John, It's worth perhaps making the point that trees make a fairly
reasonable place to land in an emergency. Over 90% of those force landing in
trees survive - beats landing in a housing estate or spinning into hard
ground. Regards, David Joyce, G-XSDJ
----- Original Message -----
From: <TELEDYNMCS@aol.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 2:44 PM
Subject: Europa-List: 180 Turns
> In a message dated 6/20/2007 2:58:38 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
> europa-list@matronics.com writes:
>
> Glider pilots who have practiced winch failures at such a low height
> will know that 180 degree turns are killers. Anything under 500 feet and
> the only safe option is to land sraight ahead - sometimes a 90 degree
> turn may be possible if the field is large enough.
>
> Hello Carl,
>
> Here on this side of the pond we glider pilots are required to
demonstrate
> two simulated rope breaks at each biannual flight review. In my training
days
> and subsequent biannual reviews since, I've had to demonstrate dozens of
> these maneuvers. Having experienced a release failure on take off I can
tell you
> that the simulated rope break is almost like the real thing. There is
never
> any warning, other than you know it will happen twice at some point in
the
> review. The instructor, who sits in the back seat out of view, just yanks
the
> release and you are off to the races. The only real warning you get is if
you
> happen to see the release handle coming back just before the rope goes
away.
>
> The simulated rope break is generally done at or slightly above 200' agl
> after take off. The recovery procedure is quite simple, but it takes a
clear
> thinking mind, confidence in the performance of the aircraft, and some
practice
> to execute the maneuver correctly. You also have to act and act
immediately.
> What we are taught is to perform a "dog bone" or "tear drop" turn.
> Essentially, it's a shallow turn of about 30 degrees in one direction
using the speed
> left over from the tow. Then, a steeper, more nose down turn of 210
degrees
> in the other direction to get lined up with the runway. You always want
to
> make the 210 degree turn as much into the wind as possible. The direction
of the
> turn(s) depends on the wind direction. This maneuver is easy to do, even
in
> low performance trainers and I've always had to apply large amounts of
> spoiler and or a heavy slip to get back down and stopped without
overshooting the
> runway. Below 200' we are taught to blow full spoilers and land straight
ahead.
>
> What gets people into trouble in this situation, and on the downwind to
base
> and base to final turns, is the tendency to "rudder" the airplane around.
> This tendency, coupled with a high nose angle, makes the turn
uncoordinated,
> slowing the inside wing to the point of stalling and is what leads to
> stall/spin crashes on approach. This is a major cause of both glider
accidents and
> power plane accidents on landing. I think this is very likely what
happened to
> Cliff and Betty Shaw, and was probably exaggerated because they were
loaded
> with baggage and possibly had an aft C of G.
>
> With all this said, and having practiced the dog bone maneuver in N245E,
I
> don't think I could do this maneuver in my Europa from less than about
400' in
> the best of conditions and safely return to the runway. Since I fly
> regularly out of 2200' surrounded by trees, I don't have a lot of
options. I get the
> flaps up within about 10 seconds of breaking ground and keep the nose
down to
> accelerate in ground effect to slightly above the best rate of climb
until
> I'm over the trees, then slow to best rate of climb to pattern altitude,
then
> I usually go to cruise climb. With this method, if the engine quits at
400'
> or higher I'll have 75 -80 kts to work with. Depending on the wind, with
the
> extra speed I would likely return to the runway. If the engine quits at
> 200'-400', with the extra speed I can easily get over the trees and into
the next
> field. Might not be a pretty landing, but certainly better than taking an
> "arboreal adventure".
>
> I think the key here is practice, practice, practice! Every pilot,
> regardless of how much air time you have accumulated, should take some
glider lessons
> if you haven't already. Get used to flying an airplane without an engine.
> Learn how to conserve energy and translate energy and altitude to
airspeed.
> Better yet, go ahead and get your glider rating. It's a whole lot of fun
and
> it'll make you a much better, more coordinated and confident pilot.
You'll be
> much more prepared when (not if) the engine goes quiet. It'll be a little
less
> of "oh shit, the engine quit" and a little more of "oh well, I'm in a
glider
> again" situation.
>
> Regards,
>
> John Lawton
> Dunlap, TN (TN89)
> N245E - Flying
>
>
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http://www.aol.com.
>
>
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