Gliding

[carlmt]

Glad we have the van!!! It is ideal for supporting my gliding trips - or at least it will be once I get a tow-bar fitted to tow the trailer by!

Had so many plans this year of venturing across to Germany, Austria and the South of France to sample the vintage gliding scene but we all know what put paid to that idea. No matter, it has given me a chance to work on my bird and get her up to scratch for the forthcoming seasons.

Anyroad - the glider is a Schleicher Ka6CR built in 1955 entirely of wood and fabric. First photo is from when I first bought her last year and the second was from a few weeks ago when fettling her in the workshop.

Any others here who combine motorhoming with gliding?

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Everyone to their own, I need an engine under me if I was flying.

 

[carlmt]

Everyone to their own, I need an engine under me if I was flying.

Glider pilots do it silently

 

[tonyidle]

Glider pilots do it silently

And generally land more gently

 

[jonasw19]

Yes my wife does, I crew. 2 or 3 competitions a year. Can be a bit hairy retrieving with a motorhome, so we now take the car as well.
We took the LS7 to Slovenia for refinishing last year towing with the mh, took a whole carriage on Eurotunnel!
LS7 and a Silent Electro 2.
Silent is brilliant piece of kit, self launch plus 40 mins sustainer. Generally uses 1KWh per flight.
She has managed 60hours this year since end of May in it, and no landouts. Easy as a K6 to rig.
Where are you based? We are in Dorset
Jon

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[Nasher]

We have a couple if paraglider pilots on here - including me

 

[Nanniemate]

Your van must go really fast so the glider can take off ......looks like great fun

 

[EuroTrotters]

No, but I know a man from Wilmslow who does !

 

[nicholsong]

Everyone to their own, I need an engine under me if I was flying.

I have flown gliders and single-engined aircraft.

In a glider you know from the start you have no engine and fly accordingly. In a single-engined aircraft the flying technique has to change if it malfunctions - and suddenly you are a glider with worse performance. Bit like a yacht and a power boat.

Geoff

 

[The Wino]

We started gliding in about 1986. We had a k6cr for several years my wife did her 300 in it at Le Blanc happy times . When the kids arrived she packed in as she said it wasn't worth gliding unless doing cross countries I stopped for a couple of years now have a motorglider licence but haven't flown for over a year.
I found the cr a bit tight for space (I'm 6') but a lovey glider to fly although if you start to go too fast the ground doesn't half come up quick!. In the 1980,s we were at the tail end of wooden gliders being mainstream glass was just taking over for basic gliders. I think the badges should be handicapped 300 in a modern glider isn't really the same.

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[The Old Man]

I've aviated in a variety of aircraft.

A motorhome is perfect for downtime and when waiting for conditions to improve.

 

[The Old Man]

A propeller has its uses but always remember that it's just there to keep the pilot cool;

 

[ivorantony]

My aircraft is kept at Lydd, so I often use the motorhome and stay over if doing Maintenance,
It saves a 100 mile round trip if the work takes more than a day to do, and because of Covid she hasn’t had the use she normally gets so the Maintenance has increased substantially this year,
Not wishing my life away but looking forward to next years flying season, already written this year Off

photo is on the Beach at Barra out Hebrides last year,

 

[Nanniemate]

Wow

 

[The Wino]

A propeller has its uses but always remember that it's just there to keep the pilot cool;

View attachment 423849

When I did my ppl stuff and had to meet with other student pilots talking about field landings and solo observed spins made them feel a bit uneasy it was a normal part of gliding although a lot easier given the glide angle and stalling speed especially in a k6.

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[TheCaller]

Any others here who combine motorhoming with gliding?

Not combined - gliding came first; motorhoming later. But I have flown a K6 a few times. It was the club single seater. Early training flights were in a Slingsby T21.

 

[Podney]

We live near Gransden Lodge in Cambridgeshire and have the dubious pleasure of having to listen to the gliders being towed up and we can then watch them go round and round in circles before landing..........seems a strange thing to want to do,OK the first time but over and over again? Why bother?
I can see the point of cross country journeys though. Is the going round in circles just to learn how to do it,or is it for competitions to see who can keep it up the longest (oooooer missus!)

 

[The Wino]

Not combined - gliding came first; motorhoming later. But I have flown a K6 a few times. It was the club single seater. Early training flights were in a Slingsby T21.

I seem to recall the stall speeds so slow that in much wind its like landing a bicycle.!

 

[The Wino]

We live near Gransden Lodge in Cambridgeshire and have the dubious pleasure of having to listen to the gliders being towed up and we can then watch them go round and round in circles before landing..........seems a strange thing to want to do,OK the first time but over and over again? Why bother?
I can see the point of cross country journeys though. Is the going round in circles just to learn how to do it,or is it for competitions to see who can keep it up the longest (oooooer missus!)

Why do people buy houses next to things like airfields then complain about them if it's a dubious pleasure buy somewhere near something you like watching!!!
We had someone complain about aircraft noise near our club a few years ago there was a competition on so loads of aerotows a day but there are lots of military and commercial pilots who also fly gliders for fun. Over the next few days he had the 4am Northern Ireland freighter low then a couple of tornadoes on reheat the Superfortress etc. I think he knew then what aircraft noise was!

