Crazy Glider Descents: Instructor Reacts!

[@PureGlide]

Some updates and corrections: - Sonds like the other plane is static, on a pole!! From those familiar with the airfield. That makes much more sense :) - Likely the brakes were NOT open the whole time as seen by the airbrake lever. That makes more sense too. - Apologies I pronounced Puchacz wrong, should be 'Poo-Hatch'. Thanks to all those who pointed out those things!

[@JanKowalski-vj9py]

Puchacz (pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puchacz) is a big owl species with wingspan up to 1,8 meters.

[@zaenith]

First: They had their airbrakes in at least when they filmed straight ahead after pulling up. Could see the lever being fully forward…

[@HotelPapa100]

@@zaenith At 0:34 during pull up you can also see the clean wing.

[@carlorff1965]

"should be 'Poo-Hatch'" Does not sound nicer. 😄

[@fony11]

If you've ever flown a puchacz, you would also know thats it's imposible to go VNE or even close to VNE, in level flight, with the airbrakes out. Even in the ground effect. Those airbrakes creates an enormous amount of drag.

[@philipgreenwood841]

I learnt to glide in the 70's at Lasham in the UK; my instructor was Polish and crazy as a box of frogs. I was close to going solo and I had a winch tow to 1400ft in a K13 and he said leave the circuit and do 3 full spins to the left. Ok I said and did it and recovered. I was now at about 600 ft and he said now two to the right. I said "Are you sure?" He said "Yes" I did it and was at about 200' at the upwind end of the airfield. He said "Now get back". I started the downwind leg and cut in about 1/2 way down the leg to land safely on a disused cross runway. The whole reason it turned out, was to make me make decicions in a stressfull situation. Went solo shortly after that and it certainly made me a better pilot!

[@jme104]

He didn't kill you this day .

[@kensummers7757]

RIP Charlie

[@Dzordzikk]

THings like that are not crazy, are not good but are only dangerous and stupid, especially when you haven´t finished course and acro.

[@martinchudomel7949]

@@Dzordzikk I believe spins are part of glider training at least in my country. Also the instructor was with the student in the plane and would take the controls. Yeah, some instructors love adrenaline.

[@dancarter482]

Grew up near Lasham, we cycled to the open day in '75 ~ the first show I attended and I was hooked on aviation from there. It had been a Mosquito base in the war apparently. Loved the glider club and was gutted {!} when I took someone there a couple of years ago having told them it was one of my favorite places to have a coffee and watch the planes - and discovered it had been gutted by fire!

[@gliderfan6196]

Puchacz is said Pooh-hatch and means Uhu (Eurasian Eagle Owl - Bubo bubo). At 0:38 the reopening of airbreaks is clearly audible. During the low pass you can see the blue handle in full forward position. I was trained in this glider and do my yearly checks (including spin recovery routine) in it. Flew my first solo in it. Fun fact: SZD-51 Junior is designed as next-step solo glider for training and first xc. The single-seater has very similar flight characteristics to Puchacz, so the transfer is barely noticeable (Junior is quicker to react to control inputs). The old school of making gliders in Poland required diving tests - Bocian (Storch) and Puchacz had to be flown in dive with air breaks open without exceeding VNE. I remember that in tests of Bocian they exceeded 300 kmph in a dive because the test pilots were sure they are about to make tests without the breaks open... Nothing happened. The dive test was standard at least in Poland (RWD, PZL, PWS) before WWII and it was continued after the war as well. It is perfectly possible and safe to do that dive. My instructors do not recommend turning with breaks open, but at least in Puchacz it is perfectly doable.

[@Farweasel]

I had a few training flights in a Bocian but never knew it meant Storch - I thought it was Butter 🙄 I LOVE the pronounciation and meaning of Puchacz 'though - Cue even worse puns about 'Does being an Owl confirm an automatic Night rating'?

[@gliderfan6196]

@@Farweasel Yes, and flying in NIetoperz (the Bat) gives you IFR. BTW, Butter is Maslo (say mas-woh). Bocian is white storch. And Jantar is Amber

[@billpain]

Agreed. This is pretty standard behavior for Poles... lol

[@esenel92]

SZD-51, I loved flying that thing. the seat was crap but the aircraft unbeatable (at our club anyway) on days with small weak thermals.. It felt like the earth was just repelling that thing (when not flying fast). But it can drop like a brick if you want it to 😁

[@gliderfan6196]

@@esenel92 great for flying in cloudless thermals

[@jbmatey3072]

Hi there ... I use to fly gliders at RAF Gaydon in the Midlands U.K. ... On the last flight of the day we use to winch launch then dive down over the main road roll out and land close to the perimeter fence so that we could roll the gliders into the hanger ... I got grounded for one month !!! The midland red bus driver complained “ it scared him “ ... in that month I became brilliant at winching 😀

[@CameTo]

I had some great days gliding with the air cadets back in the day. I was at central flying school, and the Air Marshall (2 star general eq) for the school showed up and asked for a go. They were his gliders anyway, so as I was already taking up slack, he had to wait as I had the last cable. Anyways 10 minutes later the guy was in the air, and he did a steep approach and then 2 loops on final. I remember a couple other instructors grumbling how it wasn't fair "We're not allowed to do that, or we lose our ticket..." True story, back in summer 2000.

