OK, this might be slightly off topic, mods please move it to a more appropriate forum if needs be.

 

One week off from work, combined with some fine weather normally sees me off to the scottish highlands, except the west coast mountains were getting drenched while the eastern grampian mountains were enjoying the rain shadow effect.

 

What could I do?  The usual gardening had been done, and it's far too fine a day to be inside playing on x-plane....... so I reverted to my new year's resolution list. 

1.  Learn to Fly

 

That's what it said, but I just wanted some fun.  No great commitments and no great drain on my wallet.   So,,,, a trial gliding lesson at deeside gliding club was the ticket I needed.  £75, not a bad introductory price.  So I phoned up in the morning, and great - they said just come along whenever  ..... and so I did!

 

So after introductions and preflight briefings, it was time to strap in and take off.....  We got a tow upto 4000 ft AGL instead of the standard 2000ft.  Cloud was broken stratus with a base at 3000ft topping out at 5000ft. 

 

 

Deeside - looking west from Aboyne.

 

Wind noise at 80knots was considerable..... then I closed the airvent, much quieter, but still noisy.

 

 

Ballater

 

 

4000ft rising through a break in the clouds

 

Tow rope released and .... I have control!  Such a contrast between towing and release.  Lots of vibrations in the glider during towing, and below the cloud base the winds were quite gusty.  As soon as the rope was released it was like being cast into a mill pond.  So smooth and silky.

 

So we flew straight into an up-current.  This region of scotland is famous for a phenomenon known as mountain wave currents.  The smooth rolling shape of the grampian mountains displaces the air vertically to very high altitudes on days like this.  This gliding club holds the uk soaring altitude record of 38000ft.

 

First excerise of the day for me was a turn, and then straight and level flight.  Should be easy right?  Turning isn't far different from the feel offered in x-plane.  However straight and level flight was suprisingly hard.  The glider had gotten into an induced yaw oscillation +- 15 degrees. Wings rolled about +- 5 degrees in a coupled effect.  Airspeed was 45 knots.  Nothing in x-plane can prepare you for this!  I don't know what the effect is due to, but my guess is that the rudder doesn't have as much authority at slow speeds as it would at higher speeds.  That, and the lack of engine thrust creating a stabilising effect may have something to do with this.  In short, straight and level flight requires some skill!

 

So, straight and level flight interspesed with a few turns to keep to the sweet spot of the up-current and we were soon at 7500 ft AGL.  It's another world up here.  So bright, clear and smooth.  Only a few gaps in the clouds offered a view of the world we had briefly departed from.  Such familiar landscapes looking so different.

 

 

7500ft AGL - Another world

 

So now some more turning excercises.  This time using rudder and ailerons in coordinated fashion.  The stick is very light to use, but the pedals -- good grief those are heavy, stiff and need considerable force to apply any displacement.  It took a little time to tune in to my controls.  I increased speed to 55 knots, Using the bank and turn coordinator to determine the right amount of rudder to use.  Remembering the phrase of "kicking the ball to the middle", it seems like I'm going to need to get the hang of this.  Apply too much rudder and the plane sideslips, vibrating quite considerably and the airspeed indicator suddenly drops to zero!  Don't do that Anthony!  I said to myself.

 

6500ft, and time for some requests.  Stall excercises.  Simple stall, nice and easy.  Behaviour is just like x-plane, but in real life the plane gives you vibration and noise when the wings are stalling.  Now Mr Instructor, Can we do some spins please?  I've not tried this in x-plane.  But basically lower the wing a bit and keep pulling back into the stall.   The sensation of a zero g fall whilst spinning around looking at the ground straight below you is quite disorientating.  And the 3G recovery is somewhat nauseous.  So that was the 'nice' spin.  Now for the interesting spin.  It goes on for a lot longer, but not long enought to get all analytical about it.  I guess spin recovery is just about pointing the stick down and applying opposite aileron / rudder to spin direction.  Altitude lost was about 1500ft for the entire excercise.

 

Time to return to base.  Winds below cloud base were more gusty.  Instructor had control, landing would have to be another lesson.

 

 

Aboyne - Deeside Gliding Club from the air

 

Landed, narrowly missing an oystercatcher who was quite happy to sit on the runway until the last second.  I suppose x-plane does bird strikes.

 

 

Glad to get circulation back to the legs

 

56 minutes gliding time, and an experience thoroughly enjoyed and recommended.  There's a lot in x-plane that couldn't be replicated - like the hard seat cutting off circulation, or the nauseating effects of the spin stalls or turns pulling 3G's, or the heavenly views above the clouds for that matter.  The greatest sensation of changing flight conditions actually was the noises.  Airbrakes cause vibration and noise.  Changing airspeed likewise.  Turbulence is something that's felt and heard more than it's seen, and of course the beebeebeeebeebeeb of the variometer.  In a way, as a student I was more in tune with my sounds than I was with my instruments.  I instinctively knew what speed I was going without needing to read the airspeed indicator.... so long as the sound didn't change.

 

Back to home.  First thing I do, is fly the stock glider in x-plane and see if the yaw oscillation can be reproduced.   Nope, I can't reproduce it!

