glider tailwheel endorsement necessary?

MauleSkinner said:
No, but in the first version of the Glider Flying Handbook, they told us how to launch wenches.
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Back in 2007, @tonycondon put together a PoA "Glide-a-thon" where a bunch of us flew to KAMW to fly gliders for the weekend. The weather had other ideas - It was OVC001 when I shot the approach and I had to divert to KDSM and I was the second-to-last plane to make it in there for the next day too, and there was an ice storm and we let the guy from California drive the rental car in it and @jesse got a weather briefing to go flying in a 152... :rofl:

This was back when the Glider Flying Handbook still had the section on Wench Launching, and the hotel had mis-heard the group name so we were all registered under "Pirates of America". Much fun was had by all, despite the complete lack of flying! ARRRRRR! :D
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Back in 2007, @tonycondon put together a PoA "Glide-a-thon" where a bunch of us flew to KAMW to fly gliders for the weekend. The weather had other ideas - It was OVC001 when I shot the approach and I had to divert to KDSM and I was the second-to-last plane to make it in there for the next day too, and there was an ice storm and we let the guy from California drive the rental car in it and @jesse got a weather briefing to go flying in a 152... :rofl:

This was back when the Glider Flying Handbook still had the section on Wench Launching, and the hotel had mis-heard the group name so we were all registered under "Pirates of America". Much fun was had by all, despite the complete lack of flying! ARRRRRR! :D
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It was probably a couple of years before that when I did my ground launch endorsement there, and that’s also where I got my private glider rating (and learned to tow) back in the mid-‘80s. Lots of good memories on that airport.
 
MauleSkinner said:
It was probably a couple of years before that when I did my ground launch endorsement there, and that’s also where I got my private glider rating (and learned to tow) back in the mid-‘80s. Lots of good memories on that airport.
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You almost certainly know Matt Michael then... He's also here, though I had to go back and dig up the Glide-a-thon thread to remember his username: @wby0nder Looks like he hasn't been here in six years.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
You almost certainly know Matt Michael then... He's also here, though I had to go back and dig up the Glide-a-thon thread to remember his username: @wby0nder Looks like he hasn't been here in six years.
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Yup…when I first met him he was living in his VW Bug. The next year he upgraded to a VW Bus.
 
Lindberg said:
Right. So it's moot

Only because that's the only type of self-launch glider.
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Theres no reason a winch similar to that couldn't be set up with a remote that could allow the pilot to do everything themself.
 
MauleSkinner said:
But if you went to Harbor Freight, got a bumper winch, and mounted it on the nose of the glider…:idea:
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I knew someone would say that. I don't think that would actually work given the length of cable and speed you'd have available.

Not to mention that hazard of a disconnect that would be necessary to make that work.
 
EdFred said:
Theres no reason a winch similar to that couldn't be set up with a remote that could allow the pilot to do everything themself.
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Sure, and no reason why you couldn't use a drone controlled by the glider pilot for an aerotow.
 
Salty said:
I don't think that would actually work given the length of cable and speed you'd have available.

Not to mention that hazard of a disconnect that would be necessary to make that work.
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It’d be an interesting project to figure out if I guy had unlimited time and money. ;)
 
Lindberg said:
Sure, and no reason why you couldn't use a drone controlled by the glider pilot for an aerotow.
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But that required training would fall under ii since that would be an aerotow procedure. iii doesn't specifically limit it to motor gliders. Where would heaving a weight off a cliff attached by cable to the glider fall. Is it ground-towing? I don't think so. At least 1.1 doesn't define ground towing. It's definitely not aerotowing. Sounds like it would fall under iii. Which is definitely not a motorglider situation.
 
MauleSkinner said:
But if you went to Harbor Freight, got a bumper winch, and mounted it on the nose of the glider…:idea:
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Exactly how will having the winch on the glider work?

P.S. Winch / Auto tow hooks are at the C.G. on gliders.
 
billsgs126 said:
Exactly how will having the winch on the glider work?

P.S. Winch / Auto tow hooks are at the C.G. on gliders.
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Give me unlimited time and money and I’ll let you know.

Apparently it will require pulleys to have the cable come out at the CG with the winch in the nose. ;)
 
Lindberg said:
Sure, and no reason why you couldn't use a drone controlled by the glider pilot for an aerotow.
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This is one of the crazy idea's that has been floating around in my head for a while. Basically a drone that attaches to the front of the glider, with the CG hook on my glider it could probably be designed to use the existing tow hook and just fit over the nose of of the glider. Use it to launch, then release it. It then flies/glides itself back to a designated point to be picked up for the next launch. Could be fixed wing, or paraglider type design, perhaps even a quad rotor style design.

