It's student weather!

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A fellow instructor and I were just musing today that this is the
perfect weather for students. We live and fly in some of the most
dynamic soaring conditions in the world, where half the year you're
being battered by thermals from 11:00 am until sunset, and a good part
of the rest of the year the winds and mountain wave call for
experienced piloting only. But for the most part, October and
November (as well as April and May) are dominated by stable air and
fairly calm conditions: perfect weather to learn how to follow a tow
plane and land right on the white line.

Right enough, you eventually need to know how to land in a 15 knot
cross wind, and if you're going to enjoy the fantastic soaring we have
in Minden during the summer you need to be able to tow into (or
through) 10 knot thermals. But when you're a newbie at the sport and
want to learn the fundamentals it's hard to beat the conditions we
have going on right now. One of our students was practising circuits
today, and said just how much she appreciated not getting kicked all
over on tow. That's what made us realize this is such a good time for
beginners.

So if you're thinking about learning how to fly gliders and want to do
so in Minden, this is really the time to do it.

Feel free to call if you want to discuss this further.

Fred LaSor
SoaringNV
Minden, NV
775 782-9595

[Tuno]

It's student weather when the tow plane can fly!

~ted "motorglider is an oxymoron" 2NO

[Tony Verhulst]

Tuno wrote:
> It's student weather when the tow plane can fly!

In sooo many ways.... No! :-)

Tony V.

[Tuno]

> In sooo many ways.... No! :-)

Yeah, I know, but my point is simply that training should occur in the
conditions one would normally fly in. My first training flights were
in bumpy conditions and it sure made for effective learning!

~ted/2NO

[Rik Brown]

> Yeah, I know, but my point is simply that training should occur in the
> conditions one would normally fly in. My first training flights were
> in bumpy conditions and it sure made for effective learning!My first solo flights were in mild winter conditions which were almost
always smooth. But I did my first solo cross-country in the Spring and
at about 3,500 feet hit some of the worst up/downdrafts I have ever
encountered to date. It was like a roller coaster ride and without my
instructor sitting to my right I was somewhat worried (to say the
least) and almost turned back.

Anyway, my flight plan called for higher altitude which once reached
was nowhere near as rough and so I continued and had a very memorable
flight.

In time, one will train in a variety of reasonable conditions and
hopefully things like those power-on / power-off stalls and other
technics one trains for gives one the confidence needed when one hits
those first bumps in the road when one is newly on their own.

-- Rik


--
Rik Brown
Message Origin: TRAVEL.com