather is going to suck." But as for keeping your cool, flying the bumps to the ground, and choosing to land over "get-home-itis", I commend you. Well done.

[@AveryFlies]

Totally worth the criticism, this was a string of dumb calls and I was the one making them.

[@mikes6216]

"get-home-itis" Yeah it was hard to watch Avery bail without trying the trimmers but when you already have made multiple bad choices, the swiss cheese holes are lining up and respect must be paid.

[@gregmarshall9284]

I've had different, but in overall theme, similar experiences due to the same issue. It has led to me cutting a cross country short due to fuel quantity uncertainty. It led to me taxiing with the aircraft still tied down. I'm sure other errors have happened that were caught more quickly than those two situations. It's allowing outside pressures to make you feel rushed, and allowing that FEELING to influence your procedures... If you feel rushed, that's exactly when you need to slow down and be thorough. It's also related to the phenomenon of get-there-itis. Problems on the ground are never as serious as problems in the air. Being delayed, missing a flight, having to make an embarrassing phone call, never as bad an outcome as they feel like when you're making the decision. You can always fly tomorrow. :) Glad you're learning, and thanks for sharing!

[@jvt239]

Thank you, much appreciated.

[@AveryFlies]

Any time

[@mikec4114]

Thank you sir

[@shanesplanetshane3795]

wow, your idea of 'weather looked good', differs from mine. I admit, I don't bother with much forecasts, I tend to get to LZ and look. Glad ya made it down safely. Think of the adventure you'd have missed, if you'd stayed on the ground. Always nice to fly areas with outs available.

[@AveryFlies]

I know, I've gone slack on my judgement. I kept thinking "the wild stuff only happens when I don't bring a camera, this is fine!" 😅

[@12vibaba]

Well the first look at the sky said it all.

[@grejen711]

Yoiks! Thank you for sharing. Yeah .. .thinking... "That escalated quickly!" I heard you say "...someone else was flying..." a few times and this is sorta the lesson I learned a while ago by nearly running out of fuel on a short cross country with a group. I abdicated my flight management to someone else. Had I been by myself on that flight I may have noticed the switch to a strong tailwind on the way out and just turned back early. I'd loaded 90 minutes of fuel for a 45 minute trip. Then the fuel minding part of my brain just switched off while I orbited for 20 minutes waiting for the group to get launched and then dumped trims to keep up with the group and focused on them. I even did note the high groundspeed but was so focused on flying with the group I just did that. .. yeah. It was a 91 minute flight. Regarding checking forecasts I find this to be maybe the symptom of the issue and not your real mistake. When you see another pilot is flying or going to fly and you think: "they're ok, I'll be ok..." you've assumed three things. 1. You ability is at least equal to theirs 2. Your equipment is at least equal to theirs for the relevant parameters (speed, safety, efficiency, etc) 3. They are not making the exact same mistake you are. I know, I know, I'm armchair flying here but when your video of the flight started and my eyes were immediately glued to those clouds. That another guy is flying is irrelevant.

[@AveryFlies]

All true points. As for the clouds, Ive flown in chunky overcast like this before, but it should've been another signal to check the weather at the field.

[@grejen711]

@@AveryFlies "Ive flown in chunky overcast like this before," - that changes your perception of the danger.

[@medin.n]

The music in the background is so weird, i was not sure if it was the video or something in my room

[@AveryFlies]

I use that to be kind of funny, but I've gotten a lot of comments about that. I guess I will quit using that one LOL

[@jvt239]

Hi, very informative, thank you. Can you please name the weather services you use, for me once more. I couldn't make out the 3rd one you mentioned. Thanks

[@AveryFlies]

Weather.gov, ryancarlton.com, ppg.report, and for incoming rain I use the wundermap on wunderground.com. xcskies has really detailed winds as well but it requires a subscription

[@chrisjoe6264]

Windy is good too!

[@Team.Louish]

I’m confused. When did you crash? You said “I literally crashed” but never saw one.

[@AveryFlies]

The pilot I was flying with said it on the phone call immediately after I landed. That's why the speech bubble points off screen. Sorry for the clickbait

[@Team.Louish]

Oh!! That makes sense! Thanks

[@calikalbocalikalbo6082]

How does that camera work? link?

