Tom Knauff's newsletter

On Jun 30, 6:34*am, wrote:
The newsletter quoted was a response to an earlier newsletter, which
described a test first given at the Hartford, Connecticut SSA
convention probably 20+ years ago.

It was a ten-question test of things all glider pilots should know. No
trick questions. Everyone would agree all glider pilots should know
the answers. It was multiple choice.

This same test and similar tests have been given throughout the
country during conventions, CFI revalidation clinics, and seminars
with the same results.

Examples of the questions include:

During a left turn on aero tow, which side of the towplane should the
glider pilot see?

A. * * *Left side
B. * * *Right Side
C. * * *Both sides equally
D. * * *Which side does not matter as long as the glider is not too high.

During a steep, continuous left hand turn, how are the controls held?

A. * * *Left Aileron, right rudder, back stick
B. * * *Left aileron, left rudder, back stick
C. * * *Right aileron, right rudder, back stick
D. * * *Right aileron, left rudder, back stick

During an off field landing, what color farm field is generally most
desirable?

A. * * *Light green
B. * * *Dark green
C. * * *Dirt color
D. * * *Color is not important

I believe you would all agree the test includes subject matter a
glider pilot should know.

Over the years, the average score by licensed pilots has been 37%.

The glider pilot fatality rate is one of the highest of any activity.
The demonstrable lack of essential knowledge is a major factor.

If *“Warren” does not like my choice of questions &/or answers, then
he should make up his own list of questions he feels are important and
present them at his club’s next meeting.

The result, will be better educated, safer pilots.

And, if you need help devising test questions, you will find lots of
examples in "Glider Basics From First Flight To Solo" and "The Bronze
Badge Book."

Yes, selling books I write, and teaching pilots to fly safely is how I
earn my living.

The first Glider PTS was written after we trained the FAA author at
Ridge Soaring Gliderport.

Tom Knauff

OK, what are the correct answers, those are questions I have seen
before and they lead to a good discussion, but I would like to read
your opinion, always good.

Examples of the questions include:

During a left turn on aero tow, which side of the towplane should the
glider pilot see?

A. Left side
B. Right Side
C. Both sides equally
D. Which side does not matter as long as the glider is not too high.

During a steep, continuous left hand turn, how are the controls held?

A. Left Aileron, right rudder, back stick
B. Left aileron, left rudder, back stick
C. Right aileron, right rudder, back stick
D. Right aileron, left rudder, back stick

During an off field landing, what color farm field is generally most
desirable?

A. Light green
B. Dark green
C. Dirt color
D. Color is not important


OK, what are the correct answers, those are questions I have seen
before and they lead to a good discussion, but I would like to read
your opinion, always good.

Q#1: If you were on a passenger train rounding a left bend in the tracks
and looked out a window at the locomotive, the only side you could see is
the left side. Like a passenger car on a train, a glider should follow the
same path in the sky as the tow plane (locomotive) so you see the left side.
(Answer: A)

Q#2: This one needs a some qualification since it depends on the glider.
Obviously, into-the-turn aileron (left in a left turn) would never be used
in a continuous turn so the choice is between C and D.

I find many gliders, once stabilized in a turn, will track nicely with the
string centered with my feet off the pedals indicating no rudder is needed
at all. Only opposite aileron (right in this case) is used to hold off the
overbanking tendency - this right aileron provides all the left yaw (adverse
yaw) needed to center the string. Gliders with less adverse yaw will need
some into-the-turn rudder (Answer: D). Gliders with a lot of adverse yaw
may need a little out-of-the-turn rudder (right) (Answer: C).

One must add that the Dick Johnson technique of using a slight slip also
works nicely and adds a little to the performance. Dick holds
out-of-the-turn rudder to oppose overbanking and keeps the stick centered.
In my experience, this works best on gliders with generous dihedral and
without winglets or polyhedral.

Q#3: Any uniform green color indicates a growing crop. This could be
alfalfa, corn or something else. You can land in freshly cut alfalfa or hay
but not much else. Green usually means some form of irrigation which adds
additional hazards like sprinkler pipes. Landing in a crop is likely to
cause some irritation among the farm folk. Dirt, if it's reasonably smooth,
level and large enough, is always landable. (Answer: C)

Bill Daniels

On Jul 1, 8:26*pm, "Bill Daniels" bildan@comcast-dot-net wrote:
Q#3: *Any uniform green color indicates a growing crop. *This could be
alfalfa, corn or something else. *You can land in freshly cut alfalfa or hay
but not much else. *Green usually means some form of irrigation which adds
additional hazards like sprinkler pipes. *Landing in a crop is likely to
cause some irritation among the farm folk. *Dirt, if it's reasonably smooth,
level and large enough, is always landable. *(Answer: C)

I agree with most of that but it may be too simple an answer. You need
to know what crop is grown in the area you are flying and how tall it
is likely to be at that particular time of year. You also need to
know how it is watered or irrigated. Landings in siphon irrigated
cotton fields, that are common in Arizona, can be made safely with no
crop damage if you are able to keep both wheels in the same furrow and
if the cotton is still short. On the other hand I know of a glider
that sufferered significant fuselage damage on landing in a recently
plowed field. The dirt clods were as hard as concrete and up to a
foot across.

