Short video of a young pilot on his first glider solo flight

[[email protected]]

This 4-minute video is of our youngest member of the Black Forest Soaring Society on his first solo flight. We are based between Denver and Colorado Springs, CO.

https://vimeo.com/191745312

Case sensitive password: Soaring

[AS]

On Saturday, November 19, 2016 at 11:07:19 AM UTC-5, wrote:
> This 4-minute video is of our youngest member of the Black Forest Soaring Society on his first solo flight. We are based between Denver and Colorado Springs, CO.
>
> https://vimeo.com/191745312
>
> Case sensitive password: Soaring

Congratulations, Jack! Well done first solo!
Uli

[waremark]

On Saturday, 19 November 2016 16:07:19 UTC, wrote:
> This 4-minute video is of our youngest member of the Black Forest Soaring Society on his first solo flight. We are based between Denver and Colorado Springs, CO.
>
> https://vimeo.com/191745312
>
> Case sensitive password: Soaring

Well done Jack. Very nicely made video.

[Dan Marotta]

Well that brought a lot of smiles and memories from Black Forest/Kelly
Air Park.

Thanks!

Dan

On 11/19/2016 9:07 AM, wrote:
> This 4-minute video is of our youngest member of the Black Forest Soaring Society on his first solo flight. We are based between Denver and Colorado Springs, CO.
>
> https://vimeo.com/191745312
>
> Case sensitive password: Soaring

--
Dan, 5J

[Tom BravoMike]

Great video - congratulations!

BTW, I believe it would be safer to hold the stick in the right hand all the time during those sensitive parts of the flight, so that the left hand can reach instantly for the release or the brakes, if necessary - see 1 min 18 sec. They say what you learn in the early phases stays with you and is difficult to get rid of.

Tom

[Bruce Hoult]

On Saturday, November 19, 2016 at 9:35:32 PM UTC+3, Tom BravoMike wrote:
> Great video - congratulations!
>
> BTW, I believe it would be safer to hold the stick in the right hand all the time during those sensitive parts of the flight, so that the left hand can reach instantly for the release or the brakes, if necessary - see 1 min 18 sec. They say what you learn in the early phases stays with you and is difficult to get rid of.

I was a bit concerned about this too. Maybe he just isn't strong enough? I learned in Blaniks (L13, not L23) and the stick forces were pretty high, especially on tow. Worse, half of them seemed to be mis-rigged and needed constant pressure one way or the other on the ailerons. I found it really quite tiring on arm muscles on tow and I was in my early 20s, not 14.

I've never felt anything similar in Grob or DG training twins, or even in Ka7/ASK13 that I can remember.

But maybe the L23 is better. I've never seen one.

[Sean[_2_]]

Why have a password "protecting?" this video?

[Paul Agnew]

I would love to share this with permission. (Sans password locked.)

We all should share this on our various social media sites with the caption - "What did your 14-y/o do today?"

Congrats!

[[email protected]]

Sean, the reason for having a password protected video has to do with the music. Public source music does not require permission to use, but selection is limited. The music in this video is still private, thus the video has to be private access. It is a legality thing. - Raul Boerner

[[email protected]]

What did our 14-year old do today? Well, I'm heading out to the field for our lesson. After reading a good article about stall training versus stall-avoidance training, we'll discuss that. Also, we'll work on how many hands to use to hold the control stick.

After over 40 years of instructing, this was the first time that I was able to "see" what is really happening in the cockpit during the first solo. Prior, I just had to imagine what was going on while standing at the end of the runway looking up. What I saw in the video is a young man with good focus in his eyes for the tasks at hand (no pun intended for the two-hand question, which will be discussed).

Raul Boerner

[[email protected]]

Hi Raul, I have a young student 15, about his size that I have been training along with other instructors. He has some strength issues on long flights, 1 hour, and uses two hands on the stick at times. We are training in 2-33s and the stick can be a bit stiff. I think adding to that the nervous reaction of over controlling and the death grip on the stick has an impact on his endurance. I think with more stick time and comfort with his flying that will sort itself out.

[[email protected]]

On Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 8:37:03 AM UTC-7, wrote:
> Hi Raul, I have a young student 15, about his size that I have been training along with other instructors. He has some strength issues on long flights, 1 hour, and uses two hands on the stick at times. We are training in 2-33s and the stick can be a bit stiff. I think adding to that the nervous reaction of over controlling and the death grip on the stick has an impact on his endurance. I think with more stick time and comfort with his flying that will sort itself out.

