This brought back memories! I used to glide in the 1960s-1980s. I got up to Silver C and Gold Height, but drifted away from the sport. I landed out three times uneventfully. Our club, which was in a very flat part of England, did expeditions up to hillier parts like Scotland, which is the only place I have done ridge-soaring and wave-soaring, though not with around such huge expanses of country. Our Chief Flying Instructor spent the first few days teaching us how to ridge soar, since we were all solo but flew only on thermals. I can still remember the initial fright of waving UP at hill-walkers waving DOWN at me while I was plodding up and down the ridge gaining barely 50ft on each pass unless I was REALLY tight into the contours, after which I realized it was far more reliable than thermaling. I find watching this 2010s GoPro imagery is far scarier now than I remember the actual flights being at the time! I feel inspired to return, now that I am retired.
deezynar It was midnight when the glider trailer finally showed up. Not enough light to do a video. :( The land owner is a billion dollar mega farm corporation so I never met them. There was a super cool family living in the farm house (worked at the local potassium mine) who took the other pilot and me out to town to have pizza while we waited for our trailers to arrive. No damage was done to the field. Once the trailer showed up, it took 10 minutes to pull off the wings and tail and put everything into the trailer. Gliders and trailers for them are made for this exact thing and it is crazy easy how simple it is to take them apart and put back together for transport. Thanks for watching!
Bruno Vassel Thanks for the reply. I wouldn't want anyone sticking a camera in some stranger's face, I'm just curious about how people respond to a glider landing on their property. In this case, the folks were just caretakers, but I'm sure that's the exception to the rule. Have you ever heard any other pilots say that they ever ran into an angry landowner?
deezynar As a notorius out lander, let me answer this for Bruno. If no damage is done, most of the time Farmers are friendly, or they do not show up at all. I land out two-three times a year... for already 22 years or so, but this year I had for the first time a farmer that was not so happy with me, however I landed on a short grass field and absolutely no damage was done.. you could not even see where I had landed, just like Bruno's field. But after a lot of talking with the farmers family they came to reason, opened the gate and I could disassemble the glider and went back to homebase.. Sometimes farmers also ask money before you can remove your glider from their field. When a farmer does not come to reason, just call the police, so they can take care of it you get the glider back, but till now I never had to do that. Just saying that you will call the police is most of the time enough.. But this are really exeptions, 9 out of 10 are very nice and sometimes they walk up to you with something to drink and eat or are very concerned if everything is OK and nobody is hurt. Sometimes people call 112 (same as your 911) and then you end up with 4 firetrucks, 2 ambulances and many poilice cars with all bells and whistles.. because someone told 112 a plane had crashed..Happens at least two or three times a year in the Netherlands.
Marco Nierop Excellent answer Marco! I agree with all you say. Great idea to just call the cops if the farmer is a prick. Again, I haven't had that yet, but if so, it is a good thing to remember.
+deezynar On my first outlanding, i tried to track down the land owner, no success. Since no damage was done, I gave up. A family living nearby saw my landing, and by the time the retrieve crew arrived, we were good friends and had consumed substantial quantities of drinks. Should do more just to meet nice people.
Just finished my PPL on a SLING 2 . But soaring on those mountains looks fabulous and certainly requires a massive amount of experience and skill. Beautiful video. Beautiful location. Thank you for sharing.
Hey Bruno, these films you're doing are great. I was a commercial balloon pilot for a while back and really appreciate the comments you make as you approach each new task. Really informative. Hopefully you wont get sponsored by Gopro! Ha, ha.
I just had three glider lessons at Kenley UK, the old WW2 South London airfield.Last landing was by the hangar on the grass ,reminded me of this bumpy landing !
So cool, I have myself felt the upwinds in thermals when i was flying with a friend of mine and to fly without any engine is amazing, there is just you and the elements and hizzing sound of wind once you experienced it you never forget it...THANKS for sharing this!!
peanuts2105 You are totally right. It would have been smoother. The other glider was in the best part of the field and because it was up hill, I elected to go straight up hill instead of trying to land on the curving rows going sideways up the hill. The bumps were the trade off. It will be interesting to review this video again and try to see where I should have landed instead.
The notion of landing out like this scares the crud out of me.. I really appreciate that you show that it can be safe and it doesn't mean you're doomed =)
Hi, Bruno! I want to thank you for posting theese movies... I learned a lot from you, watching them again and again... Beside that, they are good entertainment in the long winter days. I fly an IS-29 D2 romanian glider, some sort of a brick on wings but quite fun to ride on. In fact, we fly for fun, aren't we? I don't have too many hours, about 270 and struggling to get the gold badge so your footage helps a lot. So, please keep them coming! Thank you again!
Bummer that you had to land out but I love your "sense of adventure" attitude about it. You just accept it as part of the sport and not for the HUGE pain in the butt that it actually is! Great job Bruno and thanks for sharing bud. I'm your biggest fan! LOL
Brett Hays Thanks so much for the kind words Brett! I don't get to glide as much as I want to and try really hard to completely enjoy every single flight. This flight was very special. I had an amazing time playing on the Salt River Range in Wyoming earlier in the day - video will be coming in the next week - can't wait to share it! :) This was my 11th farm field landing in gliding over 21 years and every farm field landing has been a very positive adventure. So glad we have this aspect of our sport. Pilots who don't risk landing out are really missing out on a hugely fun and rewarding part of our sport. There is something about the thrill of not knowing if you can make it back home that is incredibly fun about this sport. While I was circling above that farm, I felt more alive than almost any other time. That is why I did so many circles just enjoying the moment. That might sound a little weird. :) Thanks for watching. Bruno
Bruno Vassel Nicely put Bruno! I have about 40-50 (I stopped counting them) out landings, most of them just on a farmers field.. yes it is exiting, and adds to the fun of our sport.