[@HarryFaber-z7l]

That brought back a memory! As a small cadet, I found myself in the front of a Kirby Cadet at a former RAF Battle of Britain airfield somewhere in Essex. The pilot was an older gentleman, a Squadron Leader with real wings a proper moustache and all that. He dived the aircraft to pretty close to VNE, descended over the field outside the airfield, ballooned up over the hedge to drop it neatly at the launch point. I have a clear view of a bus driver, Eastern National, as we passed about 40' in front of him, level with his cab. Although I am confident that instructor has moved on to 'higher' wings, his son is still a very active pilot, so names, dates and places have been omitted.

[@FinalGlideAus]

I highly doubt an SZD-50 would have the energy to do that low pass and pull up with the brakes open. Those things have an impressive stopping force.

[@gliderfan6196]

True. At 0:38 you can clearly hear reopening of the breaks

[@FinalGlideAus]

@@gliderfan6196 not so loud if opened up the top of the climb like it was when the camera panned to the wings again.

[@jmax8692]

@@FinalGlideAusyou just comment for human interaction don’t you? You have said nothing of substance.. nobody cares what you highly doubt you’re not the main character. 😂😂

[@FinalGlideAus]

@@jmax8692 Sorry, I don’t argue with bots…

[@flugplatz8719]

Your doubts don't matter here, it's SZD-50

[@ridgesail]

He clearly looks at the wing long enough during the climb out to see the brakes are closed. That's the whole point of his pilot skill display... Controlled dive w brakes, close brakes and climb out, open brakes for nice short steep landing.

[@RafMov]

Hi there. This is Turkish İnönü Gliding Centre I have visited few years ago. Looks like not airshow but some demo flight. I think they closed A/B on final just before low pass and climb and partially closed for flare and touch down. Airplane is just static display on the pylons on the ground.

[@wearemany73]

2:08 ..it looks to me like the a-brakes were stowed during the energy climb out. Cool video BTW. 👍😎

[@uhertlein]

Came here to mention the same thing: very likely closed at this point, by the position of the blue airbrake handle at 2:01 and 2:19.

[@harrodharrod5239]

@@uhertlein Not sure about the handle, but around 0:33 you can see much larger portion of the wing than at 0:51 and the brakes are simply not there during the turn after the climb out.

[@GlideYNRG]

Spinning over a built up area, especially at that height...... It'd be tea and bikkies and a stern talking to for me and a kick up the arse to drive it home. 116kt vne for the Puchacz. Looks like the aircraft in question is on a pole near the swimming pool, would make me look twice if not familiar with the strip.

[@lumbeseggel74]

Hi Tim, I think the airbrakes were closed during the low pass... at 0:20 you can see that the blue handle is in a forward position. So in my opinion the brakes were extended first and then retracted again. I also think that the speed would have decreased much faster if the brakes had been applied the whole time. But in the end - unnecessary recklessness. It goes well a few times and at some point we read an accident report about it. Simply stupid.

[@colinbryan57]

I agree regarding the brakes being shut through the low pass and pull up. The airbrake handle is a good indicator of that 🙂

[@piotreknitka4362]

I agree You can see that short before "base" the Vario is on 0 od -1

[@hotprop92]

One man's recklessness is another man's quest for discovery I dare say. The timid may die of hunger and the bold may die eating a toxic whatever and somewhere in the middle is the sweet spot, who's to say where that is exactly.

[@OnceShy_TwiceBitten]

@@hotprop92 the one who puts others at risk. the end.

[@SDR-fn7hr]

This is at the İnönü airfield in Turkey. I have visited this airfield during an Air Cadet exchange program

[@AeroclubBexbach]

Sehr Lehrreich deine Videos. Vielen Dank und liebe Grüße vom Aeroclub Bexbach

[@marcinpolar806]

Brakes were closed during ascend, you can see the handle in a front position, and in one moment the wing without them is visible too

[@DB-thats-me]

Best decent I ever got the chance to do. With a club libelle strapped to my back, trailing edge, terminally rated dive brakes and 9500’ under the keel, -6000’ in 30 sec! Pulled up at 3500’ and waited for my ears to arrive. 😳. At that rate of decent you can FEEL the air get thicker and warmer. 👍

[@BruceHoult]

Yeah, I did that to 500 ft above circuit height over Omarama in a Club Libelle after an 18000 ft wave flight. I recall 85 knots on the dial on the way down -- only just above the 81 knots rough air / maneuver speeds. When I was a raw student an instructor demonstrated similar in a Blanik from 12500 ft. I recall about 120 knots in that one.

