Essex CO6 3AQ Tel: (01206) 242596
glide[at]esgc.co.uk
"essexandsuffolkglidingclub" |
Wormingford Airfield, Fordham Road, Wormingford, Colchester, Essex CO6 3AQ Tel: (01206) 242596 glide[at]esgc.co.uk "essexandsuffolkglidingclub" |
| Click here for latest updates and additions |
From the Chairman
Annual Checks
Flying Week News
Setting Yourself Goals
Eventualities
Fly Your Circuit Backwards!
Doghouse Blues.
Club Trophies No. 3.
Mid-air Collision Avoidance.
Wake Turbulence.
Sunglasses.
Membership Matters.
This Guy Failed Rocket Science.
Winching: The cable has broken...
Bad Wildungen Trip
A Feathery Visitor
From the Winchmaster
I felt that New Year's Day was an appropriate time to write a few lines for the next issue of "Winglet", as one could look back at 1997 and forward to 1998.
After five years we overcame the unjustifiable restrictions on winch launching at Wormingford, allowing us to fly whenever demand dictates and weather allows. This outcome, achieved with considerable help from the BGA, nevertheless cost the club at least £12,000.
The facility of being able to put Club gliders away fully-rigged has long been most members' hope; in order to fulfil onerous planning requirements, success with our Lottery application last year and some £30,000 from our own resources has at long last allowed work on the hangar to proceed. Although weather is delaying completion, we shall appreciate it all the more when it finally goes into use, hopefully well in advance of the formal opening on the morning of Wednesday 3rd June, of which more later.
Income from trial lessons, which plays a significant part in balancing our books, enabled us to incur the expenditure already mentioned. Hopefully, however, this year we can boost our trial flight income still further without interfering unduly with members' ability to fly, as has sometimes been the case in recent years. With organisation, evenings and days principally set aside for groups this coming summer should achieve this; the Treasurer's coffers will thus be replenished and upgrading of the existing Club fleet can become a reality rather than a dream.
Good soaring in 1998.
C. P.
Now we’re in 1998, a reminder to all you solo pilots who are off regular checks, that you’ll need to complete annual check flights with any instructor before 30th April to continue solo flying after that date - and all you pilots who haven’t passed Bronze handling checks, grab a "Full Cat" instructor and make this your handling check!!
Have a great soaring season!!
P. R.
Although all the club’s flying weeks are not yet finalised, one fixed to date (put it in your diaries) is the first week in June and from 1st to 7th the BGA DG500 glider will be on site for all to experience.
The DG500 is a two-seater, having 22m wingspan, flaps and glide angle of 50:1
P. R.
Whilst we are learning to fly solo, there are endless goals that set themselves naturally, e.g. first unaided landing, first take-off, first satisfactory spin recovery and so on, until finally the first solo flight, which for the majority makes up for all the hours of standing around waiting.
After all the necessary check flights following the first solo, you then get to being "off-checks" and can normally fly solo, provided that you remain current.
But then what? It is nice to have the status of a solo pilot, of course, and the flying is still great, but do you feel stuck in a rut doing circuits and fumbling around with thermals not really knowing what to do next?
Some of the instructors actively encourage pilots to obtain the Bronze badge, but several pilots seem prefer to fend for themselves and their flying can begin to feel monotonous, or they don’t stay up on days when all others seem to be soaring. It’s probable you are approaching your first batch of the doldrums. It’s at times like this that many members drift away from gliding. What a waste! There is so much more to come... the fantastic sense of achievement after your first 50 km, the euphoria of popping out of cloud at 8000 feet, the buzz of aerobatics and the discovery that every cross-country is an adventure!
The problem comes when, as an early solo pilot, you perceive an enormous gulf between your skills and those required to reach the next set of dizzy heights. You don’t know how to get there and either don’t ask, will not ask, or feel that the instructors are either too busy doing their own soaring or plugging away at the ab-initio list.
So is there an answer? Here’s one idea. To give yourself a sense of purpose, pinch a tip from modern management and coaching styles and try "goal setting".
First, write a list of all the things you would like to achieve from gliding. Anything from conquering your fear of cable breaks to winning the Nationals; if it’s what you want, put it down. A typical list with may look like this.
