Rocky Mountain Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association



Upcoming Events

  • Parachute Clinic: Golden, CO, May 4-5, 2002
  • May Meeting ***NEW LOCATION***
    7pm Wednesday May 15th
    On The Border 14255 W Colfax Ave (Denver West), Golden     Map
    We'll be in the large patio room off to the right of the main doors Agenda - tbd
  • Brad Koji Memorial Fly-in: North Park, CO, Labor day weekend, 2002
  • Dry Canyon Memorial Day Weekend Fly-In, for more info http://rgsa.home.att.net/


Roll Yaw Oscillations
Or
Most commonly known as PIO

By Mark Windsheimer

After Lynda Wacht had her accident I fielded a lot of calls about the accident. One of the things that I realized was that some Pilots did not quite understand, the cause of what most pilots call a PIO (pilot induced oscillation) or how to get out of it. The next  article was done by Mike Meier at Wills Wing and explains it simply.

There are a lot of other factors that sometimes show up in a PIO. These are not all discussed in this article but one of the things that you might look for is also doing a pushup on the bar or hanging from the bar in a seated position. This tight grip and extra load on your arms makes it extremely hard to feel the glider, or react to it properly - both of these will also increase your speed also making the oscillations worse.

If you have a glider that does show these problems, and you are having a hard time adjusting to it I recommend a Stabilizer for it. They do not affect performance but work wonders to dampen the glider at higher speeds. If you have ever been to a speed gliding contest you would be surprised to see these guys flying with stabilizers to help them control the glider at 90 mph. There are several local pilots flying with these around here ask them how they work for them.

All gliders can and will show this tendency in the right situation. How and when you deal with it, will greatly affect the end results.( I have seen Pilots PIO a Falcon).


Share Your "Almost An Incident" Reports


As much as we would like to think that all of the information that we need to improve our flying skills is written down somewhere, our sport is still at the stage where we are constantly learning (relearning?) from the experiences of others. Much of this info used to be passed on around the campfire--and it still is to some extent--but we don't camp together nearly as much as we used to.

So, how about sending Kiernan, our Safety Officer for this year, a quick report whenever you have an experience that could have resulted in a lot worse? It might be about how you misjudged conditions, or  about how you flew a particular glider incorrectly,  or  many other things where your experience can help others to learn.

Be sure to include some particulars about where, when, what happened, contributing factors, suggestions on what to do differently, etc. Add a note if you prefer to remain nameless. We can all benefit from your experiences--share both Good and Bad!. I know we can also learn from experiences where you did everything right!

© 2002   The FLOCKER    Rocky Mountain Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association

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