Having done what the pilot of ZDM did in a busy environment I changed my procedures when dealing with radio volume. If I turn down the volume on a radio for _ANY_ reason, one of two things will happen. I either leave my fingers on the knob until it is turned back to a normal level, _OR_ I turn the power off completely as a visual reminder that the volume is off. I will never again be caught transmitting into the darkness, stomping all over everyone else, and not understanding why everyone else has stopped talking.
Wow, that was too close for comfort! 😯 Well done to the 2 glider pilots that did an excellent job of avoiding the Cessna. 👍 A head on collision at low altitude could have been a huge disaster.
$hit happens unfortunately. I’m a GA pilot, fly paragliders and skydive. Skydiving, the jumpmaster gave radio calls on two channels (because of altitude) and uhf (used by local gliders) then gave me the thumbs up to go. Out at 10,000 ft at 8500 I noticed a glider turn towards me (vertical airspace) so I tracked the opposite direction to the turn and passed the glider close enough to see the pilots mouth open. The reason I did not deploy is that I’m a much bigger target under canopy. Apparently that radio was turned down to.
🇬🇧Very hard to see when “head on” with another aircraft, happened to me once on base leg, I was flying a glider, thought something was on the front of the canopy for a second, the other guy saw nothing 😮🇬🇧
I had a glider with bad radio nearly land on top of me at our airfield. There was a tow plane sitting at the main taxiway watching me. I radioed that I was taking the runway and taxied out, started to line up, and the tow pilot suddenly says there's a glider landing above me. I did check the final approach before I went out, but he must have been on base and just behind my tail, so I didn't see him. Had to rapidly spin around and taxi back off the runway. Glad I didn't start rolling out, otherwise he might have landed right on my rooftop.
good that you made a report about this, it should be in the aviation culture to prevent accidents for important radio calls, when no one answers, I do this: 1. RX squech off (will hear weak signals better, verifies volume and headphone plugin with static noise) 2. TX indicator check during re-transmit (verifies push-button integrity) 3. radio check on another suitable frequency (previous frequency, standby frequency, this puts focus more on appropriate frequency selection) I also treat calm winds / pure crosswinds as a significant risk factor, because many motor aircraft pilots will set up to their shortest landing direction from whereever they come in from, and an opposing pattern or runway selection in uncontrolled airfields can easily develop, with potentially disastrous consequences...
There was an situation at Timaru two weeks ago about with an Indian student flying from down Dunedin way who was doing circuits at Timaru and caused a ANZ Q300 to go around, because they were oblivious to the arriving traffic opposite direction. There is a general rule that light GA gives away to commercial but in this case the student seems to not have consideration of the Q300 on finals within the MBZ like locals do. This caused a go around, potential conflict and an instrument hold and further approach. This is happening more often these days with these training flights. Like gliders with limited options on final and no option to go around, the Q300 is on an instrument procedure and does not cancel IFR so the options on missed approach are limited to those published procedures which can take them into conflict with a VFR aircraft in the opposite direction and oblivious to inbound IFR arrivals. It is something that these flight academy’s need to install in the training regime, the presence of mind at uncontrolled airfields. We talked to the local CFI to go talk to the student when he landed to enlighten them about the situation they were in and the issues they caused. Maybe they had no clue.
ANZ always approaches straight in at timaru even when its busy so they can save on fuel and expects everybody else to get out of their way . I wouldnt be so quick to blame the indian student pilot ANZ should be joining overhead when its busy not just barreling in with not even any regard for which runway other pilots are using.
If I remember correctly the rules of the air state that the first aircraft able to use the airspace has priority. And since the advent of straight in approaches; the aircraft complying with normal circuit procedures has priority over an aircraft doing a straight in approach. Of course nothing prevents a bit of CDF taking place to keep things safe. 👍
really dangerous! in our airfield, any incoming traffic asks if anyone is in circuit/what is the runway in use. Also the AIP prohibits direct approaches except for agricultural aircraft. (gliders of course can do direct final in a case of emergency)
@@jme104 In Switzerland, at the northern side of the Alps, unfortunately the Thermal season ends by end of August. We may have some Föhn days in September/October
Seems a bit pointless to have a mandatory "broadcast" zone if you have no way of knowing if your radio has suddenly failed. In the UK we have Aerodrome Traffic Zones outside controlled airspace without ATC which require you to "obtain information to enable the flight to be conducted safely". But I guess the same problem applies: If you want an ATZ then you have to have the radio manned continuously during the hours of operation, which most gliding clubs can't do.
In the US, regardless of announcing your intentions at an uncontrolled airport, you still have to look for traffic. Some aircraft have no radio, and some aircraft have no electronics (other than a magneto or two). I’ve did all my calls around the pattern and was passed below me on final from some yahoo who never was on the radio. Didn’t have his landing light on either. I never saw him on downwind or base. This was partially my fault and from then on made a more concerted effort to spot aircraft above and below the horizon.
@@Paiadakine oh, yes of course... I cut that out of my comment because it was already too long. Pilots always have responsibility to see and avoid when VFR, even in controlled airspace! Radio, ATC, FLARM etc are no substitute for lookout.
Yeah it was very light winds from the North which is across the runway to some extent. Enough to ensure winching in the 28 direction, but not too much to land either direction.
Here there is allways a guy in charge (commandant d'aérodrome)and he decides with local pilots wich way you're going to land and take-off. There is a big T on the ground that indicates the direction of landing and take-off .