Having competed your own personal list, go and find your instructor. A pint in the pub usually enlists co-operation. What you need to do now is sort your list into some sort of reasonable timescale. For instance, our imaginary list above could be divided into
Two month goals (to be achieved by, say, about March 31st)
Six month goals (to be achieved by July 31st)
Long term goals (next year or year after)
Now you need to take a closer look at your short term aims (getting through the Bronze badge and overcoming the fear of field landings) and break it down into much smaller areas on which you need to work. Our example could look like this:
| Aim: | What to do: |
|---|---|
| Bronze flight test. | Arrange a dual flight with an instructor to find out where my flying needs polish. Fly at least once a week to remain current. Learn to sideslip. Practice cross-wind landings in two-seater. Practice unusual circuits in two-seater. |
| Pass bronze exam. | Put aside an hour or two a week to study. Ask instructors for help on ground subjects. |
| Overcome fear of landing out. | Fly in a two seater motor glider and practice field landings. Ask for a dual cross country. Practice spot landings. |
The aim is to achieve at least one item on your short term list each week (or whatever time scale you choose). The time limits you set should be realistic and your instructor can help by knowing your abilities and discussing the amount of time you will need. It is important to have an actual date to complete each goal and stick to it. If you reassess your master plan every couple of months you can see what achievement you are making and bring new items down into your "short term" list.
Don’t forget that setting goals is to help make your flying fun and give you something to go for, so don’t let it rule your life, nor get anxious if you fail to achieve a goal by a certain date - just put it forward to next month’s (year’s) plan. Soon, hopefully, you’ll have something to look forward to and before long you’ll experience one of those magic moments of which gliding is full, and you’ll know why you invest so much time into this wonderful sport.
P. S. There are now "post-solo development cards" available, which give many goals and exercises for you to achieve and run right through to the 100km diploma.
All you recent solo pilots should grab one from me!!
P. R.
Q. How often when taking a winch launch should you expect a cable break?
A.
Although in practice, of course, you will not experience a cable break (or failed launch for some other reason) on every launch, you must expect one, as you never know when it’s going to happen.
That’s why the pre-launch checks now have an "E" added on, i.e. "CBSIFTCBE".
The "E" stands for "Eventualities", that is thinking about your first 30 seconds flying - maybe!!
Your launch, in the event of a launch failure, suddenly becomes an approach and landing.
So "Eventualities" is checking the wind sock for wind strength/direction and assessing your landing approach speed etc. for that "maybe" landing in 20 seconds, 30 seconds or 1 minute’s time!!
P. R.
No, this isn't advice about what to do when you're in the air - it might shorten your career somewhat. This is about how you plan your circuit before you fly.
First of all, what's a circuit for? It isn't just about forming a nice neat pattern of gliders all going in the same direction (though this is quite a good idea), nor is it about keeping close enough so that the instructor on the ground can keep a better eye on what you're up to.
A circuit has a far more important purpose: to enable you to arrive at the final turn with sufficient height, and with plenty of options available should the unexpected happen, such as a blocked runway.
So, how can you decide where your final turn will be, and at what height? First of all, if you're already down to 300 feet, you are doing your final turn whether you like it or not. Turning, possibly steeply, is not safe below this height, and furthermore, if you've planned and flown the circuit properly, there should NEVER be any need to cut this margin.
So, start by telling yourself where you want to stop rolling. How achievable this actually is will to some extent depend on considerations such as the wind strength and direction, and obstacles on the approach, and whether you have a wheel brake. (Never trust it!) Then work out where you expect your reference point to be. Generally, it will be somewhere in the middle of the runway, near the launch point, but not always. It might be very different, for instance if you're landing up.
Now you have a reference point, go back up the approach, preferably a half to two-thirds brake approach, and try to work out where you want to be over the ground at 300 feet (or more, if you decide the conditions require), bearing in mind the wind strength, and head-, or tail-, or cross-wind component. With a very strong headwind, you'll be fairly close to the launch point at your final turn. Try to judge this position, before you fly, so that you would have the option at any time to either pull more brake if overshooting, or, more critically, to put the brakes away completely if an undershoot develops.
