Glider Launch failure

[Deskpilot]

Follow the rules and survive. Well done that man.

 

Glider Launch Failure, Cable Breaks

 

 

[facthunter]

Quick isn't it? Nev

 

 

[Geoff13]

Seemed like a great case of excellent training and calm confidence providing the perfect result.

 

 

[bexrbetter]

Loved that he kept calling out his speed to himself and often.

 

 

[facthunter]

Whatever works for you. Nev

 

 

[Oscar]

Perfect response. He wasn't at the steepest climb I've seen on a winch; his climb speed appeared to be around 65 kts, so the nose-over to gain flying speed wasn't as dramatic as is fairly normal - ( probably around 3 seconds at least in a Blanik before you get the stick back out of the panel), but note the INSTANT response of the stick all the way forward and no aileron input until the speed is stabilised. ( Note the pause between the 'Speed... And turn' comments.)

 

Spot on, great video.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

I learned in Blanics and years later the training kicked in when (back at the same airfield as it happens) my instructor suddenly pulled the power on the Jab during climb out. I instinctively rammed the stick forward and we went momentarily zero G. His reaction was priceless.

 

After that he gave me advance warning of each simulated engine failure. We ended up doing 20 of them.

 

Great training.

 

 

[Oscar]

Where I salute the Pilot's reaction - and obviously his training and self-discipline - is that pause while not just the speed stabilises but the fact that he quite obviously WAITS until he has proper G underneath him. I've had a few - and in a Blanik you feel as if you're going to drive it into the ground waiting for the negative G to go away...

 

 

[facthunter]

If you have negative "G" you are losing height you don't need to. You might temporarily do this to get the required attitude quickly, but it's hard to justify from an energy conservation point of view. Nev

 

 

[Oscar]

Nev, the way it was explained to me was that at less than at least 600 feet, you will normally land more or less straight ahead, so your first action is to get the thing into 'flying' condition, i.e. in normal G, and then decide the next action. My first break experience was on the third ( from memory) launch - and we hadn't actually practised breaks at that time. About 400 feet, just as you start to pull the steep 'kiting' part of the climb ( probably why the wire let go, of course) and I had plenty of strip ahead, so I kept the nose down, pulled brakes, and kept them full until the start of the round-out - though I had plenty of strip ahead, (Forbes) the last thing I actually wanted was excess height or energy!.

 

But, it's not ever completely 'formula' - obviously. You have to make decisions - quickly - depending on the circumstances. If your best option is going to be a full circuit - 360 degrees of turn - then you may need to make it a very tight circuit and pulling any sort of tight turn without sufficient airspeed is going to cause serious problems, - you'd know this heaps better than I do!. Starting the turn too soon and having to kick it straight out of an incipient spin wastes more height and space than waiting just a wee bit longer..

 

It's actually quite similar to sailing!. When you are tacking in a yacht, if you try to get the main tight after the tack before you have the headsail drawing properly, that will drive you right back into irons and you slow, lose rudder power and go dead in the water. Particularly noticeable on cats and tris...

 

 

[facthunter]

IF you are landing straight ahead you want to get down in the shortest distance track wise. The last thing you want is the energy you have in that SITUATION. You don't have excess speed but you certainly have excess height. Watching the circuit our "friend" did, I wondered if a straight ahead might have been possible, as the size of the circuit means you have all your eggs in the one basket, and dependent on "making it" back to the runway. Having a significant headwind would make all the difference to this decision. We need a blackboard to analyse this. He did what hew was trained to do,. Manouvered safely and didn't try to stretch the glide. Nev

 

 

[Oscar]

Nev - absolutely agree. That thing was off the ground so quickly, that I think some headwind was happening (or it was one hauling mother bear of a winch). A decent headwind gets you high in a very short distance on a winch, but the corollary is that if you are going to do a full circuit your turns need to be damn tight, or by the time you are tracking downwind you don't have enough height to do the 'base/final' turn (all one half-circle in that situation.) I'd rather have a few knots in hand for the turns than trying to feather it around at too low a speed while being blown downwind.

 

 

[facthunter]

Well at low height a down wind appears to be a fast situation, and the risk is that you will slow up based on the view of the ground. We don't do low level training , so........? Another of my pet bitches. Let's get this changed.. Nev

 

 

[Yenn]

My first ever glider flight was in a Kookaburra. I knew about cable breaks and had one just as I left the ground. I was landed and had a look round to see the instructor still trying to find the stick.

 

 

[facthunter]

I think my first flight in a glider was a similar plane. The other guy was an absolute enthusiast so I sort of went along so as to not hurt his feelings. I couldn't get back into a powered plane quick enough. You will be pleased to know I am much wiser now, but gliders have improved and are very sophisticated high performance aircraft. You can stay up in them for 1100 kms. Maybe one is in my future again.. Nev

 

 

[Oscar]

Um.. Nev: Distance: 2500k... (New Zealand glider pilots break world distance record_English_Xinhua) Endurance: 56 hours 15 minutes (Flight endurance record - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

 

 

[facthunter]

Yeah I'm only using figures in Aust where we don't have long mountain ranges like the Land of the Wrong White Crowd.

 

 

[rdarby]

That brings back memories. I remember we trained for it but in reality had a lot more real cable breaks than we had simulated ones! Nothing like trying to fix a cable, with 10 of you pulling it tights, in the middle of winter on a wind swept airfield.