New student pilot apprehensions

[Michael[_7_]]

Hi all,

I’m a new student glider pilot. I have a grand total of 77 minutes
flying time in six flights. The challenge of all of this has been
immensely satisfying.

I’m hoping yall can help me out with some “okay, that was a little
different than I expected” items.

First, when I am flying straight and level, the glider does not follow
a direct path, but rather is buffeted about a little bit. The nose
will go a little left and right and also up and down and I have to
make small adjustments with the stick. My instructor noticed I tend
to way over correct. In my youth, I played those very primitive
flight simulators (Apple II SimLogic anyone?) in which the flight was
ice-smooth, just like an arrow, I suppose. “Real life” isn’t like
that in gliders, apparently? :)

The tow rope keeps me up at night. Aerotow freaks me out. With my
inexperience in coordinated flight, I am terrified that these
oscillations I get into will upset the tow plane (and pilot). I feel
I’m doing this left bank, right bank, over correct, left, right, left
right…. I know my instructor is back there. This stuff does get
easier doesn’t it? I mean 14 year-olds do this…. (I’m 33.) My last
instructor (I’m in a gliding club in which we have a different
instructor each week), demonstrated boxing the wake and I was sure the
rope was going to break….but it didn’t, even going through the prop
wash of the tow plane.

And speaking of the tow rope. I need to get more confidence in it.
When that rope gets taught, I freeze up. I am terrified of it
breaking. However, I recently ran across a video (It’s on the SSA
site) of a real rope break. It really was no big deal. The rope
broke, the glider had a momentary shudder, the pilot muttered
something, then calmly landed the glider. It was no big deal. I
need more confidence in the rope!

I’ve been grounded for two weeks due to the flu, but I can’t wait to
get back up in the air!


--Michael

[Adam]

On Apr 24, 9:16*pm, Michael > wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I’m a new student glider pilot. *I have a grand total of 77 minutes
> flying time in six flights. *The challenge of all of this has been
> immensely satisfying.
>
> I’m hoping yall can help me out with some “okay, that was a little
> different than I expected” items.
>
> First, when I am flying straight and level, the glider does not follow
> a direct path, but rather is buffeted about a little bit. *The nose
> will go a little left and right and also up and down and I have to
> make small adjustments with the stick. *My instructor noticed I tend
> to way over correct. *In my youth, I played those very primitive
> flight simulators (Apple II SimLogic anyone?) in which the flight was
> ice-smooth, just like an arrow, I suppose. *“Real life” isn’t like
> that in gliders, apparently? :)
>
> The tow rope keeps me up at night. *Aerotow freaks me out. *With my
> inexperience in coordinated flight, I am terrified that these
> oscillations I get into will upset the tow plane (and pilot). *I feel
> I’m doing this left bank, right bank, over correct, left, right, left
> right…. I know my instructor is back there. *This stuff does get
> easier doesn’t it? *I mean 14 year-olds do this…. (I’m 33.) *My last
> instructor (I’m in a gliding club in which we have a different
> instructor each week), demonstrated boxing the wake and I was sure the
> rope was going to break….but it didn’t, even going through the prop
> wash of the tow plane.
>
> And speaking of the tow rope. *I need to get more confidence in it.
> When that rope gets taught, I freeze up. * I am terrified of it
> breaking. *However, I recently ran across a video (It’s on the SSA
> site) of a real rope break. *It really was no big deal. *The rope
> broke, the glider had a momentary shudder, the pilot muttered
> something, then calmly landed the glider. *It was no big deal. * I
> need more confidence in the rope!
>
> I’ve been grounded for two weeks due to the flu, but I can’t wait to
> get back up in the air!
>
> --Michael

I almost quit after three flights. Yet I thought myself pretty good at
similar activites so I kept at it. I came from an extensive background
in sailing and motorsports; it was the Z-axis that took me a while to
figure out.

On aerotow, once I realized there was a rudder it all came together.

Keep at it, it gets easier. If you are not at least comfortable in the
air after 20 flights than perhaps you ought to reconsider.

Good luck!
Adam

[Hellman]

Michael,

Welcome to the club. I think all of us experience some kind of
trepidation at first, and it's probably a good thing since it makes us
more cautious and the best way to reduce risk is to be aware of it.

Turning to your specific issues:

It's important to remember that you are learning to fly formation at
the same time you are learning to fly. That's a tough load to carry
and will make you feel a bit clumsy at first. It's not you. It's just
that you're trying to learn two things at once.

