Options for disabled glider pilot

The problem in making modifications to the construction
of the aircraft is getting the modifications approved
by the various authorities. Even simple modifications
can be time consuming and costly to develop. Failure
to do so may render airworthiness certificates and
insurances invalid.

There is a school of thought that says you should try
to adapt the pilot to the aircraft not the other way
round, as this enables the disabled pilot to fly other
aircraft rather that a specially adapted one. I realise
that this is not always the case.

The pilot here should be encouraged to fly and learn
the limits of what he can achieve with one hand until
the time comes for the need to use two. Simply gripping
the stick with the knees provides a simply way to the
free the hand for other short tasks, but may not be
very good for tasks such as airbrake and approach control.


A useful contact is the British Disabled Flying Club
at

Email
Website http://fly.to/bdfc


At 14:18 28 August 2003, Root wrote:
'E. A. Grens' wrote:

Allan -

If you own the glider and can make modifications,
you could benefit from
some modern technology. As you probably know, modern
military aircraft use
buttons, etc. , on the control stick to perform many
functions. A rocker
switch on the stick could control your spoilers through
a solenoid. Another
could control the trim, if necessary. Others could
control additional
functions (gear?). Since these activities do not
occur frequently they will
not impose excessive loads on your battery.


I would not like to fly a glider where some control
depends on the power of
a battery to operate. Battery failures are the most
common incident in the
gliders in my club. Of course early preventive replacement
may lower the rate,
but in case of a defective new battery with an abnormal
short lifetime, you
can detect it prior to its failure to keep its charge.

If I had to design from scratch some control disposition
for people with only
one hand, I thing I would like to have the three basic
controls (ailerons,
rudder, elevator) actuated by the hand, leaving the
feet for trim and spoilers.
E.g. the hand could actuate the kind of yoke you find
on most light power planes,
mounted on top of a stick with the 2 usual degrees
of freedom. Tilting the
yoke left or right would act on the ailerons, moving
the stick left or right
would act on the rudder, moving the stick back and
forward would act on the
elevator. Another possible disposition coming in my
mind is a rotating handle
like those found on motorbikes at the end of a standard
stick, but in this
case I can't chose which among handle rotation and
stick left/right should
operate rudder and ailerons. The most natural would
be ailerons as usual by
stick left/right and rudder by handle rotation, but
you would probably not
have a sufficient force to operate the rudder by direct
mechanical transmission
in this way. The tow hook release should also be operated
by a button on the
yoke or the stick.