Well went for a little fly at Ballaugh last night to test my new harness, all well and good, a little light and west to be able to stay up for long, but a nice flight anyway. But now to my main point; Whilst setting up I noticed some minor damage to the sheathing on one of my "A" lines, still flyable but in need of repair. So upon landing I proceed to do a very thorough line and canopy inspection and to my horror find another three lines all with minor damage !!
All of which cannot have been entirely new, so my point is this;
We should all regularly thoroughly inspect the canopy and all lines, connections, etc for wear and/or damage. Our usual pre flight checks are not thorough enough to spot potential problems, as we know, we are usually in a hurry to fly and only check for twists, tangles etc.
Also, I might point out that just because a wing is new (mine is only ayear old !) that does not mean that it is impervious to damage. It doesen’t take long to do a full inspection, and it is well worth it if prevents us from flying with potentially fatal faults in our equipment.
So here’s to another good flying season which now seems to be getting underway nicely and remember "Safety first, flying fun second!" (Pot, kettle, black maybe, but a little reminder can’t do any harm.)
See you all on the hill.