Gliding in FSX & FS9

[Paul K]

Hijack away, matey. Its all good! ;-)

[petermcleland]

Leif...I'm pretty sure that no cadet that ever flew with me was sick...Even when I had to do a single engined landing with an Anson 19 full of cadets (one in the right cockpit seat and seven down the back). I did throw some about a bit in the T21, but none of them were ever ill Although I once felt a bit queasy myself after a badly executed stall turn became a tail slide!...The cadet thought it was great fun but that was enough of the aerobatting for me that day.

Here is the Cadet MkIII that I did most of my instructing in...The first four show my son, Neil on his course. He is being instructed by Chris Wick.

[DispatchDragon]

what a happy looking young chap --- what does he fly today?

And I know your right -- my father besides doing air experience flights also instructed - he said his greatest thrill was to watch a first solo while
pretending to be off having a quick smoke. -- Did I understand you to say you preferred doing aero's in the Cadet rather than the T21?


Leif

[petermcleland]

what a happy looking young chap --- what does he fly today?

And I know your right -- my father besides doing air experience flights also instructed - he said his greatest thrill was to watch a first solo while
pretending to be off having a quick smoke. -- Did I understand you to say you preferred doing aero's in the Cadet rather than the T21?

He doesn't fly now due to poor sight in one eye, which he has had since a baby. Shame really as he has a natural flying ability which I saw on his first flight with me in a glider when he was about 14...I asked him to fly the aircraft in a straight line in a steady attitude. I was rather astonished when he did just that...Virtually no-one can do that, even after many hours of experience...Many people can never ever do that. They say you need good vision in both eyes to judge distance and height when flying. Well it simply is not so...I don't know how it works but some compensating factor builds up which allows perfect depth perception with one eye. Neil always knew exactly where the ground was when flying and almost always made perfect touchdowns.

No Leif...We were not permitted to do aerobatics in the Mark III Cadet but we were allowed Loops in the T21 Barge and I did do a few steepy things in that. I also managed to do a full roll in a Swallow!

[DispatchDragon]

Thank you for the clarification Peter - And I understand about the depth perceptions thing - a very famous flyer by the name of WIley Post proved that

Leif

[Trev Clark]

Things that stick in my mind include the running alongside, holding a wing tip during launch, the call of 'All clear above and behind' (something that I returned to using on helos!) and the strange way you can hear what is being said in the gliders, as they pass over the field at a few hundred feet up!
We always cracked up when certain 'catch phrases' of the instructors drifted through the evening air, despite the instructor being aloft at the time!

[petermcleland]

One thing that often comes into my mind is a particular thermal that I managed to get up into at Bovingdon. I was not very experienced at thermalling and was finding it a thrilling experience battling with it and listening to the whirling maelstrom of wind noise around me...Then suddenly I spotted, just a few yards in front of me, a Swallow (the bird variety not the glider). We were on the same circle and he kept screwing his head round a bit to glance at me. I was fascinated by this and when he suddenly reversed his bank, I slammed the stick over to stay with him...I had to jiggle a bit to stay behind him, but I managed to stay and even coped with another bank reversal. Then he just got fed up with me, folded his wings a bit and dived away about vertically and out of my sight.

I was so thrilled with this super experience of really "Flying with the birds"...It never happened again sadly :flying: