By Paul Barber

I have recently received two incident reports which I would like to share with you. The following extracts have been reprinted with the pilot’s permission.

Incident 1

“Departed Benalla 12.55pm, on route to Mt Buffalo, uneventful flight good thermals up to 10 knots to approx. 7500ft indicated. Upon arriving at Mt Buffalo spent approx 30 minutes at the top of Buffalo, moved around to the side of the mountain. Lost some height, approx 1000ft below the top. Moved out from the face, found small thermal 1 knot, had to work hard to gain back height, after 15 minutes started to feel sick, then 2-3 minutes later was very violently sick, made clear decision to land ASAP, found it hard to focus and concentrate. Picked closet best looking paddock, viewed it a number of times from various angles. Did normal circuit, landed safely in the middle of the paddock."

Personal conclusion

"The only thing I can see that would have been different from my normal pre-flight routine is that my partner is always constantly getting me to take in plenty of fluids pre-flight. However on this occasion my partner did not accompany me to Benalla this day, consequently I do feel that I may have not been as typically hydrated as normal. My hydration during the flight was as normal. I have never in over 10 years of flying from here in Benalla had a problem with hydration before, but when I rule out all other likely possibilities, dehydration does seem to be the obvious choice.”

Incident 2

“All circumstances OK for a normal landing with pre-landing checks done after a 4 hour 50 min flight. During the final descent I thought I had not put the wheel down and I looked at the position of the undercarriage lever to confirm. I did this too low to the ground and for too long, only narrowly managing to bring the nose up just prior to impacting the ground. After the bounce a normal landing was executed.

Under normal circumstances I would have continued regardless due to the close proximity to the ground, but on this occasion I felt slightly foggy and unable to determine the position of the undercarriage lever clearly. The foggy feeling I experienced may have been due to me being dehydrated after flying at heights of 4000’ to 9000’ for over 4 hours and without taking in sufficient water. This was supported by the less than normal volume of water consumed and the lack of the need to urinate during the flight.”

My comments regarding the above reports is that dehydration was a major factor in these incidents. It is vitally important that fluids are taken prior to and during the flight.

I recommend that all members read the following: http://www.glidingclub.org.au/flying/health/to_pee.xhtm

Search and Rescue (SAR)

The pilot who flew to Mt.Buffalo did not enter into the SAR book his intentions, if an accident had occurred during his outlanding, where do we start looking?

I have spoken to the pilot regarding this breach in safety procedures.

It has been brought to my attention that some pilots complete their SAR intentions on a piece of paper, which ends up floating around the pie cart. This practice is unacceptable, I do realise that on occasions the SAR book does not make it to the pie cart, however, if you cannot locate the SAR book, ask the duty instructor for its location, but DO NOT launch X/C without your task being recorded into the SAR book

Airspace infringement

The Gliding Club of Victoria (and other surrounding clubs) have been advised of a recent alleged Class C Airspace infringement by a glider near Culcairn in late December. The infringement has not been confirmed at this stage and to be honest it may not be possible to confirm or refute the claim.

Without knowledge of the identity (registration) of the glider or where this particular glider may have originated from, the GFA are writing to those clubs who they consider to be likely candidates and ask our assistance to ensure that all pilots operating within our club are fully aware of their responsibilities in respect of airspace restrictions and operational requirements and ensure that all pilots have adequate information available to them to ensure compliance.

Perusal of the OLC indicates that Benalla gliders (which carried a logger) did not infringe the Airspace near the Culcairn region on this particular day.

I am aware that many of our new cross country pilots do favour the region to the north-east of Benalla in obtaining their badge flights. It is important that you are fully aware of the Airspace Restrictions in this region and especially to the mountains to the east of Benalla. If you are unsure of these restrictions, please ask at the morning briefing.

Regards and safe flying.