Rudder waggle

On Nov 19, 9:27 am, Mike Lindsay wrote:
snip
At our club the then chief flying instructor asked me, as tuggie, to do
a rudder waggle when he was doing annual revalidations. Three out of the
four pilots doing their annual checks released. That was two years ago.

These days, when you do your annual, you are asked about the signals
before you go.

One of the signals is that the glider "flies out to the left as far as
possible and rocks the wings laterally" The meaning is that the glider
cant let the rope go.

What happens then?

In my recent experience of pracsing giving the signal, absolutely
nothing most of the time. The same when when the instructor flew out
to the left and gave the signal.


We never practice descending on tow.

I have. I was surprised how easy it was.


I asked our
resident instructor, he said the tug should continue climbing and
position the glider in a good place to make a safe landing.

I wonder what other people do in the event that the glider cant release?

I was told that the tug takes you back to where you can safely get
back to the field (quite possibly descending en-route), and releases
you. You land normally but using a reference point well inside the
field because of the tow rope dangling from the glider.

I wonder what other people do in the event that the glider cant release?
Mike Lindsay

In France, they taught us to open the airbrakes full, and then go
below the tow plane wake. Sit there until the tow plane brings you
back to the runway. Works like a charm, and is actually part of the
curriculum to get your license over there....

Richard
Phoenix, AZ

Burt Compton - Marfa wrote:
SNIP / QUOTE: ". . . you'd probably decimate the sport if you set
standards that high."

Does "you" mean "us" - the glider pilots, instructors and towpilots,
or does "you" mean allowing the FAA to increase the standards for us,
and do it "their" way?

Neither. Aim at perfection, but if you see a standard procedure that
repeatedly results in mistakes, perhaps it is time to consider a change.

Marc

1. Back over the airport, try one last time to release
WITH SLACK IN THE ROPE. It worked for me when I was
about to land while being towed.

2. How many students in the US learn the signals only
from a book, and how many actually practice them?
We tell the tow pilot to give us the rudder waggle
at 1000ft agl and the wave off at the top of the tow.
Frequent practice is the answer.

At 15:12 19 November 2007, Cats wrote:


I was told that the tug takes you back to where you
can safely get
back to the field (quite possibly descending en-route),
and releases
you. You land normally but using a reference point
well inside the
field because of the tow rope dangling from the glider.

To help students (and flight review pilots) to remember the difference
between Wing-Rock and Rudder-Wag I tell them to think of the Rudder-
Wag as a slap-in-the-face "wake-up" or "snap-out-of-it" signal. As in
"Wake up and check your glider". Visualizing the towpilot coming back
to the glider and slapping you to attention.

So far all pilots have liked this memory tool, but I don't know if it
has ever helped any of them.

Curt - 95
CFIG

On Nov 18, 12:00 pm, "BT" wrote:
ahh.. excuse me... but I do not think the rudder waggle is the release
signal.. at least in the USA

Rudder Wag in flight means... CHECK YOUR GLIDER.. something is not right..
SPOILERS are the first thing to check.
FAA-H-8083-13, page 7-2, and other SSA references

On Nov 18, 7:32 pm, "Vaughn Simon"
wrote:
Sorry, I disagree. The wave off is a command. It means "release now".
Think of it as a pact with your tow pilot. Ten seconds is an eternity when you
are only a few feet from the ground and things are rapidly going to hell. When
you get the wave off, release now and ask questions later.

Sorry, I disagree. Tow pilot pulling the release is "get off NOW".
Wing rock is "if you don't release soon, you get to bring the rope
home, or buy a new one if you lose it."

The meaning of "soon" depends on the situation, and is under control
of the tow pilot, as long as his release works. We all prefer that
the delay be minimal, but if the tow pilot can't handle a couple
seconds delay, then why bother rocking his wings in the first place?
There is no danger to the glider (OK, OK, there is always a nonzero
chance something could go wrong in any situation) if the rope is
released by the towplane, so the only time the tow pilot should rock
the wings is if he doesn't mind waiting a few moments.

-Tom

On Nov 19, 12:15 pm, CLewis95 wrote:
To help students (and flight review pilots) to remember the difference
between Wing-Rock and Rudder-Wag I tell them to think of the Rudder-
Wag as a slap-in-the-face "wake-up" or "snap-out-of-it" signal. As in
"Wake up and check your glider". Visualizing the towpilot coming back
to the glider and slapping you to attention.

So far all pilots have liked this memory tool, but I don't know if it
has ever helped any of them.

Curt - 95
CFIG

Curt,

Love your memory jogger, I'll never forget that the Rudder Slaps You
in the Face to wake you up and pay attention.

BTW, thanks to all the tuggies for their insights, I would never have
thought of many of them.

"5Z" wrote in message
...
On Nov 18, 7:32 pm, "Vaughn Simon"
wrote:
Sorry, I disagree. The wave off is a command. It means "release now".
Think of it as a pact with your tow pilot. Ten seconds is an eternity when
you
are only a few feet from the ground and things are rapidly going to hell.
When
you get the wave off, release now and ask questions later.

Sorry, I disagree. Tow pilot pulling the release is "get off NOW".
Wing rock is "if you don't release soon, you get to bring the rope
home, or buy a new one if you lose it."

Then we will have to politely agree to disagree. I have heard of too many
cases where tow plane releases failed to release, sometimes leading to loss of
the tow plane or much worse. I have also heard of situations where a tuggy
could not immediately reach the release. I have always been taught (and
taught) that the wave-off is a command. You when you get a wave-off, you
immediately release and then discuss things on the ground.

Let's keep our tuggies alive.

Vaughn

On Nov 19, 12:15 pm, CLewis95 wrote:
To help students (and flight review pilots) to remember the difference
between Wing-Rock and Rudder-Wag I tell them to think of the Rudder-
Wag as a slap-in-the-face "wake-up" or "snap-out-of-it" signal. As in
"Wake up and check your glider". Visualizing the towpilot coming back
to the glider and slapping you to attention.

So far all pilots have liked this memory tool, but I don't know if it
has ever helped any of them.

Curt - 95
CFIG

On Nov 18, 12:00 pm, "BT" wrote:



ahh.. excuse me... but I do not think the rudder waggle is the release
signal.. at least in the USA

Rudder Wag in flight means... CHECK YOUR GLIDER.. something is not right..
SPOILERS are the first thing to check.
FAA-H-8083-13, page 7-2, and other SSA references- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Slap in the face.....

I like it!

I second that.

Bert

"Vaughn Simon" wrote in message
...
Then we will have to politely agree to disagree. I have heard of too
many cases where tow plane releases failed to release, sometimes leading
to loss of the tow plane or much worse. I have also heard of situations
where a tuggy could not immediately reach the release. I have always
been taught (and taught) that the wave-off is a command. You when you get
a wave-off, you immediately release and then discuss things on the ground.

Let's keep our tuggies alive.

Vaughn