A bit breezy today...

On 1/31/2014 4:06 PM, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Friday, January 31, 2014 1:29:06 PM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:

snip from son_of_flubber

My take away: Should I live long enough, I will eventually be tempted
to launch when I know that I had better not.

Says Dan:
...And why, Dear Flub, should you better not?

I was thinking that someday there will be a tow pilot that will be willing
to aerotow me when the margins for me launching (and landing) in a glider
are thin to adverse. The commercial tow pilots that aerotow me have much
greater ability (and a 250 hp engine). I honestly don't know, is it harder
or easier to land a Pawnee or a glider in gusty conditions? I assume that
the Pawnee could at least "go around" (plus the tow pilot has a lot more
experience.)

When I read your account, I put myself in the shoes of the glider pilot
that decided to launch with your one and only tow of the day. One of the
hardest things for me is to go home without flying because of marginal
conditions. It's hard because other people are launching and landing, and
it is especially hard when there is tremendous lift after a "dry spell".

I guess I'm saying that it is tempting for me to follow the lead of the tow
pilot and other glider pilots, and so my take away is that I need to be
aware of that temptation and peer pressure. I almost feel like I should
write on (and read from) the top of my checklist "I will be tempted to
launch when I should just go home."

"Pilot, know thyself!" certainly applies to these sorts of soaring go/no-go
decisions.

When I had less than 200 total hours and was flying a 1-26, both in the
mountains of MD and the intermountain west, I found there were days when
towpilots declined to tow, when I thought I could handle pattern conditions
safely...even if actual soaring might not be possible. Back then I felt "the
acquiring of stick time" was near the top of my priority list...from which all
good things might then flow. (And yes, I recognized I had my own limits, which
were 100% my responsibility to determine and respect.)

A couple of years and couple hundred hours later, I was flying a short-span
(16.5 meter), V-tailed, HP-14, with the as-designed (short-span) ailerons.
Somewhat to my dismay (but not surprise), I found then that I would quit
towing before the towpilots would. This reflected my assessment of what that
ship (and I) could safely do in raucous pattern conditions. (It was leisurely
in roll and had distinctly less rudder authority than a 1-26.) I know it cost
me some soaring days, but OTOH, the ship's performance (and growing
experience) allowed me to gain stick time that may not have been possible in a
1-26. Other pilots' decisions to tow - and successfully go soaring - had zero
impact on my own thought process and decision-making.

I found the first situation (i.e. "Darn! No one will tow me [or anyone
else!]") far more surprising than the latter (i.e. "*I* ain't towing today!),
because it was the first time I gained a quantitative sense of my growing
skill set, whereas the second realization was a no-brainer, for me.

As Clint Eastwood and Renny R. said, "A man's GOT to know his own limitations!"

Bob W.