a few more newbie's pre-purchase questions

robert wrote:
In our club in hot Aussie conditions, the CFI and his mob will discus
matters with you, if you take off without adequate water, a hat and a relief
system. The drop off in pilot performance due to dehydration is dramatic and
has been attributed to many accident. We have professional colour charts in

One of our local examiners thinks dehydration is the #1 most important
"medical factor" in glider flying. He (and I) believe a LOT
more accidents are caused by dehydration induced poor judgement
than the fraction of accident reports indicate.

I personally LOVE those little camelback things. I buy them without
the canvas bag, since the plastic bag itself seems very sturdy.
The Army used to prescribe 12 quarts a day during heavy exertion,
so I'm guessing 2-4 quarts for 4-8 hours of flight would be ok.
I drank three quarts during my 5 hour silver duration...

As a pilot with ~100 hours, I really dont find the flaps that big of a
nusance, but the performance increase seems to offset the complexity.

Just think of them as a giant trim tab, forward to go fast, back to go
slow...


"Doug Hoffman" wrote in message
...
Ted Wagner wrote:

Flaps or no? (I'll be flying mostly in Arizona, more x-country than
local.)

Flaps pro: lower stall speed during landing, some performance increase
Flaps con: additional cockpit controls complexity and pilot workload


-Doug

Jason Payne wrote:

As a pilot with ~100 hours, I really dont find the flaps that big of a
nusance, but the performance increase seems to offset the complexity.

Just think of them as a giant trim tab, forward to go fast, back to go
slow...

No argument here, Jason. I started with flaps after only 20 hours of flying
*anything*. And my ship has no spoilers. Just 90 degree flaps for landing.
I don't find the increase in workload to be an issue. Btw, I've *never* had
my spoilers accidentally pop open or fail to connect upon assembly. ;-)

-Doug


"Doug Hoffman" wrote in message
...
Ted Wagner wrote:

Flaps or no? (I'll be flying mostly in Arizona, more x-country than
local.)

Flaps pro: lower stall speed during landing, some performance increase
Flaps con: additional cockpit controls complexity and pilot workload


-Doug