AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2015 - 12

LETTERS

FROM OUR NOVEMBER 2014 ISSUE

Flexible Fliers
Readers commented on our special focus on gliders, which featured stories
about the aircraft and the people who fly them.

I have been glider pilot for
more than 60 years. It is always
a pleasure to read references to
gliders and glider pilots. I particularly enjoyed Barry Schiff's
"Proficient Pilot" column discussing the use of the rudder.
Taildragger and glider pilots are
the only pilots who truly understand the use of the rudder.
With constant maneuvering,
the glider pilot spends a lot of
effort controlling adverse yaw
with the rudder.
We in the glider world are
well aware of the dangers of the
use of the rudder in a skidding
turn. The stall/spin accident in
the turn from base leg to final
12 | AOPA PILOT January 2015

OLD-STYLE RESTORATIONS

iPad Technology
HELPING YOU IN THE COCKPIT

www.aopa.org/pilot | November 2014 | $6.95

Flexible Fliers

+

STEMME REVIVAL p. 58
GLIDER RATING IN A WEEK p. 66
CLUBS PROMOTE GLIDERS p. 44
MEET 'GLIDER BOB' p. 128

AOPA FLY-INS
NEW REGIONAL EVENTS

"Thank you AOPA! Never before have
I sent emails to about 100 of my flying
friends recommending that they read
several articles in a single magazine. Your
November issue of AOPA Pilot did a wonderful job of spreading the word about
soaring and touring motor gliders."

ST. SIMONS, GEORGIA

NOVEMBER 8, 2014
p. 54

www.aopa.org

Training your feet

Craftsmanship

The Voice of General Aviation

Stemme Motorglider | Old-Style Restorations | North Dakota Boom Times

John Brownell
AOPA 831470
Evanston, Illinois

Oil Boom Effect

AVIATION EXPANDS IN NORTH DAKOTA

November 2014

I read with great pleasure Tom
Horne's article on the Stemme
S10 ("Power Sailing"). I am a
longtime pilot and at one time
had thought about getting my
glider rating. To that end, about
15 to 20 years ago (time does
funny things to the memory)
I saw that there was a glider
expo in one of the Chicago
suburbs, so I went there to
see what it was all about. One
of the airplanes there was a
Stemme S10 and with it was Dr.
Stemme himself. It was such a
great pleasure to meet him. He
was warm and friendly, and
we must have talked for more
than a half an hour about his
airplane and gliding in general. Thank you so much for
bringing back such a wonderful memory.

Paul Randall
AOPA 1268788
Maplewood, Minnesota

YEARS

is almost always the result of
the use of too much rudder and
not enough bank, resulting in a
stalled inner wing and a spin.
This accident probably occurs
more often with a glider when
there is a misjudged approach
with not enough altitude
and airspeed-which can be
corrected with power in an airplane, but not in a glider. I thank
you for your continued references to gliders and the skills
that glider pilots have learned.
Walter Cannon
AOPA 1436806
Palo Alto, California

The Michael Banner rudder
exercise Barry Schiff described
only begins to demonstrate the
capabilities of the rudder. When
flying radio-control model airplanes first became popular in
the 1950s, rudder-only control
was pretty common. It didn't
take long before folks figured
out how to control pitch using
just the rudder, and then began
doing loops and rolls-perhaps
not up to IAC standards, but it
worked. A couple of years ago
when I acquired a J-3, I took

it up to a safe altitude and tried
rudder-only flying. No, I didn't
and don't intend to try rudder-only loops or rolls in the
J-3. It was fun flying around
for a while with my hands off
the stick and throttle while I
changed direction and altitude
using only the rudder.

at airports advertising for
"Biannual Flight Reviews." Who
wants to do that twice a year-
or with an instructor who does
not know the difference? After
all, we are supposed to be able
to "read, speak, and understand
the English language" to get a
certificate.

Mike Miller
AOPA 818696
Goffstown, New
Hampshire

Joel Wattum
AOPA 12004195
Wasilla, Alaska

I totally agree with Barry
Schiff about training your feet.
Just a few years ago flying a
de Havilland Beaver on floats
under Part 135, we had a leg that
was Part 91. A high-time 737
captain for an unnamed airline
wanted to fly, so I let him have
the controls. Even after some
gentle suggestions, the passengers in the back-friends of
his-asked me to take the controls back. Afterwards we all
joked that rudders in 737s are
for emergency use only.
I also agree with the FAA
changing the terminology to
"flight review." Just take a look
in any logbook or on boards

Here's my take on why the terminology change from Biennial
Flight Review to Flight Review.
Too many people were unfamiliar
with the term biennial and were
calling it a biannual flight review.
Back in my flight instructing days,
many times a pilot would schedule some time with me asking for
a biannual flight review. I would
usually inform the pilot he only
needed a review once every
two years-but, if he preferred,
we could do it twice every year.
Normally the response would be
to go every two years.
Mark Ward
AOPA 1498290
Brookfield, Wisconsine
http://www.aopa.org/pilot http://www.aopa.org
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2015
