errr... sorry for this newbie post. I'm a PPL (regular ppl, no G : )
and am thinking about getting my glider rating. Anyways I don't
understand this ballast/no-ballast question. In a regular/powered
plane I can climb better without extra weight (i.e. passengers). I
don't see why this wouldn't hold true for gliders as well, am I wrong?
Is this a common fact/misconception/etc in the soaring crowd?

thanks,

-lance smith


(Kirk Stant) wrote in message . com...
Kevin,

What we appear to be seeing here is how strong preconceptions and/or
expectations can override actual events. I could have sworn I would
get a better zoom with ballast, but I now realize that it doesn't make
sense. And I know all about Gallileo's experiment - I surprized my 15
year old daugher with it just a few weeks ago. But not having put
much thought into it, I didn't connect the two. Amazing, you can
learn something on RAS, occasionally!

It would be fun to poll the general soaring population about this - I
asked a really good pilot friend about this and his immediate answer
was "Of course you will go higher with water".

Now, I still have a gut feeling that there are some other forces
acting that make it seem that a ballasted pullup goes higher - because
it sure feels like it does!

Must have something to do with Flat Earth Theory....

Kirk
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