"Paul M. Cordell" wrote in message
...
How Low to Spin??

I was proudly shown a IGC file this weekend. This file show the aero tow
thru a thermal and a release into sink. Our proud pilot was unable to
find the thermal and started a downwind leg for a landing. As he turned
base leg, he flew into a 2-5 kt thermal. Instead of completing the
pattern and landing, he turned and climbed in this thermal. The IGC file
showed that his altitude at the time of encountering lift was 300 ft. I
asked him 1 question as he displayed this flight on See You. How Low do
you want to spin?

His response scared me silly&&..My glider does not spin and there was no
wind.

He then continued to display the same flight where he bragged of
spending a considerable amount of time in the mountains within 500 feet
of the terrain. I am doubtful as to his ability to reach a landable area
during this portion of the flight.

This pilot is in his first year of private ownership, cross county
soaring and may have almost 200 hours of total time. He has embraced
soaring completely. I left the gliderport feeling that my suggestions as
to his safety practices were just hollow words. I know that he reads RAS
and would hope that the response to this post may give him some food for
thought.


I heard the following comment at an informal gathering of older pilots:

"We old, cautious pilots were once young, bold pilots who scared ourselves
badly enough to engender some wisdom before the youth and boldness killed
us." And, "Good judgement is the distillation of bad experiences."

Perhaps your pilot simply hasn't experienced the silent, deadly spin
departure that can result from a turning stall in turbulent air. Maybe we
just have to hope that he scares himself into wisdom.

Maybe he needs a flight with a good instructor in an easily spinable trainer
like a Blanik L-23 or most any eastern European two-seater. Practicing
cross-controlled stalls in rough, mid-afternoon thermals will usually do the
trick.

By way of setting some perspective, I won't universally condemn low altitude
saves. Sometimes thermalling away is the best option available. However,
they are almost always the result of earlier bad decisions that placed the
pilot in that situation. Getting low is the most common way of losing a
contest day.

Still, there are many pilots with whom I would feel comfortable as a
passenger riding in the back seat as they thermalled up from 300 feet. They
are good enough at sensing the early symptoms of a stall/spin that they
would relax the backpressure for a moment and then continue the thermal turn
without anyone but the most perceptive noticing what had happened. Usually,
these are not pilots trained in 2-33's.

Bill Daniels