> 60 degree banks at low level/half circuit height are the way to go when > turning back from a rope break, I predict that the accident rate will soar > (pardon the pun) with "spiralling-in" being the new buzzword.
Only if you are unable to fly an aircraft properly... Turns like this are done by ridge soaring pilots all the time, you are often much closer to the ground than 400'. It is not about mandating anything, it is about possibilities when faced with a rope break. It is about assessing the conditions situation before take-off during your pre-take off checks. Given a long strip, and very light winds or almost due crosswind, a 180 degree turn after a rope break is an 'option', if the land ahead options are not there and you are too low to do a modified circuit to another runway. Increasingly, airfields are being surrounded by housing, hence landing options in event of a rope break are becoming rarer. If there is a cross wind, remember to turn into the wind, because the wind will then push you back to aid in lining up with the strip. Doing a 180 degree turn to land does not require wild procedure turns to line yourself up, using a minimum radius turn should put you no more than 115m away from the runway midline. Mike, are you being serious with the comment?: >I take it you aren't a fan of a quick pull to vertical, stall turn and recover >from dive going in the opposite direction with minimum offset? Seriously, Mike, is that what you would do in that situation? >You have also not shown that 60 degrees is a minimum height loss just lower >than 30 and 45 degrees. I have shown it is the minimum height loss when given a choice of 30, 45 or 60 degree AOB. Can you provide alternate figures and formulae to support what you say? 60 degree AOB provides a smaller radius turn, it does not involve extreme angles of bank and or pitch, hence a newly solo pilot should be able to manage it. With regard to the Bergie figures, apologies to Anthony (the figures were from POLAR10.xls). Thus lower sink rates would lead to lesser height loss in the turn. _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
