On Fri, 26 Aug 2005 16:33:00 +0200, "Bert Willing"
wrote:

I second that. I have retracted from 55 deg flap to thermal position less
than 5 meters above the runway, and if memory serves me right, I didn't
crash :-)

Unlock the flap lever in your 20 at a height of about 2 meters (... if
necessary I can tell you how to do that...) and you'll get the
experience of a purely ballistic impact one second later.


I think in the end it's a question of many factors - situational
awareness (remember to pull up the nose while retracting the flaps,
remembering not to overshoot the desired setting), training, and
feeling (coordination of flap retraction, pulling on the stick and
controlling the speed).
If the pilot is alert and knows what he's doing, there is not going to
be any problem. If not, some gliders are going to punish the pilot
more than others.


Reading about Udo's story of first flying a flapped ship with 14
glider hours (most of my students have mor hours when they solo) on a
airport with a long runway because his home airport's runway is only
2.000 ft makes me think about how different the situation is in the
US/Canada compared to good ole' Europe...



Bye
Andreas