Paul Bentley Thanks Paul - wait till you see the rest of this flight! I took some amazing footage running some very rugged mountains earlier in the day. Will release that video in the next few days. Take care, Bruno
I fly PPG (foot launch) out of Cedar Valley area. Every time I take off or land somewhere new it's always a little nerving, but a lot of fun too. It certainly has it's lessons!
@@BrunoVassel been there done that 45 years ago. I thought I was going to crash and die! I never forgot the experience. I remember there weren’t very many thermals, so it was a short ride. The landing freaked me out!
Bruno, am an ardent fan of your magnificent videos but just stumbled across this one. I am going to show it to my CAP/USAF squadron as an example on how to do an emergency landing AND just to watch the power pilots go apoplectic! Thanks again!
In my club, if you leave the canopy open and walk away from the glider more than an arm's length, you get to buy a crate of beer for everyone. So where's our beer?
rmay000 Ha! :) Glad I wasn't in one of you club gliders. :) My strut that holds up my canopy is pretty strong and the wind wasn't bad. My guess is your club canopies also open to the side. Those are much easier to blow shut. That said, always a good reminder to close your canopy. I wanted to keep it open for the effect of showing I had just gotten out of the glider and this was a "just after the fact" video sharing my emotions of just having landed. Thanks for watching!
:) So glad you enjoyed the video and flight. Thanks for watching! I went with the family over to the UK last spring and had a blast showing the kids both London and the countryside for 10 days. We saw rain once for 30 minutes. I was actually worried about getting a sun burn because I didn't even think to bring any sun block. Can't wait to go back and hopefully fly gliders over there. Cheers, Bruno
Bruno Vassel ha ha ha if you got sunburnt here you would be the first. I would love to come visit the states one day my dads sister lives in Orlando but he lost touch through a big bust up I'm glad you enjoyed it and we don't speak like ooohhh cup of tea as you well know. I was saying on one of your other videos I have 59 hours flying in a sesna but it's so expensive over here trying to clock the hour mileage up. Keep on been in the clouds brother. Needed to edit this bit. The sun here is so much different than abroad I and my wife and kids go to the Canary Islands twice a year and the sun is so much different here it's brutal but you still get a nice sun tan. What's it like in the states.
Bruno, As always fabulous video footage, always look forward to your next installment. Although its been dozens of years (I shudder to count!) since I last glided when I was in the Aust. Navy, I just can't help but think I would have handled that landing a little differently. I guess your experience gives you a confidence that I would never have at this stage. But I would have extended my downwind a little and landed slower and shorter - if that makes sense? I guess being in the cockpit you can see stuff the camera cant. But hey still a nice landing - just me being picky :0) Thanks for posting.
David Stewart Thanks David for watching!!! I love having other pilots watch and help me improve. This is a great example of needing to review the video a few times to see what is going on. In the middle of the field, it had a low spot that was boggy. I touched down right after that spot. Had I landed right at the end, I would have hit it and probably dug into the mud. It had rained hard 2 days earlier. I touched down at 45 knots indicated air speed. This field was 6000' elevation and probably 7,000'+ density altitude. That is why it looked so fast but I was less than 5 knots from stall speed at touchdown. Crazy how much faster the ground speed is the higher you go up. Take a look at the video again with this new information. What do you think? Thanks so much for watching and for the comments!!! Bruno
Very cool. I have almost 400hrs - Comm. Single/Multi IFR. Been a year since I have been in the air. A glider rating is next on the list. Pref. aerobatics.
root9065 Thanks! Everything looked good and once the ride got wild, it was just hold the wings level, don't tip the glider up on the nose with too much braking, and try to get it stopped as quickly as possible. Thanks for watching. :) Bruno
I accidentally watched the entire 40+ minute video leading up to this, and then watched this one for the ending. Always was fascinated by soaring, but I only ever managed time on the powered variety (aka shitty gliders). Thanks for letting me ride along with you.
Remember in France landing on a field and the farmer and son showing up and wanted to know where the engine was lol ?Had diner and drink at the farm while waiting for the trailer.
You should land at North Hill, (devon n somerset gliding club) for a real rough landing, my god... some stretches are ok, but man, we landed in a riduculously rough part.
Hi Love your videos, brings me back to the day. My dad and I flew sailplanes out of southern Calif from the late 60's through the 80's. in fact we were privileged to own Paul Bikle's 1/23E from the mid 70's through the mid 80's. was curious as to why that field. I heard your explanation, but I would be interested in your flying partner. My thoughts, and I don't know the terrain or area, was that it would have been better near the road by the farm house, at least better for retrieval.
Mainly it was because another glider had landed in that field and it looked like one of the largest fields. Misery loves company so I landed near him so we could help each other out once our trailers got there. Thanks for watching and so glad you enjoyed it. Paul was a great pilot. Good stuff / small world. Take care, Bruno
flandersrobby Never met him. The land is owned by Simplot Corp. They are a many billion $$$+ corporation with tons of land. This one location was 13,000 acres of farm and mountain property. Tons of elk and deer up there. There was a super cool family living in the farm house (worked at the local potassium mine) who took the other pilot and me out to town to have pizza while we waited for our trailers to arrive. No damage was done to the field.
Kirito That's oxygen. The FAA requires pilots to breathe oxygen any time they fly above 14,0000 feet, and if they fly above 12,500 feet for more than 30 minutes.
You and your friend are safe, and your sailplanes are A-OK. Great! But lets see.... Five to six hour round trip for the trailer crew times two, plus whatever time and logistics, permissions, etc. it takes to get out to the landing field, plus 1/2 hour per glider to pack up and roll out of there. Ouch. To me, a very sobering lesson. I don't even have a dedicated ground crew to fetch me. So now the questions: Is it possible to enjoy the sport without ever landing out? If you limited yourself to land out at airports only (get a tow plane retrieve), could you still soar the Tetons like you do?
i hate such landing sites XD but its always the same: a nice looking field, no obstacles, long enough, no slope, directly into the wind, turns out (minimum) as this XD the jackpot on such fields are definately stones or really soft ground leading to a "static stop" haha. always requires a paint job, and your asw is not one of the planes with a relatively low fuselage height
It's not hard to see how people become hooked on this sport. Up North of where I live they glide plus there's some kind of a small electric motor on board too. Probably not quite the same but it looked fantastic fun.
