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Below is an introduction to gliding (courtesy of BGA)

To give you an idea of what it is about...

You will soon be up in the air, but first of all you should know how to handle a glider on the ground, and how its controls work. In the air the instructor will demonstrate how the glider is manoeuvered; it has dual controls so you will be able to handle it and feel what it is like to fly yourself. If you have some aptitude or have done a little previous flying, the instructor may let you have a shot at doing the landing after only a few flights.

Gliding is a strange sport. It is exciting and beautiful, frustrating and cold, challenging and unexpected, and heavy on time unless you come to love it very much. When you try it you can decide for yourself, and if you study these notes in advance, you will have more time to look around and enjoy your flying.

The two seater in which you will fly will have a wing span of 50/60ft.; it may have side-by-side or tandem seating, and it may have an open cockpit or perspex canopy. You will be launched into the air by a winch or a tow car, or towed up by a light aeroplane. The winch or car will give you about 1,000ft of height and a flight of 4/5 minutes, and the aeroplane will take you to, usually, 2,000ft and give you a flight of 15/20 minutes.

On a winch or car launch the instructor has to climb the glider steeply to gain height, so do not be suprised at the angle at which you go up. After the instructor has released the cable, he will fly the glider at its normal speed - some 40/45 knots, and you will be able to feel the controls for yourself. You will quickly find that no strength is needed to control the glider; it is quite stable in flight, and you only need a light and gentle touch to guide it. You will be delighted at the wonderful view, and the quietness. A glider is not, of course, silent, but the airflow sound is much more pleasant than the monotonous drone of an engine.

After a while you will find that it is not that difficult to fly more or less at the right speed, and to make gentle turns. Do not worry if it all seems a bit strange; the instructor can correct with his dual controls any mistakes you may make. If upcurrents can be found the instructor may do a few circles in them to show you how a glider soars. On days of wind or strong thermals the air may be rough. If the instructor thinks that it will be too turbulent for you to enjoy flying, he will not take you up.

If you think you like gliding, do not hesitate to ask the instructor all the questions about learning to fly that you can think of. Most clubs have booklets or leaflets that you can take away to read at your leisure.

A glider flies, just as does an aeroplane or a bird, when the speed of the air flow over the wings is enough to cause lift. In an aeroplane this speed is provided by the engine pulling through the air. The glider obtains its speed by gliding downhill, using gravity as motive power. Unless the pilot can find upcurrents of air, he can only glide steadily downwards until the ground is reached and he has to land.

If, however, he can fly in an upcurrent which is going up faster than he is gliding down, the glider will gain height, and the flight will be prolonged. This is soaring. Whether the pilot is gliding down or soaring, he must always fly the glider at a speed which will enable the wings to provide enough lift to support it. If the glider is flown, at any time, slower than the minimum speed necessary it will stall. The stalling speed of most gliders is around 35/40 knots.

A pilot soars across country by circling round and gaining height in warm air currents, called thermals. Having used a thermal in this way, he then flies straight, and often quite fast, in the direction he wants to go. During this straight flight he will be gliding downwards, losing height, and looking for another thermal to take him up again.

Gliders are designed to have flat gliding angles, thatis, they will travel a long way for little loss of height. Training gliders have a gliding angle of about 1:25, and competition gliders about 1:40. This means that theoretically such a glider will travel 40 miles from 1 mile, or, 5, 280ft high. In real life the actual distance varies because the pilot uses up some height when selecting his landing field. The distance flown is also affected by whether the pilot is helped along by a following wind, and covering the ground fast, or whether he is struggling against a head wind, and only making slow progress over the ground while gliding down.

When the air is moist, the rising thermal upcurrent will produce a cumulus cloud at its top. The pilot uses these cumulus cloud markers dotted about the sky on a fine summer day to show him where the thermals are. If the air is very dry, cumulus clouds will not develop at the top of the thermals, and they are .said to be "blue". Thermals rise generally to about 3, 000ft to 5, 000ft in the summer in Britain. In winter any thermals that develop are usually so weak that only birds can use them.

Gliders can also soar in the upcurrents over the bill produced by the wind being forced up over the rising ground. These upcurrents are known as slope or hill lift.

In the lee of mountainous regions atmospheric wave systems sometimes develop. These are like gigantic versions of waves or ripples in water.

