Do not arcive
John-
You're right on. At our old airport in Illinois, we required at least a glider
solo for anyone who wanted to learn how to fly. In most cases, they finished
the glider rating before transitioning to power. If I had my way, that would
be required of all pilots. We have a 3 foot piece of tow rope framed and on
the wall in our bedroom. My wife had a break at 200 feet on her first solo in
a 2-33. We were towing with a Bird Dog that we found had a miscalibrated ASI
and the break was caused by towing her too fast. She was able to convert the
extra airspeed to altitude and got to about 400 feet before putting the nose
down and turning. We asked her if she wanted to get out of the airplane after
she landed and she elected to stay in it unitl we replaced the rope. She said
later that the reason she wanted to stay is that she could not have stood up
if she got out. I'm sure the situation would be much more difficult in winch
launch where the angle of attack is very high.
Jim Puglise A-283
-------------- Original message --------------
From: TELEDYNMCS@aol.com
In a message dated 6/20/2007 2:58:38 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
europa-list@matronics.com
writes:
Glider pilots who have practiced winch failures at such a low height
will know that 180 degree turns are killers. Anything under 500 feet and
the only safe option is to land sraight ahead - sometimes a 90 degree
turn may be possible if the field is large enough.
Hello Carl,
Here on this side of the pond we glider pilots are required to demonstrate two
simulated rope breaks at each biannual flight review. In my training days and
subsequent biannual reviews since, I've had to demonstrate dozens of these
maneuvers.
Having experienced a release failure on take off I can tell you that the
simulated rope break is almost like the real thing. There is never any warning,
other than you know it will happen twice at some point in the review. The
instructor, who sits in the back seat out of view, just yanks the release and
you are off to the races. The only real warning you get is if you happen to see
the release handle coming back just before the rope goes away.
The simulated rope break is generally done at or slightly above 200' agl after
take off. The recovery procedure is quite simple, but it takes a clear thinking
mind, confidence in the performance of the aircraft, and some practice to
execute
the maneuver correctly. You also have to act and act immediately. What
we are taught is to perform a "dog bone" or "tear drop" turn. Essentially, it's
a shallow turn of about 30 degrees in one direction using the speed left over
---From the tow. Then, a steeper, more nose down turn of 210 degrees in the
other
direction to get lined up with the runway. You always want to make the 210
degree turn as much into the wind as possible. The direction of the turn(s)
depends
on the wind direction. This maneuver is easy to do, even in low performance
trainers and I've always had to apply large amounts of spoiler and or a heavy
slip to get back down and stopped without overshooting the runway. Below
200' we are taught to blow full spoilers and land str
aight
ahead.
What gets people into trouble in this situation, and on the downwind to base and
base to final turns, is the tendency to "rudder" the airplane around. This
tendency,
coupled with a high nose angle, makes the turn uncoordinated, slowing
the inside wing to the point of stalling and is what leads to stall/spin crashes
on approach. This is a major cause of both glider accidents and power plane
accidents on landing. I think this is very likely what happened to Cliff and
Betty Shaw, and was probably exaggerated because they were loaded with baggage
and possibly had an aft C of G.
With all this said, and having practiced the dog bone maneuver in N245E, I don't
think I could do this maneuver in my Europa from less than about 400' in the
best of conditions and safely return to the runway. Since I fly regularly out
of 2200' surrounded by trees, I don't have a lot of options. I get the flaps
up within about 10 seconds of breaking ground and keep the nose down to
accelerate
in ground effect to slightly above the best rate of climb until I'm over
the trees, then slow to best rate of climb to pattern altitude, then I usually
go to cruise climb. With this method, if the engine quits at 400' or higher I'll
have 75 -80 kts to work with. Depending on the wind, with the extra speed
I would likely return to the runway. If the engine quits at 200'-400', with the
extra speed I can easily get over the trees and into the next field. Might not
be a pretty landing, but certainly better than taking an "arboreal adventure".
I think the key here is practice, practice, practice! Every pilot, regardless of
how much air time you have accumulated, should take some glider lessons if you
haven't already. Get used to flying an airplane without an engine. Learn how
to conserve energy and translate energy and altitude to airspeed. Better yet,
go ahead and get your glider rating. It's a whole lot of fun and it'll make
you a much better, more coordinated and confident pilot. You'll be much more
prepared
when (not if) the engine goes quiet. It'll be a little less of "oh shit,
the engine quit" and a little more of "oh well, I'm in a glider again"
situation.
Regards,
John Lawton
Dunlap, TN (TN89)
N245E - Flying
See what's free at AOL.com.
