Short video of a young pilot on his first glider solo flight

Hi Raul, I have a young student 15, about his size that I have been training along with other instructors. He has some strength issues on long flights, 1 hour, and uses two hands on the stick at times. We are training in 2-33s and the stick can be a bit stiff. I think adding to that the nervous reaction of over controlling and the death grip on the stick has an impact on his endurance. I think with more stick time and comfort with his flying that will sort itself out.

On Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 8:37:03 AM UTC-7, wrote:
Hi Raul, I have a young student 15, about his size that I have been training along with other instructors. He has some strength issues on long flights, 1 hour, and uses two hands on the stick at times. We are training in 2-33s and the stick can be a bit stiff. I think adding to that the nervous reaction of over controlling and the death grip on the stick has an impact on his endurance. I think with more stick time and comfort with his flying that will sort itself out.

Agreed! - Raul

Cool. I just think this kind of thing should be shared openly. YouTube will not restrict you for the music FYI. YouTube will automatically credit the musician and will not let you monotize the video. Might be a better platform for this video...

On Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 11:16:23 AM UTC-7, Sean wrote:
Cool. I just think this kind of thing should be shared openly. YouTube will not restrict you for the music FYI. YouTube will automatically credit the musician and will not let you monotize the video. Might be a better platform for this video...

Sean, I will do some research on this. Thank you. - Raul

Actually, my point was not so much about using both hands to hold the stick, which at times (and in young age) may be necessary to add the strength and stability, but about the sequence. In the footage at 1:18 I see the left hand underneath, with the right wrapped around it. I would feel safer with the right hand holding the control stick, and the left supporting it, but ready at any fraction of a second to move to do its proper tasks like the release or brakes. I hope I'm not being picky...

Yes. You are being too picky. I hate that people always seem to want to find fault with so many things theses days instead of seeing the good that this video represents. It is fantastic to see this young man participating in our great sport! I am sorry that you made any negitive response to this great video.

Boggs

Hello Tom,

After reading your comment about two hands versus one, I had a good conversation with my 14-year old student, today. We talked about adversity and how to handle it. So, from your comment we found a silver lining. That lining included how to handle adversity and also how to handle the flight control. It was all good.

You'll be pleased to know that we worked on that today. He found that the lighter grip (not the death grip) helped dampen turbulence. So I must say to you, thank you for mentioning it.

The other discussion we had was on handling adversity. My lesson to him was something that my instructor father taught me. He said, "Do not fear the winds of adversity. After all, an aircraft climbs against the wind."

Having said all of this, here is another good thing that came from comments about this really cool video. There is an interest in allowing the video to be more easily accessible. I relayed a reader's comment about YouTube having a way to protect the songwriter's rights. I forwarded this note to the video's producer to see if we can improve the video's access. The video's producer is a professional producer and she is excited to be part of our glider world. Let's see what comes of this.

Now, back to the cool video.

Raul Boerner

On Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 7:27:36 PM UTC-8, wrote:
Hello Tom,

After reading your comment about two hands versus one, I had a good conversation with my 14-year old student, today. We talked about adversity and how to handle it. So, from your comment we found a silver lining. That lining included how to handle adversity and also how to handle the flight control. It was all good.

You'll be pleased to know that we worked on that today. He found that the lighter grip (not the death grip) helped dampen turbulence. So I must say to you, thank you for mentioning it.

The other discussion we had was on handling adversity. My lesson to him was something that my instructor father taught me. He said, "Do not fear the winds of adversity. After all, an aircraft climbs against the wind."



Now, back to the cool video.

Raul Boerner

Raul,

Seems to me you are more than just a good glider instructor, the life lessons imparted and role model relationship with your student are priceless.

Good point Tom even if you are being alittle picky My being a relatively new CFI-G, but long time glider guider I have found several things that I do that are not taught very well from the beginning. Such as being able to fly well with either hand and being able to switch relatively quickly. As an example my gear handle on my Ventus is on the right and the tost release is in front of the gear. Therefore I can and do put my gear up on tow, I usually do this at an altitude of between 200-300 feet as a reminder/check list item of my being high enough to return to the field in the event of a PTT. Also if you fly power in a yoked airplane you will most definetly learn to fly with your left hand as your right is on the throttle. Flame shields on, I know this will invoke large responses

Great comments, Cliff. I'm standing by with my fire hose, though I
don't think there will be any flames. ;-)

On 11/21/2016 7:00 AM, wrote:
Good point Tom even if you are being alittle picky My being a relatively new CFI-G, but long time glider guider I have found several things that I do that are not taught very well from the beginning. Such as being able to fly well with either hand and being able to switch relatively quickly. As an example my gear handle on my Ventus is on the right and the tost release is in front of the gear. Therefore I can and do put my gear up on tow, I usually do this at an altitude of between 200-300 feet as a reminder/check list item of my being high enough to return to the field in the event of a PTT. Also if you fly power in a yoked airplane you will most definetly learn to fly with your left hand as your right is on the throttle. Flame shields on, I know this will invoke large responses

--
Dan, 5J