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#31
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LAK-12 Question
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#32
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LAK-12 Question
There is nothing wrong with landing out - as others have stated, it's
like falling down while skiing! But one has to really weight the risk of damage (glider and/or property) against the rewards when choosing WHERE to landout. Where you are in the world, as well as what you are flying, has a lot to do with what you can accept as a reasonable landing field. In my glider (an LS6) I prefer not to land in a pasture. I will accept a plowed/short crop field, if necessary. But I try to always have an airstrip (anything from an abandoned WW2 field on up) within range during non-race XC flights - it's just not worth the risk to land in a potentially rough strip with my landing speed and small wheel. In Arizona, when away from the cultivated valleys, there are huge areas where you can only landout on airstrips. Otherwise, you will break your glider. Easy decision there - stay high, fly smart, keep your options open. Here near St Louis, Illinois is all one big farm field, with airfields and farmer strips every 15 miles, it seems, so one can push a lot lower and still have a really good place to land. But with a modern 40/1 ship, little reason to not make it to a nice safe airfield, with an airconditioned lounge, cute line girls, etc. (still waiting for that last bit...). If I was flying a 1-26, or K-8, then my range of suitable landout locations would undoubtedly be larger, due to the slower approach speed and tough skid/wheel gear setup. Then again, I might need to landout more often! Do I landout less this way? Not really, I still average about 6 landouts a season - they just are all on nice airfields or farmer's airstrips, where I can usually get an aero retrieve back to the club field. Cheers, Kirk 66 |
#34
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LAK-12 Question
Bruce wrote:
She has had both wingtips bashed, the gear doors ripped off, the belly scraped and a couple of canopies broken. All minor damage that has been easily repaired. That's the first time I've heard a broken canopy called "minor damage" and "easily repaired". -- Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA * Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly * "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4 * "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org |
#35
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LAK-12 Question
On May 13, 2:05 pm, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Bruce wrote: She has had both wingtips bashed, the gear doors ripped off, the belly scraped and a couple of canopies broken. All minor damage that has been easily repaired. That's the first time I've heard a broken canopy called "minor damage" and "easily repaired". -- Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA * Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly * "Transponders in Sailplanes"http://tinyurl.com/y739x4 * "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" atwww.motorglider.org yes i suppose that is another major benifit of flying a lousy performance glider, shorter retrieves!!! just a reminder to the crowd, my experience XC flying is based solely out of Central Iowa, where selecting a suitable field to land in is usually as easy as turning into the wind and landing straight ahead. especially in the spring/summer. I have flown some pretty low altitude cross countries in June/July with 3 feet tall soybeans and 10 feet tall corn filling most of these fields and it is tricky but you just tread lightly and keep a hay or alfalfa field below you. you can see some of my flight reports from these flights (and others) at www.knightglider.com/flightreports.htm I think that soaring has an unrealized and untapped resource in the midwest. while the thermal strength is weak compared to many places of the country, and cloudbase is much lower, the landout options are infinitely better. this area could provide excellent cross country training opportunities for the national XC camps by allowing them to try to go out on days where the soaring is only so-so and still be reassured that they wont break anything. the only damage i have ever done landing out is a rip in the fabric when the nose dug in after landing. both were due to soft fields and probably some overagression braking. it is part of the sport though. i try to avoid cut corn fields, with the stalks still a foot or two tall sticking in every which direction. overly rough fields, obviously, are undesirable. however, fabric is easy to repair. |
#36
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LAK-12 Question
Eric Greenwell wrote:
Bruce wrote: She has had both wingtips bashed, the gear doors ripped off, the belly scraped and a couple of canopies broken. All minor damage that has been easily repaired. That's the first time I've heard a broken canopy called "minor damage" and "easily repaired". Hi Eric MAybe I should have said - non-structural damage. To replace a canopy takes a free blown transparency and about 12 hours work. One week of evenings to remind you of your sins. Total cost ~10 aerotows. So far so good - partner has broken the canopy, but I dont wear hats with buttons on top... Cheers Bruce |
#37
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LAK-12 Question
I notice some pilots use "landout" to mean "landing somewhere besides my
home airfield", even if they land at a large, paved, airport. I call that "landing away" when I land on an airport/airstrip; a "landout" is landing something else, like a farmer's field or a road. Eric, I consider it a landout anytime someone don't land at their intended destination "because the wind quit". My feeling is that with the performance (and cost) of today's gliders, a true landout "au vaches" is rapidly becoming unacceptably risky in many ships. And mostly unnecessary. The key is where you intend to land; I may change my goal inflight, so the resulting landing away from the home field wouldn't be a landout anymore. I once changed my destination from Turf, Az - my takeoff point - to Parowan, Ut., while over the Grand Canyon - that flight was definitely not a landout! You set a task and try hard to complete it. If you are unable to, then you are forced to landout - and if you are unable to keep a suitable landing field in range, then perhaps you'll landout off- field. Semantics...It's all great, whatever you call it! Kirk 66 |
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