Okay, so now you have your final turn position and height. Because your perception of the conditions will probably change during the course of your flight, especially with respect to the wind speed and the error in your estimates of the drift of the glider, the best way of getting to the final turn is to go at it from right angles, so you can correct errors easily by turning a little left or right, so as to move the final turn towards, or even further away from, the reference point. Hence the base leg. Before you fly, think about how much you expect the glider to be crabbing sideways during the base leg, and work out where you think the nose of the glider will be pointing during this time. You may well have to change your mind in the air, but it's better to go off with at least some idea, because it reduces your workload, and also it gives you an idea of where you could reasonably put your turn onto base leg from your 45 degree leg.
You may also of course, misjudge on the ground, the position of the turn from the 45 degree leg onto the 90 degree base leg itself, and the expected direction the nose of the glider points, but yet again you will have the option of turning left or right to bring the position of the turn nearer or further away from the airfield. And, by repeating the same thought processes for each leg of the circuit, you can fly yourself (in your head at least) backwards round the circuit, before you launch.
In the air, a few things are very important, and if you get them right you will improve your circuits significantly. First, make sure you completely level the wings after each of the circuit turns, for this reason: you'll find that with the wings level your judgement of height becomes better, and you already know that altimeters don't work reliably, ever, especially in gliders, and they blatantly lie when over strange fields (which, of course, you may encounter even if you didn't actually intend to do a cross-country). Secondly, with the wings level, the glider will be travelling in a straight line, and you can therefore assess any drift much more accurately than would otherwise be possible. Then, give yourself as much chance as possible to change the position of the final turn, until the last possible instant: in other words give yourself a nice long base leg. The best judgement of height in the world will not compensate for the extra workload and lack of options from a circuit flown too close to the centreline, and you will gain nothing: the sense of extra safety from being closer in is generally completely false. A nice long base leg gives you time to relax and think clearly, and make any needed alterations to your flight path towards the final turn.
Finally, and perhaps even more important than all this, if you do notice that an error in your position is creeping in, then do something about it: don't wait for it to get worse!
A. S.
We had a visit from the bank manager not so long ago, and he wasn't too pleased with the job I was doing. ("He's not the only one", I hear you say). We were testing the water to see if we could borrow money from him to help fund the new "Glider storage facility", our 35% of the cost. He previously had dissected three account years showing a steady trend in growth and solid performance in income.
There was one item he had a little trouble getting his mind around and that was this "quaint and old fashioned" system of lending money to the membership, the doghouse. We are all used to having a doghouse since its institution by "Buzz" as treasurer many years ago. Previous to the doghouse existence, anyone who had failed to pay for flying in a weekend had a letter in the post, politely requesting immediate payment. The doghouse was then invented to save time on the treasurer's part, and money for the club.
However, some people take the p*ss. The doghouse was originally intended as a temporary device to show up any errors, not as a pseudo bank account. When I was just a student, I was horrified if I found my name on the doghouse, and always squared up the same day to clear my debt. Now that I am treasurer, my eyes have been opened to the real world. I don't mind that the doghouse exists. I don't mind that for each calculation you make for your day's flying, I must make 25 to 30 times those calculations each day. What I do mind are the people who tell me from across the airfield, "you got my doghouse wrong, can you look at it?" No I can't. We will look at it together, and you will show me where I have gone wrong. The system is not perfect and errors do creep in. However, if you want perfection in your flying account, do what a minority of members do and pay the exact amount on the day. There are a handful of members who I guarantee will never appear on the doghouse. To those of you who are always surprised when a new doghouse goes up ...get a life. I have better things to do than clean up after you lot after a day's flying. And if you are surprised by the amount you owe, work it out. £4.50 a launch, 22p a minute: it mounts up very quickly. It still amazes me how many people cannot start with £4.50 and add a multiple of 22p. If your cheque ends in an odd number, your calculations are wrong!
This post I hold is voluntary, and temporary. I don't do it because I love doing the doghouse and annoying people.
When the bank manager left the site after a trial flight and a full tour of our club, he made me come to this agreement. "Mike, I promise not to take people flying, if you promise not to lend money to people!"
