Ozone Zeno - In-Flight Incidents and Recovery; Handling Wing Deflations; Cravat Incident Management; Deep Stall and Parachutal Stall

INCIDENTS IN FLIGHT
EN
15
14
Deflations
Duetotheexibleformofaparaglider,turbulencemaycauseaportionofthewingsuddenlytocollapse.
Thiscanbeanythingfromasmall30%(asymmetric)collapsetoacomplete(symmetric)collapse.
Ifyouhaveacollapse,therstthingtodoistocontrolyourdirection.Youshouldyawayfromtheground
orobstaclesandotherpilots.Asymmetriccollapsesshouldbecontrolledbyweightshiftingawayfromthe
collapsedsideandapplyingenoughbraketocontrolyourdirection.Thisactionalonewilloftenbeenough
forafullrecoveryofthewing,howeverifthewingremainsclosedpositivebrakeinputisrequiredonthe
deatedsidetoencouragereination.
Onceaglideris deated it iseffectivelyasmallerwing,sothewingloadingandstallspeedarehigher.
Thismeansthegliderwillspinorstallwithlessbrakeinputthannormal.Inyoureffortstostoptheglider
turningtowardsthecollapsedsideyoumustbeverycarefultonotstalltheyingside.Ifyouareunable
tostopthegliderturningwithoutexceedingthestallpointthenallowtheglidertoturnwhilstyoureinate
thecollapse.
Ifyouhavea deation whichdoesnotspontaneouslyreinate, make deephardinputsonthe deated
side.Thispumpingactionshouldtakeabout1-2secondsperpump,pumpingtooshortandfastwillnot
reinatethewingandpumpingtooslowmighttaketheglidercloseto,orbeyond,thestallpoint.
Symmetricalcollapsesnormallyreinatewithoutpilotinput,however15to20cmofbrakeappliedquickly
andsymmetricallywillreducethesizeifthecollapseandspeeduptherecoveryprocess.Afterasymmetric
collapsealwaysconsideryourairspeed.Makesurethegliderisnotinparachutalstallbeforemakingany
furtherinputs.
Ifthe wingcollapses inaccelerated ight, immediately release theaccelerator (ifapplied), managethe
collapseusingthesamemethodsdescribedabove.
Cravats
Ifthe tipof yourwing gets stuck in thelines, thisis calleda cravat.Due tothe large amount of drag,
cravatscanturnyourwingintoaspiraldiveveryquickly,thiscanbedisorientatinganddifculttocontrol
ifallowed to develop.To recover froma cravat immediatelyanticipate the movementof the wing,rst
stabilise the direction of your wing with outsidebrake and weightshift. Once youhave control ofthe
rotationandsinkrateapplystrongdeeppumpsofthebrakeonthecravatedsidewhilstweightshifting
awayfromthecravat.Itisimportanttoleanawayfromthecravatotherwiseyouriskspinningordeepening
thespiral.Theaimistoemptytheairoutofthewingtipwhilstitisunloaded.Correctlydone,thisaction
willclearthecravat.
Ifitisaverylargecravatandtheaboveoptionshavenotworkedthenafullstallisanotheroption.This
should not be attempted unless you know what you are doing and have a large amount of altitude.
Rememberiftherotationisacceleratingandyouareunabletore-openthewingorcontrolthedecentrate,
youshouldthrowyourreserveparachutewhilstyoustillhaveenoughaltitude.
Deep Stall / Parachutal Stall
It is possible for gliders to enter a state of parachutal stall. This can be caused by several situations
including;yingtooslowly;yingthegliderwhenwet;orafterafront/symmetricdeation.Theglideroften
looksasthoughithasrecoveredproperlybutcarriesondescendingverticallywithoutfullforwardmotion.
Thissituationiscalled‘deepstall’or‘parachutalstall’.
Yourrstreactionshouldbetofullyraisebothhands.Thisnormallyallowstheglidertoreturntonormal
ightbutIfnothinghappensafterafewseconds, apply the speed bar to encourage the wing to regain
normalight.Ensurethegliderhasreturnedtonormalight(checkyourairspeed)beforeusingthebrakes
again.
Donotyinrainorwhenthewingiswet,doingsosignicantlyincreasesthelikelihoodofparachutalstalls
occurring.ToreducethechanceofstallinginrainavoidusingdeepbrakemovementsorBigEars.Finda
safeareatolandandusingthespeedbar,maintainagoodairspeedatalltimes.
IMPORTANT
A bad preparation
on launch, aerobatic
ying, ying a wing of
too high a level or in
conditions too strong
for your ability are
the main causes of
cravats.
IMPORTANT
Only a few cms of
input from your
brakes can maintain
your wing in the stall.
Always fully release
your brakes to recover
normal ight.
IMPORTANT
NEVER y in the rain
or with a wet glider.