At 05:40 30 September 2016, Surge wrote:
On Thursday, 29 September 2016 15:00:07 UTC+2, Don
Johnstone wrote:
I would agree with you IF gliders, especially 2 seat gliders were
always
flown by pilots experience as you and I. Truth is they are not,
they are
frequently flown by very inexperienced and sometimes inept
pilots, that
i=
s
the nature of gliding. The wheel brake on a glider is not a
mission
critical item, unlike a powered aircraft the brakes are not tested
before
taxiing, in most cases we only find they do not work on landing
which is
why I never rely on them.

If a student is inept then he/she should not be sent solo.
I had less than 10 flights to my name and I could already feel
when I was
o=
ver braking and skidding on a grass runway in the clubs G103
without an
ins=
tructor needing to correct me.

Do you propose that we send students into the air with only half
the tools
=
in the bag and then plead ignorance when they decapitate
themselves going
t=
hrough a fence during an off field landing because they couldn't
stop in
ti=
me and messed up an attempted ground loop?

I consider brakes mission critical and test them on every pre-
flight.
No brakes or inefficient brakes means the glider is grounded.

Sheesh ... just now someone is going to propose that a half
functioning
ele=
vator is safer for students because it will help reduce PIO's.

I have just spent a week flying in the backseat of nothing but a
Twin Astir, with a cable and drum brake. I found that the well
maintained drum brake is more than efficient enough to stop the
glider and is well able to rub the nose on the ground if over used.
So I repeat my question, why would anyone want to "improve" the
brake by including a hydraulic system when proper maintenance
will provide a perfectly effective brake and one which is far less
likely to cause problems?