Dale Clark LOL - I at least know it will be a good entertaining video for all the hassle. This was my 11th farm field landing in gliding for 21 years and every one has been a very positive adventure. So glad we have this aspect of our sport. Pilots who don't risk landing out are really missing out on a hugely fun and rewarding part of our sport. Thanks for watching.
Ah gliding looks so fun and relaxing, plus there's a gliding club really close to me but I'm scared to start because I'm afraid of heights. I really want to ride with someone just to see what it's like but ahh
+itsalivia23 Its worth it! Go take a ride and have fun. Because you are sitting in the glider, it doesn't feel like you are high up, just you have an amazing view.
+Bruno Vassel thank you! I think I might. I love your videos so much, they really make me want to do it. Also some guys I talked to at the glider club when I went to watch a competition there one day were so so nice and really talked me into it. I really appreciate it!
Bruno, was it total necessity for you to land, or you where just been a nice guy and offering some company to your flying partner.. On the other hand, that place is absolutely beautiful!
***** Great question. I had just spent 30 minutes trying really hard to work some of the foothills a few miles away from this field and was just slowly getting lower and lower. The air wasn't completely still as you saw but at this point in the flight I decided the best option would be to just call it a fun day and land by my friend. :) Thanks for watching.
Have you done any flights in North Carolina? I started working on lessons, got two flights in, then had a problem arise from a previous injury that left me unable to walk. I since, recovered, but I'm disabled. I want to start again, but it seems like it's extremely hard to find some one here that's willing to take a few minutes a week and help with the ground work. I know things have changed a lot since then but I really enjoyed it and was really great at it from what the instructors were saying. They all thought I had been in a sailplane before,..,. I even went from 800' to 6500' while lining up to return to the field in my first thermal. Talk about exciting! Just wondering if you have any more good off field landings and any recovery videos you could share? Thanks
@@BrunoVassel thanks. I am addicted to your channel.. haha. I am visiting my (adopted) daughter and her bio mom, here in Florida, I ran across an ad for a Briegleb BG-12/16, but I'm under a stay at home order because someone I met tested positive for the virus.. I'm sure I am going to miss out on the glider before I get the all clear sign. Lol. One good thing about this virus is TH-cam has been a life saver and watching the footage of the gliders has got me jumping at the bits again. Lol.... Thanks, Bill
That looked liked fun bruno, glad you and your mate got down okay but oh boy that was a bumpy ride. I take it that the glider strips down for transport?
Your videos are so darn interesting, thanks for more than you can know Bruno! As a person who is already doing knowledge based learning, and who is getting ready for flight lessons next spring (and who is also taking off some lard during the interval), can you tell me what your airspeed was during this sequence? I'm thinking it looks like 40knts, but that doesn't seem right. Or does your long experience and knowledge of your asw-27 just now allow you to feel comfortable getting below pattern airspeed at very low altitude? PS It does look like calm conditions, and I do see you pick up your airspeed by about 5knts(?) just before turn to final. PS2 Signed a guy whose stall/spin into a mountain face many years ago ended his hang gliding days. And who is now wondering if he may (still) be too scared and conservative to ever become a good cross country sailplane pilot. PS3 And sorry for the stupid anonymous user name. I will get a new Google account - especially for joining in on RAS - when I get my ticket. dbiggs
Cuthbert Twillie Thanks for the kind words and great questions! If you watch the video in full HD and full size you can easily see my airspeed the whole time. Most of the time I are circling right around 50 knots indicated. I fly the pattern in this video right around 50 knots and touch down just above 40 knots so I am pretty happy with how it was flown. The elevation of the field (6,200') and density altitude that day made the landing seem really fast but I touched down just above stall so I don't think I could have done it slower. Thanks for watching!!!
Bruno Vassel Okay, hehe. I guessed a best stall speed of around perhaps 37knts (slightly raised for the high density altitude, thanks for reminding me to always consider that one). So I was a little concerned for your sanity and safety if you were actually flying at 40knts. I should have known better. Newb mistake. Thanks for your indulgent reply, and stay safe you nut.
Cuthbert Twillie Drat, thought #2. If I had closely examined the needle at touchdown I could have deduced your pattern speed was well above stall. Maybe I'm not smart enough to fly gliders either.
Hey Bruno how are u? :)... hard touch down for your glider! ( GoPro say: Aaaaargh i can't watch! ) WOW! You haven't a problem with type of this landing? For wings or gear for example?... Cheers! :)
You lifted down you flaps twice that is why you bounced of the ground a few times. It was definitely a rough landing because you was little bit faster during landing in such a place.
The handle I was holding when I was touching down was the spoiler and wheel brake handle - not the flap handle. I changed the flap handle right after lowering the landing gear and then did not touch it. I released the spoiler handle a little bit on roll out because my tail was coming up and I didn't want to scrape the bottom of the front of the glider on the ground. Make sense?
how does it work getting your planes out of the fields? do you have issues with land owners? do the planes come apart for transport over the road, i assume you have special made trailers.
they sell glider insurance so that if a farmer does attempt to make a claim for destryoed crops, you are covered. the aircraft do indeed come apart, the wings unbolt, and they have special trailers for gliders. the trick is getting back to your trailer, which is probably at the airport.
Great question. The wings and tail come off of the glider very easily and they fit into a custom glider trailer that we drive right up to the glider in the field. The whole thing comes apart and fits into the trailer in less than 20 minutes. Piece of cake. :) Thanks for watching.
Thanks. Cool video. I had an RC glider with a 10 foot wingspan when I was in high school. I use to love to fly it and find thermals. Got it so high once I almost lost sight of it. What is the gauge in the top left of instrument panel? The one that bobs up and down quickly. Is that some type of thermal sniffer? Beautiful glider.