[@AveryFlies]

It's a GoPro max on a 2 foot arm attached to my swing arm. Links are in the description of this video, along with pictures of how it's mounted: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWnHgKKMZ7J2o6c

[@calikalbocalikalbo6082]

@@AveryFlies ....Thanks

[@jamesordwayultralightpilot]

Side topic, this is why I don't trust someone else. If MY sources say it wont be fun, I respect it. Other guys are anecdotal its always nice 2 hours before sunset etc etc...usually that's true but I'm not gonna find out how often it's not by flying everyday.

[@Paraegg]

I was taught to also look for fronts moving in. Was taught to not fly with a front less than 100 miles away. Ya never know what kinda air it's pushing in front if it.

[@DarthVapor151]

Did you have your speedbar hooked up? That could have changed things.

[@DarthVapor151]

Reviewing the video again it seems like you did have it hooked up. Why didnt you give it a try?

[@AveryFlies]

I could've made more headway with speedbar, sure, but I could also have taken a more major collapse. The video is surprisingly smooth, I was being dropped and lifted 5-10 feet at a time.

[@DarthVapor151]

@@AveryFlies yeah i know exactly how that feels, could be seen on your glider too. Maybe you did take the best decision.

[@rule1dontgosplat]

@@AveryFlies Those insta360 cams give you amazingly smooth videos. Mine is bolted to my right side swing arm. It appears steady and you can see me bouncing around next to it sometimes.

[@mikes6216]

As he said, why not try the speedbar to put your wing into reflex profile? The goal is to cut thru turbulence, with speed as the secondary benefit. My 1st thought was trimmers as in the video, but speedbar is better/faster method since you had it connected.

[@mikes6216]

The video shows only downwind of you when you land. You said the wind may be 27mph. There is a thick line of trees all behind you. Were there no trees in front threatening with rotor and a crash landing?

[@AveryFlies]

There were trees in front too, and that thought crossed my mind. I'm not sure if I hit their rotor during landing or not, it was bumpy all the way to the ground regardless.

[@mikes6216]

@@AveryFlies You were brave to choose the road but you were rewarded with an easy recovery from there. I would be so afraid of slamming to the ground in the rotor- I probably would have gone for an open field and an angry farmer. I dont recall the formula but the rotor I would estimate is at least 10x the height of the trees in horizontal distance at 27mph+. Were they short trees? Glad you made it down with a soft landing.

[@mikes6216]

I rewatched the landing- looks like the wind speed on the ground was low, the wing didnt even drag you back when you killed it.

[@AveryFlies]

@@mikes6216 yeah. I think the wind was only blowing at altitude and was working it's way down, it was pretty calm after landing but picked up 10 minutes later

[@AveryFlies]

@@mikes6216 trees were probably 50-60 feet tall. I did land some 300 feet short of them by my guess

[@1978sjt]

As my Mentor hammered into us during initial training... Flying is the easy bit, weather (and Human factors) will Kill you! Even if the forecast is good, a forecast is still just an educated guess, check nearby weather stations, especially those downwind so you can see whats coming.

[@mikes6216]

Wouldnt your local forecast have already done just that? I would assume that is how prediction models are done, then mix it with local sensors to anticipate changes blowing in from the neighbors.

[@1978sjt]

@@mikes6216 exactly, its a Prediction, where checking a weather station is an Observation on what is happening right now. That's why you check the downwind stations, to see whats blowing in. Where I fly it can literally be dead calm, and change to 30 knots in minutes when the afternoon Sea Breeze rolls through (not always, but you don't want to be in the air the day it does). The other trick is one of the weather stations we check is at a higher altitude, so we can get a feel for any local wind gradients. Our forcasts cover a wide Area, and while generally accurate enough to tell a couple of days out if its going to be potentially flyable, sometimes there's a few micro climate things you can only spot with Observations.

[@mikes6216]

@@1978sjt Where I live it is completely flat from horizon to horizon, thanks for that explanation of why things can be so different.

[@turkeyphant]

Honestly doesn't look that bad at all but you're right to land if in doubt.

