Ground Handling
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September 22, 2021
Congratulations! You've just bought a new, or new to you glider, it's an exciting time in your life. All you want to do is put those wings on & go fly it, in all reality, there's nothing wrong with that, but I feel it's better to get all the ground systems in place first. I feel that flying is the easy part, generally, this is not where the problems or damage arises. So where does it?
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November 05, 2020
Editors Note: Even when taking precautions tow out gear accidents happen. A report from this accident pictured above. " I heard a metallic sound and saw a wing lift in the rearview mirror, so stopped the pickup. Immediately its left-wing smashed against the tailgate while the tail went swiftly past the driver-side window and slammed into the front fender. Putting this together analytically, a powerful
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April 04, 2019
Don't get Complacent
You know how this did not happen? Flying. Never have I heard someone come back from a flight “That thermal pushed me soo hard from behind, accelerating me and I heard a loud crack, it must have been the rudder.” However, I have seen multiple pilots push the glider up the ramp and into the trailer with one hand pushing on the rudder, sometimes both.
As you can see
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February 15, 2018
Reader-submitted golf cart towing suggestions:
- Carry a Fire extinguisher to help prevent the photo from last week.
- Most golf carts are not designed for the abuse we give them running around an airport. The plastic pieces or tall grass might--or one reader insists, will--start a fire.
- One club suggests running the rope through a tire. When the rope gets slack, it will
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February 08, 2018
It was brought to my attention that even more difficult than the aero-tow is towing the glider back with a golf cart. Following are my "golf cart tips for dummies" that might seem obvious, but are based on mistakes that have all been done before.
- Make sure the rope is long enough, generally over half the wingspan of the glider. This ensures that when (not if) you get way out of position,
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April 21, 2016
I fought the light and the light won...
Fine, don't sing it with me, just sit there and cringe, it's understandable.
With open class gliders it is common to see a wing wheel on each wing.
This really helps when you have to make a turn with strong wind and the wing wheel is no longer on the downwind wing.
When the wind is gusty or strong it is important to place the