Over-controlling is normal and the solution is to relax a bit. When I
first learned to fly about 30 years ago, every time the tow plane hit
lift and would bob up, I would pull back on the stick to follow him.
Then I hit the lift and would rise above him. Stick down to
compensate. What did we get? PIO (Pilot Induced Oscillations, in case
you haven't heard that one yet) My instructor told me to try something
counter-intuitive, but that worked like a charm. Next time the tow
plane bobbed up, DO NOTHING and see what happens. Amazingly, it worked
much better. I'd hit the lift a second or two later and bob up as I
should. Of course, only try this with an instructor along. But after a
while you'll learn how much control to use.

It's well known in control theory that over control can induce
instability, especially in systems with a delay (and your reaction
time as well as the glider's introduces delay). So it's not that you
should do nothing, but the amount of control you're adding is way too
much. Over time you'll learn the right amount and your current
nightmares will seem like a distant memory.

Along these lines, when I was learning to fly, I told my wife that I
thought I'd never get the radio calls down. It was like a foreign
language. (I now realize it is a foreign language. It just sounds like
English!) She reminded me that I'd learned much harder things and
assured me that it would come with time. Of course, she was right. So
try to remember how impossible it felt to learn to ride a bike when
you were doing that as a kid. Now? Simple pie. Soaring will become the
same, but try to remember some of the caution you currently feel. It
will make you a safer pilot.

Another things that might be good would be to read the articles on my
soaring safety web page

http://www-ee.stanford.edu/~hellman/soaring/safety.html

and look for similar ones elsewhere.

Again, welcome to the club!

Martin

[Jim Logajan]

Michael > wrote:
> The tow rope keeps me up at night. Aerotow freaks me out.

Been there, felt that.

While a book isn't something I would have expected to help me, I did find
"End of the Line" by Murray Shain - a book on just the subject of aerotow -
to be quite helpful (to the extent any external advice is helpful.) It's
available from Bob Wander's site if you don't already have it:

http://www.bobwander.com

I would also suggest buying Wander's "New Glider Pilot Package" if it
doesn't contain too much overlap with material you've already purchased.

The other book I'd strongly recommend is "Glider Basics" by Thomas Knauff.
Lots of concrete tips and guidance that I personally found useful - he also
provides advice on aerotow and of course lots of other stuff.

> I’ve been grounded for two weeks due to the flu, but I can’t wait to
> get back up in the air!

How can you have the flew and still be grounded? ;-)

[Nyal Williams[_2_]]

Let me add one thing. The instructor knows all this and is in the back
seat to keep you out of trouble. You learn only from such mistakes and
correcting them. The instructor will take over if you exceed boundaries
uncomfortable for him/her. He/she will not let you kill you both. You are
not alone with these thoughts and you are not alone in the glider. Stay
with it; it will become as unconscious as walking while talking.

At 03:20 25 April 2009, Hellman wrote:
>Michael,
>
>Welcome to the club. I think all of us experience some kind of
>trepidation at first, and it's probably a good thing since it makes us
>more cautious and the best way to reduce risk is to be aware of it.
>
>Turning to your specific issues:
>
>It's important to remember that you are learning to fly formation at
>the same time you are learning to fly. That's a tough load to carry
>and will make you feel a bit clumsy at first. It's not you. It's just
>that you're trying to learn two things at once.
>
>Over-controlling is normal and the solution is to relax a bit. When I
>first learned to fly about 30 years ago, every time the tow plane hit
>lift and would bob up, I would pull back on the stick to follow him.
>Then I hit the lift and would rise above him. Stick down to
>compensate. What did we get? PIO (Pilot Induced Oscillations, in case
>you haven't heard that one yet) My instructor told me to try something
>counter-intuitive, but that worked like a charm. Next time the tow
>plane bobbed up, DO NOTHING and see what happens. Amazingly, it worked
>much better. I'd hit the lift a second or two later and bob up as I
>should. Of course, only try this with an instructor along. But after a
>while you'll learn how much control to use.
>
>It's well known in control theory that over control can induce
>instability, especially in systems with a delay (and your reaction
>time as well as the glider's introduces delay). So it's not that you
>should do nothing, but the amount of control you're adding is way too
>much. Over time you'll learn the right amount and your current
>nightmares will seem like a distant memory.
>
>Along these lines, when I was learning to fly, I told my wife that I
>thought I'd never get the radio calls down. It was like a foreign
>language. (I now realize it is a foreign language. It just sounds like
>English!) She reminded me that I'd learned much harder things and
>assured me that it would come with time. Of course, she was right. So
>try to remember how impossible it felt to learn to ride a bike when
>you were doing that as a kid. Now? Simple pie. Soaring will become the
>same, but try to remember some of the caution you currently feel. It
>will make you a safer pilot.
>
>Another things that might be good would be to read the articles on my
>soaring safety web page
>
>http://www-ee.stanford.edu/~hellman/soaring/safety.html
>
>and look for similar ones elsewhere.
>
>Again, welcome to the club!
>
>Martin
>
>

[Gavin Short[_2_]]

and a view from across the pond.

