spin characteristics of new racers

Bruce Greeff wrote in message ...

Andy
Perhaps it would be wise to dump all ballast any time you expect to have
to thermal at low altitude. Then at least you are not playing test pilot.

Well, hopefully if the day warrants carrying a lot of ballast, you
won't need to do much low altitude thermalling. It's more likely you
will be thermalling in a gaggle, and spinning through that could also
ruin your (and other's) day. But at least out here in Arizona, some
low thermalling full is pretty common in the summertime, since we
often release from tow fully ballasted at 1000 - 1200ft agl right into
a nice thermal and climb out from there without any problem. I is
really a matter of basic airmanship - keep your airspeed up, fly
clean, pay attention to what the glider is telling you, and always be
ready to immediately unload and recover from an incipient spin.

Like an idiot I once released at 800 ft when I hit a real solid boomer
just off the end of the runway during a rushed local contest launch -
climbed out OK after recovering from the shock of looking at the
altimeter after pulling the release! Tow pilot was happy, since the
minimum charge is for 1000 ft, and there were others waiting to
launch.

Yeah, I know about always going to 2000' during a contest...

Kirk

Pete Zeugma wrote in message ...

Would you also want to practice landing a glider full
up with ballast as well?

Possibly, but you'd better have plenty of runway and make sure your
wings are equal. You'll simply find that it lands more like a typical
light plane and flare angles are reduced and extended longitudinally.
No big deal.

In the experimental Sigma, modified by Dr. Marsden, then further
modified by myself, there's no choice. The 900 lb. wings are always
fully ballasted and 5/16" aluminum plate skins equate to 12.65 psf.

However, we are able to achieve a measured max CsubL of 2.4 and
therefore the landing speeds are moderate. Still quite an adventure to
land out, which I have done once, much to the chagrin of my friends...
well, some of them now ex-friends!

On the general thread of practicing for emergencies, I used to own
helicopters for personal transport in a business. In my Hughes 500D,
I always made it a point to practice an engine-out autorotational
landing on one of two legs of any round trip. As a result, I was
thorougly prepared and practiced when I was returning from a personal
trip with my wife and experienced a complete flame-out at minimum
downwind altitude after take-off. Contaminated jet fuel. Textbook
landing, with no damage to aircraft or us. Even so, FAA required
disasembly and trailering to regional service center for complete
inspection. Quite a hassle. Real damage was to my wife's psyche. Poor
thing.

Best Regards,
Gary Osoba

On 1/29/04 11:08 AM, in article 40194c14$1@darkstar, "Mark James Boyd"
wrote:

I think one could, with enough money and altitude and good chutes
and maybe a small tail drogue chute....

So how many people have spun the tow plane? With or without glider
attached?

How do we know what will happen if we don't practice?



-------
Jack
-------

(Gary Osoba) wrote
In the experimental Sigma, modified by Dr. Marsden, then further
modified by myself, there's no choice. The 900 lb. wings are always
fully ballasted and 5/16" aluminum plate skins equate to 12.65 psf.

However, we are able to achieve a measured max CsubL of 2.4 and
therefore the landing speeds are moderate. Still quite an adventure to
land out, which I have done once, much to the chagrin of my friends...
well, some of them now ex-friends

No way, Gary! That wasn't near enough to make any of us into
ex-friends. If that was the goal, you are gonna have to try harder!
I had fun. Probably a lot more fun than the night you went out after
me because you knew that I must surely have landed out, as dark and
black as it was getting where I was. Only to find that I had some how
hung on and gotten out of the path of the storms and made it home.
Dang crew radios not working well enough, anyway!

Steve Leonard
Spinner of Soaring Lore since the late 1970s.
Nutritional Label for Soaring Lore
Soaring Lore is made up of Fact (Less than 2%) and "Enhanced" Fact.

Jack wrote:
On 1/29/04 11:08 AM, in article 40194c14$1@darkstar, "Mark James Boyd"
wrote:


I think one could, with enough money and altitude and good chutes
and maybe a small tail drogue chute....


So how many people have spun the tow plane? With or without glider
attached?

A tow pilot at Black Forest, CO used to use spins as his let-down
technique. Very entertaining with the rope corkscrewing behind.

Shawn