Canopy free soaring

On Thu, 08 Nov 2018 15:00:54 -0800, Eric Greenwell wrote:

JS wrote on 11/7/2018 9:31 PM:
On Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at 4:39:59 PM UTC-8, son_of_flubber
wrote:
Dreaming about next summer...

Other than drag, is there any reason to not remove my canopy and go
soaring? Experimental airworthiness.

Why wait until next Summer?
The open cockpit regatta is held every New Year's Day in Tehachapi.

I'm told you haven't really flown in an "open cockpit" until you do it
from a winch tow off a frozen lake. The closest I've come to an open
cockpit was racing open wheel Formula Vee cars, and I learned you really
want to have that small wind screen deflector in front of you, otherwise
the force of the wind on your head can make your neck very tired, very
quickly.

I don't know about the frozen lake, but I've enjoyed winch launching in
my club's Slingsby T.21 - not only open cockpit but side-by-side seating
as well. Very pleasant flying on a summer day. During the longest day the
T.21 is first to be launched and last to fly because its not bothered by
canopy misting.

The T.21's airbrakes are about as ineffective as those on a 2.33 and its
performance is similar, but its cockpit ergonomics are better and the
instructor's vis and comfort are better because he's sat alongside the
student. But the design is 20 years older and all in wood and canvas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNSfkKK3O8k

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slingsby_T.21

I've not done the following, but clubmates who have tell me that its slow
enough to fly a circuit without turning at all on a windy day - winch
launch as normal, slow down to min sink so you're blown backward just
past the runway threshold, then put the nose down, speed up and fly
finals as normal.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

My first training flights were in a Slingsby T21B many decades ago. It still seems weird being in an open cockpit with a full panel of gyro instruments!

Mike