Flying straight is the hardest thing to do that's why we leave it until
last when teaching it. Its much easier to turn.
Learning on a winch helps this process because the launch bit is over in
30 seconds and initially the instructor is doing most of it.

Then the student can experience free flight and see how the glider really
handles without having a sweaty, stressful workout that seems to last an
eternity before you can fly the glider properly. In short a new student
will be mentally (and maybe physically) exhausted before he starts his
lesson.

So you don't have several minutes of trying to fly straight and, has been
pointed out, trying to fly in formation behind a noisy, blustery tug and
furthermore where the tow combination is going to be affected by thermals
activity too. Sure its difficult. Very difficult and different from
normal flight. But just like riding a bike, which as a child you must
have thought was impossible science, magic even, it suddenly clicked, you
got more and more confident and then you wondered what all the fuss was
about.

The same will happen with flying straight in free flight.

I don't fly aerotows much and at the start of season check flights I have
similar thoughts to you. But a rope break, provided you have thought about
what you are going to do (landing options, height, turn considerations-
Trees!!, other traffic etc) is no big deal. Winching teaches you that in
spades - you have got to think about and plan for all the eventualities
during each stage of the launch before you accept the rope, rather than
react and hope. Your instructor probably hasn't got you thinking about
this yet but he will. You will then feel more in control because you are
involved in the planning of the flight,

You will master it - there are very few who don't. The beauty about
soaring is that it is similarly challenging on multiple levels:
flying in a straight line,
thermalling efficiently,
speed to fly,
choice of route,
searching for lift,
weather,
situation awareness
cross country,
outlandings,
competition
airspace
and for me dealing with a third and fourth language (Dutch and German).

I describe the challenges of gliding to my non-flying friends as 'three
dimension chess' Its always different and challenging whether it is a 5
minutes up, round and down on a winter's day to a huge cross country
flight. Each flight is challenging and fun..because you have to think
about it all the time. Just like a car your controlling skills will
become automatic but unlike a car there are no roads, street signs and GPS
navigator telling you the route to take, when to turn, when to speed up,
slow down - you have got to think all the time. Brilliant.

It must be an apt and enticing description because a German colleague at
work, who is a naval maritime-strike Tornado pilot (well ex now because
the German Navy has given up that capability) has booked a weekend of
flying with me in July!!! He is that determined to ensure he does fly
even though the majority of weekends he commutes back and from Hamburg.

Welcome to the club. You will master it and have a lot of fun doing so.
Good luck.




Gavin
Std Cirrus, CNN now G-SCNN, #173
LSV Viersen, Keiheuvel, Belgium

[Fred Blair]

The tow will come with some more coordination. Just remember that you need
rudder every time you move the stick left or right. Any movement of the
stick creates some aileron drag and therefore need rudder to go with it. On
tow, think of trying to keep your wings parallel with the tow planes wings;
that way you are flying along the same circle. If you see your nose start
to go across the tow plane's wings then you need to make a correction in the
other direction; small corrections when you first see your nose start to
move will help stop the oscillations. If you are not using rudder when you
try to make your corrections with the ailerons, the nose will move in the
wrong direction due to the aileron drag, making the problem worse.
Remember, early corrections and move rudder with aileron.

Fred
"Michael" > wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I’m a new student glider pilot. I have a grand total of 77 minutes
flying time in six flights. The challenge of all of this has been
immensely satisfying.

I’m hoping yall can help me out with some “okay, that was a little
different than I expected” items.

