I’ve taken up gliding!

I’ve always been interested in aircraft and aviation, and so I thought I should probably make the most of the opportunity to take it up while it’s nice and easy. So I joined the gliding club and have been on a couple of trips so far this term. The weather precluded flying on the first one, but I got three flights in this saturday:

1. P2 on Puchacz. 5 mins. Winch launch. Cable Break at ~600ft, so P1 flew an abbreviated circuit. 4 mins
2. P2 on Puchacz. 5 mins. Winch launch to 950ft. Experimented with glider attitude control and speed.
3. P2 on ASK21. 21 mins. Aerotow to 3000ft. Normal and Low aerotow positions—Prop wash in between! Turning and attitide control. Making turns using all controls:
   • Ailerons cause asymmetric drag on a glider. Right roll will cause left yaw, so must use right rudder simultaneously.
   • Centralise controls once desired turnrate reached, but need gentle backpressure during turn to keep the nose up.
   P1 Demonstrated stalls at low and moderate airspeed—wings not flying, high sinkrate. Recover with stick forward to gain airspeed.