24 Seconds - My Shortest Flight So Far.

Yesterday I had a valuable experience, it lasted for just 24 seconds and it's not one that I'm keen to repeat. Here's how it ended:

Our K-21 glider nestled in some seriously thick weeds off the end of runway 24

And now, here's how it happened. I was flying as P2 from the front, with an instructor in the back seat.

The flight started like any other, with pre-flight checks which included an eventualities brief which, for a winch launch (which we only ever do at our club on 'ridge days') will be something like this:

1. On the ground roll, should a wing go down or I detect another problem, we will release immediately and come to a safe stop.
2. Should there be a problem in the air, we will release the cable, adopt the recovery attitude and regain a safe flying speed, upon which:
1. At low level, I will land ahead.
2. Should I determine my height sufficient to reach the local ridge safely, I will do so and attempt to climb away, at least to a height sufficient to perform a safe landing back on the home airfield.
3. Should the ridge prove not to be effective, I will turn away and look for an alternative airfield or a field landing in the vale below.

The altimeter is really of no concern to me during the launch - with my attention split between what the picture outside of the cockpit looks like, and the ASI to confirm what the feeling through the seat suggests is happening, and that my speed is where I want it to be.

On the flight immediately before the one pictured above, and with the same eventualities brief, I was given a gradual power loss on the winch at what I estimate to be around 300-400 feet. I had made the determination that turning onto the ridge was the correct call, and did so. We climbed in ridge lift, caught a couple of good thermals higher up and then executed a full circuit and a normal landing.

Let's go again.

This time, I was given a cable break scenario at what I figured to be about 100ft (without looking at the altimeter or having any flight logger active). This must have been in only around 5 or 6 seconds into the flight, if we were in the full climb, it could have been only just - but I'm not sure that we were.

Instinct kicked in and I immediately pushed the nose down to gain a safe flying speed, at the cost of some of what little height we had. Looking ahead, there was around half of the 480m runway ahead, perhaps a little more. In that split second, I had to make a decision as to whether I could make the end of the ridge to either turn onto it, or fly over it for a field landing below.

It was my determination in that moment that such a move was not guaranteed; and without the luxury of time, this left only the land ahead option - so I pulled out as much airbrake as there was, and I wished there was more. The aircraft responded with a steep descent, but we were still covering a lot of forward ground. Had I been doing a planned landing, I wouldn't have wanted to be flying at less than 60 knots in the conditions of the day, and so the same applied here.

The descent felt like it lasted minutes, not the few seconds that was the reality - and at no point did it look good from where I was sitting. We were going down fast, and that felt good. We were still moving forward, and that felt bad. At the end of the runway is a public footpath that is immediately followed by a 280m sheer drop.

I was committed. If I didn't think I could fly out of it before, then I definitely couldn't now - and indecision is a killer, so I stuck to my plan and continued to fly the aircraft. A slight left turn that must have been instinctive (I was all about the speed and controlling the descent) provided a few metres more in which to land.

After what seemed like an eternity, we touched down not far from the end of the runway - there was no fully held off landing here, I figured that the earlier I could get the wheel on the ground, the earlier I could apply the wheelbrake - although what use it would be at 60kts was yet to be understood.

The touchdown was probably one of my better ones. There were no bumps, bounces, or any other evidence to suggest anything too bad happened, although it all happened quickly from that point on.

We were down, but still moving fast and there was not much runway left. Ahead of us were thick weeds that were about as tall as the glider, and we smashed straight into them.  Now I think I understand what a field landing into fully mature crop might feel like. Not pleasant, but probably not as bad as I would have imagined - so at least if I should ever find myself in that situation, I will have a point of reference.

We continued out of the back of the first weed patch onto some short grass, actually, it was the runway numbers which were mown into the undergrowth.  We crossed them and entered the weeds again at the back.

Finally, we came to a stop, about 10-20 metres at most from the path that runs along the cliff top. P1 and I breathed a sigh of relief, unclipped and exited post haste without so much as a scratch, and not too many minutes later the buggy came racing over with support. Smartphones came out, pictures were taken and we turned the glider around and towed it from the undergrowth.

On inspection, the glider was also found to be no worse for wear and I was relieved to hear it - I would have hated to have damaged not only a club aircraft, but the one I did my first solo in, seven months previously.

In true British tradition, what followed was a cup of tea and some contemplation. These were my conclusions:

1. I thought we were lucky not to damage the glider. A cable break at that height with plenty of space to land ahead would be enough to handle, but at Sutton Bank, it felt very marginal for a training exercise. I thought we too low to fly out but we were obviously too high to be sure of a safe landing. That said, it could happen for real, so in retrospect and with no harm done, I'm glad of the experience.
2. I was completely calm. I immediately recognised that I was in a bad situation, but I made my decision, took an action, and landed the aircraft in a way that resulted in neither damage or injury. I impressed myself there, and answered one of those "What would you do if..." questions that you never usually get to test.
3. I need to put some additional tools in my box; more practice with sideslip to hasten the descent perhaps? Or more handling practice at low altitudes along the ridge to provide confidence that it's a viable option.

It transpires that the course of action the instructor had intended was a low turn onto the ridge to the right of our airfield, but a steep turn into unstable air that could be rising or sinking (or both) at 100ft with a 25ft wing? Thanks, but I'll pass. I'll stick to the BGA advice of landing ahead if possible. It occurs to me however that from our site, it's very marginal - so would I do the same again? Probably - although maybe a shallow turn and a field landing below would be up there on my list of considerations next time as well.

What would you do?