Flying a micro glider - joy of soaring!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ย. 2024
- In this micro adventure, we'll go on an exciting flight in one of the smallest sailplanes, a Russia AC-4B, in eastern Massachusetts around Sterling MA. Let's assemble the glider, launch, and ride the thermals (a 2 and a 1/2 hour flight condensed into the 17 minute video). I'll also cover the merits and benefits of a joining a soaring club, especially for families looking for a rewarding hobby that's perfect for bonding with teenage children, building team and leadership skills, as well as confidence.
Contents:
00:19 - Aviastroitel Russia AC-4 specs and assembly
02:43 - Glider tow launch
03:57 - Soaring concepts
08:06 - Soaring clubs and their benefits
14:34 - Views around Wachusetts
16:20 - Landing at Sterling
Soundtrack:
Clean and Dance - An Jone
Liquid Time - Aakash Gandhi
Gemini - half cool
Great video and great flight! Thanks for sharing. Back when I was gliding in west Texas, I was really interested in that Russia AC-4B. Always looked like a blast to fly.
3B3 -- that's where I learned to fly. L23 Super Blanik. Sadly, only got a handful of hours (did solo though), and that was a long time ago. Longest flight was 1 hour and 1 minute. Safe flying!
You should come out again on a weekend, and catch a ride!
Very cool! The cloud base is easier to picture for some people if you just says the base is the altitude at which the temperature is equal to the dew point.
Thanks to a random Y/T recommendation here I am, enjoyable video for sure. Cheers from Down Under!
Cheers Mate!
Nice ! Love the take on pros and cons, after some gliding I ended up taking a career in aviation and never gone back to gliding, just because I got intent on career, but I love your take on this. Doing this with the kids is awsome.
I think there are 2 camps: ones who love to go up for a few hours, stay local or visit some nearby airports, just relax, and those who take it more seriously and do the challenge of cross countries. I really, really admire the expertise, weather knowledge, and skill of the 2nd camp, but I'm happy to be in the 1st camp :-) (actually, I'm much more often in the tow plane).
Szia Laci! Jó videókat csinálsz! És még nagyjából értem is!
Nagyon szep vitorlazo!
Canopy open and unattended. Be careful! And get tht DV panel closed to reduce noise in the mic. Enjoy the flight and happy soaring 👍
Nice flight! Gliding, besides being pure joy, is kind of an ecologically correct sport... since everything we use is what Mother Nature gives us for free, clean energy. Congratulations!
That is if you don’t count the tow.
@@raoulh.4440 Well, if we want to be strict, they can be launched with bungee cords, with a good team
@@louispaxeco6931 true in theory, but rarely in real life. And yes, l used to fly gliders years ago, before people knew enough to feel guilty about (relatively) harmless fun. 🙂
nice plane!
Oh you must have got that one on wings and wheels. I was looking at that exact one for $9500
I was the one who sold it :-) - this was my second to last flight in it, it was actually in May, hence the longer sleeve. I had the glider for 7 seasons, and it served us well when both my boys were also flying it. Now that they grew up, and moved away, I was only flying it maybe twice a year, hence why I sold it. Should have asked for more $, as I had a ton of interest on it.
Hmm. I have flown one. Didn't care for it. Would easily spin, not a problem but a bit annoying. I was not flying aft CG but perhaps it wasn't rigged correctly? Never wanted to fly one again after the first experience. Plus our strong Nevada thermals threw that little plane around like a toy. Yes, it was a very strong thermal day when I flew it. Thank you for the great video. (Flown 15 different glider types with 1066hrs of glider time for perspective)
@@thermalbug Based on what I read / saw, they do spin readily. I never got mine into a spin, and did coordinated stalls without dropping a wing. Indeed on a turbulent day, it does get tossed around. More of an issue / challenge on tow, especially with its sensitive controls. This particular ship was used out west, prior to me. I think it’s great for thermalling here on the east coast. I’ve only done silver distance with it, but others do gold and beyond.