HoboHiker thanks for watching. The instrument is called a vario. It tells the pilot if the ship is in rising or sinking air. Super helpful if you fly in a glider.
I need an engine, even if it's a small one on the fuselage spine etc. Takes much more skill to fly a glider. And check out the digital map in hte instrument panel.
+saburu sakai You could go for the beautiful, new Stemme S12. She has a small 115-hp (100-hp Continuous) Rotax turbocharged engine mounted in the fuselage under the wing, and a prop that folds and retracts into the nose. The nose cone extends to allow the prop to unfold and deploy. Then, when you've taken off and reached your desired altitude, the prop folds and retracts and the nose cone closes. The process takes about 5 seconds. That way you don't have that nasty pole sticking up from your fuselage. The S12 has a range of 950 nm under power, seats two abreast, and even has a small aft baggage area. But the best part is that she has a L/D ratio of 53 to 1. Cost is around $340,000. Seems like a bargain to me.
John Spooner thanks for watching. The yellow handle is the cable release. The handle I mess with a lot is the flaps handle. Gliders use flaps a lot more than airplanes do.
Luís Miguel Marques Nope. :) Was quite an adventure. Happy to share it with you. Wait till you see the next video I post...a crazy adventure over the ridges of the Salt River Range. Should be done editing it in the next few days. Take care, Bruno
How many out landing have you had to do no joking just wanted to know what I should expect so I don’t wait to long . Great vid thanks so much for all your info Dan
On the money in 25 years of flying gliders (soaring) I have landed out 13 times. Most is the times were during a competition where I was pushing it a little too hard or we were sent to an area with no lift to be found. Cheers.
Bruno Vassel thanks for replying very helpful I have a very strong interest in gliding put it off way to long hope to get started soon . Thanks for all your videos Dan
Why did you allow the glider to keep rolling upon touching down as opposed to using full air brakes and the wheel brake making sure you roll as little as possible before hitting a hole or something?
Full air brake and braking would put the glider up on its nose and scrape the belly. It is a fine dance of braking as hard as possible to stop as soon as possible without scraping the bottom. The altitude of this farm field was about 7,000’ and it was a hot summer month so the air was really thin and the glider needed to fly faster than normal ground speed on landing. Great question!
This brought back memories! I used to glide in the 1960s-1980s. I got up to Silver C and Gold Height, but drifted away from the sport. I landed out three times uneventfully. Our club, which was in a very flat part of England, did expeditions up to hillier parts like Scotland, which is the only place I have done ridge-soaring and wave-soaring, though not with around such huge expanses of country. Our Chief Flying Instructor spent the first few days teaching us how to ridge soar, since we were all solo but flew only on thermals. I can still remember the initial fright of waving UP at hill-walkers waving DOWN at me while I was plodding up and down the ridge gaining barely 50ft on each pass unless I was REALLY tight into the contours, after which I realized it was far more reliable than thermaling. I find watching this 2010s GoPro imagery is far scarier now than I remember the actual flights being at the time! I feel inspired to return, now that I am retired.
Give it a go!
Please share a video showing the process of getting the glider hauled away, and dealing with the land owner.
deezynar It was midnight when the glider trailer finally showed up. Not enough light to do a video. :( The land owner is a billion dollar mega farm corporation so I never met them. There was a super cool family living in the farm house (worked at the local potassium mine) who took the other pilot and me out to town to have pizza while we waited for our trailers to arrive. No damage was done to the field. Once the trailer showed up, it took 10 minutes to pull off the wings and tail and put everything into the trailer. Gliders and trailers for them are made for this exact thing and it is crazy easy how simple it is to take them apart and put back together for transport. Thanks for watching!
Bruno Vassel Thanks for the reply. I wouldn't want anyone sticking a camera in some stranger's face, I'm just curious about how people respond to a glider landing on their property. In this case, the folks were just caretakers, but I'm sure that's the exception to the rule. Have you ever heard any other pilots say that they ever ran into an angry landowner?
deezynar As a notorius out lander, let me answer this for Bruno.
If no damage is done, most of the time Farmers are friendly, or they do not show up at all. I land out two-three times a year... for already 22 years or so, but this year I had for the first time a farmer that was not so happy with me, however I landed on a short grass field and absolutely no damage was done.. you could not even see where I had landed, just like Bruno's field. But after a lot of talking with the farmers family they came to reason, opened the gate and I could disassemble the glider and went back to homebase..
Sometimes farmers also ask money before you can remove your glider from their field.
When a farmer does not come to reason, just call the police, so they can take care of it you get the glider back, but till now I never had to do that. Just saying that you will call the police is most of the time enough..
But this are really exeptions, 9 out of 10 are very nice and sometimes they walk up to you with something to drink and eat or are very concerned if everything is OK and nobody is hurt.
Sometimes people call 112 (same as your 911) and then you end up with 4 firetrucks, 2 ambulances and many poilice cars with all bells and whistles.. because someone told 112 a plane had crashed..Happens at least two or three times a year in the Netherlands.
Marco Nierop Excellent answer Marco! I agree with all you say. Great idea to just call the cops if the farmer is a prick. Again, I haven't had that yet, but if so, it is a good thing to remember.
+deezynar On my first outlanding, i tried to track down the land owner, no success. Since no damage was done, I gave up. A family living nearby saw my landing, and by the time the retrieve crew arrived, we were good friends and had consumed substantial quantities of drinks.
Should do more just to meet nice people.
Looks like you were correctly ined up with the tractor grooves on touch down then the grooves changed direction,a bit inconsiderate of the farmer !
Just finished my PPL on a SLING 2 . But soaring on those mountains looks fabulous and certainly requires a massive amount of experience and skill. Beautiful video. Beautiful location. Thank you for sharing.
Hey Bruno, these films you're doing are great. I was a commercial balloon pilot for a while back and really appreciate the comments you make as you approach each new task. Really informative. Hopefully you wont get sponsored by Gopro! Ha, ha.
Way to stay cool under pressure Bruno! Always a pleasure Brother! Blessings to You & Yours...