Agreed! - Raul

[Sean[_2_]]

Cool. I just think this kind of thing should be shared openly. YouTube will not restrict you for the music FYI. YouTube will automatically credit the musician and will not let you monotize the video. Might be a better platform for this video...

[[email protected]]

On Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 11:16:23 AM UTC-7, Sean wrote:
> Cool. I just think this kind of thing should be shared openly. YouTube will not restrict you for the music FYI. YouTube will automatically credit the musician and will not let you monotize the video. Might be a better platform for this video...

Sean, I will do some research on this. Thank you. - Raul

[Tom BravoMike]

Actually, my point was not so much about using both hands to hold the stick, which at times (and in young age) may be necessary to add the strength and stability, but about the sequence. In the footage at 1:18 I see the left hand underneath, with the right wrapped around it. I would feel safer with the right hand holding the control stick, and the left supporting it, but ready at any fraction of a second to move to do its proper tasks like the release or brakes. I hope I'm not being picky...

[WAVEGURU]

Yes. You are being too picky. I hate that people always seem to want to find fault with so many things theses days instead of seeing the good that this video represents. It is fantastic to see this young man participating in our great sport! I am sorry that you made any negitive response to this great video.

Boggs

[[email protected]]

Hello Tom,

After reading your comment about two hands versus one, I had a good conversation with my 14-year old student, today. We talked about adversity and how to handle it. So, from your comment we found a silver lining. That lining included how to handle adversity and also how to handle the flight control. It was all good.

You'll be pleased to know that we worked on that today. He found that the lighter grip (not the death grip) helped dampen turbulence. So I must say to you, thank you for mentioning it.

The other discussion we had was on handling adversity. My lesson to him was something that my instructor father taught me. He said, "Do not fear the winds of adversity. After all, an aircraft climbs against the wind."

Having said all of this, here is another good thing that came from comments about this really cool video. There is an interest in allowing the video to be more easily accessible. I relayed a reader's comment about YouTube having a way to protect the songwriter's rights. I forwarded this note to the video's producer to see if we can improve the video's access. The video's producer is a professional producer and she is excited to be part of our glider world. Let's see what comes of this.

Now, back to the cool video.

Raul Boerner

[bumper[_4_]]

On Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 7:27:36 PM UTC-8, wrote:
> Hello Tom,
>
> After reading your comment about two hands versus one, I had a good conversation with my 14-year old student, today. We talked about adversity and how to handle it. So, from your comment we found a silver lining. That lining included how to handle adversity and also how to handle the flight control. It was all good.
>
> You'll be pleased to know that we worked on that today. He found that the lighter grip (not the death grip) helped dampen turbulence. So I must say to you, thank you for mentioning it.
>
> The other discussion we had was on handling adversity. My lesson to him was something that my instructor father taught me. He said, "Do not fear the winds of adversity. After all, an aircraft climbs against the wind."
>
>
>
> Now, back to the cool video.
>
> Raul Boerner

Raul,

Seems to me you are more than just a good glider instructor, the life lessons imparted and role model relationship with your student are priceless.

[[email protected]]

Good point Tom even if you are being alittle picky :) My being a relatively new CFI-G, but long time glider guider I have found several things that I do that are not taught very well from the beginning. Such as being able to fly well with either hand and being able to switch relatively quickly. As an example my gear handle on my Ventus is on the right and the tost release is in front of the gear. Therefore I can and do put my gear up on tow, I usually do this at an altitude of between 200-300 feet as a reminder/check list item of my being high enough to return to the field in the event of a PTT. Also if you fly power in a yoked airplane you will most definetly learn to fly with your left hand as your right is on the throttle. Flame shields on, I know this will invoke large responses :)

[Dan Marotta]

Great comments, Cliff. I'm standing by with my fire hose, though I
don't think there will be any flames. ;-)

On 11/21/2016 7:00 AM, wrote:
> Good point Tom even if you are being alittle picky :) My being a relatively new CFI-G, but long time glider guider I have found several things that I do that are not taught very well from the beginning. Such as being able to fly well with either hand and being able to switch relatively quickly. As an example my gear handle on my Ventus is on the right and the tost release is in front of the gear. Therefore I can and do put my gear up on tow, I usually do this at an altitude of between 200-300 feet as a reminder/check list item of my being high enough to return to the field in the event of a PTT. Also if you fly power in a yoked airplane you will most definetly learn to fly with your left hand as your right is on the throttle. Flame shields on, I know this will invoke large responses :)

--
Dan, 5J