Fell out of the sky today

[Clark1961]

Ok, so the club membership has expired and the Dakota is still getting fixed. What to do? Took a glider lesson. Talk about different worlds...

Following the tow is a bit unreal at first. Don't aim toward the tow, pick the attitude and let the line pull you. Ok, it gets easier with practice.

After the tow everything seems to work like normal except my left hand really, really, really wants to do something. Not much for it to do so let it hold onto the dash. Ok.

Speed control is simple. Check. Turn the aircraft by stirring the stick and stepping on the footrest. Check. Heck, it flys like an airplane with a really bad design - straight and level requires constant attention but it'll hold a 30 degree turn all day. A stall is a total non-event. Ok.

Dunno if I'll ever do that again...

 

[SCCutler]

Glider's cool!

Strangest part for me was the sight-picture on final- I felt as if I was going to land way short, and yet we needed spoilers to land.

Some day, glide again I shall.

 

[Teller1900]

Dunno if I'll ever do that again...

Don't tell Tony or either of the Matts that, they'll drag you up and MAKE you enjoy it!!

 

[KennyFlys]

Don't tell Tony or either of the Matts that, they'll drag you up and MAKE you enjoy it!!

It can't be worse than being stuck in a Beech commuter with an obnoxious FO.

Heck, I'd think flying a glider would be fun. I want to do it someday then go on for a rating and maybe more.

 

[rottydaddy]

Congrats... I was supposed to do my first today, and was stymied by a cranky towplane.

But hey- better on the ground than during the tow!

 

[Turboz1r]

Hey Rotty,

We found a broken wire on the Alt, repaired and battery on charger tonight. Hopefully will test fly tomorrow for gliding on tues.

Mike G

 

[Teller1900]

It can't be worse than being stuck in a Beech commuter with an obnoxious FO.

"Goooood evening folks, from the pointy end of the plane your captain today, Han Solo and myself - first officer Chewbaca - would like to welcome you aboard..."

I'm not obnoxious, it's endearing!!!

 

[tonycondon]

Ok, so the club membership has expired and the Dakota is still getting fixed. What to do? Took a glider lesson. Talk about different worlds...

Following the tow is a bit unreal at first. Don't aim toward the tow, pick the attitude and let the line pull you. Ok, it gets easier with practice.

After the tow everything seems to work like normal except my left hand really, really, really wants to do something. Not much for it to do so let it hold onto the dash. Ok.

Speed control is simple. Check. Turn the aircraft by stirring the stick and stepping on the footrest. Check. Heck, it flys like an airplane with a really bad design - straight and level requires constant attention but it'll hold a 30 degree turn all day. A stall is a total non-event. Ok.

Dunno if I'll ever do that again...

why not?

I find gliding to be fairly entertaining, but soaring (aka climbing) is where the real fun is for me. Yes most gliders are a challenge to fly in a coordinated manner, but its tricky to put ailerons out on those long wings without causing some adverse yaw. using Frise type ailerons like on a cessna would cancel some of that out but just cause more drag. plus it makes for lazy feet

 

[Clark1961]

why not?

#1 - I don't fit in the aircraft - leg is severely in the way of full stick movement while operating the spoilers - unsafe in my book

#2 - I experienced what I wanted which was the power-out pattern and landing

#3 - No radios. There really is no excuse for this one. The simple safety benefit in coordinating with the tow would be well worth it. As usual, it's not the routine stuff that could benefit from the radio, it's the unusual and when you need it, you need it. From my perspective, the lack of coms is just head-in-the-sand behavior. Did I mention the glider ops were adjacent to powered ops?

Obviously I could try different aircraft until I found one that fit me. I could try other gliderports until I found one that required radio calls. I just don't see a lot of benefit from learning to follow a tow and then turning tight circles. I already know how to look out the window and fly.

The skills I need to work on, navigation and precise aircraft control, just aren't part of gliding. The instructor spent a lot of time talking about TLAR like it was a new concept. Well, my first primary instructor used TLAR as a way of life. Heck, I didn't know that we made a rotation speed call until I flew with another instructor.

In summary, gliding could be fun and relatively cheap. Heck, on a good day one could stay up for hours for the cost of a tow. In terms of building skills useful for powered flight, I don't see much benefit. In terms of flight safety, the folks I flew with are too lax.

 

[Skip Miller]

Glider's cool!

Strangest part for me was the sight-picture on final- I felt as if I was going to land way short, and yet we needed spoilers to land.

Strangest part for me was the sight picture on landing. Gliders sit low to the ground! I dropped it in big time!!!

