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Old 10-04-2012, 10:05 PM
Glider Glider is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2011
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People often mistake a glider which clearly goes slower in level flight than a powered aircraft with corresponding low G forces.

I was taught advanced aerobatics in a Fox glider which I was told had a higher performance/stress limits than a Cessna areobat. Most gliders at least match most private aircraft and in a climb depending of course on conditions, easily exceed the average. When in the Navy one of our gliding club members won a bet against an F4 crew as to which could get to 2,000ft from a standing start, which on a winch launch he achieved in 30 seconds. Air tows are for wimps.

I suspect you knew this, but there may be some people on the forum with limited experience in a glider. My advice to one and all is go to a gliding club and have a few trial flights, but it comes with a health warning. Its very, very addictive.

Re the best way to turn, in a glider you always, always use all the controls. If you don't the secondary control effects will turn you inside out. At 18 I was young to take up people on air experience flights and sometimes experienced PPL pilots would look at me, think they knew it better and not listen to what I was saying. All I used to do was take them up, which normally shook them up and then ask them to make a turn. Almost always we ended up doing the most alarming things in the sky at which point I would take control back and after that, they listened.

I did have a few flights with a friend in a Cherokee and didn't like it at all. I eventually left the rudder well alone and flew using the elevators and the ailerons. In the Hunter you used all the controls and that was a pretty agile aircraft, so I tend to be in its best to use all the tools available to you. The designers put them in for a reason

As to the best way who knows but it probably differs by aircraft. One thing though, the best fighters were those which are considered to be borderline unstable. To be too stable is a disadvantage and modern fighters are of course designed to be unstable and its only computers that keep them in the air.

Last edited by Glider; 10-04-2012 at 10:34 PM.