Re: [RCSE] A defense of training beginners via slope
- Original Message - Not to mention the humbling experience of the famous Walk of Shame The Walk of Shame is usually associated with combat. My guess is most beginners won't be doing combat right way. The way I see it, learning on a slope has the advantages of: 1. No high start or winch to get used to. 2. Your plane is much closer to you so it's easier for a beginner to tell what it's doing. 3. The lift is much easier to find than with just thermal flying so the beginner will get longer flights which equate to faster learning. 4. There are a lot of slope EPP foam planes out there to choose from. Plenty of them fly slow enough for a beginner and are really hard to tear up. Tape and CA will take care of most field repairs and there is almost nothing Goop won't fix once you get home. The only disadvantage I see to learning on a slope is that a lot of people live in slope challenged places. Randy RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
[RCSE] A defense of training beginners via slope
Someone pointed out that slope foamies were a 'weird' choice for teaching beginners, and while I'll admit that I momentarily forgot that RCSE is 95% about thermal flying, a fine and noble pursuit in itself, I think that giving beginners their first flights at a slope has some benefits. First and foremost, the lift is always 'on.' While you can glide for awhile after launch at a thermal site if no lift is found, lift is abundant on a slope. Another benefit is that the glider can be flown close to the pilot, and even hovered into the wind. It isn't even necessary to fly the glider toward the beginner pilot, so they can learn the habit of moving the sticks opposite its apparent movement after they get used to flying normally. It isn't typical to spend much time flying toward yourself at the slope anyhow. Flights also tend to last longer at the slope, so a lot of practice can be packed into one session. Obviously all kinds of gliders can be flown at the slope, depending on wind conditions. Jeff RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
Re: [RCSE] A defense of training beginners via slope
Jeff, You are spot on about teaching at the slope except for one small part. Actually you fly back at yourself a lot on the slope if you fly back and forth along the face of the slope. That is one of the really great teaching aspects of going to the slope for training purpose along with the other fine points you already made. When training a new pilot on the slope and with the plane flying back down the slope towards the pilot, if the plane turns towards the slope you can teach them to push the stick towards the slope so the plane will fly away. I usually demonstrate this to them a couple of times to show them what I mean. I also use a similar approach when landing coming at you, but use the wing as the guide. I tell the student if the plane is flying at you, to always push the stick in the direction of the low wing to bring it back to level. After I get them feeling comfortable with those tips, I explain that you have to visualize yourself setting in the plane. The nice thing about the slope is that a lot of the time you can teach a pilot the basics of control in just one flight. Of course it is not at all hard to keep him in the air for 30 minutes to an hour or even longer. Not generally the case at the thermal field. See Ya, Pat McCleave Wichita KS - Original Message - From: Jeff Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Soaring@airage.com Sent: Monday, May 29, 2006 1:12 PM Subject: [RCSE] A defense of training beginners via slope Someone pointed out that slope foamies were a 'weird' choice for teaching beginners, and while I'll admit that I momentarily forgot that RCSE is 95% about thermal flying, a fine and noble pursuit in itself, I think that giving beginners their first flights at a slope has some benefits. First and foremost, the lift is always 'on.' While you can glide for awhile after launch at a thermal site if no lift is found, lift is abundant on a slope. Another benefit is that the glider can be flown close to the pilot, and even hovered into the wind. It isn't even necessary to fly the glider toward the beginner pilot, so they can learn the habit of moving the sticks opposite its apparent movement after they get used to flying normally. It isn't typical to spend much time flying toward yourself at the slope anyhow. Flights also tend to last longer at the slope, so a lot of practice can be packed into one session. Obviously all kinds of gliders can be flown at the slope, depending on wind conditions. Jeff RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
Re: [RCSE] A defense of training beginners via slope
Less stressfull.Not to mention the humbling experience of the famous Walk of Shame - Original Message - From: Pat McCleave [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Monday, May 29, 2006 6:50 pm Subject: Re: [RCSE] A defense of training beginners via slope Jeff, You are spot on about teaching at the slope except for one small part. Actually you fly back at yourself a lot on the slope if you fly back and forth along the face of the slope. That is one of the really great teaching aspects of going to the slope for training purpose along with the other fine points you already made. When training a new pilot on the slope and with the plane flying back down the slope towards the pilot, if the plane turns towards the slope you can teach them to push the stick towards the slope so the plane will fly away. I usually demonstrate this to them a couple of times to show them what I mean. I also use a similar approach when landing coming at you, but use the wing as the guide. I tell the student if the plane is flying at you, to always push the stick in the direction of the low wing to bring it back to level. After I get them feeling comfortable with those tips, I explain that you have to visualize yourself setting in the plane. The nice thing about the slope is that a lot of the time you can teach a pilot the basics of control in just one flight. Of course it is not at all hard to keep him in the air for 30 minutes to an hour or even longer. Not generally the case at the thermal field. See Ya, Pat McCleave Wichita KS - Original Message - From: Jeff Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Soaring@airage.com Sent: Monday, May 29, 2006 1:12 PM Subject: [RCSE] A defense of training beginners via slope Someone pointed out that slope foamies were a 'weird' choice for teaching beginners, and while I'll admit that I momentarily forgot that RCSE is 95% about thermal flying, a fine and noble pursuit in itself, I think that giving beginners their first flights at a slope has some benefits. First and foremost, the lift is always 'on.' While you can glide for awhile after launch at a thermal site if no lift is found, lift is abundant on a slope. Another benefit is that the glider can be flown close to the pilot, and even hovered into the wind. It isn't even necessary to fly the glider toward the beginner pilot, so they can learn the habit of moving the sticks opposite its apparent movement after they get used to flying normally. It isn't typical to spend much time flying toward yourself at the slope anyhow. Flights also tend to last longer at the slope, so a lot of practice can be packed into one session. Obviously all kinds of gliders can be flown at the slope, depending on wind conditions. Jeff RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to soaring- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
Re: [RCSE] A defense of training beginners via slope
Jeff Thompson wrote: ... and while I'll admit that I momentarily forgot that RCSE is 95% about thermal flying Try something more like 99.9% ;) Steve RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
