On Dec 9, 2:40 pm, Eric Greenwell flyguy

And yet, I never see any gliders with "pitch strings" on them, not even
on contest winners' gliders, presumably the pilots most interested in
getting the most from their efforts. If it's effective, why hasn't
something so cheap and easy spread throughout the fleet?

Eric,

I installed "pitch strings on my ASW 24 last year at Uvalde when my
ASI failed on takeoff. I landed quickly, swapped an old ASI into the
panel (which didn't work either) and taped two long (2 ft.) strings
low on the canopy. I could barely see the strings flapping wildly
around but discovered 40+ years of flying allowed me to do OK at
thermaling anyway, even with full water. But when I got back that
night, I removed the "whiskers"--the strings were so long that they
trailed on the ground and gave the airplane a very odd look--and
substituted short (~4") ones higher on the canopy following the advice
of ex F-14 driver Bif Huss, who has them on his Discus 2. I took a
grease pencil with me and marked the positions for min. sink and best
glide on the inside of the canopy.

They work fine. They're not revolutionary: they given different
indications when I'm skidding or (more of a problem) intentionally
slipping slightly, the range of movement is relatively small, and of
course they're sensitive to being knocked off during canopy cleaning.
It's just one more input. Interestingly, I'm confident I could fly the
glider at slow speeds very efficiently if my ASI fails again, which is
reason enough to keep them. And a quick glance at them from time to
time does reassure me I'm not cutting it too close trying to slow the
glider down. I refer to them a little more when I'm low, just to be
safe. I haven't noticed them responding early as I enter an updraft
but will pay attention the next time I fly, most likely not until next
spring.

I do get a lot of questions about them but, as you note, they haven't
spread throughout the fleet. Maybe if I started winning, that might
change!

Chip Bearden