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!  Soaring is, for me, probably the most rewarding type of flying :-)

 

Some comments...

 

1) The "oscillations in yaw" are typical of anyone getting his hands /feet on a glider (high aspect ratio aircraft), and is due to PIO with you using rudder continuously and overcorrecting :-)  I remember my first flight in a glider, a Blanik L-13, in June 4 1980, and how decepted I was for not having been able to fly straight when the instructor said: fly towards that high building in the horizon...

Beware that the glider in XP10 is an AS-K21, not the Puchacz you flew in :-)

 

2) the yaw string is the best turn-coordinator in a glider. Completely forget about the ball!!!! Look outside the most you can, and the yaw in front of you will do the best job at telling you what to do with your controls...

 

3) You never apply aileron to recovere from a spin.... Rudder and stick forward than pull to avoid gaining excessive speed when rotation stopped...

 

What about taking the plunge getting your glider Pilot LIcense ?

Loved your story and pics!

 

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!  Soaring is, for me, probably the most rewarding type of flying :-)

 

Thanks.  I always feel like a kid when I discover something fun for the first time!

 

 

 

Beware that the glider in XP10 is an AS-K21, not the Puchacz you flew in :-)

 

I'm not the biggest expert on gliders.  What fundamental differences do the two gliders have, anything to do with aspect ratios?

 

 

What about taking the plunge getting your glider Pilot LIcense ?

 

You know what!  Tomorrow's forecast to be a nice day in Scotland.  I think I'll just phone up and book my next lesson.   I think I'm getting an addiction here.

 

BTW for the sake of flying time what's the best way to deal with uncomfortable seating causing pins and needles in the legs - inside a cramped cockpit?  I could have flown a little longer if I wasn't in so much agony!

Thanks for posting Anthony. I really enjoyed reading about your exploits, I am very envious!

Thanks.  I always feel like a kid when I discover something fun for the first time!

 

 

 

 

I'm not the biggest expert on gliders.  What fundamental differences do the two gliders have, anything to do with aspect ratios?

 

 

 

You know what!  Tomorrow's forecast to be a nice day in Scotland.  I think I'll just phone up and book my next lesson.   I think I'm getting an addiction here.

 

BTW for the sake of flying time what's the best way to deal with uncomfortable seating causing pins and needles in the legs - inside a cramped cockpit?  I could have flown a little longer if I wasn't in so much agony!

 

Strange? Was the parachute harness properly tied/adapted to your size?  It should be comfortable (?). I use stress/compression  socks for longer flights too, depending on the glider. On some models the legs are so high standing relative to your body that you really don't need it.

how were your FPS over Scotland? :lol:

 

 

how were your FPS over Scotland? :lol:

 

Excellent.  That graphics card that sits between my ears doesn't get bogged down by tens of thousands of real 3D trees coming into view.   The setting for clouds is sky high too without any impact on performance.

Wow-very nice story and pictures! I will definately have to go gliding at some time, I have been meaning to for a while now.

 

 

 

The setting for clouds is sky high too without any impact on performance.

 

What wx engine are you using for thar performance!?!? :lol:

 

 

What wx engine are you using for thar performance!?!? :lol:

 

It's called a Physics engine.  Somewhat different to the PhysX engine you get on cheaper graphics cards.

A well known characteristic of high aspect ration aircraft, and gliders in particular, is "overbanking", as you can find explained here (you probably are already very aware of it...):

 

http://www.av8n.com/how/htm/roll.html#sec-overbanking

 

 

In X-Plane you will not notice this RL tendency. On the higher aspect ratio gliders I flew it is particularly interesting to find yourself in a perfectly coordinated turn (a tight one) using a lot of cross controls - rudder into the turn and opposite aileron (out of the turn...).

 

I tried this in the default K21 with no success, no matter how tight you turn. I can't say for sure that X-Plane's FM doesn't account for it, and I would like to find a good glider model capable of reproducing this effect.

Welcome to the greatest sport in the world Anthony, definitely the best way to waste time that there is.  Beware of the addiction, once you start heading down this particular rabbit hole you'll find a desire to follow it all the way to the bottom  :lol:  I'm also in the learning process, having recently gone solo in a PW-6U trainer at my club, the Gliding Club of Western Australia.  Just this Sunday past I graduated from the trainer to my first single seater, an old Pilatus B4 that I'll be flying next weekend.  If you get into it and want any encouragement, check out my blog or my YouTube channel where I've started posting some vids of my progress.

 

Thanks for posting Anthony. I really enjoyed reading about your exploits, I am very envious!

Heh, you know you want to get back up there Howard, come on mate!

 

Cheers,

Derek

Derek, the PW-6 is a great glider to learn in! It'll certainly teach you to use your rudder :-)

Yes, it certainly did that.  A bit different to the old Cessna 152...  The PeeWee is a great trainer to learn in, lighter than an ASK-21 or Puchacz and its performance isn't at all bad.  The controls are simple and effective, well laid out too.  I've done a 100km FAI triangle in it with one of my instructors already.  I've loved flying in it, but now that I'm moving onto single seaters I'll probably only get into it when I need a checkflight or when I go for my outlanding endorsement. 

 

Cheers,

Derek