<html><body>
<DIV>Do not arcive</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>John-</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>You're right on. At our old airport in Illinois, we required at least
a glider solo for anyone who wanted to learn how to fly. In most cases,
they finished the glider rating before transitioning to power. If I had
my way, that would be required of all pilots. We have a 3 foot
piece of tow rope framed and on the wall in our bedroom. My wife had
a break at 200 feet on her first solo in a 2-33. We were towing with
a Bird
Dog that we found had a miscalibrated ASI and the break was caused
by towing her too fast. She was able to convert the extra airspeed
to altitude and got to about 400 feet before putting the nose down and
turning. We asked her if she wanted to get out of the airplane after she
landed and she elected to stay in it unitl we replaced the rope. She said
later that the reason she wanted to stay is that she could not have stood
up if she got out. I'm sure the situation would
be muc
h more difficult in winch launch where the angle of attack is very
high.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Jim Puglise A-283</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px
solid">-------------- Original message -------------- <BR>From:
TELEDYNMCS@aol.com
<BR>
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3132" name=GENERATOR><FONT id=role_document
face=Arial
color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV>In a message dated 6/20/2007 2:58:38 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
europa-list@matronics.com
writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px
solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2><EM>Glider
pilots who have practiced winch failures at such a low height <BR>will
know that 180 degree turns are killers. Anything under 500 feet and <BR>the
only safe option is to land sraight ahead - sometimes a 90 degree <BR>turn
may be possible if the field is large enough.</EM></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Hello Carl,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Here on this side of the pond we glider pilots are <EM>required</EM> to
demonstrate
two simulated rope breaks at each biannual flight review. In my training
days and subsequent biannual reviews since, I've had to demonstrate
dozens of these maneuvers. Having experienced a release failure on take
off I can tell you that the simulated rope break is almost like the real thing.
There is never any warning, other than you know it will happen twice at
some point in the review. The instructor, who sits in the back seat
out of view, just yanks the release and you are off to the races. The only real
warning you get is if you happen to see the release handle coming back just
before the rope goes away.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The simulated rope break is generally done at or slightly above 200'
agl after take off. The recovery procedure is quite simple, but it takes
a clear thinking mind, confidence in the performance of the aircraft, and
some practice to execute the maneuver correctly. You also have to act
and act immediately. What we are taught is to perform a "dog bone" or
"tear drop" turn. Essentially, it's a shallow turn of about 30 degrees in
one direction using the speed left over from the tow. Then, a steeper, more
nose down turn of 210 degrees in the other direction to get lined up
with the runway. You always want to make the 210 degree turn as much into
the wind as possible. The direction of the turn(s) depends on the wind
direction.
This maneuver is easy to do, even in low performance trainers
and I've always had to apply large amounts of spoiler and or a heavy slip to
get back down and stopped without overshooting t
he run
way. Below 200' we are taught to blow full spoilers and land straight
ahead.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>What gets people into trouble in this situation, and on the downwind to
base
and base to final turns, is the tendency to "rudder" the airplane around. This
tendency, coupled with a high nose angle, makes the turn uncoordinated,
slowing the
inside wing to the point of stalling and is what leads
to stall/spin crashes on approach. This is a major cause of both glider
accidents
and power plane accidents on landing. I think this is very likely what happened
to Cliff and Betty Shaw, and was probably exaggerated because they were
loaded with baggage and possibly had an aft C of G.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>With all this said, and having practiced the dog bone maneuver in
N245E, I
don't think I could do this maneuver in my Europa from less than about 400'
in the best of conditions and safely return to the runway. Since I fly
regularly out
of 2200' surrounded by trees, I don't have a lot of options. I
get the flaps up within about 10 seconds of breaking ground and keep the
nose down to accelerate in ground effect to slightly above the best rate
of climb until I'm over the trees, then slow to best rate of climb to
pattern
altitude, then I usually go to cruise climb. With this method, if the engine
quits at 400' or higher I'll have 75 -80 kts to work with. Depending
on the wind, with the extra speed I would likely return to the
runway. If
the engine quits at 200'-400', with the extra speed I can easily get
over the trees and into the next field. Might not be a pretty landing, but
certainly better than taking an "arboreal adventure".
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I think the key here is practice, practice, practice! Every pilot,
regardless
of how much air time you have accumulated, should take some glider
lessons if you haven't already. Get used to flying an airplane without an
engine.
Learn how to conserve energy and translate energy and altitude to
airspeed. Better yet, go ahead and get your glider rating. It's a whole
lot of fun and it'll make you a much better, more coordinated and
confident pilot. You'll
be much more prepared when (not if) the engine
goes quiet. It'll be a little less of "oh shit, the engine quit" and a little
more of "oh well, I'm in a glider again" situation.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Regards,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>John Lawton</DIV>
<DIV>Dunlap, TN (TN89)</DIV>
<DIV>N245E - Flying</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR>
<DIV><FONT style="FONT: 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF; COLOR: black">
<HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">
See what's free at <A title=http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503
href="http://www.aol.com/?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503"; target=_blank>AOL.com</A>.
</FONT></DIV><PRE><B><FONT face="courier new,courier" size=2 color000000?>
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