Virga, rain, cloudsuck - how close do you get?

John Cochrane wrote on 9/2/2020 12:19 PM:
One important point, learned the hard way. You don't want to push over to 110 knots, still climbing like crazy, push to VNE, still climbing and clouds approaching, and THEN want to open the spoilers. Obviously you don't want to jam open the spoilers at VNE, too many wings have fallen off that way. And if you pull back to a sensible speed, you gain 2000' in the zoom. Pull the spoilers while still sensibly away from the cloud! In my case, I was lucky enough to not go in to the cloud, but others have not been so lucky.

John Cochrane BB

Your recommendation is a very good one, but it's my understanding our gliders are
designed and tested to withstand opening the spoilers at Vne. You should avoid
abrupt opening above maneuvering speed (perhaps that is what you meant), and the G
load before opening should be lower than the maximum allowed at Vne - check the
handbook.


--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1

Designed and tested, well maybe, but I got some nice bruises from my straps across my chest in the process of making the same mistake as John. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRH5tf4iuKk

The IGC log showed the lift peaked at 45kts. Airbrakes still didn't induce a descent, the only escape was out the side. If you're still climbing at +5kts while cruising 100kts, it's time to make an exit plan because the 'corner' comes quicker than you expect. I'd done it loads of times before and the lift had never been strong enough that it 'overpowered' VNE... until that time...

On Wednesday, September 2, 2020 at 10:51:36 PM UTC+2, Eric Greenwell wrote:
John Cochrane wrote on 9/2/2020 12:19 PM:
One important point, learned the hard way. You don't want to push over to 110 knots, still climbing like crazy, push to VNE, still climbing and clouds approaching, and THEN want to open the spoilers. Obviously you don't want to jam open the spoilers at VNE, too many wings have fallen off that way. And if you pull back to a sensible speed, you gain 2000' in the zoom. Pull the spoilers while still sensibly away from the cloud! In my case, I was lucky enough to not go in to the cloud, but others have not been so lucky.

John Cochrane BB
Your recommendation is a very good one, but it's my understanding our gliders are
designed and tested to withstand opening the spoilers at Vne. You should avoid
abrupt opening above maneuvering speed (perhaps that is what you meant), and the G
load before opening should be lower than the maximum allowed at Vne - check the
handbook.
--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1

I find lift in rain or virga about 50% of the time. Lift is nearby if it is not in the rain. Climbing is usually slower in wet lift because the rain does drag air downward with it, it cools the air, and the glider's performance is degraded. One should have a plan on escaping out of a microburst. I am convinced that microbursts exist in clear air, away from clouds, in which case it is difficult to determine which way to run because the downdraft is invisible, making them scarier than the mature Cumulus kind.