Very cool! When does the primo gliding season start? When the weather and rising air currents are best?
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Soaring
- Thread starter RayDunzl
- Start date
OP
- Thread Starter
- #462
Springtime seems to give the highest flights around here.
Warm, but not too warm, not too humid, not rainy season.
Last year May 29 gave me 8509 feet, close to a Florida Record.
With more humidity, summer, the air doesn't have to rise as far before it condenses into cloud, which we can't enter.
There's a Contest nearby at Seminole Lake Gliderport (22 miles by air) soon. It's a commercial operation, not a club.
I see some people practicing for it, I think. https://www.soarfl.com/upcoming_events/
I'll go over one day during the contest to ogle the gear and chat with the wives while the men are out battling the elements.
Many, if not most, ultra high performance planes are equipped with gas or electric motors now, not permitted to use in the contest, but gives a psychological advantage when you are far from a landing place, getting low, and getting "scared". Some are powerful enough to take off, others just enough to keep you up or gain some altitude till you find good lift again. I read 90% of the new construction "gliders" include "self launch" or "sustainer" motors, gas and electric versions available.
My feeble little flight shown in red to compare with the "pros" that show up in their motor homes and $200,000 worth of gear:
Warm, but not too warm, not too humid, not rainy season.
Last year May 29 gave me 8509 feet, close to a Florida Record.
With more humidity, summer, the air doesn't have to rise as far before it condenses into cloud, which we can't enter.
There's a Contest nearby at Seminole Lake Gliderport (22 miles by air) soon. It's a commercial operation, not a club.
I see some people practicing for it, I think. https://www.soarfl.com/upcoming_events/
I'll go over one day during the contest to ogle the gear and chat with the wives while the men are out battling the elements.
Many, if not most, ultra high performance planes are equipped with gas or electric motors now, not permitted to use in the contest, but gives a psychological advantage when you are far from a landing place, getting low, and getting "scared". Some are powerful enough to take off, others just enough to keep you up or gain some altitude till you find good lift again. I read 90% of the new construction "gliders" include "self launch" or "sustainer" motors, gas and electric versions available.
My feeble little flight shown in red to compare with the "pros" that show up in their motor homes and $200,000 worth of gear:
What kind of horsepower do these assisted gliders operate with?
OP
- Thread Starter
- #464
Self Launch needs more power - maybe up to 80 (some would be two-seat gliders), 68kW electric mentioned.
Sustainer - 30Hp and 30kw maybe.
Here's an example of a small glider 913.5m wing) and FES - front electric sustainer.
Magnets hold the prop to the fuselage when retracted, spinning the electric motor makes them extend.
Otherwise you have to contend with some kind of pop-up arrangement:
This one is electric:
Gas powered could hang an engine up there, or use a belt drive with the engine inside the fuselage but also rotating up with the propeller.
Jets are available too:
How much ya wanna spend?
Sustainer - 30Hp and 30kw maybe.
Here's an example of a small glider 913.5m wing) and FES - front electric sustainer.
Magnets hold the prop to the fuselage when retracted, spinning the electric motor makes them extend.
Otherwise you have to contend with some kind of pop-up arrangement:
This one is electric:
Gas powered could hang an engine up there, or use a belt drive with the engine inside the fuselage but also rotating up with the propeller.
Jets are available too:
How much ya wanna spend?
OP
- Thread Starter
- #465
I kinda like what I have, for recreational use.
No exploding batteries.
No fuel explosion to burn me up when I crash.
No exploding batteries.
No fuel explosion to burn me up when I crash.
Multicore
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2021
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Yeah, with the wind-up rubber band drive mechanism. I'm a traditionalist.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #468
Wednesday was a really nice day.
Here are some statistics for three flights by three different gliders and pilots.
Top - LAK 17-A with 18 meter wings and winglets, advertised Lift/Drag of 50:1
Middle - LS4 with 15 meter wings and L/D of 40:1
Bottom - me in the SGS 1-35C with an L/D of (maybe) 36:1, but probably less.
L/D being how many feet forward the glider might traverse for each foot of drop in altitude. Higher is better.
All three got about the same rate of rise while circling in lift.
The straight line speeds weren't too far off (I've been trying to fly faster recently)
But there's a definate difference in Mean L/D - mine doesn't have a retractable wheel, it sticks out the bottom. The other two are "sleek" fiberglass, mine is "wavy" aluminum skin.
Perfomance in Glide - no circling in lift, but often there can be long stretches of rising air (or sinking air, if not so forunate)
The last column is L/D again, averaging the rises and falls while cruising.
The longest glides of the LAK and LS4 were from somewhere distant to the airport to landing.
My flight (red) vs the other two. I'm a little more (OK, a lot more) timid about trusting my ability to keep it in the air while too distant to glide back to the airport without finding lift along the way.
Here are some statistics for three flights by three different gliders and pilots.
Top - LAK 17-A with 18 meter wings and winglets, advertised Lift/Drag of 50:1
Middle - LS4 with 15 meter wings and L/D of 40:1
Bottom - me in the SGS 1-35C with an L/D of (maybe) 36:1, but probably less.
