How Low to Spin??

Kirk Stant wrote:

(which probably takes a bit more than one second, I would think) will
corkscrew the nose down and around, but you are not flying backward!

I agree. I don't think I am flying backward. I think I am,
to some degree, flying backward. What I mean is that some of the momentum
carrying me into the spin will cause a reduction of airspeed
which is most pronounced at 180 degrees from the entry heading.

including Maverick's F-14 spinning out to sea after
departing over the desert - I would have loved to have seen that for
real!)

Art Scholl lost his life in a fatal inverted spin into the Pacific
Ocean with no parachute (while filming for Top Gun).
Some say the weight of the cameras on the wingtips made the
spin unrecoverable...

Still a bad analogy, in my opinion. Think of the snap roll example -
at what point do you stop "rolling" and start "frisbeeing"? You
don't, your flightpath just curves more downward as you initiate the
spin slower.

At the 180 snap-roll point from entry, the nose isn't pointing in the other
cardinal direction. It simply isn't comparable.

It sure would be fun to take up a nice spinning glider (a 2-32 for
example), instument it, then take turns trying to make each other
sick!

Hmmm...on a calm wind day with a cheap GPS with a time track
set to every 1 second, if the GPS is synchronised with a
stopwatch and observer, it may get interesting. A
logger might do the same...

But don't you ever wonder why the most nose down part of a positive
spin is at the 1/2 spin point? Lowest airspeed perhaps? And
why IS that...

Broken glass ships have the same problem with weight in the tail...
G-103s are notorious for it. Othewise, instruments, batteries,
cheeseburgers, and beer tend to move the CG forward.

You have a BBQ and beer cooler in the nose? How inventive...
I suppose your landouts are quite a party...

Again, the aft CG doesn't cause the spin, it just make it easier to
initiate, and maybe harder to recover.

NASA thought it sometimes made it easier, and sometimes
harder to recover, depending on the aircraft. Go figure.

You still have to exceed the
stalling AOA, regardless of CG location. Winch launching is probably
a lot safer overall than aerotowing (from my limited experience in
Germany), with fewer potential gotcha's - plus it's really hard to
kill the winch operator (unless you crash on the winch, of course).

I must say it's a LOT of fun teaching aerotow. Formation flight
where you don't have to worry about airspeed is a real thrill for
a lot of folks. But yep, aerotow might be more complicated...
But I wouldn't know, I've never done a wench launch...

are not really "max performance" turns, and are usually no more than
90 - 100 degrees (unless you prefer the 180 degree one turn to final
approach, which I do).

I do rectangular bases, so others know I'm landing instead of
thermalling at the end of the runway :PPP

Well, most glider landing accidents only break the glider, or maybe a
bush or two - and the reasons are usually pretty consistent.

Shoulder harnesses probably have brought the stats down a
huge amount, and the lower stall speed, and fuselage shape,
of gliders compared to, say a Cherokee. Trike landing gear and
rough fields do not mix...

Not necessarily - the key is the lack of outside references, coupled
with moving the head too much so as to confuse the inner ear.

In an aileron roll, the head is moved. In max dutch rolls
45 to 45, the head is moved. So again, I guess you are agreeing with
me that high roll rates and steep banks can induce vertigo.
If you don't agree. Take a pax at night cover all instruments.
Head perfectly straight ahead. Close eyes. Then max roll rate
left 45 bank, then 90 degrees of turn, slow roll right,
and tell them to open eyes while level and recover. Fun, huh?

And yes, lack of coherent outside reference is important too.
Pretty easy to get when looking at clouds and fog and mountainsides...
And sometimes tough to correct without...
wait for it...moving your head

I have had the leans in
formation in cloud - interesting when you pop out and your internal
gyros cage up!

I've had them almost uncontrollably on several occasions, night IMC,
and straight and level on a rollout to a heading.
Absolutely bloodcurdling...

I fly my pattern based on where I want to touch down, and adjust the
pattern accoding to my altitude and the wind. I prefer low, tight,
fast patterns, so I can see what I'm getting into during a landout!
It helps that my glider can get rid of a lot of energy fast when I
need to.

The only disadvantages I can find of very effective spoilers a

1) If they ain't locked for takeoff, a gnarly pio
2) If they don't have very fine controls, hard to be precise
about glide slope.
3) If at max out, landing flare is VERY fast, and stall speed
increased
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Mark Boyd
Avenal, California, USA