First, when I am flying straight and level, the glider does not follow
a direct path, but rather is buffeted about a little bit. The nose
will go a little left and right and also up and down and I have to
make small adjustments with the stick. My instructor noticed I tend
to way over correct. In my youth, I played those very primitive
flight simulators (Apple II SimLogic anyone?) in which the flight was
ice-smooth, just like an arrow, I suppose. “Real life” isn’t like
that in gliders, apparently? :)

The tow rope keeps me up at night. Aerotow freaks me out. With my
inexperience in coordinated flight, I am terrified that these
oscillations I get into will upset the tow plane (and pilot). I feel
I’m doing this left bank, right bank, over correct, left, right, left
right…. I know my instructor is back there. This stuff does get
easier doesn’t it? I mean 14 year-olds do this…. (I’m 33.) My last
instructor (I’m in a gliding club in which we have a different
instructor each week), demonstrated boxing the wake and I was sure the
rope was going to break….but it didn’t, even going through the prop
wash of the tow plane.

And speaking of the tow rope. I need to get more confidence in it.
When that rope gets taught, I freeze up. I am terrified of it
breaking. However, I recently ran across a video (It’s on the SSA
site) of a real rope break. It really was no big deal. The rope
broke, the glider had a momentary shudder, the pilot muttered
something, then calmly landed the glider. It was no big deal. I
need more confidence in the rope!

I’ve been grounded for two weeks due to the flu, but I can’t wait to
get back up in the air!


--Michael

[vaughn]

"Michael" > wrote in message
...
>This stuff does get easier doesn’t it?
Yes, it does. I learned in my 50's. For me, it was nearly impossible at
first. I had so much trouble learning the tow that I was terrified that my
instructor would tell me to take up some other hobby. It was one the
hardest and most satisfying things I have ever done. As others have noted,
you are learning to fly and learning to fly in formation at the same time.

I will never forget the first time I actually managed to follow the tow
plane through a turn. I knew I still had lots to learn because air was
pouring through the vent window (because I was uncoordinated) but I followed
the tow plane! I remarked to my instructor that "the tow plane looks like
it's not moving" and he said, "yea, that's what it's supposed to look like".
That was the moment when I finally started to "get it".

Years later when I finally became a CFIG, I think my own slowness in
learning helped me understand the problems of some of my students.

> I mean 14 year-olds do this….

Yes, they learn fast compared to adults. Humbling aint it? Get used to it.
Soaring can be a humbling thing. I can't tell you how many times a simple
bird has made me feel like a stupid, untalented dolt. It is an honor that
they allow us to share the air with them.

>...demonstrated boxing the wake and I was sure the rope was going to
>break….but it didn’t, even going through the prop
>wash of the tow plane.

No reason why it should break. As a primary instructor I have spent more
time that I really liike with my glider seemingly behaving like a freshly
hooked fish on the end of the tow line as one of my newer students learns
not to overcontrol; yet I have never broken a tow line that way.

>And speaking of the tow rope. I need to get more confidence in it. When
>that rope gets taught, I freeze up. I am terrified of it breaking.

Ideally, your tow pilot should never take you beyond gliding range of the
airport. If the rope breaks, you just go back and land. No big deal Low
rope breaks on takeoff are another matter, but will easily be within your
skill set by the time you solo. Ask your instructor about them.

Keep at it! You will do fine. Welcome to soaring.

Vaughn


Ask your instructor to show you


However, I recently ran across a video (It’s on the SSA
site) of a real rope break. It really was no big deal. The rope
broke, the glider had a momentary shudder, the pilot muttered
something, then calmly landed the glider. It was no big deal. I
need more confidence in the rope!

I’ve been grounded for two weeks due to the flu, but I can’t wait to
get back up in the air!


--Michael

[[email protected]]

