Volume 16 No 1 Feb 1965.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

IT'S ALL YOURSHE ability to cloud-.fly properly is anT essential part of the soaring pilot'srepertoin:. It requires considel"able trainingand practice to achieve 'competence,just as does landing in fields, or centringin a thermal. Too often a couple of successfulsorties in small clouds is regardedas solid experience. It is not, and manyglider pilots avoid the cloud-tlying whichcould give them better cross-countryflights, simply because .they have oncefrightened themselves sIlly.The following article by Flight LieutenantDouglas BridsoD is an excellentintroduction N'l pilots who want to learnhow to fiy properly on instruments. Itwill be followed by a second one in thenext issue on cloud fiying technique.ANN WELCHCLOUD FLYING IN GLIDERSPart 1 (Basic)HE best way to learn instrument flyin;;is ina two-seater glider with aTcomJX:tent instructor. However, this isnot always possible and many gliderpilots teach themselves.Some l'ecent al"ticles in SAILPLANE &GUDtN(5J on this subject did not differentiatesufficiently between the ab-initiocloud flier and the pilot who had alreadygained some experi~n~~. This art!cle isintended for the ab-mltlO cloud flIer.A reasonable approach to se1f-tuitionis itemised as follows:-InformationAs much information as possible onthe subject should be ob~ai~ed fromauthoritative sources and thIS mcludes athorough bri~fiI!g." Joe .Bloggs, whoalways has a "haIry expenence w~en .heflies in cloud, is not an authontatIve34source. Every club seems to have a JoeBloggs, and he only alarms and confusesintending cloud fliers with his stories.ObservationThe gyro instruments should beswitched on when flying in clear air andnote taken of their indications forvarious conditions ()ffi,ight. No attemptshould be made .to fiy solely by referenceto the instrument for long peri()ds, becauseof the very real need to maintainan adequa,te look-out.First Cloud Penetl'ationThe cloud chosen for this occasionshould not have massive vertical development,and fairly small "summer" cumulusis ideal, If things then go wrong,then: is very little distance to travel beforebreaking out into dear air.GaiDipl: of ExperienceCo not run before you can walk.One should be a reasonably competent,instrument pilot before tackling the verylarge cumulus and cu-nimb, If, becauseof enthusiasm, caution is thrown to thewinds and a penetration of one of theselarge clouds is undertaken before areasonable competence in clQud-flyinghas been aQquireq, then, despite necessitybeing the mother of invention,necessity will not of itself produce competence,and the resulting situation l:ouldbecome extremely dangerous.To expand on the foregoing, it isnecessary to consider some ()f the flyinginstlfuments and their interpretation.The Artificial HorizonIt is beyond the scope of this articleto write about specific types of art,ificialhorizon, and it is necessary to generalise.The limitations of this instrument. iffitted. should be known. Most modem