[@robert100xx]

I agree the thicker-warmer bit. In the 90's I had a share in a Brazov IS 30 we were up at 18000' and my P2 complained of being lightheaded. Popped the brakes, like the Puchaz, top and bottom paddles, and stood it on her nose. I always remember the sensation of the air 'thickening' and getting warmer

[@GlideYNRG]

@@robert100xxcan seem to feel the the inversion layer / 5:55 temp change too I've noticed in the climb. Get that 5 to 10 degree drop when the thermal lift tops out.

[@louisvanrijn3964]

Yep, completely right. I managed to dive negative, so you see the ground approaching, but also shifting up in the canopy. It is just like a free fall skydive, 170 km/h straight down. Take an easy pull out, and close the brakes not before normal attitude...this will give an astonishing speed built-up.

[@StewartBarton-e8l]

That first clip is at Inonu Turkey. We flew there in the first World air games. It is a pre military airforce training field. All airforce train in gliders first. Flew with Billy Walker and Brian Chesterman. In PW5's

[@tunadsm]

Greetings from Turkey, Eskişehir. The place of that first video...

[@christopherleveck6835]

I used to love slipping into my landings. Once, with my instructor in the back, the day before my solo...... I was slipping like I normally did, and she says can you slip the other direction if you need too? We were about 100 feet off the ground, I reversed the controls and slipped the other direction. She INSTANTLY threw up all down the back of my neck.... I had JUST gotten a new haircut less than an hour before that. It was a super hot day. The vomit made a slap sound when it hit the back of my freshly shaved neck and it went all the way down my back into my shorts and when I stood up all down the back of my legs and then between the bottom of my feet and the top of my flip flops. It made a HORRIBLE squeeking sound as I walked over to the hose hanging next to the door of the bathroom. It turned out she was pregnant and at that moment, didn't know it. She didn't get a drop on her. The smell was so bad I threw open the canopy well before we stopped and cracked it when we hit a bump where I left the dirt and hit the grass on my way to the hose. I used the sidewalk like a taxiway.....

[@josefeld7164]

Hahahah 😂 I can‘t! 😂 Hope you didn’t make her feel bad about it 🥲

[@markmcgoveran6811]

I really love watching your videos and I have for some time and I'm studying aviation with all of my mathematical ability. When any aircraft turns it doesn't fly as well as it does going straight. I'm studying to be a paraglider pilot and that landing the first glider did was exactly what they tell me to do I'm to swoop down go up turn around swoop down again until I get to the approach height and then I make a 90° turn and fly into the wind. When I watch your gliding tapes I like to try to understand how your glider works and see if it relates to how mine works. Thank you very much for the corrections I was putting pen to paper in my mind so to speak and figuring that you couldn't have that much breaking action and come back up for the second swoop.

[@PureGlide]

Hey awesome stuff, and good luck with your Paragliding!

[@markmcgoveran6811]

@@PureGlide I like to ask a question from someone that appears interested in thinking about the subject for their own benefit and telling others and I have to say you're a gemstone in this tired old world of people that want to keep every secret. According to my calculations if I could clone you and put you in two gliders that were clones, at the top of the weight limit and one at the bottom of the weight limit range. My calculations predict.: the heavy glider will have the same glide ratio in straight flight except it's going to fly faster. However when that guy in that heavy glider is coming to catch the guy in the light lighter and he wants to get away from him it's not that hard. Turn all you can do in that light glider is turn and turn and turn. Whenever that heavy glider turns he flies fast and he drops altitude faster and he has a bad glide ratio compared to that light glider. The tighter you turn the more altitude you lose from that weight. Is this true to a point of being observable for a guy like you that can actually see something not a guy like me that can't hasn't looked at enough? The second question comes to mind the overloaded airplane. iWatch airline pilots that are respected for their understanding of an airplane take off flying in a straight line in an overloaded general aviation. When they get taken off and finally climb up out of the airport they turn a little bit and the plane dives into the ground. According to my calculations there are a lot of nonlinearities that all are going bad faster and faster when an airplane flies overloaded in the curve. If you draw a chart with minimum radius and minimum air speed, when you turn you will fine below the minimum radius the airplane will dive in the hole that it is turning towards. When you show the glider slipping and losing altitude he was a long ways above the minimum speed and a long ways above the minimum radius of curvature, for that weight. That's why he had plenty of extra control authority to get out of the slip. I saw a fellow flying a heavy bomber and he did like a "parachutaul stall". He said that while you had the control authority before you stalled and you were moving and could steer you needed to get the nose to start coming down because after you stall you're going to fall a long ways before your nose gets pointed to where you have any control authority. I have not done much looking at this problem with extra weight. So have you noticed a difference in your gliding results and distances when you turn tighter and when you turn wider? When the paraglider lands they go into a sharp turn and drop some altitude on both edges of the field running back and forth and then when they get to the right altitude they cut a 90° turn into the wind and no more turning. I don't think regular gliders do this often. Thank you for showing me one guy that was doing that. I don't have much money so saving up money to go on a glider ride is pretty special event.if I knew somebody was going to take me up in a glider like that and just fly back and forth over the field swooping up and down I could miss some feed you know I don't need new socks I can just make some out of this old shirt because I wanted to go on that ride when I saw it.

