Is anyone into gliding

[deepsky]

I was just wondering how many of us were into soaring, I have some time in them but don't have my cert., It has got to be one of the best forms of flight there is.

[Kilo Hotel]

Re: Is anyone into gliding

I was just wondering how many of us were into soaring, I have some time in them but don't have my cert., It has got to be one of the best forms of flight there is.

Count me in, deepsky. I've been flying gliders since 1972; my current ride is a two-place Duo Discus, truly a magic carpet. On a good day with cloudbases up around the FL180 VFR ceiling, with the Duo's 46:1 glide ratio I can be halfway across the state and yet need only one good thermal to get home (YMMV, and of course there are no guarantees in the gliding business). Plus, you can't beat the scenery flying over the Rockies.

The best part: once you've absorbed the fixed costs of ownership and paid the towpilot, there are no incremental costs beyond an occasional oxygen fill-up: a five hour cross-country costs no more than a short local hop.

[Peashooter]

Re: Is anyone into gliding

I only have about 3 tows in a 2-33, but my bro got his license and then owned John Seymour's former out-and-return record-holding ASW-20 for about 2 years. We picked it up at Karl Striedeck's Eagle's Nest gliderport in State College, PA. Drove all night through an ice storm -- sucked!

Meanwhile, we're big time into RC soaring. We are past cross country National Champs, and I was 6th this past summer. We winch-launch, get high and jump into a convertible and fly laps on a 10KM straight-line course as many times as possible. It is a pure distance event, no time. Our best is 27 miles, but the official record is 140 miles, set out West, not at the Muncie, IN AMA flying site.

We also fly slope. Look what Santa got for me:

http://www.soaringusa.com/products/product.htm?product_id=16141&category_id=258

Yes, the Blade has been up to 206 mph at Parker Mt. near Acton, CA. I was there on New Year's Eve and heard that the new Dynamic Soaring speed record is up to 269 mph, measured by radar guns. Threre's a previous thread on this topic. Here's the link:

http://www.aafo.com/hangartalk/showthread.php?t=1572&highlight=Vortex

Soaring in any flavor, never gets boring! Peas

[Shawn Aro]

Re: Is anyone into gliding

My Older Brother Colin has a glider he was flying out of Minden and a little air strip here in Reno he now has a hanger here at stead .

Shawn

[Kilo Hotel]

Re: Is anyone into gliding

I only have about 3 tows in a 2-33, but my bro got his license and then owned John Seymour's former out-and-return record-holding ASW-20 for about 2 years. We picked it up at Karl Striedeck's Eagle's Nest gliderport in State College, PA. Drove all night through an ice storm -- sucked!

Meanwhile, we're big time into RC soaring. We are past cross country National Champs, and I was 6th this past summer. We winch-launch, get high and jump into a convertible and fly laps on a 10KM straight-line course as many times as possible. It is a pure distance event, no time. Our best is 27 miles, but the official record is 140 miles, set out West, not at the Muncie, IN AMA flying site.

We also fly slope. Look what Santa got for me:

http://www.soaringusa.com/products/product.htm?product_id=16141&category_id=258

Yes, the Blade has been up to 206 mph at Parker Mt. near Acton, CA. I was there on New Year's Eve and heard that the new Dynamic Soaring speed record is up to 269 mph, measured by radar guns. Threre's a previous thread on this topic. Here's the link:

http://www.aafo.com/hangartalk/showthread.php?t=1572&highlight=Vortex

Soaring in any flavor, never gets boring! Peas

Congratulations on your new toy; that Blade is one good-looking flying machine, Peas. What're the square holes on the underside of the wing for, if you don't mind my asking?

Holy hockey sticks: 269 mph!? I'll bet the glider was singing a very interesting tune. What's the secret of avoiding flutter at those speeds, airframe stiffness?

[Peashooter]

Re: Is anyone into gliding

Steve: The aileron and flap servos go into those holes, one for each -- which I'll be working on tonight! The secret to no flutter is a stiff airframe and linkages between the servo and control surface with no slop at all. Here's a link to Soaring USA's DS machines:

http://www.soaringusa.com/products/subcategory.htm?category_id=260

Now to schedule that next trip West!

[deepsky]

Re: Is anyone into gliding

sweet bird peas, bet it will handle like a dream, I had a 54" span glider that a friend gave me, I don't even know what type it was, but it got attacked by a hawk and didn't survive, RIP!

I am currently trying to save for a glider/motor glider, A DG-1000 (I wish) or a S10-VT 9 (again I wish) would be great , or most likely a Challenger II ultralite (24:1 glide ratio).

I flew my first ride in a glider from a spanish springs glider field, at the time I didn't pay attention to the type of glider, I was going from a grumman cheetah and rockwell 112 to something without a motor so I wasn't to thrilled, but from the moment we started on the tow I started to get exited, when we released, the tow plane (a AT-802 or pawnee?) he pulled up and rolled over us and dove away, I was in heaven! But I didn't realize just what gliding was untill I could look out to the south and see lake Tahoe, and north at lake Pyramid at the same time! I thanked God and have been hooked ever since!

[Kilo Hotel]

Re: Is anyone into gliding

I am currently trying to save for a glider/motor glider, A DG-1000 (I wish) or a S10-VT 9 (again I wish) would be great , or most likely a Challenger II ultralite (24:1 glide ratio).

The Stemme is an amazing design. My AAFO avatar is a photo of me flying a Stemme S10-VT, thermalling over Iowa on the last leg of a Chicago-Reno-Chicago trip in 2003 (we got in a couple of days at the races). It's my friend Stuart's airplane, so I can say it: the Stemme in glider configuration handles like a truck, especially at or near gross weight. A high-performance truck with a 45:1 glide ratio, but a truck naytheless. Of course, you can fly it under engine power making 135 knots true on 5 gph, which ain't too shabby (though Peas probably has us beat there in the VariEze). We made it back from Reno to KUGN in two days, even with the engine shut down for three hours the last day.

Still, for pure soaring fun I'll take the Duo Discus any day.

[deepsky]

Re: Is anyone into gliding

Kilo Hotel


dose your buddy keep his S10-VT out at minden?
I found this pic of one,(N877SF) at minden on airliners.net.

sorry I couldn't get it to link right, go to the site and then search for stemme, it is half way down the page.

[Kilo Hotel]

Re: Is anyone into gliding

Kilo Hotel


dose your buddy keep his S10-VT out at minden?

Sorry for the delay in answering, deepsky: I've been away from the board for a couple of weeks. No, my buddy's Stemme is based at KUGN in Waukegan, north of Chicago. We made it to Reno the old fashioned way, with the engine running most of the time.