On Jan 31, 8:34*pm, Bob Whelan wrote:
On 1/31/2011 1:16 PM, Jonathon May wrote:

You don't say how much experience you have, but both the ASW 20 and LS6
are flapped, and not suitable for low hours pilots.

Having transitioned - safely & entirely uneventfully (in the negative sense of
things) - from 2-33s/1-26s to a no-negative-flap, spoiler-less (i.e. large
deflection landing flaps-only), 'in-between'/non-nose tow-hooked single-seat
sailplane, with a total of 128+ glider-only hours logged, I would suggest the
above position may be just a tad overstated.

How one mentally approaches flaps and their use (or, non-use, as the
transitioning-case may be) is, I believe, vastly more important than seeking
comfort in hard-n-fast 'stick-time rules.'

For example, if the flaps are camber-changing-only (e.g. LS-6), you can simply
set/leave them at zero until such time as you feel comfortable experimenting
with them. Both ships permit use of spoilers to assist initial aileron
response if aero-towing (just as a transitionee might already be doing in
unflapped glass). Further, Schleicher's '20 (and Rolladen-Schneider's LS-6)
allow (insist-on) the use of spoilers as the primary glideslope control
device. (Kinda-sorta related, just because the ship being transitioning to has
retractable gear is no reason to believe one *must* retract or cycle the gear
on early flights.)

No harm in using the KISS philosophy of transitioning...

If you die on your first flight in such a ship using such a technique, perhaps
small comfort can be (briefly) obtained from the knowledge flap (mis-)use
wasn't the proximate cause of death. :-)

I have flown

neither,but I think if you spin either your first action is to select
negative flap.

Again, this advice may be OK (as far as it goes), perhaps even in the Pilot's
Operating Handbook (I don't know)...but not without some caveats. The devil -
as always - is in the details...

The first *2* flapped ships I transitioned to *had* no negative flaps (or, any
spoilers, either). And while in neither one did I ever experience an
inadvertent 'departure from controlled flight', in both the best (IMHO)
potential-overspeed-avoidance device in their bag of tricks had such a thing
happened and startled/scared me into not 'simply'/immediately reducing the AoA
(which worked every time I used it) would have been to *'2nd-immediately'*
roll/pump on ALL the flaps. Sure this would have had the short-term effect of
increasing the wing's effective AoA..but so what, as neither ship could
'reasonably' be induced to exceed max-flap/maneuvering speeds with 'em full
down. It would've bought time to sort things out without eating vast vertical
gobs of airspace or zooming above maneuvering speed.

So - is it preferable to 'inadvertently spin down through a thermal gaggle' in
an AS-W 20 and recover at high-ish speeds with negative flap, or, to spiral
down 'perhaps somewhat stalled' but vertically somewhat slower with full
flaps? (This is not a trick question.)

My vote is to avoid the situation in the first place. This'll work in the
LS-6, too. :-)

Regards,
Bob W.

P.S. Apologies for treading so far out onto this particular discussional ice,
but I must've 'felt a need'...!

Well said it is always best to avoid the situation in the first place,
but there is also no substitute for knowing proper
recovery technique when it does happen.
To answer Johns question about my experience, let me first say that I
have just under 100 hours in the 2-33.
That being said I have no intention to go out ,buy a high performance
glass ship, and go soaring with the
thought that I will just get the hang of it in a few hours of flight.
My intentions are to purchase the glider now during the winter months
to "hopefully" fly after at least 6 more months of active gliding
starting in the spring. I was planning to get a few more hours in the
2-33 first, especially after 6 months of no flying(it snows up here in
northern Indiana),I would want to be refreshed in the trainer
.. After that I plan to transition to the Clubs 1-36 glider for a while
and then get some additional hours in a 2 place glass ship. Not sure
when I will actually be ,ready to fly the new one, I don't know how I
could put a minimum hours requirement on it. I was leaving it up to my
confidence level and abilities to determine when the time would be
right. We have some excellent instructors at our glider port who will
always keep a watchful eye out.
I am very competitive and welcome the increased complexity and
challenge of a flapped ship. I am looking forward to cross county
flights and eventually competition. Am I sound in my thinking, or am I
out in left field?