Friday, October 03, 2003

Autotowing!

10/03 - Club campout at a dry lake. Autotowing behind J's truck. Learned all the signals etc. Instructor: B, first time I've flown with him. Takeoff on autotow is not as steep as I had read that it would be - maybe that has to do with the power of the tow vehicle.

First flight, I got a bit too far away from the camp/landing area, should have done some math first to see how far one really can glide from a 2000' tow with no lift. Realized I need to use flaps and airbrakes as tools for the situation, not as rote mechanisms. Realized that one can really FLY the glider on the ground, to get it where one wants it to be, not just stop as soon as possible. Learned about assembling/disassembling the Blanik.

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