Time to solo

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This subject arose on the "What did it take to get a
ticket in 1946?" thread but I though it deserved a new one.

I (and I hasten to add a load of others) soloed in
gliders after about an hour and a half in the seventies. We were 16.

Now when I think on it I can't really take it in. Seems ludicrous
really.

The min was 20 winch launches and I seem to recall that I
went solo on 21 as I suppose did others on the
same course. The flight time was 4 - 5 mins a launch.
There was a goup of about 15 students maybe and
the whole thing was done (or not, see later) over a long weekend.

Interestingly, and irritatingly, after a few solo launches someone,
crashed on their first, totalled the T21 and walked away with a small
cut on the leg. Just pulled up until the cable snapped and then
pulled
up until it stalled at about 100ft, I thought, then the wing dropped,
neatly striking the ground tip first. The wing conventiently shattered
into
the proverbial matchwood before the nose hit the ground springing
the fuselage a bit. All the energy seemed to go into the matchwood
so as mentioned no significant injury.

This crash broght the whole thing to a halt and we had to go home
without doing the 3 solo launches (and landings:) necessary to
complete the course.

I guess some of the saving in time comes from the lack
of a requirement to train for go-arounds.

Most worryingly of all, I just went back and signed up for
another go as soon as posible.

http://www.nationalglidingweek.co.uk/about-gliding/gallery-big/glider-flying-2.php
T21.

Also:-
We had one of these at school,
http://home.tiscali.nl/grasshopper/introduction.htm
Slingsby T.38. (not related to T-38 Talon, nor T.38 Fax Relay:)

The idea apparently was that you went solo after zero hours. I never
heard of it being used.
Apparently Hitler thought of it first. Yes, we got it from the
Germans.

http://home.tiscali.nl/grasshopper/specifications.htm
"The Grasshopper T Mk.1 sailplane is a *single seat*, high wing
monoplane
of wooden construction. It is designed for *initial training* and is
launched manually by elastic rope. For advanced stages of
training, it may be launched by towing with a car or winch. A stand
is provided to permit training while the aircraft is static"

I was terrified that anyone should suggest strapping it to me.

[Bertie the Bunyip[_22_]]

wrote in
:

> This subject arose on the "What did it take to get a
> ticket in 1946?" thread but I though it deserved a new one.
>
> I (and I hasten to add a load of others) soloed in
> gliders after about an hour and a half in the seventies. We were 16.
>
> Now when I think on it I can't really take it in. Seems ludicrous
> really.
>
> The min was 20 winch launches and I seem to recall that I
> went solo on 21 as I suppose did others on the
> same course. The flight time was 4 - 5 mins a launch.
> There was a goup of about 15 students maybe and
> the whole thing was done (or not, see later) over a long weekend.
>
> Interestingly, and irritatingly, after a few solo launches someone,
> crashed on their first, totalled the T21 and walked away with a small
> cut on the leg. Just pulled up until the cable snapped and then
> pulled
> up until it stalled at about 100ft, I thought, then the wing dropped,
> neatly striking the ground tip first. The wing conventiently shattered
> into
> the proverbial matchwood before the nose hit the ground springing
> the fuselage a bit. All the energy seemed to go into the matchwood
> so as mentioned no significant injury.
>
> This crash broght the whole thing to a halt and we had to go home
> without doing the 3 solo launches (and landings:) necessary to
> complete the course.
>
> I guess some of the saving in time comes from the lack
> of a requirement to train for go-arounds.
>
> Most worryingly of all, I just went back and signed up for
> another go as soon as posible.
>
> http://www.nationalglidingweek.co.uk/about-gliding/gallery-big/glider-
f
> lying-2.php T21.
>
> Also:-
> We had one of these at school,
> http://home.tiscali.nl/grasshopper/introduction.htm
> Slingsby T.38. (not related to T-38 Talon, nor T.38 Fax Relay:)
>
> The idea apparently was that you went solo after zero hours. I never
> heard of it being used.
> Apparently Hitler thought of it first. Yes, we got it from the
> Germans.
>
> http://home.tiscali.nl/grasshopper/specifications.htm
> "The Grasshopper T Mk.1 sailplane is a *single seat*, high wing
> monoplane
> of wooden construction. It is designed for *initial training* and is
> launched manually by elastic rope. For advanced stages of
> training, it may be launched by towing with a car or winch. A stand
> is provided to permit training while the aircraft is static"
>
> I was terrified that anyone should suggest strapping it to me.
>
>


