COMPARE THIS ULTIMATE PANEL

GFB has a very good point.
Earlier this year I had a pretty much complete electrical system
failure on course. After switching to backup logger battery to keep
flight alive, I flew the rest of the flight the old fashioned way. A
while later, something seemed really strange. I realized how pleasant
the flight was when I wasn't paying attention to radios, vario
nagging, and all that other stuff. I was just flying the glider and
enjoying the sky.
What a concept!
UH- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

UH, Part B of my question is: What caused the electrical failure?

Thanks,
Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina
With two 12 amp/hour batteries secured in the glider (or are they
slightly larger?)

Ray, I'll tell you about my complete electrical failure last week. I have
genuine aviation screw-base connectors at my battery; I plugged the battery
in, forgot to screw it down, and half-way around the course I kicked it
loose while pedalling around in a thermal. (Part of some new strategy I
learned from Carl Herrold, but don't tell him.)



At 20:08 15 September 2009, rlovinggood wrote:

GFB has a very good point.
Earlier this year I had a pretty much complete electrical system
failure on course. After switching to backup logger battery to keep
flight alive, I flew the rest of the flight the old fashioned way. A
while later, something seemed really strange. I realized how pleasant
the flight was when I wasn't paying attention to radios, vario
nagging, and all that other stuff. I was just flying the glider and
enjoying the sky.
What a concept!
UH- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

UH, Part B of my question is: What caused the electrical failure?

Thanks,
Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina
With two 12 amp/hour batteries secured in the glider (or are they
slightly larger?)

While the panel is a minimalist thing of beauty - do you live at sea
level? I ask this because your altimeter is set at zero. Tsk...Tsk...

On Sep 15, 4:08*pm, rlovinggood wrote:
GFB has a very good point.
Earlier this year I had a pretty much complete electrical system
failure on course. After switching to backup logger battery to keep
flight alive, I flew the rest of the flight the old fashioned way. A
while later, something seemed really strange. I realized how pleasant
the flight was when I wasn't paying attention to radios, vario
nagging, and all that other stuff. I was just flying the glider and
enjoying the sky.
What a concept!
UH- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

UH, Part B of my question is: *What caused the electrical failure?

Thanks,
Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina
With two 12 amp/hour batteries secured in the glider (or are they
slightly larger?)

Q1-Second for the day by about 25 pts to KS. Don't need no stinkin'
computer. Audio just confirms what butt already knows.
Q2-Connector short in a variometer took out one panel fuse. Second
went a few minute after battery connected. Yes- vario now seperately
fused.
Pays to have completely independant battery for one logger as last
resort.
UH

Q1-Second for the day by about 25 pts to KS. Don't need no stinkin'
computer. Audio just confirms what butt already knows.
Q2-Connector short in a variometer took out one panel fuse. *Second
went a few minute after battery connected. *Yes- vario now seperately
fused.
Pays to have completely independant battery for one logger as last
resort.
UH

Well done!

Ray

In article
,
Guy Byars wrote:


I think the most dangerous time during a soaring contest is when the
CD changes the task after all the pilots have launched. I can imagine
every pilot in the contest flying blindly with his head down, and eyes
glued to a computer as he scrolls and pokes the screen trying to enter
the new task.

Oooh! Man, I hate having to enter a new task in flight. Very scary.
Somewhat better if a dump or alternate task is agreed upon before launch
so it can be pre-loaded into the computer. That has it's risks as well.
At a recent race, I forgot to switch back to the primary task after
entering the alternate. I was half way around the course when I realized
I was flying the alternate task. It was a little late by then to
re-start, so I just went on to the primary task first turnpoint and flew
the correct task. Made for a long, strange looking first leg on the
flight trace!

At 20:16 14 September 2009, Guy Byars wrote:
I think the most dangerous time during a soaring contest is when the
CD changes the task after all the pilots have launched. I can imagine
every pilot in the contest flying blindly with his head down, and eyes
glued to a computer as he scrolls and pokes the screen trying to enter
the new task.

