Category: log entry

Flight #1301

Still learning the wing

Raise left hangpoint 1/4 inch

Increase length of A-assists an inch.

Wear smaller brimmed hat under helmet.

Took care to flatten center of leading edge to keep it out of the prop wash and it helped

Starting to feel better about launching.

After the flight I hooked up with Jason Schultz at Safe cove. His Pacific Seacraft is back in the water after 5 months in the yard. We are departing Tuesday to deliver it to its new home up by Bradenton.

Third level of the Sacred Order of the Flying Turtle

Trike goes Turtle during launch
Pilot achieves 2nd level of the Order of the. Sacred Turtle.

To achieve the Third Level of the order of the Sacred Turtle, one must perform a 360 degree spin while staying balanced on the prop hub. Additional Merit of Excellence is awarded, if the blades are still in balance upon completion.

The winds were very light with an occasional puff about 20 degrees to the right of the runway. I set up at the intersection, into the wind, with enough room to turn down the runway after inflation. The wing inflated nicely but while turning developed a mild oscillation. At low speed, I worked to stabilize the wing before committing to launch. During a swing to the right, the wing started a frontal starting left of center eventually dropping the wing to almost vertical. When the inflated side entered the propwash, the trike went “toes up”, very quickly.

Immediately after impact I attempted to stop the motor but the throttle cable had been mashed into the concrete by the lower part of the cage breaking the kill switch wires.

Then ….with the motor running, the trike began to spin while balanced on the prop hub. It completed almost two revolutions before the wing was drawn into the blades, stopping the motor.

Equipment:

Terry Lutke Falcon with 35 hp B&S Vanguard 4 stroke, weighing 248 pounds dry. All up weight, approximately 400 pounds.

MacPara Colorado XXL with approx 350 hours. This wing was well due for inspection and line tuning. I suspected that it was pretty far out of tune due to dragged ) into the sky soaking wet”, many many times the previous spring.

A-assist were not used. Trimmers were set to neutral.

The wing had always been dried and stored in an air conditioned room but the lines were routinely soaked after most flights. There was a tendency of the wing to hang back during inflation. It was very difficult to kite even in stronger air. When new, it had been a great wing easy to kite and fun to fly.

Conclusions

Incident was caused by a couple of pilot errors.

  1. Flying a wing that was out of trim.
  2. Not taking into consideration the increased taxi speed required for that wing.
  3. Not having an, easy to reach back up kill switch.
Second level of the Order of the Sacred Turtle achieved May 2008 prior to The Gathering at Monument Valley. Second level is achieved by continuing to fly the wing after going “toes up”.