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#1
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Should we assume that these two rope breaks were during aero tow?
The next obvious question is how strong were the weak links and why did they break. The fact that this individual had two weak links break at a low enough altitude that it resulted in his landing off field, does make us wonder what the complete story is. Was he solo in a single place glider? Or was it a result of letting a student get too far out of position? Inquiring minds would like to know. M Eiler More specifics please for those off-airport landings. Otherwise your "1000 feet" may be taken by some as a bit of an exageration. Jack In my friends case, the first break came shortly after crossing the field boundary at about 50 feet. This was a case of insufficient climb angle to reach 200 feet while still in range of the runway. The other, as I understand it, was at about 300 feet but still out of gliding range of the airport. My comment about 1000 feet referred to a situation that happened to me because the tug pilot turned downwind at 100 feet AGL with a heavy glider and strayed still further downwind as the air tow ground on despite urgent radio calls. It was only at 1000 feet AGL that I felt that I could release and get back. (and get another tug pilot) This has happened to me too many times to recall all of them. Understand, I fly in an area where density altitude at takeoff can exceed 10,000 feet. It takes a strong tug to keep a heavy two seater constantly in range of the runway. My point with the original post is that there is no guarantee that the magic 200 feet AGL will always get you back. Bill Daniels |
#2
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Marty, I'm going to top post here since I can't figure out which way this
thread is expanding. In the first case, the weak link at the tug failed because the tugee modified it without our knowledge or approval. In the second case the rope itself was the weak link and it most likely failed because it was left laying on the ground in the path of a landing 2-33 which cut some of the strands with its razor sharp metal skid. I know that in the first case, the glider was in perfect position - the link just fell apart. In the second, the student was flying but was not badly out of position. In both cases the failure was a complete surprise to the CFI-G. These incidents happened at different airports under different conditions and operating procedures but to the same CFI-G in the same month. One could argue, as I did, that the CFI-G shared responsibility with the tug pilot to check the integrity of the rope and weak links . As we know, this is hard to do for each flight at a busy operation and we rely on the operating procedures and ground personnel to insure the rope is usable. Sometimes your luck just runs out. My original point was that with airtow stuff happens and sometimes you aren't in position for a return to the runway. In winch launching, you are. Bill Daniels "Martin Eiler" wrote in message ... Should we assume that these two rope breaks were during aero tow? The next obvious question is how strong were the weak links and why did they break. The fact that this individual had two weak links break at a low enough altitude that it resulted in his landing off field, does make us wonder what the complete story is. Was he solo in a single place glider? Or was it a result of letting a student get too far out of position? Inquiring minds would like to know. M Eiler More specifics please for those off-airport landings. Otherwise your "1000 feet" may be taken by some as a bit of an exageration. Jack In my friends case, the first break came shortly after crossing the field boundary at about 50 feet. This was a case of insufficient climb angle to reach 200 feet while still in range of the runway. The other, as I understand it, was at about 300 feet but still out of gliding range of the airport. My comment about 1000 feet referred to a situation that happened to me because the tug pilot turned downwind at 100 feet AGL with a heavy glider and strayed still further downwind as the air tow ground on despite urgent radio calls. It was only at 1000 feet AGL that I felt that I could release and get back. (and get another tug pilot) This has happened to me too many times to recall all of them. Understand, I fly in an area where density altitude at takeoff can exceed 10,000 feet. It takes a strong tug to keep a heavy two seater constantly in range of the runway. My point with the original post is that there is no guarantee that the magic 200 feet AGL will always get you back. Bill Daniels |
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Not always.
I learnt to fly at the London Gliding Club, Dunstable Downs some 40 years ago, entirely on the winch, and on the T21b. There was one run for which I was taught that the correct procedure for a launch failure at a certain height was to land beyond the airfield boundary in the farmer's field. The point surely is that before the launch starts the pilot should have in mind all the possible options to cope with any launch failure; this may include an off-airfield landing for either a wire or an aerotow launch. Incidentally, the London Club now has more land, and outlandings after a winch launch failure are not now required. W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.). Remove "ic" to reply. "Bill Daniels" wrote in message nk.net... snip My original point was that with airtow stuff happens and sometimes you aren't in position for a return to the runway. In winch launching, you are. Bill Daniels |
#4
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I still fly at dunstable and can say that there can still be a problem on
very still days off the Winch where you have too much height to land straight ahead but not enough to turn safely. This is especially true for abinitios/early solos. Unfortunately Dunstable is still far from flat and still has a horrendous dip to the downs side over half the field with the aver half having being filled in with spoil from the M1 making diagonal landings in that direction difficult/impossible unless you want to do a lemming act off the cliff edge that bisects part of the field but at least the hedge has been partially removed on part of the southern edge leaving the option of running on into a ploughed field. While I have never seen an outfield landing following a winch break I could see it happening a calm days with certain glider types. Areotowing in Strong Easterly winds out towards the downs - that is best confined to the horror vault. The wind coming across the top of the downs produces a very violent wave pattern across the field and just as you are getting to the roughest part where it feels like the wind is almost vertical and trying to slam you back into the field the tug has to execute a sharp right turn at V low altitude. There are parts of the field where the wave effect produces a complete wind shadow. As for being pulled off at 200ft - I wish. One of JJs (who probably taught the previous poster) last acts before retiring for the winter was to pull me off over the sw hedge - luckily we have a dip a bit further on that gives another 40 ft and somehow I got it down back on the field after a 270. When I asked him later if it was circa 150ft I was given the laconic comment - "Not as much as that - remember each wing is only 30ft so you dont need a lot providing you remember you already have flying speed and fly the turn precisely". I never did have the courage to ask him exactly how high we were. "W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.)