largest glider

[sunny91]

Sunny

[magnocain]

Is it still a glider if it took off under its own power?

[Matt308]

Top Gear Interviewer - "So you weren't allowed to have airplanes after the first world war?"

German Glider Specialist - "Well no... because we were to bloody dangerous as you well know!"

[Matt308]

Another quote...

"I volunteered for the airforce [Luftwaffe during WWII] and became a career officer... and I enjoyed it quite a bit, until you bastards started shooting at us."



I love this 78yo old dude!

[Glider]

They are known as self launching or less acccurately powered gliders. There is another definition called self sustaining gliders which have less power and cannot take off but can keep you in the air if you run out of lift. Self Sustaining gliders are less common these days

One aside is that PPL pilots tend to take longer to get used to these machines for a variety of reasons. The two most common being:-

1 The thrust line. PPL pilots tend to rely on the engine but with the thrust line being so high and the glider being so light if you are trying to land under power and mess up the approach applying power can put the glider into a dive when you least want it.
2 The secondry control effects on a Glider are very different to an average light aircraft and take some getting used to.

I believe that glider is an ASH 25M. Our club had a ASH25 (no motor) on loan for a while but I didn't get the chance to fly it. First time up, those that did were very nervous about landing it as with that span its easy to touch a wing tip. That said, the height it could gain was impressive and also the speed it could achieve.

[Matt308]

Excellent Glider! Thanks!

Is it a common occurrence to be a little concerned about pilot occilations with those long and flexible wings.

[Glider]

To be honest no, the main problem is landing an is simple maths. With a 25m span but the wingtip being only 3 - 4 ft off the ground you have to ensure that the wings are absolutely level to stop the tips hitting the ground. A lot of clubs like ours have one strip, so a crosswind of some degree is the norm which gives you little if any room for error. Doing that in an unfamiliar glider, costing if I remember about £100,000 gives you a few nerves.

Pilot Induced Occilations do happen in gliders but it isn't a common problem. Right from the beginning you have to learn had to do contra inputs to fly and turn. When you start to thermal you have to get used to the delay in the instument readings and how to anticipate lift it becomes almost second nature.
The extra wingspan doesn't give you any real problems in the air apart from a dreadful roll rate. This can be a disadvantage if conditions are difficult and you have to hunt (often called scratching) for lift. Reacting to an indication of lift sometimes demands a swift responce and the extra span can reduce your chances of finding that lift. Once your in the lift, then the span comes into its own so its a balancing act.