Proficient Pilot: Soar points

A noteworthy example of the value of such skills was demonstrated on July 23, 1983. This is when an Air Canada Boeing 767 ran out of fuel at 41,000 feet over Manitoba. Capt. Robert Pearson, who also was a sailplane pilot, established his jetliner in a normal glide and headed toward 60-mile-distant Gimli, a former air force base. While on final approach to the 8,000-foot runway, he saw that his “glider” was too high, deftly entered a slip, and landed safely. Although slipping is a technique used by power pilots, it is much more commonly practiced in sailplanes to help compensate for not having an engine or wing flaps.

Many of the principles and procedures learned by sailplane pilots can be directly applied to powered flight. For example, cross-country glider pilots use “speed to fly”—the normal glide speed adjusted for the vertical velocity of the air through which they are flying. In rising air, the glider pilot reduces airspeed to spend more time taking advantage of the updraft. In sinking air, he increases speed to expedite passage through the downdraft.

The same principle can be applied when flying airplanes through convective turbulence, for example. Power pilots typically lower the nose to maintain altitude when passing through an updraft. The effect of this is to increase airspeed, which decreases time spent in the rising air. Instead, consider taking advantage of the updraft by accepting the altitude gain and reducing airspeed slightly to remain longer in those surges of lift.

During the inevitable downdraft, resist the urge to raise the nose and add power in an attempt to avoid losing altitude. Reduced airspeed prolongs exposure to the sinking air, and there is an increased possibility of engine overheating (especially in summer turbulence). Instead, accept the altitude loss and possibly increase airspeed to more quickly escape the downdraft.

There are several other glide techniques that sailplane pilots use that are of benefit to power pilots.

The average wingspan of a sailplane is about 50 feet, with many stretching to 60 feet and beyond. Ailerons so far apart create substantial adverse yaw effect. Consequently, glider pilots must learn to be considerably more adroit with stick and rudder. Rudder sloppiness or inattentiveness is regarded as intolerable.

Glider pilots generally operate in remote areas and do not have to deal with controllers, airspace restrictions, and other distractions common to powered flight. They can spend more time mastering fundamentals. Power pilots have so much more to learn that stick-and-rudder coordination often does not receive the attention it deserves.

When flying sailplanes, the overbanking tendency caused by such a long wingspan while turning is more noticeable than when flying airplanes. As a result, top (opposite) aileron must be applied to maintain a constant bank angle. Another byproduct of the outer wing tip moving significantly faster than the inner wing tip is additional drag, which can require holding a tad of bottom (inside) rudder while turning. Consequently, it often is necessary to cross the controls (top aileron and bottom rudder) to maintain a coordinated turn. No wonder sailplane pilots become so skillful at manipulating the flight controls.

Glider pilots also develop an ability to visualize the movement of the air through which they fly. The duration, range, and altitude of a sailplane flight obviously depend on how well a pilot learns to take advantage of atmospheric motions—skill and knowledge that are directly transferable to powered flight.

Experience in locating and taking advantage of thermals and ridge-generated lift, for example, can significantly improve airplane performance, especially when operating in mountainous terrain at high density altitudes. Some soaring experience helps a power pilot to better visualize how sun, wind, and topography combine to produce rising and descending currents of air. It also teaches how to take advantage of “green” (rising) air and avoid “sink.”

There are many logical reasons to become a sailplane pilot. But soaring also is to taste an addictive elixir. It is to wash your wings in the wind and slide quietly along wind-swept ridges. It is to experience a sense of aesthetic exhilaration unique to flying without power.

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