Beginners?

[vic20owner]

Any beginners interested in chatting about their experiences thus far?
I some time practicing various stalls, turning stalls, and turning
stall with airbrakes, and it was lots of fun. Was also practicing
take offs and landing approach, but due to the 15knt wind the
instructor would take over just before touch down (about 20 feet
up). Last approach of the day, made the 800ft downwind, 600ft base
leg, 400ft turning onto final approach then to my surprise I see the
tow plane towing a glider directly towards us up the runway. I told
the instructor "tow plane 10 o'clock low!" and he quickly took over
the controls, circled avoiding the tow plane and landed us safely.
Exciting moment for me to say the least. Instructor and tow pilot had
a little chat off to the side afterwards.

Everything else went great, had a lot of fun. Looking forward to next
weekend.

[[email protected][_2_]]

On Apr 27, 3:15*pm, vic20owner > wrote:
> Any beginners interested in chatting about their experiences thus far?
> I some time practicing various stalls, turning stalls, and turning
> stall with airbrakes, and it was lots of fun. *Was also practicing
> take offs and landing approach, but due to the 15knt wind the
> instructor would take over just before touch down (about 20 feet
> up). * Last approach of the day, made the 800ft downwind, 600ft base
> leg, 400ft turning onto final approach then to my surprise I see the
> tow plane towing a glider directly towards us up the runway. *I told
> the instructor "tow plane 10 o'clock low!" and he quickly took over
> the controls, circled avoiding the tow plane and landed us safely.
> Exciting moment for me to say the least. *Instructor and tow pilot had
> a little chat off to the side afterwards.
>
> Everything else went great, had a lot of fun. *Looking forward to next
> weekend.

Good job - That's the kind of situational awareness that will keep you
alive! A subtle learning point is that you didn't assume the
instructor saw the problem developing. Aways good in a two-place to
call out all traffic or "developing situations" - surprizing how often
the other guy is unaware of what is going on, and vice versa!

Kirk
LS6 66

[Jim Beckman[_2_]]

At 21:55 27 April 2009, wrote:
>
>Good job - That's the kind of situational awareness that will keep you
>alive! A subtle learning point is that you didn't assume the
>instructor saw the problem developing. Aways good in a two-place to
>call out all traffic or "developing situations" - surprizing how often
>the other guy is unaware of what is going on, and vice versa!

It seems to me that this situation should have been seen developing a long
time before turning final. Before I start my pattern, I'll always try and
get a good look to see where everybody else is on the ground. The glider
being launched, and the towplane, must have been staged at the opposite
end of the field well before the landing glider started its pattern.
Unless there are some visual obstructions (which would be a real safety
problem if so) then somebody (well actually everybody) missed seeing this
early on.

For that matter, somebody on the ground (like maybe the tow pilot) should
have seen the glider entering the pattern in the opposing direction. At
the fields I fly at regularly, anybody (glider pilot, tow pilot, wing
runner) would have delayed the launch until the glider had landed.

Or maybe there are some extenuating circumstances?

Jim Beckman

[[email protected]]

On Apr 28, 8:30*am, Jim Beckman > wrote:
> At 21:55 27 April 2009, wrote:
>
>
>
> >Good job - That's the kind of situational awareness that will keep you
> >alive! *A subtle learning point is that you didn't assume the
> >instructor saw the problem developing. *Aways good in a two-place to
> >call out all traffic or "developing situations" - surprizing how often
> >the other guy is unaware of what is going on, and vice versa!
>
> It seems to me that this situation should have been seen developing a long
> time before turning final. *Before I start my pattern, I'll always try and
> get a good look to see where everybody else is on the ground. *The glider
> being launched, and the towplane, must have been staged at the opposite
> end of the field well before the landing glider started its pattern.
> Unless there are some visual obstructions (which would be a real safety
> problem if so) then somebody (well actually everybody) missed seeing this
> early on.
>
> For that matter, somebody on the ground (like maybe the tow pilot) should
> have seen the glider entering the pattern in the opposing direction. *At
> the fields I fly at regularly, anybody (glider pilot, tow pilot, wing
> runner) would have delayed the launch until the glider had landed.
>
> Or maybe there are some extenuating circumstances?
>
> Jim Beckman

I agree, and I like to get a good look at any other traffic in the
pattern. I've
flown out of shared airports for a long time, so I make sure to take a
good
look down the approach path to the runway while I'm on base leg. As a
student
pilot I had a twin blow right by me on short final. He'd made a long
straight-in
approach through the summer haze and we never saw him coming. Now
I assume someone is trying to sneak up on me.

[vic20owner]

> For that matter, somebody on the ground (like maybe the tow pilot) should
> have seen the glider entering the pattern in the opposing direction. At
> the fields I fly at regularly, anybody (glider pilot, tow pilot, wing
> runner) would have delayed the launch until the glider had landed.

Agreed, I am assuming this is what the chat was about with the tow
pilot. I flew a bit too far on the down wind leg which probably
confused the tow pilot.