THE HISTORY OF V.A.R.M.S The Annual Diary 1990 - 2009

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needed to reach the landing then it’s better to slow up and trim for minimum sink? It
depends on the strength of the wind of course, but most experienced pilots will, in this
situation, stuff the nose down and head for the home plate. There are three possible
explanations for this; firstly at higher airspeeds there is more positive control, which is
something you might need on a blustery day. Secondly, as you lost altitude you get to that
part of the wind gradient near the ground where the air is moving more slowly due to the
drag of the grass, bushes, coffee flasks and antelope etc. This means that you can cover
comparatively more ground compared to the higher altitude, even allowing for the extra
drag at high speed.
Finally, as you get within a few feet of the ground, the aircraft enters what is known as
ground effect where due to the winds’ proximity to the ground, it rides on a sort of cushion
of air, something which also increases the wing’s efficiency. If I was coy before in
describing exactly what constitutes a ‘greaser’ then now is the best time to elucidate. A
perfect landing, and I ought to point out that this is purely my definition, takes place when
the transition from flight to flat is entirely seamless, one minute the sailplane is floating
effortlessly within inches of the ground, the next the wheel is rumbling and you can actually
see the lift dying from under the wings as she slows and comes to rest. Hopefully, you will
be able to hold the wings level until the last moment, and prevent the usual tip-snag and
semi-ground loop that bedevils a landing on a less than perfect surface. No doubt the full
size practice is somewhat different, landing at unnecessarily high speeds may well cause
dissention in the workshop, but I believe that for models, the best landings come from the
benefit of a slightly higher airspeed. Then you can experience those final, satisfying
seconds before touchdown, skimming the surface of the ground and utilising the spoilers
to designate the exact point of contact.
There are no shortcuts to pulling off a good landing, not just now and again that is, but
with consistency, and it boils down to this: practice, practice and more practice. First you
have to get to know the efficiency of your airfoil, and this means deliberately setting the
glider up to land short, and then pulling back to see how far you can stretch it. With many
models, what will happen as the airspeed diminishes is that a wing will suddenly drop, so
get to know if yours falls into this category, Often pilots with such a model come to fear
the stall and do everything to avoid it, which in many ways seems entirely sensible. More
sensible is to stall the machine repeatedly at a safe height under different conditions, i.e.
from straight and level, from a turn etc. This will enable to pilot to know precisely the time
when it’s going to happen, and thus avoid its consequences nearer the ground. You often
see a model set up nicely on the approach suddenly drop a wing and sag to the ground in
the final moment of landing, with practice this is quite avoidable.
As we reach the end of this little homily, I would beseech you not to be put off by my
description of a typical aerotow event, you have to make allowances for artistic
interpretation. Although our aim is to emulate the full-size as much as possible, there are
inescapable differences between the two, and it would not be sensible to try to take the
comparison too far. When things go wrong for model pilots, nine times out of ten it is
because unforeseen circumstances have suddenly cropped up, and the pilot has not got
the experience to cope. This is why commercial pilots spend so much time with their bums
strapped to a simulator, and why our simulation must come from practice.
I must thank that gentleman at the aerotow event for his suggestion, and I sincerely hope
that by now he’s managed to find Mabel...