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Old 25th Jul 2015, 23:34
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deefer dog
 
Join Date: May 2010
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Yes John, yes!!

Sorry Mary, but airbrakes are different to spoilers. When you pull the airbrakes on a glider the first thing that happens is a drastic reduction in airspeed due to the immense drag. (Sure, they diminish the lift, but that is a secondary effect). To regain the speed one lowers the nose and achieves the desired objective of steepening the glide.

Spoilers on the other hand make little or no difference to the airspeed, and mainly serve to reduce the lift, which again serves to steepen the glide angle but without changing the pitch.
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