So, when I ask you to pay your doghouse off, or write to you prompting payment, don't have a go at me. If you need to look at my calculations, I will be quite happy to go back a whole year and show you what is involved. If you have a query, ask me. It really tees me off seeing comments on my doghouse sheet, that I have put hours into constructing.
M. B.
Pilots are shown climbing ‘rungs’ on a ladder as they get points for cross-country or height gains as the season progresses. Unlike the Jeff Cork Trophy which we looked at in the last issue, the rules are explicit, and over the years we have adapted the National rules to suit our East Anglian conditions in order to get members on the ladder as soon as possible in the season. Thus, we have seen pre-Silver pilots at the top of the ladder until overtaken later in the year when long cross country flights have been made. To become Club Ladder Champion is probably our most prestigious award.
Points scored for height are (Height Gain (feet) - 1500)/10. So if you get to 3200 ft off a 1300 ft launch you get 40 points. But you’d get no points if the launch was from Portmoak, as the ladder is only for flights from this club.
Any cross-country flight gets points for the distance flown. There are two advantages, however, of declaring the flight in advance. Firstly, the distance points are doubled and secondly, if the flight is completed, extra points are awarded for speed. Both sets of points are adjusted according to the handicap of the glider. A declaration consists of photographing a written task beforehand, but it need not be as comprehensive as a badge flight declaration. As an encouragement, pilots attempting a flight for their Silver distance, say to Tibenham, are assumed to have declared it. This gets them double points, since they will have enough on their mind without bothering with declarations.
The pilot’s two highest scoring flights in the year qualify. A height gain counts as a separate flight, even if it was achieved on the same flight as a cross-country. It is always worthwhile declaring a flight in advance because of doubling the distance points compared to an identical undeclared flight, even if the flight was not completed. This assumes that distance achieved was along track of the declaration.
Proposals to award some speed points for undeclared or uncompleted flights for the season are circulating in the clubhouse for comment.
The ladder is updated and posted on the Competitions Board as soon as I hear of an achievement, even if unconfirmed. Confirmation is by submission of Declaration, Turning Point photos and proof of speed. A full set of the rules and pictures of all the club Trophies are on display in the Clubhouse. In the next issue we’ll look at the club Triangles Trophies.
R. A.
Mid-air collision avoidance has increasingly become an important topic within both military and civilian aviation.
Both RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall have been active military installations since World War II. However, RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall aircraft frequently deploy to areas throughout Europe and Southwest Asia. The resulting fluctuation in traffic density may lull some pilots into relaxing their vigilance when flying through/near the local area. This is a potential hazard. RAF Lakenheath is home to the 48th Fighter Wing with two active squadrons of F-15E and one squadron of F-15C aircraft. These aircraft fly upward of 40 to 50 missions per day. RAF Mildenhall is home to the 100 Air Refueling Wing, which supports the European Tanker Task Force and one squadron of KC-135R aircraft; the 352 Special Operations Group, comprised of three squadrons of MC-130P/N, MC-130E, and MH-53; the 95th RS and the U.S. Navy; and a multitude of Air Mobility Command aircraft, including C141, C-5, and C-17 aircraft. This level of traffic density creates a potential for mid-air collisions, and a demand for greater vigilance by all pilots transiting the RAF Lakenheath/RAF Mildenhall Combined Military Aerodrome Traffic Zone (CMATZ).
Them seeing you is just as important as you seeing them. Therefore, we strongly encourage all traffic transiting the RAF Lakenheath/RAF Mildenhall area to utilize traffic advisory services provided by Lakenheath Approach Control on 128.9 or 264.675. This service can help both military and civilian pilots to see and avoid each other. In the interest of improved flying safety the 48FW and 100ARW Flying Safety Offices are available to speak to any assembly of pilots on these subjects. The Flying Safety Office telephone numbers are (01638) 525657/3737 at RAF Lakenheath, and (01638) 542255 at RAF Mildenhall. The RAF Lakenheath Radar Approach Control telephone number is (01638) 524480, and the RAF Mildenhall Tower number is (01638) 542612. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call.