." wrote in message ... Not always. I learnt to fly at the London Gliding Club, Dunstable Downs some 40 years ago, entirely on the winch, and on the T21b. There was one run for which I was taught that the correct procedure for a launch failure at a certain height was to land beyond the airfield boundary in the farmer's field. The point surely is that before the launch starts the pilot should have in mind all the possible options to cope with any launch failure; this may include an off-airfield landing for either a wire or an aerotow launch. Incidentally, the London Club now has more land, and outlandings after a winch launch failure are not now required. W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.). Remove "ic" to reply. "Bill Daniels" wrote in message nk.net... snip My original point was that with airtow stuff happens and sometimes you aren't in position for a return to the runway. In winch launching, you are. Bill Daniels |
#5
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Yes, JJ was one of my two instructors at Dunstable 40 years ago (John
Jeffries, not to be confused with some young whippersnapper from Nevada who has hijacked these initials). I remember the way he used to fly, and it is obvious that some things don't change. My other instructor was Mike Till, I flew with him mostly, I see he is on the current roster. As to launch failures generally, aerotow failures will often involve outlandings, fortunately such failures are rare compared with wire launch failures. There has been considerable discussion as to how aerotow failures should be taught, since it is important that the pupil should not assume that the airfield can always be reached. It maybe that JJ could get back, but this does not mean that you can when it happens for real. Instructors are apt to pull a simulated failure when it is still possible to get back, though only just with JJ. There is a lot to be said for using a motor-glider for teaching aerotow landing options, though JJ won't like this idea! In real life some aerotow operations are carried out where an aerotow failure may result at best in a controlled crash. Remember that if the tug has an engine problem it may operate at low power before failing, so you will be slower and lower than on a normal tow before you abandon the tow or it abandons you. As to wire launch failures at Dunstable, yes there is often a very narrow gap between being too low to turn and too high to get in straight ahead. It is certainly a good idea to have fields outside the airfield in mind when reviewing the options while doing the launch failure bit of "eventualities" before starting the launch. Often the field is partly blocked by gliders awaiting retrieve, and tractors on their way to do the retrieve. If you do not think of an option when reviewing options before starting, you are unlikely to think of it when conducting a very high pressure recovery which is by definition not expected (though it must be thought about). W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.). Remove "ic" to reply. "Stephen Haley" wrote in message ... I still fly at Dunstable and can say that there can still be a problem on very still days off the winch where you have too much height to land straight ahead but not enough to turn safely. This is especially true for abinitios/early solos. Unfortunately Dunstable is still far from flat and still has a horrendous dip to the downs side over half the field with the other half having being filled in with spoil from the M1 making diagonal landings in that direction difficult/impossible unless you want to do a lemming act off the cliff edge that bisects part of the field but at least the hedge has been partially removed on part of the southern edge leaving the option of running on into a ploughed field. While I have never seen an outfield landing following a winch break I could see it happening a calm days with certain glider types. Aerotowing in strong easterly winds out towards the downs - that is best confined to the horror vault. The wind coming across the top of the downs produces a very violent wave pattern across the field and just as you are getting to the roughest part where it feels like the wind is almost vertical and trying to slam you back into the field the tug has to execute a sharp right turn at v low altitude. There are parts of the field where the wave effect produces a complete wind shadow. As for being pulled off at 200ft - I wish. One of JJs (who probably taught the previous poster) last acts before retiring for the winter was to pull me off over the sw hedge - luckily we have a dip a bit further on that gives another 40 ft and somehow I got it down back on the field after a 270. When I asked him later if it was circa 150ft I was given the laconic comment - "Not as much as that - remember each wing is only 30ft so you dont need a lot providing you remember you already have flying speed and fly the turn precisely". I never did have the courage to ask him exactly how high we were. "W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.)." wrote in message ... Not always. I learnt to fly at the London Gliding Club, Dunstable Downs some 40 years ago, entirely on the winch, and on the T21b. There was one run for which I was taught that the correct procedure for a launch failure at a certain height was to land beyond the airfield boundary in the farmer's field. The point surely is that before the launch starts the pilot should have in mind all the possible options to cope with any launch failure; this may include an off-airfield landing for either a wire or an aerotow launch. Incidentally, the London Club now has more land, and outlandings after a winch launch failure are not now required. W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.). "Bill Daniels" wrote in message nk.net... snip My original point was that with airtow stuff happens and sometimes you aren't in position for a return to the runway. In winch launching, you are. Bill Daniels |
#6
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"W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.)." wrote:
... There is a lot to be said for using a motor-glider for teaching aerotow landing options, though JJ won't like this idea! I agree with JJ's opinion. My computation identified the minumum of Vz*V as an important factor in the possibility of turning back, and this values is usually much higher in a motor-glider, due to higher wing loading and worse aerodynamic. ... As to wire launch failures at Dunstable, yes there is often a very narrow gap between being too low to turn and too high to get in straight ahead. I don't understand clearly what is the problem at Dunstable. What is the length of runway ahead of you when you reach 150m? ... Often the field is partly blocked by gliders awaiting retrieve, and tractors on their way to do the retrieve. In this case, if they don't allow a sufficient free space to land in case of a cable break, you should delay the start. |
#7
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Teaching aerotow launch failure options with a motor glider.
