THE AVIATORS Soaring Episode

On Saturday, February 8, 2014 11:30:34 PM UTC-5, Waveguru wrote:
Gravity does not power our gliders. The forward tilt of lift is what moves us forward. The sun powers our gliders. ( after the initial boost from dead dinosaurs)

Pointing out that the sun is the source of all vertical wind is a good way to recruit young eco-minded prospects, but some folks will be put off by that "sustainable green talk".

My standby line is that "a good glider pilot can stay up for hours without spending any money on fuel". Most people take that as a big plus, and it directs the conversation towards lift and the core challenges of flying gliders.

I would guess that waveguru has never taken a first year Applied Mechanics Engineering course, otherwise he would understand things such as equilibrium, free-body diagrams, vectors and force components and the fact that lift acts perpendicular to the relative airflow and therefore by definition can not provide thrust.

"Pitch angle" and "forward tilt" in relation to what, hmmmm?

Remove gravity from the equation and you're not going anywhere.

Last time we had a glider on display at the Abbotsford Airshow I filled in the "powerplant" section of the supplied information board as "hybrid gravitic-nuclear fusion drive system."


As for using young pilots... well, you fly with who you have - and who is available to fit the schedule of the television crew. My club has at times had some young instructors and some years we don't. For the second half of the show I don't think it would be an option. it's not like Ontario has a wide selection of expert, legendary aerobatic pilots known for putting on amazing glider aerobatic performances at airshows all across North America to choose from...