I can't believe we didn't do this sooner...

Yaw strings are the under-rated heros of the gliding world, in this video we pay homage to our furry little friends.
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00:00 Look at Yaw Strings
00:55 Flight Test
02:26 Stall Tests
04:51 Internal Yaw Strings
05:19 High Speed Test Run & Landing

[@tiesb053]

Amazing idea! I think that maybe while giving instruction, you should attach some to the student so you can see where they are looking

[@PureGlide]

That is BRILLIANT thank you fro the tip

[@marklundeberg7006]

​@Fidd88 good idea, that would help scare away the bugs trying to enter the aircraft during flight.

[@glennllewellyn7369]

...using a stapler.

[@sailawayteam]

Very nice, and really educational and illustrative. Imagine birds. Each of their feathers is attached to nerves, they sense the air flow with every fibre of their fluffy being. They are literally made of Yaw Strings.

[@PureGlide]

True!

[@benrobertson7855]

Yep .

[@myair737]

The Lord of the Strings! 🧙 The yarn shop had a great day 😁

[@PureGlide]

They sure did, I'm now their favourite customer

[@Rob-nk4jr]

Revolutionary. I am off to the club to modify all our aircraft accordingly this morning. Thanks Tim!

[@PureGlide]

Awesome :)

[@Johan-ex5yj]

You invented a new gliding term: “The air is a bit stringy today!” 😄 I liked the “cyclone effect”, quite mesmerizing! 😵‍💫

[@PureGlide]

Lol I love it

[@nadgeemark]

That was inspiring Tim. I’ve now taken your idea to the next level and found that if I attach enough yaw strings to my body I no longer need a glider. This is mind altering at a Timothy Leary level. Who’d u thunk it. 😂

[@PureGlide]

That really is another level of genius!

[@melcrose]

CLEAR TAPE. game changer. I was able to up my % of yaw string to viewable canopy ratio by over 30% with that.

[@PureGlide]

Oh yes, I am a savage

[@Will-ui7dv]

The 👏 more 👏 information 👏 you get 👏 , the 👏 better

[@PureGlide]

Glad you think so!

[@fly-pedro]

I love yaw strings! In the flight test world we use them all the time, we call them tufts.

[@JRAVI2033]

I’m not sure if this is an April fools joke, or just great timing 🤔😂🎉

[@PureGlide]

;)

[@The_Modeling_Underdog]

This is the future of gliding.

[@PureGlide]

Agreed!

[@hermannrose6475]

I fly more than 30 years with a sidestring (on both sides) first in a DG400 to optimize flaps (today DG505) when I was in the Akaflieg Köln, today in a LS8. The cheapest and easiest to mount method to see your angele of attack. There is a manual on the Akaflieg Koeln homepage, but I prefer to set my marks during a longer testflight.

[@imsoaring]

Have you seen the new method of yaw string mounting? A 1.2mm hole is drilled in the canopy and the yaw string is fed through from the inside the canopy. Saves having a nasty piece of tape on the canopy and the length can be adjusted in flight to match the airspeed so that you never get that silly end wobbling on the string.

[@PureGlide]

I was SO tempted to drill holes for them all! haha

[@benjaminsmith-haddon7316]

Dammit, totally fell for it, had to read the comments to bail me out. What a plonka!

[@PureGlide]

Mission Accomplished!

[@sierrazulu]

Nice visualisation of what is unseen...

[@PureGlide]

Cheers!

[@carljacobs1287]

I laughed all the way through!! Such a ridiculous (and intriguingly interesting) idea. Great fun video for April the first!

[@PureGlide]

Yay! Thank you!

[@xjet]

You can keep "your" strings, I'll use mine. Quite a yarn you're spinning there 🙂

[@PureGlide]

I think your models need more yaw strings...

[@stephaniekent8483]

haha its called pulling your own strings .

[@stephaniekent8483]

@@PureGlide yaw strings in gliding...woolies in sailing...good video very informative. :)

[@stephaniekent8483]

I put a yaw string on my Bird of time... but needs to be bigger as I just couldn't see it lol

[@xjet]

@@stephaniekent8483 Just use the towline! 🙂

[@davidtodd7216]

Tim, the pilot, flies with skill, With twenty yaw strings, he can thrill Each string a guide to how he flies, Helping him navigate the skies. As he soars through air and clouds, The yaw strings help him, making him proud. For with each string and every turn, Tim can feel the glider's every yearn. The twenty strings may seem a lot, But they help Tim fly without a knot, Showing him how the glider moves, Guiding him through air grooves. So let us praise the yaw string's might, And Tim, the pilot, taking flight. For with twenty strings, he flies with grace, Guided by each one, in this endless space. ...a bit of chatGPT fun.

