Flying glider into a huge sink hole. Running out of time. What to do. Roy Dawson video

[@Allan62T]

You have a good instructor voice. Making everything clearly understandable.

[@wgmskiing]

My last one the towpilot had gone home already. Luckily club members came to get me! Even when you set out at 5000 you appeared to have several thousand feet of convection above you. One of the perils of high cloud bases is that finding good thermals down low becomes less obvious and more difficult, as interthermal distance goes up as convection height does.. Often it works best to plan to stay in the top third of the distance between bases and the ground, and take anything if you get below half the distance to bases. Thanks for sharing.

[@flygliders]

The area I was flying is called the green zone which can be lower in thermal activity at times. The fortunate situation is there are airports about every 6 to 10 miles heading west from TSA. Thanks for the feedback.

[@justtowatch111]

At 4.30 you are heading straight towards a cloud street, that is where you would have gotten lift.

[@epicv7dayz824]

Thanks Roy for an amazing look at glider flying. Thoroughly enjoyed your video mate.

[@GrooveFederation]

i really dig the usage of the heads up display placed over the video, its a real nice touch! subbed!

[@strohtaler4698]

perfect decisions! Reminds me of my first landing outside - I was still a student on a solo flight and entered a 'huge sink hole' just about 30 km from the airfield. Nice clouds everywhere but I was not able to find any thermals, so I had to land on a wild field. Luckly I was well prepared for that... Really nice video - thanks for sharing!!

[@Skykingsound]

Damn I love your voice. You need to get paid some serious money to narrate people's videos. Your script writing is good too. Nice and casual. Also, good video.

[@viardmike4130]

Well done, the way you introduce the instrumentation visible, in France and Germany the data are in meters, doesn't disturb me a lot, i did my Airplane training in USA but the glider, i did in France when i was 16. Very nice course.

[@JimForeman]

I took my first flight in a glider way back in the 1960s at TSA with Dr. Dan Jackson. That was before they relocated to the present site. I was hooked on soaring and finally hung up my goggles on my 76th birthday with a diamond badge and something like a thousand hours of glider time. I now live in North Richland Hills and have thought about dropping by to visit you folks.

[@flygliders]

Come on down to TSA

[@JimForeman]

My wife is wheelchair-bound so it's difficult for me to get away for any amount of time. Thanks for the invite. Jim

[@flygliders]

Bring the wife with you we can make sure we have volunteers to make it a fun time and help with a wheelchair

[@JimForeman]

I know what a friendly bunch of people one finds in soaring and she is a trooper when it comes to things which don't excite her but such a trip would be difficult for both of us. But thanks for the invite.

[@flygliders]

JIm, On your youtube site I provided you a link to that 1967 Back Forest Glider TV program

[@jackmeakins9375]

Those telegraph poles on short final would have made me twitch!

[@NathanSmith-do9wr]

I really Like your video! Thank you for uploading Mr. Dawson.

[@Segelflieger110]

Hey! I'm a glider pilot from Germany. I was just asking myself why didn't you try out the 2-3 cumuli to your right (02:30) ?

[@folkenvanvanel6611]

Interestingly I thought the same. Especially when he started to turn in the sink. But I guess he was at his glide angle limit (trichter).

[@leon0247]

Sweet video I fly RC I don't know about real flying but I can appreciate a good pilot when I see one not to mention I have flown A real plane once Cessna twin engine snow it was so liberating

[@PacificAirwave144]

Beautiful little glider!

[@powellriver100]

Thanks for sharing! Makes me want to get back into gliding !

[@douglasrodrigues332]

Rule number one: Don't circle in sink. Rule number two: if the only lift available are thermals, you want to be on the ground before the sun gets too low to develop thermals. Rule number three: if you're running out of altitude, don't pass up a good landing field that you left behind, hoping to "luck out" with a better field ahead. Listen to your gut.

[@flygliders]

Doug, perfect set of rules. Thanks for sharing

[@SeegzB]

Fantastic choice of landing spots, you should try gliding in South East England

[@stu281]

I started with gliders RAFGSA Bicester great fun first solo. But then I went to powered flight but you don't forget your roots.

[@vernscheck2658]

Hey stu281, I flew at RAFGSA Bicester back in the mid 1970s. I was at Upper Heyford. Small world.

