Promoting Glider Flying again

Our stand this year.

This time we were at Go Expo, which is focused on sports and activities. Our aim was to yet again to promote introductory flights for people interested in gliding and try to get some of them to start the glider course. What was different this year was that we no longer advertised only our own glider clubs but tried to get people join the sport itself and then pick a club most suitable for them.

All in all, it was fun to socialize with people and talk about aviation for a few hours. I think I'll go do this also at Model Expo, which is held next month.

Hanging around at Nummela & some glider aerobatics!

It's been quiet lately. Bad weather and the fact that our school's new course have now been starting flying means I have been grounded for a while. There have been days when I've had a plane reserved for me but I've been very unlucky and it always seems to rain when I'm about to have a school day. I also requested a few days off a while ago due to a trip to Copenhagen, and all this has led to a situation where I've now had a three-week "vacation" having only gotten airborne once during this period! But I'm in no hurry since I only have two PIC flights left before we'll move on to the Piper and I think I'll manage to fly those flights out of the way.

Recently I've been hanging around for two complete days at Nummela airfield gaining a little extra motivation and of course flying a lot. In addition to practicing with the ultralight, I also got to be on board the towplane for quite a few flights. It's really nice since I've been offered a chance to fly this plane part-time after I achieve my license. What a fun way of gaining valuable experience and those golden hours! The plane in question is the PIK-15 "Hinu", which is a finnish-made plane designed solely for aerotowing. I'll go more in-depth once I start flying it myself.

The cockpit of the PIK-15 Hinu. A very simple layout, even compared to the C152. No radio navigation equipment, no transponder, just the basics you need to get flying.

There the glider is, following us!

I also got to fly a little aerobatic flight with our two-seater glider ASK-21 with one of the flight instructors at the field, who is my good friend. Nice!

A slightly different perspective on the world

Approaching the airfield and making a high-speed pass..

When the day started to come to an end me and the tow pilot decided to fly a little cross country flight with the FK9 ELA. We flew first to Torbacka, which is an ultralight-only grass field with only 300 meters of runway, from there to Hanko, then to Genböle grass field, and from there back to Nummela via Kiikala aerodrome. What's better than casually flying around with another pilot-friend, talking about the hobby/profession and enjoying evening scenery? Nothing.

You've seen lots of nice scenery so here's something else for a change. Here we're flying towards Hanko airfield at FL085.  Notice the airplane profile setting ;)

Some information about the future:

Starting next tuesday we will be having our Night Rating theory course, which lasts for two days and after that we are going to some other airfield, probably Mikkeli or Kuopio, for at least one week to fly all of the night flights in the CPL syllabus. After the night rating we'll fly a few flights in the FNPTII for the first time and then move on to the Piper Turbo Arrow IV. Looking forward to all of this!

Beginning of the gliding season!

Today I flew my first flights in a glider this year. There was about to be some activity at Nummela airfield so I headed there in the afternoon to get my "spring checkride" done. If you've flown less than 200 hours with gliders, you have to fly a school flight with an instructor at the beginning of each season. I took one tow to 500 meters for a normal local flight and then flew two additional traffic circuit flights. It was a nice feeling to fly a glider after a long break, especially the silence compared to powered flying is always fascinating.

Ready for takeoff!

The glider I flew was an ASK-21 tandem-seated glider, which is very popular in basic flying training and also in aerobatic training. This was also the first airplane I ever flew, back in 2009. Nummela Gliding Center has two ASK's, one nicknamed  "Punkku" and the other one "Tenu".

Exhibiting and promoting glider flying!

I spent some hours last weekend at Model Expo in behalf of Nummela Gliding Centre promoting sailplanes as a recreational activity and hobby. I have done a few of these gigs in the past and it's quite nice when you get to talk to people who are qenuinely interested and ask a lot of good questions about sailplane flying.

Our objective was to try and get new people to sign up for introductory flights, basic gliding courses and introduction courses. I think we caught a few people :)

Our stand, shared by Suomen Ilmailuliitto.

We also had a homemade gliding simulator to attract guests. It's a cockpit of a real glider and the software running is a commercial "Condor" gliding simulator.

Cloud flying theories at Kotka

Once upon a time my friend from Nummela airfield called and asked if I wanted to take part in a sailplane-related cloud flying theory course that would be held in the city of Kotka. I of course answered yes, since the subject is very interesting, and over 200 hours of CPL-theories surely can't be enough, can it?

Some material. I also got to rehearse some basic gliding theories in addition to new subjects.

The organising party of the course was the Karhula Aviation Club and our teacher was one of the core members of the club and maybe Finland's most diverse aviator guru, Jyrki Laukkanen. He has flight experience from basic wooden open-cockpit Harakka-gliders to Hornet fighter jets and everything in between including more than 170 types flown and from the thousands of total hours over 800 just flying inside clouds in a glider. Whoa!

So, as an addition to a glider pilot's licence, you can get a cloud flying rating, which enables you to fly legally in developing cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds in a glider. The idea is that, when normally you gain altitude rising below a cloud circling in thermals this rating enables you to continue that circling inside the cloud, where the thermal strenghtens and can be over twenty meters per second (yes, we don't use feets per minute in gliders here in Finland). Cloud flying is a very special and wonderful part of gliding being kind of like instrument flying... ...only without the instruments!

There's no artificial horizon and you are supposed to control the plane based on only five instruments, which are the airspeed indicator, altimeter, vertical speed indicator and a combined turn co-ordinator / slip indicator. In addition, since anti and de-icing is nonexistent, each of the instuments become gradually inoperative while flying inside a total void without any visual reference. Naturally, the philosophy of flying here is something totally different than say, in conventional instrument flying with airplanes that have engines. Very incredible and adventurous and totally legal!

So we headed to Kotka to complete the theory course. The theories included eight hours of classroom instruction and four subjects, which were glider instruments in cloud flying, meteorology, human performance and limitations in cloud flying and operational procedures. Alas, there were also four examinations which were not that easy. Many kinds of different aviators were present from 15-year old juniors to airline pilots.

In the free time we hanged out in our hotel at Kotka, went eating at Amarillo restaurant and spend the evening drinking a few pints of beer. In addition, the local young pilots introduced the facilities and gliders at Kymi airfield and we also got access to the wonderful museum situated at the field. Inside were old fighter jets, experimental aircraft and vintage gliders.

All in all a very memorable and nice trip and I sure learned something new! Gotta complete that flying part also. The theories are valid for five years so there's no hurry!