A Coward’s Guide to Beginning Cross Country Soaring From Ridgeland Paul Olsen Lowcountry Soaring Association September 2005

Progression of a Glider Pilot Flight Training

Solo: Takeoff, Airwork and Landing practice

Private pilot: Flying passengers, Local soaring

Ridge soaring, Mountain flying, New airfields, Advanced gliders Boredom Boys

Competition

Cross country soaring

Men

Cross-country flying is a new challenge once you are comfortable thermalling and are looking for something new, exciting, and only moderately dangerous.

Experience/Knowledge Level Required for Ridgeland Area

• Minimum of advanced solo student status. • High comfort level with thermalling and ability to stay aloft in decent conditions. • Several long duration local thermalling flights under your belt. • Knowledge of local geography and airspace • Familiarity with glider handling and performance polar • Familiarity with glider rigging and de-rigging • Background reading in cross-country flying techniques • Meet club requirements and gain approval of club instructor

Equipment Required for Cross-Country From Ridgeland

• Glider and trailer, for at least 3 hours. If you want to use a club ship, a weekday flight may be your best bet. • Ground crew (aka, someone to drag a trailer out to get you) • Sectional map with course lines nearby airports and landable fields marked radio frequencies noted altitude/performance rings • Glide computer, either electronic or paper variety • water, hat, sunscreen, trail mix or energy bar • cell phone, money for a pay phone, or good walking shoes • phone numbers of ground crew

Working up to leaving 3J1 behind... Some people like to just jump off the deep end, but if you are the easily frightened, cowardly type like me, flying a local triangle around Ridgeland is a good way to build confidence and answer the question: could I make it up to Hampton and back, or would I end up in a watermelon patch outside of Grays if I tried this insane stunt? Try flying around the course mapped on the next page. It is a 12 mile local triangle around home sweet home, Ridgeland SC. The turnpoints are: The gravel pit NE of the field on I-95 The yellow water tower NW of the field The silver roofed barns on the edge of the sod farm Wait for a decent day, and try to fly around the course without staying glued to cloudbase the entire way around. You may need to alter your course a little to stay in lift or to follow the direction of any cloud street. The first time I tried this, I made it around the course twice. The second time, not even twice. You need to get around it four times to cover the distance to Hampton and back. The lesson I learned was: don’t dawdle! The lift doesn’t last forever, so grab some then run!

Step 1: A “Local” Cross Country Flight • 12-mile triangle. • 4 trips around is like going to Hampton and back! •When you get low, 3J1 is within easy reach!

Become Familiar with Glider Performance Glider performance is characterized by a “polar”. The polar is just a plot of forward speed versus sinking speed. Obviously, you want to maximize the former (to cover distance) and minimize the latter (to avoid landing out and use fewer thermals, which slow you down). A little math shows that forward speed divided by sinking speed is equal to Lift/Drag, aka L/D. Since the polar curve is not linear, L/D changes with forward speed. Therefore there is a BEST SPEED TO FLY to maximize L/D. You should have a good feel for: -altitude requirements to go a given distance. -effects of sinking or rising air on your glide ratio. -effects of headwind and tailwind on your glide ratio relative to the ground. Remember, as a beginner you want to maximize your glide ratio. There are two ways to do this: spend a whole lot of money on a slicko glider, then fly the right speed. Experts give up some glide ratio in exchange for speed. But for a cloudbase loving, ground-fearing beginner cross country pilot, Max L/D is the place to be.

Become Familiar with Glider Performance

Sink rate in still air (m/s)

Find the polar for your glider (Russia AC-5M shown. Note polar changes with weight of glider and pilot)

Airspeed (Km/hr)

Become Familiar with Glider Performance Speeds to fly for cheapskates without glide computers: IN LIFT: Fly at minimum sink speed (the high point in the polar) to maximize climb rate IN SINK (interthermal flight: putting miles behind you) Add airmass sink to polar sink. Fly the speed that maximizes speed/(total sink) ratio. This can be done graphically using the polar. IN HEADWIND Subtract headwind from airspeed. Speed to fly for max L/D is unchanged. However, glide angle relative to the ground is reduced. Gliding range is reduced, altitude needed to glide a given distance is increased. IN TAILWIND Speed to fly is unchanged. Glide angle relative to ground is improved. Altitude needed to glide a given distance is reduced.

Graphical Construction of Speeds to Fly Speed for best L/D can be determined mathematically (if you have the equation of the polar curve) or graphically. Graphical method: L/D is equivalent to airspeed/sinkspeed at a point on the polar. The ratio is the slope of the line connecting the origin of the plot to a given polar point airspeed in knots

0 glid e

min sink best L/D sink

sink in knots

ang le

Best L/D speed, still air

Graphical Construction of Speeds to Fly The vertical axis is a plot of total sink. In sinking air, you need a new polar plot that accounts for the added “airmass” sink. Or, you can use the same polar plot, but shift the origin (the zero) upwards by the airmass sinkrate, and replot your best L/D curve. Here’s an example for 2 knots of sink. 2 1 0 min sink

-1

best L/D sink

-2 sink in knots

glid e

ang le

airspeed in knots Best L/D speed in 2 knots of sink (note this is faster than in still air)

Knowing speed to fly while in the air Maybe in a 2-seat glider one of the pilots could plot polars in the air, but for the rest of us, it is better to have a MacCready Speed Ring on the variometer to know the speed to fly. The speed ring is an adjustable bezel around the variometer. Speeds to fly are written on the bezel. For maximum glide angle, the ring should be rotated so that the index value (the lowest value) is aligned with zero on the vario. Then, when in sink, simply fly the speed that the vario needle points at. This method will maximize your use of altitude. However, it costs very little altitude to fly at a MacCready setting of 1, in comparison to the increase in speed over the course that this provides. Competition pilots set the ring at the expected strength of the next thermal. This optimizes the speed over the course. It is risky for a beginner because the increased speed causes a high sinkrate.

Altitude needed to reach a goal The following page includes a table constructed for the PW-5. It combines speed to fly information with headwinds/tailwinds and sink rates to give altitude needed to fly a given distance based on a polar curve for a fixed weight (my 185lb butt plus chute and 5lbs of cargo). The altitude numbers include: 1000 foot arrival altitude 30% margin on calculated L/D as a safety factor. Spreadsheet is available from Paul for anyone who wants it. For math types, the formula for filling in the altitude cells is: 1000ft + (1.30 margin)*6076ft/nm*(distance to glide in nm)*(total sink in knots) /(speed to fly in knots + wind in knots)

Altitude needed to reach a goal: PW-5 includes 1000 foot pattern arrival Includes 30 percent safety factor total sink Vstf wind distance 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 total sink Vstf wind distance 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 total sink Vstf wind distance 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

0.5 45.1 10 tail Total alt needed 1072 1108 1143 1179 1215 1251 1287 1323 1358 1 46.2 10 tail Total alt needed 1141 1211 1281 1351 1422 1492 1562 1632 1703 1.5 48.4 10 tail Total alt needed 1203 1304 1406 1507 1609 1710 1812 1913 2014

Distances in NM Speeds in KNOTS

total sink Vstf wind

0.5 45.1 0

total sink Vstf wind

0.5 45.1 -10 head

total sink Vstf wind

distance

Total alt needed 1088 1131 1175 1219 1263 1306 1350 1394 1438

distance

Total alt needed 1113 1169 1225 1281 1338 1394 1450 1506 1563

distance

total sink Vstf wind

1 46.2 0

total sink Vstf wind

1 46.2 -10 head

total sink Vstf wind

distance

Total alt needed 1171 1256 1342 1427 1513 1598 1684 1769 1855

distance

Total alt needed 1218 1327 1436 1545 1655 1764 1873 1982 2091

distance

total sink Vstf wind

1.5 48.4 0

total sink Vstf wind

1.5 48.4 -10 head

total sink Vstf wind

distance

Total alt needed 1245 1367 1490 1612 1734 1857 1979 2102 2224

distance

Total alt needed 1309 1463 1617 1771 1926 2080 2234 2388 2543

distance

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

2 50.6 10 tail Total alt needed 1261 1391 1521 1652 1782 1912 2043 2173 2303 2.5 53.8 10 tail Total alt needed 1310 1464 1619 1774 1929 2083 2238 2393 2548 3 57 10 tail Total alt needed 1354 1531 1707 1884 2061 2238 2415 2592 2768

total sink Vstf wind

2 50.6 0

total sink Vstf wind

2 50.6 -10 head

distance

Total alt needed 1312 1468 1624 1781 1937 2093 2249 2405 2561

distance

Total alt needed 1389 1584 1778 1973 2167 2362 2556 2751 2946

total sink Vstf wind

2.5 53.8 0

total sink Vstf wind

2.5 53.8 -10 head

distance

Total alt needed 1367 1551 1734 1918 2101 2285 2468 2652 2835

distance

Total alt needed 1451 1676 1902 2127 2353 2578 2803 3029 3254

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 total sink Vstf wind distance 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

3 57 0 Total alt needed 1416 1624 1831 2039 2247 2455 2663 2871 3079

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 total sink Vstf wind

3 57 -10 head

distance

Total alt needed 1504 1756 2008 2260 2513 2765 3017 3269 3521

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

Altitude needed to reach a goal: PW-5 An alternative to the tabular format is a “whizwheel”. I wrote a program to create one for the PW-5:

Your first “real” cross-country: Ridgeland-Hampton-Ridgeland Ridgeland isn’t the best airport for making an initial cross-country because the directions that you can travel are limited. We need to stay out of the Beaufort MOA and Savannah Class A airspace. Terrain to the west is forested, with no glider-friendly airstrips in close range. Terrain directly north is wet and forested. This leaves the northwest, where the nearest public airport is Hampton-Varnville at 24nm. The following pages include: • a sectional with coursemap to Hampton-Varnville, • photos of the airport • airport information • course with altitude rings for the PW-5 (and similar performance gliders)

Your first “real” cross-country: Ridgeland-Hampton-Ridgeland

x white globe-shaped Nexrad tower somewhere around here

Your first “real” cross-country: Ridgeland-Hampton-Ridgeland

Far-Away and Exotic Hampton-Varnville

Hwy 278

Your first “real” cross-country: Ridgeland-Hampton-Ridgeland Your first turnpoint (or landing spot)

It doesn’t look like much... and it isn’t!

Your first “real” cross-country: Ridgeland-Hampton-Ridgeland

CTAF 122.9

windsock and beacon

Field elevation (it’s uphill from Ridgeland! How can they call it “Ridgeland”???

Your first “real” cross-country: Ridgeland-Hampton-Ridgeland The next map shows the altitude needed to arrive at Ridgeland and HamptonVarnville (as well as Allendale) for the PW-5. It includes a 1000’ arrival altitude and a 50% margin on L/D for headwinds and sink. The rings show that to always be within gliding range of either Ridgeland or Hampton, you need to be at increasing altitude as you head away from either airport, until you reach the midpoint where 5000 feet is needed to be in gliding range of both fields. Since 5000’ days are the exception in the lowcountry, this “stepping stone” type of approach to cross country flying, where an airport is always within reach, is only going to work on the best days. On other days, you’ll have to take the chance that the lift ahead is good enough to span the gap between altitude rings. For example, on a 4000 foot day, you need to judge the sky for several miles either side of Grays to see if you think you can make it across where you will once again be in gliding distance of an airport. Heading out beyond gliding range is when you feel the pucker meter peg out.

Your first “real” cross-country: Ridgeland-Hampton-Ridgeland Altitude rings

5000agl 1000agl

Ridgeland

1000agl

Hampton

Weather conditions for your first cross-country You want a good strong day. For this area, that means - cumulus clouds marking lift - good loft (cloud height) and dark flat bases - well defined cotton-ball type cloud edges, not wispy, gauzy ones. - Cloudbases above 4000 feet. 5000 or higer would be best. - regular spacing of clouds every couple miles - light winds - good visibility If a sea breeze is expected, you’ll want to complete your flight before the sea breeze comes in, because the cool moist air will shut down lift for a while, possibly stranding you in BFE (aka Somewhere Near Gillisonville). This typically means the Spring, sometime in the April/May timeframe, or the fall, around September/October.

Weather conditions for your first cross-country Thermals typically are working hardest during the early afternoon hours.

Weather conditions for your first cross-country Thermal heights tend to grow as the day goes on.

Thermal soaring techniques It’s not as scary if you have cu’s lighting the way. • Fly MacCready speed for best L/D between lift sources • Look ahead, try to pick your course in advance. When you have climbed high under a cumulus, it is hard to see ahead without looking at shadows. It is easier to read the sky when you are at middle-high altitudes. • When reaching a good-looking cu, slow down and make S-turns to search for lift. • Keep track of strongest lift area under a cloud and look at similar position on next cloud. If you are flying on course and finding only a lot of sink, you may be in the sink between cloud streets, Try turning to the side. Several books recommend setting “altitude bands”. For a day with 5000 foot cloudbases, you might fly aggressively, stopping only for strong lift and using a higher Mac Cready setting between 4 & 5000 feet. You could be more cautious, taking moderate lift and flying at low MacCready settings between 3 & 4000 feet. Between 2 & 3000 feet, you would take weaker lift and fly only at best L/D between lift sources. Finally, under 2000’ you would identify landing sights and take any lift you can find. By 1000’, you should be going through your landing checklist and preparing to enter the pattern at your landout airport or field.

Landouts There are a good number of large landable fields just northwest of Ridgeland. The size of fields gets smaller and the quality is lower past that. While you can always keep a field of some type within gliding range while going up to Hampton, there is also a lot of woodland. Can you judge from the air whether a field is large enough to land in? How much of the field at Ridgeland do you need to land and roll to a stop? Before going on a first cross country, try practicing short landings at Ridgeland. Set out markers 500 feet apart. When wind permits, attempt landing on Ridgeland runway 4 (see next page), which is the grass cross-runway in front of the club shelters. Landing this direction will have some novelty, like a landout, but is right at home. Watch out for main runway traffic on downwind! Be aware of landout hazards. Approach hazards include towers, poles, and wires. Field hazards include

Landouts Cross-runway for landout practice

Reading List You can find information on cross country soaring in the usual soaring training books, plus these specialized titles: Ed Byars/Bill Holbrook, Soaring Cross Country (out of print?) Dean Carswell, Cross Country Handbook for Students free at soaringsafety.org/dl/Cross-CountryHandbook.pdf Cross-Country Manual for Glider Pilots Don Ingraham, Landing Out Tom Knauff, Off Field Landings Phil Petmecky, Breaking the Apron Strings Helmut Reichmann, Cross-Country Soaring