[@devitomichael]

$21 per hour, that's awesome! I just sat on the tarmac in my friend's G200 for about an hour while he was waiting for orders on where to go next, and just using the jet's generator engine to keep the air conditioning and other stuff on, we burned 21 HUNDRED dollars worth of fuel!

[@DownhillAllTheWay]

A very similar thing happened to me when, with very little experience of solo, local flight (2 hours?), I got caught too far from the strip in a K8. I did a 10km final, skimmed over the top of the boundary fence and landed without airbrakes. On the way, I also experienced - let's say "negative lift" - but I would have called it down-draught. My understanding of the term "sink hole" is something quite different. A quick search for "sink hole" on KZbin finds a lot of what I understand the term to mean - so when I read this title, I was expecting a very different video - possibly a model aircraft flying into a sink hole.

[@88njtrigg88]

l only fly 'RC model Gliders, always dreamed of flying "the real thing". l thought it was very expensive sport. Very inspired by your video, Greeting form Australia.

[@maxdieters2880]

Nathan Trigg It really isn't, at my club you pay $1200 per year and can fly as much as you want whenever you want

[@graywoulf]

That was really cool to watch. Thanks.

[@JohnS916]

Very good video and instructional too. Thanks for posting.

[@Miata822]

I've thought about learning to fly gliders. as a kid I used to go to a club not too far from where i lived in NY and watch them soar.

[@michaelregish5079]

Alberto Knox Do it.

[@strohtaler4698]

Find a good club or asociation (hard to find a bad one) and do it. It requires lot of time but it sure is rewarding.

[@camaroblackmatte]

good call ! good luck for next time !

[@welshpete12]

Very well done , with a good explanation !

[@tymesho]

just a great easy to get video for a layman like myself. thank you so much!

[@beezlewaxin]

I miss the sound of the vario..

[@martinkopplow]

It must have been pretty hard to find that "sinkhole" on such a perfect gliding day, just to make this instructive video. I appreciate your documentation, though instead of flying where the airfields are, I propose to rather fly where lift is, at least that is what I have found to keep me airborne more reliably than those airfields do. ;O)

[@BruceHoult]

Yup. I also can't help but feel that 80% of the sink hole was a heavy left foot on the rudder making the glider fly sideways and draggy the whole time. At the start of the video the string in centered, but later on it's always faaaar our to the left -- except when making a slip the other way on landing approach.

[@skyhigh776]

Very nice Roy

[@toivowiikari9705]

6:46 reduce? I’m in glider course and i have learned that if you reduce spoilers in ”flare” you are going to bound, so instead reduce i think you should increase spoilers in flare so you wount bounce, am i right?

[@MrPouHan]

Keen observation for a new pilot. True. Generally, don't mess around with your spoilers in the flare - set it and forget it (unless you are doing so for very specific reasons). In this case, I suspect he's going to half spoiler because he's landing on pavement and is concerned with the harder landing full spoilers can produce if you don't manage the energy accordingly. I almost always land (gliders) with full spoiler and use a just a bit more smash if I'll be landing on pavement.

[@mickcarson8504]

I didn't see the sinkhole, where is it?

[@polarweis]

Mick Carson you came out of it pol

[@HorizonSpeed26]

you can't see it ,but you can see him descending

[@christheother9088]

Sink feels even worse in a hang glider. Add in a headwind and it can feel like you're descending straight down.

[@anthonykoeslag]

Hi, It's been years since I flew gliders, and I'm 100% sure you know more than I ever did. To me it looked to me like you were in a 'blue hole'... Do you think you would have found lift if you had headed over to the clouds. Perhaps they were further away than they looked in the video?

[@BillPalmer]

That Cu ahead at about 3 min looked pretty good. Too far away? Also towel on your legs? Sun protection from naked thighs?

[@bashardahabra]

The picture of the glider at 7:35 with registration C-GDLE has the sign of my Gliding Club which I joined this year in Hawkesbury. Did you take this picture ? Do you know who is the pilot in the picture ?