L/D being how many feet forward the glider might traverse for each foot of drop in altitude. Higher is better.
All three got about the same rate of rise while circling in lift.
The straight line speeds weren't too far off (I've been trying to fly faster recently)
But there's a definate difference in Mean L/D - mine doesn't have a retractable wheel, it sticks out the bottom. The other two are "sleek" fiberglass, mine is "wavy" aluminum skin.
Perfomance in Glide - no circling in lift, but often there can be long stretches of rising air (or sinking air, if not so forunate)
The last column is L/D again, averaging the rises and falls while cruising.
The longest glides of the LAK and LS4 were from somewhere distant to the airport to landing.
My flight (red) vs the other two. I'm a little more (OK, a lot more) timid about trusting my ability to keep it in the air while too distant to glide back to the airport without finding lift along the way.
coordinates, wind speed, like just trying to show the reaction
Better timid than on the ground in the middle of nowhere (or a neighbor hood, or on a house!) I can only imagine experience will help, both in finding lift and in trips further from the landing strip.
Do y'all have radios to exchange information about desirable flight paths for lift and such?
Do y'all have radios to exchange information about desirable flight paths for lift and such?
Multicore
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2021
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OP
- Thread Starter
- #472
Gliders are not required to have radios. But we use them.
Aviation frequencies are AM.
Most of us use handhelds, which receive the Power Plane transmissions well, and they hear us, with their outside antennas.
But handheld to handheld is a little sketchy, due to lower power and short antenna. Think more like a "walkie talkie".
- Panel-Mount: 8-16 watts—higher power, better range (up to 100 miles), tied to aircraft systems.
- Handheld: 5-6 watts—lower power, shorter range (10-25 miles typical), self-contained.
So, mostly, I fly around and listen to the airport traffic on 123.075Mhz, hear about glider launches and landings, the Skydiver plane activity, and the general traffic using the "other" runway, and the airport Automated Weather on 118.975, and if we wanted to just yap to each other it would be on 123.300, which is designated for "air to air" between gliders. The airport weather reports the wind speed and direction, you'd want to land "into" the wind, and be aware of crosswind or gusty conditions before planning a landing.
In the summer, thunderstorms pop up, and wind conditions near them (10 miles or so) can change quickly and strongly. This time of year the wind tends to be consistent through the day. Dry season until late May or June.
Every airport has their own frequencis, some overlap, as Zephyrhills and Deland use the same frequency. It can be confusing for us as both airports have a common runway number 5/23 and both host skydivers. DeLand is 75 miles away, sometimes you hear them, sometimes not. You should announce the airport when transmitting.
Zephyrhills - https://www.airnav.com/airport/kzph
DeLand - https://www.airnav.com/airport/kded
Neither airport has a control tower, pilots communicate their intentions on the CTAF frequency.
The towered airports in the area, Tampa and Lakeland and others, have their own set of frequencies, and utilize many more channels - https://www.airnav.com/airport/ktpa
If you want to see a VFR aviation map - www.skyvector.com
Locally:
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OP
- Thread Starter
- #473
Gliders lining up for launch, and one glider in the air, as the "sniffer" for what the thermal conditions are near the airfield for another day of the 2025 Seniors Contest at Seminole Lake Gliderport. About 70 driving miles from here, 50 air miles.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #474
If you want to watch...
glidertracker.de
GliderTracker - OGN Websocket Client
Track glider arround the world. Watch competitions in real time! Elevation graphs, task integration and much more!
glidertracker.de
Last edited:
OP
- Thread Starter
- #475
Launching the grid now...
Probably have 5 tow planes operating, and launching about one glider per minute.
Probably have 5 tow planes operating, and launching about one glider per minute.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #476
They will fly around the local area for a while, until enough gliders are launched, then an "Official Start Time" will be announced, then thy'll fly through a cylinder 5 miles wide, with upper and lowert altitude limits, and then be off to fly past three designated turn points, then back through a finish 3 mile cylinder near the gliderport, with a minimum altitude.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #477
Some of the contest flight tracks yesterday... About 75 miles north to south...
Three of the pilots with motors felt they had to start them to get back.
Three others "landed out".
This list has only those that log flights to this service, about half of the racers.
www.onlinecontest.org
Three of the pilots with motors felt they had to start them to get back.
Three others "landed out".
This list has only those that log flights to this service, about half of the racers.
OLC - The Gliding / Paragliding / Hanggliding Contest
On-Line Contest (OLC) The worldwide leading database and scoring system for gliding, paragliding and hanggliding.
www.onlinecontest.org
Something in your future?Some of the contest flight tracks yesterday... About 75 miles north to south...
Three of the pilots with motors felt they had to start them to get back.
View attachment 435359
Three others "landed out".
This list has only those that log flights to this service, about half of the racers.
OLC - The Gliding / Paragliding / Hanggliding Contest
On-Line Contest (OLC) The worldwide leading database and scoring system for gliding, paragliding and hanggliding.
I'm not so sure, since it would add complexity, cost, and weight to the glider. But nowhere near my area of expertise!