[@IOSALive]

Pure Glide, Subscribed because your content is fantastic!

[@EnniodBleu]

Victor Foxtrot! Spent a few hours in that one about 20 years ago. Still at the same club by the looks of it.

[@andrewwhittaker6622]

Great clips Wow gliders have come a long way from the old Kookaburra i flew in the 1970's But it was great as well Cheers

[@rich34glider]

Some more innovative ways to introduce unnecessary risks there .. never ceases to amaze!

[@Farweasel]

I believe the phrase sought may be 'added challenge and excitement'? And YES I do want to try that (&) I AM dumb enough to do so if some kind, misguided soul will lend me a Puchacz

[@rich34glider]

@@Farweasel may the odds be ever in your favour.

[@soaruk3697]

Funny the club in Canada that has killed the most pilots had a similar attitude to yours................

[@MrSilentPilot]

Hi Tim, just as you comment that you think the airbrakes might be open during the pull-up we get a clear view of the airbrake handle apparently (I don't fly the Puchacz, but it appears to be) fully forward!

[@PureGlide]

Yeah a few people pointed that out, I agree!

[@TheGrundigg]

The tow plane we see in the 1st clip is actually just a monument next to the hangar. You can see it clearly in the window at 2:58 and earlier as they are overflying the field.

[@StefanoBorini]

It's called an energy dump. My instructor taught it to me as a technique to get through strongly turbulent/high wind shear final approaches, because you simply descend way above the stall speed, and yet the horizontal speed is not very high because, well, strong winds. It scares the shit out of you if you are not trained in it, but it's very effective.

[@dasczwo]

oh, i loved to do side slip landings with good ol ka8. on ask13 we had a thunderstorm front coming in air rising 10-15 m/s. we were on 4000 no time. he says ok, descend, rain comes breaks out! 5m/s rising... side slip+breaks 2m/s sinking... ok: lets practice corkscrew spins, 10-15 min later only we were in position. landing with 40-60kmh/headwinds approaching with 120-140 km/h... suddendly windstill at 30m.... what a landing. i was soaked. FUN! if you survive... gliders. miss them.

[@michaelrussell5346]

The natural thing is to push that spoiler handle forward as if it was a throttle lever if height was required at the end of the beat up.

[@monacosfranz4202]

The air brakes were closed around the top. At 2:03 and 2:21 you can see the blue air brake lever in the closed position (full forward).

[@Trevor_Austin]

I had a Caproni A21 Calif. It had fully speed limiting airbrakes. It would not descend greater than 90 kts. A Go-around was definitely not a possibility as you only had just energy to round out. It used to scare the bejesus out of onlookers.

[@fritz4345]

At 2:58 you see that the Cessna is a display and not a flying plane.

[@brushitoff503]

Possibly practicing for a Darwin award? Ha ha, thanks Tim!

[@Upuauta]

Indeed. Well, stupid is as stupid does. And especially the second one was one of them

[@MusteaMihaiDan]

From my experience, Puchacz is not full aerobatic. I'd wish for it! Tail slide is prohibited. Split S is also prohibited as it will overspeed. Immelmann... well... not enough energy. One can do something similar like a split s - flick half roll and half loop at lower speeds. Get 120 km/h. level, nose above the horizon. At around 95-100 km/h pull hard the stick and full rudder at the same time. Commands have to be quick and energetic. Love your channel! Keep it going! Cheers!

[@PureGlide]

Good point! yeah shouldn't have said fully aerobatic, but more aerobatic than many gliders, in that it can fly inverted. Cheers

[@hotprop92]

Someone in the comments mentioned that with the A/B extended VNE is not attainable in a dive?