On Apr 25, 3:15*am, Gavin Short > wrote:
> and a view from across the pond.
>
> Flying straight is the hardest thing to do that's why we leave it until
> last when teaching it. *Its much easier to turn. *
> Learning on a winch helps this process because the launch bit is over in
> 30 seconds and initially the instructor is doing most of it.
>
> Then the student can experience free flight and see how the glider really
> handles without having a sweaty, stressful workout that seems to last an
> eternity before you can fly the glider properly. *In short a new student
> will be mentally (and maybe physically) exhausted before he starts his
> lesson.
>
> So you don't have several minutes of trying to fly straight and, has been
> pointed out, trying to fly in formation behind a noisy, blustery tug and
> furthermore where the tow combination is going to be affected by thermals
> activity too. *Sure its difficult. *Very difficult and different from
> normal flight. *But just like riding a bike, which as a child you must
> have thought was impossible science, magic even, it suddenly clicked, you
> got more and more confident and then you wondered what all the fuss was
> about.
>
> The same will happen with flying straight in free flight.
>
> I don't fly aerotows much and at the start of season check flights I have
> similar thoughts to you. *But a rope break, provided you have thought about
> what you are going to do (landing options, height, turn considerations-
> Trees!!, other traffic etc) is no big deal. *Winching teaches you that in
> spades - you have got to think about and plan for all the eventualities
> during each stage of the launch before you accept the rope, rather than
> react and hope. *Your instructor probably hasn't got you thinking about
> this yet but he will. *You will then feel more in control because you are
> involved in the planning of the flight,
>
> You will master it - there are very few who don't. *The beauty about
> soaring is that it is similarly challenging on multiple levels:
> flying in a straight line,
> thermalling efficiently,
> speed to fly,
> choice of route,
> searching for lift,
> weather,
> situation awareness
> cross country,
> outlandings,
> competition
> airspace
> and for me dealing with a third and fourth language (Dutch and German).
>
> I describe the challenges of gliding to my non-flying friends as 'three
> dimension chess' *Its always different and challenging whether it is a 5
> minutes up, round and down on a winter's day to a huge cross country
> flight. *Each flight is challenging and fun..because you have to think
> about it all the time. *Just like a car your controlling skills will
> become automatic but unlike a car there are no roads, street signs and GPS
> navigator telling you the route to take, when to turn, when to speed up,
> slow down - you have got to think all the time. *Brilliant.
>
> It must be an apt and enticing description because a German colleague at
> work, who is a naval maritime-strike Tornado pilot (well ex now because
> the German Navy has given up that capability) has booked a weekend of
> flying with me in July!!! *He is that determined to ensure he does fly
> even though the majority of weekends he commutes back and from Hamburg.
>
> Welcome to the club. *You will master it and have a lot of fun doing so..
> Good luck.
>
> Gavin
> Std Cirrus, CNN now G-SCNN, #173
> LSV Viersen, Keiheuvel, Belgium



Don't be in such a big hurry to be in perfect position behind the tug.
I too would over correct and slide from one side to the other behind
the tug. I have found a slow drift back into position works better.
Don't wait to counter your correction, remember it takes time to stop
the momentum in which ever direction your correcting. As stated
previously what ever the tug flies through, you are to in a second or
two. Encountering lift at low altitudes will affect you more than the
tug, so you may pitch up a little more, but don't dive down to get in
position or will "over fly the rope". You will find it takes very
small, gentle inputs to stay in position.

remember: "Glider pilots need help getting it up"

[Mike Ash]

In article
>,
Michael > wrote:

> The tow rope keeps me up at night. Aerotow freaks me out. With my
> inexperience in coordinated flight, I am terrified that these
> oscillations I get into will upset the tow plane (and pilot). I feel
> I¹m doing this left bank, right bank, over correct, left, right, left
> rightŠ. I know my instructor is back there. This stuff does get
> easier doesn¹t it? I mean 14 year-olds do thisŠ. (I¹m 33.) My last
> instructor (I¹m in a gliding club in which we have a different
> instructor each week), demonstrated boxing the wake and I was sure the
> rope was going to breakŠ.but it didn¹t, even going through the prop
> wash of the tow plane.

Others have talked about this but I just wanted to add my own emphasis.
Your instructor is going to keep the three of you safe. (You, him, tow
pilot.) You may annoy the tow pilot, but he should understand that
you're a student and are going to be doing some funky things back there.
If he doesn't, well, don't sweat it. It's expected that you're going to
give him a workout until you've had more practice.

As for breaking the rope, it's really hard, and except for a very narrow
band close to the ground it's not a big deal. (Depending on your
location even that narrow band may not be a big deal.) I've seen and
done some really terrible abuse to the tow rope and never seen one
actually break. Being badly out of position won't come close. I've hit
the end real hard after generating slack and it held. In the US, the
minimum legal rope strength is 80% of your glider's max gross weight.
Depending on what you're flying, that figure is likely to be in the
neighborhood of 1000lbs. Normal forces on the rope during tow are likely
to be more like 50lbs. That's a 20x safety factor for you to play with.

Practice will make perfect. Keep at it, and one day soon you'll look
back and wonder how you ever had any trouble with this.

--
Mike Ash
Radio Free Earth
Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon

[Tom Gardner]

On Apr 25, 3:16*am, Michael > wrote:
> I’m a new student glider pilot. *I have a grand total of 77 minutes
> flying time in six flights. *The challenge of all of this has been
> immensely satisfying.

Oh, you lucky person. Think of all that fun that lies in the future.

>The nose
> will go a little left and right and also up and down and I have to
> make small adjustments with the stick. *My instructor noticed I tend
> to way over correct.

