RickLS7 Posted May 19, 2022 Report Share Posted May 19, 2022 (edited) As it turns out, yes you can. Alright for an airfield, dont try this on the road though (especially if you have a glider attached). Edited May 19, 2022 by RickLS7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxob Posted May 19, 2022 Report Share Posted May 19, 2022 It'll not take off! 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Araf Posted May 19, 2022 Report Share Posted May 19, 2022 Oh, a Nimbus 3 No, I Google'd the reg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickLS7 Posted May 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2022 Well done. It has a 83ft wingspan, one of the biggest gliders ever made. Used to have an Rolladen Schneider LS7 - hence the profile name. A view from the cockpit: 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iborguk Posted May 19, 2022 Report Share Posted May 19, 2022 1 minute ago, RickLS7 said: Well done. It has a 83ft wingspan, one of the biggest gliders ever made. Used to have an Rolladen Schneider LS7 - hence the profile name. A view from the cockpit: Nice, that's quite a view. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart21UK Posted May 19, 2022 Report Share Posted May 19, 2022 44 minutes ago, RickLS7 said: As it turns out, yes you can. Alright for an airfield, dont try this on the road though (especially if you have a glider attached). great picture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTSMarky Posted May 20, 2022 Report Share Posted May 20, 2022 13 hours ago, RickLS7 said: Well done. It has a 83ft wingspan, one of the biggest gliders ever made. Used to have an Rolladen Schneider LS7 - hence the profile name. A view from the cockpit: That's properly cool!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickLS7 Posted May 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2022 Does everyone know about the towing eye/bolt on tow ball trick or do normal people have no need for towing stuff off road? If so, wish you'd told me sooner. Nothing worse than having to take the BMW to the airfield on a great Boxster day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTSMarky Posted May 20, 2022 Report Share Posted May 20, 2022 1 hour ago, RickLS7 said: Does everyone know about the towing eye/bolt on tow ball trick or do normal people have no need for towing stuff off road? If so, wish you'd told me sooner. Nothing worse than having to take the BMW to the airfield on a great Boxster day. What trick? C'mon - tell us..... I tow on road quite a bit (sailing cat' & motorcycles). Do you turn the eye 90 degrees or bolt a ball though it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTSMarky Posted May 20, 2022 Report Share Posted May 20, 2022 I do keep thinking of trying to find something to replace motorcycling & doing my PPL is up there. Gliders worry me, but that's an ignorance thing really as I think they are super cool. Big glider club right near me too.. Cambridge Gliding Centre | Gliding experiences, courses and much more! (camgliding.uk) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBB Posted May 20, 2022 Report Share Posted May 20, 2022 42 minutes ago, GTSMarky said: What trick? C'mon - tell us..... I tow on road quite a bit (sailing cat' & motorcycles). Do you turn the eye 90 degrees or bolt a ball though it? It looks like a ball bolted through the towing eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickLS7 Posted May 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2022 Yep, the towing eye in the frunk and one of these: HEAVY DUTY 2" 50MM TOW BALL 3500LB CAPACITY TRAILER BOAT ATV TOWING HITCH 34C 5055282020012 | eBay Works well as I'm going no faster than 10mph with the glider on the back. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickLS7 Posted May 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2022 (edited) 19 hours ago, GTSMarky said: I do keep thinking of trying to find something to replace motorcycling & doing my PPL is up there. Gliders worry me, but that's an ignorance thing really as I think they are super cool. Big glider club right near me too.. Cambridge Gliding Centre | Gliding experiences, courses and much more! (camgliding.uk) I know a lot of air force and airline pilots that started off gliding, what's interesting is they are still mad for it and get really miserable when stuck in their jets on a really good gliding day. It's a different kind of flying, using your skill & experience to get the most out of the weather. The gliding distance record is 3008km in 15 hours (we are not allowed to fly at night), that's the equivalent of here to Moscow and back. The altitude record is 76,000ft which is higher than the U2 can manage. There's also the cost factor, I flew for 4 hours yesterday and it cost £9.50 for the winch launch (let's not mention how much I paid for the glider, insurance etc). Also a lot of the training counts towards a PPL as there is a lot of similarity, not sure of the current criteria but used to be able to convert to a full PPL with 20 hours powered flying if you were solo and bronze level in gliders - which saves a lot of money. Mainly, gliding has a great club atmosphere as we need to help each other. Powered pilots generally aren't very sociable as they don't need to be. I have done a lot of powered flying in some really awesome aircraft but I still prefer the thrill of gliding. Not flown from Gransden Lodge (Cambridge) but have been there and has a great airfield, facilities and gliders. Edited May 21, 2022 by RickLS7 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpg123 Posted May 20, 2022 Report Share Posted May 20, 2022 1 hour ago, BBB said: It looks like a ball bolted through the towing eye. That happened to me once and, trust me, it hurts... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTSMarky Posted May 23, 2022 Report Share Posted May 23, 2022 On 5/20/2022 at 1:40 PM, RickLS7 said: I know a lot of air force and airline pilots that started off gliding, what's interesting is they are still mad for it and get really miserable when stuck in their jets on a really good gliding day. It's a different kind of flying, using your skill & experience to get the most out of the weather. The gliding distance record is 3008km in 15 hours (we are not allowed to fly at night), that's the equivalent of here to Moscow and back. The altitude record is 76,000ft which is higher than the U2 can manage. There's also the cost factor, I flew for 4 hours yesterday and it cost £9.50 for the winch launch (let's not mention how much I paid for the glider, insurance etc). Also a lot of the training counts towards a PPL as there is a lot of similarity, not sure of the current criteria but used to be able to convert to a full PPL with 20 hours powered flying if you were solo and bronze level in gliders - which saves a lot of money. Mainly, gliding has a great club atmosphere as we need to help each other. Powered pilots generally aren't very sociable as they don't need to be. I have done a lot of powered flying in some really awesome aircraft but I still prefer the thrill of gliding. Not flown from Gransden Lodge (Cambridge) but have been there and has a great airfield, facilities and gliders. Interesting. I'm a keen sailor, mainly race catamaran dinghies and have been sailing since 1976 pretty much. I have my yacht master (theory as CBA with doing the sea miles for the practical) & get nothing from a motor yacht opposed to a sailing yacht, so much the same concept really. I did have x3 trial flights some years ago @ Gransden, so might try again. It's the crash landing bit that puts the wind up me to be quite honest.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickLS7 Posted May 24, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2022 I used to be a keen sailor until I joined the Air Force. There are those who prefer sails and others motor boats, we both know which is the more challenging and rewarding. Crash landing?? landings should always be smooth and gentle when flying with someone even half competent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTSMarky Posted May 25, 2022 Report Share Posted May 25, 2022 14 hours ago, RickLS7 said: landings should always be smooth and gentle when flying with someone even half competent. That's if you get back to an airfield.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickLS7 Posted May 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2022 Sometimes you have to land in fields, in twenty odd years I've only landed in three and they were all fine. I have a 500km flight planned for Saturday if the forecast is correct, most of the time I will be out of gliding range of my airfield but reading the weather and flying efficiently and fast is what it's all about. You won't venture out of gliding range until well after solo. Having said all that, an increasing amount of gliders have engines to get you home. This one has a retractable jet: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxob Posted May 25, 2022 Report Share Posted May 25, 2022 @RickLS7 If on your final approach to the airfield you have to abort, e.g. something on the runway, do you usually have enough speed to go round again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTSMarky Posted May 25, 2022 Report Share Posted May 25, 2022 Now that's a nice bit of kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickLS7 Posted May 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2022 (edited) 20 hours ago, Boxob said: @RickLS7 If on your final approach to the airfield you have to abort, e.g. something on the runway, do you usually have enough speed to go round again? Alas not, with the flaps and undercarriage down and airbrakes out, we approach around 10 knots faster than the stall speed (depending on wind strength). We rarely use runways though and normally take off and land on wide grass airfields. This means that if the area selected while doing a circuit becomes unavailable, we just land further further across or down the airfield. Saying that, nothing wrong with putting the speed on and doing a beat up: Edited May 26, 2022 by RickLS7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menoporsche Posted May 26, 2022 Report Share Posted May 26, 2022 The glider with the engine reminds me of an i3 with a range extender. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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