Usually when you are in a cockpit of a plane and there is no ever present noise of the engine, it means something is wrong. Terribly wrong. Not in a glider. There is only wind flowing around your cabin and wings. Aerobatic gliders usually have stronger and shorter wings than the gliders that are used in cross-country racing to withstand the high g-forces that are experienced in some maneuvers. If that is not exciting enough for you, here are the top 5 maneuvers you could learn to execute while on a gliding course.
1. Loop. This is a basic maneuver but is the most popular of any gliding experience. It has a reputation of being extremely difficulty especially in competition. The figure must be perfectly round and the point of entry and exit must be in parallel altitude. It has a pull up of 3-4G. The back pressure of the elevator is gradually loosened up to soar on top of the loop to keep the sphere shape of the maneuver. The glider has to stay in a position that has the wings on a right angle element. The rudder is the main component to keep the glider in the figure. Aileron maneuvers are used to keep the wing orientation.
2. Square Loop. This is an adaptation of the loop having two perpendicular and level line on top of the same length. The exit line at the lower part of the figure needs to be of the same length of the 3 sides. Quarter loops connecting all the sides of the figure need to be in same radius at every corner.
3. Half Cuban Eight. The glider is in an inverted position at a 45 degree angle in a five eights loop. At the centre of this down line a half roll is done switching from inverted to upright. The completing tactic is a pull out to horizontal position. Reversing a direction characterizes this trick where the down line is utilized to regulate altitude and engine speed.
4. Wing Over. This is one of glider aerobatic maneuvers that prompts the pilot to pull up and simultaneously bank the aircraft. As the bank angle goes past 45 degrees, the nose begins to drop as the bank increases keeping the plane turning. Halfway past the maneuver, the aircraft is anticipated to have turned 90 degrees, as fuselage is parallel to the horizon and bank degree is 90. At this point the glider is now positioned over the flight path, while the nose constantly drops past the horizon and the glider continues turning. The bank drops past 45 degrees, then the nose is dragged up going to the horizon positioning the plane to a horizontal flight with wings level coming from a 180 degree turn. The maneuver is complete when the glider comes to the same altitude of entry but flying in the opposite way.
5. Spin. This maneuver is a must in any gliding experience and has variations of 3/4, 11/4, 1/2, and 1 turns. At the spin entry. The glider has to demonstrate a stall break, succeeded by auto-rotation. This rotation needs to stop after the number of turns specified. A vertical line going down needs to be performed as soon as rotation stops.
These are only some of the number of aerobatic maneuvers that can be performed in with a glider. Even the simplest of these featured requires a great amount of skill and practice. Glider aerobatic pilots have taken years to master these moves and all had to start with great gliding skills learnt during many gliding flights. You do not have to undergo such rigorous training to experience aerobatics in a glider. As you fly for the first time on your gliding course, you can inform your pilot that you are interested in experiencing such a feat and surely your pilot will be glad to oblige.
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