[@PureGlide]

Haha that's awesome Dave, thank you for taking the time to craft the chatGPT query :)

[@TDCflyer]

this was surprisingly useful and educational.

[@PureGlide]

Awesome to hear! Yeah I enjoyed doing it too, and it really was interesting to fly with the strings

[@eisenhans9]

Finaly you're experimenting with strings and just dicsoverd the use of side strings as angle of attack indocators by the way. We are so proud of you!

[@PureGlide]

haha thank you!

[@thepb7913]

I did this, then took my cat flying. He liked batting at the strings from the inside. I wouldn’t let him put paws out the air vent, though.

[@PureGlide]

Yeah fair enough re paws out the air vent, gotta be sensible about these things

[@guilhermeASan]

That is so simple, cheap and so f****** awesome!!!

[@PureGlide]

Awesome eh :)

[@Will-ui7dv]

This video is a work of art 😍👨🏻‍🎨

[@PureGlide]

Thanks Will!

[@shauntarlton2704]

Fantastic demonstration 🙌

[@PureGlide]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@braincraven]

The most amazing thing about this video is seeing the joy in you learning something new! ❤

[@PureGlide]

So true!

[@rodhinds4592]

Being a Sailor I use similar on my yacht, we call them "Tell tails" . We have several on the sails from top to bottom , shows when the sail is stalling, it stalls from the top first. Also put them on the side rigging to give us the apparent wind angle. More accurate than electronic instruments although the instruments are great for night sailing.

[@PureGlide]

The sail really is just like a big sideways wing :)

[@rodhinds4592]

@@PureGlide Precisely , I hope to start Glider Pilot training soon. You have definitely inspired me.

[@simonjones9162]

Actually lol'd at the internal strings 🤣

[@PureGlide]

Excellent :)

[@fredread9216]

What a great illustration of air flow. So clear so fast. Very nice

[@PureGlide]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@Skyforger62]

Great video Tim! Interesting to see the airflow patterns, but I think you were yaw stringing us along😉👍🏻

[@PureGlide]

lol I see what you did there!

[@andrewfletcher8919]

Tim, are you just stringing us along😂

[@PureGlide]

You know what really needs more yaw strings? A dash 8

[@TheDrInkduff]

2 things... - This nonsense is exactly what the world needs more of - thank you for this. The whole video was excellent! - Some of this was unironically really interesting

[@PureGlide]

Yeah agreed! haha

[@EvilBikerGangOfTheSky]

Thats so cool👍

[@GWAIHIRKV]

Great video for the start of April.

[@PureGlide]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@Jopesi04]

All with a straight face!

[@PureGlide]

;) that's my face for most things haha

[@AndyRRR0791]

Your strings are ace! Quite a trip there!

[@PureGlide]

Glad you like them as much as I do :)

[@raglanforge9779]

Had my first flight with Steve today, what a legend. Your KZbin videos are awesome Tim, they have given me a real appreciation of the principles and theory of flight and flying gliders. Steve wasted no time getting me flying and practicing rudder stick coordination in a a brand new top of the range tandem glider - where else could you do that? Great work Piako Gliding club, thank you.

[@PureGlide]

Awesome glad you had a good time! Sorry I wasn't out there, just came down with Covid. Maybe see you out there another time. Cheers

[@Trevor_Austin]

Fascinating, truly fascinating. These yaw strings allowed the airflow around the glider to be seen and not imagined. I found it interesting that you were surprised about the air being affected in front of the airbrakes when they were opened. I’ve had the misfortune to have various “toilet” failures on jet aircraft, Fokker 70’s in particular. Sometimes the fluid escapes and when it does you can see the airflow around the wings. Air between one and two chord widths ahead of the wing is moved apart, and this still happens at 300-400 TAS. Not surprisingly this also happens to gliders. There is something to be said for having a club two seater to be decked out in multiple yaw strings and for a short demonstration and instruction flight to be given to any interested members to help increase their understanding of gliding.

[@GlideYNRG]

Need fine print on the packaging…” Do not fly with your cat” 😂

[@PureGlide]

😂

[@robertshaver4432]

Very Cool !

[@PureGlide]

Thanks!

[@alanm615]

Maybe green strings on the right and red on the left as an aide memoire for those pilots suffering left-right agnosia?

[@PureGlide]

Genius!

[@Jet-Pack]

Thanks for the test and happy April fools! I learned a lot today. Adding strings on the side to see angle of attack kinda works but also really doesn't work in a side slip.

[@PureGlide]

Yeah there is definitely some benefit there :)

[@MazingTree]

V funny, but fascinating too. Nice work, keep up the great videos. 👋

[@PureGlide]

Thanks! 😃

[@RandyGiven]

LOL! The whole video was entertaining, especially the parts about drag (going in circles!), internal yaw strings, and the "advertisements" at the beginning and end. Good video!

[@PureGlide]

Thanks GivenRandy! Note the ad at the beginning is real! I suspect I should have made it more obvious haha

[@RandyGiven]

​@@PureGlide Thanks for the clarification, which I also just saw in one of your other posts. Sorry for messing that up!

[@mhamedmaoujoud9828]

thanks ! I think every instructor should do this test with their students! i'll propose this in my club near Paris.

[@PureGlide]

Let me know how that goes down :)

[@michaelmcmillan8877]

A ball of yarn and a roll of tape is a dangerous thing😂. Very interesting.

[@manuxl05]

the funniest video I will see on the 1th of april 😂

[@PureGlide]

Thanks Manuxl_05!

[@oliverokeeffe6379]

I'm not a glider pilot so I didn't realise it was a joke until the internal yaw string part lmao

[@PureGlide]

haha perfect that was the goal

[@blubb9004]

When you set out to make an April fool's video and it turns out to be much more interesting than anticipated. :-)

[@Krankenstein105]

One string to rule them all...

[@Maximum_777]

This immediately gets me thinking of so many things... First off I wonder how much additional drag there is from so many, and if it might be worth over engineering them a bit to make them create as little drag as possible. Now how you'd do that idk exactly yet, but I'd imagine there's many ways you could improve certain aspects of them. I also then wonder how you could go about recording data from them and then how you could use that data meaningfully, in real time even, turning the whole plane into a sensor of sorts to tell you about the air around you. I fly RC gliders, so I immediately wonder how I could implement these in a meaningful way onto an RC glider. I'm not flying from the perspective of the glider of course, and I can't see them from the ground, but I wonder how hard it'd be to make a sensor on the glider give me some form of relative air movement data to my controller. Just listing random bs but I've never really though about these before, since they're not used for obvious reasons on RC gliders.

[@PureGlide]

Some fun thoughts!

[@Obirascor]

I know what day it is, but this really is pretty cool to see!! 😆

[@PureGlide]

Haha yeah fun eh

[@same19792]

wow, cool. It is necessary to introduce this into the training program.

[@damianpeterkelly1234]

I note the date but actually this is genuinely interesting

[@PureGlide]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@inquest777]

Oooo.... show this to Roger Brown! He is keen on yaw strings!

[@PureGlide]

Will do!

[@kiwijonowilson]

You spun quite the yarn there! Maybe with a few less strings on the canopy (so as not to distract too much), but this should be done on training gliders for sure!

[@PureGlide]

:)

[@Sean-nz]

fantastic =)

[@PureGlide]

Many thanks!

[@richardkahle8229]

Love it. Brilliant! This should be standard on training gliders. Why have I never seen it before?

[@PureGlide]

Crazy eh!

[@roygoyker2547]

Ahh you kiwis and your wool! Do anything to flog some more. ;)

[@PureGlide]

Always!

[@KestrelYI]

Actually a very cool demo! :) The upward lift of the rear strings on the canopy was something I didn't expect but maybe makes sense if you think about the fuselage being pushed sideways and a low pressure area developing. (At least that's my rationalization?)

[@PureGlide]

I suspect it’s simply the sink rate of the glider, when side slipping we are going down!

[@KestrelYI]

@@PureGlide Fair point, it is a slip :)

[@truescalefpv4089]

Im thinking if the fuselage is hitting the air at somewhat a sideways orientation, the air flow has to slit, some going uwards some downward around it🤷🏽‍♂️.

[@paulhsv1121]

Tim, that was so interesting. I'm an aerospace engineer so you're talking my lingo with the yaw strings. Question: would you remove some of them for racing events to minimize drag? Might it be good to fly for a while with all of them to get a sense of the flow around the glider and then remove all but the "essential" strings? Many of the strings showed the same flow characteristics.

[@PureGlide]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@colinjacobs176]

I know you're taking the piss, but that was legitimately fascinating! I look forward to this option being added, if not to our club gliders, at least to Condor? Brilliant stuff.

[@PureGlide]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@sanchises]

I would really like to see a fully developed spin with the wing strings, to see how much of the outer wing is actually stalled. Maybe in a future video on spins?

[@PureGlide]

Yeah I'd like to do that too, I couldn't get high enough that day to do full spins sadly. But another day :)

[@ajs41]

Thanks for the video. I've been waiting to glide all year but unfortunately the weather here in England has made it impossible so far.

[@PureGlide]

Crap! That's winter for you :)

[@adb012]

The more strings the better. Wait, I can't see anything but strings!

[@PureGlide]

lol

[@vimy385]

Aodio cassette tape works great well except in the rain. Used to use it on my sailboat as telltails.

[@PureGlide]

Good to know!

[@eisenhans9]

Wonder if it matters what music was written on the tape

[@dougtarmichael7716]

Expect to hear from OSTIV for this valuable research!

[@PureGlide]

I expect so! haha

[@Mr10string]

The ones on the canopy also destroy the laminar flow. I wouldn't mount that many. Consider that behind every piece of adhesive tape and thread, a large area is no longer laminarly circulated. But for demonstration purposes this is very interesting!

[@PureGlide]

;)

[@thisnightcreeps]

Lol that was excellent!

[@PureGlide]

Thanks Luke :)

[@polymer808]

🤣Very creative!

[@PureGlide]

Thank you! 😁

[@bkailua1224]

Looks cool, what did your buddies say on the flightline before you took off?

[@PureGlide]

I did it on a quiet day without many other people around lol

[@JeanLucCoulon]

A longer string, a hook, you can drag it over a lake and get the dinner... 😁

[@PureGlide]

lol that's great

[@patrickspendrin3107]

I was wondering whether you could sell some proper yaw strings in your merchandise shop? I mean, new zealand wool might actually be far superior to what we have over here in Europe. A 10-pack is probably a good start?

[@PureGlide]

you're in luck, check out Charlie's yaw strings! They are real. pureglide.nz Note I think they are nylon, not real wool so they last outside better. Good idea re the 10 pack, we'll make it happen

[@marijnfly]

Brilliant! Speedtape might even improve it further.

[@PureGlide]

Oooh I like it

[@MazingTree]

Is that red tape, it's a well known fact red tape is faster than plain white.

[@flightknight4269]

I flew gliders on MSFS and never could quite understand the string, but this made it immediately apparent. 😮

[@PureGlide]

Yip, it's primarily an indicator if you've got the correct amount of rudder/yaw in or not!

[@grahamniven]

My company sells glue-on rudder extenders for more yaw, we are also testing aileron extenders for faster roll rate.

[@PureGlide]

Imagine the possibilities!

[@peterrowntree8]

Someone should tell Tim he has instruments in the cockpit to do the job of the little strings.

[@stumackenzie8492]

Those cockpit strings would be fabulous ! Especially after the “ mutha “ of all roast chicken dinners .. perhaps life saving in a 2 seater …… for the bloke in the front . You’d know EXACTLY when to duck ( or jump )😂

[@PureGlide]

lol

[@antonlawrence638]

Some of your best work in this one. For a joke video it's quite fascinating.

[@PureGlide]

Thanks Anton :)

[@2raphz167]

Haha, like a hairy glider😆

[@PureGlide]

lol

[@paulw176]

I have added yaw stringss to my forehead, my dog and my cat. I fly a B 737 so I do get some weird looks.

[@PureGlide]

you know it would be interested if a typical glider yaw string stuck onto a 737 window would stay on for long... just throwing ideas out there ;)

[@paulw176]

@@PureGlide I could tape my cat to the window he's a gripper!

[@Davit1600]

This is great! I wish my club would allow this

[@PureGlide]

The question is: has anyone said you can't do it?!

[@Davit1600]

Especially since I am a student I don't think they will like the idea of me doing this haha

[@Will-ui7dv]

You might be surprised. I asked an instructor if I could add a second yaw string to a club glider after watching a pureglide video and they said “sure, go nuts”. This was when I was pre-solo

[@PureGlide]

Was the instructor you asked me?! Slightly biased

[@Will-ui7dv]

@@PureGlide 👀

[@JohnPWRK]

Happy April Tim.😂

[@PureGlide]

Same to you :)

[@JohnPWRK]

@@PureGlide The season is just getting going up here in the north. Your videos alway help us while away the winter; thank you for your efforts and fly safely. Tally ho! John

[@bagoistvan3182]

👍 AWESOME !!! 🍺🍺🍺😁

[@PureGlide]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@AN2Felllla]

Maybe if I attach enough to my canopy and do a side slip, I could use the cyclone to harness the coriolis effect and gain some extra lift!

