On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 11:14:50 -0700, Frank Whiteley wrote:

On Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 11:28:11 AM UTC-6, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 09:15:03 -0700, Frank Whiteley wrote:

On Friday, April 24, 2020 at 6:03:22 AM UTC-6, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Thu, 23 Apr 2020 22:26:16 -0700, krasw wrote:

ASK 21 is a bear to fly and hugely overrated. It's only pros are
it's ability to not spin and perfectly balanced main wheel
location for great ground handling. Why not buy a glider that is
actually fun to fly and performs for the same money?

ASK-21s do spin: don't let anybody tell you they won't.

I did my pre-solo spin training on one, *without* the tail weight,
though admittedly neither the instructor or myself were heavy people
and it needed a fair amount of persuasion to spin. You need a
minimum energy entry: set it up fully stalled in a straight line
with the stick on the back stop, full rudder until its rolled 45
degrees and then put the stick in the opposite rear corner, and it
rolls wings vertical as it starts to spin. Recovery is normal.

I still don't fully understand why we used the ASK-21 for my spin
training, though: the club had, and still has, a Puchacz and I was
very familiar with both the ASK-21 and the Puchacz at the time.

Spinning a K-21 at Boulder, CO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5iaLGmkuN0


--
Martin | martin at Gregorie | gregorie dot org

I know that instructor. From the comments early on tow, it sounds
like the weights were installed. Hadn't seen that video, so thanks
for the link.

I missed the comment about weights. I flew at Boulder (and did my BFR
there when grandfathering my UK license to get a US glider license in
2001, but was flying with the commercial FBO (Mile High) rather than
the club. But they only had G103 Acro IIIs then. Is it possible I flew
with the same guy? I was pleased that I recognised the Boulder airfield
immediately I saw that video.

I only had a day or two in Denver on arrival - 2-3 days at Boulder and
then it was time to head for the Free Flight World Champs at Lost
Hills,
CA, and the Sierra Cup at Sacramento. I flew into and out of Denver
because I have friends there and because I really hate LAX. Besides it
also gave me the chance of flying at Boulder, Avenal and Minden and
then driving back from Sacramento on US70 to Cheyenne and then south to
Denver.


--
Martin | martin at Gregorie | gregorie dot org

I think there's a good chance you may have flown with Dr. John Campbell
in 2001 at Mile High Gliding. Recall if he wore glasses?

I remember meeting John when I first showed up at the field, and him
saying that I needed a flight in the 2.32, but events must have happened
because I didn't get that flight. However, I did have one flight with him
that involved a climb over a Boulder supermarket carpark, followed a bit
higher by being joined by a bald eagle and ending up at 17000 just under
a big Cu. I think the climb was basically a thermal reinforced by weak
wave because when we tried pushing west into the hills we only found
horrible sink. If I'm reading the sig correctly, my BFR was signed off by
Gary Baughman. Does that sound right?

One item I missed from my first post: Between the WC at Lost hills and
the Open International bash at Sacramento, I spent a few days at
Williams, where I flew their very nice Junior and converted to their
Pegase, which was a good move since I spent the next two years flying the
club Pegase 90 back in Cambridge.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org