LAK-12 Question

I fly a LAK-12 and love it. It is however kept rigged in a hanger.
Rigging is a pain if the guy in charge is clueless - but with time and
preparation - it can be made a lot less painless. Use wing stands
until ready for the final line-up and push and save the wingmans back.

It is easy and nice to fly empty - and very fast when loaded. Have a
few +500km flights in mine including a flight of almost 8 hours. There
is something very satisfying about 170km final glides.

It is also very strong and solid. Things are well put together. Mine
had a slightly off-white epoxy finish which should never crack. It has
subsequently been painted with a polyurethane paint which should also
be hard wearing and it has a glossy white colour. The control hook-ups
are a pleasure to use. And the canopy that locks into the open
position actually works very well. The fittings in the factory trailer
are also solid and the glider is very secure in the trailer. The
trailer is very long (12.5m) and weighs just over a ton loaded. I tow
it with a Landrover Freelander (2.0 TDI) and can tow comfortably at
the national speed limit (120km/h). The trailer has plenty of ground
clearance and towing out of rough fields is not a major issue.

I cannot get mine to spin - at the stall it just wallows around - or
the nose drops and the glider accelerates. It loops very easily. High-
speed flypasts are spectacular with the long wings.

All in all a great machine. I inherited an ASW-20 and had to decide
which aircraft to keep - as value wise they where the same. The LAK is
however 16 years newer and in far better condition. So it was goodbye
to the ASW-20.

Clinton
LAK 12 S/N 6229

50:1?
Land Out?

huh?????????

wrote:
50:1?
Land Out?

huh?????????

If you fly conservatively (well within the boundaries of your skill and
glider's performance), you will rarely, if ever, land out; conversely,
if you fly aggressively, you will land out often. The pilot determines
the risk of landing out, not the glider. The performance of the glider
will determine how far away from home the landout occurs. An aggressive
pilot with a Cherokee will land out conveniently close to home and be
retrieved in time for dinner, but an aggressive pilot in a Lak 12 might
not be retrieved until the next day, cold and hungry.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
* "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org

On May 7, 1:36 pm, wrote:
50:1?
Land Out?

huh?????????

You need to come check out some Arizona flyin'. There are times and
places when you are cruising in the mid teens, and you can't SEE
anyplace good to land down below!

And if you are down below 10k ft, you start sweating a landout...still
without seeing anyplace good to land...

Yeah, 50/1 sure is nice at times!

Kirk
66

fly the cherokee conservatively and you'll land out close to home...

Eric referred to aggression level being a predictor of landout probability.

It is possibly semantics but to me aggression equates to pushing the limits
without consideration. An approach that generally results in running out of
height and ideas at some point. Even in a contest you have to finish tasks if
you want to score well, so there is a careful cognitive process of assessment of
conditions, personal and equipment performance and acceptable risk of landout to
determine how hard you push. When racing I generally have little to lose so I
can take risks - the top positions in the pack will be more averse to a landout,
because that will demote them. The winning by not losing idea of George Moffatt.

Same applies to personal flying. We should be balancing risk and goals
analytically.

My club is averse to XC flying, it is very hard to get anyone to retrieve you.
Since not getting retrieved is at best inconvenient and could be bad for your
health, I have to fly conservatively most of the time.

74 flights and 145 hours in my Std Cirrus - 1:37 on a GOOOD day. One land out,
at another airfield. With a nearly two hour average - including the winch
launches at sunset for a hangar landing, you can see I am generally flying in XC
weather. But the conservative flying style means I have only a couple of 300+ km
flights. We have pilots who own 1:29 performance ships that have never landed
out in 10 years of flying. Clearly glider performance is not a predictor of
landout probability.

Conversely, flying in regional contests I can (and do) take a lot more risk in
terms of land out. My flying has improved, as a result. I really believe that
glider pilots should be encouraged to explore the performance capabilities of
their aircraft. I disagree with the aggressive word though, to me this is all
about developing judgement. In this context aggression would be referring to
Instrumental aggression (aggression directed towards obtaining some goal,
considered to be a learned response to a situation - care of wikipedia.)
I would prefer to think of setting a risk level - What is possible today, and
what risk of landout can I accept? As a measure - I tend to be below the half
way position in contests. With my conservative flying meaning I fail to exploit
the conditions and capabilities fully. I generally share this area with the
other mis-judgers, either too conservative or trying too hard. (aggressive if
you like)

Now. I know Eric is a very experienced XC pilot so some opinions please.

Should we be landing out frequently enough to account for luck only, or more?
Should we ever intentionally fly aggressively as per the definition of aggression?

Tail emits a tone when thermaling on several, like blowing over the
top of a beer bottle.

Frank, does your LAK have mylar seals for the rudder? I had a LAK once, =
and cured this with Streifeneder 'Kombi' tape.

We used to joke that the tail "moooed" to remind you to stay away from =
outlandings (vacada, aux vaches, K=FChe treffen.... sorry, it doesn't =
work in English).

Doug, there is an interesting thread about the LAK-12 at =
www.gliderforum.com.

Regards,

BG,

I think what we have here is a difference in our "english". US usage
of aggressive vs conservative. Different points on a range of
approaches to a task. Foolhardy or Impulsively, or even carelessly &
dangerously would be beyond aggressive on the scale.

I think of aggressive when I tilt the balance of rewards vs risk in
the direction of risk (in this case, landing out, not damage/injury).
Conservative is avoiding the risk of landing out at any cost, usually
due to logistics of a retrieve.

US use of term aggressive may be cultural, come to think about it...

Changing the subject, it's interesting that you have the same problem
we have of clubs not liking XC flights. There really seems to be two
types of glider pilots out there, at times!

Cheers,

Kirk
66

On May 8, 3:27 am, Francisco De Almeida
wrote:
Tail emits a tone when thermaling on several, like blowing over the
top of a beer bottle.

Frank, does your LAK have mylar seals for the rudder? I had a LAK once, =
and cured this with Streifeneder 'Kombi' tape.

We used to joke that the tail "moooed" to remind you to stay away from =
outlandings (vacada, aux vaches, K=FChe treffen.... sorry, it doesn't =
work in English).

Doug, there is an interesting thread about the LAK-12 at =www.gliderforum.com.

Regards,

'Mooing' is an appropriate description of the sound. Yes, mine has
mylar on the rudder.

Frank

In article . com,
"kirk.stant" wrote:

BG,

I think what we have here is a difference in our "english". US usage
of aggressive vs conservative. Different points on a range of
approaches to a task. Foolhardy or Impulsively, or even carelessly &
dangerously would be beyond aggressive on the scale.

I think of aggressive when I tilt the balance of rewards vs risk in
the direction of risk (in this case, landing out, not damage/injury).
Conservative is avoiding the risk of landing out at any cost, usually
due to logistics of a retrieve.

US use of term aggressive may be cultural, come to think about it...

Changing the subject, it's interesting that you have the same problem
we have of clubs not liking XC flights. There really seems to be two
types of glider pilots out there, at times!

Cheers,

Kirk
66

Man, I hate clubs that discourage x-country flying. Our little club,
Southern Eagles Soaring, flying out of LaGrange, Georgia, USA, whole
heartedly encourages x-country, badge, and contest flying. One of the
first flights of our "new" two-place glass bird resulted in a honest cow
pasture landout. Of course, we were not too thrilled about the towplane
landing out in a cow pasture...