***** Thanks man! :)
I just had three glider lessons at Kenley UK, the old WW2 South London airfield.Last landing was by the hangar on the grass ,reminded me of this bumpy landing !
So cool, I have myself felt the upwinds in thermals when i was flying with a friend of mine and to fly without any engine is amazing, there is just you and the elements and hizzing sound of wind once you experienced it you never forget it...THANKS for sharing this!!
Thanks for watching!
I was always taught to follow the tractor tyre grooves. I couldnt of helped noticing you crossed them hence the rough field! Happy landings Bruno.
peanuts2105 You are totally right. It would have been smoother. The other glider was in the best part of the field and because it was up hill, I elected to go straight up hill instead of trying to land on the curving rows going sideways up the hill. The bumps were the trade off. It will be interesting to review this video again and try to see where I should have landed instead.
Lol! love how your camera ends up pointing down as you ‘traverse’ the bumps!
well, I found a new youtube channel I'm addicted to. I could watch your vids all day. Breathtaking views
Glad you found me. Hope you continue to enjoy.
The notion of landing out like this scares the crud out of me.. I really appreciate that you show that it can be safe and it doesn't mean you're doomed =)
Hi, Bruno! I want to thank you for posting theese movies... I learned a lot from you, watching them again and again... Beside that, they are good entertainment in the long winter days. I fly an IS-29 D2 romanian glider, some sort of a brick on wings but quite fun to ride on. In fact, we fly for fun, aren't we? I don't have too many hours, about 270 and struggling to get the gold badge so your footage helps a lot. So, please keep them coming! Thank you again!
Bummer that you had to land out but I love your "sense of adventure" attitude about it. You just accept it as part of the sport and not for the HUGE pain in the butt that it actually is! Great job Bruno and thanks for sharing bud. I'm your biggest fan! LOL
Brett Hays Thanks so much for the kind words Brett! I don't get to glide as much as I want to and try really hard to completely enjoy every single flight. This flight was very special. I had an amazing time playing on the Salt River Range in Wyoming earlier in the day - video will be coming in the next week - can't wait to share it! :) This was my 11th farm field landing in gliding over 21 years and every farm field landing has been a very positive adventure. So glad we have this aspect of our sport. Pilots who don't risk landing out are really missing out on a hugely fun and rewarding part of our sport. There is something about the thrill of not knowing if you can make it back home that is incredibly fun about this sport. While I was circling above that farm, I felt more alive than almost any other time. That is why I did so many circles just enjoying the moment. That might sound a little weird. :) Thanks for watching. Bruno
Bruno Vassel Nicely put Bruno! I have about 40-50 (I stopped counting them) out landings, most of them just on a farmers field.. yes it is exiting, and adds to the fun of our sport.
Just wanted to thank you for sharing your incredible flight with us!
What a ride!
Just read your explanations in the comments, so all in all, a good landing, well done yet again. Looking forward to the flight video.
I always look out for your new gliding videos Bruno,that was good to watch.
Paul Bentley Thanks Paul - wait till you see the rest of this flight! I took some amazing footage running some very rugged mountains earlier in the day. Will release that video in the next few days. Take care, Bruno
Bruno VasselHi Bruno,thanks for the feedback,I shall look out for your footage running the mountains.Sounds like it will be worth the wait !
I fly PPG (foot launch) out of Cedar Valley area. Every time I take off or land somewhere new it's always a little nerving, but a lot of fun too. It certainly has it's lessons!
Fun! I've spent 20+ years out there enjoying that place. Love it! Have you ever considered going for a glider flight to see if you'd like it?
@@BrunoVassel been there done that 45 years ago. I thought I was going to crash and die! I never forgot the experience. I remember there weren’t very many thermals, so it was a short ride. The landing freaked me out!
Bruno, am an ardent fan of your magnificent videos but just stumbled across this one. I am going to show it to
my CAP/USAF squadron as an example on how to do an emergency landing AND just to watch the power pilots go apoplectic!
Thanks again!
In my club, if you leave the canopy open and walk away from the glider more than an arm's length, you get to buy a crate of beer for everyone. So where's our beer?
rmay000 Ha! :) Glad I wasn't in one of you club gliders. :) My strut that holds up my canopy is pretty strong and the wind wasn't bad. My guess is your club canopies also open to the side. Those are much easier to blow shut. That said, always a good reminder to close your canopy. I wanted to keep it open for the effect of showing I had just gotten out of the glider and this was a "just after the fact" video sharing my emotions of just having landed. Thanks for watching!
rmay000 In our group, when you jump over a wing or if you have birthday, you'll have to buy a crate of beer.
Hi Bruno, marvellous video as usual. Congratulations. Thanks for sharing. Please keep them coming.
You sir sound like one happy man and I don't blame you god bless you. From all the way over the pond in the uk.
:) So glad you enjoyed the video and flight. Thanks for watching! I went with the family over to the UK last spring and had a blast showing the kids both London and the countryside for 10 days. We saw rain once for 30 minutes. I was actually worried about getting a sun burn because I didn't even think to bring any sun block. Can't wait to go back and hopefully fly gliders over there. Cheers, Bruno
Bruno Vassel ha ha ha if you got sunburnt here you would be the first. I would love to come visit the states one day my dads sister lives in Orlando but he lost touch through a big bust up I'm glad you enjoyed it and we don't speak like ooohhh cup of tea as you well know. I was saying on one of your other videos I have 59 hours flying in a sesna but it's so expensive over here trying to clock the hour mileage up. Keep on been in the clouds brother. Needed to edit this bit. The sun here is so much different than abroad I and my wife and kids go to the Canary Islands twice a year and the sun is so much different here it's brutal but you still get a nice sun tan. What's it like in the states.
Right, Bruno, the end was coming up fast. Had me a little nervous too. Nice job.
Really enjoyed the video, wish I could get along for the ride but this was a good way of sharing how flying through the mountains.
The landing field is pretty darn good for;..Wyoming!
