Any details on the Uvalde mid-air / bailout?

Be curious to know what the damage was prior to bailout, etc... and
situation surrounding the contact. Thermaling? Cruising?

On Aug 12, 7:24 pm, Andy <a.dur...@netzero.net> wrote:
> We don't have many contest mid-airs. The last one I heard of was also
> at Uvalde, also in a thermal, but that resulted in much less damage
> and both pilots got home ok.

We do have lots of contest mid-airs. I've been at several contests
where there was a mid-air, including a fatal in Bayreuth at the pre-
worlds.
I lost a friend to a mid-air in Oz. John Good bailed out after a mid-
air
in Chester. Several midairs at contests I attended resulted in only
minor damage.

Be careful out there,
Best Regards, Dave "YO"

On Aug 12, 8:03 pm, bobdel...@windstream.net wrote:
> > Any report on damage to the Ventus? I would imagine it must have
> > received substantial damage too.
>
> 7U successfully returned to the Uvalde airport. I haven't heard any
> exact reports about that part of the accident. I do know that the
> Ventus' left winglet was gone.

It is not a good idea to make statements that you have not verified.
Right now it is not great to speculate until more details are
available.

And even though you "know the winglet was gone" I saw it on the glider
when I landed after the contest day. I examined it from about 6
inches so I can tell you it was there. So let's leave the speculation
and hearsay out of the discussion unless you have specific facts or
better yet a copy of both igc files and the final FAA report.

Tim (TT)

We don't have many contest mid-airs.  The last one I heard of was
also
> at Uvalde, also in a thermal, but that resulted in much less damage
> and both pilots got home ok.

I would tend to agree that we don't have too many mid-air collisions
in competition, one about every 4 years in my experience; Minden (2),
Ephratea (2), Tulare, Cal City, Uvalde (2). Lots of ships and good
soaring conditions are some factors that make mid-airs more likely to
occur. When entering a thermal, I slow up outside the circle then
merge in the side. Pulling up in the thermal has been the culprit in
about half the above mishaps and sadly, 3 pilots are no longer with
us!
JJ

On Aug 12, 5:51 pm, "Fred Blair" <passp...@thetravelintexans.com>
wrote:
> For the day, RG1 shows 'no flight log',

I had assumed the accident happened on day 3 since the official
results for that day show that both pilots withdrew from the contest.
Obviously that can't be correct if both pilots flew and collided the
next day.

Thanks for the clarification.

Andy

On Aug 15, 6:54 am, "user" <a...@b.com> wrote:
The offending tow pilot,
> it turns out, was wholly unqualified for the job at hand, flying an
> underpowered tow plane, and towed several ships at critically low airspeeds.
> He wasn't even aware that gliders could carry water ballast.


What YEAR at Uvalde are you referring to when this incident happened?

I suspect we're talking about two different situations. The Uvalde
example I used involved a mechanical issue. The tow pilot was highly
experienced and qualified and also a very respected competition pilot
who has flown some of the most sophisticated sailplanes in the
world...with and without water ballast. :) And it was a one-time
incident, not something that recurred all day.

I agree there is a danger that the FAA and others, including
journalists, could get the wrong impression from reading RAS. Most of
us are knowledgeable and know not to believe everything we read on
this forum. Many of us also know some of the posters personally and
can read between the lines, so to speak. And we probably all have our
lists of "must read" and "ignore" authors. Not all of the above is
necessarily true for the FAA, journalists, and other "outsiders" who
may draw the wrong impression from speculative or downright
misinformed comments, or from opinions packaged as facts.

Just be careful what you say. This is an open frequency, not a members-
only club (to mix metaphors).

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"
USA