bholleran Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 (edited) Mark, Ricky and I went to Newhaven cliffs today with th intention of soaring to Beach Head and back. We all had a good day. But mine was a bit more eventful, I thought I would share my bad decision making here so that other may benefit from it. (And a giggle as well) I had my camera on at the time so here goes. [youtubevideo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J31etDrjo5w[/youtubevideo] I could not get it restarted, because the harness was not adjusted correctly and I could not get the power / angle needed. Which was sorted once I got back to take off. I had to walk back to the previous beach to take off again, which if I am honest nearly killed me. I was exhausted as I had to be careful on every step as everthing was super slippy. All in all a good day, nothing broken, but lesson learnt. I should have just concentrated on the flying and I would have been fine. And make sure my preflights include harness adjustment in future. Sorry to Morgy and Rick for killing the Beach Head run. Edited December 13, 2012 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_k Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Barry what are you doing, I was just about to look at that. Had to wait while poxy Microcrap went through its updates, then I found it was removed Cheers, Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bholleran Posted December 13, 2012 Author Share Posted December 13, 2012 Sorry about that, I uploaded the video at about 12:30 last night and this morning it was still not working. So I thought youtube was not working properly so I deleted it. I am uploading it again now. Just building the suspense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgy Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Come on Barry!!! up load faster!!! If you only had another 50ft it woud have been fine as the lift was great just around the corner... I know we have spoken. So this is for other's You were very close up my arse... This is fine on a big very open ridge but as we were approaching a low technical section Separation is a must. As you know i had to turn forcing you to make a split decision. Turning with motor off on a non or limited lift section is not a good idea... As you know from your Gliding days "always turn in lift" Approaching a low section without motor is risky especially very close to another pilot. If i had restarted mid section you could have had my prop wash and this could have caused a collapse. Plan ahead if you can see a low section or a section that is sticking out and could be in rotor Start way before you get there. Make sure when you try to start your Motor you fly with your pull start hand towards the hill/cliff so you can always turn out away from the ridge.(never the other way around) I am very happy with re-starting my motor on the ridge even on approach to landing . Practise the Re-start when you have enough height or when you have time to plan your landing if you can not get it fired back up. I am glad everything was ok and the emergency landing was text book.... Shame about the walk.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bholleran Posted December 13, 2012 Author Share Posted December 13, 2012 Video now corrected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richwill15 Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 mate, firstly so glad it all eventually sorted itself. looking at the landing all i could think was holy shit i have to find somewhere flatter... you were so lucky. Thanks for sharing the vid, it's never easy to admit when you've made a mistake for fear of looking like an idiot. Truth is We all get ourselves into messes occassionally (they're never planned). The fact you shared the experience is really appreciated. I really am glad you're ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bholleran Posted December 13, 2012 Author Share Posted December 13, 2012 Come on Barry!!! up load faster!!!If you only had another 50ft it woud have been fine as the lift was great just around the corner... I know we have spoken. So this is for other's You were very close up my arse... This is fine on a big very open ridge but as we were approaching a low technical section Separation is a must. As you know i had to turn forcing you to make a split decision. Turning with motor off on a non or limited lift section is not a good idea... As you know from your Gliding days "always turn in lift" Approaching a low section without motor is risky especially very close to another pilot. If i had restarted mid section you could have had my prop wash and this could have caused a collapse. Plan ahead if you can see a low section or a section that is sticking out and could be in rotor Start way before you get there. Make sure when you try to start your Motor you fly with your pull start hand towards the hill/cliff so you can always turn out away from the ridge.(never the other way around) I am very happy with re-starting my motor on the ridge even on approach to landing . Practise the Re-start when you have enough height or when you have time to plan your landing if you can not get it fired back up. I am glad everything was ok and the emergency landing was text book.... Shame about the walk.. Not sure I entirly agree Mark, when you look at the video I was a decent distance away from you when I first tried to start the engine, but I was slowly catching you up. And I thought I had allowed both enough height and time to restart before the crossing. But as I could not restart and was getting lower and closer to you the presure increased I made some silly mistakes. I think what I should have done was at the point where the engine did not start I was in very good lift with good height, I should have turned and went back along the tall face. And tried to restart if it had still failed, I would have then realised and could have worked the lift more to make sure I had enough height to cross, and I would have kept the seperation between us allowing me to continue without the presure. Or after the crossing rather than going round the corner I could have soared above the beach to gain more height before going round the corner. Or realised the inevatable and landed on the beach and took off again (As I ended up having to walk back to it anyway) In some ways I put too much trust in the motor, if I was paragliding I would not have attempted to cross at that height. If you look at the height of the paraglider pilot was behind us, I think it would have been more appropriate. But because I had the motor I sort of felt it is ok as I can restart any time I like (If only things were that simple) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgy Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Hi Barry Having watched the video and seeing you try to restart it before you were on top of me so to speak i stand corrected... But you did allow your self to catch up. This also forced me closer to the jutting out section and also stopping me from firing up when i would have liked to. Also as you say in your post.. I would have carried on back to your last left section on the higher cliff's. If you could not make it you had two landing option's two fair size beaches... I always Have a get out plan... Landing spot, Last good source of lift. If there is no landing spot make sure your motor is fired up before attempting the crossing. If your not 100% with the start up do it before you need it... My motor did not always fire first time... a cold engine is always harder to start than a warn one!! The longer you ridge soar for in these cold conditions the more time you have to give yourself to get it fired back up... This little flight/mishap is Great Practise for the Isle of wight..... At some points on the cliffs down there they are 50ft max Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Thanks for sharing that Barry. Glad to hear you came through unscathed. The temporay embarassment of admitting a mistake is far outweighed by the benefit the rest of us can gain from your experience. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarrenM488 Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Thanks for sharing this. Good lesson, and something I will consider myself once I get my own setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgy Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Hi Darren Are you a local pilot?? If you do not have any PG experience it would be advisable to get some ridge soaring training with your local Pg school after you have finished your PPG training. Good luck with training ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarrenM488 Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 I'm in Wolverhampton, but will be looking to travel for 'flying weekends' through 2013.... Or at least that's the plan! So many places I want to explore from the air, and I've promised myself it's going to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dede2008 Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Just out of curiosity, you two guys have the same wing, maybe a different size/trim setting/load in the occasion? I felt bholleran was catching up quite fast on you Morgy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgy Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 I was on full slow and min sinking as the lift was not that great... I think Barry was on take off trim but not 100% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bholleran Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 I had been playing around before and was trying to catch them up, and I ws just over take off trim. Which I forgot all about as I was trying to start the engine. If I had went to full slow I would have had more lift and perhaps not had to land. Another lesson there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robindeakin Posted December 25, 2012 Share Posted December 25, 2012 just seen this!, this is really safe place to fly ,as you know being a experienced pilot, good to see you landed safely, remember though seaford bay gets busy with the public, be careful with low flyng particularly when the better weather arrives, all the best robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robindeakin Posted December 25, 2012 Share Posted December 25, 2012 P.S see what you mean you are soaring/ gliding faster than the free flyer because of extra weight of paramotor/small wing, this close proximity flying is a regular occurrence and would'nt faze any free flyer at all ,robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgy Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 The guy he was catching up was me also on a Paramotor. There were a few PG pilot's at new haven but only one on the route to The Marina... We gave them a wide birth or passed them with motors off. flying on a ridge near the public is allowed even with the motor on as long as your not using it for lift. So the 500ft rule does not apply. Nothing unsafe about flying where we were... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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