Of all the landouts I have made I think the best field surfaces were
mown alfapha and wheat stubble. One of the worst was a fallow dirt
field that was so soft it was almost impossible to roll the glider to
the trailer as it sank six inches deep in powder. Nice short landing
roll though!

So I don't know what answer Tom wanted to that question. My answer
would be to make a choice based on size, slope, surface and a
knowledge of local crop conditions. The best choice could be either
green or brown but I'd take a look at the brown one first and hope it
had a thermal.

You can see why I don't like multiple choice tests

Andy

Andy wrote:
I agree with most of that but it may be too simple an answer. You need
to know what crop is grown in the area you are flying and how tall it
is likely to be at that particular time of year. You also need to
know how it is watered or irrigated. Landings in siphon irrigated
cotton fields, that are common in Arizona, can be made safely with no
crop damage if you are able to keep both wheels in the same furrow and
if the cotton is still short. On the other hand I know of a glider
that sufferered significant fuselage damage on landing in a recently
plowed field. The dirt clods were as hard as concrete and up to a
foot across.

Wow - does this mean I need to get an endorsement for agricultural science
on my certificate before I solo, or just before attempting a cross country?
;-)

At 03:26 02 July 2008, Bill Daniels wrote:

Examples of the questions include:

snip

During a steep, continuous left hand turn, how are the controls held?

A. Left Aileron, right rudder, back stick
B. Left aileron, left rudder, back stick
C. Right aileron, right rudder, back stick
D. Right aileron, left rudder, back stick


Q#2: This one needs a some qualification since it depends on the glider.

Obviously, into-the-turn aileron (left in a left turn) would never be
used

in a continuous turn so the choice is between C and D.

I find many gliders, once stabilized in a turn, will track nicely with
the

string centered with my feet off the pedals indicating no rudder is
needed

at all. Only opposite aileron (right in this case) is used to hold off
the
overbanking tendency - this right aileron provides all the left yaw
(adverse
yaw) needed to center the string. Gliders with less adverse yaw will
need

some into-the-turn rudder (Answer: D). Gliders with a lot of adverse
yaw

may need a little out-of-the-turn rudder (right) (Answer: C).

One must add that the Dick Johnson technique of using a slight slip also

works nicely and adds a little to the performance. Dick holds
out-of-the-turn rudder to oppose overbanking and keeps the stick
centered.

In my experience, this works best on gliders with generous dihedral and
without winglets or polyhedral.

snip

Bill Daniels

I notice from the back seat in a left turn that the yaw string for the
front cockpit is slightly more to the right than the one in the back; I
believe this to be because the front one is farther from the center of
lift -- or the tangent of the turning radius.

This leads me to believe that the rudder, also displaced from the center
of lift would likely align itself with its own relative wind and would
thus be slightly to the left if unattended.

I do not think of this as holding bottom rudder. I was taught to hold a
little top rudder and it might just be that a bit of pressure on the top
rudder would place it somewhere between the place it would naturally seek
and perfect alignment with the fuselage if not actually to the outside.

I do note that if the nose drifts too low in a turn it is much easier to
move it back to the proper position by applying top rudder than it is to
add more back pressure on the stick. I believe this is also much safer --
a little bit of slip instead of lowering the airspeed with the stick while
holding top aileron and bottom rudder, the classic setup for spin entry.

React, Bill?

Nyal Williams wrote:

I notice from the back seat in a left turn that the yaw string for the
front cockpit is slightly more to the right than the one in the back; I
believe this to be because the front one is farther from the center of
lift -- or the tangent of the turning radius.


I suspect not. Assuming the following: 1. on a 2 seater, the front yaw
string is about 6 ft (2m) ahead of the center of lift. 2. According to
the American Soaring handbook, a 45 degree banked turn at 60 mph (52
kts) has a radius of 240 feet (73m).

High school level geometry and trigonometry (I've been out of high
school for a looong time :-) ) shows that this results in an error of
only 1.4 degrees - small enough to be ignored for all practical purposes.

I suspect that a yaw string, typically taped to the canopy, may have
errors because the string is in the boundary layer.

Tony V.

On Jun 29, 11:32*pm, wrote:
Has anyone read this? What is your opinion? Tom Knauff certainly
doesn't provide any facts to support his conclusions. The following
statement in particular should anger each glider pilot, CFIG and
examiner: "The point of this is the demonstrable fact that most glider
pilots do not have the fundamental knowledge to fly safely. (Perhaps
with the exception of very controlled circumstances.)"

When I questioned him on this he simply offered the following:“Oh, by
the way, the test results demonstrate the point.”

Really? What tests? Where’s the empirical data? *Has he just perused
NTSB reports or is it firsthand knowledge? Does he speak of transition
pilots or “from scratch” students. Why does he only mention glider
pilots and not general aviation? What has he done to change the FAA
PTS?

I personally know two CFIG’s who have crashed with passengers on
board. One passenger died and the other passenger will never be the
same. One CFIG continues to fly and the other has withdrawn from the
glider community and, quite possibly, aviation altogether. Are they to
be included in Tom’s categorical statements? I think not.