Great flying video,m keep on soaring!
Awesome flight and landing!! Damn, Wyoming and gliders are so F-ing cool! I wish I had the means to do this. Live it up for the rest of us :)
Bruno,
As always fabulous video footage, always look forward to your next installment. Although its been dozens of years (I shudder to count!) since I last glided when I was in the Aust. Navy, I just can't help but think I would have handled that landing a little differently. I guess your experience gives you a confidence that I would never have at this stage. But I would have extended my downwind a little and landed slower and shorter - if that makes sense? I guess being in the cockpit you can see stuff the camera cant. But hey still a nice landing - just me being picky :0) Thanks for posting.
David Stewart I'm fairly current and i completely agree with you.
David Stewart Thanks David for watching!!! I love having other pilots watch and help me improve. This is a great example of needing to review the video a few times to see what is going on. In the middle of the field, it had a low spot that was boggy. I touched down right after that spot. Had I landed right at the end, I would have hit it and probably dug into the mud. It had rained hard 2 days earlier. I touched down at 45 knots indicated air speed. This field was 6000' elevation and probably 7,000'+ density altitude. That is why it looked so fast but I was less than 5 knots from stall speed at touchdown. Crazy how much faster the ground speed is the higher you go up. Take a look at the video again with this new information. What do you think? Thanks so much for watching and for the comments!!! Bruno
rmay000 Take a look at my reply to David. More info that isn't completely obvious.
Hahahahahaha...was awesome to see genuine footage of harsh landing. Hope your planes not damaged.
you have cool videos i think i want to start flying sail Plains now to add to my paragliding and skydiving. looks awesome! 👌
Richard Bach, eat your heart out! Well done Mr. Vassel.
Wow, what a beautiful place to live, and such an amazing hobby.
Very cool. I have almost 400hrs - Comm. Single/Multi IFR. Been a year since I have been in the air. A glider rating is next on the list. Pref. aerobatics.
thanks for sharing these videos. They are amazing...
Good stuff ser! Felt bumpy just watching it. I think you made the right decision though.
root9065 Thanks! Everything looked good and once the ride got wild, it was just hold the wings level, don't tip the glider up on the nose with too much braking, and try to get it stopped as quickly as possible. Thanks for watching. :) Bruno
Whoa! Great lighting and finish.
Can't tell you how hard I was pressing on the brakes while you hit the deck!
I accidentally watched the entire 40+ minute video leading up to this, and then watched this one for the ending. Always was fascinated by soaring, but I only ever managed time on the powered variety (aka shitty gliders). Thanks for letting me ride along with you.
Thanks for watching! Go take a glider ride some time and see for yourself how amazing they are.
I thought that looked like the Crow Creek Ranch! Nice job.
Remember in France landing on a field and the farmer and son showing up and wanted to know where the engine was lol ?Had diner and drink at the farm while waiting for the trailer.
What a beautiful landscape!
Thank you for the video, always entertaining and informative.
Great fun, felt myself going dizzy watching that figure of eight. 2 or 3 hours to get you. Wow, hope you brought a flask of tea and some biscuits!
you've got a nice radio really clear
Seems like it was bumpy because you rolled at an angle to the furrows.
Thanks for the ride!
You should land at North Hill, (devon n somerset gliding club) for a real rough landing, my god... some stretches are ok, but man, we landed in a riduculously rough part.
Hi
Love your videos, brings me back to the day. My dad and I flew sailplanes out of southern Calif from the late 60's through the 80's. in fact we were privileged to own Paul Bikle's 1/23E from the mid 70's through the mid 80's. was curious as to why that field. I heard your explanation, but I would be interested in your flying partner. My thoughts, and I don't know the terrain or area, was that it would have been better near the road by the farm house, at least better for retrieval.
Mainly it was because another glider had landed in that field and it looked like one of the largest fields. Misery loves company so I landed near him so we could help each other out once our trailers got there. Thanks for watching and so glad you enjoyed it. Paul was a great pilot. Good stuff / small world. Take care, Bruno
That is Crow Creek, and you landed by the Simplot Ranch.
Hi Bruno, I miss your videos during this summer. I'm trying to fill the gap with Balleka's, but he doesn't talk to me...kkkk... Please, more videos!!!
FabricioSTH LOL - my next one I am editing right now will blow your mind... ;)
What did the farmer say?
flandersrobby Never met him. The land is owned by Simplot Corp. They are a many billion $$$+ corporation with tons of land. This one location was 13,000 acres of farm and mountain property. Tons of elk and deer up there. There was a super cool family living in the farm house (worked at the local potassium mine) who took the other pilot and me out to town to have pizza while we waited for our trailers to arrive. No damage was done to the field.
Bruno Vassel well id call that a good day
Bruno Vassel why do you need to take such a thing in your nose? :)
Kirito That's oxygen. The FAA requires pilots to breathe oxygen any time they fly above 14,0000 feet, and if they fly above 12,500 feet for more than 30 minutes.
sam1174
thank you :)
You and your friend are safe, and your sailplanes are A-OK. Great! But lets see.... Five to six hour round trip for the trailer crew times two, plus whatever time and logistics, permissions, etc. it takes to get out to the landing field, plus 1/2 hour per glider to pack up and roll out of there. Ouch. To me, a very sobering lesson. I don't even have a dedicated ground crew to fetch me. So now the questions:
Is it possible to enjoy the sport without ever landing out? If you limited yourself to land out at airports only (get a tow plane retrieve), could you still soar the Tetons like you do?
i hate such landing sites XD but its always the same: a nice looking field, no obstacles, long enough, no slope, directly into the wind, turns out (minimum) as this XD the jackpot on such fields are definately stones or really soft ground leading to a "static stop" haha. always requires a paint job, and your asw is not one of the planes with a relatively low fuselage height
Bruno, good out landing. Do you carry any type of kit (water, food, mini-shelter), when you fly? Just for such occasions? Thanks for posting. Buck
Nice to see what your ship looks like from the outside. :-)
It's not hard to see how people become hooked on this sport. Up North of where I live they glide plus there's some kind of a small electric motor on board too. Probably not quite the same but it looked fantastic fun.
