Bob Wander's Gliding Mentor Series (Softcover)

Breaking The Apron Strings: Soaring Cross Country:
Phill Petmecky

Petmecky explains the fundamentals of flight preparation and in–flight decision-making for the crosscountry pilot.

Safe Altitude profiles, Go–Ahead points, thermaling techniques, final glide considerations, height bands, speed–to–fly, landing considerations – it's all here in this book.

Informative and inexpensive.

Phil’s pilot logbook reveals nearly 30,000 glider flights and many thousands of flight hours in gliders. His current favorite glider is his 60:1 ASH25M motorglider which he shares with a partner. Breaking The Apron Strings is Phil’s first contribution to the Gliding Mentor series.

Table of Contents

• Chapter 1 … Safe Altitude Circles
• Chapter 2 … Constructing A Flight Profile
• Chapter 3 … Flight Documentation
• Chapter 4 … Flight Bands And Speed–To–Fly
• Chapter 5 … Selecting A Cross–Country Task
• Chapter 6 … Polar Adjustments & Speed–To–Fly In Sink
• Chapter 7 … Thermaling Techniques
• Chapter 8 … Spacing Yourself In The Landing Pattern 

Author's Note by Phil Petmecky

I remember back to that day in August 1979 when I took my first cross country flight in a glider. I didn't decide to go all by myself. In fact the idea hadn't even crossed my mind. I had recently completed the dreaded five hour flight without ever getting more than three or four miles from home. I had no idea how far the glider I was flying would go. It was just past noon when the owner of the commercial operation were I was flying walked up to me and said, “It looks like a Silver Distance day. Why don't you jump in the Jantar and fly up to Brenham?” The color drained from my face, but not wanting to appear timid (read: scared S ) I glanced up at the sky and said, “Do you think I m really ready for it?” “Sure”, he said, “piece of cake”.

It took me over two hours to get there. I was only lost four or five times. I worked every cloud that had ½ knot or better lift. I only got low once, right after release from tow. I arrived over what I hoped was my goal at 4000 feet AGL. I won't talk about my first landing on a paved runway in a glider, except to say I missed all the runway lights.

Needless to say I was not prepared to make this flight. I now have been a glider flight instructor for over eight years. In my first few years as an instructor, the students I turned out usually reached my level of ignorance on cross country flight by the time they were rated. One good thing that I can say about myself during this period is that I knew my weaknesses and constantly worked to improve myself. Slowly over the years I have developed a cross country training syllabus that I use with my students. I know that they are much better prepared to break the apron strings than I was.

One of the problems I had in teaching myself to fly cross country was that I read everything I could lay my hands on and tried to use it in flight. I found myself overloaded with information I did not thoroughly understand. Much of what I read was really written for contest pilots and not applicable for beginner cross country pilots. The approach to a Silver Distance flight is much different than that for a contest task. For example, on a Silver Distance flight speed should not be nearly as important as altitude. There is no additional reward for finishing the task in less than an hour. Once we have successfully done our Silver Distance we will then begin to work on improving our speed during cross country flights. Every local flight should have several goals laid out prior to flight. I like to work my way upwind as far as altitude permits and practice final glides back home. I frequently set a short task and try to fly it as fast as possible.

My preflight planning was never adequate and consequently my in–flight decisions were poor. Even when I made a good decision the time it took to make it was so long that I frequently lost large amounts of altitude in the process!

One of the first things I tell my students about cross country flight is that the better prepared they are prior to flight, the more likely they are to have a successful outcome. They begin carrying, and using, a sectional chart early in their training. As soon as they develop decent control of the glider I begin their pilot–in–command training. They must constantly be aware of their location and altitude, and be able to get back to the pattern entry point with as little coaching as possible.

This manual is designed to give beginners the information they need to break the bonds of the local gliderport. I hope this book can help you become more confident when you take that first big step away from your home gliderport.

Phil Petmecky

About Phil Petmecky

Phil Petmecky has been flying for more than forty years. He started flight training at Lackland AFB Aeroclub in 1960 during his final year of service in the U.S. Air Force. After marrying and settling down, the arrival of children deterred him from flying for a while. As the kids got into their teens, Phil went right back into aviation, not only for himself but to enjoy soaring with his children.

Phil enjoyed gliding so much that he became a key member of his local soaring club in Houston and became a Glider Flight Instructor. He participated in primary instruction, recurrent training, and cross country soaring instruction. He also raced, and placed well, in national glider races in the USA. He was named an FAA Pilot Examiner and administered oral and flight tests to prospective pilots on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration for the better part of two decades. He was elected to the Board Of Directors of the Soaring Society of America and served in that capacity for many years.