[@MusteaMihaiDan]

@@hotprop92 That is very true! We do something we call `dive landings`. We start to descend from 200m right at the beginning of the landing strip, with full AB, and we dive at 90 degrees, followed by flaring and landing. We do not do it if there is a lot of traffic, and we announce it by radio, of course. As for the split S, one can use the AB, but then is not a clean maneuver and in a contest it does not count. For that matter I prefer the snap roll, followed by half loop, but it is not a split S.

[@RoamingAdhocrat]

I learned to fly on the Pooch and I'd heard they had dive-limiting airbrakes, never saw it demonstrated before though.

[@markplain2555]

As part of my training I had to do a "late landing" in the Puchacz. On final approach at about 400ft AGL I had to hold off decesnding until I reached the runway then land. It was full air brakes/spoilers nose down and speed up to about 65knots round out and the speed would bleed off rapidly and land - no problem. . The point is that with full spoilers and pull aback on the stick the Puchacz loses speed rapidly. I seriously doubt they climbed up from the beat with the spoliers out. . It appears in many clubs in Canada the Puchacz is not liked (I personally grew to like it). She spins a little too easily. Some years back, two guys were flying it too slow to low to the gound and spun in. Ironic to see the second video.

[@TheSoaringChannel]

Clearly in the second video the pilot has checked for traffic as he spins into the circuit - he's got a 360° top to bottom view 😜😜😜 hahaha that's nuts!😂 Based on how slowly it decelerated at VNE while doing the pass: I think they were closed for the pass and pull up.

[@Will-ui7dv]

Great video, always love the analysis!

[@onthemoney7237]

We call that a forward slip and a side slip is used for lining up for a landing . Thanks for sharing I’m enjoying your vids 👍🇺🇸

[@spdaltid]

Whatever, like Stall Turn/Hammerhead turn/Feisler etc horses for courses.🙃

[@plane_simple]

2:04 brake lever (blue) in the 'closed' position...

[@offshoretinker]

Old and bold, old and bold!

[@akaHarvesteR]

I guess these guys really needed to go to the loo.

[@jbodenheim]

Airbrake lever can clearly be seen in closed position when they accelerate at 1:53. I doub't they have changed that again during the low pass. Also the high speed which they achieved with their heigth in that short time indicates that acceleration and low pass were done without airbrakes out.

[@pfsantos007]

When I hear Spanish or Portuguese (rarely, but it happens), I know safety rules are replaced by faith in God and a little cross hanging somewhere. I believe, but don't ask God to put Physics on hold for you. I thought all planes have structural limits and stall at any speed (AoA)?!?

[@nickstavrosvisuals1036]

If you go past the maneuvering speed limit, it’ll stall, but that’s the general rule yes!

[@imissmysky]

100% during the pass and on first pull up the brakes were in.

[@HoltAircraft]

you can see in the pull up the blue handle is by the guys knee, that is the closed position. Bloody stupid to put that much rudder in on a SZD50-3, those things love to spin without warning. Also I have had the canopy fly off one I was flying, the club I was part of in Canada lost 3 Puhatch canopies in the time I was a member.

[@Caliboy90045]

Holy crap was that her hitting VNE!

[@AcroAirwolf]

He surely hadn´t opened the speedbrakes all the time. He started the low pass very high, he just avoided overspeed in the dive. About the spins: Depending on the number of rotations and the aircraft type, the autorotation begins. So when you do only one spin, it can be stopped quickly (as you learn it usually and according to the flight manual), but when the real spinning / the autorotation begins after a few rotations, it might take some rotations until the spin can be stopped.

[@PureGlide]

He didn't, I added a correction in the description :)

[@fanBladeOne]

What a mad lad

[@MiG82au]

I don't know NZ regs but in both Aus and the US that second spin video is breaking two aerobatic rules by doing it over a populated area and below minimum height. What a cowboy.

[@PureGlide]

Rules in NZ for a solo pilot are spinning down to 1000 feet, unless you're performing for an airshow with ratings, then it's 200 feet. So this was slightly lower than allowed. It was over an airfield in controlled airspace, not sure I'd define an airfield as a populated area? There probably is a definition somewhere... anyway so it wasn't TOO bad, but still not great

[@christophergagliano2051]

Interesting video, my own comment is to do a side slip you first roll the aircraft slightly and then kick in the redder. If you kick in the rudder first, then your aircraft would roll to the opposite side of your intended slip.