-Skip

 

[rottydaddy]

Hey Rotty,

We found a broken wire on the Alt, repaired and battery on charger tonight. Hopefully will test fly tomorrow for gliding on tues.

Mike G

About what I figured...it happens. And problems with aircraft are always much better to find on the ground than in the air...

I'll try to make it tomorrow, or if not, Sunday.

 

[vontresc]

Be Kind to your instructor...the 2-33 is kinsa uncomfortable to begin with in the back seat. It doesn't help that there is no shock on the main wheel in the 33. Combine that with the fact that the spint of the instructor in back is pretty right in line with the mains an arival can be quite painful for the back seater.....

As for flying gliders I didn't really get hooked until the third flight in the 2-33. We ended up saoring the thing for close to two hours. I haven't had that much fun in a plane in a long time.

 

[tonycondon]

yea no kidding pete, the 2-22/33 is just a spinal compression waiting to happen to an inattentive instructor. extra motivation to closely monitor vertical speed during students approaches and landings. I always kid my students that Im taking my life in their hands when I fly with them in our 2-22 I know of a couple old CFI-Gs who simply refuse to fly the old Schweizers.

 

[Dan Thomas]

Glider's cool!

Strangest part for me was the sight-picture on final- I felt as if I was going to land way short, and yet we needed spoilers to land.

Some day, glide again I shall.

I towed gliders in the late '70s using an Auster VI (which I later owned). I managed to get a couple of rides in the sailplanes, one as a passenger on an aero tow, and the second as a student in a 2-33 on a winch tow. The winch ride was at a meet I'd taken the Auster to, but the conditions were so flat that there was no lift of any sort and most weren't bothering to pay the $10 aero tow fee, using the $2 winch instead. (This was the late 70s, remember, when lots of guys only made maybe $5 or $8 an hour.) 1100' altitude off a 4000' cable, and the acceleration and climb angle were absolutely alarming. When we got over the winch we cut free and continued ahead for a bit, then turned crosswind and then downwind. The instructor was coaching me as I flew after the tow.
The silence was amazing after the Auster, which had a 4" straight exhaust pipe under the cabin floor; no muffler. I flew downwind and started to turn base at the right time. Right for an Auster. "No, no, no," the instructor said. "Too soon." so we flew a little more downwind and I started to turn again. "Not yet. Keep going. Lots of room." I didn't believe him and was getting antsy being so far from the strip with no power. Finally, he gave up and let me turn base and then we lined up on final, a long ways out. Not going to make it, for sure, I was thinking. Wish we had some lift about now. But we made it and even had to use spoilers and slip a little and used up too much runway because we were still too high. Amazing. And this was a basic boilerplate 2-33, not some Grob or Blanik or any other fancy composite sailplane with twice the LD ratio that the clunky 2-33 has. I towed a Blanik once, and hardly knew it was there. So light, so slippery. Big difference from the old wartime TG-1, -2, and -3 trainers we had in the club, along with the Duster homebuilts.


Dan
________
vaporizer

 

[gprellwitz]

Be Kind to your instructor...the 2-33 is kinsa uncomfortable to begin with in the back seat. It doesn't help that there is no shock on the main wheel in the 33. Combine that with the fact that the spint of the instructor in back is pretty right in line with the mains an arival can be quite painful for the back seater.....

Huh. I'm sure that my first (only) glider flight was in the back seat, and I'd swear that it was a 2-33. Might have been a W&B issue. I'll have to go check the logbook to verify the type!

 

[tonycondon]

Grant, could be. the back seat of the 2-33 is more spacious than the front, but typically the instructor sits in the back since you must solo it from the front. Where did you take the ride? It could've been a 2-32 which holds 2 people in the back seat and is a pretty popular ride glider at larger operations.

 

[wby0nder]

#1 - In terms of building skills useful for powered flight, I don't see much benefit.

Having just added a power ticket including tailwheel in the last couple years after 20 years of only flying gliders I'd have to say that there are many great skills that transfer.

The tailwheel thing was a non issue for me.

Instrument flying has so much in common with cross-country soaring it's weird.

You didn't have a good intro to soaring plain and simple.

MM

 

[gprellwitz]

Grant, could be. the back seat of the 2-33 is more spacious than the front, but typically the instructor sits in the back since you must solo it from the front. Where did you take the ride? It could've been a 2-32 which holds 2 people in the back seat and is a pretty popular ride glider at larger operations.

Turf Soaring in the Phoenix area. I just checked the log book and you're right; it was a 2-32. We managed to gain a whopping 400' on a 3000' release.