Easy to throw stones, I know. But Chuck, this is the
most ridiculous thing I've heard. No Daily Inspection
and then no pre-flight checks? We don't need lessons
in airbrakeless landings, just a good grounding in
the basics. Caracole may have taught good soaring
but it looks like they skimped on the most basic points
of airmanship.

Mark

At 18:42 26 September 2005, Chuck Griswold wrote:

I don’t post messages on RAS normally but this is an
exception.
Yes, I have landed a Discus with no spoilers, and yes
it was my stupidity.
I taped the spoilers shut to keep the rain out and
didn’t do a proper ground
check the next day. The first clue was on down wind
at about 500 ft. The
part that requires the most practice is when to turn
base and just how low
you must be in order to put it on the ground and get
it stopped. If you have
never done it you should practice it. The alternative
is to never make a
mistake and make sure the glider is always going to
give you what you
want.
I fly at a glider field where the instructors insist
that you not only know
how but also practice “no spoiler landings” to a full
stop, and they can spot
land with no spoilers. In fact we did one yesterday
in a Grob 103.
Caracole has done an excellent job of teaching me soaring.
It’s hard to
teach an old dog new tricks but I learn something new
every time I go out
to fly.
Chuck