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No - you need to fly the routine that's facing into the wind. So whether the spin is to the right or left, depends on the wind direction. You're not allowed to fly the reverse routine. What kind of plane do you have? If it only spins into one direction, that something must be off with the rigging. On a Citabria - getting the wing strut tension set up correctly is critical to make sure it a) flies hands off and b) stalls straight ahead allowing it to spin in either direction. A slight twist in the wing would result in one wing stalling 1st , making it hard to spin the other way.

​​@@laszlovasko I fly a Sonex. Most of them spin to the left and not right. But I fly aerobatics from the right seat and I think the small amount of left aileron I have to hold with no passenger makes it spin better to the right. I'll have to try from the other seat.

Interestingly, if I fly from the left seat I can spin to the left. I have proved out my theory!

@@bryancotton7279 Interesting - I guess given the light weight of the Sonex, that the weight imbalance is significant enough for your aileron inputs to make a difference. So, if you want to try it in a competition, you'd need to choose the side you fly based on the wind direction 🙂

Same here - I need to throttle back quite a bit on those dives. And indeed were I to try to make a perfect circle to end up at the starting altitude, I would be finishing around maybe 110 mph. Hence why each maneuver needs to be extended to pick up the airpspeed for the next one. But there's hardly any penalty for taking a break in your routine and climbing back up.

I'll cover this in more detail in Episode 2 - but I don't see why you wouldn't be able to compete in the Sonex, since it can do all the Sportsman maneuvers. I too have to dive : my Citabria's top speed is about 105MPH, not nearly enough for the 140MPH entry speed for most of the maneuvers. The trick is to finish each maneuver at the right entry speed for the next one: i,.e., instead of a perfect round loop, you need to extend the last 1/4 portion of the loop, in essence finishing it by a dive to exit at 140 mph. For Primary and Sportsman, you don't need an inverted fuel/oil system.

Might be difficult to control both the drone and the glider - but we do have various forms of self launching powered gliders (i.e. motor pops up from back of glider with propeller)

@@laszlovasko Thanks for your feedback. The drone will also be autonomous since it needs to fly back to base, and does not incur a weight penalty (unlike a stowable prop & engine).

@@ingoos Interesting: Have you seen Magpie's aerotow concept? So perhaps not only could you do the initial tow with a drone, but a drone could be summoned to "fetch" you if you need tow assistance, back to the airport environment. Or even facilitate cross country flights, while you could get drones to extend the distance, allowing you to land and take off again, etc.

Yeah - I on the other hand prefer power planes - and power boats, but we'll get to that later!

Thanks Roland. True about the film leader - must have been thinking that if I put 120 size film in it, probably the 1st and last frames would get wasted. You’re right that the original film for it would have been appropriately sized for it. I haven’t heard where the term stop came about. Might be right about the three holes: while their diameter is not double of each other, their area seems to be.

Well, unfortunately this sort of closed minded behavior happens across all activities, and is not specific to pilots. I do find glider pilots to be, let's say quite passionate about their hobby :-)

Great suggestion : it is drilled out. The vent window is a weak spot on the canopy - hence why you should never lift / close the canopy by grabbing the opening. Always reach in and open with the handle or frame.

Absolutely correct. Also why clubs tend to be called Soaring Clubs. I should have mentioned that in the video. But the shorter “glider” term is still generally used - just check out wingsandwheels, the primary online site to sell / buy “gliders”

Constructive criticism, no disrespect; lose the background noise. The subject & your narration of it is great! The addition of distracting, monotonous & annoying music ruined the vid for me.

Thanks for the feedback- I’m pretty new at this. I see peoplepointing out the music being loud while I’m talking. Trying to work out if in general people don’t want any music, or to have it really low volume. Appreciate the feedback. Wasn’t sure how to take feedback where music was referred to as “moozak” - which could indicate just a distaste of any background soundtrack.

@@laszlovasko basically, I'm against any music while a person is talking. My focus is on the words being spoken and the visual on the screen. Music during intro, outro, and portions when there only would be silence aren't too bad, but mind the volume! You can't please everybody, so listen to your audience, and do sometrial & error. Best to you ❤ PS, you are probably too young to remember Muzak, aka elevator music, or piped-in-music. PPS, i just did a search on Muzak. It started in 1938 and is still being produced but under a new name; Mood Media. There is a good wiki article on it.

