That's a great question. While the engine is off and extended - it glides like an airplane. About 15:1 at best. As the engine retracts you can feel the glider suddenly stop losing all that energy and you feel a climbing and accelerating feeling. Once those doors close - it has a 45:1 glide ratio and can keep up with the best gliders in a weak thermal and in many cases we out climb them. So it's a sailplane, for sure.

Hahaha yes I relate many pilots to the high centerline thrust flying with the Lake Amphibians.

Oh man! That would be so welcome! 😂

LoL good one! It's a glider and that's the point. Most gliders don't have an engine to get airborne.

It was super hot lol I have some tricks for dealing with that now. The first big trick is not flying gliders in the summer. Hah! I also carry and ice pack that I put right on my lap and around my neck during takeoff. Then I have a camel pack thing and that helps a lot also.

This is located at X52 New Hibiscus in Vero Beach, FL.

Absolutely!

That was Randy! He briefed me obviously. That was so good for my wife to see.

Or as our club president jokingly says, a cow fart 😂

LoL yes. Unexpected. He briefed me several flights in a row. So I wasn't thinking that he meant he was about to do it that time.

@@TheSoaringChannelI would do it at 350-400...About the time they were thinkin good... Not THIS time..

@@4881828 haha! Yes! I love it.

Amen!!!!!

Yes! An LS3

You know, I don't know for sure, but it looks like a standard Telex 750. You're right! The boom mikes are not great and very unreliable.

Yes they do! There is some really fancy electronics out there today that is actually pretty obtainable. A lot of the microlite gliders are equipped with winter style varios that read out the altitude and climb rate detected. Pretty slick stuff.

Let's do that my friend!

Hey Doug! Since you mentioned it - make sure the start line width is set to 1000m and "line" - not a quadrant. I even had the computers setup to FAI and badge flying - but unfortunately they don't replicate the start line as required for a diamond. For OLC it works great and no issues there have been noticed. But for the diamond specifically it might lead you needlessly to miss the required distance. Verify the 1000m each side or 1000m total width. I would need to look again. When are you coming to FL? I might be selling the DG. Hopefully we can soar together.

@@TheSoaringChannel Hey Jason, The Start Line is a 1 km line centered on the Start Point (ie 500m either side of the Start Point) I was also found out about Loss of height limits between the Start and Finish. Worse case, I need to cross the Start Line at 900m (2700’agl if I make a rolling finish 🙂) I’m planning on a coming down for SnF again this year, and will probably be going a week earlier. If you still have the DG, I’d love to fly it with you👍

Right! That's the one! It's been since March that I learned this lesson and reconfigured all the computers! 🤣 So I got rusty on the number really fast. 1km line. Got it! The LoH isn't usually an issue unless you "release" super duper high and don't have to do any work to fly the trip. I release at 3000 usually and I can finish 1'AGL over 300km and it's valid, if I recall correctly. Again - super rusty but that's what I've got by all this time.

@@TheSoaringChannel I was warned by my OO about crossing the Start line low, then climbing before proceeding on course, as the Loh is calculated from Start Altitude - Finish Altitude. That would have been yet another 'gotçha' for me. SkySight says Wednesday is a possibility. Keeping fingers crossed 🤞

That applies most typically to a Silver 50km badge flight. This is because you could (in theory) tow to 6000' and just glide the entire distance and land somewhere over 50km away. They're trying to avoid that with the LOH rule. Over 300km the distance formula will make it so that any typical tow altitude will be good, start to finish. I have to get the code out to review it again. But my eye balling of the concept was a 3000' release altitude will result in any altitude being a valid finish after 300km if you are returning to home - definitely not after 50km. He's definitely correct that you don't want to finish low after a very high start on a 50km silver badge flight. Do you have me added on IG or Facebook? Let's chat more there! I don't see these replies very well via KZbin.

Thank you!

Why is that?

😂😂😂😂

Glad you enjoyed it!

You should go! What an incredible experience!

No you heard another pilot call downwind while we were on short final. We had a string of gliders come in to land at the same time. We were number 2 and the radio call you heard was the number 3 aircraft. We cleared the runway as they called base leg. 😊 A little tighter than optimal, but it worked out.

Hey did you change your username or is this a new channel? I want to make sure I see your new videos 😊

@@TheSoaringChannel Same channel, just changed the name

It was quite the ride!!! The first 3 or 4 were so mind blowing that every one of us missed our 250 call-out hahaha

THIS IS IT!

It's there any way of sending it to me? I'd love to read more about it.

Thank you! Cheers!

Thank you Lars! Yes I was very shy at the pull ups. Definitely not enough! I later took some more aerobatics training to get the feel for the 4G pull back in my brain. I was only pulling like 2G - not nearly enough! If you search the channel you'll see the sister video to this one "Imperfect Loops in a Glider" or something like that haha! I was aware they were ugly and that's why I brought the camera long to review (and to share). Your advice is very well received and welcomed. I don't normally do aerobatics - but an unsoarable day left me looking at a blue sky and wanting to go do something fun! I'll review the maneuvers more thoroughly before doing anything like that again. Haha! Where are you based Lars?

@@TheSoaringChannel I'm based at Deelen Airbase glider club here in the Netherlands. Been doing glider aerobatics for the last 10 years or so and currently flying the MDM-1 Fox on competition level. Happy to give some advice and I have quite a few video's of that on my channel🙂 For your side slip in the other video, keeping the nose somewhat higher will prevent the buildup of speed. Basically you can't get into a spin while side slipping. If you put the nose too high for example, it will result in a nose drop and the nose will want to center again as side rudder will also lose airflow. If you put the nose too low, the glider will start to make more and more uncomfortable noise. In short, to maintain a stable side slip just keep the rudder fully pressed and find the balance with the elevator (nose little lower than normal flying position). And then with the roll input adjust flying direction. Other than the side slipping, for wings level flying at buffer speed, try that and control the nose with the rudder only. You can control the glider beyond wing stalling speed with the elevator pulled and just gentle rudder inputs. Not to scare, but for this maneuver you will need to be comfortable recovering spins, as the glider can make an aggressive roll and nose dive if you lose "the rudder balancing game at wing stall speed".

Bahaha yeah! Pretty close actually. I got towed into the ramp. So that was $45. Then the food was $20. Fuel for the launch about $10~~ so we're at $75 already 😂 insurance, repairs, hangar space and we're there. It was kind of weird going XC when I'd not ever passed 3000' even. Most of the flight was at 2500'.

🔥🔥🔥🔥 sounds good my friend!

Very good to know! Yeah this is exactly why I stay inside of glide until the engine is shut down and retracted. I've already had maybe 3 events of not being able to stow it or extend it and it gets stuck for various reasons. Not anything wrong with it, it just happens and you've gotta be ready for the eventuality, not the possibility. It will eventually happen.

This is a DG505MB, or a DG500 to keep it simple haha I love the username by the way!

It's the bumpiest runway I've seen.

You cannot hold the camera straight when landing.

Exactly lol and that runway has massive pot holes from pigs digging it up. They're trying to "catch" them all since they aren't native and "remove them". They've done a lot of damage to that runway. I've gotten stuck several times now, actually.

@@TheSoaringChannel I remember an old friend of mine mentioning how pigs in the fields loved to chew on an abandoned Trabant mini-car. The thing was made of a bakelite type of plastic. Better keep an eye on the gliders.

Oh man, did he!! Hahaha He was right at home. He really does enjoy it.

Definitely make a point of doing it. I hope they remember these days for all of their lives.