Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Marotta
This is prompted by someone's description of a flight involving high sink
from tow release to landing. The pilot stated that he released from tow in
800 fpm sink at 3,000' AGL.
It's so common when I'm towing to have the glider pilot tell me, "I'll take
a tow to 3,000 feet." Then, during the tow, I hit super lift and the pilot
will hang on to the rope. He'll hang on until I'm struggling through sink
and hit the magic 3,000' and release!
I shouldn't complain since the higher tow means more income for the
operation, but I'd think pilot judgment would include releasing in lift -
even if it's below some preconceived release altitude.
Now, the instructors will say, "We need the altitude to accomplish the
objectives of the flight." I ask, "Wouldn't it better to demonstrate
judgment by releasing in strong lift and climbing to altitude to practice
maueuvers?"
Rant over...
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Feel free to rant away. I made the observation of encountering 800 fpm of sink upon release. My point was that these things occur on occasion and if not handled quickly and appropriately it might result in being low in the pattern resulting in the crash that occurred. I was relatively inexperienced at the time (and by some standards may well still be) but recognized that the circumstances might well preclude my ability to return to the airport and land safely if I didn't get ahead of the situation. Fortunately I received my glider training from two old buzzards with thousands of hours of experience and benefited from listening to their advice. I usually take a tow to 3000 feet but on occasion will release if I encounter exceptional lift. Too often though one flys thru lift, turns and can't find said lift again. Often times it's a 50/50 chance of turning in the right direction and when wrong it requires some searching to find adequate lift to climb. The bottom line is that with an extra 1000 feet prior to release one has that extra opportunity. I learned to fly gliders in November and December in Florida and don't once remember encountering lift while flying with an instructor. Most days were cold, wet and dreary with heavy overcast. I'm sure that most instructors will release in lift to give their student the opportunity to thermal to altitude. I'm just glad that it was drilled into me to err on the side of caution and insure that I had sufficient altitude to fly a reasonable pattern, maintain adequate airspeed and land safely. That's what it's all about.
Walt Connelly
Commercial Pilot/Airplanes and Gliders
and still learning