[@flygliders]

I just found the photo in Google images and used it with the video

[@hofstee26]

Allright... See the cloud @2:38 on your 1 o'clock? That is where the lift is and you fly right past it. The problem originates in the theory you read (the McReady part). As if "you can only glide down in straight paths between the thermals you circle in". Real cross country pilots will use any lift in between large thermals and find "paths that increase your glide ratio". This will increase your glide ratio with 50% to 100%. This allows you to take only the strongest lift and stay in a higher altitude band on average. By doing this you effectively mimic an open class glider. You should strive to 25% to 30% circling in your IGC file. This has other advantages: Strong lift is easier to center and will always stay strong to cloud level. Flying straight is less tiring too. Check it by analyzing IGC files from WC. Those guys can have 1/60+ glide ratio's with simple gliders... Btw, the best way to practice finding such paths is with a better glider than what you are using. If you fly an LS-4 or LS-8 or better then you can f up a little more without the punishment of outlanding.

[@JakeBullit123]

Interesting commentary

[@SuperReasonable]

I did enjoy this and would like to see more people making these. However, I was really surprised to see you ignore the beautiful cloud to your LHS and I thought okay, you're heading to the other cloud ahead and just of the RHS of the nose. Then you completely ignored that as well. This resulted in you flying literally in the very worst air! I was wriggling in my seat as I watched! Anyway, a good video, well done.

[@szience]

Thank you ^^. First impression of the scenery: Look at those clouds, OMG. And then he never approaches one. Crinchy felling. Nice educational video anyways

[@lindspojken]

Hi, over there! Nice head up display! BUT, the cheapest instrument (the red thread) seemed to be out of order: it waved like a windscreen wiper... ;-) And I'm surprised that this sink area is called "a huge sink hole". Are they so rare at your place? ;-)

[@lasse0120000]

Siljansnas .flygklubb word

[@albundy5228]

Pretty close to the power lines...no?

[@oscarzt1652]

why d'y'all keep movin yalls legs?

[@cosmicacorn]

Messing with the rudder pedals, I guess it's more common to use the rudders in a glider.

[@N75911_]

Rudder petals

[@JamesOfKS]

my guesses: any aileron will reduce lift. it's less 'force' as it is response to air changes.

[@davidroberts1852]

In a glider, rudder is used a LOT in any turn.

[@sblack48]

Yalls? Wtf?

[@Tecnobingo]

That's a really flat place to get a good cross country glider flight.

[@austinpacheco7214]

It scares me you cannot apply "go around power" lol. That "only one chance to get it right" is nerve racking!

[@ChristophSAckermann]

It isn't if you are trained well :)

[@folkenvanvanel6611]

You have quite a bit of reserve potentially and kinetically, plus wing in ground effect. You can still correct a range of errors.

[@thenickdude]

On final you're normally aiming to have something like half airbrakes open. This way if you encounter unexpected sink or find you're a little too fast/high, you have a huge range of adjustment available for fixing things up by opening or closing the brakes.

[@daveberenholtz335]

Thanks Roy, good vid. May I ask about your camera and the onscreen overlay? Model, type, interface?

[@flygliders]

I use a gopro camera and a free software call dashware.net. Its free for goro. You also need some type of gps data from a logger to make it all wk

[@nicklee5998]

What is the little orange worm looking thing on the glass?

[@lobosolitario-j4c]

another definition for "sink hole"

[@ianjones9266]

Great video! Very well done

[@James-oo1yq]

Attachment needed! Engine... Sorted!

[@BS-bd5uq]

Should they be gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy?

[@davros0007]

So... the glider doesn't end up nose down in a mud-hole in Florida...

[@GurwinderSingh-ww5gj]

Why not close the small window thats might be making drag

[@strohtaler4698]

it sure is making drag, but not much - I doubt any nomal pilot would 'feel' the difference. If it is hot, get that extra air: pilots 'comfort' should not be neglated, especially on long flights, since all his concentration and skills are needed at the very end of the flight - landing.

[@dooleyfussle8634]

Dang right It's hot, It's Texas!

[@amaurypuello9802]

Where u are

[@joshrees396]

Why is it you changed to 50% spoilers/airbrakes as you rounded out?

[@flygliders]

to reduce sink rate a few feet off the gound. I had plenty of runway

[@FleurvanhH.9954]

Hi there! great video, I'm a 15 year old Dutch Chesna training pilot, one thing i want to ask, Do you have ATC coms in a glider?

