Flying Gliders

[Old Farang]

Anyone? Never tried them myself, but a lot of good points mentioned in the following article.

No second chances | Flight Safety Australia (https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2015/04/no-second-chances/)

Why gliding experience makes us safer pilots. Kreisha Ballantyne experiences the seven valuable skills advanced by gliding.

And some take off tips:

When the tug overpowers the glider | Flight Safety Australia (https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2020/08/when-the-tug-overpowers-the-glider/)

The author warns about gliders spearing off to one side at launch and, on a couple of occasions, being written off.

[JDNSW]

I've flown gliders on a couple of occasions (but not in recent years). I would agree it is a useful experience as a pilot.

But my experience was an awful lot of waiting round for a bit of flying. Possibly noticed this because my emphasis on flying has always been as a method of travel rather than recreation.

[101RRS]

Yes, I am a glider pilot from a while back - is great fun and yes it does teach you to know what the terrain is below you. Learnt on a Kookaburra Schneider ES-52 - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schneider_ES-52) and then did most of my licensed flying in a Blanik LET L-13 Blanik - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LET_L-13_Blan%C3%ADk).

I did lots of thermalling and circuit work but no cross country work - always airtow for launch. When landing, I found air brakes were better than spoilers and felt a lot better going over the threshold a bit high which the air brakes could handle - not the most proficient pilot but I always got down where I wanted.

Garry

[loanrangie]

My dad had 2 gliders when we were kids, a 2 seater and Jantar single seat he had brought out from Czechoslovakia. Quite often has 2 of us in the front seat , spent many a long hot day at Tocumwal aerodrome.
We hard a farm there that dad had bulldozed a run way in the middle of a 200 acre paddock.

[aussearcher]

I had the great good fortune to be taught to fly at Southern Downs SC at Warwick in Queensland. I was still at school in the early '70s and in the Air Force Cadets; our CO had been a flying instructor in WW2 and we often went gliding. A lot of the instructors at Southern Downs were ex RAAF of WW2 vintage, although one was an ex RAF Lancaster pilot and another an ex Luftwaffe FW 190 pilot. They got on very well!

Nothing beats sitting in a thermal with a big wedgetail going round with you, often just sitting above the wingtip getting a free ride...

[p38arover]

Yes, before kids so must have been 40+ years ago. Trained in a Blanik at Camden using aerotows.

[vnx205]

Learnt on a Kookaburra Schneider ES-52 - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schneider_ES-52) and then did most of my licensed flying in a Blanik LET L-13 Blanik - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LET_L-13_Blan%C3%ADk).

Garry

I started in a Kookaburra at Armidale where they have the worst thermals this side of Antarctica and progresses to a Blanik just north of Narrabri. The thermals were quite a bit better over the black soil plains.

All my launches were winched. At Armidale it was on the back of a WWII Chev Maple Leaf truck and at Narrabri it was a purpose built winch with a V8 motor and an automatic gearbox.

I flew for long enough to go solo, but that was in 1968 -69.

[Gordie]

Love flying and used to scoff at gliders when I was learning to fly cessnas at 17yo. Did a bit of flying again a few years ago, but have decided now that gliders might be worth a try, a lot cheaper flying for a start, and a new set of challenges to flying, rather than just having the roaring engine in front of you. Haven't got around to giving it a go yet.

[JDNSW]

This thread has led me to reflect that maybe my minor gliding experience was useful on the occasion that I found myself flying a glider when I did not intend to after the engine dropped a valve, although I did not think of it at the time. At least, for some reason I was flying at 9500ft, and knew exactly where the best landing spots were (made it to Wagga airport and did a straight in, downwind landing).

[Gordie]

This thread has led me to reflect that maybe my minor gliding experience was useful on the occasion that I found myself flying a glider when I did not intend to after the engine dropped a valve, although I did not think of it at the time. At least, for some reason I was flying at 9500ft, and knew exactly where the best landing spots were (made it to Wagga airport and did a straight in, downwind landing).hope you bought a lotto ticket afterward! Lucky it didn't happen on take off.

[vnx205]

Love flying and used to scoff at gliders when I was learning to fly cessnas at 17yo. Did a bit of flying again a few years ago, but have decided now that gliders might be worth a try, a lot cheaper flying for a start, and a new set of challenges to flying, rather than just having the roaring engine in front of you. Haven't got around to giving it a go yet.

I had the opposite view. I scoffed at light powered planes.

I had been gliding for a year or so and was impressed with their performance. A friend took me up in his Cessna. I don't remember the model, but I think it was probably the least powerful model.

In his Cessna, I had the distinct feeling that I was in something that sounded and performed like a Volkswagen Beetle with wings

The Blanik I had been flying seemed to do things so much more easily than the Cessna which seemed to be struggling just to remain aloft.

[Gordie]

I had the opposite view. I scoffed at light powered planes.

I had been gliding for a year or so and was impressed with their performance. A friend took me up in his Cessna. I don't remember the model, but I think it was probably the least powerful model.

In his Cessna, I had the distinct feeling that I was in something that sounded and performed like a Volkswagen Beetle with wings

The Blanik I had been flying seemed to do things so much more easily than the Cessna which seemed to be struggling just to remain aloft.Yes well I was young and silly, petrol headed. I am sure if I have a ride in a glider, I will be sold.

[101RRS]

hope you bought a lotto ticket afterward! Lucky it didn't happen on take off.

They didn't have lotto tickets back then - maybe a war bond [bighmmm]

[p38arover]

I started in a Kookaburra at Armidale where they have the worst thermals this side of Antarctica and progresses to a Blanik just north of Narrabri. The thermals were quite a bit better over the black soil plains.


