In the absence of a tower, it is the responsibility
of the pilots involved to sequence themselves
in proper order for a safe landing. To make this
task easier, we fly specific traffic patterns
so you know where to look for other traffic.
The alert pilot will also be aware that someone
may not be flying a standard pattern; they might
even be landing downwind.
According to the FAR'S,
unless there is a segmented circle indicating
otherwise, all airplanes should make left hand
turns in the pattern. Also the aircraft at the
lower altitude has the right of way. The FAR'S
do not require that gliders make left hand turns
but if you are intermixing with other traffic
it would be best to conform with their established
pattern if possible. The normal pattern for airplanes
at most airports is a 45 degree angle mid-field
entry into the downwind leg at approximately
800 feet agl. Maintain the 800 feet until abeam
your intended touch down spot and then continue
your decent, turning base and final at the appropriate
time.
In order to better judge the wind strength,
most glider operations add a crosswind leg to
the pattern. At CCSC we have established our
IP's (initial point) at 1000 feet agl over the
opposite end of the runway from our intended
landing runway. When landing on runway 27 you
should cross the west end of the runway on a
southerly heading at 1000 feet. Since we fly
a right hand pattern when landing on runway 9,
you should cross the east end of the runway on
a southerly heading. From there on you should
not have a fixed altitude for any reference point
in the pattern.
As wind and weather conditions
change, your pattern should also change. As you
reach the IP you should adjust the elevator trim
for the proper pattern speed, 55 mph minimum
for a 2-33 on a calm day. Add 1/2 mph airspeed
for each mph of wind. Look for other air traffic
and check the landing area for gliders that have
just landed. As you are moving on the down-wind
leg it would be wise to test the dive brakes,
select your intended touchdown point and try
to keep about a 30 degree angle between your
sight angle and the ground as you turn to base
leg. Maintaining this 30 degree angle on all
approaches will result in a wider pattern if
you are high, or a tighter pattern if you are
low. Remember, you have to adjust for the conditions
at the time. Flying a 2-33 into a 25 mph wind
reduces the glide angle to about 10 to 1.
Most
students do not have a problem getting to this
point but flying from base leg to the touchdown
is arguably the most difficult part of learning
to fly. If you haven't already decided which
landing lane you are going to use, you should
do this on base leg and then turn final on the
centerline of that lane. From the point where
you turn from base to final, unless you alter
your flight path or sink rate, there is one spot
where you are going to touch down. Since we can't
lessen the sink rate we want to be sure that
we are high. There are several corrections to
make if we are too high but there are no corrections
to make if we are too low. During your training
you have been practicing airspeed control by
pitch attitude and sound, here is where you put
that to use. Controlling airspeed is one of the
most important factors in landing but you must
be alert to what is going on outside the cockpit,
so don't stare at the airspeed indicator. Most
experienced glider pilots can tell their airspeed
within 2 or 3 mph just by the air noise and pitch
attitude.
As we turn from base to final we look
at our previously selected touchdown point. There
is one point out in front of you that is your
actual touchdown point. This is a point that
is stationary in the canopy, not moving up or
down. To illustrate, think of a spot not far
in front of the glider; it will be moving down
on the canopy and soon be behind you. Now pick
out a spot on the horizon, as the glider gets
lower, that spot will be moving up on the canopy.
Somewhere in between the two extremes there is
one spot that will remain stationary; that is
your actual touchdown spot. Now all you have
to do is adjust your glide path so that the selected
and actual touchdown points coincide. Finding
that spot in the canopy that doesn't move is
like looking for the hidden scene in one of those
3 D pictures, it takes practice and patience
but it can be done. If the stationary spot is
below your selected touchdown spot, you have
goofed and there is no correction; you are going
to land short.. We use displaced thresholds on
the glider landing areas of both runways in order
to minimize problems with short landings. If
the stationary spot is above your selected touchdown
spot, you only need to increase your sink rate
with dive brakes or a slip or a combination of
both as necessary.
One common problem when high,
is a tendency to point the nose at the intended
touchdown spot. This does not increase the sink
rate, it just increases the airspeed and causes
the glider to float farther down the runway in
ground effect and results in a longer landing
than you would have had in the first place. Once
you are on final, hold your airspeed constant
and adjust your rate of decent with dive brakes
and slips. Even though the best speed for the
most efficient slip in a 2-33 is 45 to 50 mph,
a slip is still very effective at the recommended
pattern speed. If you let the speed build up
too much though, the slip becomes less effective.
Once we have flown a proper pattern and have
established ourselves on a glide path that will
end at our intended touchdown point we have to
get the beast on the ground and stopped. There
are two basic ways to land and as you might have
guessed there are two schools of thought on how
it should be done. You should learn both, and
as you develop more experience decide which is
best for you in the particular aircraft you are
flying. First is the full stall landing which
has come into favor recently; mostly for the
three wheel "tail dragger" type gliders. For
this type of landing you gradually reduce your
speed as you get lower and try to achieve a stall
just as the main wheel touches the ground. Because
the center of gravity is behind the main wheels,
this is the preferred type of landing in most
cases, for conventional gear ( tailwheel ) airplanes,
In a 2-33 with a pilot on board, the CG is in
front of the main wheel so most people prefer
a "wheel" landing. In this type of landing we
round out about five feet or so above the ground,
slowing the descent rate somewhat and then flying
the glider on to the ground at about 45 mph.
With the CG in front of the main wheel, the nose
tends to go lower at touchdown reducing the angle
of attack. This prevents the glider from becoming
airborne again; but it helps to put just a little
forward pressure on the stick as soon as you
touch down.
Now that we are on the ground we
still have to keep on "flying" until we are stopped.
We still have control until the airspeed drops
to around 15 mph, after which we have no control
except for the wheel brake. It is important to
have the glider headed in the direction you want
it to go before you lose control, especially
if there is a crosswind. In a crosswind the glider
will tend to weathercock in to the wind and it
will take a judicious amount of rudder to keep
it straight until you are stopped. There are
hundreds of variations in landings and it all
goes back to the old saw that you use the proper
input into the controls to make the glider do
what you want it to do.
