On Saturday, November 21, 2020 at 2:59:28 PM UTC-8, wrote:
Nothing to add, but danger close

https://youtu.be/TH7UXgT4Txs

These guys were in violation of NZ's cloud separation rules from the get-go, and the instructor was curiously behind the curve during the whole flight.. They are very lucky to have survived. The narrator touched on what equipment and training would be required for them to be legally where they were at any point in the video, and they had none of that (it was not made known if the instructor had the cloud flying training - if so he should not permitted the student to get them into that position).

This is confirmation of my position that gliders involved in ridge (in the close vicinity of clouds) or wave flight should have an artificial horizon and the pilot must be trained in its use. I have gotten trapped above the clouds on a wave flight and had to make a 7,000 ft descent thru the clouds w/o any instruments other than the basic ones and certainly no training in instrument flight. I did it by flying a constant compass heading at a constant speed, making minimal control movements. At the time, artificial horizons were large, power hungry devices and never used in gliders. Now, they are small (at least some of them) and energy efficient. The easiest way to get instrument training is in a conventional power plane, and the most realistic time to do it is a moonless or cloud covered night away from any city lights.

Tom