At Bellata? When I worked Moree Satellite Earth Station 1968-69, a couple of the other techs used to go there - I’d go down to watch. I think they flew a Slingsby in training.

[vnx205]

I used to think of it as Edgeroi rather than Bellata, but we are talking about the same place. I flew there in 1969.

The strip was on a soldier settler property called "Plain Acres" that was owned by Lynn Garden, my brother-in-law's father.

The first day I turned up at the strip I was just in time to see the Slingsby T31 land. It was piloted by the caretaker from the interferometer just west of Narrabri. It was quite a sight because he had a flowing beard and the T31 had an open cockpit.

The T31 gave the pilot a lot of practice in take-offs and landings and very little time chasing thermals because it had quite low performance.

The Blanik was much better, but not as good as a glider that the Armidale instructor (Wally Stott, I think) brought down one day. He and I flew it from the strip all the way over to the foothills of the Nadewar Range.

[Barraman]

I also flew with the Southern Downs SC at Warwick in Queensland, back in the 70's.

As a 200 hour power pilot, I soloed in a Blanik after 50 minutes training and then aero-towed with an Auster J5 and Pawnee 235 for a number of years.

Can't say that gliding ever did it for me, too much standing around doing nothing - waiting for a ride. Maybe if you had your own high performance glider there would be more to it!

While it was an interesting experience, I don't believe that gliding made me a better power pilot - nor do I believe the fairytale that glider pilots make better power pilots. I have never seen a glider pilot solo a power aircraft with less than one hour's training!

[aussearcher]

Barra,
Well, you are right on the time to solo in powered aircraft after gliding. It took me five hours, but I think that might be the legal minimum? We probably met back at Warwick. I spent a reasonable amount of time around the Club in '73, then was in Townsville '74/'75, then back to Brisbane and did a bit of gliding across 76, 77 and 78. After that moved to Melbourne. Ivor Harris did a lot of towing, Ivan Watt, Gus Mauch, Glen Hart and Alan Thorpe were the guys in the back seat for me.
Regards,
Alan

[Barraman]

Barra,
Well, you are right on the time to solo in powered aircraft after gliding. It took me five hours, but I think that might be the legal minimum? We probably met back at Warwick. I spent a reasonable amount of time around the Club in '73, then was in Townsville '74/'75, then back to Brisbane and did a bit of gliding across 76, 77 and 78. After that moved to Melbourne. Ivor Harris did a lot of towing, Ivan Watt, Gus Mauch, Glen Hart and Alan Thorpe were the guys in the back seat for me.
Regards,
Alan

I was in Warwick from 1975 to 1982. Gus Mauch did my glider and aerotow training. After I soloed in 50 min, Gus soloed Bob Keogh in 49 min - just to beat me!

I once raced Glen Hart from Warwick to Jondaryn (50 ? miles) - he was in his Libelle glider and I was in one of Bob Keogh’s C150’s. Glen took an aerotow to overhead the aerodrome and once he set course, I rolled on the runway.

I beat him - but only by a few minutes! I would not have believed it if I hadn’t been there !!

[loanrangie]

Yes, before kids so must have been 40+ years ago. Trained in a Blanik at Camden using aerotows.The club my dad was in had a couple of Blanik's that we flew in often.

[whitedisco]

Hi everone - I trained at Waikerie on Blaniks, Boomerang, Pilatus then cross country on ASW19 and Libelle mainly.

A great sport but a bit hard on the family doing the occasional road retrieve! I converted to power (including towing) and the gliding dropped off.

This is me preparing the Libelle BA for a comp flight at Bordertown in 1974 - nice hair and shorts eh!

164027

[Old Farang]

This is me preparing the Libelle BA for a comp flight at Bordertown in 1974 - nice hair and shorts eh!
Err, knees are bit knobbly. [biggrin]

[superquag]

This thread has led me to reflect that maybe my minor gliding experience was useful on the occasion that I found myself flying a glider when I did not intend to after the engine dropped a valve, although I did not think of it at the time. At least, for some reason I was flying at 9500ft, and knew exactly where the best landing spots were (made it to Wagga airport and did a straight in, downwind landing).

First thought was.... "Auster"... Last Century, friend of mine dropped so many he got good at outfield landings....and re-building engines. [bigwhistle]

- Nah, with their great glide-ratio you were spoiled for choices ! [bigsmile]

[JDNSW]

No, it was a Grumman AA-5B Tiger, Lycoming engine, not De Havilland.

[W&KO]

Has a surprise flight I’m a glider today for my burfday.........

It was with the glider club at Boonah.

I was quite amazed at the tow hitch arrangement. Didn’t look overly substantial, they indicated once in the air it less than 50kg force on the hitch.

A small Cessna was doing the towing...it has an upgrade engine 180hp I think they said.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210313/8651a9a2b0e6867001769d2d955bc64c.jpg

When we were driving out I thought cloudy weather might not have been that good...yes and no apparently. Yes it was a little low but what i learnt is there was a better chance of thermal.

Launching
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210313/29ef8c3b5f5eaa160dd8e717da46b7ac.jpg

Anyways we disconnected at 4000ft , pic below was 300-400ft which apparently is all we needed to get back to the air field.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210313/adb0821fa3e998bb55d62e3dd1d62140.jpg

I was given the control for a little while, I had to steer us toward a black cloud.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210313/12cfbbab1b68ca0d1dacd39c6ff18b8e.jpg

Doing some donuts
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210313/35deb89ceda4865233a5a037e98011f4.jpg

Pilot took over and managed to keep us at same altitude for a while......

It was than hard work finding any lift until right at the end when we were doing donuts infront of a small hill and managed to gain a few hundred feet.