Hectic Landing in Strong Wind
I had been having a great flight flying at the edge of a convergence line towards Gayndah, home of Gay Dan. About 25km from there the convergence line and the associated clouds veered off to the right. I could’ve gone along that convergence line and enjoyed more easy flying but I was fixated on reaching Gayndah so I could score another Grand Womple connection. So I left the convergence and headed left towards Gayndah. There were a few small clouds in that direction but they didn’t look good and I was soon quite low.
I saw a small cloud form above a hill ahead and aimed for it. As I neared the hill the cloud disappeared and I suddenly realised how fast I was travelling over the ground. My trim speed a few minutes ago flying downwind was about 60km/hr but for some reason it didn’t register. The forecast was for fairly strong easterlies down low and medium strength up high in the afternoon.
The flight so far had been perfect. Good unstable air, surface wind kicking off thermals from every small hill and some incredible clouds along the edge of the convergence line. Turning left I’d picked a line that would take me straight to Gayndah about 15km away. Just like it had the last time I flew the same line. So far, everything had been working so well that I didn’t give much thought to what would happen if I had to land in the hills.
The clouds above should’ve given me a hint. Instead of the nice solid ones earlier, these were shredded and weren’t lasting long before disappearing. But I could see Gayndah just over the hills. Surely I’d get a climb and sail right into town.
It didn’t happen. Instead I was racing towards a small hill with violently shaking trees. There’s the usual fluttering of leaves in wind but today entire branches were bending back. I quickly turned back into the wind and found myself still moving. Backwards. At 20km/hr. The wing was snapping and jerking in the gusty wind. I quickly pushed the first step of speedbar but it didn’t seem to make much difference. Being so low I hesitated pushing full bar fearing a collapse in the gusty wind but the alternative was getting blown back into the trees behind.
I pushed the second step on the bar and it seemed to smooth out the jerkiness of the wing and I started moving forward. Looking over my shoulder I realised I’d put myself right in a compression zone in front of the mouth of a bowl where wind is strongest. Sliding sideways to the right I started feeling more lift from the hill behind. It was a tricky situation; go right and get lifted higher where the wind is even stronger or go left towards the compression with stronger wind but less lift. I knew I definitely didn’t want to go over the back of the hill where rotor lives. In this wind it would be snarling.
So I slid back left. Looking at my track I can see that I was moving forward but it didn’t feel like that at the time. I felt like I was parked, the vario indicating intermittent lift with every gust. My wing’s speed on full bar is about 50km/hr so the wind must’ve been gusting above that.
I started wondering whether it is better to go into a tree backwards or whether the chance of the wing snagging branches is better going forward. Suddenly the radio crackled with Andy telling me he was watching me. Funny how just hearing a friendly voice can be a relief at a time like this. Soon the wind dropped a bit and my forward speed improved.
I was still quite high on a slope and I didn’t want to be there when the next strong gust arrived. So I stayed on full bar cringing at the hills and the treeline ahead which could send nasty rotor my way. Thankfully the wing held together (thank you Allegro!) and I touched down safely, full bar all the way to the ground. Legs trembling from adrenaline I was very relieved at having dodged a bullet. Pure luck.
There are some obvious lessons but still worth repeating:
- Fly the conditions not your desire. I was so fixated on reaching Gayndah that I gave up a much nicer and safer line north.
- Start assessing surface wind early enough that you can choose a safe spot to land. I was so focused on finding lift that I didn’t switch to landing mode till it was too late. I had glanced at a pond nearby and didn’t see any ripples on it. Maybe it was in a lee of a hill. But if I was really paying attention there were plenty of signs including my trim speed of more than 60km/hr.
- Pay more attention to the topography on landing. I think I’d seen the cloud above the spot where I ended up and somehow I missed that it was in a compression zone.
- Checking forecasts is not just for finding a good launch window somewhere. Also remember what conditions will be like later in the day. I had done that but just dismissed it with an “I’ll deal with it when the time comes” attitude probably because the forecast for the launch window had been way overstated.
- If you’re landing in an unfamiliar area and uncertain about wind, pull up Windy.com before landing. You can see wind obs from nearby weather stations.
- Turn on the GoPro even if you think the battery is dead. Bloody GoPro had made some funny noises half an hour earlier indicating the battery was dead. I wasn’t surprised because I had shot a lot of footage of eagles and clouds. Just before landing when I could see that the worst injury would probably be a rolled ankle I gained enough of the brain bandwidth back to remember to hit the record button, just in case. Turns out there was plenty of battery and storage available. Could’ve recorded the entire thing complete with some colourful language.
- Killing the wing in strong wind — I like pulling the B’s. Folds the wing backwards in half and deflates it, taking all the power out of it. But you need to drop the brakes first otherwise the bottom of the wing will still be pulled towards you and you’ll be fighting half the wing. Works great on my Allegro. Might be different on different line setups. Worth practicing.
