Slope Soaring / Gliding

[Pilot Ben 28]

Hi All,

In the next month I'll be going to Scotland and I'll be refurbishing one of the old gliders in the grandparents' loft. I have flown some gliders at our field, but have never soared off a cliff! I think I'll be ok getting up and once I'm up there, but how do I get down?

I have seen that you fly along the hill with flaps and air brakes and then just sort of dump it in? Is this in any way correct?

B

[Martin 0]

If you've never done it before then it might be a better idea to get a foam one first! We've had a couple of CAMFC slope soaring outings, and generally the people who turned up with built-up balsa gliders as their first attempt didn't really get much flying in, as a couple of heavy arrivals would lead to more repairs than could be done at the field.

Dave recommended the Flying Wings Slipstream, and I can certainly vouch for its beginner-friendliness as well as high resilience (though I recommend reinforcing the Correx wingtips with fibreglass tape as otherwise they can be ripped off in a crash). I have had many more crashes than actual landings, and other than wingtip damage the only repairs I've had to do were where the tape covering lost strength due to heat/sunlight.

As to how you land, that depends a lot on the site, the model, and conditions on the day! Flying along the slope as you suggest means you're landing in a major crosswind, but if you fly downwind and land into wind then you're probably landing downhill! (Also, not every site has enough space behind to be able to land into wind.)

Speaking as still a beginner to slope soaring, I would say that the biggest things I found hard to get used to in transitioning from power flying were:

* Using down elevator as a matter of course. If you want to penetrate out into the wind you will need to use down. Things like banking into a turn and pushing down rather than pulling back took a little while to get used to.

* Having much bigger throws than I was used to, but using only a tiny bit in the middle for a lot of flying. You'll probably be flying at a much wider range of airspeeds than you might be used to, and so want big throws to give you some control at almost-stalling speeds, but then using tiny fine adjustments to fly straight and level. Expo helps, but if you use too much then the big control movements end up a bit all-or-nothing.

* Being aware of wind direction and speed to a much greater degree than I would for power flying. For example, you need to launch straight into wind. If the wind were blowing diagonally down our runway you'd probably still take off straight along the runway, but when launching a glider you don't want to do that.

* Simply flying in much higher wind than I would ever consider for power flying! I hadn't really considered the need to look at wind conditions and maybe re-trim the model until I turned up at Mill Hill in a 20-25mph wind with my Slipstream still trimmed for the last time I used it, in 8-10mph wind at Jack and Jill. I think the difference between the two needed something like 10-12 clicks of down elevator trim to remove most of the reflex on the wing - before I did that every launch just went back over my head! I've never had my hat blow off my head while flying before, either (I've since bought a sailing cap that ties on after seeing Rod's one).

A useful thing to practice (and to be honest the main thing I still do when I go slope soaring) is to fly figure eights along the slope, allowing the aircraft to drift slightly downwind (back towards you) on the cross legs, and always turning into wind (alternately left and right) at the ends of the slope. Try to maintain a constant altitude.

I'm sure other people more expert than me may have more to add...

[Pilot Ben 28]

Thanks Martin I'll take a peek at the slipstream then!

There are hundreds of gliders up there, most are built up like an ASK23 type, but quite a few are flying wing type, so I'll take a look at them too

B

[Bravedan 106]

I know you tree'd one plane but do you still have a power wing?

AND, we need to talk, beyond what's practical to write!!

[Pilot Ben 28]

My wing is long gone, but there is a powered tek sumo wing in Scotland that I built when I was last up there Do you mean that I should take the prop off and soar that for practice?

Talk how?

[Bravedan 106]

Pilot Ben said:

there is a powered tek sumo wing in Scotland that I built when I was last up there Do you mean that I should take the prop off and soar that for practice?

Yes.

Pilot Ben said:

Talk how?

It's conventional to make noises with your mouth, and like flying a model plane, you do need to be in range...............................

[Peter Royall 47]

translation:-

Ben, I think Bravedan would like to talk to you about "how" to slope soar, there is more too it than can be conveniently written unless there is a book!

Of course, the best way to learn is on the hill with a glider and a buddy box (no guarantee's there!).

Certainly hope you can come and join us on one of our outings, I think you will love it!

That is all,

Oily