You gotta land out more often, it makes for great viewing.
Dale Clark LOL - I at least know it will be a good entertaining video for all the hassle. This was my 11th farm field landing in gliding for 21 years and every one has been a very positive adventure. So glad we have this aspect of our sport. Pilots who don't risk landing out are really missing out on a hugely fun and rewarding part of our sport. Thanks for watching.
Ah gliding looks so fun and relaxing, plus there's a gliding club really close to me but I'm scared to start because I'm afraid of heights. I really want to ride with someone just to see what it's like but ahh
+itsalivia23 Its worth it! Go take a ride and have fun. Because you are sitting in the glider, it doesn't feel like you are high up, just you have an amazing view.
+Bruno Vassel thank you! I think I might. I love your videos so much, they really make me want to do it. Also some guys I talked to at the glider club when I went to watch a competition there one day were so so nice and really talked me into it. I really appreciate it!
Liv I'm interested if u went and how your experience was?
Made a few landings like that in an MD11! Really. Manila's RW was so bumpy you couldn't see the instruments.
Thanks for he ride...it was amazing !
Bruno, was it total necessity for you to land, or you where just been a nice guy and offering some company to your flying partner.. On the other hand, that place is absolutely beautiful!
***** Great question. I had just spent 30 minutes trying really hard to work some of the foothills a few miles away from this field and was just slowly getting lower and lower. The air wasn't completely still as you saw but at this point in the flight I decided the best option would be to just call it a fun day and land by my friend. :) Thanks for watching.
I watched the whole video over those mountains - amazing views, but I thought the whole time you have an electric engine! :-D
Thanks for watching. Pretty crazy how we just have the wind and the sky to work with. No backup engine. Keeps it exciting!
Have you done any flights in North Carolina? I started working on lessons, got two flights in, then had a problem arise from a previous injury that left me unable to walk. I since, recovered, but I'm disabled. I want to start again, but it seems like it's extremely hard to find some one here that's willing to take a few minutes a week and help with the ground work. I know things have changed a lot since then but I really enjoyed it and was really great at it from what the instructors were saying. They all thought I had been in a sailplane before,..,. I even went from 800' to 6500' while lining up to return to the field in my first thermal. Talk about exciting!
Just wondering if you have any more good off field landings and any recovery videos you could share? Thanks
Thanks for watching! So glad you enjoyed the video. Yes, I have a bunch more on my channel. Enjoy.
@@BrunoVassel thanks. I am addicted to your channel.. haha.
I am visiting my (adopted) daughter and her bio mom, here in Florida, I ran across an ad for a Briegleb BG-12/16, but I'm under a stay at home order because someone I met tested positive for the virus.. I'm sure I am going to miss out on the glider before I get the all clear sign. Lol.
One good thing about this virus is TH-cam has been a life saver and watching the footage of the gliders has got me jumping at the bits again. Lol.... Thanks, Bill
That looked liked fun bruno, glad you and your mate got down okay but oh boy that was a bumpy ride. I take it that the glider strips down for transport?
I tried coming the other way several times in the early 80's...same result...fun trips.
Your videos are so darn interesting, thanks for more than you can know Bruno! As a person who is already doing knowledge based learning, and who is getting ready for flight lessons next spring (and who is also taking off some lard during the interval), can you tell me what your airspeed was during this sequence? I'm thinking it looks like 40knts, but that doesn't seem right. Or does your long experience and knowledge of your asw-27 just now allow you to feel comfortable getting below pattern airspeed at very low altitude?
PS It does look like calm conditions, and I do see you pick up your airspeed by about 5knts(?) just before turn to final.
PS2 Signed a guy whose stall/spin into a mountain face many years ago ended his hang gliding days. And who is now wondering if he may (still) be too scared and conservative to ever become a good cross country sailplane pilot.
PS3 And sorry for the stupid anonymous user name. I will get a new Google account - especially for joining in on RAS - when I get my ticket. dbiggs
Cuthbert Twillie Thanks for the kind words and great questions! If you watch the video in full HD and full size you can easily see my airspeed the whole time. Most of the time I are circling right around 50 knots indicated. I fly the pattern in this video right around 50 knots and touch down just above 40 knots so I am pretty happy with how it was flown. The elevation of the field (6,200') and density altitude that day made the landing seem really fast but I touched down just above stall so I don't think I could have done it slower. Thanks for watching!!!
Bruno Vassel Okay, hehe. I guessed a best stall speed of around perhaps 37knts (slightly raised for the high density altitude, thanks for reminding me to always consider that one). So I was a little concerned for your sanity and safety if you were actually flying at 40knts. I should have known better. Newb mistake.
Thanks for your indulgent reply, and stay safe you nut.
Cuthbert Twillie Drat, thought #2. If I had closely examined the needle at touchdown I could have deduced your pattern speed was well above stall. Maybe I'm not smart enough to fly gliders either.
Awesome video. Fly safe.
You should get the farmer taking some gliding lessons so that he will keep the grooves always parallel in his fields...
Hey Bruno how are u? :)... hard touch down for your glider! ( GoPro say: Aaaaargh i can't watch! ) WOW! You haven't a problem with type of this landing? For wings or gear for example?... Cheers! :)
Fascinating! Thanks for posting!
Thanks for watching!
If you have to land out in a farmer's field, do you have to/should you pay for any damage to his crop? Is that sort of thing covered by insurance?
You lifted down you flaps twice that is why you bounced of the ground a few times. It was definitely a rough landing because you was little bit faster during landing in such a place.
The handle I was holding when I was touching down was the spoiler and wheel brake handle - not the flap handle. I changed the flap handle right after lowering the landing gear and then did not touch it. I released the spoiler handle a little bit on roll out because my tail was coming up and I didn't want to scrape the bottom of the front of the glider on the ground. Make sense?
