Do glider pilots have the best stick and rudder skills?

[Jimmy cooper]

Sully took over the controls as he was a real pro, with both extensive military training and civilian experience. ( as the captain, he was also the one ultimately in charge and responsible) he had to chose very quickly what to do and decided quickly, ( energy management personified) that the river was the only choice. He then landed the aircraft perfectly and saved the entire crew and passengers. It Was and is a big deal and he deserved to be commended as he was. To belabor the point or try to minimize what he did , compared say to the Colgan F.U. Or the air France fiasco seems immature or sour grapes. Same with the gimi glider pilot. Another cool hand Luke. Also had glider training.

 

[Kritchlow]

Sully took over the controls as he was a real pro, with both extensive military training and civilian experience. ( as the captain, he was also the one ultimately in charge and responsible) he had to chose very quickly what to do and decided quickly, ( energy management personified) that the river was the only choice. He then landed the aircraft perfectly and saved the entire crew and passengers. It Was and is a big deal and he deserved to be commended as he was. To belabor the point or try to minimize what he did , compared say to the Colgan F.U. Or the air France fiasco seems immature or sour grapes. Same with the gimi glider pilot. Another cool hand Luke. Also had glider training.

But you still didn't say what he did that was extraordinary. He glided the airplane, opted for the water, and landed wings level. Certainly did NOTHING wrong, but truly nothing different than most would have done.

 

[FloridaPilot]

It's about trading altitude for speed. And then you later trade airspeed to reduce vertical speed in order to make the smoothest landing possible.

You also see it used in aerobatics. Many aerobatic maneuvers like loops, rolls...etc, begin with a descent to build up speed and then you pull up and trade that speed for energy to complete the maneuver.

The British Airways 777 that had the power loss on final and landed short would be an example of not using energy management (captain held it on the edge of a stall all the way to the ground and had no residual speed left to flare).

An awareness of the aircraft's kinetic and potential energy and how to exchange between them smoothly to get the desired result.

It would be easier to explain it through an example of bad energy management. Bad energy management would be ending up low on final, 10+ knots fast, and adding power "because I'm low".

Thanks guys,

It's still a little bit fuzzy to me, I will study it a little bit more in detail.

 

[Fearless Tower]

Thanks guys,

It's still a little bit fuzzy to me, I will study it a little bit more in detail.

Think of it this way:

Let's say the airplane has a best glide speed of 65 kts and that gives you a descent rate of 700 fpm. Now if you lower the nose and increase your speed to 75 kts, you will increase your descent rate, but you will build up excess speed (energy) that you can use later to shallow the glide path and make a landing with very little vertical speed.

That is what folks are generally referring to when using the term energy management with respect to gliders. You have no engine/power so you use your attitude/speed to manage your energy.

 

[FloridaPilot]

Think of it this way:

Let's say the airplane has a best glide speed of 65 kts and that gives you a descent rate of 700 fpm. Now if you lower the nose and increase your speed to 75 kts, you will increase your descent rate, but you will build up excess speed (energy) that you can use later to shallow the glide path and make a landing with very little vertical speed.

That is what folks are generally referring to when using the term energy management with respect to gliders. You have no engine/power so you use your attitude/speed to manage your energy.

Ahh,

So when you guys are talking about energy management you are talking about the 4 forces of flight? (Weight, Trust, Drag and Lift). How you deal with those 4 forces is energy management?

 

[Art VanDelay]

To answer the OPs original question - No, helicopter pilots do. Closely followed by Grumman Widgeon pilots on land with one engine and Pitts S-1 drivers.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

The best stick and rudder pilots are the old drug runners. Anyone can land on a runway with lights, but they had the most experience landing off field at night with only the headlights of a truck to light the way, plus the skills developed at 10 AGL in challenging terrain.

 

[Jimmy cooper]

But you still didn't say what he did that was extraordinary. He glided the airplane, opted for the water, and landed wings level. Certainly did NOTHING wrong, but truly nothing different than most would have done.

I think it was exceptional! A terrific example of clutch city and competence. I also think a great many might have screwed it up. I would have been hard pressed to accomplish what he did. Your refusal to think he did something extraordinary explains why I mentioned immaturity and sour grapes. He had other choices but quickly decided against them. A real pro.

 

[Kritchlow]

I think it was exceptional! A terrific example of clutch city and competence. I also think a great many might have screwed it up. I would have been hard pressed to accomplish what he did. Your refusal to think he did something extraordinary explains why I mentioned immaturity and sour grapes. He had other choices but quickly decided against them. A real pro.

You still can't say what he did that was exceptional. Whatever.

I need to go back and reread the sour grapes / immaturity. I missed that.

 

[Kritchlow]

I think it was exceptional! A terrific example of clutch city and competence. I also think a great many might have screwed it up. I would have been hard pressed to accomplish what he did. Your refusal to think he did something extraordinary explains why I mentioned immaturity and sour grapes. He had other choices but quickly decided against them. A real pro.

Just reread... I never compared sully to Colgan or Air France, so I assume you were not referring to me.

 

[FloridaPilot]

The best stick and rudder pilots are the old drug runners. Anyone can land on a runway with lights, but they had the most experience landing off field at night with only the headlights of a truck to light the way, plus the skills developed at 10 AGL in challenging terrain.

And you know this...how?

 

[Bill Watson]

Just reread... I never compared sully to Colgan or Air France, so I assume you were not referring to me.

I brought those 2 accidents into the discussion to contrast it with the Hudson ditch, and I did it in an obviously unsuccessful effort to get you out of this "it wasn't nuttin' honey" rut. You're still in it!

Carry on....

 

[weirdjim]

The Airbus is a fly by wire system. I doubt even Sully was overly aware of what it will fly like with dual engine failure. That means both Green, and Yellow hydraulics are gone. I'm assuming the Ram Air Turbine deployed, which would give hime some basic electricity, plus the Blue hydraulics. Point is, Blue hydraulics run enough flight controls to land safely, but I don't think it probably responds like it would on all three systems. I have not tried this, even in the sim. Point is, this may have been a brand new experience for him. Maybe not. It's possible he HAS done this in the sim. Pitch for a speed / AOA, and it's a mute point.

Jeezus murphyl. All that stuff is taught in ground school. What sort of goofball are you? Colored hydraulics; did you learn this stuff online? And it it is not a "mute" point, it is a MOOT point, which it is not. Go back to your poorly organized textbooks. He did what he did.

Jim

 

[Kritchlow]

Jeezus murphyl. All that stuff is taught in ground school. What sort of goofball are you? Colored hydraulics; did you learn this stuff online? And it it is not a "mute" point, it is a MOOT point, which it is not. Go back to your poorly organized textbooks. He did what he did.

Jim

Jeez Murphy...lol !!! I wouldn't spout off about something you don't know about. Obviously you're not serious. That is indeed the way Airbus addresses the three hydraulic systems. I fly the Bus for an airline.