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  #11  
Old August 14th 03, 09:03 PM
Mark James Boyd
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I also liked the comment to fly a certain airspeed.
Our local CFI at Avenal pointed out that if one hits
a gust up, the glider will speed up, because the
C.G. is forward of the center of lift, so the
nose drops. So he suggests quick back stick pressure
to prevent the speedup and translate it into lift
instead. He calls this "porpising" since that's
what the G forces feel like.

This same effect is subtle during landing. In ground effect,
lift increases, and the nose drops and the glider speeds
up. This is why transitioning to ground effect I need
more back pressure. I learned how to take off and land
a Cessna 172 using ONLY rudders and throttle, but was
having trouble because it landed flat all the time
when I couldn't use flaps. I couldn't set trim for
further pitch because it would stall when out of ground effect.
Instead I loaded for aft legal C.G., and the nose
down pitch during transition to landing was much less.

Oscillation was also obvious and needed throttle adjustments
to dampen. I suspect competition glider pilots anticipate
oscillations when encountering vertical gusts and
counter them instantly with the stick. I've noticed
myself getting wild pitch oscillations during the
first turn when entering a thermal when I don't
anticipate the oscillation...