I got this in email this morning, it seems personally quite relevant, because last Sunday while I was in a glider on the ground – hooked up to the winch and ready to go – a light aircraft (that we didn’t manage to identify) crossed Andreas airfield at less than 1000 feet and pretty much right over the point where the glider would be just getting to the zenith of a winch launch. We use single strand piano wire because of our runway, and I know that when piano wire and a light aircraft meet, my bets are on the piano wire. Even though we don’t have fancy equipment and relatively heavy winch wire, we still typically make 1200 feet on a winch launch (more on a windy day).
http://www.gasco.org.uk/safety-information/flight_safety_extra_aug_16/risks_flying_glider_site.aspx
Our glider club is charted with the winch symbol (and appears in Skydemon with an alert). We do keep a lookout (someone on the ground crew does an “all clear above and behind” check) but at the above link points out, the winch wire will be pretty much invisible and a glider being winched has a very brisk climb rate, and there’s always the possibility a light aircraft crossing the field will be missed, particularly microlights. (I also monitor Ronaldsway approach when I’m aerotowing, we always get a few up from the flight school who will be talking to them while in our area).
There was a nasty incident in Sweden two years or so ago when a light aircraft missed the winch wire of a paraglider by less than a metre (everything was recorded by the paraglider’s camera). The aircraft was at about 1000 feet AGL and the paraglider at 1500-2000 feet. There was an accident investigation which concluded that most likely in case of a collision the wire would have rolled off the wing of the aircraft without causing serious damage, but still…
A consequence of this incident was that paraglider launch site are now marked on the Swedish 1:250000 charts.
Airborne_Again wrote:
the wire would have rolled off the wing of the aircraft without causing serious damage, but still…
I wouldn’t like to be the one to put that to the test!
A couple of years back we were just about to launch a glider when a C130 flew straight across the airfield, gave them a bit of a fright. The RAF base was on the phone in seconds to apologise.
alioth wrote:
I know that when piano wire and a light aircraft meet, my bets are on the piano wire
Oh yes. Enough fatalities prove that point… I could find you an accident report for your perusal.
a light aircraft (…) crossed Andreas airfield at less than 1000 feet
That pilot was an absolute fool and should have her/his license withdrawn.
For Belgian fields, I find glider winching mentioned in the AIP for the fields that I know to do this – one more reason for carefully consulting the AIP before flight! Better still, comply with the PPR and give them a short phone call.
Does anyone read the AIP – apart from those on EuroGA?
You have to when you fly to new places (other countries). I recently extensively read the AIPs for Slovenia, Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia, KFOR, Albania… and Croatia.
