Gliding and Soaring videos produced by David Villeneuve, featuring gliders and aircraft flown by the Rideau Valley Soaring School (SGS 22-33, SGS 1-34, Grob 103, LS-4, and private ships like ASW-20, ASW-27, PIC-20, Libelle) near Kars, Ontario, in Canada.
This is all part of my journey on learning to fly gliders and my journey as I continue to develop my skills and expertise.
I love taking pictures, and I love flying gliders, so a number of my videos are collages to commemorate a year of flying at the club I belong to. I own and fly a Libelle H201. I'm not famous or wealthy, so you'll see footage from this inexpensive, but classic glider, including the crack in my canopy (which I figure would cost me about $10k to replace).
Being a training exercise, it was 400' AGL. You can see how much height is lost after release in the distance, and there's sufficient height for safety (in case the student makes a mistake or there is heavy sink) and to allow a nice long landing down the runway so it does not need to be towed down the whole length. In theory you could do a 180º turn and make it back from 200', but that's cutting it close. We teach 300' minimum as there are a good number of low performance club gliders out there.
@@davesgliding Well, I don't even fly. Medical grounds. Pun intended. But on the matter of height and speed I always remember a series of cartoons that were drawn to keep the pilots flying the F-104 Starfighter from entering some usually fatal situations. One said "Flame out Hy.Key 15.000Ft A minimum 245 KIAS... ... Plus 5 for the kids ... Plus 5 for the wife ...Plus 5 for my life Makes 260 KIAS Low Key 8000Ft On F.O landings, nurse your speed lovingly, 'cause if you don't, you will not love anything else!" Same applies to height, I guess. Great quickbit video. Looks like an eternity and it was just over two minutes.
@@The_Modeling_Underdog Sorry to hear about your medical. Oddly enough, I've been told (not confirmed) that a glider pilot license in the USA does not require a medical. Here in Canada, it does. With a love of aviation, even those who cannot fly can still enjoy the passion. There's a lot of folks who acquire a lot of time and expertise on simulators. It's not the same, but it can still be fulfilling and you gain a lot. With respect to speed and altitude, we say that airspeed is life, and altitude is options. With respect to airspeed, when approaching base and final I usually calculate my approach speed based on what the windsock looks like, wind forecast, and other visual indicators such as smoke, waves on rivers and tree tops. And then, if I'm not sure ... I add a few more kts.
The pilot of the power plane was more than likely completely oblivious of any other aircraft close by. It’s drummed into glider pilots to keep a good lookout at all times.
They probably saw me. I was within 10km (5NM) of the airfield and procedure for traffic is to notify when traversing that area. They were aware of traffic and I had given a position report. I still would have liked a bit more separation.
@@davesgliding A private jet passed so close to me at 3,000 feet in England , in free airspace , that I saw the pilot jump up and point in my direction as he shot past. So I’m a bit biased 😁
I liked it a lot. I grew up winch towing hang gliders, the rush you get when the power comes on is captured well. Also the shake of the airframe when a thermal hits was spot on.
The baseball caps worn by the university teams DO NOT have buttons on the crown of their hats... The original point is still valid, Dave's Gliding...it just doesn't apply here...
Good observation. I think their peaks are not as forward either. I'd love to get my hands on one of the Japanese gliding team's hats!. For awhile I did wear a baseball hat when I was first taking lessons, but I did modify it by removing the metal button at the top. It's a decoration and provides no functionality, or at least not on the ones I've had. I had an action camera on the peak. In the 2-33 I was flying, there was lots of head clearance, but when I started flying other gliders, it was too close to the canopy. We've had some pilots who have had skin cancer scares, so we're sticking with our bucket hats on sunny days. Good sunscreen is a must as well.
Well as part of my flying tests - they covered my instruments on multiple ocasions. Any glider pilot who has done some, say, 10 or more hours should be able to take-off, fly and land without any instruments. . . . . Did I get the answer right?