Looks like a fun glider to fly
It is! If you've flown glider, the Russia flies like a go-cart, quick turning, minimal adverse yaw, and just fun.
@@laszlovasko yes. For many years. Such little nimble gliders should thermal easily. But with such short wings, how is the glide ratio?
@@ilikegliding It's about 34:1, so not nearly as good as a standard class 40:1 glider. Furthermore, the light weight means it doesn't penetrate well, you really need to accelerate to cut across sink, and end up loosing altitude quickly. With that said, more skillful pilots than I will do gold distances with it.
@@laszlovasko that's quite good. better than a k13 and comparable to k6
Very nice! What camera? Nice wide angle without crazy distortion. Some flying videos show a wavy horizon but yours is straight as it should be.
This was filmed on the DJI Pocket 3. Mounted on the panel, so it was neat to click a button for it to swing forwards / backwards. While it worked really well in a glider, it's not so good in a motor plane (or car) - as vibration causes the view to have a jelly effect.
Hi Laszlo, my friends and I have an Aviastroitel Me-7 sometimes it's a struggle to get the wings on far enough to get the cam main pin in. Push one wing in, out comes the other. Have you any tips for rigging the glider please? Jon
The left wing's spar is in front of the right wing, so put the left wing in first, and put the pin in 1/2 way. The pin should than hold the wing in place, i.e. not allow it to come out when the other wing is being pushed in. Then when you put the right wing in and you get it close, look at the spacing around the spar, and make sure it's even. You can also feel where the wing is centered. See how I was pushing it in the video - I moved the wingtip around to feel for the least amount of force side to side / up and down, to center the spar. Then I gave it quick shove to get it in,. Finally, you pull it tight with the cam on the pin. Make sure your air brake lever is cracked open during the whole process.
Thank you very much.
Music is way too loud vs. speech
Thanks - I wasn't sure while editing (still new at this), I'll adjust going forward
Just a funny question but … do you have a way to pee when flying for hours at a time? Lol
Ha! Actually, it's not a funny question, when one needs to go! More sophisticated gliders do have a urinating cup / tube set up. How convenient those are given that you're in a fairly reclined position, I don't know as I've never flown one. Pilots do rush off right before a flight to the porta potty or the woods. Some people put on diapers, which must not be pleasant (for long x-country flights). Luckily I've never had an issue, but I seldom exceed 2.5 or 3 hours on my flights.
@@laszlovasko sounds way worse than a bus lavatory… thank you for your reply.
- - and you wonder why less women fly gliders?
@@annerobinson2086 I am a woman glider pilot and on long flights I wear an adult diaper. It works.
Many of us use a condom-catheter connected to a urine connection bag. Inexpensive, effective, and you don’t end up peeing on your gliders exterior, nor sitting in a wet diaper.
I live in the Wichita Ks area for most of my life and used to see Glider trailers being pulled behind vehicles all the time over 20 -30 years ago , I never see them anymore, I wonder why the hobby has fallen off? Because its usually always windy here and it used to be called Air Capitol of the World .
I'm not quite sure. General aviation (power planes) are enjoying sort of a revival, although nothing like decades past. Soaring not so much, even though soaring is not even close to near as expensive, especially if you join a club. Actually, it's a great low cost way to enjoy on a nice weekend day (lot cheaper than golf, for example). You don't need to purchase anything in a club. Later, once your licensed and you want more flexibility, you can acquire a glider (or partner up with someone). Sure the cost of the latest (or even recent) high performance gliders is high, but there's also an ample selection of used gliders that are not expensive (like this one!). Clubs do seek out new members, offer ways for youngsters to get involved, and try to get the word out. That was partially my motivation for this video as well.
@@laszlovaskoare you by chance aware of any clubs close to the central IL area? I'm currently doing PPG, n have a hangglider trike project also. But I would love to learn soaring. Thanks