Tagged: ajx, approach patterns, kiting, safety
- This topic has 1 reply, 2 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 5 months ago by David Webb.
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May 29, 2020 at 6:22 PM #8758
I previously highlighted the video showing 12-16 kiting paragliders obstructing the upwind half of the landing field. Today, when I was coming in to land there were 6 kiting gliders spread over the field including 2 pilots STANDING AT THE 2 LANDING ZONE CONES WHILE KITING oblivious to the fact I was landing.
My wife alerted Tim, who had just showed up, and according to my wife he ran out to tell the two pilots to move and apparently was ignored by the two kiting pilots since they did not move.
By the time I landed the paragliders were on the ground, thankfully, but the pilots had not moved and were still standing at the cones.
This is not a safe situation. If my wife had not alerted Tim all indications were they would have been facing upwind kiting while I touched down. While most HG pilots land near the edge of the grass, there is always the possibility of lift while coming in and landing longer than planned.
There should never be kiting gliders in the landing zone. I spent over 10 minutes circling down over AJX, plenty of time to see me and clear the field. The paraglider instructors need to come up with a solution to ensure that their students are not obstructing the landing zone.
June 1, 2020 at 9:43 AM #8812David WebbGeneral MemberWe’re going to start putting together a poster for the LZ to make kiting procedures more clear (since it looks like a lot of pilots aren’t reading any of the site briefings – unfortunately, not much we can do about that), in addition to the diagram of both PG and HG approach patterns. Key points (needs editing to be more concise, but this is the gist):
- If there are pilots in the air in the general vicinity, stay southwest of the PG cone (or cones, if we add more)
- If pilots are making their downwind, base, or final approach, or otherwise getting low over AJX, ground all wings
- If you’re a spectator and see wings up and a pilot on approach, let the kiting people know (shout, ring the bell, make some noise, etc)
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