KRONFELD ON GLIDING AND SOARING.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

i88 KRONFELD ON GLIDING & SOARING
But these excellent qualities, which can be developed to
a much higher degree in gliders and soarers than in powerdriven
planes, are dearly bought, as we can see at once
if we watch a good flyer using one of our super-planes for
the first time. With an expert crew at the rope the start
presents no difficulty, and a straight flight seems easy enough.
But the otherwise obedient bird appears to boggle at
rounding a corner ; it is difficult to put her properly into
a turn and not exactly easy to get her out of it again. There
are also difficulties in landing ; the machine glides on long
after the flyer feels that he ought to have reached the
ground. On a small landing-place it is really difficult to
get down at all, and the slightest inattention will cause
one wing to graze the ground, with the result that the plane
swings round violently.
We see that the qualities which are so good in some ways
give us difficult problems to solve in other directions.
Large machines are naturally heavier than small ones,
though when they are in the air this greater weight will be
offset by the larger bearing surfaces. The starting operations
also need greater exertions and more concentrated
attention. The simple rubber rope no longer suffices ;
two or even three such ropes are needed. Six to ten men
pull on each side, while five or six sturdy young fellows
must be able to provide the necessary resistance by hanging
on to the tail. Usually they seat themselves on the ground,
with their feet firmly planted in holes that have been dug
beforehand. Successful experiments have also been made
with posts to which the machine can be attached ; in such
cases the pilot releases the connection at the last moment
by an automatic device.
The pilot's greatest problem is that of deriving the
greatest benefit from the energies created by the starting
rope. The sharp jolt given by this method of starting
requires him to press himself firmly against the back of
his seat. A common mistake is to climb too rapidly at the
moment of starting. In such cases the rope has to be flung
off too abruptly, and the man who will make the best use
of the power germinated by his start should push his stick
slightly as the rope is released and fly away only a little