It is not just glider pilots. It isn’t just the low time pilot.
Everyone makes mistakes. For Tom to make such broad statements just to
sell some books is reckless and doesn’t provide any real help to our
small community.

Is there a gap in training and real flying? You bet. So why isn’t he
tapping on the shoulder of every CFIG, DPE, and the FAA?

His offhand comments smack in the same style as John Scherer’s
commercials for the Video Professor; “Buy my product.”

Warren

The complete newsletter:
Several of you have asked for answers to the questions, and want more
questions.
At the end of most chapters of the first training manual, "Glider
Basics From First Flight To Solo," there are important end of chapter
questions.
Also, "The Bronze Badge Book" has nearly 300 important questions and
answers.
You can order these and other books from our web site listed below.
The point of this is the demonstrable fact that most glider pilots do
not have the fundamental knowledge to fly safely. (Perhaps with the
exception of very controlled circumstances.)
I recently had a person contact me about flight training. He explained
that he did not need any ground school because he was going to take
the FAA written test before arriving at our school. I expect him to go
elsewhere for his training.
Everyone gets a score on the FAA test in the high 90s because the
questions and answers are available to them. Unfortunately, the FAA
written test does not ask questions like, "Why does an aircraft have a
rudder?" *Or, "What color field is generally best for an off field
landing?" *Or, "At what altitude can you see cow's legs?"
Thomas Knauff
Knauff & Grove Soaring Supplies
Ridge Soaring Gliderport
3523 S Eagle Valley Rd
Julian, Pa 16844

Phone 814 355 2483


While one might decate the degree, my opinion after 35 years of
training is that Tom is much more right than wrong.
Flight reviews and recurrent training are a great way to help improve
this situation.
Yes- he sells some books and promotes them.
Too bad more people don't buy and read them- or others like them.
UH

On Jun 29, 9:32*pm, wrote:
Has anyone read this? What is your opinion? Tom Knauff certainly
doesn't provide any facts to support his conclusions. The following
statement in particular should anger each glider pilot, CFIG and
examiner: "The point of this is the demonstrable fact that most glider
pilots do not have the fundamental knowledge to fly safely. (Perhaps
with the exception of very controlled circumstances.)"

When I questioned him on this he simply offered the following:“Oh, by
the way, the test results demonstrate the point.”

Really? What tests? Where’s the empirical data? *Has he just perused
NTSB reports or is it firsthand knowledge? Does he speak of transition
pilots or “from scratch” students. Why does he only mention glider
pilots and not general aviation? What has he done to change the FAA
PTS?

I personally know two CFIG’s who have crashed with passengers on
board. One passenger died and the other passenger will never be the
same. One CFIG continues to fly and the other has withdrawn from the
glider community and, quite possibly, aviation altogether. Are they to
be included in Tom’s categorical statements? I think not.

It is not just glider pilots. It isn’t just the low time pilot.
Everyone makes mistakes. For Tom to make such broad statements just to
sell some books is reckless and doesn’t provide any real help to our
small community.

Is there a gap in training and real flying? You bet. So why isn’t he
tapping on the shoulder of every CFIG, DPE, and the FAA?

His offhand comments smack in the same style as John Scherer’s
commercials for the Video Professor; “Buy my product.”

Warren

The complete newsletter:
Several of you have asked for answers to the questions, and want more
questions.
At the end of most chapters of the first training manual, "Glider
Basics From First Flight To Solo," there are important end of chapter
questions.
Also, "The Bronze Badge Book" has nearly 300 important questions and
answers.
You can order these and other books from our web site listed below.
The point of this is the demonstrable fact that most glider pilots do
not have the fundamental knowledge to fly safely. (Perhaps with the
exception of very controlled circumstances.)
I recently had a person contact me about flight training. He explained
that he did not need any ground school because he was going to take
the FAA written test before arriving at our school. I expect him to go
elsewhere for his training.
Everyone gets a score on the FAA test in the high 90s because the
questions and answers are available to them. Unfortunately, the FAA
written test does not ask questions like, "Why does an aircraft have a
rudder?" *Or, "What color field is generally best for an off field
landing?" *Or, "At what altitude can you see cow's legs?"
Thomas Knauff
Knauff & Grove Soaring Supplies
Ridge Soaring Gliderport
3523 S Eagle Valley Rd
Julian, Pa 16844

Phone 814 355 2483


I think Tom should be commended for speaking out about this subject.
It's certainly not the first time he's raised these points. After
reading similar comments from him years ago I traveled to Ridge
Soaring to be trained by him and learned first hand some of the
deficiencies embedded in my knowlege, technique, judgment, and prior
training. I have continued to try and meet the high bar he set for me
during those lessons. I've also had the opportunity to fly at many
locations, both clubs and commercial, and have observed activities
that seem to be totally in line with what Tom says. It seems to be
quite a stretch to think that his comments are merely a marketing plan
for his books! As for the scientific basis of his comments or of any
studies related to glider safety, you don't need to be in the sport
very long to know that they are certainly directionaly correct....and
that we should all strive to be better, safer pilots.