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
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