[@PetrPolach]

The first video is in Czech language and from what I hear (I am czech pilot) they communicate via radio with second plane. Probably no problem here. I doubt they do low pass and pull app with airbrakes. Judging from the sound change during dive they did closed them. You can also hear them speaking about airspeed after pull up turn ( checking to avoid stall speed). Also you can hear wheel comming up at this moment. Seems ok. Bit of showing off doing low pass but no thing major dangerous. Sideslip cbange direction and holding it to very low altitude is probably the most questionable thing.

[@PureGlide]

It turns out the other aircraft in the video was on a pole :)

[@PetrPolach]

@@PureGlide so they are on comms with tower saying " we also greet from cockpit".

[@hamstermomoco]

Hello, great video as always, but I dont find the link of the original video in description, could you post it? thanks

[@PureGlide]

Hi definitely there for the first video, check again, look for "Original video of first clip:" I don't know if the second one is online.

[@hamstermomoco]

@@PureGlide many thanks! I don't know why I didn't find the link in the first place, despite checking it a couple times.

[@bevobus]

Question: In the PW-5 video, the plane is spinning to the left and the yaw string is also pointing to the left. I would have thought the yaw string would point in the opposite direction as the air flows over the nose from left to right. Why is this? Granted, I've never paid attention to my yaw string when I've been in a spin, I've just immediately enacted my recovery procedures. Thank you as always!!!

[@Dzordzikk]

Hi, by language, in first flight it was Czech pilot.

[@mmrd50112]

According to the ASN, this glider, (TC-PFE) was destroyed in an accident in June 2011. Two fatalities!

[@akcrazy1983]

Check out Inönü/Eskişehir airfield (where that accident happened) on google maps. It matches the video. Makes you wonder if it also was the same pilot.

[@mmrd50112]

@@akcrazy1983 Definately Inönü/Eskişehir airfield. According to a Wiki page, one of the pilots was Metin Özbey, a CFI affiliated to the İnönü Training Center of the Turkish Aeronautical Association. He also represented Turkey in the World gliding championships. The other pilot was Semih Uzunlar, also an instructor. Information is sketchy but it was reported as a landing accident.

[@1992jamo]

I believe the news reported the wrong glider registration. Metin Özbey and Semih Uzunlar, unfortunately, passed away when TC-PFP crashed, but the news reported it as TC-PFE.

[@smykgoksel]

​@@1992jamo TC-PFP is a Ventus in the Turkish Aeronautical Association inventory. We lost them when TC-PFE crashed on 29 June 2011. The pilot in this video is my dear instructor, Metin Özbey, and the video was recorded by a passenger, a Czech paraglider pilot visiting İnönü, Turkey.

[@1992jamo]

@@smykgoksel I am really sorry to hear that.

[@davefoord1259]

Full sideslip hey. I wonder why it doesnt flick

[@leszczu888]

One of my instructors always says to never switch sides of a side slip in Puchacz because you can easly end up in a spin

[@PureGlide]

I'll have to try it! I've never felt anything close to a wing stall/spin going into sideslips, although I'm sure it's possible :)

[@hotprop92]

Sure if you switch in an uncoordinated fashion. You'll always be able to kick opposite rudder faster than roll that wingspan over to the other side. Kick top rudder in a tight turn and you'll do a snap roll entry into a spin, and away we go.

[@grinner2916]

I would agree with the others that the airbrakes were closed as they pulled out of the initial dive as there is no way a Puchacz would maintain that energy with them out. But.........if they keep up that style of flying they won't be around long.

[@warroxs]

my dad did this to me :D in a AKS 21, we had a ice cream man everyday on weekends, tower said the ice cream man arrived :D so my dad go full flaps and in a 80 degree angle to the ground :D pretty funny, scary and shaky :D fun experience, sorry for my english

[@fulltimber]

If you look carefully at the swimming pool in the overhead shots, you can clearly see a plane adjacent to the pool. Yes its suspended there.

[@JK-rv9tp]

I've started flying an ASW20 which can get to 4:1 with full flap and brakes out at only 49kt. The 22 degree descent angle is enough to feel like you're almost diving vertically, and is steep enough to feel some of your body weight through your feet as your body wants to slide forward. Love flying it, tho the pilot ergonomics of the thing are terrible.

[@soaruk3697]

Try an FK-3, 2.5:1....... not sure what the descent rate was with 90 degree flap in my Super HP18 was, but you are definitely nose down............

[@JK-rv9tp]

@@soaruk3697 What is the real story on the HP-14 and 18? I'd prefer to get a homebuilt glider and they seem to be the only ones with the performance, but other glider pilots warn me away from them.

