On 11/22/2016 8:20 PM, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Bruce Hoult wrote on 11/19/2016 12:50 AM:

Define "coordinated". No problem to spin with the string perfectly
centered.

It's true in any glider with enough elevator, but the Blanik is
excellent for demonstrating it. Shallow turn, very graaaadually slow
it down, maintaining constant bank angle with aileron and keeping the
string in the middle with the rudder. Pretty soon you've got a whole
heap of out of turn aileron and into turn rudder. But the string is
in the middle and the nose isn't even very high. And then BAM full-on
incipient spin.

Bruce describes how I practice incipient spins in my ASH 26 E (also the way I
practiced them in my ASW 20 C). One moment I'm doing a smooth, coordinated
turn; an instant later, the inboard wing is rotating down - no warning.

Blame this somewhat-thread-drifting post on winter finally trying to put in an
appearance in this part of the northern hemisphere...

I'm guessing what Eric's "no warning" comment means is "in the absence of a
distinct separation-induced burble," or something similar (I've not flown
either an ASW 20 or ASH 26). I'm gonna "winter-quibble" with the concept "no
warning."

My club used to have a 2-32 (eventually sold) about which the same thing was
routinely said, and in fact the ship did routinely and enthusiastically drop
the same wing before beginning a rapid rotation if not "immediately and
properly countered." If it really did catch someone out, going through at
least 90-degrees of an incipient spin, and WAY nose down before recovery - was
in your immediate future. Many club pilots of roughly equivalent time as I
then had might accurately have been described as "unduly frightened" of the ship.

But "no warning?" Surely you jest (and my name isn't Shirley). True, before
the wing "let go" there was (almost always) an absence of aerodynamic burble
felt through the stick or one's butt or merely "drummed" through the metal
fuselage, but by the time the wing did let go, "all the other usual suspects"
had put in their appearances: low wind noise; nose noticeably high; controls
(especially stick) getting sloppy; etc. Subsequent to checking out in the
ship, I found it "intellectual fun" to mess around with it in slow flight
"trying to find the burble." Abrupt departure from controlled flight - yes,
indeed! "No warning?" - not by a long shot.

Bob - a big fan of coordination AND "sufficient airspeed" - W.