This is a typical post from the good old days when RCSE was
young. But like all of us, RCSE declined with age. This is what
made RCSE so great. Now all we get is what is the latest and
greatest moldy and who won the last contest. Maybe it is time for
RCSE to depart.
This was the first of several posts Joe made about dynamic soaring.
Chuck Anderson
From: Joe Wurts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 28 May 96 02:35:19 EDT
Subject: Dynamic Soaring
Status: RO
For quite a long time I've heard about "dynamic soaring", but have
almost never really used it in any operational sense while flying rc
gliders. In fact, I've kind of filed it under the Holy Grail
category. Just one of those things that you read about. But I've now
had a bit of practical experience with it.
One of the slopes that I have been flying at has a very pronounced
"razor back" to it (Parker Mountain near Acton CA). What is really
neat about it is that the air behind the hill is completely
separated. That is, it can be blowing 25 mph on the face, and behind
the hill, it is almost calm and sometimes even blowing softly in the
opposite direction. It turns out that this is an absolutely perfect
set-up for dynamic soaring. All you have to do is fly straight
down-wind over the hill into the calm air and turn around. If you
want, when you come back over the upwind face, turn around and
repeat. With each turn, you get an amazing boost in the energy of
the glider.The first time I really played with this was with my
Floyd, and on the second go-around I fluttered the wings. The plane
will take an extended vertical dive without any possibility of
flutter, so I was able to get it to above the terminal velocity of
the glider in horizontal flight!!!
One thing that is especially wild is when the wind dies down a bit,
and you can just stay up in the normal lift in minimum sink mode.
Start doing the orbiting for the dynamic soaring and you can get up
to about three times the speed that you can when you just fly in the
normal slope lift. Wild stuff. What really gets entertaining is
when you make a mistake behind the hill. The air is a bit turbulent,
and occasionally I miss the air (read: smite the earth). This is
where a good foamie comes in handy. I woulda never really
investigated this phenomena without a crash-proof plane.
If your slope has separated air behind the hill, and you do not mind
occasionally crashing while you learn a new trick, give this a
try. Caution, I'd recommend trying this maneuver out sometime when
you have the hill to yourself. It takes a little getting used to...
And a hint, the lower you go on the downwind side, the better off you
are (more delta-vee typically).
Joe Wurts
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