48FW/100ARW
All aircraft generate wake turbulence while in flight. Originally believed to be "prop wash", it was later discovered to be a pair of counter-rotating vortices trailing from the wing tips. As aircraft became larger and heavier, the intensity of the vortices began to pose problems for smaller aircraft. Most of today’s jet aircraft - particularly the jumbo jets - generate vortices with roll velocities exceeding the roll control capability of some aircraft. Furthermore, turbulence generated within the vortices can damage aircraft components and equipment if encountered at close range. The pilot must learn to envision the location of vortex wake generated by a large aircraft and adjust his/her flight path accordingly.
Vortex Strength: The strength of the vortex is governed primarily by the weight, speed, and shape of the wing of the generating aircraft. The basic factor is weight and the vortex grows in strength proportionate to increases in weight and span loading. During one test, vortex tangential velocities were recorded at 300 feet per second (approximately 180 knots). The greatest vortex occurs when the generating aircraft is HEAVY, CLEAN, and SLOW.
Induced Roll: A serious wake encounter could result in structural damage. However, the primary hazard is loss of control because of induced roll. Aircraft intentionally flown directly up the core of a vortex during flight tests tended to roll with the vortex.
Vortex Characteristics: Trailing vortex wakes have certain characteristics which a pilot can use in visualizing the vortices’ location and avoiding them.
48FW/100ARW
Sunglasses give comfort in very bright conditions by reducing the total amount of light reaching the eye and, in particular, protect the eye from the damaging ultra-violet (UV) part of the spectrum. There are two types of UV: UVB and UVA.
UVB is radiation within a wavelength of 280nm to 3l5nm (nm = nanometre, which is one millionth of a millimetre!). This radiation is substantially absorbed at the surface of the cornea but can reach the retina. Excessive exposure can cause permanent damage to the cornea and conjunctiva, but this may not progress if further exposure is avoided. UVA (315nm - 380nm) radiation penetrates more deeply and can cause damage to the crystalline lens and retina. Permanent effects such as cataract development are seen as accelerations of the ageing process.
Always look for BS 2724. This British Standard sets performance levels for quality, strength, stability, design and manufacture as well as the amount of UV they let through. Purchasing sunglasses that don’t conform to this standard is not advised.
Non UV absorbing lenses can do more harm than not wearing anything at all. Behind a tinted lens, the pupil opens wider allowing in more UV light than would happen normally, and thus reduces the eyes natural protection. Sunglasses sold under B52724 have a "shade number". Shade numbers relate to the amount of UV allowed through. The higher the number the better the protection.
Brown and grey are the most popular colours and green is the most effective. However, it is the "shade number" that counts.
| Shade No. | Recommended Application | Visible Light Transmission | UVB Transmission | UVA Transmission |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 to 2.0 | Cosmetic | 80-100% down to 30-40% | 8-10% down to 3-4% | 80-100% |
| 2.5 | General Purpose | 18-30% | 2-3% | 4-8% |
| 3.1 | General Purpose | 8-18% | 1-2% | 2-4% |
| 3.1 | Special Purpose | 8-18% | 0.2-0.3% | 0% |
| 4.1 | Special Purpose | 3-8% | 0.3-0.8% | 0% |
For safety choose plastic, toughened glass or laminated glass lenses. Check sunglasses’ lenses by holding them at arms length and looking through each separately at a vertical line. If the line distorts or wavers when the lens is rotated slightly, the lens is imperfect.
Yes. This area is developing quickly. Ask your contact lens practitioner about the latest products available. Sports people involved in open air activities may find these particularly interesting.
Both sunglasses and contact lenses are available to your normal optical prescription. Your practitioner will be pleased to advise you, but ensure that he or she knows that you wish to have UV protection built in.
The Highway Code states that tinted glasses should not be worn at night or in poor visibility. Sunglasses should not be used at night to stop head lamp glare. They should also be removed if driving from bright sun into a tunnel. Don’t pick a very dark tint. A medium density is normally sufficient and it is safer as it transmits more light.
These are tinted darker at the top than at the bottom, and give useful protection from bright overhead light, leaving a lighter area for map reading or seeing the dashboard.
These lenses darken on exposure to sunlight and should react efficiently in changing light conditions. They should not leave much tint present when the lens is not exposed to the sun.
These lenses reduce reflections from wet or polished road surfaces, but they reveal the stress patterns in the older types of toughened windscreens, which can be hazardous.
