Ian,

I was trying to point out a misconception that the "horizontal component
of lift" in a turn is somehow balanced by some other force.

If it were, the glider would not turn.

A turn is an acceleraton, requiring unbalanced forces. Lift is greater
than the sum of gravity plus drag.

Cookie

At 18:25 19 March 2009, The Real Doctor wrote:
On 19 Mar, 12:45, Bob Cook wrote:

Q) A glider is in circling flight. =A0The glider circles because there
is=
a
horizontal component of lift. =A0This horizontal component of lift is
balanced by an equal and opposite force, centrifugal force.

True or False and why?

I hope you're not getting hung up on the old centripetal/centrifugal
debate. Centripetal force is just as real in a stationary axix system
as centrifugal is in a turning one!

By and large (ignoring a few second-order effects) what you wrote is
fine.

Ian