Thanks for your comment. For sure, experience is going to go a long way. I'd say you really should be able to handle this before going solo, since something could happen anytime, such as a big bug splatting into your pitot tube on takeoff. If one is not comfortable with this, then I'd say they should take additional training. Even so, the one instrument I do consult pretty often after I pass my reference point and until I'm in the flare is my ASI. While my ears and site view are pretty good at detecting a wind gradient, a good ASI will be more sensitive to changes. Just the same, I'll refer to my instruments ... but I still won't put my full faith in them. Many new pilots avoid those windy days and are not so good at handling that situation because they only come to fly on super-calm days, but I'm a believer in taking the opportunity to practice circuits in pretty messy stuff to keep my skills sharp and able to handle unforeseen conditions. Flying too slow and entering a spin on the turn to final is still one of the biggest causes of fatalities in this sport. Mindeth thine airspeed, lest the ground cometh up and smite thee. Airspeed is life ... altitude is options. Fly safe!
It's an Amman ASC-50 Compactor we rented for a few days. It's pretty easy to drive. We had rain overnight that made part of the runway soggy (so much rain this year that we started our season a month later than other clubs) and it sank about 3/4 of a meter into the ground! It took a lot of effort to get it back up to ground level again. The end result is that there was part of the runway didn't get done. I can tell you ... it really did make a big difference where we rolled it!
this is the real jetsons future flying car. it glides to move and relies on natural lift for theoretically unlimited travel distance without landing or refueling and it sounds just like a jetsons car.
LOL, very true! I think most of the noise is from the prop itself. The glider does not need much airspeed, so the pitch used may be more optimized for power and may make more noise than one would expect, but I'm no expert on these things. I wonder if anyone out there has some wisdom to share on it?
This brings back great memories for me, thanks. I grew up in Dallas in the 60's where my late Dad flew a beautiful 1-26 out of Rockwall, and I remember his excitement when he saw his first Libelle. But we moved to FL soon after that and his sailplane days never rekindled. But mine did with my first paycheck in 81 and I flew a club 1-26 for a while until I bought my own Libelle 201B, no flaps and all, ha. Most beautiful ship ever, at least to me. I cried the day I sold it, but not for long as all the costs disappeared, ha. A touch of vertigo forced me to walk away.
Good catch. It's a Grob 103. Not the most nimble glider, but it's roomy. I'm usually flying from the back seat as the club usually uses it for guest and introductory flights. In the UK, the Air Cadets fly pretty much the same glider, but it's called a Viking T1.
The list of gliders that I have flown will give away my senior status, ha. I actually first trained in a Schweizer 2-22, then a 2-33 in college with no money to my name. Got a job in the early 80's and finally soloed in an ASK-21. Bought a 1-26, sold it and bought a Std Libelle 201b and thought it couldn't get any better, and in some respects it couldn't. The Libelle was beautiful to me, was easy to fly and could thermal better than most anything costing much more. So, I never traded up after that but gave it up after about ten years because of a touch of vertigo. I miss it all.
I also started working in the early 80's. I suspect we are close in age. Sorry to hear about the vertigo. I developed vertigo two summers ago but it turned out I had contracted Lyme Disease. After treatment, it (and other symptoms) went away. It is scary to think that someday I'll not be medically fit to pilot an aircraft, but it's an important consideration, and we'll all get there. Take care!
Gaaak ! I would have been terrified to try that, Good that it turned out for the better. I have heard of full penetration repairs being done ,by grinding and gluing one side, then repeating from the otherside making sure it is ground through to the glue on the otherside. Apparently once the joint is sanded and polished ,the repair is hardly noticeable. Great skills ,time and patience needed for sucess. . Good flights for you in 2024 !
At 1:00 - Towing is one of the most complicated things about flying gliders. You should NOT want to distract yourself with changing the canopy air vent or increasing the vario's audio especially at only a few hundred feet off the ground. These tasks should be accomplished on the ground before launch. Wait to make adjustments once off tow.
Too true. It's a mandatory to take control at our club if the instructor sees students doing this. As a community we have killed too many tug pilots and it has to stop.
Good point. I did those without thinking and was not exactly best practices or a good example. I normally leave the vario volume off and window closed on takeoff to avoid the vario distracting and the possibility of sucking in bugs (like bees) until I have enough height to at least do an abbreviated circuit, but I guess I've been doing that lower. I'll take care then. Thanks.
Your vario seems to mute when in sink so you are not getting useful information. "Fly away from the sink" technique could have been successful here in helping you find the core when just outside it. After max sink allow 45 degrees more of the turn then straighten up.
Any glider pilot who says he's never done that is lying. Granted, I don't think I've ever released below 2000' AGL because I hate the thought of having to waste all that time getting a re-light if it doesn't work out. Going up another 1000' is cheaper than another tow and lost time. At least you gave up before getting into trouble and that's good judgement.