POLEBENDER
Now that we have more flexibility for flying next year, we will be looking for groups to participate in "Trial Lesson Evenings". There will be members who have contacts through their work who will be able to invite groups along to try our sport. Please contact the Membership/PR Secretary, Paul Foulger, for more details.
For , we are considering holding a Christmas Dinner. To enable this to be a success, we do need a commitment from members. We can arrange for payment to be made in advance on a monthly basis if you would prefer. Look for more details in the clubhouse and at the next AGM.
There is a range of good quality clothing on sale at reasonable prices. Look at the display board in the clubhouse - and help to promote the Club!! Also a range of books etc. is available from the club shop.
Please let the Membership/PR Secretary know if you have any ideas to promote the Club further. All ideas are welcome, and in particular any contacts that may be available to us that may not have been explored.
P. F.
You may know about the Darwin Award. It’s an annual honour given to the person who (accidentally) kills himself in the most extraordinarily stupid manner. Last year’s winner was a fellow who died when a Coke machine toppled over on him as he was attempting to get a free soda out of it. Here is the story of this year’s nominee (and don’t try this at home, folks).
The Arizona Highway Patrol came upon a pile of smouldering metal embedded into the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The wreckage resembled that of an aeroplane crash, but further investigation revealed that it was a car. The make of car was unidentifiable at the scene.
The lab finally was able to piece together what had happened. It seems that the vehicle’s operator had somehow obtained a JATO unit (Jet Assisted Take Off - actually a solid-fuel rocket booster) that is used to give heavy military transport planes extra 'push' for taking off from short runways. He had driven his vehicle, a 1967 Chevy Impala, out into the desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. He then attached the JATO unit to his car, jumped in, got up some speed and fired off the JATO!
The facts as best as could be determined are that the man hit JATO ignition at a distance of approximately 3.0 miles from the crash site. This was established by the prominent scorched and melted asphalt at that location. The JATO, if operating properly, would have reached maximum thrust within five seconds, causing the Chevy to reach speeds well in excess of 350 mph and continuing at full power for an additional 20 to 25 seconds. The driver, soon to be a pilot, most likely would have experienced g-forces usually realised only by dog-fighting fighter pilots under full after-burners, basically causing him to become insignificant for the remainder of the event.
The automobile remained on the straight highway for about 2.5 miles (15 to 20 seconds) before the driver applied and completely melted the brakes, blowing the tyres and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface, then becoming airborne for an additional 1.4 miles and impacting the cliff face at a height of 125 feet, leaving a blackened crater three feet deep in the rock. Most of the driver’s remains were not recoverable. But what a last ride!
"What shall I do?" If that goes through your mind then you are not safe to winch launch.
Firstly, the reaction to lower the nose and release the cable should be "instinctive" and must not require too much thought. Secondly, what was that last check? "E for Eventualities". You should have decided what speed you need to land at in the current conditions, and thought through the various landing options and possibilities, so that when the cable breaks, most of the decisions are already made.
You can work through the various scenarios (and perhaps discuss them with someone else too) any time before your launch, preferably some minutes in advance of your launch, so that when you are sitting there with the canopy closed, a check on the windsock to confirm that conditions have not changed and a quick "run through" of the possibilities is all that is necessary to bring the options to the front of your thoughts. So now you really are ready.
During your launch the cable breaks. If the break was near the glider then there would have been a loud bang, but if the break was down near the winch, you may just become aware that the launch speed is fading away. Don't wait for the winch driver to re-apply power: assume the worst and make sure you are safe! Now if you are quite high (let's say 700 feet plus) then you have plenty of time to "sort it out" but that doesn't mean that you need not react promptly. If there is still a length of cable attached to the glider then it, or the parachute, could get caught on the underside or tail; but even if it doesn't, the extra weight and drag will not improve the glider's performance. Let it go!
Now you are in a glider, with the nose raised about 50 or 60 degrees above the horizon. With no propulsion you are going to slow down quite rapidly. If you deflect the control surfaces through a particular angle then how will the aircraft react? That depends on the speed. At higher speed, the aircraft will react more rapidly than at low speed with that same control deflection. Obviously then, if you get the control input applied as soon as possible, it will be more effective than waiting until the speed has decayed. Get the stick forward as quickly as possible!