Mmmm-hmmm. Sounds normal for a beginner. My daughter,
who has flown gliders solo, is doing the same thing now she's
learning to drive my car.


> The tow rope keeps me up at night. *Aerotow freaks me out. *With my
> inexperience in coordinated flight, I am terrified that these
> oscillations I get into will upset the tow plane (and pilot). *I feel
> I’m doing this left bank, right bank, over correct, left, right, left
> right….

Well, it could. But I wouldn't worry because...

> I know my instructor is back there. *

.... and he is trained to spot the signs that something
is really dangerous, and to take control.

> This stuff does get easier doesn’t it? *

Yes. And then you'll probably hit a patch in which you
don't make progress (or even get worse). When, not if,
that happens, mention it to other people and they'll reassure
you that it happened to them too.

> I mean 14 year-olds do this…. (I’m 33.) *

Yup. And I was 50.


> And speaking of the tow rope. *I need to get more confidence in it.
> When that rope gets taught, I freeze up. * I am terrified of it
> breaking. *

Personally, and speaking as a someone with very little aerotow
experience, I'm more concerned about the cable being too slack,
because I want the tug to be pulling me :)

> However, I recently ran across a video (It’s on the SSA
> site) of a real rope break. *

Try a few winch launches, if possible. Simulated cable
breaks are part of standard training and annual refresher
training.

It is quite fun, climbing at 35 degrees at 200ft, hearing a
bang, pushing the stick forward and going over the top at ~0G
(to minimise wing loading), diving at the ground to
regain airspeed, then deciding where to land.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqN3ixDFW8c>

If you're going to give up gliding, then do so for good reasons.
The experiences you've described aren't (in themselves)
sufficiently good :)

Persevere, have fun, it'll get better!

[sisu1a]

> I’m a new student glider pilot. *I have a grand total of 77 minutes
> flying time in six flights. *The challenge of all of this has been
> immensely satisfying.
>
> I’m hoping yall can help me out with some “okay, that was a little
> different than I expected” items.
>
> First, when I am flying straight and level, the glider does not follow
> a direct path, but rather is buffeted about a little bit. *The nose
> will go a little left and right and also up and down and I have to
> make small adjustments with the stick. *My instructor noticed I tend
> to way over correct. *In my youth, I played those very primitive
> flight simulators (Apple II SimLogic anyone?) in which the flight was
> ice-smooth, just like an arrow, I suppose. *“Real life” isn’t like
> that in gliders, apparently? :)
>
> The tow rope keeps me up at night. *Aerotow freaks me out. *With my
> inexperience in coordinated flight, I am terrified that these
> oscillations I get into will upset the tow plane (and pilot). *I feel
> I’m doing this left bank, right bank, over correct, left, right, left
> right…. I know my instructor is back there. *This stuff does get
> easier doesn’t it? *I mean 14 year-olds do this…. (I’m 33.) *My last
> instructor (I’m in a gliding club in which we have a different
> instructor each week), demonstrated boxing the wake and I was sure the
> rope was going to break….but it didn’t, even going through the prop
> wash of the tow plane.


Perhaps limiting your early instructional flights to early(ish)
morning and late(ish) evening would be beneficial, when the air is
really calm. That way your only learning to fly and learning to fly in
formation simultaneously, removing the added third element of learning
to fly turbulence which can and does really make even experienced/good
pilots feel/look sloppy on tow. It makes HUGE difference to fly tow
in dead air, and will allow you to focus on stick and rudder much more
effectively. Then begin to feed in the turbulence once you reach your
coordination plateau in calm air and you have a clear feel for what
the controls really do.

Flying tow was quite difficult early on for me as well, but I was
blessed with a very kind instructor who would after letting me drift
out of position, calmly say I gotcha and nudge the plane back where it
was supposed to be when I failed to do so and had a new joke for every
occasion, keeping the process humorous and letting me know that I was
not the first one to have difficulties. He would also jokingly say
things like "do not get frustrated, I command you" and the cockpit
levity really helped me. Find an instructor with a sense of humor...

You will feel like such a champ when you start nailing it and the
towplane appears as if your pushing it along with the unbending rope,
as if it were a solid metal rod. It took guts to identify and post
your fears like you did, which to me spells the marks of good sense
and a balanced ego, both crucial ingredients for good airmanship even
if the stick and rudder part takes longer then you expected. Sounds to
me like a fine pilot in the making...

Best of luck!
-Paul

PS. there are probably a lot of things that 14yr olds can do that you
can't, so that is no gauge of your personal worth or skillset.

