Phugoid at 20,000 feet
A poor forecast today, with a northerly flow and blue conditions. Bill and I were the only ones to launch. We managed 400kms and reached over 20,000' under cloud. Scrappy in the blue. Flew over convergence cloud, but had to to move when our cloud started raining. 10 knot thermal to 15,000'.
We had taken off in a virtual calm, and were concerned when the tower called us up to give 30 knots with a 30deg crosswind. We returned to Ouarzazate, to find the wind had abated to 25 knots, but it was an interesting landing.
We had taken off in a virtual calm, and were concerned when the tower called us up to give 30 knots with a 30deg crosswind. We returned to Ouarzazate, to find the wind had abated to 25 knots, but it was an interesting landing.
At one point in the flight Bill took over and soon did a fairly steep pull up in some sink. Realising his mistake he put the nose down to build up speed, but then did a second pull up. Bill's flying can be aggressive but this seemed extreme, especially as he then put the glider into a very steep dive.
"What are you doing" I shouted, "Nothing" was the reply. We were both hands off and at high altitude the glider became unstable, following a flight path known as a phugoid.
"What are you doing" I shouted, "Nothing" was the reply. We were both hands off and at high altitude the glider became unstable, following a flight path known as a phugoid.
Graham
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