Where can I get dual instruction in a glider with flaps? (USA)

On Aug 19, 5:39*pm, BobW wrote:
On 8/19/2012 1:55 PM, Dave Nadler wrote: On Saturday, August 18, 2012 9:25:58 PM UTC-4, son_of_flubber wrote:
... I can ease into using the flaps.

That is one of the most dangerous things you can do with a flapped glider.
Do your homework and make sure you understand why.
If you've had a CFI briefing and aren't clear on this,
find another CFI with more appropriate experience.

"What Dave said!"

Where you don't want to end up is overshooting your field because of improper
use of arguably the most effective/draggy/energy-reducing landing devices
semi-commonly found on sailplanes (i.e. large-deflection landing flaps).

You'll love the glider and the landing flaps !
But be safe and get proper training first !
I've watched some really unfortunate results
when proper training didn't precede flying...

Again..."What Dave said!" (It's painful to watch 'really unfortunate results,'
even when nothing gets bent. It's even more painful to watch a glider getting
bent when 'proper training' is willfully ignored!)

IMHO, there's nothing fundamentally difficult or dangerous in the correct use
of large-deflection landing flaps. I - safely, unexcitingly - transitioned to
them from a 1-26 with a total of 128 hours, all in 2-22'2, 2-33's and 1-26's.
That was in 1975...no instructors to talk with, no world wide web to research.
So did my partner with roughly similar time/experience. Never willingly went
back to spoilers unless giving rides.

The devil is always in the details, and the details of proper use of
large-deflection flaps were/are not particularly well hidden.



Best Regards, Dave

Have fun!

Bob - 2,000 hrs of large deflection-landing flapped ship time - W.

Agreed, and it's those details that we need to squeeze out of
experienced flappers like you. Maybe when you have time you can write
at least a short narrative on how you would instruct a newbie to flap-
only ships. Here are a few YouTube videos that focus on landings.
First is a 1-35 on base/final. Note the extreme attitude at what I
think I hear him say are full flaps. Before touchdown, he retracts
partial flaps, and note what happens next. Read the notes made with
the post (no, not the idiotic comments that follow). Good on these
guys who post less-than-perfect flights so we can all learn. The other
two videos show an HP11, HP16 and HP18. The last, an HP18 driver gives
a good self-critique (read his side-bar) on what he did wrong in one
landing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1au6V1E5CyI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC55ikXmo5I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXwy7dsLndM