@@savage22bolt32 Wow - I didn't know that regarding Muzak - made my day to learn I'm still too young for some things :-)

​@@laszlovasko.....if you want to promote music, make a music video.

Ha! That's the first time I heard someone being jealous of the Russia's glide ratio (since it's always compared to other gliders). Have you seen a Archaeopteryx? That's actually the smallest / lightest glider available, and it's foot launch.

You could learn to fly gliders too. This Russian plane and the Polish SZD-51 Junior are nice. Just watch how a Junior is constructed, it is very very practical. And it is a bit cheaper than other solo student pilot gliders, which is interesting for a club, but also for when you got your license and you want to buy your first plane, it is really really cheap secondhand, compared to a new performance glider. If you don't mind flying a simple plane, buying a Junior and a trailer could be fun. Do you know SZD also made a tiny glider that was used during Olympic Games, the PW-5? What I don't get is why they didn't simply say no thank you, go fly those competitions in SZD-51, why design a PW-5 when there already is a perfect plane for this? When clubs buy a PW-5, I think they'd better buy a Junior, but maybe that depends on how many newbie pilots you got.

They are a blast. Almost all of the criticism comes from people who don't fly Russias. Just about any other glider will feel ponderous in comparison to it.

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).

Indeed - I must have misspoken. It is a very low serial number, will double check the paperwork (given the age, the FAA registry doesn't list a year for it)

Cheers Mate!

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.

Yes - the term “jugs” applies literally to aircraft engine cylinders

Thanks - I wasn't sure while editing (still new at this), I'll adjust going forward

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.

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.

@@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.

@@laszlovasko perhaps a few tiny vortex generators located outboard around 75% semispan. And far aft as possible, just past thickest* point, in front of pressure recovery region. Well aft of leading edge to maintain laminar flow. (They should create just enough turbulence to maintain attached flow over a portion of ailerons). It will probably cost a few percent in drag.

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. 🙂

I wouldn't really agree with it being ecological. They're made of petrochemicals resins and composites and glider pilots burn a lot of fuel driving to and from their airfields/towing the glider trailers. I'd estimate pilots at my club do an hour of driving for every hour of airtime in a year. It's green next to drag racing, but not next to chess:-)

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

The inherent problem with soaring in the US is the FAA does not recognize out landings of a glider as valid. And property laws effectively make landing out as "trespassing". There is a very long list of sailplane pilots with six figure lawsuits against them in the states.

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

You should come out again on a weekend, and catch a ride!

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.

Learning to fly isn't a singular goal. The goal isn't to learn to fly, there's no such thing. Even when you get your first pilot's license, the examiner will tell you that it's simply a license to learn. Instead learning to fly is a journey of expanding your horizons, and it never ends. It's never too late to start this journey. The initial training with an instructor is itself an amazing and satisfying process.

Thanks for further encouragement!

Go for it!

Thanks 👍

Thanks Roland! I don’t think there was a gasket, but the back probably fit tighter. I could test it by wrapping electrical tape around it, although it will then get sticky.

Thanks! I too have a Vitessa - and it too no longer works. Sometimes it winds properly, sometimes it doesn't. Haven't dared to open that one up - although I've tacked some shutter repair work on other cameras. Good luck! Collecting and using vintage cameras is equal part joy and frustration :-)

Not that I'm aware of - however, your IA would (or should) be following a checklist - ask him/her for a copy ahead of time, and review which tasks you can a) do on your own ahead of time and b) assist with during the annual

Thanks! Yes - what was interesting, was that thousands of people flew up in small airplanes, but everyone wanted to land at airports in the zone of totality. The airports jammed up quickly and filled up by noon (and many required reservations ahead of time). I'm sure it was stunning from the ground, but it sure was stunning from the air, especially since we were able to see it come from far away.

I wish my vitessa worked - it did when I got it, but 20 years of sitting in the display case ruined the shutter mechanism - right now I'm looking forward to trying the prominent, first time back to film since 2008. How did the Bessa II work out? My Bessa I is in really nice shape - so I'll give that a go too