March 10th and 11th, Training

Saturday was another sunny training day. We towed Southeast into 6-10 mph wind. Sri, Matt H., and a potential new student named Will (I think) were there with me. Our tows got us up to 750-800 where I was able to find gentle lift and extend my flights for a few minutes more than a sled ride. On these flights I was making quick 360s in the weak lift and drifting most of the way across the field only to gain 100 feet or so. It was good exercises on finding and staying in lift. In total I had 6 tows.

My landings for today were generally not good. I had 2 enjoyable landings but otherwise I was flaring late or weekly which caused the glider to continue flying out in front of me when I put my feet down. I even whacked once when the wind added to my imbalance and tipped the glider off my shoulders. My approaches also weren't that good. I didn't do a good enough job planning out my height and approach direction in order to land at my target. I tended to overshoot quite a bit today.

Lastly, I failed to protect my face from the sun and went home slightly sun burnt. It's a sure sign that we're getting into spring when I have to start worry about using sun screen.

 

Sunday was very interesting. We had Southwest winds that started out 8-15 mph or so before noon but calmed down gradually. The forecast was again sunny and even warmer than Saturday so a number of other club members came out to get a few towing flights in. In total we had 8 gliders set up. Plus the winds were right for full length tows so we expected to get plenty high.

Indeed most tows were getting up 1100 ft. Larry W. and Frank M. had the best flights I think. Larry managed to climb up to 2500 but the wind made it hard to stay in the area so by the time he got up there he was quite a ways down wind and needed to head back. Larry had a really nice landing too. He's the first person I've seen do the "Moonwalk" landing that Jim Rooney talked about in the excellent landings discussion thread a little while back on OZ Report. He had a sweet approach and Moonwalked gently to a stop in front of the group. It's clear he's one of the better pilots in the area and I'm sure I'll be able to learn lots just by watching him fly. Anyway, I decided to try the moonwalk myself. Check out the video, my moonwalk turned out pretty good! I imagine this would be the technique of choice when you've got a heavy or high performance glider. I'm going to have to try it more often.

My first tow had a bridal break. But otherwise my tows were mostly sled rides. I extended one when I made a few circles in some weak lift but I didn't find anything to climb up in really. I had 5 flights but wanted a few more. On my 5th tow instead of landing at the end of the field where we were towing from, I landing at the hangers in the middle of the field and instead of walking my glider 1000 feet down the field I just called it for the day. I need to be more precise with my approaches. I mean I need to better execute my setup so that I'm at the right height to land at my target. On that 5th tow I was 150 feet higher than I needed to be and glided a long way down the field for the landing.

And speaking of landings, I had some very enjoyable landings today. Only one was worth complaining about. During that bad landing, I encountered some small rotor from an slight cross wind that was coming off a line of trees. I ended up flaring early and wasn't aware that I was 2 or 3 feet higher than I should have been. I ended up slipping on the grass and kneeling down awkwardly, it felt like when you walk down stairs but don't realize there is one more step and end up dropping farther than you expect. Otherwise, I had a smooth moonwalk and a few no-steppers.

In the end it was a great weekend. I got lots of good towing in, got to practice working weak lift, and had some very good landings. I also got to meet a few other Ohio Flyers club members that have been in hibernation all winter. I can't wait for the spring when everyone will be out most weekends and conditions will be better.