[@jamescharley7636]

Hey I'm a training glider pilot and the answer is yes, at my club we have two different radio signals ATC and the tug (plane that pulls us)

[@jony1710]

Not all gliders do but it can be useful for cross country.

[@PhilippProksch]

i.imgur.com/X07Wpyz.jpg this should answer your question

[@mokumkat]

Zeg je weet toch wel hoe je Cessna schrijft neem ik aan?

[@quepasa8282]

The FlyingDutchman KLM737 Hey man, you got PPC / PPL right

[@tritron5519]

Wow that slipping from the plane that low was pretty impressive. I dont have the courage to slip that late 😂 Im only slipping when coming in too high on final where landing is asured and i have a couple more feet to the ground

[@flygliders]

Slipping comes naturally since I owned a Citabria that didn't have flaps

[@strohtaler4698]

why not? Just must be practiced regulary. I prefer doing it on short final when I am sure that I am still too high. IMHO it doesn't seem that late in the video, he started just after turning into final and stopped far from the last trees (and the runway). A nice exercise is pretend that your flaps are blocked when landing, but just pretend, if needed use the flaps.

[@ibmicroapple9142]

"21$ / hour - thats amazing" - Indeed it is. Amazingly expensive. We only pay for the aerotow, the rest is fly as long as you'd like. Aerotow up to 600m costs ~ 20$. After that it's fly as long as you'd like, without having to worry about further expenses.

[@jorge8596]

IBMicroapple you have to rent it, its not yours, if you rent a car you pay for the car but you also have to pay the fuel you consume, with those 21$ you pay the tow and the glider

[@lloydrobert6182]

You're a real cool customer! You made 'sink holes' seem like afternoon dessert.

[@flygliders]

Thanks it's the training you get, not really a big deal as long as you have a plan B ready in case all hell breaks loose

[@uppermostking02]

He's not flying he's falling with style.

[@folkenvanvanel6611]

A power plane pilot called gliding a slow moving emergency.

[@thruid3]

nice video and landing

[@javieruriel]

What happens if I want to pee during flight?

[@UncleKennysPlace]

Um, it Depends.

[@oceanhouse8080]

That's what wide mouth Gatorade bottles are for lol unless you happen to not need a wide mouth bottle...just saying....

[@jeffdunlap2754]

Take a bottle with a wide mouth and a tight seal for when you become inverted, some men need wider than others(HA), what the ladies need to do could be a little more tricky!!!!

[@cabdolla]

That's exactly what I used lol .@@oceanhouse8080

[@Mike-01234]

OOCOME Male Urine Bottle Portable Urinal $15 on amazon holds 2000ML. I replace the hose with clear rubber hose from home depot put clamps on it. Problem with Gatorade bottle is if it gets more then half way full can't lean it over anymore. Other options amazon has bags instead of plastic jug type easier to store it. Really have to put clamps and better hose on it because come lose not made for small glider cockpit.

[@micka426]

Hi Roy Dawson can i ask you how did you put flight data on you video. I'm really interesting about that.

[@flygliders]

I used the gps data logger file (ICG) in the glide and used a free software called Dashware.net which is offer for free from GOPRO

[@micka426]

Roy Dawson Great ! Thanks. The GPS Logger (ICG) is an application on your tablet ?

[@fakshen1973]

An aircraft that weighs in at 400lbs? That's amazing. I've bench pressed more weight! It doesn't sound any more expensive than playing golf... once you're certified and understand the fundamentals.

[@strohtaler4698]

Not sure how it is in US, in Germany it is much cheaper than playing Golf - I pay less than EUR 10.00/hour to fly a Discus 2 (Glide rate ~45) + 3.00 for starting. Our ASK13, the 'learning' plane is just EUR 6.60 an hour. Teaching is voluntary done, no additinal costs.

[@Kudo7]

cool video! As another glider pilot, what was your decision altitude? I usually use 1500' and it seems like you used 800. Did you consider thermalling over the asphalt? Also whats your "search pattern"? I usually just fly max L/D to get away from it and then circle up a thermal once out of the sink. For those who are unaware, those are great prices for a glider. Soaring is like no other type of flying. You learn so much about air currents and its like a chess game to see things that are invisible. Go get a glider ride!

