Glider Tail Stall

Glad to see people Dog-piling on me and exagerating my comments...
*smirk* Makes me wonder why are you folks feeling so threatened and
defensive. I'm not advocating a college course in order to get your
pilot's license, I'm not calling for any changes at all in my
comments... Why are folks blowing this out of proportion?

Please re-read my original post carefully. I never said you had to
have a "perfect" understanding of aerodynamics. I also never said it
would make you a fast race pilot. I'm saying that pilots should
understand what is happening - aerodynamically speaking - when they
deflect the control surfaces on their aircraft.

The sum total of your knowledge should not be "I push the stick to the
right to make the airplane roll right". It should be "I push the
stick to the right which makes the left wing aileron go down,
increasing angle of attack and therefore the lift on that part of the
wing. Simultaneously, the right wing aileron is doing the opposite
movement with the opposite effect. The net _effect_ is that the
aircraft rolls toward the right - with a bit of adverse yaw because
the increased lift on the left wing has a bit of rearward action/angle
on it."

And since people are taking me so literally, let me clarify that I'm
not advocating you talk through this whole sequence with each control
movement - but it _should_ be something you intuitively know is
happening. In a cause-and-effect system like flying, you need to
understand the "cause" bit - because the "effect" is only guaranteed
under certain limited conditions.

What I am claiming, is that knowing this stuff will make you a better
pilot and perhaps a more consistent pilot. Most of all it will make
you a safer pilot. As Bob Wander is fond of saying, "your aircraft is
your life support system". I think its mind-boggling that people are
willing to use a life-support system they don't understand.

Regarding the sarcastic "National Team" comments: I'm working on
that. :-) I've only been flying for 2 years (well, 2.5 if you count
powered aircraft as "flying"). I will be competing in my first
Regionals here in late April at Warner Springs. Last summer I bought
a DG-300 and took my first 7 flights out of an unfamiliar airport
(Ephrata). I made 3 flights in excess of 400km (at 82 - 97km/hr); and
all 7 flights were in excess of 200km - even the first couple of
familiarization flights and on days with OD and rain.

I'll let this die now - I'm sure many of you will post follow-on
comments that will tempt me to jump back in and clarify - but I'll try
to resist. If you're dead set on arguing this, nothing I say will
change your mind - so I'll try not to waste everyone's time.

--Noel