[@blubb9004]

A Puchacz in sideslip with fully opened air brakes is not a "glider" anymore, it's an elevator going down. :-)

[@PureGlide]

lol so true

[@marpavelka]

People on first video are Czechs... Commentating " hopefully not hit the ground"😂

[@rcpilot9963]

"Puchacz" not "Puczes"😁 greetings from Poland:)

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

@PureGlide >>> Great video. Subbed...👍

[@russ549]

I'm interested in getting into gliding and I'm wondering if most any glider I get will be at least partially aerobatic or if very few are aerobatic??

[@PureGlide]

Many gliders, including most twin gliders, are at least rated for basic aerobatics, usually non negative G. So spinning, and loops are fine. Some higher performance single seaters, or very long wingspan gliders are not rated for spinning. Some gliders, like the Puchacz, or DG 1001 (with aerobatic tips) are rated for full aerobatics, so can do inverted flying etc. The rule of thumb is to check the manual for the glider!

[@russ549]

@@PureGlide cool, thanks for the education! I really appreciate the information

[@charlieirvin5898]

Holy moly!!!

[@michalnowak2181]

thx

[@marcopavone8695]

Did the second also exceed the VNE?

[@tunadsm]

3:16 hahahaha it's not a another aircraft flying in formation, its just a retired statue plane :)) So it's not flying....

[@PureGlide]

Haha yes I have since learned ! It looked so real in the video

[@jonnyolson4387]

The spin is to the LEFT and the yaw string is also defected to the LEFT. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

[@lucywucyyy]

i watched the video i think the brakes were closed during the last turn because of the big clunk just before you see them on camera again plus i cant imagine theyd have made that turn with them open i dont think it was an airshow either just mad pilot taking someone for a ride he does some crazy flying before the landing too after riding a thermal for like 7000 feet

[@PureGlide]

Yeah I saw that ridge run, might do a separate video on it :)

[@OBSUGASZYBOWCOW]

air brakes was closed during pull up. look at the handle in the cockpit

[@stejer211]

Ignorant question perhaps, but how many G's can the average glider tolerate? And an acrobatic one? From RC model experience I know this is between infinity and the point when the wings break off.

[@PureGlide]

It’s in the manual for each glider, typical limits from memory would be 5-6g positive, Less negative? Aerobatic gliders typically higher

[@PureGlide]

Puchacz in that video g limits: +5.3 -2.65 from Wikipedia

[@stejer211]

@@PureGlide That's pretty impressive.

[@carlhopkinson]

First guy is lucky his wings didn't shear off.

[@zaenith]

Second clip: Low spins were part of the UK curriculum not long ago…

[@hotprop92]

FYI, storch is German for bocian, in english, at least in American English it would be called a stork.

[@rohanbaty3155]

They closed the s.b s momentarily on the pull up the opened them again on base

[@Fidd88-mc4sz]

It's nice to see someone using full side-slip, that's a dying art in the powered flying community, as is developed spin training. I don't much care for the descending into the circuit, as one can't adequately spot everyone else in the circuit, and it's very bad form to cause others to change their circuit because you've spun in from above. That's very poor airmanship whatever way you slice it. As regards the side-slipping, swapping from sideslip to full starboard to full port is an alternating large load on the fin, which may not have been approved as a manoeuvre. It was just such a manoeuvre which brought down a finless Airbus A300 back in 2001 when the 1st officer employed aggressive use of the rudder in wake-turbulence from a preceding aircraft. (Flight 587) I'd be very cautious about this manoeuvre, especially at or near VNE. Being "fully aerobatic" does not mean it's "impossible to break" - or damage - something, if common-sense and knowledge isn't also applied. Extemporised low-level aerobatics have been killing "bold" pilots since God was a boy. All in all, very poor.

[@coalachaos6486]

2:59 you can see the towplane through the window...

[@asya9493]

Spinning to lose height to join the circuit ? That guy has worked for a parachute club doing about 30 cycles a day.

[@valentineagle686]

i dont think they left the breaks out all the time, you can see the break lever almost the entire time.

[@hotprop92]

The string is pointing in the direction of spin rotation, I'm trying to wrap my head around that one. How about the airspeed indicator is it broken? Why two vertical speed indicators? I guess Kiwis like to do your own thing but geez that runway is surrounded by houses and performing aerobatics or spins into a circuit is in all my experience verboten and plain stupid.

[@andgate2000]

Its all fun until the wings " clap hands"

[@PureGlide]

😬

[@rodrigofdez990]

The "other" airplane is on a pole

[@PureGlide]

Really?! that makes so much more sense haha

[@aleksanderwierzejski1346]

Puchacz... Phu-ha-tch

[@PureGlide]

Yeah I know :) I just forget after years of saying it wrong!

