Bad day at the glider club

invadertim

invadertim

In my experence, its always my fault.
There was a fatal accident at my glider club today.

Springboro 84-year-old dies after glider crashes near Caesar Creek State Park

I knew the guy, though not well; he was one of the group I thought of as “Our grumpy old Germans”. I’d chat with him from time to time, a bit reserved, but friendly enough. An older gentleman, he was 84, he was a very proficient pilot, flew very regularly. He was also one of our tow pilots, I know he’s towed me, I likely ran his wing once or twice for that matter. From what I’ve heard and the pictures I saw he released from tow very early, 15-20 seconds after rotation, nosed over and cartwheeled. He came to a stop maybe 2000 feet from where he started his takeoff roll.

I have no idea why he came off tow, if he pulled the release it must have been some sort of emergency. He still had enough runway to land and likely stop, if he had good controllability. It was a hot day, and he’d probably put his glider together within an hour or so of his takeoff attempt. For better or worse, most of these guys take pride in getting their ship out and putting it away solo. He wasn’t the type to not get a positive control check after assembly, but I don’t know if he got one today.

He was a nice guy, loved flying, and a better glider pilot than me. He’s the second person I knew who died flying, God willing he’s the last.

RIP
 
Don't know much about gliders but interesting you can take the wings on and off all the time. Does a mechanic have to inspect prior to flight? I barely trust myself to put the cowling back on my Cherokee without having it looked at.
 
DE727UPS said:
Don't know much about gliders but interesting you can take the wings on and off all the time. Does a mechanic have to inspect prior to flight? I barely trust myself to put the cowling back on my Cherokee without having it looked at.
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Most gliders are specifically exempted from the need for an AMT to inspect wing installation/removals, under normal circumstances. Really the only way to transport a glider long distance is by trailer, and this is how most are stored as well. Most reasonably modern single seat gliders with a trailer set up for that glider can be assembled single handed. It’s about 20 minutes of grunting, shoving, and muttering under your breath, but it can be done by a normally abled adult. The thing that requires two people is the positive control check, where one person holds the control surface immobile while the other tries to move the stick or handle. Control checks are a big deal, the SSA constantly pushes out reminders, most consider it a part of first flight of the day checks, and contests require you to get a sign off on your race form by the person helping you to do it.
 
invadertim said:
Most gliders are specifically exempted from the need for an AMT to inspect wing installation/removals, under normal circumstances. Really the only way to transport a glider long distance is by trailer, and this is how most are stored as well. Most reasonably modern single seat gliders with a trailer set up for that glider can be assembled single handed. It’s about 20 minutes of grunting, shoving, and muttering under your breath, but it can be done by a normally abled adult. The thing that requires two people is the positive control check, where one person holds the control surface immobile while the other tries to move the stick or handle. Control checks are a big deal, the SSA constantly pushes out reminders, most consider it a part of first flight of the day checks, and contests require you to get a sign off on your race form by the person helping you to do it.
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I guess the free and full control check is harder to see from the cockpit
 
ahw01 said:
I guess the free and full control check is harder to see from the cockpit
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It’s more that the control linkages are separated each time the glider comes apart. It’s very easy to partly assemble a control linkage in haste or incorrectly and have it move the surface properly when under no load, just to have it pop apart when there’s a load on it. They make significant use of ball joints for this, think of your cupped hand just on top of your fist, instead of fully around your fist.
 
Many years ago I knew a guy that had an ASW-20 , the elevator was unrecognized as not being correctly linked.
If I recall it could be missed in a single direction control check.

He got airborne, realized lack of control, presumably released intentionally, once tow influence on the aircraft was lost, it nosed over and that was the end.
 
invadertim said:
It’s more that the control linkages are separated each time the glider comes apart. It’s very easy to partly assemble a control linkage in haste or incorrectly and have it move the surface properly when under no load, just to have it pop apart when there’s a load on it. They make significant use of ball joints for this, think of your cupped hand just on top of your fist, instead of fully around your fist.
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This is a good explanation. The analogy for the powered airplane pilots on here would be to imagine on the first flight of the day, not only do you have to install the wings and horizontal stabilizer yourself, but you have to connect and rig all the flight controls as well! (All done by the owner, not a mechanic, and often single-handed.)

