On Jul 15, 11:22*pm, Frank Whiteley wrote:
On Jul 15, 11:55*am, Dave White wrote:





On Jul 12, 9:43*am, John Cochrane
wrote:

On Jul 12, 8:43*am, Frank Paynter wrote:

On Jul 12, 8:34*am, wrote:

Frank, Hank:

You're both right. The key here is to separate the two things that are
learned by this training 1) practicing the maneuvers you will execute
to recover from a low-altitude rope break or other PTT event 2)
understanding and practicing the psychological part of reacting to any
emergency situation.

Hank's right that #2 is really not well simulated in Condor. *But
Frank is right that #1 can be practiced a lot in Condor, and then
executing maneuvers will be much easier in the air.

The same approach is useful, I think, for flight training. At our
club, most of our instructors no longer do a lot of unannounced 200
foot rope breaks. This mixes #1 and #2, creating a "real" emergency.

Instead, we brief, demonstrate and have students practice 200 foot
rope breaks, so they are comfortable with the maneuver required.
Believe me, the first 4-5 times, "you're going to do a 200 foot rope
break on this flight" keeps the adrenaline level up high enough!

We also *give them lots *of practice with unplanned emergencies, but
all at reasonable altitude. 500' rope breaks, engine failures,
spoilers coming out; "ok the spoiliers are stuck out/closed, now land
it", pretending half the runway is suddenly unusable, and so on are
all great exercises.

If you've got the mechanical skills to do a planned 200 foot break
flawlessly, and the emergency-handling skills to do all the higher-
altitude emergencies with aplomb, you're fairly prepared. We can
discuss whether practicing an actual combination, an unplanned 200'
rope break, is a useful final sanding, or an invitation to practice
stall/spin recovery from 200 feet. But at least we should get to that
point by practicing the mechanical skill and the emergency-handling
skill separately.

John Cochrane

Some additional points--first, like all simulators, Condor is a
PROCEDURES trainer. *You learn the steps to take so they become
automatic in the real world, which is far different from a
simulation. *I have and use Condor for many purposes, and have set up
a Condor simulator at my club. *It is a great piece of software for
training and practice, but it is not the real world--hot, noisy,
bouncing around, and generally not acting like the computer said it
would.

Second, the best way to avoid being killed in a glider is to stay out
of them. *Refusing to do a particular event on the basis that you
might get hurt is simply nonsense (and I would not sign off a flight
review for someone who refused to do a rope break). *You may convince
an instructor that you don't wish to do a 200' PT3 (Premature
Termination of the Tow) but that won't convince the rope or weak link
or tow hook to protect you at all times. *Would you rather your first
PT3 in a long time be a solo surprise? *That's why we practice them--
so training will get you past the "What the *&^%^*#@ just happened?"
phase to a successful landing!

Third, remember that the glider doesn't know what altitude it's at.
You do. *If you memorize and do the immediate actions*, then fly a
coordinated glider through a pre-planned profile, you should be quite
successful and stress-free during the maneuver. *The previous posters
have made the point that there is a time and a place for practicing
200 foot PT3s--their cautions are to be observed and considered in
preparing to do one. * Think about it--if the rope breaks at a higher
altitude and you do an abbreviated downwind return, you still will
likely end up doing that same 180-degree turn to final from 200 feet
AGL! *The very same maneuver you would do at the other end of the
runway, with the same temptations to skid around the turn cause those
trees are so BIG!

Finally, in teaching PT3s, I believe that the initial ones should
always be pre-briefed and not surprises until an acceptable level of
proficiency is reached. *After that, and on flight reviews, it can
happen at any time. *Just like in the real world! *(BTW, on FRs, a PT3
does count as a pattern altitude flight, and does in fact satisfy the
FAR requirement.)

*Here is one version of Immediate Actions for a PT3: *Lower the nose,
check airspeed. *Verify altitude. *Start a 45-degree bank turn in the
shortest direction toward the runway. *Pull the release twice. *(Once
all that stuff is done and you get eyes on the runway, you can *re-
evaluate your plan and do the pre-landing checklist.)

Appears there was another PTT fatality today.

http://wusa9.com/news/article/158647...-In-Md-Plane-C...

Recently reported as sold on W&W

I saw the video, no sound. But the printed article is worthless. All
speculation, look what we tripped over reporting.
Two seat glider? Tow plane involved? Details?
T