[@flygliders]

We use 1500 msl which is about 900 ft above the ground for a normal pattern. I got too low to do a normal or abbreviated pattern, therefore, plan B was to land downwind. Its all a part of your training. I'm sure you did plenty of downwind landings and releases at low tow meaning 200 feet above the ground. Thanks for sharing, Roy

[@Kudo7]

I think the biggest lesson I learned even as a young instructor was to commit to your decisions. Downwind landings aren't that bad as long as you keep your speed and have enough landing area. I remember my first 200' turn back from a simulated rope break, it was terrifying. Needless to say I gained a lot of trust in the performance of the airplane and just learned to commit to landing. During my commercial my FE pulled the rope on me at 400 agl right before the turn to downwind. I thought he was going to fail me for my decision to land downwind, especially with a huge lake at the end of the runway in that direction. He told me it was my commitment to my decision, not necessarily the best decision or the prettiest pattern, that helped me pass.

[@flygliders]

Wow great feedback thanks for sharing

[@strohtaler4698]

I learned to START looking out for a field in about 600m (~2000ft) about ground, just getting an overview where you could land. At 300m (1000ft) you should have the field, at 120-150m you should be entering downwind.

[@eaglei28]

$21 an hour, shame i'm not in USA ! think i'd be too scared with no engine. thanks for video. is there space for a chute in a glider ?

[@AndrewWilsonOz]

Lots of solo pilots carry chutes on them. Not all, but most do have one on in a sport glider, or single, for longer trips particularly.

[@Steen_Skov]

Certainly. When I flew gliders, a chute was mandatory, and the seats are made to fit the chute.

[@carlosandleon]

Stu Jamez id strap rc jet engines on the back

[@szience]

In my club we pay depending on the plane youre lying, you pay for a trainerplane or a medium skilled plane 7 to 9 € per hour, and for the topnotch with a small engine like an asg29 (14,40€) or a duodiscus xt (18,00€ --> its a double seated glider, so you can divide the cost). Its very safe to do this, cause first you learn how to start, land, control the plane and so on. For that you certainly dont need an engine, cause you never fly in storms. Before that of course you get all the theory. And then after you got your license you can start to look out for flying longer distances. Depending on your skill/experience, the plane, the weather and the location between 50 and 1000 or more kilometers. And yeah here in germany you wear a parachute. In a club you even have to.

[@Handymanherb]

I like the club price, every time I check price in Florida just makes me want to say no as an add on to ASEL

[@Skaduselmonkey]

Handymanherb we are flying a Duo Discus for 15 € per hour😂

[@ahmadsamadzai8255]

Nooooo thanks. I'll fly one with an engine and only glide if the engine quits.

[@EVZebra]

It does take balls of steel, trust me, particularly cross country flying, there are so many telephone wires and electric power cables over a small town its unbelievable, if you managed to land safely 5 km away from a small town it would be a miracle. On my second solo I went cross country. That was a bad mistake, I had never been cross country before and I had no training, not even with an instructor, I had never done it before, and I hit sink, I got down to 800 meters over a small town and was trying to set up for a landing in a field, I promise you I was terrified out of my mind, that was scary level 150% if there even is such a thing. But then suddenly the tail of the old 1957 fabric glider came up fast and pushed my nose down, so I had to fight it and get the nose back up and turn hard. The altimeter started screaming and I started going up fast. I got such a scare from getting so low, I stayed in that thermal until I got oxygen deprivation, it was an accident. You may ask " How is that possible" well I live at an altitude of 4000 ft above sea level and my altimeter was set to AGL which is "Above Ground Level", and my altimeter showed 6000ft. So I thought I still had another 4000 ft to go, to get to 10 000 ft. In gliding if you want to fly above 10 000 ft you have to take an oxygen bottle with you. Luckily I had built diving bells as a child and I picked up the same sensation coming on, the sensation of running out of oxygen, and also in the way I was behaving, I was singing loudly, like I was drunk and I was doing loops and tail slides in this ancient 1957 aircraft lol then I thought to my self "Stop, rather go back down a bit, you only at 6000ft but something is not right" ha, ha, oh boy some thing really was not right. Just as well I went back down, because if I had continued I would have just passed out and I was alone in the 350 kg aircraft, it was awesome, but at the same time very, very dangerous. Even airline pilots salute glider pilots because when you coming in to land, there is no going around for another chance, you better be able to fly or you going to die and there are not many pilots willing to fly with those odds even although its one of the purest forms of flight. kzbin.info/www/bejne/raCXfZ-me9hga68

[@blameusa7082]

word.. who flies a broken aeroplane!

