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Old May 26th 06, 01:44 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
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Default preferrred bank angle indicator?

Hello Matt,

These days many seem to depend on equipment to get them across "extreme"
sports of all sorts. Aviation, which includes soaring is not an "extreme"
sport. The best solution for you is to learn meteorology as a science and
art. As aviators, this is the most important subject to master, moreover the
insight gained will always get you home, even if you are fully instrument
qualified. Start pushing the weather and I, sadly, do not give much future
for your career.

Still not convinced? Get yourself into an IFR equiped aircraft with an
experienced pilot and fly into the soup, turbulence, icing, precipitation
smashing on your canopy, etc... This is serious stuff, not comming from
overmarketted computer softwhare. Flying in clouds is serious business,
never mind not seing who or what is in front of you. The rest is frivolous
at best.

Flying is all about staying in front of your machine and the environment.
This is where the fun comes from!

Regards

Marc Arsenault


"Matt Herron Jr." a écrit dans le message de news:
...
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!