On Saturday, February 8, 2014 6:14:08 PM UTC-7, BobW wrote:
On 2/8/2014 12:18 PM, wrote:

You jaded purveyors of motorless flight should view this video with less

than your normal gimlet eye. The video was made for the unwashed masses of

those who are engine dependent with the idea of at least rousing their

curiosity. Snip...



I haven't watched this show, but kinda-sorta in the same vein...



The February issue of EAA's "Sport Aviation" magazine has (for the 2nd

consecutive month) a very nicely done article by EAA's Brady Lane about his

experiences (all favorable) at/with Harris Hill Soaring Club. Lane is a fairly

newbie power pilot (within the past 5-or-so years), and by my reading of all

his articles since he joined EAA - out of school, I believe - an insightful

young(-ish) man.



Here's a couple of short quotes from the February article:

- Soon I would voluntarily, purposefully, and permanently "lose" my engine.

Why would a sane pilot do such a thing? Having options is what makes flying

safe, and a power source provides options.

- I understand an airplane can fly without an engine - it's called an emergency.

- I've never been afraid of gliding, but if I don't have an engine producing

thrust, I consider the rest of the flight an emergency.

- "You nervous about flying with a 17-year-old?" my pilot asked as he helped

me buckle into the back seat of an ASK-21.

"Not at all," I responded. "I'm nervous about not having an engine." He

laughed, but he didn't understand. After all he had never flown *with* an engine.



While Brady might be wrong about that last surmise (his ride-giver was a

3rd-generation glider pilot), note the TWO "emergency" comments, preceding his

last vocalized one. In my estimation (and observations and discussions over

the years), "the average power pilot" DOES consider power loss a -

life-threatening!!! - emergency...and flies accordingly when it happens. (We

all fly best, tense, right?) That's one reason I much prefer to ride in GA

powerplanes only with "add-on power ratings" glider pilots (alternatively, XC

comfortable ones, if they got their power rating first). Their attitude is

more likely to be - after a power loss - "Crud...guess we'll be landing over

THERE." Power loss as an inconvenience vs. power loss as an emergency...



I'd bet Brady's outlook before he bellied up to the soaring bar, is Really

Common in the power-only community, even limiting it to only single-engine

lightplane types.



On his second ride (front seat, with the 1st generation pilot of his 1st-ride

pilot), they soared. From his article, one can sense blinders falling from his

eyes.



Bob W.



P.S. I e-mailed him with a warm fuzzy - and *Thanks!* - after the February

article.

What Bob W. said.
http://www.sportaviationonline.org/s...uary_2014#pg38

Frank Whiteley