For this very reason, in UK comps CD can only change tasks on the ground
and with 10min notice before launching if task is previously briefed and
20 mins if new. The idea that 50 pilots would be entering a new task into
their computers in the air prior to the start is horrifying!

Jim

Ok, so this has sparked a curiosity for me. Who has a list of WAGs
(Mental math calculations) that can be used in the cockpit for glide
distances with wind and such? Is there a resource right now listing
them? Obviously I know it depends on glider performance, but what are
some starting points?

-Nick S

On Sep 16, 8:46*am, Nick S wrote:
Ok, so this has sparked a curiosity for me. Who has a list of WAGs
(Mental math calculations) that can be used in the cockpit for glide
distances with wind and such? Is there a resource right now listing
them? Obviously I know it depends on glider performance, but what are
some starting points?

-Nick S

I like to keep a simplified whiz wheel in my cockpit in case of gadget
failure (I have flown cross country with them). You can construct one
with great ease by getting your favorite computer graphing program
(such as Excel) to print a chart with logarithmic scales. Make one
with suitable distance numbers (e.g. 2-60 for miles or 3-120 for km)
and another with corresponding alititudes (e.g. 200-6000 feet or
100-4000m).
The trick is to get the scales the same length and to get the ratio
between
the low and high numbers the same. Cut them out and paste them to
some lightweight cardboard (a manila folder works great) and hold them
together with a paper clip. Scribble some notes as to what your
best speed and resulting glide ratios at various MC settings on the
contraption and you're all set. If you want to get fancy you can
paste
the distance ruler from your chart onto the thing and use it as a
chart
ruler.

-- Matt

On Sep 16, 11:44*am, mattm wrote:
On Sep 16, 8:46*am, Nick S wrote:

Ok, so this has sparked a curiosity for me. Who has a list of WAGs
(Mental math calculations) that can be used in the cockpit for glide
distances with wind and such? Is there a resource right now listing
them? Obviously I know it depends on glider performance, but what are
some starting points?

-Nick S

I like to keep a simplified whiz wheel in my cockpit in case of gadget
failure (I have flown cross country with them). *You can construct one
with great ease by getting your favorite computer graphing program
(such as Excel) to print a chart with logarithmic scales. *Make one
with suitable distance numbers (e.g. 2-60 for miles or 3-120 for km)
and another with corresponding alititudes (e.g. 200-6000 feet or
100-4000m).
The trick is to get the scales the same length and to get the ratio
between
the low and high numbers the same. *Cut them out and paste them to
some lightweight cardboard (a manila folder works great) and hold them
together with a paper clip. *Scribble some notes as to what your
best speed and resulting glide ratios at various MC settings on the
contraption and you're all set. *If you want to get fancy you can
paste
the distance ruler from your chart onto the thing and use it as a
chart
ruler.

-- Matt

I forgot to add: in order to use it, put a mark on the altitude scale
that corresponds to the "1" unit on the distance scale (e.g. mark
5280 feet if you're using statute miles or 1000m if using km). To
set the contraption to a particular MC setting line up the mark
with the glide ratio from your table. Read your required altitude
directly by looking next to the distance you have to fly. If you have
a headwind or tailwind you can fudge a few points in the right
direction using the basic (S-H)/S ratio. E.g. at MC=2 you have
a best speed of 60 kts and a glide ratio of 30 (I'm picking a
medium performance plane to make it easy). With a 10kt
headwind you only get 5/6 the performance, so use 25 for
your glide ratio.

When I was a student pilot a long time ago everyone used fancy
whiz wheels because GPS hadn't (quite) arrived. My textbook
had a picture of a whiz wheel, so I applied my programmer/math
geek mind to the issue for a while and eventually programmed
a whiz wheel I could print on my laser printer. When I started
flying more that just a couple of miles from the airport I found
out how easy the thing was to use. Unfortunately my program
is lost (last version I had was on a diskette that my computer
wouldn't read) so I've just gone for the easy design.

-- Matt