How is the camera on the instrument panel mounted? Would be happy to know! :-)
Based on the wind in mike (after landing), some of those ridges on the right could work... Specially for ASW... Anyway, nice video...
You would think so, but no, I tried them before starting the video. In fact, I tried them for about 45 minutes but could only maintain altitude.
I know that feeling... :o)) There is old joke... If you start circling, thermal will show up... Rarely works...:o)
Such a beautiful place!
The ground looks so flat from the air once you touch down not much to absorb the bumps looks rough have you ever hit a ditch or something bad?
how does it work getting your planes out of the fields? do you have issues with land owners? do the planes come apart for transport over the road, i assume you have special made trailers.
they sell glider insurance so that if a farmer does attempt to make a claim for destryoed crops, you are covered. the aircraft do indeed come apart, the wings unbolt, and they have special trailers for gliders. the trick is getting back to your trailer, which is probably at the airport.
Landing is at 3:00 for anyone who just wanted to see it.
Please see me like a little kid for this question:
"How do you get your baby up in the air again?"
Great question. The wings and tail come off of the glider very easily and they fit into a custom glider trailer that we drive right up to the glider in the field. The whole thing comes apart and fits into the trailer in less than 20 minutes. Piece of cake. :) Thanks for watching.
Bruno Vassel Nice! :-)
Enthusiastic Coder
Great clip, just awesome!
Always enjoyed flying the glider in Flight Simulator X, much more than all the fancy jets.
Now go take a glider ride this summer and try it for real yourself!
Great video Bruno! It seemed you were running out of field at the end?
Nice video!
the thing that is scary to me about those is that when you land, You have litrally nothing but the friction of the ground getting you to stop.
No - actually I have a disc brake on the main gear to help stop. Much better than just friction. :) Thanks for watching.
Thanks. Cool video. I had an RC glider with a 10 foot wingspan when I was in high school. I use to love to fly it and find thermals. Got it so high once I almost lost sight of it. What is the gauge in the top left of instrument panel? The one that bobs up and down quickly. Is that some type of thermal sniffer? Beautiful glider.
HoboHiker thanks for watching. The instrument is called a vario. It tells the pilot if the ship is in rising or sinking air. Super helpful if you fly in a glider.
Very cool. I liked hearing the tones. Are those tones warm air? Or lift? I had thermal sniffer that sounded similar.
I found your video on the vario.
I need an engine, even if it's a small one on the fuselage spine etc. Takes much more skill to fly a glider. And check out the digital map in hte instrument panel.
+saburu sakai You could go for the beautiful, new Stemme S12. She has a small 115-hp (100-hp Continuous) Rotax turbocharged engine mounted in the fuselage under the wing, and a prop that folds and retracts into the nose. The nose cone extends to allow the prop to unfold and deploy. Then, when you've taken off and reached your desired altitude, the prop folds and retracts and the nose cone closes. The process takes about 5 seconds. That way you don't have that nasty pole sticking up from your fuselage.
The S12 has a range of 950 nm under power, seats two abreast, and even has a small aft baggage area. But the best part is that she has a L/D ratio of 53 to 1. Cost is around $340,000. Seems like a bargain to me.
Nice videos, I rode in a glider in Germany years ago. What is that little yellow handle I see you messing with on the left side?
John Spooner thanks for watching. The yellow handle is the cable release. The handle I mess with a lot is the flaps handle. Gliders use flaps a lot more than airplanes do.
Awesome vid !
Hi. Its like a maze. Fantastic.
Great video. Always fun to land in a farmer's field. Do you have an oxygen line when you're flying?
Camodo Yes, in fact once I stop, you can still hear the oxygen running when I breathe in.
How did you get out of there (you and the glider)? another plane or by road?
Fabulous! Any aching parts?
Luís Miguel Marques Nope. :) Was quite an adventure. Happy to share it with you. Wait till you see the next video I post...a crazy adventure over the ridges of the Salt River Range. Should be done editing it in the next few days. Take care, Bruno
Bruno Vassel Waiting...
How many out landing have you had to do no joking just wanted to know what I should expect so I don’t wait to long . Great vid thanks so much for all your info Dan
On the money in 25 years of flying gliders (soaring) I have landed out 13 times. Most is the times were during a competition where I was pushing it a little too hard or we were sent to an area with no lift to be found. Cheers.
Bruno Vassel thanks for replying very helpful I have a very strong interest in gliding put it off way to long hope to get started soon . Thanks for all your videos Dan
what glider is that? the instrument panel is beautiful :)
Damn, that sure looked bumpy.
Are there cracks in the canopy, or is that just me?
Vincent Stakenburg Ha - nope - no cracks on the canopy but it was amazing how bumpy it was.
Why did you allow the glider to keep rolling upon touching down as opposed to using full air brakes and the wheel brake making sure you roll as little as possible before hitting a hole or something?
Full air brake and braking would put the glider up on its nose and scrape the belly. It is a fine dance of braking as hard as possible to stop as soon as possible without scraping the bottom. The altitude of this farm field was about 7,000’ and it was a hot summer month so the air was really thin and the glider needed to fly faster than normal ground speed on landing. Great question!
what is best glide speed?
87 kmh for L-13 Blanik
Do you have extended winglets?
How do you launch these into the air, from another airplane?
Roy Smith they launch it with a rope like it was a kite
a rope attached to another plane? cant see humans pulling this thing thousands of feet into the air
Roy Smith with another plane or with a machine that roll the rope really fast. these guy have some videos about the launch in hes channel.
okay
droceretik - Thanks for the link. I never knew about this way of launching. It makes it all look so easy.
Im questioning the relationship between this man and his "friend" over the radio.
why?
Turn the sound on
Yea I heard them talking so what?
Sir, you missed the joke. Retry or pretend to laugh.
Your joke sucked 8)
what glider do you own and how much dose it cost to buy??
omg im falling in luv with ur life soo jelouse, that tiny airplne, do u need a licence 4 that?