Phil’s pilot logbook reveals nearly 30,000 glider flights and many thousands of flight hours in gliders. His current favorite glider is his 60:1 ASH25M motorglider which he shares with a partner.

Breaking The Apron Strings is Phil’s first contribution to the Gliding Mentor series.

Cross–Country Manual For Glider Pilots: Dean Carswell

Another new book in the Gliding Mentor series, prepared under the general editorship of Bob Wander.

Complete with training methods and completion standards, this is an essential book for all pilots who aspire to fly cross country safely, efficiently, and without fear.

Table of Contents

• Chapter 1 … Getting Yourself Ready
• Chapter 2 … Acquiring & Practicing Cross Country Skills
• Chapter 3 … Getting Your Equipment Ready
• Chapter 4 … Planning Your Flights
• Chapter 5 … Flying Your Flights 

Author's Note by Dean Carswell

This book is a guide for pilots in preparation for starting out to fly cross country. It summarizes the knowledge and skills needed to fly cross country successfully. It assumes that you already have (and retain) the knowledge and skills required to pass the knowledge and practical tests for the FAA private pilot glider rating, and that you have the skill and experience outlined in the “Skill/Experience Prerequisites” section.

The contents of this book are in the form of ground and flight instruction. Many successful cross country pilots have been self–taught. This is analogous to jumping in at the deep end of the swimming pool and teaching yourself to swim straight after having read Swimming for Dummies. A better way, both safer and quicker, is to learn with the help of a qualified instructor. This means you need to obtain the help of a qualified instructor to provide and supervise your practical training.

Many glider pilots who have not flown cross country, even those who have demonstrated good local soaring skills, perceive barriers to safe and successful cross country flight. Some barriers are physical: Lack of the various skills needed to make a safe and successful cross country flight. Some barriers are psychological: A general fear of not getting to the planned goal, and being forced to endure the risks and danger of an off–field landing, with no assurance of the safe outcome. These psychological fears have likely been increased by personal experience, e.g. when pressing further away from the home field, finding a couple of good looking clouds in succession then discovering nothing but heavy sink, engendering a lack of confidence in the ability to stay up. In addition, turning away from the home airfield, breaking the umbilical cord and getting beyond gliding distance from home, is the opposite of what all previous flights have involved: Getting back safely to the home airfield.

The ground and flight instruction in this book contributes to a confidence–building process to address and break down these psychological barriers. This includes landing at new airfields, and soaring flights that remain within gliding distance of an airport. Remember that the underlying logic of safe crosscountry flight is based on the premise that the probability of finding another thermal down your chosen route is just as high as finding one close to your home airfield.

If you have any comments or suggestions for improvement, please tell us so that others may benefit from your experience.

Safe soaring!

Dean Carswell

End of The Line: Murray Shain

Mastering the aerotow is one of the more challenging tasks that the soaring newcomer must acquire.

The FARs require flight training for the following maneuvers and procedures: Launches, including normal and crosswind; Emergency procedures and equipment malfunctions; Inspection of towrope rigging and review of signals and release procedures; Aerotow procedures; Emergency operations, including towrope break procedures.

This book will help you understand and master each of these items. Well illustrated.

Table of Contents

• Chapter 1 … The Gliding Mentor Series
• Chapter 2 … Aerotow Fundamentals
• Chapter 3 … Advanced Aerotow Topics
• Chapter 4 … Aerotow Emergency Procedures
• Chapter 5 … Appendix 

Author's Notes by Murray Shain

Anyone watching a sailplane for the first time may get the impression that soaring is a carefree sport. Gliders appear to fly so freely and gracefully through the skies that much of the really intensive work sailplane pilots and crews perform is invisible to casual observers.

Mastering the aerotow is one of the more challenging tasks that the soaring newcomer must acquire. In every other category of aircraft, whether airplane, rotorcraft, lighter–than–air or powered lift, a pilot is concerned only with the handling of his or her machine. In gliders launched by aerotow, the glider pilot needs to control the glider and simultaneously pay close attention to the actions of the towpilot and towplane.

Learning to fly steadily behind a towplane may seem strange at first. But with a little concentration and practice, you'll master it, as do the many hundreds of people each year in the United States who learn to soar.

