Quinn Cornwell <>
writes:

Day 5 Task 2


The task for the day was an 87km task for the Open class and a 56km task for the
Floaters. A few people launched around 1pm and got away. The cycles did not
really pick up until around 2pm. I lined up with some of the other pilots and
headed out. I managed to get 1000 feet over the ridge but it was pretty rough
and I didn’t want to go over the back until I had enough height. In the end,
after being thrown around for a bit in my Sting, I headed out to the bomb out.
The air got rougher out in the middle of the valley and I was glad to be on the
ground. Another guy pulled up to the bombout and let me know that the day had
been cancelled at 3:00 due to rough conditions. There was also an accidental
chute deployment. More to come.


Corryong Day 6


A trough moved through parts of Southern Australia with us right on the edge of
it. After the briefing, the pilots headed up the hill to have a look. It was
getting gusty and the trough was creating some big ugly clouds which ended the
day early for us. The pilots were considerably happy with the call. We later
went back to the campsite and watched the branches fall down around us from the
strong gusts. Tomorrow is our last day here with the pilots hoping to get at
least one more valid day in for the competition.


Accidental chute deployment at Corryong


One of the pilots who launched around the 2:00pm time on day five was off the
ridge and out to the first turnpoint (6000 asl) when he contacted his team to
let them know that his chute had been accidentally deployed. Pilots on top of
launch said they could see the pilot going down with his chute and glider. The
pilot was flying his glider going on a glide at about 50km/h when he pitched up
violently and pitched down. His chute deployed and the pilot crawled into his
A-frame and guided it down (approximate time to descend was 3-5 minutes). He
ended up landing safely with his chute catching in some trees and his glider
landing on the ground. Damages included a carbon base bar, a small hole in his
chute from a twig and a frayed riser line. The pilot was a bit shaken but walked
away with no bodily harm. One speculation was that his handle on the side of his
harness got caught on a rear wire but no exact cause of deployment is known.
Daytime highs hit 42C in some areas.




Click on above photo.