toad wrote:

The original posters slides look like a pretty good explanation. I
think that it is more information than a pilot really needs, but
some people won't relax and actually learn until they think they
understand "why" it works.

That's probably the best reason I've heard for teaching pilots about
aerodynamics.

Despite my deep interest in aerodynamics, my observation and experience
is knowing the aerodynamics doesn't seem to be an asset to flying
correctly, and that it is really all about keeping the airspeed up and
horizon in the correct place on the canopy. When I fly, thoughts of AOA
and pressure distributions are not flitting through my mind, and things
happen too fast to be deriving your next action from first principles.

You definitely want the designer of your glider to understand
aerodynamics, but the pilot - completely optional!

--

Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (netto to net to email me)

- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Feb/2010" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm
http://tinyurl.com/yb3xywl

- "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation Mar/2004" Much of what
you need to know tinyurl.com/yfs7tnz