First glider Nimbus 2 ?

poniedziaÅ‚ek, 11 stycznia 2021 oÂ*21:21:38 UTC+1 Martin Gregorie napisaÅ‚(a):
On Mon, 11 Jan 2021 10:42:56 -0800, George Haeh wrote:

40 hours before flying an LS-4?!

It has to be the easiest flying glider I've ever been in. I've heard
that some European clubs put students in it for their first single
seater.
Club rules etc....do differ between countries

My post-solo experience is, I think, fairly typical for anybody learning
to fly in one of the bigger UK clubs.

I was sent solo on an ASK-21 at 16 hours (80 launches - almost all
winched - I got my spin sign-off off winch launches followed by thermal
climbs in an ASK-21 WITHOUT tail weights - with an instructor who taught
me to spin it in normal W&B. After soloing in the ASK-21 I converted to
the SZD Junior at a bit over 17 hours and 10 more launches, which I flew
for another 33 hours and 100 launches - quite a lot of those being 6 min
sled rides during two liftless British winters. I got my Silver C flying
the Junior in my second solo summer.

I'd gotten an aero-tow sign-off that summer (7 of those launches) and
flew another 9 aero tows at Boulder and Williams before converting to a
nice Pegase 101 at Williams.

Back at the UK ranch again, I started to fly the club's high-performance
fleet - Discus B and Pegase 90, together with a variety of gliders at
other sites, which included UK hill sites, Paraparaumu and Omarama in NZ
and Die Wasserkuppe, adding another 100 launches and 170 hours, mainly in
the Pegase, before I bought my own glider.

In reading the above, bear in mind that my club has a pair of Juniors
flown by immediate post-solo pilots in summer and by anybody who wants to
stay current in winter as well as three decent Standard-class gliders.
There's also a tradition of organising expeditions to hill sites in early
October when thermals have quit for the year. Both of these factors tend
to lengthen the time most pilots spend in club gliders before thinking
about buying one.
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Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

Yes, I see your point, but the reality of clubs in my country (Poland) probably differ quite much. To be honest I am sick and tired of queueing for a club glider, being at the mercy of whimsical instructors and wasting time when I am not lucky enough to "deserve" a glider. I am by no means an experienced pilot, but with near 600 take-offs/landings in powered planes/ultralights/gliders I guess I am not completely ignorant?...

On Mon, 11 Jan 2021 13:51:27 -0800, Piotr Mis wrote:

Yes, I see your point, but the reality of clubs in my country (Poland)
probably differ quite much. To be honest I am sick and tired of queueing
for a club glider, being at the mercy of whimsical instructors and
wasting time when I am not lucky enough to "deserve" a glider. I am by
no means an experienced pilot, but with near 600 take-offs/landings in
powered planes/ultralights/gliders I guess I am not completely
ignorant?...

What control do the Chief Instructor and/or the club management committee
have over members who want to buy private gliders in Poland?

My experience when a low time pilot suggests that completing all three
legs of your Silver C in a Junior would be a good thing to do before
buying your own glider. Would declaring that aim get you better access to
a Junior? They may be slow, but they climb very well and I've heard that
Polish pilots have flown 300km triangles in them.

Visiting other clubs and flying any gliders they have that your club
doesn't is useful experience too. Sitting in them helps too: for
instance, sitting in almost anything else shows you how little you can
see behind you from a Junior, and that is very important to know when
sharing a thermal with more than 5 or 6 other gliders.

Just doing that got me my first flights in an ASK-13, Grob Astir G.102,
DG-300, PW-5, ASK-23 (the German Junior) and Standard Libelle. It also
showed me that the Libelle is by far the nicest of all these for comfort,
handling and all-round visibility - and also has the weakest airbrakes!


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Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org