AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 28

PROFICIENTPILOT

BY BARRY SCHIFF

Back to basics

I

f I were king of the FAA I would require students to become glider pilots before allowing them into the cockpit of an airplane. Soaring offers a

selected landing site is nearby and extending glide range is unnecessary. So here is another glider lesson. When soaring in thermals and attempting to gain (or maintain) altitude, glider pilots use the minimum-sink speed, the indicated airspeed at which a glider or an airplane sinks most slowly. A Cessna 152 gliding at 60 knots, for example, has an average sink rate of 685 fpm when gliding from 10,000 feet to sea level, and the descent takes 14.6 minutes. When airspeed is reduced to the certain purity of flight that teaches fundamentals minimum-sink speed of 53 knots, however, sink rate by eliminating the masking and distracting effects is only 545 fpm. A glide from 10,000 feet would take of power and propeller. Even experienced airplane longer, 18.3 minutes, an endurance increase of 3.7 Barry Schiff is a glider instructor pilots should consider a glider rating, enjoyable minutes. Unfortunately, the POH for an airplane and has been training that is guaranteed to sharpen your skills rarely provides the minimum-sink speed. Typically, it flying sailplanes and improve the way you fly other aircraft. is about halfway between stall and best-glide speed. for 55 years. An extreme example of the value of soaring skills When gliding an airplane at “minimum sink,” the time required to lose a given amount of altitude is occurred on July 23, 1983, when an Air Canada Boeing 767 ran out of fuel at 41,000 feet. The captain established a maximized. This provides more time to attempt an engine restart normal glide and headed for 60-mile-distant Gimli, a former or brief passengers. Canadian air force base. While on final approach to the 8,000-foot The wingspan of a sailplane is much greater than that of a runway, the captain saw that he was high. Drawing on his expe- lightplane. With ailerons this far apart, there is substantially rience as a sailplane pilot, he lowered a wing, applied opposite more adverse yaw effect. Consequently, glider pilots necessarrudder, deftly slipped off the excess altitude, and safely landed ily learn to be more adroit coordinating stick and rudder. Since what has become known as the “Gimli Glider.” they usually are not preoccupied with air traffic control and Sailplane pilots learn a great deal about principles that are airspace restrictions, they have more time to master fundamendirectly applicable to flying airplanes. Power pilots, for example, tals. Power pilots have so much distracting, extraneous stuff to learn only one type of glide, the one that presumably results in learn that the art of maneuvering often suffers in the process. maximum range from a given altitude. Glider pilots know betThe duration, range, and altitude of a sailplane flight also ter. While flying cross-country, they use the “speed to fly.” This depend on how well a pilot envisions the motion of the atmosis the optimum glide speed corrected for the vertical velocity phere. Such skill and knowledge is directly transferable to powof the air. When flying in rising air, the pilot reduces airspeed ered flight because locating and taking advantage of thermals and spends more time taking advantage of the benefit. In sink- and ridge lift (or avoiding sinking air) significantly improves ing air, he increases airspeed to expedite passage through this airplane performance when operating at heavy weights and adverse condition. high density altitudes. Soaring experience helps us to visualThe same principle can be applied in an airplane. When ize how sun, wind, and topography combine to produce rising penetrating updrafts, power pilots typically lower the nose and descending currents of air. When sharing a thermal or a to maintain altitude. This increases airspeed and decreases ridge with other sailplanes, it is not uncommon for gliders to the time spent in rising air. Instead, you might consider using safely operate within 100 feet of each other, which teaches us updrafts to advantage. Accept the altitude gain and possibly to maintain extraordinary vigilance for other traffic. reduce airspeed slightly to remain longer in those surges of lift The relatively low speed of soaring flight makes the effects (called “green” air). When in sinking air, resist the urge to raise of wind more observable and more indelibly teaches us about the nose to maintain altitude because this just reduces airspeed drift and wind gradient. Glider flying obviously provides experiand prolongs exposure to the sinking air. Instead, accept the ence in power-off approaches and off-field landings, invaluable altitude loss and more quickly escape these deleterious effects. experience for those accustomed to relying on power. Sailplane pilots also learn that the speed-to-fly increases Soaring is an infectious, aesthetic elixir. It is washing your when flying into a headwind and decreases with a tailwind. An wings in the wind and flirting with the breezy whims of Mother airplane also glides farther when airspeed is similarly adjusted. Nature. It is sliding on quiet wings over windswept ridges in the Single-engine pilots learn to maintain the best glide speed company of a lone hawk and inhaling a sense of freedom and following an engine failure because this results in maximizing exhilaration like no other. glide range (ignoring the effect of wind). But this assumes that a pilot needs to maximize range. Often he does not because the Visit the author’s website (www.barryschiff.com). 28 • JULY 2011

AOPA PILOT •


http://www.barryschiff.com

AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011

AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011
Contents
President’s Position
Hangar Talk
AOPA Media
AOPA Action
Letters
Waypoints
Proficient Pilot
Safety Pilot
License to Learn
Pilot Counsel
Fly Well
Pilot Briefing
Rally GA: Walking the Walk
Crossover Classic Sweepstakes: The Ultimate Skylane
There’s No Place Like Home
Field of Dreams
Fleeting Beauty
Affair of the Heart
Timeshare for Aircraft Owners
Dogfight: Say It Right
Avionics: Reality Show
Pilot Products: Heavy Tugs, Cool Air
Never Again
Fly-Outs
Fly by wire
Pilots
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - President’s Position
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Hangar Talk
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 9
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - AOPA Media
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 11
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - AOPA Action
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 13
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 14
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 15
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 16
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 17
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 18
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 19
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 20
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 21
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Letters
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 23
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 24
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 25
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Waypoints
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 27
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Proficient Pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 29
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Safety Pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 31
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - License to Learn
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 33
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Pilot Counsel
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 35
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Fly Well
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 37
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Pilot Briefing
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 39
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 40
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 41
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 42
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 43
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 44
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 45
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 46
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Rally GA: Walking the Walk
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 48
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 49
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Crossover Classic Sweepstakes: The Ultimate Skylane
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 51
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 52
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 53
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 54
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 55
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 56
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 57
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - There’s No Place Like Home
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 59
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 60
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 61
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 62
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 63
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 64
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Field of Dreams
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 66
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 67
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 68
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 69
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Fleeting Beauty
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 71
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 72
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 73
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 74
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 75
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 76
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 77
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 78
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 79
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 80
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Affair of the Heart
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 82
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 83
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 84
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 85
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 86
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Timeshare for Aircraft Owners
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 88
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 89
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 90
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 91
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Dogfight: Say It Right
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 93
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 94
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Avionics: Reality Show
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 96
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 97
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - I1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - I2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 98
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Pilot Products: Heavy Tugs, Cool Air
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 100
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 101
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Never Again
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 103
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 104
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 105
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Fly-Outs
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Fly by wire
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 108
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 109
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 110
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 111
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Pilots
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Cover4
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