Timeline for What are the vertical pieces of metal on the Slingsby Swallow wing for?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
7 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Aug 30, 2015 at 18:28 | comment | added | curious_cat | @RalphJ Interesting analogy is when sailing through a crowded mooring field with lots of anchored boats I was always taught to aim a course at the stern of a moored boat. The boats point into the wind & a sailboat has several ways to fall away from the wind but it's much harder to sail closer upwind. If you try to pass an anchored boat close to the bow of an anchored boat & have to adjust course it can get very hard to adjust course upwind. | |
| Jul 15, 2015 at 23:04 | vote | accept | Jae Carr | ||
| Jul 13, 2015 at 10:44 | comment | added | Andy | To clarify, I agree with @RalphJ but I was taught to normally not use the spoilers on final turns, etc as you can lose height very rapidly! (OK in exceptional cases though.) Ideally a perfectly judged circuit would be finishing final turn in a position to use half spoiler for the final approach - you can then use less or more as necessary. It's also OK to use them anytime on downwind or base leg if high in the circuit. | |
| Jul 13, 2015 at 3:45 | comment | added | Ralph J♦ | @aviationstats Not a typo in my answer -- "generally extended in the landing pattern" is what I meant to post. In a glider, you have various ways of getting rid of energy (extend downwind, use spoilers, sideslip), but no way to create it. So you plan your pattern to start at "this" point & "this" altitude, fly with partial or full spoilers, turn base "here," and everything will work out. Then, if you find you're a bit low, you retract the spoilers until you determine that you're back on path. | |
| Jul 13, 2015 at 3:02 | comment | added | Jeffrey Bosboom | @aviationstats I'm not a pilot of any kind, but I think the post is correct -- if you plan to land with them extended, but get low, you can retract them to return to the planned flight profile. | |
| Jul 13, 2015 at 2:50 | comment | added | Padraig H | Should that read "generally retracted in the landing pattern..."? That way you can extend them to help slow down if needed. I'm not a glider pilot so I might be wrong here :-) | |
| Jul 13, 2015 at 2:33 | history | answered | Ralph J♦ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |