At 16:00 27 March 2005, Bill Daniels wrote:

I think experienced pilot/observers can tell when a
pilot is
waiting for the ailerons to get a grip on the air.

In the event of an actual test, the pilot could brief
the observer that his
particular glider needs a non-standard technique and
the observer would
make
allowances for it.

Whenever I've made a fully ballasted takeoff in my
N2C, I've carefully
briefed both the wing runner and the tow pilot (as
well as the peanut
gallery who wanted to see a glider take off with 600
pounds of ballast.)
So
far, I haven't dropped a wing.

My 27B has ailerons with the chord of a popsicle stick.
I don't know what
speed I need to hold a wing up against a gust, but
when I'm full of water at
5,000' on a 95 degree day I want a heck of a fast wing
runner.

I'll take your point that an experienced observer can
pick out poor piloting
technique at any phase of flight.

I remain skeptical of this whole test idea. While you
might flunk some good
pilots, it's principal shortcoming is that you are
trying to catch something
that for even moderately skilled pilots happens relatively
infrequently, so
the odds of it being useful is low, plus you have to
set up the whole test
process on top of whatever else you're doing to run
a contest.

I still think it's best left to the subjective assessment
of the CD to determine
if someone
has a piloting deficiency.

9B