rottydaddy
En-Route
Finally got to fly with my instructor again today, with the idea in mind that we would begin review in preparation for my PP-G check ride.
Interesting conditions: strong but narrow thermals up to about 3500 or so, with even stronger sink in surrounding areas. Also had a typical "undecided" northerly crosswind at 47N... first launch of the day was off 07, then we switched to 25, but the wind was inclined to get a bit behind us when landing.
It was officially review, but we were eager to do some soaring; it's a habit of glider pilots on a sunny day with lots of flat-bottom cumulus clouds dotting the sky.
First flight, we were both excitedly noting the killer thermals we were being towed through, only to find that they were gone when we got off and headed for them. the club's most accomplished soaring guy, Andy, had been talking to me the other day about thermal cycles; today was a textbook example of how that works, but I still have a lot to learn.
Got into some intense sink, and I opted to enter the pattern much earlier than anticipated. We got a tickle of 200 up at the IP, but it was a sucker bet, so I went ahead and made my crosswind entry. Disappointing, but educational.
Landed way too long, but there is plenty of workable turf over there, so it was no problem, other than the long march back to the staging area.
Second flight saw me gaining 1000 feet, and when it petered out, we tried working upwind towards some promising new wisps. Again, the sink monsters got ahold of us enroute, and I got some needed review on bravely dumping the nose and just trying to get the heck out of the sink, then gradually slowing up as the vario began to register a decrease in sink, then lift. I'ts hard to do this, especially with any amount of power time; you have no power, and you're diving, as the descent rate heads for the bottom stop. It seems crazy. "But if the vario's showing 5, 600 down, and you diddle around at 60 mph", he explained (for not the first time), "the sink will just drive you into the ground."
Made it about 4 or 5 miles west, "porpoising" the whole way (speeding through sink then nursing the nose back up at the slightest sings of lift), but I was looking anxiously for Solberg Airport out there as we got into some nasty sink again and started getting pretty darn low.
Gus suggested we turn around, so after losing even more precious feet in a turn, I headed for where I felt we could still find some "zero". Found some mild lift again on the way there, after more porpoising, and sure enough, I was able to hold altitude in zero the last mile or so to the pattern. I got lucky, I guess, but at least I had a plan.
We actually had altitude to spare approaching the initial point, and there was just enough lift over the field to allow Gus to show me a little low-altitude circling, slowly bleeding off the excess height. He was even able to make a full two turns at TPA; a neat trick with the crosswind, I have to say.
My usual M.O. in such a situation is to do something similar, but farther out, or arrive at the IP and bang out the spoilers and slip like crazy; these techniques work well enough, but his solution worked very nicely, thanks to the lack of sink.
And if one is to circle down, it's definitely better to do it at the IP, rather than risk getting too low farther out and count on not encountering sink in the last half-mile or so as you hit the IP and begin the pattern. I knew this, but hadn't worked on it enough.
My second landing was better, as the wind had slackened a little and I also made a better choice about where to turn base. Not too shabby overall, and it looks like we'll do a couple more, including a SRB, then he'll sign me off to the tender mercies of the examiner (who I hear is actually a "good guy", although not a pushover).
A little more studying for the oral, and said review flights, and I think I'll do OK. No written for PPASEL holders, but the gotcha with that is that because I hold that rating, he can quiz me on topics more related to that sort of flying. I've been working with my old flash cards, and some new ones pertaining to soaring stuff and the 2-33 itself, and it seems I remember quite a bit about the "old" stuff,, so I am pretty confident.
Interesting conditions: strong but narrow thermals up to about 3500 or so, with even stronger sink in surrounding areas. Also had a typical "undecided" northerly crosswind at 47N... first launch of the day was off 07, then we switched to 25, but the wind was inclined to get a bit behind us when landing.
It was officially review, but we were eager to do some soaring; it's a habit of glider pilots on a sunny day with lots of flat-bottom cumulus clouds dotting the sky.
First flight, we were both excitedly noting the killer thermals we were being towed through, only to find that they were gone when we got off and headed for them. the club's most accomplished soaring guy, Andy, had been talking to me the other day about thermal cycles; today was a textbook example of how that works, but I still have a lot to learn.
Got into some intense sink, and I opted to enter the pattern much earlier than anticipated. We got a tickle of 200 up at the IP, but it was a sucker bet, so I went ahead and made my crosswind entry. Disappointing, but educational.
Landed way too long, but there is plenty of workable turf over there, so it was no problem, other than the long march back to the staging area.
Second flight saw me gaining 1000 feet, and when it petered out, we tried working upwind towards some promising new wisps. Again, the sink monsters got ahold of us enroute, and I got some needed review on bravely dumping the nose and just trying to get the heck out of the sink, then gradually slowing up as the vario began to register a decrease in sink, then lift. I'ts hard to do this, especially with any amount of power time; you have no power, and you're diving, as the descent rate heads for the bottom stop. It seems crazy. "But if the vario's showing 5, 600 down, and you diddle around at 60 mph", he explained (for not the first time), "the sink will just drive you into the ground."
Made it about 4 or 5 miles west, "porpoising" the whole way (speeding through sink then nursing the nose back up at the slightest sings of lift), but I was looking anxiously for Solberg Airport out there as we got into some nasty sink again and started getting pretty darn low.
Gus suggested we turn around, so after losing even more precious feet in a turn, I headed for where I felt we could still find some "zero". Found some mild lift again on the way there, after more porpoising, and sure enough, I was able to hold altitude in zero the last mile or so to the pattern. I got lucky, I guess, but at least I had a plan.
We actually had altitude to spare approaching the initial point, and there was just enough lift over the field to allow Gus to show me a little low-altitude circling, slowly bleeding off the excess height. He was even able to make a full two turns at TPA; a neat trick with the crosswind, I have to say.
My usual M.O. in such a situation is to do something similar, but farther out, or arrive at the IP and bang out the spoilers and slip like crazy; these techniques work well enough, but his solution worked very nicely, thanks to the lack of sink.
And if one is to circle down, it's definitely better to do it at the IP, rather than risk getting too low farther out and count on not encountering sink in the last half-mile or so as you hit the IP and begin the pattern. I knew this, but hadn't worked on it enough.
My second landing was better, as the wind had slackened a little and I also made a better choice about where to turn base. Not too shabby overall, and it looks like we'll do a couple more, including a SRB, then he'll sign me off to the tender mercies of the examiner (who I hear is actually a "good guy", although not a pushover).
A little more studying for the oral, and said review flights, and I think I'll do OK. No written for PPASEL holders, but the gotcha with that is that because I hold that rating, he can quiz me on topics more related to that sort of flying. I've been working with my old flash cards, and some new ones pertaining to soaring stuff and the 2-33 itself, and it seems I remember quite a bit about the "old" stuff,, so I am pretty confident.
