how many L-13s have gone long on landing and went through the departure end
fence..
the pilot thinking he is pulling the airbrakes when he has extended the
flaps..
or landed short into the approach end fence..
the pilot thinking he is pushing the spoilers closed..
when instead he has retracted flaps and the spoilers are still wide open..

If you are not getting the performance reaction/change you think you should
be getting..
look at the handle and look at the wing!!!

BT

"Bill Daniels" bildan@comcast-dot-net wrote in message
. ..
This type of accident has a long history. I've had pilots pull the
spoiler instead of the release, retract the gear on downwind after flying
all day with it down and pull the rudder adjustment instead of the
release. I've known several to reach for the red knob on the panel
expecting to release and jettison the canopy instead when they pulled it -
yet another 2-33 trap.

There's a cure for all of these - just identify the control you want by
looking at the little pictograms before you put your hand on it. If you
want the landing gear, look at it, identify which position it is in, then
put you hand on it. Once you hand is on the gear handle, look back
outside and actuate it by feel. Finally, re-check that it is positioned
correctly.

When I owned a Lark IS28b2 I sometimes used it to transition pilots to
higher performance gliders. A trick that almost always worked was to
lower the gear without the pilot to noticing as we approached the airport.
This was easier with the Lark since there were no gear doors to change the
sound. Almost invariably, the pilot would retract the gear during the
pre-landing checklist.

I would then softly say, "Check gear". the reply was often, "It's down".
I would continue to repeat "Check gear." until the pilot actually looked
at the gear handle which usually brought a burst of profanity from the
front seat. They would accuse me of tricking them to which I would
confess - but added that they then tricked themselves by not actually
looking at the gear position before moving the handle. They got the
point.

Another thing you can do is to just spend some time sitting in the cockpit
touching controls. This is manditory for a new glider and can be every
useful if you haven't flown the type in a while.

Bill Daniels