The weather forecast was good enough to try scooter towing. For the last couple of days we've had some cold and wet weather which dropped a few inches of snow in places further north, but mostly left us with Ice. So in spite of the cold weather and icy roads I thought I wouldn't mind flying this weekend. It took me a good 30 minutes to remove the 2-3 millimeters of ice from my windshield and doors on Saturday morning but otherwise I didn't have any trouble getting to the field.
Greg's new CG-1000 harness came in early this week so when he showed up we spent some time looking at the features and seeing how it fit him. It was a really slick looking harness that was clearly made with excellent craftsmanship. At first there were some issues with the size of the boot and getting his shoes into the end. The CG-1000 is a single suspension harness and uses a foot plate in the boot of the harness to help you move the suspension slider back and forth along the back plate. This lets you adjust the angle of dangle in order to go prone or even head down while flying or rock back upright during landing. Additionally he had an issue buckling the waist buckle, as the harness seems to be a tight fit. But after fiddling and adjusting it he seemed to solve most of the issues and I think he was pretty happy with his new harness.
I would love to have one of these harnesses myself but the word is that the maker of the harness is going to be busy until May, and wont have any time to devote to making any more harnesses until then. So if I'm going to get a CG-1000 I will have to wait till the spring or summer to get one. My second choice is a Wills Wing Z5, but I've also been looking into Moyes Contour and Aeros Cross Country harnesses too. Price is probably the biggest selling point for me at the moment, especially since used harnesses that will fit a slim 6'4" pilot tend to be rare I'll probably have to buy new.
Back to this weekend...after fiddling around with Gregs new harness for a while we finally got out to tow. We did more full length tows to 1250 feet or so. The Northeast wind was calm and the cool air felt perfectly smooth. I think I added about 30 minutes of flight time in 5 tows. After my first flight John also set up some targets to aim for spot landings. This is something I've never actually focused on doing. So for 4 of the flights that day I tried landing on the same spot each time. The result: I only made the target 1 time. Otherwise I either overshot it by 30 feet, undershot it by more, or landed off to the side by 25 feet. The 3 consecutive spot landings for the Hang 3 requirements are going to be much tougher than I thought. And at the moment, I can't even imagine making the Hang 4 requirement.
I have yet to master the skill of accurately judging height and the glide to a target. So in the past I've noticed that I end up doing S turns above and downwind of the target before I figure I'm at the right height for final. The traditional aircraft approach consisting of a downwind, base, and final leg is much harder for me to execute. After trying that a few times and by keeping the target in sight and imagining the successively lower windows along a final approach to the target I did manage to land nearly directly on target 1 time. This will be fun to work on again next time.
I think I did better on my landings on Saturday though. I was conscious of my bad habit of grabbing the down tubes much too high during approach and felt I had more control over speed and steering during final. However I still had one or two poor landings. One of which might have been caused by trying too hard to land on the spot. On that one, I flared too early (much too early) and ballooned up about 5 or 6 feet and ended up landing on my feet hard and a little off balance under the weight of the glider. Otherwise another decent day of surface towing.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
January 7
My first flights of the new year were also my first flight as owner of a glider! I bought the Northwing Horizon ET 180 that I had been flying the past few weeks. Although I am at the lower end of the weight range for the large glider, I feel comfortable while flying and have no issues handling the glider at all. I also love the look of the glider and think it's in excellent condition. From the reviews I've read and the impressions that I've gotten from other pilots it'll probably be a glider I will fly for a number of years. It has enough performance that I'll have room to grow so to speak in the future.
Next will be to decide on a harness. I'm trying to decide between the Wills Wing Z5 and a CG-1000. Another student here at Wings To Fly had recently ordered a CG-1000 and expects it to arrive soon. I'll get a chance to look at that harness and hopefully make up my mind about ordering one.
This weekend was unusually warm and we had a sunny and breezy Saturday for scooter towing. The wind was from the West which was pretty well split between the two runways at Wes/Mar so we towed diagonally across the Field at one end. These were shorter tows for a max height of 750 feet or so but enough to play around a little, work on efficient turns, and even experiment with the VG. My first few trials pulling the VG full on didn't seem to do a whole lot. This time I made a larger effort to pull the VG all the way on and made some straight flights and turns to try to get a good feel for how it changes the gliders performance and handling. I felt it didn't effect the turn initiation but it did effect how easy it is to stop the turn. If I start a turn, and then want to level out for straight flight, I'm having to high side more and hold it longer to get a reaction. I also expect to also see an improvement in the glide ratio but don't know how I could have measured that in flight.
I didn't really improve my landing habits from last time though. When I transition to the down tubes on approach I'm immediately grabbing way up high at ear level. This gives me ineffective control to make small corrections to keep the wings level. This is probably why I sometimes end up with wings just a little off of level and end up fighting to stay in balance. I should be keeping my hands low (at elbow height) and only moving them up to my ears after rounding off the final and just before I'm ready to flare. Effective flaring position isn't effective handling position. So for the second time in a row, I'll have to work on this more next time I fly.
After 6 days since getting my H2 rating, I'm up to 1 hour 45 minutes of flight time. I'm very slowly working towards 10 hours flight time which is the requirement for H3. I am starting to consider making trips to other flying sights in New York or Tennessee or even back home in New Mexico in order to find the best flight conditions. Otherwise I'll be waiting until Spring or Summer here in Ohio when the real soaring conditions (and Aerotowing) start up again.
I feel like I've been given a huge bowl of ice cream but only a little tiny miniature spoon to eat it with. These little bites are still delicious but I can't wait until I get to eat a huge spoonful all at once.
Next will be to decide on a harness. I'm trying to decide between the Wills Wing Z5 and a CG-1000. Another student here at Wings To Fly had recently ordered a CG-1000 and expects it to arrive soon. I'll get a chance to look at that harness and hopefully make up my mind about ordering one.
This weekend was unusually warm and we had a sunny and breezy Saturday for scooter towing. The wind was from the West which was pretty well split between the two runways at Wes/Mar so we towed diagonally across the Field at one end. These were shorter tows for a max height of 750 feet or so but enough to play around a little, work on efficient turns, and even experiment with the VG. My first few trials pulling the VG full on didn't seem to do a whole lot. This time I made a larger effort to pull the VG all the way on and made some straight flights and turns to try to get a good feel for how it changes the gliders performance and handling. I felt it didn't effect the turn initiation but it did effect how easy it is to stop the turn. If I start a turn, and then want to level out for straight flight, I'm having to high side more and hold it longer to get a reaction. I also expect to also see an improvement in the glide ratio but don't know how I could have measured that in flight.
I didn't really improve my landing habits from last time though. When I transition to the down tubes on approach I'm immediately grabbing way up high at ear level. This gives me ineffective control to make small corrections to keep the wings level. This is probably why I sometimes end up with wings just a little off of level and end up fighting to stay in balance. I should be keeping my hands low (at elbow height) and only moving them up to my ears after rounding off the final and just before I'm ready to flare. Effective flaring position isn't effective handling position. So for the second time in a row, I'll have to work on this more next time I fly.
After 6 days since getting my H2 rating, I'm up to 1 hour 45 minutes of flight time. I'm very slowly working towards 10 hours flight time which is the requirement for H3. I am starting to consider making trips to other flying sights in New York or Tennessee or even back home in New Mexico in order to find the best flight conditions. Otherwise I'll be waiting until Spring or Summer here in Ohio when the real soaring conditions (and Aerotowing) start up again.
I feel like I've been given a huge bowl of ice cream but only a little tiny miniature spoon to eat it with. These little bites are still delicious but I can't wait until I get to eat a huge spoonful all at once.
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