The Federal Aviation Regulations stipulate that a student pilot (in gliders) trained to launch by aerotow must receive and log flight training for the following maneuvers and procedures: Launches, including normal and crosswind; Emergency procedures and equipment malfunctions; Inspection of towrope rigging and review of signals and release procedures; Aerotow procedures; Emergency operations, including towrope break procedures. This book will help you understand and master each of these items.

As you read this book, stop occasionally, sit back, and absorb what you have just studied. Then, re–open the book and continue. If you study this way, you will get maximum benefit from this book.

If you are a glider flight instructor, I hope that you will find my book useful for training your students, and that you will recommend it to them.

The terms glider and sailplane are used interchangeably in this book. Most pilots prefer the word sailplane. The FAA uses the term glider.

Murray Shain

Landing Out The Final Four Minutes: Don Ingram

A Gliding Mentor Series book; 8.5 by 11 format; 44 pages; illustrated

How to deal with the gestalt of landouts: The heightened tensions and emotions, denial, and the effect of previous conditioning during your X–C flight.

Don is a Gold Badge, Triple–Diamond cross–country glider pilot with many cross–country flights of over 500 kilometers. In this new Gliding Mentor Series book Don teaches us the psychological factors that accompany off–field landings, and the mental conditioning that can lead us to disaster if we fail to change gears from ”Must Complete The Task“ mode to “Mr. Spock” mode.

Interesting, entertaining, downright funny at times, and a very thorough treatment of the emotional and psychological factors that influence the outcome of an off–field landing. I promise that you will be surprised to discover how many there are!

Includes a chapter by Bob Wander that provides a thorough review of how to develop and then maintain skills that keep you safe in off–field landings. This is, in my opinion, the only complete treatment of off–field landings in print in the English language.

Table of Contents

• Chapter 1 … The Gliding Mentor Series
• Chapter 2 … Authors Notes
• Chapter 3 … Don Ingraham: An Appreciation
• Chapter 4 … The Final Four Minutes
• Chapter 5 … Coming Out Just Right
• Chapter 6 … Addendum: Notes by Bob Wander
• Chapter 7 … Appendix 

Author's Notes by Don Ingrahan

I like stories. Two stories I’ve heard that downright blindsided me, just stopped me in my tracks and left me groping for a quiet place to sit down and think, were very, very, short. Maybe a dozen sentences. Maybe two dozen. These few sentences carried the absolute abra–cadabra of magic.

We all know when we get something we can use, and when I heard each of these stories I knew it in an instant. Many years intervened between the time I heard the first story, until I heard the second, and yet they both involve catching monkeys! Imagine that. So here they are.

The Monkey Trap: In some parts Africa they catch monkeys for food. The tribesmen have developed a very clever Monkey Trap because, well, monkeys are very clever. Kinda like glider pilots.

The tribesmen take a coconut and carefully cut a hole in it just large enough for a monkey to slide his hand into. The other side of the coconut also gets a hole, but this one is just large enough to push a rope through. The rope is knotted and then pulled tight into the coconut, securing it, while the long end is tied to a tree or stake. The tribesmen press sticky rice into the coconut, spread a little on the ground around it and go hide in the bushes and play video games on their WAP-enabled phones or something. I‘m not sure how they kill time, to be honest.

So, the monkey comes along, smells the aromatic rice, eats some off the ground, checks out the coconut, and begins trying to get the real payload out. He scrapes a bit out with his long fingers, gets a little more, shakes it, looks in the hole and finally reaches in and grabs a big fistful.

The tribesmen then step out from behind the bushes and approach the monkey. The monkey now has some serious adrenaline flowing and starts to run away. He pulls and pulls on the coconut, held firmly in place by the rope and stake. He’s screaming and yanking and dust is flying and he is posturing and threatening and trying to run… but he doesn’t open his fist and let go of the rice so his hand can come out.

So he gets whacked, and then eaten. The end.

Think about it.

The moral? Priorities. They change. We cross–country glider pilots see the pesky planet sneaking up on us from below all the time. Don’t let fatigue, or the prospect of glory, clench your fist. We must all learn when to let go of the rice and say to ourselves, “Another day” and not wait for the tribesmen’s clubs to come whistling past our ears! Because if you hear that, you are low!

Maybe we should make a sticker for our instrument panels that simply reads, “Let go. Accept the landout. After all, it’s only R–I–C–E”.

All the best!

Don Ingraham

Power Pilots Guide To Soaring: Shain Murray

A Gliding Mentor series book, Power Pilot's Guide To Soaring by Murray Shain. It's aimed at the power pilot who flies anything from Light Sport Aircraft to Bell Jet Rangers to Boeing Dreamliners and who wants to add soaring to his/her aviation accomplishments.