[Mike I Green]

Hi Michael,

You are averaging less than 13 minutes a flight. Ask your instructor to
take a higher tow so you can get used to flying the glider without the
added complication of formation flying.

MG

Michael wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I’m a new student glider pilot. I have a grand total of 77 minutes
> flying time in six flights. The challenge of all of this has been
> immensely satisfying.
>
> I’m hoping yall can help me out with some “okay, that was a little
> different than I expected” items.
>
> First, when I am flying straight and level, the glider does not follow
> a direct path, but rather is buffeted about a little bit. The nose
> will go a little left and right and also up and down and I have to
> make small adjustments with the stick. My instructor noticed I tend
> to way over correct. In my youth, I played those very primitive
> flight simulators (Apple II SimLogic anyone?) in which the flight was
> ice-smooth, just like an arrow, I suppose. “Real life” isn’t like
> that in gliders, apparently? :)
>
> The tow rope keeps me up at night. Aerotow freaks me out. With my
> inexperience in coordinated flight, I am terrified that these
> oscillations I get into will upset the tow plane (and pilot). I feel
> I’m doing this left bank, right bank, over correct, left, right, left
> right…. I know my instructor is back there. This stuff does get
> easier doesn’t it? I mean 14 year-olds do this…. (I’m 33.) My last
> instructor (I’m in a gliding club in which we have a different
> instructor each week), demonstrated boxing the wake and I was sure the
> rope was going to break….but it didn’t, even going through the prop
> wash of the tow plane.
>
> And speaking of the tow rope. I need to get more confidence in it.
> When that rope gets taught, I freeze up. I am terrified of it
> breaking. However, I recently ran across a video (It’s on the SSA
> site) of a real rope break. It really was no big deal. The rope
> broke, the glider had a momentary shudder, the pilot muttered
> something, then calmly landed the glider. It was no big deal. I
> need more confidence in the rope!
>
> I’ve been grounded for two weeks due to the flu, but I can’t wait to
> get back up in the air!
>
>
> --Michael

[bod43]

On 26 Apr, 02:33, Mike I Green > wrote:
> Hi Michael,
>
> You are averaging less than 13 minutes a flight. *Ask your instructor to
> take a higher tow so you can get used to flying the glider without the
> added complication of formation flying.

I am not saying that longer flights are a bad idea however
I just thought it worth mentioning that my initial
gliding experience was on winch launched
Slingsby T-31s and the average flight was about four
and a half mins. I went solo after 20 (or maybe 1 or
3 more) launches at the age of 16. Crazy stuff really.
Everyone else was the same - 20 launches (ish), off
you go. This was about 1970 on military related
gliding course in the UK.

Other schools used Kirby Kadets (Mark IIIs) whose
average flight was about 3 minutes. The min launches
for solo was still 20.

I cannot recall having a cable break myself (it
was trained as to be routine and so I could well have
had one but I suspect not) but for sure there were
several that I witnessed. It was well trained and
was as I indicated a routine matter. Lower the
nose, release the dangling bit, decide whether
to land ahead or "S" turn. Done. If nearly at top
then consider a full circuit.

I can see that there could be a bit more to it on an
aerotow due to the inferior rate of climb, however I
am sure that your instructor will deal with the issue
when you are ready for it.

[Michael[_7_]]

Hi all,

Thank you all very much for your thoughtful and encouraging replies!

It feels good to know that my feelings of trepidation are normal and
that others have successfully conquered them.

--Michael

[Tom Gardner]

On Apr 26, 5:48*am, Michael > wrote:
> It feels good to know that my feelings of trepidation are normal and
> that others have successfully conquered them.

I forgot to point out these relevant reminiscences
<<http://home.comcast.net/~verhulst/GBSC/student/JeffOrchard/
03Wall.htm>>

[Van Deutsch]

Michael,

Two things come to my mind about your aerotows. 1.) Overcontrol is
usually the problem (I'll bet you have a tight sweaty grip on the
stick also because I did too at that time in my career) -be confident
that your ship WANTS to follow the towplane due to that rope pulling
you directly at its tail and if you level your wings with the towplane
and put your controls in neutral, the ship will follow. It' not
always obvious but I found my big problem was that only ONE DEGREE or
so of bank will begin to pull you out of position.
2.) Make sure you're not low enough to be affected by the prop wash,
that'll throw you all over the place if your ship is beginning to
touch into it.

If your club uses a tow rope much shorter than 200 feet, that makes it
much harder for new pilots.

