Water ballast rookie question

On Aug 18, 9:09*am, JJ Sinclair wrote:
On Aug 17, 11:13*pm, P9 wrote:

Another water ballast question.

How well does a fully ballasted glider recover from a spin?

I practice spins every season, dry. *The recovery is easy and
predictable. *(SZD 55-1) *I have never tried a spin with water. *If I
accidently spin at low atlitude (1000 ft agl or lower) fully
ballasted, should I attempt to recover, or just bail?

Kerry

Hi Kerry,
Enjoyed flying with you at Air Sailing Sports. Good race again this
year and those AFA guys can no longer be ignored, can they?Your 55
holds a ton of water, I'd recommend you try spinning it with a half
load, then work up from there.................well maybe that's not
such a good idea because a partial load can shift to the outboard wing
tip and give a big lateral weight problem. I remember Carl Herold
telling me the 12 would tuck under to where the nose was more than
vertical when he spun her with a load of water.........Hmmm, maybe
don't spin it wet would be the best advice and if you spin it at 1000
agl, i'd do it with *a BRS installed. Adding the BRS to my Genesis was
the best thing I have done lately, I feel much more secure now and
enjoy that comfortable seat (without *chute).
Cheers,
JJ

Don't forget the story of spin testing the Schweitzer 1-35. Since the
plane was to be certified by the FAA and it was the first Schweitzer
with water ballast, the FAA insisted on a spin test with one wing full
and the other dry. Needless to say it was a pretty exciting test...
The towpilot followed the plane down and reported the spin axis was
outboard in the wing. It took multiple kicks of the rudder to finally
break the spin.
The test pilot administered a few extra kicks after landing just for
good
measure!

Note also that some planes prohibit spins while loaded with ballast.
Make sure to consult your owner's manual carefully. Keep in mind
that the ballast will move outboard in your wings and increase your
rotational momentum. Also keep in mind the advice from a good
friend of mine who used to be a test pilot: "Don't spin!"

-- Matt