Table of Contents

• Chapter 1 … Glider FAQ's & Glider Familiarization
• Chapter 2 … Aerotow Launch Procedures
• Chapter 3 … Primary Flight Controls
• Chapter 4 … Glider Airwork & Performance Airspeeds
• Chapter 5 … Glider Approaches & Landings
• Chapter 6 … Understanding the Practical Test Standards
• Chapter 7 … Appendix Study Materials & Resources 

Author's Note by Murray Shain

You may be a brand new Private Pilot or an Airline Transport Pilot with decades of flying experience. In either case, you appreciate the fact that the certificate you have earned sets you aside from the vast majority of the faces in the crowd. You’ve known anticipation, joy, and perhaps a bit of fear with your first solo, and a growing pride as your flying skills developed and improved. Some of you remember the first time you filed IFR into actual instrument weather with your new instrument rating. Even after all the time that has passed since you started training, you still get excited each time you see a runway stretched out ahead of you as you advance the throttle for takeoff roll. The airplane slowly transforms itself from the world’s worst means of ground transportation into what it was really meant to do: Fly. “Now, this is a thrill!” you think, with each takeoff you make.

It is all of that, but there are many other thrills in aviation still available to you. This manual was written specifically for you, the licensed (or soon–to–be licensed) airplane pilot, who has decided to pursue ground and flight training in gliders. Your previous airplane experience will stand you in good stead as you pursue glider flight training.

Why learn to fly gliders in the first place? I logged my first dual flight instruction in airplanes as a 14–year–old about 61 years ago now, (it even sounds old to me). But, what these years have taught me is that getting any new rating gave me knowledge and skills which could be transferred to every category and class of aircraft I fly. And don’t write off sheer pleasure! Some people have asked me what getting your first good thermal feels like. I tell them that it feels unreal: It’s as if you could squat down, put your fingers under the insteps of your shoes, and lift yourself off the ground. It feels like something is happening that is impossible. In short, it feels like something never to be forgotten.

I invite you, on behalf of the many thousands of glider pilots worldwide, to join us in this silent world of flying pleasure. I guarantee that learning to gliders will enhance your performance and ability in every category and class of aircraft in which you are already involved.

I hope that my book helps you to pursue your dream of silent flight!

Murray Shain

Practical Wave Flying: Mark Palmer

Teaches the techniques and equipment needed to make mountain wave flights safely.

Wave forecasting, pre-flight preparation, personal equipment, oxygen systems, medical factors and hazards of altitude and cold, emergency planning, aerotow hazards and techniques, notching after tow release, maximum performance wave climbs, orientation and navigation, normal and emergency descents, cross country techniques in wave conditions, and approaches and landings are all covered in this book.

80 pages; illustrated

Table of Contents

• Chapter 1 … The Mountain Wave
• Chapter 2 … Forecasting
• Chapter 3 … Oxygen & Environment
• Chapter 4 … Hardware
• Chapter 5 … Pre–Flight
• Chapter 6 … Flying The Tow
• Chapter 7 … Altitude Climbs
• Chapter 8 … Coming Down
• Chapter 9 … Cross Country 

Author's Notes by Mark Palmer

Practical Wave Flying is mainly based on my experiences at Black Forest Gliderport in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I spent many exciting and fun years there. As an instructor at Black Forest in the late 70's and early 80's, it became apparent that there was no single source of information that a pilot could turn to concerning mountain wave. It turned out that there was plenty of information out there; most pilots, however, just didn't know where to go to find it. The purpose of Practical Wave Flying is to draw together information from various sources into one place.

The original edition of Practical Wave Flying was published in 1983. While it was well received, it had two shortcomings: The lack of information on forecasting wave and the minimal mention of cross country in wave. This Third Edition covers both topics.

The biggest thanks of all go to my wife, Alice, for being my dedicated proofreader and critic.

Mark Palmer

Riding On Air: Ridge, Wave, & Convergence Lift: Rolf Hertenstein Ph.D.

The latest addition to the Gliding Mentor series is Rolf Hertenstein's brand–new opus Riding on Air: Ridge, Wave, & Convergence Lift. What's it about? We think the title says it all. As a long–time airplane pilot and gliding pilot who first learned to fly in mountainous country, I am amazed and delighted at all of the things that Rolf explains in this book that have been a mystery to me for many years. Most soaring pilots have some appreciation of ridge, wave and convergence lift; I wish EVERY soaring pilot had the depth of knowledge and experience with these types of lift that Rolf has, and that he reveals in this book. We would all be the safer for it! Riding On Air contains what you need to improve your soaring performance in ridge, wave, and convergence lift. Furthermore, you'll learn why these types of lift sometimes disappear, seemingly without warning to the under-prepared pilot; and that in turn can lead to close scrapes (at best), or to disaster (at worst).

