DG-100 spins twice on thermal turn; second from 230 m AGL not recovered

The pilot of a DG-100 was killed near Drumshade after an unrecovered second spin and the glider was destroyed. Total experience was 28 hours with 5 on type, on the first leg of a 100 km task. Thermalling clockwise at about 72 km/h, close to the 67 km/h stall, the DG-100 entered a steep right spin at roughly 470 m AGL. The pilot recovered after about two turns with about 150 m height loss. The glider then flew back toward Drumshade, airbrakes likely deployed for descent; airspeed decayed to about 74 km/h at 230 m AGL. A second right spin developed and was not recovered, with airbrakes found extended at impact possibly delaying recovery.

1. Winch launch, thermal climb at Drumshade: At 11:15 UTC on 4 August 2012 a DG-100 launched by winch from Drumshade on the first leg of a planned 100 km cross-country flight, thermalling clockwise east then north-east of the field.
2. Low experience, thermalling near stall: Recorded track and video showed a thermalling style with average bank around 21° and airspeed only a few km/h above stall speed, leaving little margin for speed decay in the turn.
3. First spin from low-speed right turn: At about 11:29 UTC, near 530 m MSL with airspeed at about 67 km/h and 18° bank, the DG-100 dropped into a steep nose-down spin to the right, with descent rate reaching about 20 m/s.
4. Recovers after ~2 turns, ~150 m loss: Within about six seconds the pilot recovered from the first spin after roughly two turns, stabilising the glider at about 83 km/h; total height loss in the recovery was about 150 m.
5. Airbrakes left open; 2nd spin at 230 m: The glider turned back toward Drumshade descending with airbrakes apparently open, then spun a second time to the right; extended airbrakes raised the stall speed and recovery height.
6. Unrecovered right spin into barley field: Still spinning right with a steep nose-down attitude, the DG-100 struck a barley field north of Drumshade at about 23 m/s; the pilot was fatally injured and the aircraft destroyed.