PMSC Member wrote:
We all know there are certain gliders that, under certain
circumstances, are best flown with leading rudder. Typically, we're
talking about a glass ship with heavy wings (esp. with water) and
thermal entry at thermaling speed, at altitude.

Not trainers.

Not students.

Not if the spoilers are open.

Not in the pattern.

Not at low agl altitude under any circumstance.


Is is REALLY necessary to review the stats on stall/spin accidents,
AGAIN?

I have never in 20 odd years met an instructor that teaches students
this way, and have great difficulty believing this is as common as you
suggest.

This doesn't worry you? You don't understand the problem. And you
aren't going to figure it out reading usenet :-). See a good CFIG.

The idea that any CFIG would teach this way frankly astounds me. I
regard it as malpractice of the very worst sort. The fact that various
people on this group report this as a not uncommon practice troubles
me. To the extent that this is true, it supports the allegation that
many pilots simply don't have the knowledge to fly safely.


Add me to the list of people who have been instructed by their first
instructor to turn mostly with rudder. This guy was routinely flying
at small distance from ridges using this method (it was at Pic Saint
Loup, France http://cvvm.free.fr/index/index.php), and he was the chief
instructor. One of his other sayings was "there are no good pilots,
there are old ones". I don't know how he lived to this principle,
because, indeed i fully agree with "PMSC Member". Especially when
all this was on an ASK 13, which does very nice spins. Of course
this junk was rationalized with a large infusion of crappy theories
about adverse yaw or whatever, when it is very clear that flying
perfectly symmetrical is always the optimum aerodynamically, and,
more important, the safest.

--

Michel TALON