Here is a video that I came across that apparently was doing the rounds last year, but I missed it and I’ve not seen it posted here.
So maybe some of you guys have missed it too.
Two very lucky pilots to say the least.
Flying gliders in IMC isn’t that uncommon, for several years we did trips to Aboyne to hope to get some wave, and all their higher performance gliders were fitted with full gyro panels for cloud flying.
However…that glider panel looks rather free of gyros to me…
I hate that video. I can’t think of another video that makes me feel so intensely uncomfortable. I imagine the in and out, partial images of terrain rapidly filling the screen doesn’t help. It’s hard to know without being there, but there seemed to have been at least a few opportunities to avoid that situation that were overlooked/dismissed.
In UK, you can legally fly gliders in clouds with 10kft of air under your wing in waves with barely airspeed indicator, turn coordinator, compass and tablet moving map, you can also legally fly gliders close to terrain even bellow 500ft agl near ridges, what you can’t do (still legal) is to fly gliders in clouds bellow 500ft agl, I doubt having a gyro would make much difference to the outcome but being a lucky dude does help a lot !
The video is in New Zealand, they also allow gliders in clouds (and also uncontrolled IFR for aeroplanes) but you still need way more aircraft equipment than in this video…
Stupid is as stupid does
alioth wrote:
Flying gliders in IMC isn’t that uncommon.
Well, no, not in Cu at an altitude comfortably above MSA. I would say that hill soaring in IMC – as in this video clip – is suicidal.
I have seen this video, and I have felt very uncomfortable. Especially after 1:25 a voice in my head started:get out, turn right immediately, and I kind of felt my legs and hands moving the stick and the rudder :D
Absolutely stupid thing, especially from the instructor (?) sitting there.
Airborne_Again wrote:
I would say that hill soaring in IMC – as in this video clip – is suicidal
At some point in the video it appear they gone “ridge soaring in IMC bellow MSA in the rotor side of the hill”?
The landing was probably behind the hill as well, I am not sure what the wind was that day? but few gliders have crashed going soaring in good VMC when they crossed the positive/negative lift lines and tried to come back after losing height, maybe their “ignorance while in IMC” was both curse & bliss after all? but the amount of luck in that video is mind blowing
What’s exactly the definition of “almost crash”? At 3:04 they do hit the ground, and it is an incredible luck that they got away. Even with the left wing very low. Hard to believe that they did not get turned around from the wing hitting the ground. Must be due to the special flora there, which was very forgiving. Yes, the amount of luck spent on these minutes seems massive.
robirdus wrote:
Especially after 1:25 a voice
I hear that warning already at 0:34, where you see a hush of terrain below, where I’d never turn into sitting in a glider without clear sight. Not even if you knew the terrain like your pocket. But sure, until 1:25 it’s not quite comfortable but not really idiotic, either. Thereafter, no comment.
Airborne_Again wrote:
I would say that hill soaring in IMC – as in this video clip – is suicidal.
A few years back a glider pilot here did something almost equal to the video. He got into IMC in the mountains, and couldn’t get out. He elected to jump. Unfortunately he was found dead a few days later after massive searching in, well IMC. He was laying close to the crashed aircraft with his chute only partly unfolded. He jumped a few seconds too late (or perhaps many minutes depending on how you look at it).
