Blindrodie wrote:I'm the only pilot I know who used the R/C glider technique. Would like to hear from others.
I use to do the hand catch all the time JD. Never thought if it as a teacher but you're correct. If you can do the hand catch correctly (I always had a slightly down-slope long straight in final to the hand) it
can help! I use a Gentle Lady.
8)
It's super easy with a Gentle Lady but it's still going to help and probably a fair amount. I do it with an Ava Pro 125" span and it's preferable not to use the spoilers.
What this did for me is make my mind focus very, very hard on the set-up which is something I seldom accomplished in over 1000 HG landings.
Even if it was a good landing it wasn't done with full mental focus and so it wasn't really a good landing when considered in terms of future landings.
The Ava Pro is expensive and fragile and so there is this big motivation to not blow it.
In case I realized I couldn't catch it then I needed to keep it from damage by the plethora of gopher mounds in my local glider park.
So I still needed total focus and set-up planning all the way until it came to a full stop.
Typically when trying to discuss landing technique with other HGs it turns into a BS and braggadocio-fest whether it's online or in the LZ.
The net result historically is that landings haven't improved much if at all. A very sad development.
As a consequence of this toxic environment within the sport I stopped caring about the whole issue.
I wonder whether this negative culture has contributed to the sport's demise. I really don't know.
You have raised a good point. Where I'm using a $1,200 competition R/C glider to help my HG landings by doing hand-catches over a poor landing surface, it may also be accomplished with much less at risk.
The whole purpose of the task of course is a form of brain training or neural programming but it's readily availble to everyone and can be done very inexpensively.
The other issue I often see is pilots who execute excellent set-ups and fail to flare fully or do a combination of flare and foot steps during the flare window.
I do believe that the R/C glider hand catches also help with this because if you don't commit to that last pull up on the joy stick you can blow the catch and the glider may cartwheel into the ground and get damaged.
So there is a similar mind-state required between doing a deep stall entry with the R/C as there is with flaring the HG.
Alternately, I feel there is nothing wrong with landing on a good set of wheels. I even modified a streamlined aluminum speedbar to accept the 8" Finsterwalder pneumatic wheels.
I will caution that a gentleman attempted to land on his pneumatic wheels at Andy Jackson Airpark and they stuck fast which resulted in a whack and donkey punch to the back of his head when he swung all the way through.
I broke his glider down then visited him in the E/R (claiming to be his nephew). I let him know that his wheels where almost fully deflated. They are designed to run at up to 35PSI and his were at maybe 2PSI at most.
He could have been paralyzed or killed by this error. His explanation ran along the lines of the wheels being more compliant with rough terrain if they were deflated. He never tested his hypothesis in a controlled study and paid for it.
So, everything has its limitations.
Cheers, JD