That's the relative wind indicator. On sailplanes and motorgliders, a streamer or a piece of textile material (many pilots just use a length of ordinary yarn, taped in the middle of the canopy, often at its bottom edge) indicates the direction of the air that's flowing directly over that area. The relative wind indicator helps pilots avoid--or end--side-slips (they can occur in a local crosswind, even if the aircraft is flying straight and level with respect to the ground or a ridge), which create more drag and waste altitude when the aircraft's fuselage is moving at an angle with respect to the local air flow. Also: In both of the sailplanes that I rode in (a Schweizer 2-33 and a World War II-vintage Schweizer TG-3), in the summer of 1975 in Florida, the relative wind indicator was just a piece of brightly-colored yarn, taped to the middle of the canopy, along the bottom edge. I got to operate the controls during both flights, and both times the pilot told me--when making a banking turn--to keep the yarn centered on the canopy, because that meant we weren't sliding at an angle through the local parcel of moving air. (In today's RC model sailplanes and model motorgliders that have FPV--["Flight Point of View" or "First-Person View"] live video cameras, such relative wind indicators could be set up on the models, such that they could be seen on the pilots' FPV video monitors.)
They are not tufts. I just used Tyvek tape to seal the compartment. It's mostly white, with repetitive markings that you see and it has very good adhesive. Wind over 20 Knots is best for me. Torrey is not as "busy" when the wind is very strong.
@@russowens3737 Oops--I stand corrected, then (regarding my posting below, about the tufts serving as a relative wind indicator); they do look oddly-placed for that purpose (although any freely-fluttering portions of the Tyvek seal that are visible while looking forward ^could^ be utilized as relative wind indicators, if desired).
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Great video of soaring Torrey, definitely busy... Thanks for posting, hope to Sys more. BTW, What are the tufts around the parachute hatch?
That's the relative wind indicator. On sailplanes and motorgliders, a streamer or a piece of textile material (many pilots just use a length of ordinary yarn, taped in the middle of the canopy, often at its bottom edge) indicates the direction of the air that's flowing directly over that area. The relative wind indicator helps pilots avoid--or end--side-slips (they can occur in a local crosswind, even if the aircraft is flying straight and level with respect to the ground or a ridge), which create more drag and waste altitude when the aircraft's fuselage is moving at an angle with respect to the local air flow. Also:
In both of the sailplanes that I rode in (a Schweizer 2-33 and a World War II-vintage Schweizer TG-3), in the summer of 1975 in Florida, the relative wind indicator was just a piece of brightly-colored yarn, taped to the middle of the canopy, along the bottom edge. I got to operate the controls during both flights, and both times the pilot told me--when making a banking turn--to keep the yarn centered on the canopy, because that meant we weren't sliding at an angle through the local parcel of moving air. (In today's RC model sailplanes and model motorgliders that have FPV--["Flight Point of View" or "First-Person View"] live video cameras, such relative wind indicators could be set up on the models, such that they could be seen on the pilots' FPV video monitors.)
Oops, “Hope to SEE more”
They are not tufts. I just used Tyvek tape to seal the compartment. It's mostly white, with repetitive markings that you see and it has very good adhesive. Wind over 20 Knots is best for me. Torrey is not as "busy" when the wind is very strong.
@@russowens3737 Oops--I stand corrected, then (regarding my posting below, about the tufts serving as a relative wind indicator); they do look oddly-placed for that purpose (although any freely-fluttering portions of the Tyvek seal that are visible while looking forward ^could^ be utilized as relative wind indicators, if desired).