"But how far should I move the stick?" is a common question.
The answer to this is another question: What is the maximum-manoeuvre speed of your glider? In most gliders like the ASK-13, it is well above the maximum winch launch speed (which you do not exceed!), so it's perfectly safe to apply FULL control straight away. A large control input is more effective than a small control input, so don't lazily ease the stick forward; hit the front stop with it.
Now I know that someone has probably complained when you did this in training, and all the mud hit the canopy, but how much better to "train in" those instinctive reactions so that you suffer the discomfort of a mud shower (even from a "high" cable break) than to make a "lazy" cable break recovery one day at low altitude, when the discomfort will probably be greater and last longer!
Maybe you don't like subjecting your glider to such violent manoeuvres, which must put a strain on the airframe. Just consider that maximum-manoeuvre speed again. In a typical two-seat trainer like the ASK-13, the designers have calculated that you have a 10 to 20 kt margin. Now how much margin were you leaving below the maximum winch launch speed? The winch launch is one of the very few occasions when you will fly any aircraft so near its design (maximum) limits. From your comfortable seat you do not perceive the stress on the airframe during the launch because you are only aware of the rapid ascent and subjectively, that does not seem so "bad" as a rapid pitch change. Your senses cannot provide you with a good estimation of the forces on the aircraft, so you must believe the designers; and they say that full forward movement of the stick is well within the glider's capabilities.
With the possible exception of when the glider is very low, and to do so would cause a collision with the ground, the simple advice is: When you suffer a cable break, get the stick as far forward as possible as quickly as possible (hit the front stop). The glider will rotate from "nose-up" to "nose-down" in the shortest possible time, with the minimum height loss. Do this for every winch cable break so that it is second nature to you and you then stand a better chance of doing the right thing when it really matters. This will give you more time and height to accomplish a safe landing (or thermal away).
So the stick is fully forward. The nose is coming down. Now what?
Consider what you are doing and why you are doing it. The objective is to get the glider flying "normally", which means at a normal (cruising) attitude and reasonable (circuit) speed. To do this you need to make the transition from nose-up and speed decaying, through nose-down with speed increasing, to level attitude. The whole point of the "nose-down" bit is to regain the speed that has been lost during the "nose-up" bit. When the cable broke, the speed was probably less than 60 kts., so by the time the nose is down to a "level" attitude (at the peak of the push-over) the speed will have decayed to something significantly less than 40 kts. so you must continue to lower the nose to regain flying speed; but as soon as you have that flying speed you may safely return to a normal attitude. In other words there is no need to continue to accelerate and then pull out of a high-speed dive, the "nose-down" attitude is required to regain flying speed but it is totally unnecessary to increase speed to more than your landing speed; this is a complete waste of energy at best, and low down, could be dangerous. Whenever the glider is flying at a higher-than-normal speed it is creating unnecessary drag and so will descend quicker, and as you dive to a high speed so you lose altitude. You must lower the nose to regain flying speed; but as soon as you have sufficient speed, returning to the normal attitude will avoid that extra drag and minimise the height lost in the cable break recovery.
You might also note that this same point applies to stall or spin recovery too.
Ten seconds has elapsed since the cable broke. Now take a deep breath and get on with a "normal" landing!
J. A.
In mid-September I combined a business trip to Hannover with a visit to our twin club at Bad Wildungen, which was the source of our second winch. I stayed with Klaus Leonardt in his home, which is in the centre of the town.
Their club has about 60 members, but unlike us they have quite a high proportion of non-flying members, which is a bit of a puzzle when compared to our own setup at Wormingford. Their fleet consists of a DG500, K13, LS4, K8, a motor glider and a tug aircraft, all of these in what I can only describe as showroom condition. There appeared to be no private ships at all.
I arrived quite late on the Friday night, and after my first night at Klaus's we went out to the club on the Saturday. This was a rather poor flying day which was cut short by a rainstorm after my second flight in the K13.
On the second day, we arrived at about 10:30 and Klaus was surprised to find that there were already about 4 others on site. When operations started I had quite a busy day. I was taken on a total of seven flights, the last of which consisted of some very impressive low level thermalling in the DG500 by Herbert Hohne, the CFI, followed by some equally impressive aerobatics which included inverted flight.
