AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 90

A doorless Hyundai serves as a glider tug and people mover.

SIGTRONICS VOICE ACTIVATED STEREO INTERCOMS
SCI-S 4 and 6 Place
Pilot / Crew Isolate FAA TSO Approved Dual Volume and Squelch Controls Five Year Warranty Complete Hardware Package Included

Sigtronics Corporation • 909 305-9399 • www.sigtronics.com
2 DAY GROUND SCHOOLS and CFI Refresher Clinics* Aviation Seminars - 36 years of excellence
FREQUENT CLASSES HELD IN 100 MAJOR CITIES
FL Tampa Dec 10-11 P,C GA Atlanta Dec 10-11 I IA Des Moines Dec 3-4 I IL Chicago Nov 12-13 P,C Chicago Dec 3-4 I IN Indianapolis Dec 3-4 P,C KS Wichita Nov 19-20 I MA Boston Nov 5-6 P,C Boston Nov 12-13 I MD Baltimore Nov 19-20 P,C Baltimore Dec 10-11 I MI Detroit Nov 12-13 P,C Detroit Nov 19-20 I Kalamazoo Nov 5-6 P,C Kalamazoo Dec 10-11 I MN Minneapolis Dec 10-11 I MO Kansas City Nov 12-13 I St Louis Nov 5-6 I MO St Louis Nov 19-20 P,C NC Charlotte Nov 5-6 P,C Charlotte Nov 19-20 I Raleigh Nov 12-13 I Raleigh Dec 10-11 P,C NE Omaha Nov 5-6 P,C NH Manchester Dec 3-4 I NM Albuquerque Nov 12-13 P,C NY Albany Dec 3-4 I OH Cincinnati Nov 12-13 P,C Cincinnati Dec 10-11 I OR Portland Nov 5-6 P,C Portland Dec 3-4 I PA Lancaster Nov 12-13 P,C Lancaster Nov 19-20 I SC Columbia Dec 3-4 I TN Memphis Nov 12-13 P,C Memphis Dec 10-11 I AL Birmingham Nov 12-13 P,C AL Birmingham Dec 10-11 I AZ Phoenix Nov 5-6 I Phoenix Dec 3-4 P,C CA Anaheim Nov 5-6 I Redlands Nov 12-13 P,C Redlands Dec 3-4 I Sacramento Nov 12-13 I Sacramento Nov 19-20 P,C San Jose Nov 5-6 P,C CA Van Nuys Dec 10-11 P,C CO Denver Nov 19-20 P,C CT Oxford Nov 12-13 I FL Fort Lauderdale Dec 10-11 I Jacksonville Nov 5-6 P,C Jacksonville Nov 12-13 I Orlando Nov 5-6 P,C Orlando Nov 19-20 I

* Call or visit our website for FIRC Schedule

Private/Commercial - $429 Instrument/CFII - $429 CFI Refresher Clinics $189 (FAA Approved)

• 800-257-9444 - www.aviationseminars.com •

TN Nashville Dec 3-4 P,C TX Dallas Nov 12-13 P,C Dallas Nov 19-20 I Houston Nov 5-6 I Houston Dec 3-4 P,C San Antonio Dec 10-11 I UT Salt Lake City Nov 5-6 P,C

FUTURE DATES AND LOCATIONS

PLEASE CALL FOR

Back in the landing pattern, I’m tempted to set up for a high, close-in pattern just as I would for a power-off approach in a single-engine airplane. Of course, the G103’s glide ratio (36.5:1) is about four times greater than that of most single-engine airplanes. But I’m reluctant to stray far from the runway without an engine. When I just can’t stand going any farther downwind, I start a base turn, pick an aiming point on the blacktop, and deploy the speed brakes in increments. It quickly becomes obvious that the distance I judged as borderline too far from the runway is actually awfully close for a calm-wind glider pattern. The dive brakes come out and stay out. “Hold a constant airspeed and use the dive brakes to control the glideslope,” Knauff advises. My airspeed varies between 55 and 60 knots as I modulate the lift-killing brakes. Frankly, since my left hand (customarily my throttle hand) has been inactive for most of the flight, it feels good to finally give it a job to do. I fully deploy the dive brakes over the runway threshold and touch down on the main wheel. The dive brakes act as spoilers, and the long-winged craft shows no inclination to fly once it meets the pavement. Ailerons remain effective at a seemingly impossibly slow forward speed, and we come to a stop precisely where we began our flight 30 minutes earlier. I’ve long envied sailplane pilots and the way they view the sky as a moving, changing river of air with powerful currents that they know how to harness. Hopefully, with a great deal of practice, I’ll come to understand these nuances and use them to fly better, whether I’m in an aircraft with an engine—or not. Email the author at dave.hirschman@ aopa.org.
AOPA PILOT •

P=PRIVATE C=COMMERCIAL I=INSTRUMENT AND INSTRUMENT INSTRUCTOR SUNDAY NIGHT TESTING IN MOST CITIES - VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE DATES AND LOCATIONS

90 • NOVEMBER

2011
http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/fircs http://www.sigtronics.com http://www.sigtronics.com http://www.aviationseminars.com
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011

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