Since I've been flying at Harris Hill, I've had a goal of being checked out in all of the club's equipment. Today, I reached the top of the pyramid, so to speak. At least for our soaring gliders. The Discus is a single seat racing sailplane and although ours is perhaps 20 years old, it is still a very viable machine for contests even today. If you've followed some of my blog posts, you know I'm working towards learning to fly cross country and I now have a tool for flying those tasks.
Tim Welles again did me the favor of checking me out. We started with a bit of bookwork, reviewed the speeds to fly and he gave me the main item to add to my checklist - Gear! The Discus has retractable gear, you see, and everything else I've flown does not. So the thing is not to land with the gear up.
After the review, we pulled an ASK-21 out to the line and took a check flight. It wasn't the easiest conditions today. We had a good 10 knots of crosswind that had gusts to 15 or so and we'd be landing to the North, which I haven't done this year yet. But I felt ready and off we went to 1,000 feet for a quick up and down. Everything went well and Tim seemed to be satisfied, so I eventually strapped in to the Discus and got ready to roll.
Everything was fine until the last few seconds before breaking ground when the crosswind I was correcting for with the rudder must have quit and I yawed to the right. Just as I was correcting for the yaw, the airplanes broke ground and started flying. Actually, it may be more accurate to say it LEPT into the air! Startled, I fed in down stick, but the Discus is sensitive in pitch and I oscillated back down, kissed the pavement with the gear tire, then bobbled up again. It was a bit if a yo-yo show for about two cycles before I managed to straighten out and fly right.
After that, it was smooth sailing and I tried a couple of stalls, did a few turns, and entered the pattern for landing. The spoilers were super effective and I didn't have much trouble landing it. I even remembered to put the gear down!
I met Tim, we talked things over a bit, and he declared me checked out. 'Go have fun,' he said. I saddled up again and managed not to oscillate on takeoff this time and in just a few minutes, I was centered and climbing in a thermal. I eventually topped out above 6,000 feet and headed for Corning, the town where I live, about 11 miles from Harris Hill by air.
I was headed upwind, knowing I could easily return with a tailwind and it wasn't long before I felt at home circling the Discus. It has a very light touch, good balance, and feels well balanced when it flies. Before long, I was circling over my house in Corning and exercising the broad speed envelope of the Discus.
I landed after an hour and fifteen minutes and while I rolled out somewhat longer than I wanted, everything was right with the world.
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| Approximate route of flight for my first Discus excursion. "Dude, I can see your house from here!" |
This really is a game changer for me as I begin to reach out beyond local flights around the airfield. I spent last summer flying with an instructor cross country and now I'm ready to do it on my own. My next step is to schedule a lead-follow with an experienced cross country pilot to both observe and do it on my own. Then, I'll try it alone at some point.
It's my time to take the skills I've read about and learned and pave yet another path in my soaring journey. I can't wait.
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