[@_droid]

The training afforded by glider training will vastly improve your normal flying. People don't want to do it because it's hard and they don't want to be bothered but hard work makes you better.

[@hofstee26]

Superior pilots ;-). I always compare it with a motor boat and a sail boat. Just not comparable. I know a lot of fighter pilots and large aircraft pilots who fly sailplanes in the weekend.

[@Backroad_Junkie]

Blame USA: There are idi... people who jump out of perfectly good airplanes for fun. Gliders seem safer to me... :)

[@amaurypuello9802]

I want to fly

[@Mike-01234]

Can't beat $21 an hour to get into the air one reason I never got my powered PPL cost of fuel.

[@turbavykas]

I don't believe in this theory if you have sink there is a lift somewhere. I believe in large scale weather systems. If you have high pressure air is descending on large scale and is flowing in near the tropopause and going out near the ground. Thermals are around but they are depressed and the double strong sink is everywhere else. If there is over development - the opposite situation sometimes you can fly for hours even without circling just by going from cloud to cloud. Almost no sink anywhere. It's visible that you are flying to the a bit different air mass. I would took that nice cloud on the right at 3:12 and climbed to the top before trying going further.

[@BillPalmer]

Roy, What tools do you use to get the logger data on the screen like that?

[@flygliders]

Dashware.net. Its free from Gorpro. I can send you an email of more detail. Let me know your email please

[@MoiraOBrien]

Does the $21include the aero tow or is that extra.?

[@flygliders]

tow is extra. $20 first 1000 feet and 1 dollar per 100ft increase in altitude. So basically at tow to 2000 ft above ground would be $30 plus 21 per hr glider rental.

[@BunnyCentauri]

Very affordable, amazing

[@stu281]

Awesome

[@MikMoen]

Did this guy actually emergency land at someone's house?

[@TheMakPlayerLP]

PW5 excellent glider - except it's not

[@myotherusername9224]

he said 'excellent cross country trainer'

[@durragas4671]

$21 per hour? You'd have to pay me more than that to get me into one of those! I honestly don't think I'd be able to get into gliding.

[@JanPBtest]

Funny thing is I was never interested in flying, never really had flying dreams worth remembering, and few years ago on a whim I went on a tandem paraglider ride. And that's all she wrote, now I got my own wing and I try going flying as much as I can (stupid things like work do interfere). So I don't pay $21 per hour :-) A cool video BTW!

[@kerenchadwick6535]

WHERE'S THIS "SINK HOLE" ????????

[@glidingpassiongermany407]

21 per hour?? In my club i can fly a asw 28-18 for 9/hour! ;)

[@jowasgehtist]

Gliding Passion Germany yes thats germany

[@lennardpaulus235]

All in all a good video. But how can a glider be such awful :(

[@alexanderfoelkel8316]

You are near the airport, what is the problem?? Hahahahaha.

[@guidomarini2724]

You can tint the canopy or is a bad idea?

[@everythingyoudwanttoknow]

To some degree yes.

[@thedeaner3117]

Running into a hugh sink hole

[@xmaxfuture]

Amazing 😉.. sign me up

[@guyharbidge1264]

U make a lovely pudding in the air???

[@OriginalThisAndThat]

Even waterslide has more lift..

[@tonyj.aviles4491]

Its impossible to fly an non-powered glider/sailplane "cross country"

[@tizoro3]

Tony J. Aviles You're a simpleton.

[@IntrovertReality]

Tony J. Aviles The country, country land, farm land, middle of no-where. You dingus.

[@drink15]

Tony J. Aviles You can if you catch the right wind along the whole way.

[@Postghost]

Tony J. Aviles Didn't you get the idea of thermals?