You must give me your impressions. I was training mostly on a horrible metal IS-28, but the club's primary trainer now is a K-21. I haven't been up in in yet, but it looks forgiving (needs a spin kit fitted to actually get it to spin!).

smith

LOL, I hardly think that Sully (and Skiles) successfully ditched because of flying gliders. How much time do you have behind the controls of something heavier and more complex than a glider?

Uther, looks like you are having a lot of fun with this. I flew the Grob109b for the UK Air Cadet's while I was in the RAF. It was very enjoyable but I never really got used to the silence when we cut the engine after the climb (so I usually just throttled back unless it was a check flight).

It's fantastic Paul!

I really love this sport. The thrill of finding your own lift is just enthralling.

I am going on to finish my power but I think soaring is the best.


If you're ever in my neck of the woods drop me a line we'll go soaring.


MonsterZero, we are in upstate NY Saratoga Area. If any of your folks are around drop me a line and we'll hook up.

PS Semmern was playing around with that comment because he is a power rating.

the secret of course, is throwing yourself at the ground and missing

gravity is not a general rule

ASK-21 is a very slippery ship compared to my old crate! It goes through the air like a hot knife through butter...Speeds are higher and it's cleared for aerobatics but alas, the club won't allow me to do any aerobatics in club-owned ships.

The German engineering is perfect, it's just perfect. It's so perfect there's really nothing to pre-flight other than making sure the control surfaces are moving. Also, there's a dolly under the tail used to swing the tail around on the field. This dolly must be taken off before takeoff. Failure to do so may result in shifting the center of gravity followed by a flat spin which may or may not be recoverable...

We wear parachutes in the ASK-21 which gives me mixed feelings because we operate at such low heights most of the time. I don't know if I'll have enough altitude to bail out when the ship is falling apart under my ass. I'd prefer an ejection seat.

There must be more...

PS Monster we will meet up.

We do Mifflin (PA) in very early October.

had a friend from Köln soar mit us today!


High winds and turbulence! Above 29kts


Good sleigh rides

What altitude can you jump out sucessfully?
For hang gliders:
Officially: 50 meters
Practically (often enough prooven in RL): 30 meters

IIRC that height is defined as "without major injury".

There is a very interesting study by the German hang gliding assoc (DHV), where they plotted the seriousness of the result of accidents versus the seriousness of the cause.
The interesting thing is that it does NOT go up all the time but actually goes down for some part. IOW with a more serious accident you are safer. The reason is that with a really serious accident, say collision with disintegration of your craft, you will throw the parachute without a further seconds thought! With a middle serious accident, people often try to ride it out and then crash down from medium height preoccupied with controlling the craft instead of concentrating on throwing the chute.