JJ has always disliked the idea of using a motor glider for any purpose whatever, and he has the same opinion of turbo and self-launching gliders (unless old age is getting to him and he has changed his opinion recently). His opinion is purist, aesthetic and emotional, and I can remember him admitting this. Dunstable never used a motor glider for training while he was running things, they got one after he retired from the club management. It is a matter of what is most fun, flying with JJ has always been fun (unlike some instructors I could name). It is now a BGA requirement that glider pilots get a "Cross-Country Endorsement" to their Gliding Certificate before deliberately flying cross-country. See "Laws and Rules for Glider Pilots" edition 14 (BGA), page 44 section 17.12. In the section on Field Landings it states: "The candidate must make a minimum of two successful approaches, selected by himself in a motor glider. .....". The motor glider is used of course so that an approach can be made without actually landing. The use of motor gliders for glider pilot training generally has always been controversial in he U.K., the strongest advocate was always Derek Piggott. However whenever a club has got used to using a motor glider for teaching the cross country skills of Navigation, Field Selection and Field Landings it has always been accepted as being valuable, and its use for teaching Field Landings is now mandatory. In the case of aerotow launch failures the training I had in mind was for the cases where turning back to the airfield is not a safe option. This then becomes an exercise like any field landing, except that the decision to land is immediate and unexpected, but should be into a field already known about. As for the case where it is possible to turn back to the airfield, if it is not possible in a motor glider with a very experienced instructor supervising, and the exercise known about in advance; would it be sensible for a rather inexperienced pilot solo and taken by surprise? The type of motor glider almost invariably used for this area of training in the U.K. is one of the Falke series. Winch launching at Dunstable. I flew 917 launches at Dunstable as instructor between 1992 and 1994, almost all of them by winch, most in the K21 the remainder in the K13. I did many launch failure exercises (we all did) and none of them finished in a field. The field is fairly small, and roughly rectangular in shape so all the winch runs are short. I recall that 1,200ft was a good launch, and sometimes on some runs we got 800ft or less. 150m or 450ft would be far too high to land ahead unless the wind was strong, on a no wind day such a height would be considered easy for a short circuit. As for congestion on the airfield, of course one would not launch if there were nowhere to land, it is simply that one seldom had the whole area available. W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.). Remove "ic" to reply. "Robert Ehrlich" wrote in message ... "W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.)." wrote: ... There is a lot to be said for using a motor-glider for teaching aerotow landing options, though JJ won't like this idea! I agree with JJ's opinion. My computation identified the minimum of Vz*V as an important factor in the possibility of turning back, and this values is usually much higher in a motor-glider, due to higher wing loading and worse aerodynamic. ... As to wire launch failures at Dunstable, yes there is often a very narrow gap between being too low to turn and too high to get in straight ahead. I don't understand clearly what is the problem at Dunstable. What is the length of runway ahead of you when you reach 150m? ... Often the field is partly blocked by gliders awaiting retrieve, and tractors on their way to do the retrieve. In this case, if they don't allow a sufficient free space to land in case of a cable break, you should delay the start. |
#8
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I don't understand clearly what is the problem at Dunstable. What is the
length of runway ahead of you when you reach 150m? Simple answer is not really enough when launching in flat calm conditions which aggravate matters in 2 ways 1) Lack of wind reduces the overall height gained by upto 30% which means you will be substantially further down the field @ 150ft. 2) Lack of headwind means that the landing will be longer. 10kts of wind changes everything and produces a reasonable overlap. The ordinance survey shows the field at about 1k in length As for runway we are a grass field which is far from level. "Robert Ehrlich" wrote in message ... "W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.)." wrote: ... There is a lot to be said for using a motor-glider for teaching aerotow landing options, though JJ won't like this idea! I agree with JJ's opinion. My computation identified the minumum of Vz*V as an important factor in the possibility of turning back, and this values is usually much higher in a motor-glider, due to higher wing loading and worse aerodynamic. ... As to wire launch failures at Dunstable, yes there is often a very narrow gap between being too low to turn and too high to get in straight ahead. I don't understand clearly what is the problem at Dunstable. What is the length of runway ahead of you when you reach 150m? ... Often the field is partly blocked by gliders awaiting retrieve, and tractors on their way to do the retrieve. In this case, if they don't allow a sufficient free space to land in case of a cable break, you should delay the start. |
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