Brian
 
brcase said:
This is one of the crazy idea's that has been floating around in my head for a while. Basically a drone that attaches to the front of the glider, with the CG hook on my glider it could probably be designed to use the existing tow hook and just fit over the nose of of the glider. Use it to launch, then release it. It then flies/glides itself back to a designated point to be picked up for the next launch. Could be fixed wing, or paraglider type design, perhaps even a quad rotor style design.

Brian
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or you could do something like this…

1747925251831.jpeg
 
EdFred said:
But that required training would fall under ii since that would be an aerotow procedure. iii doesn't specifically limit it to motor gliders. Where would heaving a weight off a cliff attached by cable to the glider fall. Is it ground-towing? I don't think so. At least 1.1 doesn't define ground towing. It's definitely not aerotowing. Sounds like it would fall under iii. Which is definitely not a motorglider situation.
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That's just silly. Launching with a slingshot, a glider-mounted winch, or a weight falling off a cliff would all have vastly more in common with a winch launch than with an aero-tow or a motor glider. As stated above, it has nothing to do with how many people are involved.
 
billsgs126 said:
That would be a lot of fun to fly.

Does anyone have the phone number for The War Assets Administration or the Reconstruction Finance Corporation? I read U-2s are being phased out in favor of (censored). They sold surplus L-4 Cubs for $500 in 1946. With inflation that's $9,200 today. Maybe I can get a deal! :)
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Won't happen. The U-2 keeps outliving the aircraft built to replace it.

A few years ago my daughter sent me a picture. U-2, I say. ER-2, she counters. NASA has a couple and her instrument was being flown on it, so they let her ride along in the chase car on the landing.
 
flyingron said:
Won't happen. The U-2 keeps outliving the aircraft built to replace it.

A few years ago my daughter sent me a picture. U-2, I say. ER-2, she counters. NASA has a couple and her instrument was being flown on it, so they let her ride along in the chase car on the landing.
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Just out of curiosity, I presume that since NASA is technically civilian, not military, what type of authorization is required to fly it?
 
MauleSkinner said:
Just out of curiosity, I presume that since NASA is technically civilian, not military, what type of authorization is required to fly it?
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Well it wasn't "originally" a military aircraft. ;);):p
 
Salty said:
It always confuses me that a glider is not an airplane. 61.31 (i) is only applicable to airplanes, not gliders.
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You confusion is that both are AIRCRAFT. As are helicopters, hot air balloons and other aerial vehicles.

In FAA terms, an AIRPLANE is a fixed wing powered AIRCRAFT.
 
Salty said:
Do you need an endorsement to fly a glider with a tailwheel?

I trained and got my rating in two wheel gliders that technically were tail draggers. But I didn't get a tailwheel endorsement. They don't have the ground loop issues that a real tail dragger would because of not having main gear in front of the CG.

So, do I need an endorsement to fly this glider?
Xenos_5296_on_clouds-20.jpg
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I guess it would depend on whether it’s a power pilot flying it as an airplane or a glider pilot flying it as a self-launch glider ( provided they have an endorsement for that)…
 
Liberty Flyer said:
I guess it would depend on whether it’s a power pilot flying it as an airplane or a glider pilot flying it as a self-launch glider ( provided they have an endorsement for that)…
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That can be done with light sports because they are still airplanes. A glider is somehow not an airplane, so this doesn’t work.
 
I think the aircraft/airplane put the original question to bed, but most gliders I have flown are of a "bicycle" landing gear configuration, not a tailwheel. The Schempp-HIrth Duo Discus/Discus 2b and LET L23, for example all fall into this category, as do most fiberglass gliders. The aforementioned U-2 is the only common airplane I'm familiar with that uses a bicycle configuration.
 
TruckerJoe28 said:
I think the aircraft/airplane put the original question to bed, but most gliders I have flown are of a "bicycle" landing gear configuration, not a tailwheel. The Schempp-HIrth Duo Discus/Discus 2b and LET L23, for example all fall into this category, as do most fiberglass gliders. The aforementioned U-2 is the only common airplane I'm familiar with that uses a bicycle configuration.
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I've seen a Slingsby with a jettisonable trolley and a skid. POH says to release at 10 feet AGL. (Does the Komet count as a self-launching glider?) And many older gliders only had skids. But the vast majority have one wheel very near the C.G.. Some have a smaller nose or tail wheel. I've never seen two main wheels on an unpowered glider. As mentioned before, only 'Airplanes' with T.W.s require a T.W. endorsement.
 
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