No, Hitler didn't think of it first. Training gliders like this were in
use form the early twenties. The SG 38 was a particulalry good one, and
was licence built in several countries, including Schweizer in the US.
The procedure for training a student in the airplane was to have him
balance it on the skid in some wind for a time. When he got the hang of
that, he did "slides" where either by bungee or by car, the glider was
towed to a speed just short of flying speed and the student would get
some experience in that area before being launced on low glides down
hillsides. Higher glides were done with bungee or auto tows and some
slope soaring was possible in these machines, though you would have to
be good, and lucky to do that.
The student would graduate to a secondary glider, which was basically an
SG-38 with a fairing, and then onto something like a Grunau Baby, which
was, and is, a good soaring machine with a very low sink rate but a very
low cruise speed.
Almost everyone was trained this way. Two seaters were a rarity in the
thirties, though they did exist ( more in the US than anywhere else)
The success rate wa good. there were a lot of asccidnets, but the
airplanes crashed real slow and were easily repaired.


Bertie

[Stealth Pilot[_2_]]

On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:48:45 +0000 (UTC), Bertie the Bunyip >
wrote:


>
>No, Hitler didn't think of it first. Training gliders like this were in
>use form the early twenties. The SG 38 was a particulalry good one, and
>was licence built in several countries, including Schweizer in the US.
>The procedure for training a student in the airplane was to have him
>balance it on the skid in some wind for a time. When he got the hang of
>that, he did "slides" where either by bungee or by car, the glider was
>towed to a speed just short of flying speed and the student would get
>some experience in that area before being launced on low glides down
>hillsides. Higher glides were done with bungee or auto tows and some
>slope soaring was possible in these machines, though you would have to
>be good, and lucky to do that.
>The student would graduate to a secondary glider, which was basically an
>SG-38 with a fairing, and then onto something like a Grunau Baby, which
>was, and is, a good soaring machine with a very low sink rate but a very
>low cruise speed.
>Almost everyone was trained this way. Two seaters were a rarity in the
>thirties, though they did exist ( more in the US than anywhere else)
>The success rate wa good. there were a lot of asccidnets, but the
>airplanes crashed real slow and were easily repaired.
>
>
>Bertie

fascinating. from the first hand perspective.

how old are you bertie?

Stealth (54) Pilot

[Bertie the Bunyip[_22_]]

Stealth Pilot > wrote in
:

> On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:48:45 +0000 (UTC), Bertie the Bunyip >
> wrote:
>
>
>>
>>No, Hitler didn't think of it first. Training gliders like this were
in
>>use form the early twenties. The SG 38 was a particulalry good one,
and
>>was licence built in several countries, including Schweizer in the US.
>>The procedure for training a student in the airplane was to have him
>>balance it on the skid in some wind for a time. When he got the hang
of
>>that, he did "slides" where either by bungee or by car, the glider was
>>towed to a speed just short of flying speed and the student would get
>>some experience in that area before being launced on low glides down
>>hillsides. Higher glides were done with bungee or auto tows and some
>>slope soaring was possible in these machines, though you would have to
>>be good, and lucky to do that.
>>The student would graduate to a secondary glider, which was basically
an
>>SG-38 with a fairing, and then onto something like a Grunau Baby,
which
>>was, and is, a good soaring machine with a very low sink rate but a
very
>>low cruise speed.
>>Almost everyone was trained this way. Two seaters were a rarity in the
>>thirties, though they did exist ( more in the US than anywhere else)
>>The success rate wa good. there were a lot of asccidnets, but the
>>airplanes crashed real slow and were easily repaired.
>>
>>
>>Bertie
>
> fascinating. from the first hand perspective.
>
> how old are you bertie?


Not old enough for that!

Nah, I did a lot of gliding when I started and was very interestedin
pre-war stuff. In fact the glider i learned in was a WW2 glider, a
Laister Kaufamn LK10, but it wasn't quite so vintage then. It was just
old.


Bertie