Modern gliders use automatic control connections for the flight control linkages, which like you explained are basically a metallic tapered cup on one side and a pushrod/roller on the other that engages inside it. They also make use of rigid push rods vs control cables which helps limit any rigging adjustment required. I wasn’t able to find any photos online but someone was nice enough to sketch how the mechanism works:
aviation.stackexchange.com

What is automatic control connections and how does it work?

The Rolladen-Schneider LS4B control connections are automatic. This feature, also called automatic control hookup seems to be common. The last time I assemble a glider was more than a decade ago, and
aviation.stackexchange.com aviation.stackexchange.com

I did my commercial glider training in a Schleicher ASK-21. The wing spars connect together behind the back seat in a lug and clevis configuration using two (5 inch diameter?) pins, which creates bending moment continuity across the wing. Each wing also has two bushings along the chord (fwd-aft) that connect to pins on the fuselage (or vice versa?) that react out the torsional load due to wing twist and the vertical shear from lift on the wings into the fuselage. While installing the wings you are trying to slot the main spar into a cutout in the side of the fuselage to slide into the clevis of the opposite wing spar, line those 2 pins and bushings up with the side of the fuselage AND engage the automatic aileron control linkage connections (the roller inside the cone) at the same time. While there’s still room for error if something doesn’t engage all the way, modern gliders have made this a far simpler process than it used to be.

Once everything is put back together the positive control check consists of having a friend stand by on the wing or tail, the pilot deflecting that control surface to its stop, having the friend hold the control surface firmly in place and then putting a reasonable amount of pressure against the stick in the opposite direction while the friend resists it from moving. This will confirm that control linkage is fully engaged and there is a reversible connection between the control surface back to the stick. If it was partially engaged, the positive control check would hopefully cause it to pop out and disconnect and you would catch the error before going flying.

Finally, I always felt good with the wing connections on the ASK-21. Preflight that the spar pins are fully engaged and give the wing tip a little wiggle to make sure the wing to fuselage pins are fully seated. But what always stayed in the back of my mind was the single castellated bolt that holds the horizontal stabilizer onto the tail, with a temporary safety pin (not even a cotter pin or safety wire!) that keeps that bolt from backing out. That was my version of the helicopter “Jesus bolt” that I gave extra attention to on preflights, and on one or two occasions after someone else had reassembled the glider I actually found the pin not engaged in the castellations because the bolt wasn’t tightened exactly right! While it was aerobatic capable, I never felt the need to do any aerobatics in that glider.

Back to the original topic, I’m really sorry for your loss. I hope your club is able to find some closure and more can be found out about what lead to the accident.
 
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Yeah, my club is pretty on board with K21's, we have two, with a third on order, should be there in October. I've helped take them apart/put them together a few times. Lots of attention to that Jesus nut is always given. That said we usually leave them assembled and park them in a hangar overnight.
 
DE727UPS said:
Don't know much about gliders but interesting you can take the wings on and off all the time. Does a mechanic have to inspect prior to flight? I barely trust myself to put the cowling back on my Cherokee without having it looked at.
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They take a lot of space to park, so are usually stored with the wings off. Or get trailered somewhere else to fly. And most importantly, there is always a chance that the last time a glider flew, it landed out in a field somewhere. Landing off-airport isn't an emergency for gliders. The wings come off and the go on a trailer some number of hours later. But there is always the chance the the control surfaces weren't hooked up correctly - so they get checked every day.

Something glider pilots know that no one else does - never talk to or disturb someone assembling a glider. They will ask you if they need help. But distracting them when they don't might cause them to be distracted and miss something.
 
Thanks for the context! I first started flying at CCSC (2007-2010) and as soon as I heard the news, I wanted a name. Took about a day for me to find that out. Didnt recognize the name but once I saw the photo it all clicked. Sad loss for the club. Wondering if it was a medical emergency too.
 
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