[@PureGlide]

I think you may be onto something :)

[@6yjjk]

Or knit yourself a nice canopy cover!

[@rederos8079]

Fools aside, I did not realize that the wing stalls that much earlier towards the inner part... Those stalls, the inner string was completely vertical while the ones further away were completely laminar... I mean I knew most gliders stall the inner part first, but didn't know it was that bad. Interesting stuff

[@PureGlide]

Yeah glad you enjoyed it! I might have to do another one with more strings on the wing... it'll depend on the shape of the wing too.

[@rederos8079]

@@PureGlide That would be really interesting to watch, especially if you include full spins and such... If the Ventus actually does spin :D

[@Sozjot]

Most aircraft have washout designed into the wing. The angle of incidence decreases from root to tip and enables roll control as the wing starts to stall ie in the flare.

[@frodo9649]

The profile/angle of attack of a wing is designed to stall inside first for 2 reasons: 1. It creates turbulence that hits the horizontal stabilizer, decreasing its effectiveness to pull up further and give the pilot feedback on the stick before the wing fully stall. 2. The ailerons are on the outside and increase the angle of attack on one side when deflected. By stalling first in the middle, you have more roll authority before inducing a spin.

[@fredbloggs5902]

When you think about it, birds are effectively entirely covered in them, so they’ve always known this 🤣

[@PureGlide]

What, sheeps wool?!

[@ThePaulv12]

Well that's fairly interesting.

[@PureGlide]

Yeah I thought so too!

[@bokusimondesu]

Amazing timing! To think you came up with this on the first of April. 😅

[@PureGlide]

Would you believe it took a good part of a week to make this haha

[@milankmetovics5387]

I just leave my canopy cover on for a 100% string coverage!

[@PureGlide]

lol

[@rnzoli]

This is such a great idea, that even Cessna's should have it! Proper airflow can save fuel and money on a long cross-country flight, wohooo! $$$$ 🤑💰💸

[@PureGlide]

Good point!

[@leerogers6423]

Metric yaw strings are readily available but for anyone requiring Imperial string I have a small quantity of New Old Stock string in all Imperial sizes at 14 Guineas a foot. PM me for details.

[@PureGlide]

Shit I didn't even THINK about offering an imperial option. What an idiot I am sometimes

[@leerogers6423]

@@PureGlide .There are still a lot of the old Slingsby sailplanes out there , it would be a shame to see the grounded for the lack of serviceable string.

[@greybirdo]

I've often wondered whether the pilot strategically venting gas from their nether regions on entry to a thermal might aid in centreing. Can I humbly suggest you add a yaw string to the front of the seat pan near the pilot gas ejection port to test this theory.

[@PureGlide]

Sounds very plausable

[@iggywood2943]

How about different colour yaw strings for the inside. A subtle pink. Maybe you should have the external ones red and green for port and starboard. Just saying.

[@PureGlide]

It's obvious now you say it! We certainly considered finding some green wool for the starboard wing...

[@daszieher]

Despite this being an excellent April fool's, I do like the idea of several strings better visualising what the bird is doing in the air. Indicators that can be "perceived" are better and less distracting than those, which need close inspection. (Digital vs analog)

[@ulin4226]

Inside string! You may be on to something here! But I think they will only work properly on 01APR of each year! ;-)

[@PureGlide]

;)

[@tommy000010]

as funny as it is, I actually think it's nice to see the streams of air

[@PureGlide]

Yeah agreed!

[@LeWi100]

It says 31th of March for me, this surely can't be an april fools joke. I am gonna equip my glider like this right now!

[@PureGlide]

Yeah exactly right! and it's on the internet so it must be true

[@timlucas4014]

Thats cool..... I know its the 1st But still interesting to see

[@PureGlide]

Mission accomplished :) thanks!

[@lautoka63]

Yawful yarn, Tim.

[@PureGlide]

Touché!

[@bungee7503]

@@PureGlide You’re just stringing us along.

[@rocketplane8862]

I just realized that it's tomorrow on your side of the globe.

[@PureGlide]

;)