 

[ivorantony]

Done my gliding course at RAF Halton in a T21 at the tender age of 16, a lifetime ago but fantastic fun,

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[TheCaller]

I seem to recall the stall speeds so slow that in much wind its like landing a bicycle.!

Long time ago now, but I think a ground speed of zero was perfectly possible on a windy day! I do remember some very short finals!

 

[The Wino]

Long time ago now, but I think a ground speed of zero was perfectly possible on a windy day! I do remember some very short finals!

We flew bocians when we started. One windy day I flew a circuit without any turns. Winched up then the upper windspeed was high enough to kite while the winch payed out the cable. We got almost 3000ft!. Relesed and pulled the speed back so we were going backwards over the ground then sped up and brakes out for the approach. Ground handling was hairy!

 

[TheCaller]

Done my gliding course at RAF Halton in a T21 at the tender age of 16, a lifetime ago but fantastic fun,

Flew like a brick at anything much above stalling speed, but if you flew it just fast enough to avoid falling out of the sky, they would go up on the slightest thermal. You could circle them practically on a wingtip, so again would work the narrowest thermal. Not that I was ever much good at it, but one of the instructors who taught me could sniff out the merest hint of rising air & it was a bit like spinning in a top, but going upwards!

They might have been slow (they weren't called The Barge of nothing), but huge fun for local work on a hot still summer's day.

 

[TheCaller]

We flew bocians when we started. One windy day I flew a circuit without any turns. Winched up then the upper windspeed was high enough to kite while the winch payed out the cable. We got almost 3000ft!. Relesed and pulled the speed back so we were going backwards over the ground then sped up and brakes out for the approach. Ground handling was hairy!

My first solo was in a Bocian. Much better performance than the T21 of course, but I don't think it was any more fun to fly. Sadly that aircraft was involved in a fatal crash a few years later. Lost both instructor & pupil. Not the one from the T21, but one I had flown with in the Bocian a few times.

 

[The Wino]

My first solo was in a Bocian. Much better performance than the T21 of course, but I don't think it was any more fun to fly. Sadly that aircraft was involved in a fatal crash a few years later. Lost both instructor & pupil. Not the one from the T21, but one I had flown with in the Bocian a few times.

My first solo was in one too at Hus Bos

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[Sheddy]

I trained mainly in K4 and K13s, and after soloing then in a single seater Slingsby Swallow at the forces Eagle Gliding club in Detmold Germany, and later flew a few other types at the RAFGSA Bicester, where I was lucky once to do the hanger flight in a Blanik with the then CFI Andy Gough in the back seat demonstrating aerobatics. sadly Andy was killed in 82 while doing a show at Brize Norton.
A few years later I converted to power doing my PPL while working out in Abu Dhabi that was in a PA28, unfortunately I couldn't maintain my hours when I was transferred to Oman where private flying was banned and after that came a mortgage and family.
I do occasionally catch myself thinking about doing a PPL again you never know one day I might shove off to somewhere sunny for a few months and go for it after doing the medical.
Cheers
Ed

 

[carlmt]

........ Is the going round in circles just to learn how to do it,or is it for competitions to see who can keep it up the longest (oooooer missus!)

The 'going around in circles' is the primary method of gaining height in a glider - circling to stay within the thermal (rising warm air). Once sufficient height has been gained, you can straighten up and 'get away' as the saying goes and sniff out the next thermal as you are slowly (or sometimes quite quickly!) descending under gravity.

As for noise, I doubt you would worry about it much if you lived next to our club - we have no powered aircraft (other than a motor-glider which generally only 'buzzes' as the motor is so quiet) and only launch on a winch.

 

[Podney]

Why do people buy houses next to things like airfields then complain about them if it's a dubious pleasure buy somewhere near something you like watching!!!
We had someone complain about aircraft noise near our club a few years ago there was a competition on so loads of aerotows a day but there are lots of military and commercial pilots who also fly gliders for fun. Over the next few days he had the 4am Northern Ireland freighter low then a couple of tornadoes on reheat the Superfortress etc. I think he knew then what aircraft noise was!

I wasn’t complaining. There is a difference between describing something as a dubious pleasure and actually complaining about it. Having lived in East Anglia for 67 years Im quite used to all sorts of aircraft noise on a grand scale. We also have Mark Jefferies nearby who is a world/European maybe champion acrobatic flyer in his Yaks........bloody noisy but incredible to watch him practise.

 

[Ridgeway]

One of my customers that i visit several times a year has a very active glider runway right next to it. I remember being in a meeting once and keep hearing this wooshing noise every few minutes, turns out it was the cable system launching the gliders. They have a viewing point there and i now often go there for lunch after a meeting there, it's always super busy and there's often a big queue of gliders getting ready for take off and many in the sky.

 

[denisejoe]

Why do people buy houses next to things like airfields then complain about them if it's a dubious pleasure buy somewhere near something you like watching!!!
We had someone complain about aircraft noise near our club a few years ago there was a competition on so loads of aerotows a day but there are lots of military and commercial pilots who also fly gliders for fun. Over the next few days he had the 4am Northern Ireland freighter low then a couple of tornadoes on reheat the Superfortress etc. I think he knew then what aircraft noise was!

Same as people who buy houses in the country and then complain about the smell

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