There's two schools of thought on that. The other is if you only have to re-light once every 5 flights, it can still be economical. 2000' AGL though is a good height as it gives you room to look around if things are not working out for you right away. I don't think there's a big difference between both strategies, other than the next person waiting for a tow probably appreciates the quicker turnaround.
Thanks. I don’t know about genius. I think is was more like desperation to have some flight like experience when we were not able to get our annual check flights to be allowed to fly during the beginning of the pandemic. The sports code did not allow being any closer than 2m, even with masks, so we could not share the cockpit with an instructor.
I think you did great, Dave. It's a simple jig for others to replicate. Only thing I'd change is at 0:27, and put two diagonal elements running from the double transverse beams to the PC stand for extra support and take some of the strain off of the stand pedestal. But that's just a minor quirk of mine relating to modern wood. Cheers.
Yes, certainly triangular structures are stronger. The pedestal is connected with 3 bolts, so in a sense that's a triangular structure moved close to the base. I actually built this in 2020 and it's been pretty stable. If it does present a problem, I'd consider a thin plywood sheet behind the monitor and down to the base with holes cut for the feet/legs to get to the rudder pedals. That would also work.
Well, it's not a droid sitting in behind the cockpit. 🙂 It's an electronic vario, which measures the rate of climb. The faster it beeps, the faster you are climbing. If it drones, you're in sink. It helps us keep centred in the thermals. We can keep our eyes looking out for other aircraft, and the sounds let us keep track of things with our ears. It's a bit tricky as there's a second or two delay in the measurement. While we can "feel" the entry into a thermal, once in it we can easily circle offside and get out of lift and not notice. The beeping (or lack of) will let us know when that happens. Flying takes hands, feet, eyes, and ears (and sometimes your bum ... to initially detect lift).
It doesn't seem you have been too low anytime... Altitude seemed to be adequate at the position you start a diagonal. Also the landing was not all that bad. Only observation I can make: talk less, pay more attention to the flight and positions when coming to land.
My first introducory flight was with an ASK21 with an Aerobatic flight instructor, that was impressive. Five years later i started and finished my license on a G103 Twin Astir. She is heavy but glides well (best L/D38.5) up to 130kph. Then i have flown G102 AstirCS and its successor Standard Astir 2 both 15m single seater and easier to fly than the Twin, but the CS has lower performance (best L/D ~35). Astir 2 is quite a bit tighter and pilots lie down in it. Than i flew an ASW15 which is very nice. I did my silver badge 50km flight with it in the alps (scored 200km on WeGlide). To check out on an airfield in the alps i flew their ASK13 wood/steel frame double seater. Very nice flying ship with LD below 30. With instructor in the back i landed with overtaped altimeter to practice outlandings. Last year our club bougth a Janus CT with 20m Wingspan i only had 3 flights with it but it seem very agile for 20m. I has flaps and a good performance (best L/D 43). I had a few guest rides on DG500 22m and one on a DG505 in Boulder, CO at the Club from @Chessintheair . Thats a trip worth taking.
Your sister made a request on her English Kitchen FB page for people to subscribe to you. Here I am subscribing. And you have more subscribers than me!
That's very observant. Being a time-lapse type of video, you would have seen a bit of this up/down motion. While flying along the clouds that had been lined up by the effects of wind, there would be pockets of thermal "lift" under the clouds, but also pockets of neutral or sinking air. To maximize the lift and minimize the sink, pilots will slow down in the lift, and to slow down we will lift the nose and trade speed for altitude, but then when we get out of the lift, we put the nose down a bit to speed up again, which loses a bit of altitude, but minimizes the time we say in sink. That way we spend more time in lift than in sink, and as a result, we stay up in the air. Keep in mind, we don't have an engine. Without making use of rising air, we would normally lose altitude at a rate of about 150' per minute, and would not make it very far. Ideally this is done gently. When the recording is played at normal speed, it's a fairly gentle rollercoaster and not upsetting to the tummy. This flight was over 2 hours long, so you could imagine the toll it would take on you if it was an aggressive rollercoaster! 🙂
I've not flown a 301, but I love flying my 201. While some deride it for the "snug" fit into the cockpit, I've heard some folks say that you don't climb into it so much as you strap it on. It's like the wings are coming out your back. With respect to flying it compared to other gliders I've flown, it's a more intimate experience. Mind you ... they're all fun to fly!
