Solid state horizons

if you are thinking of slapping a T&B in your glider and going cloud flying.

Here's my story - don't do what I did:

When I was invulnerable and knew everything, but hadn't
done much, I desperately wanted to go cloud flying in a
glider like the heroes I'd read about who'd gotten diamonds
in thunderstorms. I'd never been in a cloud, never met
anyone who had, never had any sort of formal instruction.
I'd never even been above cloudbase or in a mountain wave,
but I set out to cloud fly.

I read all I could - it was a lot. I had a draggy, but
stable and tough glider that had Vne dive brakes and was
built for cloud flying. I practiced long periods of
hands-off "benign spiral mode" type flight from different
entries. I practiced unusual attitude recovery, including
inverted flight recoveries (more of that self-taught stuff).
I put a T&B in a 2-seater and practiced under the hood with
a trusted friend as safety pilot until I was as comfortable
as I could get.

Finally, I trailered out to some remote uncontrolled
airspace, launched and began the climb to a 5,000 AGL
cloudbase. Cu's were towering 10,000 above their bases, but
there was no precip and no forecast for thunderstorms. As I
entered, lift began to increase. I circled steadily,
carefully trimmed out, as I'd practiced, watching needle,
ball and airspeed like a hawk. I never made any
repositioning or major turn corrections. I never did
anything other than fly the turn as accurately as I could,
holding speed and coordination and eyeing the needle to
adjust the ailerons and keep a steady turn.

Seven thousand feet higher, with sweat dripping from every
pore, I decided to roll out. I have no idea how long this
took, but I did occasionally take the risk of a quick glance
at the vario and recall seeing it pegged, so it couldn't
have been too long. I didn't try to roll out on any
heading, I just brought it back to about best L/D and
straight according to the needle. Apparently it's quite
dark inside a cloud, because as I approached the edge the
sun was so bright my eyes began to tear and I had trouble
seeing the instruments.

Suddenly, I popped out and the sight was magical - I was in
a narrow cloud canyon stretching above and below me for
thousands of feet. I was higher than I'd ever been. For
someone who had never been above cloudbase the emotion, the
relief, the exhilaration was enough to leave a lifelong
impression that still rings strongly in me as I write this.

What I did wasn't very safe, nor smart, but I did my best to
reduce the risk. I did it only the once.

ok, so what is the general wisdom for non IFR trained pilots who get caught
on top or get sucked into a cloud: get a T&B and try to use it or practice
benign spiral? Did anyone successfully used benign spiral to descend through
a cloud? How benign is it in strong turbulent?

Ramy


"Bill Daniels" wrote in message
...

"Jancsika" wrote in message
...
Bill Daniels wrote:
changes in gliders. I'd be using airspeed for pitch information
anyway.

On gliders vario provide a bit more sensitive/reliable indication.

the other hand, tiny changes in bank produce large changes in rate of
turn
in gliders so a 2 minute T&B would be way too sensitive. Gliders need
a
one
minute or less turn needle.

Yes, and speed will make also significant difference. It's not sure
that you can do a 110km/h 1 spoon turn if you can do a 90km/h 1 spoon
turn...
We do instrument training on SF25 Falke and engine rpm will add an
additional variable to this multidimensional game

/Jancsika

I think it worthwhile to point out that an instrument ticket is the most
difficult pilot rating to get. Most pilots would agree that it's more
difficult than the Airline Transport Pilot rating. Simply put, it's VERY
technical and requires a superb sense of how an aircraft will respond to
tiny control inputs.

Anything less than 100% proficiency and the safety margins are
unacceptable.
Keep that in mind if you are thinking of slapping a T&B in your glider and
going cloud flying.

That said, IF you have the training, proficiency and equipment, and
operate
in a part of the world where it is permitted, cloud flying in a glider is
not only very effective, it's also a lot of fun as our non-USA based
friends
are pointing out.

In a lot of the world, particularly Central and Eastern Europe, the
prevailing weather conditions means that if your are to be a pilot at all,
flying in clouds will be part of the experience. Their pilot training
reflects this. (Our overseas friends will sometimes be astonished that we
permit night flight without an instrument rating.)

In the USA, we are spoiled with vast areas of "Severe Clear" weather that
persists pretty much year-round. As a consequence, our training for
Private
Pilot Glider doesn't address instrument flight at all.

Bill Daniels

LMAO! Change a few words to "lots of IFR time" and
"plenty of experience in clouds" and you'll still get
mostly the same story out of a fair number of pilots...

In article ,
Mike wrote:
if you are thinking of slapping a T&B in your glider and going cloud flying.

Here's my story - don't do what I did:

When I was invulnerable and knew everything, but hadn't
done much, I desperately wanted to go cloud flying in a
glider like the heroes I'd read about who'd gotten diamonds
in thunderstorms. I'd never been in a cloud, never met
anyone who had, never had any sort of formal instruction.
I'd never even been above cloudbase or in a mountain wave,
but I set out to cloud fly.

I read all I could - it was a lot. I had a draggy, but
stable and tough glider that had Vne dive brakes and was
built for cloud flying. I practiced long periods of
hands-off "benign spiral mode" type flight from different
entries. I practiced unusual attitude recovery, including
inverted flight recoveries (more of that self-taught stuff).
I put a T&B in a 2-seater and practiced under the hood with
a trusted friend as safety pilot until I was as comfortable
as I could get.

Finally, I trailered out to some remote uncontrolled
airspace, launched and began the climb to a 5,000 AGL
cloudbase. Cu's were towering 10,000 above their bases, but
there was no precip and no forecast for thunderstorms. As I
entered, lift began to increase. I circled steadily,
carefully trimmed out, as I'd practiced, watching needle,
ball and airspeed like a hawk. I never made any
repositioning or major turn corrections. I never did
anything other than fly the turn as accurately as I could,
holding speed and coordination and eyeing the needle to
adjust the ailerons and keep a steady turn.

Seven thousand feet higher, with sweat dripping from every
pore, I decided to roll out. I have no idea how long this
took, but I did occasionally take the risk of a quick glance
at the vario and recall seeing it pegged, so it couldn't
have been too long. I didn't try to roll out on any
heading, I just brought it back to about best L/D and
straight according to the needle. Apparently it's quite
dark inside a cloud, because as I approached the edge the
sun was so bright my eyes began to tear and I had trouble
seeing the instruments.

Suddenly, I popped out and the sight was magical - I was in
a narrow cloud canyon stretching above and below me for
thousands of feet. I was higher than I'd ever been. For
someone who had never been above cloudbase the emotion, the
relief, the exhilaration was enough to leave a lifelong
impression that still rings strongly in me as I write this.

What I did wasn't very safe, nor smart, but I did my best to
reduce the risk. I did it only the once.



--

------------+
Mark J. Boyd

In article , Gerhard Wesp
writes
Stefan wrote:
As far as I know cloud flying is allowed in England, Sweden, Switzerland
and
Poland.

Add Danmark and Germany. There may be still others.

Add Austria.

Cheers
-Gerhard
Scotland and Wales, too.

My experience with PCCFIS is almost identical to Chris's. I had a
problem with the lack of contrast of the Ipaq 2210, but I think I've
sorted that now.
--
Mike Lindsay