Con grats Shane...who all flew?...what a glsas off? Everyone in the LZ with cold ones? inquiring minds want to know...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSqr35HZ5Bc

We got out to the Stones very early, around 9 AM with the idea of getting the new pilots flights before the predicted strong southwest winds arrived.

Raphael and Debbie were already at launch when Eric Smith, Eric Tucker, Rick Venglecik and I got there. They set up, and I walked down to the bailout LZ to act as a spotter for Rick and Raphael.

Rick was first off in a Falcon at around 10:15. It was blowing perhaps 10-12 with some gustiness. He had a good launch, but seemed to be having trouble staying on the planned, straight-out flight path. After a bit it seemed like he started flying slower, and it became clear he wasn't going to make the bailout LZ.

The area in which Rick came down had a couple of small (6') trees in the flight path. He moved over to his left to clear them but veered off too far and caught a century plant stalk at the edge of a shallow arroyoz. It caught him about 1/3 up the left leading edge. The glider immediately spun around the stalk and nosed in. Rick came down from maybe 6' up, breaking his left arm. We got his arm stablized and Debbie took him to TMC emergency room

Shane got launched while we were getting Rick over to his truck, and got up to over 8000. We couldn't talk to him, he left his radio on launch, but when it started getting stronger he flew out to the LZ and landed uneventfully.

Eric Tucker and I decided not to fly because conditions were building rapidly and by the time we were ready to go (around noon) base winds were around 15 but it was frequently gusting to over 25. Eric Smith did get a U2 flight - it took three wiremen to get the glider turned around and he reported the LZ was very active.

We saw Rick at TMC around 7 PM after xrays, and it was thought to be a simple fracture about 5" above the left elbow. I found out later that it turned out to be a little more complicated than that and they were planning on stabilizing it surgically with a plate and screws. I haven't spoken to him since then.

John

Congratulations Shane. It appears you are combining excellent skills with good decision making. Deciding to land before things get too strong, even when you're having a great time in the sky isn't always an easy decision, and you are to be commended.

Consider your radio like a piece of safety equipment- like your helmet. It can be quite advantageous to communicate with other pilots in the sky as we often warn each other of changing conditions or air traffic.

Darn Rick. So sorry to hear of your mishap. The Whetstones, like many of our sites in SoAZ, isn't the most forgiving. Of course, I snapped my humerus like a piece of dried spaghetti in the perfectly good Miller LZ. Recover well.

Thanks for the advice morey. It was a stupid mistake leaving my radio. just with all the excitment of ricks crash i forgot it. I guess i need to add the radio into my preflight and hang check.

Great job Shane!
This is Shanes second soaring flight at the Stones. We had discussed the probability of conditions building. So Shane was fully aware of his time limit. This flight was done on his new wing the Eagle.

I have submitted and accident report to the USHGA for Sat.
Rick`s accident comes after 11 months of work with him. I am still trying to digest it all.
After Rick`s crash, I grabbed Rafeal`s glider and flew it down to land next to Rick and splint his arm. With John`s assistance we got Rick to the Truck. I folded the two gliders. Rafeals and John helped me pack them out to the truck.
Then climbed to launch to help Eric T. He decided not to fly. My glider was on launch so I elected to fly it down. I ended up soaring around for a short time, 45 minutes to check out some of the adjustments I have made.
John and Rafeal and Shane spent this time clearing more of the bail out LZ.

Thanks guys for your help on Sat.


Eric