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----- Original Message -----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2001 1:31 AM
Subject: [HG] Fallen Heros hang gliding. But PCC stands for Positive Control Check, just interject hang check and it will have meaning. Pat was a well known hang glider person as well as aviator of other aircraft. read more at: <A HREF="http://www.community.net/~pjkelly/VSAPD.HTML">Soaring Diary, California, Gliding, Flying Gliders</A> From the discusion lists: DISTRACTIONS & RUSHING It has happened to all of us and sadly some of us have paid the ultimate price for being distracted during sailplane assembly. Don't talk to anyone while you are assembling your bird. Don't be impolite, just say "I will not be distracted while I am butting this thing together." Don't help your buddy put his wings on until your ship is together and the positive Control Check has been satisfactorily completed. Don't rush the assembly. We have all done it, shoved the bird out on the line so we can get an early start. The ship isn't taped, total energy probe in the cockpit, no water, map, battery, etc., all because the Q's have started to pop. Positive Control Check? There hooked up. This makes eight experienced ASW-20 pilots that I have known who failed to hook up the elevator, sadly two of them are no longer with us. Our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of our fallen comrade. JJ Sinclair USA I believe most of those accidents happens since the pilot forgot to do the PCC, and not by intentionally skipping it. And it is easy to forget, since in many cases there is no one available to help with the PCC when you are ready for it, so you go to your next action item (pushing the glider to the flight line...) While we can't fool proof the assembly process, there are ways to make sure you'll never forget the PCC after assembly. My method should work in most gliders: A little (but not too little) board with the post assembly check list is left on the cockpit seat until you complete the PCC. You can not seat in the cockpit until you remove it, and you don't remove it until you done with the checklist. Once you done, you place it in the storage area behind the head rest. Next time you assemble the glider, you must remove everything from the storage area to access the wing pin (I believe this is true for most modern gliders) and the natural place to put it is, of course, the seat. This way, in JJ's word, the system is "cocked" and ready for another cycle. This method already reminded me twice last year to do a PCC prior to entering the cockpit. Ramy Yanetz "ASW24" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote... > Check lists for assembly!!!!!! If you follow a check list you will come to > the part that says to hook up the elevator. I am sorry for the pilot and his > family and friends but please let's stay safe. Everyone seems to be assuming that the pilot failed to hookup the elevator, and failed to perform a positive control check. These may seem to be reasonable assumptions, but as far as I know, no one (including myself) who has posted to this newsgroup was actually present at the airport that day. It is good to remind ourselves of the need for discipline in this area, but let's not fool ourselves into believing that following some specific procedure will make us 100% immune to such an accident. Hotelier fittings, unfortunately, have some design characteristics which, particularly when they are worn, permit them to be incorrectly, or partially hooked up in such a way that they will appear to be properly connected, and will pass a perfunctory PCC. A checklist or PCC won't necessarily save you from a subsequent disconnect. When I've remembered, I've pushed, pulled, and twisted the things to whatever extent is possible to make sure they aren't going to come apart easily, and I've always used safety pins. Better yet, I usually avoid owning gliders which use manual hookups, as I know my own limitations when it comes to following procedures, and I do what I can to improve my odds. > On a related point can someone explain why on a ship with automic control hook > ups the PCC is neccessary. I definitely wan to be safe so an assembly check > list is smart but with automatic control hookups why the PCC? I've yet to encounter a glider with automatic hoookups that doesn't have some odd way to get things out of kilter, with the result that some control isn't quite hooked up properly. One is far less likely to take off with a disconnected control, but something could still jam or otherwise cause problems. Marc Here's a better question! How many faulty hook ups have PASSED a PCC? I know of two in my time flying gliders. We are putting FAR to much reliability on PCC and not emphasizing proper and full inspections after rigging a glider. Far too many pilots are still rushing through inspections. -- John Wren read more at: <A HREF="http://www.community.net/~pjkelly/VSAPD.HTML">Soaring Diary, California, Gliding, Flying Gliders</A>
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