How Low to Spin??

On Sat, 4 Sep 2004 15:39:37 UTC, "Chris Reed"
wrote:

: This is a different mode of lookout
: to XC or local soaring, and I usually find myself muttering "lookout" at
: some point to remind me of the change of mode.

Good point. And the lookout I find useful to remember is for the bozo
making a straight in approach, so I have a good hard stare downwind
just before I turn final.

: S (straps or speed?) is pretty useless on downwind, T (trim) ditto

You illustarte perfectly one of the problems with long mnemonics (and
I have had WWULFSSTALL recommended to me. Seriously.), which is that
it becomes hard to remember what each letter stands for, and tryting
to remember is a distraction. It's not exactly a stage of the flight
with lots of time for contemplation.

: , and A
: (airbrakes I think) is wierd - if you can't find them you're in trouble,

I use it to crack 'em open and check that they work. I haven't had
them frozen closed yet, but it has happened to two different friend of
mine (comes of flying in the frozen northern wastes) and while I am
perfectly happy to sideslip to round out - cue long, lomg, thread from
American cousins differentiating between "forward slips" and "side
slips" - I'd rather discover that I need to as early as possible.

: U is quite clear in my mind, having landed wheels up once already, and
: hoping not to do it again.

I was taught to lower the wheel as soon as I decided to land, even if
that was at 12,000', so U is a check, not an action. I wonder how many
people get used to gabbling "Undercarriagefixedonthisaircraft" (as
they gabble "Flapsnotfittedonthisaircraft" during CBSIFTCB (with a few
E's thrown in if you want)) and continue to do so even when it's not
true...

Ian

Ian Johnston wrote:

: , and A
: (airbrakes I think) is wierd - if you can't find them you're in trouble,

I use it to crack 'em open and check that they work. I haven't had
them frozen closed yet, but it has happened to two different friend of
mine (comes of flying in the frozen northern wastes)

I've also had them frozen shut, but another reason for checking them is
to activate the gear warning if the gear isn't down and locked. That has
warned me at least 3 times.

--
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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

"Eric Greenwell" wrote in message
...
Ian Johnston wrote:

I've also had them frozen shut, but another reason for checking them is
to activate the gear warning if the gear isn't down and locked. That has
warned me at least 3 times.

Damn good point! Also, it allows you to check that your hand is on the
right handle (think Blanik) and also, there is a tiny possibility of assemetric
spoiler deployment (have seen it once), something best delt with at altitude.

Vaughn

On Sat, 04 Sep 2004 22:39:48 GMT, "Vaughn"
wrote:


I've also had them frozen shut, but another reason for checking them is
to activate the gear warning if the gear isn't down and locked. That has
warned me at least 3 times.

Damn good point! Also, it allows you to check that your hand is on the
right handle (think Blanik)

Very good point!

Think ASW-27 - we had a very experienced pilot land my club's 27 this
weekend with the flap lever only. Touched down at the end of the 2.000
ft runway and used up the (inofficial) 500 ft overrun before he was
barely able to stop it by dropping a wing and doing a quick 110
degrees turn a couple of feet in front of a vineyard.

He never even wondered why his "airbrake" lever didn't have the
slightest braking action.

Second time this has ahappened at my home airfield - the last time was
ten years agon in an ASW-20.



Bye
Andreas

Andreas Maurer wrote:

On Sat, 04 Sep 2004 22:39:48 GMT, "Vaughn"
wrote:



I've also had them frozen shut, but another reason for checking them is
to activate the gear warning if the gear isn't down and locked. That has
warned me at least 3 times.

Damn good point! Also, it allows you to check that your hand is on the
right handle (think Blanik)


Very good point!

Think ASW-27 - we had a very experienced pilot land my club's 27 this
weekend with the flap lever only. Touched down at the end of the 2.000
ft runway and used up the (inofficial) 500 ft overrun before he was
barely able to stop it by dropping a wing and doing a quick 110
degrees turn a couple of feet in front of a vineyard.

He never even wondered why his "airbrake" lever didn't have the
slightest braking action.

Second time this has ahappened at my home airfield - the last time was
ten years agon in an ASW-20.

I've had several people recommend having a look at the wing when you
open the airbrakes, to see if they actually appear! I did this while
training students in our Blanik (the flap and airbrakes handles are very
close), but it is good advice for any glider. It is also good advice if
the glider does not seem to be climbing well (on tow or under power)
and, as Andreas mentions, when it is not coming down well!

--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA