Help Required for Glider Flightplanning
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 263
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From: Texas, USA
Help Required for Glider Flightplanning
Can anyone summarise glider flight planning for me, as I already know about this for light aircraft, but not for gliders ....
Thanks for any responses !!!!
Thanks for any responses !!!!
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 339
Likes: 0
From: Abingdon, Oxfordshire, U.K.
Kabs, Polzin.. .I`m not going to get into any inter State arguments with you lot. I was fortunate enough to go to Oshkosh last year, I flew there from Calgary in a 182 and felt that I didn`t much fancy the thought of navigating by mapreading over that terrain. There was rather a lack of specifically identifiable features. I suppose it`s what you are used to.. .That`s the clue as to how it`s done Kabs, draw a line on the map and try to follow it. BG (Before GPS)you relied on reading the map to get you to the turning point or destination. Most active cross country glider pilots, ( I do not count myself as one of their number), don`t need the map as they know every inch of the ground anyway.
Mike W
Mike W
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 263
Likes: 0
From: Texas, USA
Well, thanks for the help guys... not.
Anyways, I used an article a local instructor wrote about how to xcountry plan for gliding.
In summary, here's the info ...
1. Decide your start and destination.
2. Plan the route, using intermediate airports as landing sites, for if you have to land out.
3. Use 0.5 of published best l/d ratio to calculate go-ahead points between waypoints. e.g. you might have a go-ahead at 6 nm (1/2 way between two waypoints 12nm apart) with a go-ahead altitude of say 4000 feet. These give you some assurance that you can make it to the next waypoint. Allow 1000 + FE so that you have height to make a normal pattern at the waypoint if necessary.
4. Plot your course and mark the go-ahead points.
5. Use 3/4 of best l/d to calculate final glide circles back from your destination, so that you know what height is 'safe' to just glide in from.
Hope this helps someone.
Anyways, I used an article a local instructor wrote about how to xcountry plan for gliding.
In summary, here's the info ...
1. Decide your start and destination.
2. Plan the route, using intermediate airports as landing sites, for if you have to land out.
3. Use 0.5 of published best l/d ratio to calculate go-ahead points between waypoints. e.g. you might have a go-ahead at 6 nm (1/2 way between two waypoints 12nm apart) with a go-ahead altitude of say 4000 feet. These give you some assurance that you can make it to the next waypoint. Allow 1000 + FE so that you have height to make a normal pattern at the waypoint if necessary.
4. Plot your course and mark the go-ahead points.
5. Use 3/4 of best l/d to calculate final glide circles back from your destination, so that you know what height is 'safe' to just glide in from.
Hope this helps someone.
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 339
Likes: 0
From: Abingdon, Oxfordshire, U.K.
Its different in UK.. .1. We dont that often get to 4000 ft.to start with.. .2. Most of the UK is landable and we are not overly welcome at airfields anyway.
Come on, someone with some real cross country flying skills put an oar in.
Mike W
Come on, someone with some real cross country flying skills put an oar in.
Mike W
