I'm with snoop: prevention is better than the cure.

In any case, it's got to be one of the lowest risks facing glider
pilots. I know more people that forgot to hook up the elevator on their
ASW 20s than have been sucked into clouds. In 5000 hours of glider
flying mostly in the Western USA, I've never come close to being sucked
into a cloud, as moving to one side or the other, moving out from under
the cloud, opening the dive brakes, or just speeding up have always been
sufficient. The only area where I have experienced strong enough lift to
be of real concern was flying in the Ely-Tonopah area. So, use the "45
degree rule" when flying in areas with powerful lift, and you'll be fine.

Still, knowing how to descend through cloud may be worthwhile. I've
never had to do it, but two of our club members have had to do it after
while wave flying. It doesn't cost anything to check the benign spiral
ability of your glider, or to see GPS or compass methods might work for you.

snoop wrote:
Best advice? Learn how to identify a cloud, then stay out of it.
Sounds absurd, but unless you have real IFR experience, then you
should stay the legal limit away from the cloud. If you go gearing up
your ship for instrument flight, then your going to find yourself
pushing close, probably going IFR.

Do this. Have someone blindfold you, then, while in a hallway in your
house, where you can run for say 3 seconds, the time to spool up your
little turn/bank, takeoff running full speed. Then report back to us.

Think of the first wall or table you hit, as another aircraft in the
clouds. That's how fast it could happen. All that crap about flying GPS
headings, flying south/turn errors, all witchcraft. Don't subscribe to
it.

Learn the facts, and you'll hit closer to your 100% survival rate.
Learning safety takes dedication. Don't take shortcuts!
Have fun!
Snoop

Matt Herron Jr. wrote:
As a low time pilot (150 hrs) I have been alarmed at the number of
recent incidents relating to getting trapped in clouds. In reading
though some old posts on this forum, I have concluded that even though
everyone has the best intention of never getting into clouds, it still
can happen to even the most experienced pilots.

I was encouraged to see that there were some viable options for getting
out of the clouds alive, including the benign spiral, flying south by
compas and using turn errors to maintain a heading with dive brakes,
using GPS heading and groundspeed, and T&B indicators. From what was
writtten, I don't consider a spin a safe option anymore, unless I was
being pulled up into a large cell at 15 kts. So in an effort to keep
my personal survival rate up to 100%, minimize pilot stress, and
maximize my options, I am considering installing some type of bank
angle indicator in the plane I fly (LS4a).

I noticed the TruTrak spins up in 3 seconds, gives an acurate bank
angle even if powered on in a turn, and uses relatively little power.
Does anyone have an opinion about this instrument or others that would
do the trick? My only criteria is that it helps me get out of the
clouds alive.

Thanks for any advice!



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Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA

www.motorglider.org - Download "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane
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