[@AveryFlies]

It was very bad. The 360 camera does amazing work at video stabilization, it doesn't show the 10-15 feet I was being lifted and dropped.

[@turkeyphant]

But only the one 20% collapse? Just sounds like a normal thermic pg day...

[@AveryFlies]

Well I guess if you would've been comfortable in that, more power to you. The other I was flying with took a full frontal and, in his words, an involuntary wing over

[@turkeyphant]

As you say, hard to tell from the video. How much pg experience do you both have? What was rasp saying for the day?

[@AveryFlies]

@@turkeyphant admittedly bare minimum P2 experience. If you can find a rasp model for central North Carolina, I'd love to bookmark it. I don't have an xcskies membership so if course didn't check it either.

[@asksteevs]

"Forecast better." sure. But more importantly, SIV. Get some bump tolerance.

[@AveryFlies]

Forecast, period. SIV is planned but it's a multi-day investment for me, being relatively far away from the folks that get the recommendations in Florida. I regret not taking another camera, I'm no slouch on bump tolerance, this was not safe air to fly in. The 360 camera gyros smooth it out surprisingly well.

[@asksteevs]

Safety is relative. But regardless of how well you forecast and how many "gates" you put up for yourself, whacky air can come at any time. The sad pilot is the one trained and ready for it. As a 90/10 xc freeflight/PPG pilot, I've come to realize that the majority of PPG only guys are woefully under-prepared for the unpredictability of this fickle medium we play in. The deeper in you get, the more ready you'll be for the unexpected.

[@AveryFlies]

Good points. I need to do more gliding. The only good stuff I can get here is motor launched thermalling, all the mountains are too far away.

[@Albertppg]

You should have kissed the earth when you landed 🤣

[@AveryFlies]

I saved that move for the time a C-17 flew 400 feet over me on takeoff

[@Albertppg]

@@AveryFlies Damn mate, that must have been a terrible scare. The last time I had a bad streak like yours I literally kissed the ground. The important thing is that we are fine.

[@mikes6216]

@@Albertppg Would like to see a ground kissing compilation :)

[@jwburton]

“Literally crashed”?

[@AveryFlies]

That's what my flying buddy said over the phone. He basically took 3 collapses into the ground, recovering by luck at 10 feet by his account.

[@Next0mancer]

Good video :) heres a comment for the algorithm

[@AveryFlies]

The real MVP

[@butchgeagan9768]

learn to read clouds. some have dangerous outflow. been there too.

[@lobbyrobby]

Glad you're ok. I'd like to get into flying someday so I like watching stuff like this to see what a person should do. But please please please don't ever play that music again! I was grinding my teeth getting through that part. 0 out of 10 lol.

[@AveryFlies]

Aww. I like the kazoo of the Valkyries 🥺 usually use it when I do something stupid

[@cloudpandarism2627]

oh god here we go... he is trying to copy an anthony. start watching

[@cloudpandarism2627]

done. yeah weather here is the same. it looks like its flyable but when i look out a bit later its either raining or gusting. big thanks for the reminder. i see lots of pilots here looking at a tree and say "its probably gonna be fine!" while i am standing there watching my windsock the entire time i need to prepare gear and ending up not flying because it doesnt look fine. solid half hour of checking that windsock. saved me countless times before. i remember one time i went up on the beach. everything looked normal, realizing my mistake 10 seconds after i got up. made a turn and straight back for landing. was the same eyes opener as your video. cheers from china avery PS: how is your buddy? he said he crashed?

[@AveryFlies]

​@@cloudpandarism2627 the other guy that was flying with me is a-okay. He landed in a corn field and says he took an involuntary wing over but recovered at ~20 feet. No injury or damage to gear.

[@cloudpandarism2627]

@@AveryFlies jesus! 😵 if he have a channel and cam rolling at that moment please do tell how to find that clip. glad you both ok. weather here is garbage since months. not a single flight whole winter. seeing your upload confirms that i am right to wait it out

[@warrenkral6562]

What the heck does that even mean???

[@AveryFlies]

No channel or cameras, he just goes to fly for the sake of flying, and good for him honestly.