Rejoice in the fact that this will all be no problem in short order :-)

[Michael[_7_]]

On Apr 27, 1:06*am, Van Deutsch > wrote:

> Rejoice in the fact that this will all be no problem in short order :-)


That is my hope. My last instructor broke it down into a "vertical"
and "horizontal" component. For the vertical....I am to keep the tow
plane's wheel's on the horizon....and for the horizontal....keep my
wing banked at the same angle as the tow plane, using the underside of
the instrument panel as a reference.

--Michael

[nate_fl]

On Apr 27, 2:18*am, Michael > wrote:
> On Apr 27, 1:06*am, Van Deutsch > wrote:
>
> > Rejoice in the fact that this will all be no problem in short order :-)
>
> That is my hope. *My last instructor broke it down into a "vertical"
> and "horizontal" component. *For the vertical....I am to keep the tow
> plane's wheel's on the horizon....and for the horizontal....keep my
> wing banked at the same angle as the tow plane, using the underside of
> the instrument panel as a reference.
>
> --Michael

Shameless plug for my instructor's technique, but try taping a wooden
paint stirring stick to the top of the panel. Helps in visualizing the
bank angle.

[[email protected]]

Hear ye, oh hear ye, the towing mantra:

"Wings, Wheels"

(Wings parallel, wheels on the horizon)

Repeat every 2 seconds and maintain this position until release.

[TonyV[_2_]]

> Shameless plug for my instructor's technique, but try taping a wooden
> paint stirring stick to the top of the panel. Helps in visualizing the
> bank angle.

Ah, flat land flyer :-). Or, you can use the instrument mounting screws
- pick any instrument, if the lower left and upper right screws are
parallel with the horizon, you're in as 45 degree right bank.

Tony

[John Roche-Kelly]

Or possibly inverted!
Best wishes

JohnR-K

[John Roche-Kelly]

Or possibly inverted!
Best wishes

JohnR-K

[Michael[_7_]]

On Apr 28, 12:24*pm, wrote:
> Hear ye, oh hear ye, the towing mantra:
>
> "Wings, Wheels"
>
> (Wings parallel, wheels on the horizon)
>
> Repeat every 2 seconds and maintain this position until release.

That's basically what one of my instructors did for me. He broke it
down into a vertical and horizontal movement. When he talked about it
that way, the entire chaotic tow began to seem manageable.

--Michael

[Vic]

To be honest - As an instructor I think it's a bit unfair to give you the
controls during the tow so early ... The key success factor (at the
beginning) is: DO NOT try to follw the tug. Just keep the same bank as the
tug, the rope will (very progressively) align you. As soon as you try to
follow the tug, you are in trouble.

Vic

"Michael" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all,
>
> I’m a new student glider pilot. I have a grand total of 77 minutes
> flying time in six flights. The challenge of all of this has been
> immensely satisfying.
>
> I’m hoping yall can help me out with some “okay, that was a little
> different than I expected” items.
>
> First, when I am flying straight and level, the glider does not follow
> a direct path, but rather is buffeted about a little bit. The nose
> will go a little left and right and also up and down and I have to
> make small adjustments with the stick. My instructor noticed I tend
> to way over correct. In my youth, I played those very primitive
> flight simulators (Apple II SimLogic anyone?) in which the flight was
> ice-smooth, just like an arrow, I suppose. “Real life” isn’t like
> that in gliders, apparently? :)
>
> The tow rope keeps me up at night. Aerotow freaks me out. With my
> inexperience in coordinated flight, I am terrified that these
> oscillations I get into will upset the tow plane (and pilot). I feel
> I’m doing this left bank, right bank, over correct, left, right, left
> right…. I know my instructor is back there. This stuff does get
> easier doesn’t it? I mean 14 year-olds do this…. (I’m 33.) My last
> instructor (I’m in a gliding club in which we have a different
> instructor each week), demonstrated boxing the wake and I was sure the
> rope was going to break….but it didn’t, even going through the prop
> wash of the tow plane.
>
> And speaking of the tow rope. I need to get more confidence in it.
> When that rope gets taught, I freeze up. I am terrified of it
> breaking. However, I recently ran across a video (It’s on the SSA
> site) of a real rope break. It really was no big deal. The rope
> broke, the glider had a momentary shudder, the pilot muttered
> something, then calmly landed the glider. It was no big deal. I
> need more confidence in the rope!
>
> I’ve been grounded for two weeks due to the flu, but I can’t wait to
> get back up in the air!
>
>
> --Michael