Gliders can be soared in the upgoing part of waves which may sometimes go very high indeed - even 10 miles, or roughly 50, 000ft. high.

Most cross-country flights in gliders are intended to end on airfields, or at other gliding clubs - the pilot having declared his goal before take off. If, however, the thermals die away, or the pilot fails to find them, he will have to land in a field. Having selected a suitable field, of grass or stubble, from the air, the pilot will use his airbrakes, which steepen the glide path, to land in it accurately.

The glider will be retrived by the pilot's partner or friends, who will bring the trailer to collect it.

Many gliders in Britain are made of wood and covered with ply and fabric. They are immensely strong in the air, but because lightness is important, they can be easily damaged on the ground by, for instance, poking your umbrella through the wing. You would not, of course, do this nor indeed take an umbrella for your day's gliding, but the same effect can be obtained by tripping over the wingtip, or sitting on the tailplane. There are also some metal and glass fibre gliders, and although these are a little more resistant to ground damage, the same rules for handling apply.

Moving the glider on the ground. The glider should be held level by a person at the wingtip - this should always be the windward wingtip - and moved forwards with two people holding up the tail by the lifting handles. If the glider is pointing into the wind, there should always be someone weighting down the nose in case a gust tries to blow the glider over. If the glider is to be moved backwards, this can be done by pushing on the thick leading edge of the wing, and on the nose.

Gliders should never be pushed on, or held by, the thin trailing edge of the wing, the tailplane, or any moveable control surfaces.

A glider is controlled similarly to an aeroplane, with a control stick and rudder. The stick is connected to the elevator surface on the tailplane, and the aileron control surfaces on the wings. If the stick is moved in the fore and aft sense the elevators will lower or raise the nose of the glider. Moving the stick back in the air makes the nose come up, and moving it forward lowers the nose.

If the stick is moved to the left, the aileron control surfaces will lower the left wing, and the glider will bank over and then start to turn to the left; moving the stick to the right will bank the glider over to the right, and it will then start to turn to the right.

The rudder pedals control the vertical rudder surface. If the left foot is moved forward the glider will yaw to the left; the right rudder will yaw it to the right. Unlike a boat, an aircraft is not turned on the rudder. It is turned by banking it over in the direction it is desired to go; rudder is used together with the bank to make the turn smooth and accurate.

The first thing you will learn in the air is how to make the glider fly along at its proper attitude, so that you can maintain a steady speed.

Instruments. The three instruments mostly used are the VARIOMETER, and the AIRSPEED INDICATOR (A.S.I.) and the ALTIMETER.

The variometer indicates the rate at which the glider is climbing in upcurrents, or if it is not in lift, the rate at which it is sinking back to earth.

The A.S.I. shows the speed at which the glider is flying through the air. A headwind or a tailwind will of course, affect the speed at which the glider covers the ground.

The altimeter shows the height of the glider in feet. If it is set to zero on the airfield, it will show the height of the glider above the airfield.

Other Controls. The AIRBRAKES, or the SPOILERS, are smallish plates which the pilot can make project from the wing to increase the drag of the glider. He uses them to steepen the glide to help him land accurately in a short distance. Spoilers are on the top surface of the wings only, and are less powerful than airbrakes.

The TRIMMER If this is fitted the pilots uses it to adjust, or ease the load on the stick caused by different weight pilots, or flight conditions. The RELEASE knob, which is normally painted yellow, is pulled to release the launching cable.

Cockpit Check. Before every flight, the pilot carries out a pre-take off drill to ensure that everything is working properly. He will ensure that no cushions are jamming the controls, that the instruments are set, that the airbrakes are locked shut, and anything else that is necessary.

At the gliding club you will be out on the landing field while flying is going on. You must at all times keep a look out befoe walking on the landing area. If in doubt as to whether it is safe, ask first.

At the launch point, never walk in front of a glider which has a launching cable attached; if in doubt keep behind any glider waiting to be launched. If more than one launch cable is being used, never touch or stand on any cable lying on the ground while launching is in progress. If aeroplanes are being used for towing remember that a running propellor is difficult to see, so do not go near the front of any aeroplane which has a pilot inside it, even when it is parked.

The British Gliding Association, Kimberley House, Vaughan Way, Leicester, LE1 4SE, Tel. 0116 253 1051 will send you a complete list of gliding clubs throughout the country, and answer any questions. A full list of books and other items obtainable from the Association can also be supplied on request.

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