Another thing that surprised me about this book was how often convergence lift is present, even when far away from mountains or oceans or other large-scale geographic features. I now see convergence events in the atmosphere almost–daily frequency, because I have learned what the physics of these convergences are, and how to recognize them by visible signposts in the air.

104 pages.

Table of Contents

• Chapter 1 … Ridge Lift
• Chapter 2 … Mountain Wave
• Chapter 3 … Convergence
• Chapter 4 … Combinations & Miscellaneous Sources of Lift

Thermals: Rolf Hertenstein Ph.D

1. Imagine that a teenager becomes a full–time glider flight instructor. He instructs full–time for ten years, logs thousands of hours, and earns his Diamond Badge.
2. He earns a Ph.D. in Meteorology.
3. He becomes a research scientist, specializing in atmospheric turbulence, with specific emphasis on thermal analysis, mountain wave analysis, and rotor analysis.
4. He writes a superb book about thermals and convection that non–scientists can understand.

The latest book in the Gliding Mentor series – “Thermals” by Rolf Hertenstein, Ph.D. – came about EXACTLY as described above.

What's in it? Just about everything that you ever wanted to know about thermals. From the rankest amateur, and up to and including the finest triple-diamond cross-country pilot, you will find TONS of information about thermals, soundings, thermal waves, and thermal prediction that you can USE to extend your knowledge and your flight performances. In the five months that I spent editing and illustrating this book, I learned LOTS of new things about thermals, convection, the Skew–T, thermal prediction, numeric weather modeling, weather resources on the Web, thunderstorms, and a host of other important topics in its 92 large–format 8.5 by 11–inch pages. And recently, I used what I learned from this book to select the day to fly my Diamond Distance flight – 515 kilometers. Fun!

44 pages.

Table of Contents

• Chapter 1 … What Are Thermals?
• Chapter 2 … Structure & Stability of the Atmosphere
• Chapter 3 … Using Soundings to Predict Thermal Soaring
• Chapter 4 … Airmass Types for Good Thermal Soaring
• Chapter 5 … Cloud Streets
• Chapter 6 … Thermal Waves
• Chapter 7 … Thunderstorms

Towpilot Manual: Burt Compton

Burt Compton soloed in 1968 and is a “Gold Seal” Glider Flight Instructor. He is one of 200 Master CFI's nationwide as designated by the National Association of Flight Instructors. He has flown dozens of types of gliders, ranging from training gliders to racing sailplanes. He also holds a Commercial Certificate in Airplanes and Seaplanes and is a Flight Instructor in Airplanes.

Towpilot Manual was written to advance the skills and enhance the safety of all towpilots, present and future. The accent is on safe practice throughout, and even veteran towpilots will discover valuable safety enhancement techniques in this book.

Author's Notes by Burt Compton

This towpilot manual is a compilation of aerotow procedures used in the USA. I have gathered information based on established methods and my own experience as a towpilot since 1970. I have flown more than 30 different types of gliders on aerotow at more than 30 different soaring sites, including my own glider flight school, Miami Gliders Corporation.

Earning a glider towing endorsement can be very rewarding. The towpilot is an essential element in the sport of soaring, and assumes a substantial amount of responsibility for both the towplane and the glider being towed. Many new towpilots are not themselves glider pilots. From the towpilot's perspective, the aerotow emergency scenarios can sometimes be very subtle and unusual, not seen in any other type of flying. The energy, momentum, and dynamics of two aircraft attached by a 200-foot rope can lead to some dangerous situations. To ensure safe operation, the risk must be managed by discussing the situations that may suddenly develop into an emergency, and by maintaining awareness of the options available to the towpilot during every phase of flight.

I recognize that approved aerotow procedures may vary depending on geographic location, airport environment, and types of towplanes and gliders used. When you are preparing the “towpilot flight ops” book for your organization, study the manufacturer's Pilot Operating Handbook (POH) for the specific towplanes and gliders that you operate. In addition, study the SSA Soaring Flight Manual chapter on aerotow to review recommended aerotow procedures.

Finally, I dedicate this manual to every towpilot who has ever towed me aloft, and to my mentor, Fritz Compton.

Burt Compton