As you mentioned, the gliders were downwind, base and final, so they had the wind from forward during landing. Why did the Cessna pilot perform touch-and-go with tailwind? As I learned, each low-pass, touch-and-go or everything comparable shall be carried out in the way of landing runway. So he should have made the complete pattern to be in line with all other planes and not against all others. Or am I wrong in this point?
@pure glide Couple of questions! How come the runway designators don’t indicate the direction of the runway relative to north like we have here in the uk? Also was there no wind on that day, how come aircraft were landing in opposite directions, everyone usually lands into wind?
Don't know how things are in NZ but in the US, straight approaches at uncontrolled fields are frowned upon (and should be illegal). It's a maneuver that is strictly reserved for excessively complacent and thick-headed pilots.
Nice no blame, factual commentary on a near miss that could have been catastrophic for the aircraft involved. Mixing different airs-ace users is always difficult. The powered aircraft also being on a training flight outlines just how risky training can be, for all involved. I don’t think any of these pilots are poor aviators. Simply task saturation or a heavy ongoing workload (busy flying school) can easily lead to a simple mistake like this. Remember a lot of these instructors are training foreign pilots, on a very busy, often inflexible schedule. Mistakes happen. Thankfully the gliding students were well trained and knew what to do in this situation. The marvels of GPS and its accuracy make these kinds of mid-airs even more likely because of the absolute accuracy of navigation information.
I use airports as waypoints but over 2000 AGL. In my country it’s illegal to overfly an airport at a lower altitude unless you are conforming to or avoiding the pattern.
Thanks for sharing. One question: seems to be an uncontrolled airfield with only an Unicom frequency, is that correct? In NZ you are legally allowed to do straight in approaches on those airfields like the Cessna did?
Don't know about NZ but in the UK the law (SERA 3225) requires you to "conform with or avoid the circuit traffic" at an aerodrome and land and take off into wind, as well as the general rule not to act recklessly. So yes you could do a straight-in approach if you had some way of knowing that it was safe (like establishing two-way comms, or knowing that ops had finished for the day). I think that this manoeuvre would be technically illegal but unlikely to be prosecuted.
Yes you can join a circuit in many ways, joining direct final or base leg is completely legal, but generally not recommended. A proper circuit is useful for many reasons.
@@BruceDuncan This is also the case in Australia. It is an absolutely strict liability offence and can be prosecuted if it results in reckless action or an incident or accident. Also, it is a rule that powered aircraft MUST give way to gliders in the circuit. I am very surprised by the nonchalant response from the flight school. If this was in Australia, the instructor for that student may well loose their licence, and the student certainly would need intervention and training by another instructor.
@@PureGlide Even so, highlights the risk of a straight in long final rather than an overfly and circuit join. If I expect parachting or glider ops at a field, I just avoid.
you can remind yourself by looking it up among your rules. In my country, the rules say: ENR 1.2 VISUAL FLIGHT RULES 1. General rules, Table 1: Conditions of visibility and distance from clouds Altitude band: At and below 3 000 FT (900 M) AMSL, or 1 000 FT (300 M) above terrain, whichever is the higher Airspace class: C, D [...] Distance from cloud:1 500 M horizontally 1 000 FT (300 M) vertically Airspace class: G [...] *Clear of cloud and with the surface in sight* Interestingly, a few people, ranging from armchair experts to experienced airline pilots, often forget this table when seeing a video or picture with an aircraft right next to a cloud 😉
@rnzoli That’s because cloud distance rules are archaic McNamara Fallacy rules that are impossible to memorize except for the purposes of passing a test, impossible to apply given the fact that we can’t measure cloud distance to the foot, and depending on the situation might not even be sufficient to fly safely. The same old school mentality that had us doing times tables by rote memorization and important dates without an explanation of how or why.
Pure Glide's analyses are really useful... Stuff happens and I can imagine that it could be disorientating to fly in that airspace, maybe low on experience and with a high workload. This is an inflammatory and divisive no-thought comment. Maybe delete it??? I fly both and I can see it from both sides. I (in a low-wing Commander aircraft) came out of cloud on a procedural approach (no radar) to find a glider landing on the grass parallel and to the left of the runway. I heard no radio calls. End of the day, no lift, reducing vis, and with crops high in the fields, the airfield was his best option. And I'm far from perfect too.
I think that's a bit of a rough statement, because in this case the weather and the human error was conducive to hitting any kind of aircraft, such as other other single-engine airplanes or microlights, too
Gliders head on are INVISIBLE!! At my field a few years ago two gliders collided after sharing the same thermal. You think they didn’t care? The root cause of the problem was their feeling of invincibility. They had no FLARMs, poor radio communication, and complete disregard for procedures. I nearly smacked into one in my Cessna crossing overhead after his last report was “on the east ridge in 8 knots lift”. The instructor said that they couldn’t fly a proper pattern because they were gliders. He shut up after I offered to demonstrate to him how to do it in my 172 with the engine shut off.
Matamata airfield is not just a glider port, it is open for all aviation. On site we have gliders, two aero clubs, and many private gyrocopter and light aircraft pilots.
What do you mean scud running? Fly near clouds is legal in NZ if near terrain. And flying low is legal on an airfield... here are the rules explained in NZ ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Kpwrdyvjy3M.html