As if this was not enough, they then took me on a powered flight to another airfield where the Wassmer refuelled, and on the way back we flew over the Eder Dam, of Dam Busters fame, where I was expected to take photographs!
Their method of winch launching is different to ours in that there is telephone communication between the launch control and the winch and also radio communication between the glider pilot and winch driver. A dialogue is maintained throughout the launch, so there is no problem with speed control.
Their winch is home made, mounted on a truck and powered by a large diesel engine. The term "home made" is not entirely appropriate as this is without doubt the best winch I have ever seen, and just like the glider fleet, its "in service" condition is excellent.
When flying their ships, although their ASI's are calibrated in km/hr, I had no problem reading airspeed due to the way that the German ASI's have coloured bands to indicate safe flying speeds and VNE. A simple practice which we would do well to adopt.
While I only flew at Bad Wildungen for one weekend, I was very impressed with their club organisation and the way that they enjoy their flying. I personally found that the town itself and the surrounding countryside was very pleasant and interesting and intend to return next year.
If any of our members wish to fly there, they have sleeping accomodation in the attic of the clubhouse which would be available to any visitors, and I know from experience that they would be made welcome. Several of them speak English but of course an attempt at using a little German is always appreciated.
The town of Bad Wildungen is reasonably accessible, being about a 6-hour drive from the Hook of Holland, which of course has a good ferry link to Harwich.
When they came to visit us in August, their CFI suggested that any of our members who are interested in mountain flying should join them in an expedition to La-Motte in the Spring. If anybody would like to do this, let me know and I will contact them in order to finalise details.
R. B.
One day during the summer, whilst I was rigging gliders, I heard a plaintive squeaking from the tops of the trees near the entrance to the airfield.
Closer investigation revealed it to be a cockatiel that must have escaped from its owner. Such a bird would probably be attacked by the local birds, and I thought that there would be no way to capture it. But I whistled back, and it flew down into a small bush by the T21 "hangar", and then calmly walked onto my finger. I put it in the hangar with some water and a couple of ears of corn from the field. Other than a missing feather or two, there was remarkably little evidence of injury.
At the end of the day, I took the cockatiel home, and introduced it to my other residents, two male cockatiels, and the reaction was instantaneous: I knew this one was a female! (How can they tell?) She didn't want much to do with the boys, except to clean out their food tray. She was obviously very hungry after her time in the wild.
I put a notice in a couple of the local shops, but she wasn't claimed, which I'm now very relieved about, as she is great fun, an excellent (semi-aerobatic!) pilot, and quite the tamest bird I could ever imagine. I have called her "Dusty", because when she shakes her feathers, she is.
A. S.
Many thanks to the members who assisted in the removal and replacing of the winch engine.
My thanks also to the winch drivers, who keep the club flying.
Having two winches proved very useful when the engine expired in the original winch.
After the hangar is completed, I will require some assistance in removing the drive-train on the new winch so it can be repaired and returned to full mobility. Hopefully, there are enough spares on the truck by the old hangar.The original winch is also in need of repair. The damaged covers will be replaced with ones similar to the new winch, allowing better access to the drums. An engine oil cooler combined with a new gearbox oil cooler will be installed. Some of the work should be completed by the spring.
You may have heard Tony Brown and myself discussing "Big Block Chevy Engines". We believe this may be the way forward for our winches. The present Pontiac engines are roughly mid-70s vintage, and spares are becoming expensive and hard to obtain. We are awaiting the outcome of Lasham's engine replacement, and experience, before we start down that path. Using this new engine with its higher power means we will be able to launch heavier gliders if required, and give better launches when the runway is sticky.
Could all members who attach the cable parachutes to the cables please check that they are untangled? This is very important for safe retrieval of the cable, especially on nil-wind days. If the 'chute fails to open quickly, the winch driver gets a pile of cable on top of the winch. Whilst writing about 'chutes and cables, can we try and find any weak links that are dropped? These are expensive in their own rights, but cost the club even more when they find their way into a combine harvester. Links cost roughly £20, repair to harvester £70.
R. B.