[@hugorodia3819]

Al parecer en la pasada los frenos están adentro

[@1littlelee]

the air brake lever is the red handle?, if so they did leave them out all the way around

[@scharrk]

No the blue, red is to detach the canopy

[@jme104]

Puchasz : pewk ass . At 4:21 a real assh.le .

[@4881828]

Spoiler is on top of the wing...Air brakes are on the bottom..

[@piopawlu]

Puchacz is pronounced 'poohatch' ;-)

[@Will-ui7dv]

I always wondered what the little window on the side of the canopy was for!

[@PureGlide]

oh yeah I do know that, I tend to use it wrong all the time anyway

[@henryluebberstedt7819]

@@PureGlide Don't worry. Poland is just a four hour car ride from my hometown. Once over the ( thanks to EU invisible) border you are in a completely different "language zone". In the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Denmark one can read and understand at least some words because of the common Latin roots between them and German. In Poland you are lost :-D Most polish words seem to be a wild compilation of unpronounceable random letters - even for Germans.

[@gliderfan6196]

@@Will-ui7dv lol

[@gliderfan6196]

@@henryluebberstedt7819 And vice versa. Fun fact: Polish name for Germans is Niemcy - literally "men who do not speak a language". Do not blame us, it is over 1000 years old.

[@brendandurham5878]

In the late 90's I was doing my glider training at Gliding South ( Five Rivers ) just south of Queenstown. we were at about 4000ft and a glider passed us coming the other way hauling ass and descending RAPIDLY!....I was like "wow that was awesome". There was radio banter between my instructor and the other glider, my instructor started chuckling......turns out the other glider was on a trail flight and the passenger was throwing up profusely lol. When we got down , we went over to have a look, they were in the process of cleaning it out , it was everywhere lmao.

[@adrianpeters2413]

Arff a polish glider!! Plus catholic pilot ..ha ha ha .. 😊😂😂.. well described here , secretly would have loved to be a passenger on these flights .. 😊😊😊...

[@marijnfly]

At my club, the Puchacz isn't welcome anymore. Too many fatal incidents have happened with this type. I once saw my friend and his student almost crash after the rudder cable did break during a spin recovery exercise. When one of the cables snaps, the rudder gets locked in full outward position. Seeing him somehow land is one of the biggest miracles I've seen in 30 years of gliding. All Puchaczes worldwide were grounded until a modification was made to restore their airworthiness.

[@soaruk3697]

Usually poor instructors used to gliders that did not need a proper spin recovery technique (i.e. K-13) was the cause of many fatalities...................

[@bambukouk]

it's "poo-hatch" not "poocac" 😜👍

[@tinkertailor7385]

It's all fun and games until yer wings fall off...... But then again. Isn't everything great until it isn't. ;)

[@gliderfan6196]

Puchacz is designed to do that dive. It is in the POH

[@Will-ui7dv]

High pitched microphone buzz in your voiceover ;-;

[@PureGlide]

sorry

[@feynthefallen]

You need some serious cojones to fly like that first guy...

[@Johan-ex5yj]

Totally agree that aerobatic manoeuvres should always be done with plenty of height. It is not only a question of; for example: “do I have enough height to recover from the spin?” But also (because aerobatics put extra stain on all control surfaces) you may also, if something breaks, face the question: “do I have enough height to bail out and will my parachute open in time?...”

[@philippelambert329]

It is also a question of regulations... In BE, any aerobatic maneuver must by law end above 2000ft AGL, except in (beforehand duly authorize) air shows.

[@rmay000]

at 1:54 and 2:19 you can see the airbrake handle forward in the closed position (compare to 3:16 with the brakes deployed). that pass would not have been possible with the brakes open. the change in slip direction seems pretty dangerous to me. that's a lot of yawing movement with the nose high. i don't have a ton of experience in the Puchacz (your pronunciation kills me btw) but enough to know that it likes to spin and will bite you if you let it. pretty cringe display tbh.

[@TheAverageDutchman]

Judging from their entry speed and very low nose position as they go into the first slip (and my own experience side slipping the Puchacz) the "swap" was done because the ship refuses to stay in the slip and they swapped sides to mask them failing to put it in a good slip. Personally I agree, I wouldn't put that much yaw in that low. They probably had plenty of speed (hence the need to mask failing maintain to sideslip the first time) but Puchacz also had plenty of surface area to dump energy if she isn't flying with the pointy end forward.

[@genuinetrueblue]

Most Glider pilots die in gliding accidents if they continue gliding for long enough.

[@PureGlide]

That's not quite true, there are a lot of old glider pilots around :)

[@genuinetrueblue]

@@PureGlide Ya No, too bad their friends didn't make it...

[@soaruk3697]

TOTAL BOLLOCKS most of them die in bed like most other people - a bed is the most dangerous place in the world.